//------------------------------// // The birth of a new friendship (and maybe more?) // Story: A shell, a spell, and...wait, what the..?? // by MrWriterWriter //------------------------------// "Why didn't you say you were a prince!?" Twilight whispered after Princess Celestia had assured Night and Velvet that she would be safe, as well as explained who Spike was. The two foals were currently being escorted by her to the library to get themselves acclimated to their new learning area. "Never thought it was that important." Spike replied. "But..but your mother is PRINCESS CELESTIA!" She semi-pleaded, gesturing frantically to said princess "Yeah, but I see her as my mom first. "'Princess' is kind of a distant second." "But it's Princess Celestia...!" "Let me put it this way, Twilight. What job does your mom have?" "She;s an author, but I don't see why.." "Is that the first thing you see her as?" "No, of course I don't..." She trailed off, realizing what he was getting at, and laughed slightly, "Ok, I get it." Celestia smiled to herself, those two wouldn't have much trouble getting along. Upon reaching the library entrance, she turned to face them, "Spike already knows this, but Twilight, I don't expect you to pick up on everything right off the bat, so don't be afraid to ask if you something you aren't quite sure about. He already has a couple of years at this so I'd like to get you both on an even level before we start on anything major, all right?" "Right." They responded. "One more thing: if either of you find a spell you'd like to try out, let me know first so I can make sure you're ready for it, understand?" Both of them nodded. "Good." She pushed the doors open to reveal a large, spacious room lined with filled bookshelves. A stairway led up to a slightly smaller floor that could still be seen from where they were. On it were more bookshelves, an hourglass, and a large window that provided an impressive view of the courtyard and a good bit of Canterlot itself. "Now, I'll give you some time to look around and get to know each other a bit more then we'll see what to start with. I'll be back in about an hour." With that, Celestia headed back out. Twilight's eyes widened in awe at the sheer number of books. More than she could honestly say she had seen in her short lifetime. Spike chuckled at her starry expression, "I guess your friends are gonna be pretty jealous when they find out, if they haven't...already..." He trailed off when she looked down, the excitement replaced by what he could only describe as 'bummed out' "What's wrong?" She shook her head "I..I don't really have any friends.." Her voice was quiet at this point, "Most of the foals in my neighborhood think I'm a boring weirdo because I like to spend my free time reading...." "Well, would you like one?" Twilight looked at him, "Huh? A what?" "A friend." He said, putting a surprisingly comforting arm around her, making her blush slightly at the close contact "There's nothing wrong with liking reading, Twilight. I like it as well; and it's kinda nice to have somepony my age around. I mean, there are my cousins, Cadance and Blueblood, but she doesn't have much time to come around and Blueblood's just a jerk.." "Wait.." Twilight looked at him in surprise, "Cadance is your cousin??" "Yeah, but not by blood, though. Mom adopted her as her niece..." Spike's eyes widen in realization, "NOW I know why your name was familiar! She told me about a filly named Twilight she regularly foalsits: YOU'RE that Twilight!" "So..so Cadance is a.." "Yep. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, if you wanna be official. But to me, she's just Cousin Dancy." He snickered, "She HATES it when I call her that." The two shared a laugh about that. "Well, Mom did say to look around. Come on!" He immediately grabbed her hand, "I'll show you my favorite section." "Which one? Fantasy? Mystery? Classical?" "Comics!:" His grin was nearly ear-to-ear by now, "I got every issue of The Power Ponies so far!" Twilight simply smiled and rolled her eyes slightly as she allowed him to drag her over, "Colts..." Watching him reach the shelf of brightly illustrated covered, she thought to herself, My first friend..my first actual, honest-to-Celestia friend! And he seems as happy about it as me! -----------Six Months Later----------- "...I think he was halfway across Canterlot by the time the guards managed to calm all four fillies down!" Spike cackled, telling Twilight about one of Blueblood's less successful dating attempts while they were having lunch, "He still can't look at a flower pot without whimpering!" Twilight almost snorted into her juice box, "I still can't believe he thought hiring multiple girls to make each other jealous was a good idea!" "That's my cousin for you." He replied, reaching into a nearby bowl, loaded with gemstones. A few seconds later a loud crunch could be heard as he bit down on an emerald, shattering it between his jaws. Twilight cringed slightly at the sound of him chewing up the gem. She still remembered the first time she saw him pop one into his mouth. She screamed when she thought the crunch was from his teeth and became a mix of crying out for a doctor and demanding to know why he just ruined his mouth. That lasted until Celestia managed to calm her down and he showed her the fragments on his uninjured tongue, explaining that it was just a draconic trait that had managed to carry over. She'd gotten used to the sight, but the noise was still unnerving The two continued talking about various subjects: what they might learn next, new TV shows or books they found, and similar subjects. They had managed to get in the middle of a slightly silly debate over chocolate when a loud boom made them jump slightly. Unfortunately, Twilight was holding her juice box and she accidentally squeezed too hard in surprise, causing it to squirt out. Luckily, it missed her, but not the tabletop. "Oh no!" She frantically looked around and immediately summoned every napkin on the table, along with a stack of linen placemats and the nearby curtains by accident, to try and get up the spill before it set in. "It's ok, Twilight, I can get it." Spike said, putting a hand on her shoulder to help her relax, "Sounded kinda like the Wonderbolts training. I've heard them manage to do a boom like that when they get going hard enough." His horn then