When Spike rose from bed the next morning, he felt relaxed and refreshed, ready to take on the day, no matter what challenges life had to throw at him
“Good morning, Twilight,” Spike said as he went down the stairs. “How was your night?”
“Fine,” Twilight said, rubbing at her tired eyes and attempting to straighten her frizzled mane. “Just fine. Though I did have this dream where Celestia's mouth grew to huge proportions and she swallowed you whole.”
Twilight flashed a malicious smirk, showing she rather enjoyed sharing this terrifying image with Spike. “Interpret that as you will.” She walked past Spike and descended the stairs.
Spike bit his lip. This was not a pleasant image to start out his day. As he turned and resumed his walk down the stairs, there was a knock at the door.
Spike went to the door and pulled it open. “Princess Celestia!”
Twilight's head whipped around.
“Hello, Spike.” Celestia said, her long mane flowing in the breeze..
“W-what are you doing here?” Spike asked, a blush forming on his cheeks.
“After I replied to your letter, Spike, I felt bad about not being able to come see you yesterday. So I made some arrangements and came over today.”
“Wow!” Spike exclaimed. “You can do that? But… aren't you a Princess?” Spike blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “Don't you have responsibilities? Everypony was telling me you couldn't drop everything to come see me all the time...”
Celestia giggled. “You're right, I do have responsibilities. But I didn't drop anything, I merely rearranged them. You see, it's all about time management--knowing your schedules and knowing where you can deviate and how much time you can allow for small indulgences.”
Twilight pumped her hoof in the air. “Preach it, sister!”
Celestia gave Twilight an awkward stare. “Yes. Anyways, I will have to get back to the castle at some point. But before then, I thought we could go out for ice cream, Spike.”
“Yeah, sure!” Spike's tail perked up, excited to spend time with the Princess. Spike brought his claws to his chin and looked over his shoulder. “Oh, but is Twilight okay with it?”
“What do you mean, Spike?” Twilight was using her magic to pour herself a bowl of cereal. “Why wouldn't I be okay with it?” Twilight continued to pour and pour, not focusing on what she was doing, causing the bowl to overfill with a mound of wheat flakes rising up from it. Twilight followed up by getting out the milk and pouring the milk into the bowl, repeating the process and overfilling to where milk leaked from the bowl onto the table. She at last noticed she was making a mess and awkwardly stopped pouring, lifting the milk up in staggered motions. After a minute spent staring at the milk on the table, Twilight pretended as if she didn’t see and took a big bite out of the soggy cereal mound, diving her muzzle straight into as if she were an uncultured savage.
Celestia and Spike, neither of them sure how to go about addressing the obvious with Twilight, looked to each other for advice.
Celestia stepped forward and spoke first. “Twilight, if you have something you want to talk about--”
“No, no, it's fine! It's fine, really! Go. Enjoy yourselves and enjoy each other’s company.” Twilight's eye twitched. “I'll just be here, reading books. Like normal. Because everything is normal and fine and dandy.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow at Spike. Her bemused expression seemed to communicate the thought “Do you put up with this every day?” to Spike. Spike shook his head no… paused, and pinched his finger and thumb together in a ‘little bit’ gesture.
Celestia leaned in close to him. “Give me a hint here, Spike. Any ideas on dealing with Twilight’s… passive-aggression?”
Spike could only shrug. “If I knew, I’d tell you.”
Celestia nodded in acceptance of this. She raised up and turned back to Twilight. “If you insist.” Celestia said. “Come, Spike. Let's go find a vendor.” Celestia draped a wing around Spike and walked away from the library.
“Yeah… Hey, you're not going to eat me, are you?”
“What? No. Why would I do that? I mean, unless you're into that kind of thing, in which case I think I can make a few adjustments...”
Hearing Celestia say these words, Twilight desperately needed a cup of brain bleach as she unintentionally began to consider how Celestia would even begin to make such an idea work, as well as what those 'adjustments' might entail.
“No, no, it's fine.” Spike insisted. “Just… Twilight had this weird dream, that's all.”
“I see. And did this… dream involve any other situations depicting me doing something to you, Spike?” Celestia glared over her shoulder, and Twilight Sparkle could feel the Princess's suspicious, vindictive eye even from a mile away.
“Uh, no,” Spike answered.
Twilight's horn flared up and she used her magic to slam the door shut behind Celestia and Spike. The loud thump startled Spike, but all Celestia did was shake her head in disapproval before continuing to walk on.
Celestia and Spike found the nearest ice cream vendor, whose jaw dropped upon seeing Princess Celestia approach him in person. “Princess Celestia!”
“Two ice cream cones, please.” Celestia said, proceeding as if he had said nothing. “One double-scoop with vanilla and mint with chocolate frosting and sprinkles, and one...” Celestia turned to Spike. “What would you like, Spike?”
“Do you have sapphire sprinkles?” Spike asked the vendor, blushing and sheepishly crossing his legs.
“Well, lucky for you, I've learned from the last time you were here.”
“You have?” Spike asked, not remembering he had been here before.
The vendor turned away from him and produced an ice cream scoop covered with shavings of a blue gems “Thankfully, Pinkie Pie was kind enough to grant me access to the emergency sapphire sprinkle stash she had hidden nearby. Says she's got them set up all over town.” The vendor splatted the sapphire ice cream onto a cone. “She's a weird one, that Pinkie, but bless her heart.”
“Quite.” Celestia used her magic to take the ice creams from the vendor once he had finished preparing them. Once done, Celestia produced a few golden bits and hovered them towards the vendor. “Your payment, sir.”
“Oh no.” The vendor waved his hooves. “I couldn't possibly accept this. Not money from the Princess!”
Celestia made a displeased expression at once again being given special treatment because she was royalty. “Just because I am a Princess does not mean I am exempt from all the same rules as any other pony. Besides, you have expenditures to meet for your business, sir, and I insist that you take it.”
The vendor glared at her and was given a glare back in return. “Tell you what. I'll meet you in the middle. I'll take the money, but you've got to accept a 20% royalty discount.”
Celestia heaved a long sigh. “If that's what it takes for you to do your job, then yes.” Celestia divided the coins and dropped a portion of them on the vendor's table, putting the other 20% back where she got them from.
“Pleasure doing business with ya.” The vendor saluted. Celestia and Spike walked away from him.
“Honestly.” Celestia walked with Spike and took a lick of her ice cream. “I wish ponies wouldn't feel so compelled to do me favors just because I'm the Princess. Sure, I may have wings and a horn, but I'm no different than anypony else inside.”
“Are you kidding?” Spike asked as he took a lick of his sapphire sprinkles. “I would love to get a 20% discount off ice cream just because I was a Princess! Mmm, sapphire...”
“I'll ask Twilight if she's willing to leave her position.” Celestia smiled.
Spike stared at her in shock for a minute before realizing she was joking. “Ah-ha! Good one.”
Celestia giggled, and the two of them took another lick of their respective ice creams.
“Although…” Spike said. “I guess I kinda know what you mean. They don’t show it often… even less now that Twilight’s a Princess, but sometimes… when it’s quiet… I can see ponies looking at me, judging me for being a dragon. Wondering what Twilight is thinking by keeping me around…”
“Mmm…”
“Hey...” Spike paused, having an idea and wanting to move to a more positive mood. He looked into his diminutive, squashed reflection inside the sapphire sprinkles. “Princess Celestia, do you… want to try to my sapphire ice cream?” Spike blushed and held the ice cream cone up to her.
Celestia chuckled, a sound which reminded Spike of the warm and soothing crackle of a fireplace. Spike figured it had something to do with her nature as a sun-related entity. “I'm flattered, Spike, but I've already tried a sapphire sprinkle once, and I've no wish to try it again.” Celestia gave him a warm, softer smile, one which almost seemed motherly. “But thank you for thinking of me. That's very sweet of you.” Celestia ran a hoof over Spike's head. “You're going to make an excellent husband one day, I know.”
Spike's eyes shrunk and he backed away from Celestia. “H-husband?” He might have had a few fleeting thoughts of marriage during an imaginary discussion, but he wasn't ready for it now!
“I don't mean for me, Spike.”
“Oh.”