lit up and the puddle on the table was engulfed in emerald light before it flowed back into its container, leaving no sign a mess was ever there, "A spell I picked up from one of the castle cleaning crew to deal with little spills and stuff. Here." He slid his over to her, "Not a big fan of cherry anyway." Twilight looked between the juice box he had just given and him as he threw her now wrecked one away and went to get another. She remembered overhearing an older girl talking about drinking with a straw her coltfriend had used as well, calling it an 'indirect kiss'. Her gaze focused on the straw in the box as she tentatively took a sip "Does...does this mean...?? She thought, her cheeks pinking slightly at the very notion. She looked over at him as he came back and saw his usual goofy, innocent smile. It was clear he didn't think anything about it, but it still made her giggle to herself, " The first for both of us...even if it wasn't intentional." She smiled and took a long drink. They were almost done eating when Celestia stepped over to them, "Twilight, I just received a message from your parents. They're going to be held up at work, so you'll be here bit longer tonight. It shouldn't be more than an hour or two, but I'll let the cooks know to set an extra place for dinner just in case." "Oh..ok." She replied, hesitation evident in her voice. "Something wrong, Twilight?" Celestia asked, noticing the change of tone. "Well, it's just that...I've never even been away from home past dusk." "Ah, don't worry, Twilight. Like Mom said, it'll be a couple of hours at the most." Spike replied, putting an arm around her, "I got an idea, why don't we head back to the library and work on the teleportation spell? The time'll go by in a snap doing that." Twilight smiled, the thought of getting some practice calming her a bit "Ok, I've been wanting to try and extend my range on that." "Well, the soon you two clean up, the sooner you get to start." Celestia glanced at the pair of dirty plates on the table, getting sheepish chuckles from the two foals. --------------------------------- After getting things cleaned up, the two were soon back in the library. Outside, dreary gray clouds could be seen filling the sky. "Got a downpour coming in." Spike commented as he tossed a pillow onto the floor, "Not sure if it'll let up before you leave, though." "Hopefully." Came her reply, "So, how far do you think we should try for?" She asked, glancing at the pillow. "Well, we got two yards down pat, so.." He mulled over a few numbers, "See if we can double it?" "All right." Twilight took a deep breath and focused her attention on the pillow, it and her horn covered in its pink glow... KRAK-BOOM! "YIPE!" ZAAP! FOOMPF! "Twilight! You all right!?" Spike yelled, running over to the shaking filly. "Y-yeah..just..that noise scared me." She looked at the pile of cloth and cotton stuffing that used to be a pillow, "What was that!?" Her answer came in the form of a bright flash of light from outside...and another loud boom. Spike groaned, "Great, a thunderstorm... Hang on, I'll get the curtains." He said, heading over to a heavy cord by the window. A moment of pulling soon had the thick drapes covering the window, blocking out at least some of the lightening flashes, "There. Now to find a new...pillow?" He trailed when he saw how strange Twilight was acting Her eyes were wide open and her breathing seemed to had gotten shallow. He noticed she was shaking slightly too. "Twilight? What's wrong?? You look like you saw a ghost!" She gulped and whimpered, slowly backing away from the window, "I..I don't like thunderstorms..When..When I was six, we sent out to the park. It was ok for a bit..but I got distracted seeing what I thought was a rare butterfly. I couldn't resist and went after it..by the time I managed to catch it...I heard thunder... I got scared and tried to take shelter under a bush. A guard on patrol found me a little while later..but..." "Twilight, c'mere" He said, sitting on the library's couch and motioning for her to come over "When I was little, my mom had a way of helping me relax when I got scared. Maybe it'll work for you?" "O-ok." She replied, sitting beside him, only to blush when he wrapped his arms around her, "Sp-Spike!" She squeaked, "Wha..what are you doing??" "This is what Mom did when I was little." He replied, "I..I can stop if you want.." "No!" She blurted out, her blush intensifying, "It's ok, I was just surprised, that's all." She felt herself relax into him slightly, enjoying his familiar warmth before hearing him start to softly sing... Little filly, be not afraid, Though rain pounds harshly against the glass Twilight blinked in surprise; she didn't know Spike could sing! Granted, he wasn't that much above a whisper, but it was actually rather pleasant. Like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger, I am here today. Little filly, be not afraid, Though thunder explodes and lightning flash Illuminates your tear-stained face, I am here today. She flinched when another crack of thunder echoed from outside. Spike saw and held her tighter, running a hand through her mane. The gesture, as innocent as it was, felt more comforting than she had expected and she found herself snuggling into him And someday you'll know, That nature is so, The same rain that draws you near me. Falls on rivers and land, An forests and sand, Makes the beautiful world that you see In the morning. Soon the thunder became barely noticeable. Twilight stifled a yawn; between the kirin's warmth, the lullaby, and the feeling of security, she felt the throes of sleep slowly engulfing her. Little filly, be not afraid, Though storm clouds mask your beloved moon And its candlelight beams, still keep pleasant dreams, I am here today. Little filly, be not afraid, Though wind makes creatures of our trees And their branches to hands, they're not real, understand And I am here today. And someday you'll know, That nature is so, The same rain that draws you near me. Falls on rivers and land, On forests and sand, Makes the beautiful world that you see In the morning... Spike stopped when he heard soft breathing coming from his lilac friend. He looked and couldn't help but grin when he saw she was sound asleep. "Sweet dreams, Twi" He whispered, kissing her forehead. She blushed in her sleep and scooted closer in response.