“Well, I'll be! Howdy, Princess Celestia. What are y'all doing here?”
“Hello, Applejack, Rarity.” Celestia's eyes flitted between her and Rarity as the two approached. “I was just enjoying some ice cream with Spike.”
“Out with Spike again already? Weren't y'all just on a date two nights ago?” Applejack asked. “Ah don't mean to be rude, Princess, but don't y'all have, you know, princess business you need to be attendin' to?”
“Yes, you're correct, but it can wait long enough for me to finish a single ice-cream cone.” Celestia said.
“A double-scoop ice cream cone.” Rarity cheekily observed. “Which would take twice as long as a single scoop.”
Celestia rolled her eyes, though she smiled. “All right. You got me.” She lifted the cone to her mouth and shoved it in, swallowing the entire top scoop and half of the bottom scoop in one massive gulp. Rarity's and Applejack's jaws dropped; Applejack was impressed. Rarity, however, was disturbed to see the Princess engage in such a gluttonous manner of eating.
“Well,” Celestia wiped the mint ice cream off her mouth with her hoof. “I should be heading back to Canterlot soon. I think I'll head back to the library and say goodbye to Twilight Sparkle before I go. Will you accompany me, Spike?”
“You go ahead. I'll catch up.” Spike licked his ice cream and Celestia went on her way.
Rarity and Applejack observed Spike, finding the way he ate his ice cream endearing, in an immature way. Still just like a child, they both thought.
Spike glanced up and noticed that they were staring at him. “Why are you looking at me like that?” He asked. “It’s kinda creepy.”
“Sorry,” Applejack said as she and Rarity covered their mouths to hide their giggles. “It's just… you look so cute eating ice cream. Makes us think about when you were younger.”
“Uh-huh.” Spike determined it would be best to just ignore them and went back to his ice cream, though he kept an eye on them.
Rarity looked to the ground. Applejack punched her shoulder. “Go on, Rarity. If you've got something to ask him, ask him.”
“Spike?” Rarity asked. “I have something to ask you. Are you… happy?”
“Happy?” Spike said.
“With Celestia. Are you happy with dating her? Does she make you feel… happy when you're with her?” Rarity shifted her eyes away from him and rubbed her mane.
“Happy,” Spike repeated. “Does she make me happy? Yeah, sure, I guess. Why?”
“Oh, nothing.” Rarity waved her hoof. “It was just something silly that Hayseed said, ha ha! Nothing to be worried about.”
Unfortunately for Rarity, Spike found the notion of Hayseed saying something to be something worth worrying about.
Applejack stepped in front of Rarity. “I got a question for ya, too, Spike.”
“Okay. Sure.”
“How do y'all… deal with it?”
Spike raised a confused eyebrow. “Deal with what?”
“It. You know, it!” Applejack sighed. “Your love for Celestia? How do you put up with it? How do you stand it, being so near to somepony you love, and yet so far away, and it seems like they're always just out of reach?”
“Um… come again?”
“How do you stand the fragility of it all?” Applejack asked. “Always wanting to express your feelings… how you feel… your love for her… but knowing that if you make so much as one mistake, she’ll send you away in the dungeon forever?”
Rarity gave an awkward chuckle before forcing a cough.
“Celestia doesn’t send ponies to the dungeon.” Spike said. “Not unless they’re like, Sombra-levels of super-bad. I don’t know where she keeps getting this reputation.”
“And y’all want to be close to her, ya really do, but she has this idea of you… that you just don’t want to risk? That you don’t want to break and ruin your relationship forever?”
“Applejack, I really don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”
“And then you start dri--”
“Ah-ha!” Rarity intervened, grabbing Applejack by the shoulder. “Well, we'd be best be going! We wouldn't want to be late, would we?”
“Late for what, Rarity? We don't have anywhere we need to be.”
“Oh, Applejack, don't be silly! Of course we do.” Rarity dragged Applejack away before Applejack let slip enough for Spike to piece together she wasn’t talking about Celestia, and was talking about someone else. He would ask for more details, and if Applejack told her, Spike would never be able to keep it a secret for long.
While Rarity dragged Applejack away before she embarrassed herself further, Spike turned to his ice cream in contemplation. What Rarity and Applejack had been asking had struck a chord with him, even if it didn't always make sense. Was he happy while around Celestia? Did Celestia make him feel happy? And how could he keep up this relationship when Celestia no doubt had more royal affairs to attend? Oh, sure, she had made time for this morning, but what about the next? The next week? The following month?
“Oh, geez.” Spike placed a claw over his head, coming to a long-overdue realization. “I rushed into this without thinking, didn't I? I need to talk to Celestia...” Holding his ice cream up high to keep it from falling, Spike ran to find Celestia, every so often taking another lick from his cone.
()
Celestia opened the door to the library and stepped in. “Twilight?”
“Upstairs!” Twilight called.
Celestia went upstairs and to Twilight's room, where Twilight Sparkle was reading a book on her desk.
“Hello, Princess,” Twilight said without turning to look at her. “Can I help you with something?”
“I just wanted to say goodbye before I leave for Canterlot,” Celestia said. “Spike has proven himself to be an unexpected delight.”
“Uh-huh.” Twilight nodded.
“Has he told you about the time he was out with Pinkie Pie, and he ended up covered from head-to-toe in chocolate pudding?”
“I've been wondering about that. He came home one day like that and told me not to ask questions about what happened.”
“Hmm.” Celestia crossed one hoof in front of the other. “Twilight? I'm curious. Do you really have a dream where I ate Spike?”
Twilight finally looked up from her book and at Celestia, a hoof on her chin. “I might have exaggerated a few details. But I did have that dream.”
Celestia nodded, pleased. “Good. For a moment there, I thought you might have been trying to drive a wedge between Spike and me because you're still objecting to our relationship. It is good to see you coming to terms with it, and I appreciate that you didn't let it become an issue this morning.”
“Of course! After all, if you want to keep indulging Spike, well, who am I to judge?” Twilight waved her hoof around before gesturing to herself.
Twilight's choice of words caught Celestia's attention. “Indulging? Twilight, what do you mean by indulging?”
“Oh, you know.” Twilight wore a disingenuous smile. “Indulging him in this delusion he has that he can make a lasting relationship with the Princess of Equestria work. I mean, just because I think you're acting immoral in helping him in that delusion, and he's being immature because he insists on it, that doesn't mean I can object to a couple's love, does it?”
Celestia sighed. “I'm disappointed, Twilight. I thought we were past this."
“You're disappointed? Put yourself in my horseshoes! One of the ponies whom I respect the most, the wizened, mature leader of Equestria, is sooner or later going to hurt the the baby dragon I’ve lived with all these years and pretty much raised, and she can't even see it and won't listen to me!”
“We've had this talk before, Twilight, and we'll have it again as many times as we need to. While I respect your right to voice your concerns and I understand them… I believe you are overly worried about Spike’s emotional well-being, and I will say this again: worry and fret as much as you like, and raise your concerns. Still… you do not get to tell me what I can and can't do.”
Twilight's eye twitched. That Celestia had the gall to claim she respected Twilight's right to voice her concerns, after what she did at the restaurant two nights ago… it upset Twilight, needless to say. And to hear the ‘you do not got to tell what I can and can't do’ line again wasn't any more pleasing to hear.
Honestly, Princess, don't you have any other material?
Twilight took in a deep breath. “Princess Celestia of Equestria… you have been a teacher to me for several years. You took me in when I was a young filly. You've guided me when I was lost. You've almost always believed in me. You're almost like a second mother to me. I'm telling you all these things you already know--”
“I was wondering about that.”
“--because I want you to understand that, despite the severity of what I’m about to say, I still love you, and I want you to remember that when I say it. I want to remember that when I say it. But...”
Spike was on his way to the library, about to cross over a small wooden bridge built over a tiny river, when Rarity and Hayseed appeared behind him.
“Oh, hello again, Spike!” Rarity said. “Fancy meeting you here. Hayseed and I were just on our way to an early lunch.”
“Hey.” Spike waved. He smiled awkwardly at Hayseed, who smiled awkwardly back. “Do we have to talk now? I gotta get to the library before Celestia leaves.”
“Oh, we'll just be a minute, darling. We won't keep you,” Rarity said. “Hayseed was concerned about you, and I figured it would be good to let him get a look at you himself so he can know you're doing okay.”
“Yeah.” Hayseed said. “Especially after… you know…”
Badly-timed word slips seemed to be becoming a recurring theme of the day.
“Know? Know what?” Rarity asked. “I certainly don't know. What does Spike know?”
Hayseed grimaced and raised a hoof off the ground. He gave a pitying look to Spike.
Spike shook his head. Don't do it. Don't tell her.
Hayseed sighed. “I can't keep this from you anymore, Rarity. Do you remember the flowers from when we first became a couple?”
“Yes. They were a lovely bouquet, and you were sure you had gotten the exact bouquet for me. Why?”
“Well… it was a bouquet I got for you. But on the day I was going to give it to you, Spike came up to me and he told me you were taken, and your heart belonged to someone else. I dropped the flowers and left. When I saw the same flowers on your counter, I knew Spike must have given them to you. I… I didn't tell ya sooner because I didn't want you to think less of Spike as a friend.”
“What?” Rarity hissed. “Spike! How could you? It's bad enough for you to lie to Hayseed, but to give me the flowers he meant to give me and pretend they were from you? That's terribly dishonest of you, Spike! I didn't know you had it in you to be such a brute!”
Spike stepped back and hung his head in shame. “I know...”
“Now, Rarity...” Hayseed said, trying to intervene on Spike's behalf. Rarity had a right to be upset, but he had forgiven Spike, and he didn't want Rarity to hurt him.
“Don't you take that tone with me! You're not innocent in this either!” Rarity snapped. “Did it not once occur to you that I might like to know if one of my best friends has been lying about my relationship status? Is this part of this secret brotherly code I've heard so much about? I – auugh!”
Rarity turned away and put her hoof over her eyes. She lowered her hoof and shot them a dirty gaze over her shoulder.
“I'm going to find Applejack. I think I need to be away from men for a little while.”
Rarity trotted away.
Hayseed took his hat off and held it to his chest. “I'm sorry, Spike. I never intended for this happen.”
“It's okay. It's not your fault. It's mine.”
“Oh, come on now, Spike. You can't talk about yourself like that.”
“Maybe not.” Spike crossed his arms, his empty ice cream cone sticking out from the side. “Hey… listen. Even if it didn't work out as planned, I appreciate what you were trying to do. You know, trying to preserve my friendship with Rarity.”
“Thank you, Spike. It means a lot to me to hear you say that.”
“Yeah… I'll see you later, okay?” Spike waved off and resumed his course on the bridge. “I have to go talk to Celestia about this… she'll know what to do.”
“See you around!” Hayseed waved his hat before putting it on and leaving.
Spike reached his destination of the Ponyville library. Once the building was in sight, he was eager to get inside. But he would not be getting any comfort or advice from either pony inside those walls. Instead, he heard a scream.
“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”
Spike dragged to a halt. There was an explosion inside the upper echelon of the library, followed by a white flash in one of the windows. Princess Celestia appeared in another flash of light, floating in the air, her hoof raised to make an objection. The magic holding her up let go, dropping her to the ground.
Twilight Sparkle stuck her head out the window.
“Not so fun to be teleported outside of the building before you've even had a chance to speak, is it?” Twilight yelled, her horn shining as she quickly raised up a magical force field over the library before Celestia could retaliate.
Celestia stood at the edge of the glittering purple bubble. Spike ran to her side.
“Come on, Princess!” Spike said. “Are you gonna let her talk to you like that? You're powerful enough to break this force field!”
“I do believe you correct in that, Spike. Though… Twilight’s magical power has grown considerably since she became a Princess. Moreover...” Celestia closed her eyes and walked away from the barrier. “I think it would be better if I were to leave now. I will talk to Twilight again once she's had a chance to calm down.” Celestia spread her wings and flew back to Canterlot.
Spike, with concern, turned to the force field. Gulping, he stepped forward, hoping it would let him through. It did, allowing him to phase through the otherwise solid dome.
“Twilight?” Spike asked, hesitating to walk to up to the library's entrance.
The door swung open and Twilight stood in the entrance. Her face was serious and full of contempt, with her lips turned in on themselves. Her wings were flared up and stiff, like a raised battle flag.
Spike knew the answer to his question would be no, but he asked anyway, because to do anything less would get him and Twilight nowhere. “Twilight, are you okay? What was that all about? Is everything alright?”
Twilight growled, showing her teeth. “No, Spike, I am not okay and everything's not alright! You're not mature enough to realize you're only dating Celestia as a rebound. You're in love with Celestia's shadow! You’re only ‘in love’ with her because she comforted you when you were down, and you’re so blinded by that that you can’t see all the ways this relationship can’t work! Celestia is being so irresponsible by dating you and treats me like I'm some kind of little foal when I try to tell her that it's wrong, and Applejack has some serious thing that she can't even talk to me about! I have been wracking my brain for the last several hours, wondering where I went wrong as a mother with you and as a student with Celestia that this situation is even happening. And the only thing I come up with that even remotely makes sense is that since we've moved to Ponyville, you've become so – so stupid!”
Spike drew away, holding an arm. He tried to fight back tears, but his eyes still turned watery. “If--if that's the way you really feel, then I'll just – I'll just go.”
Tears running down and flying off his face, Spike ran away from the house, going through the force field and putting as much distance between Twilight and himself as he could.
Twilight heaved heavy breaths, glaring at Spike until he had left her sight and she no longer could. It was only after Spike had left the force field that it occurred to Twilight what she had said and done.
“Oh no...” Twilight lifted a hoof to her face, smacking herself. “Spike, wait, I--” She reached out for him, but Spike was gone. “What have I done?”
Twilight closed the door and put her back against the wall, sliding down until she was on the floor.
Spike ran and ran, not caring where he was going. He wanted to get far, far away from the library. But he couldn’t run forever, and by the time his legs began to tire out, he noticed he was surrounded by dark trees with either black or purple bark.
I'm not in the… Everfree Forest, am I? Spike thought. Sadly, Spike braced himself for a long walk. Going into the Everfree Forest wasn't a good idea even at the best of times and the height of emotional clarity, two things Spike was lacking at the moment.
Spike began to walk around, searching for something to clue him in on a direction to go. Perhaps a ray of sunlight, or a hoofprint leading to a trail he could follow to get somewhere.
Maybe I can find Zecora's hut… Hey, maybe I can go live with Zecora. He wasn't going back to Twilight's house anytime soon.
Spike continued to search for a way. He found some hoof prints which seemed familiar and followed them, but they disappeared and left him to fend on his own. Trusting his instinct, he went to the right and followed the clearest path he could find. This led to him going in a circle and ending where he started.
“Didn't I just pass that bush?” Spike wondered. The bush he was staring at looked familiar.
It was time to admit the truth. He couldn't hide it anymore.
“I'm lost.” As the words left Spike's lips, so did his sense of hope leave his body. All he could do was hope Twilight realized he had been gone for too long and send out a search party, or to stumble upon Zecora while she was out gathering ingredients.
Spike sat on the ground. Looking around, he saw a flowing river.
“A river!” Spike got up and crawled towards it, taking note of the current of the river. “Maybe I can follow it back to Ponyville ...”
It wasn't a bad plan. Spike couldn't be sure, but the river's current seemed to be flowing in the direction of Ponyville, and he had crossed a bridge over a river earlier today. All he had to do was hope the two rivers were connected, and the waters would lead him home.
Before he had a chance to put this plan into action, his attention was caught by the sounds of stomping. Stomping he recognized. Stomping he had heard before. The ground shook underneath him with each step of the creature drawing nearer, and Spike knew what it was.
A dragon was coming after him. Not a baby dragon such as himself, but a full-grown, massive, winged fire-breathing beast.
Spike gulped.
Inside the Carousel Boutique, the bell rang, signaling somepony coming inside as Twilight Sparkle entered the building. She went into the kitchen, where Rarity was eating ice cream from the tub.
“Has anypony seen Spike lately?” Twilight asked.
“Don't know.” Rarity levitated the spoon into the ice cream and shoved a big bite into her mouth. “Don't care. Om nom nom.”
“Why? Is something wrong?” Applejack asked.
“I don't know. Maybe,.” Twilight said. “I … said some things to him a little while ago that I maybe … no, definitely shouldn’t have, and I've not heard from him since, and I'm starting to get worried.” Twilight grimaced, slapping her face as an obvious idea hit her. “Oh no. What if he's run into the Everfree Forest again like he did when I first got Owlowiscious?”
Everypony, including Rarity, jumped up and stood at attention.
“I'm going to go cast a locator spell.” Twilight turned to leave. “If the results aren't good, I want everypony to be ready to go and find him.”
“Understood.” Rarity saluted.“Don't worry, Twilight. We'll find him.”
“Thanks, Rarity. I know I can always count on you and the girls.”
The dragon drew near. It was a terrifying sight, with black scales dark as night and ominous purple eyes. It lumbered on all fours, adding to its image as a beast. It came within a few feet of Spike and stopped, its sharp irises focusing and zeroing in on him.
Spike raised his arms over his head in defense.
The dragon opened its mouth, and what came out… was not what Spike was expecting. Instead of burning, monstrous green flames, what slipped from the dragon's mouth were spoken words by a sweet, gentle voice, with a vague southern twang, though nowhere near as pronounced as Applejack’s.
“Well, aren't you the cutest thing I ever did see!” The dragon exclaimed.
Spike's eyes widened. He put his arms down and look at the dragon. “Uh, I am?”
“Of course!” The dragon rested on its elbow, propping her head on her claw. “I mean, not that there's much cute to look at in these woods. Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Antioch.”
“I'm… Spike.” Spike hesitated to introduce himself, but Antioch appeared not to mean him any harm.
“You know, a little baby dragon shouldn't be out wandering these woods alone. That's very irresponsible of your mother dragon, you know. You must be starving!”
Spike scratched the back of his neck. If only she knew. “Heh, well, about that...”
Antioch flexed her jaws. Stretching her massive neck, she plunged her maw into the river. She came out with a pile of fish in her mouth, most of which were pierced by her fangs and killed in an instant. Craning her neck over, she dropped the pile of fish in front of Spike. “There you go. Eat up!”
Spike didn't go for it. Having grown up around ponies, carnivorous food was alien to him.
“Please, I insist!” Antioch said.
Spike, not willing to risk provoking Antioch into anger, grabbed an orange fish from the top of the pile and put it into his mouth. To his surprise, he found it rather tasty and pleasant, with a smooth texture which made it easy to swallow. “Mmm! This is pretty good.” Spike realized how odd this might have sounded to Antioch. “Uh, I mean...”
She seemed not to notice, staring at Spike with a sort of covetousness in her eyes. “You know … I've always wanted a child, but I can never find a mate ...”
Spike chuckled. “Hmph. I can’t imagine what that’s like…”
Antioch looked around the area. “Say, where are your parents, anyway?”
“My parents? Uh…” Spike stammered. It occurred to him the answer for where his mother was ‘“in Ponyville’” but he didn’t want to think about Twilight right now. “Oh, I don’t know…”
“You don’t know where your parents are? That’s awful!”
“Yeah, yeah.” Spike mused. “Can’t say I care to see them again right now. Hmph. Maybe you could adopt me instead or something…”
Antioch let out a high-pitched gasp which reminded Spike of Pinkie Pie. “Really? You mean it? Oh, that would be wonderful!”
“Wait, what?” Spike balked, eyes going wide as the implications of what he just said hit him for real. “Well, I - I didn’t mean, that is - I should probably explain -”
“Ooh!” Antioch squealed and clapped her claws. She stomped her feet in joy, switching between her left foot and her right, shaking the ground, as well as Spike. “This will be great!” Antioch scooped Spike up in one claw and the fish in the other. “Come on. Let's take you to your new home!”
Antioch marched, taking Spike back to her cave with the meal she had caught for him. She was so looking forward to getting him there and making sure he was comfortable!
“Okay.” Twilight and her friends had gone into the forest. “According to the locator spell, Spike is in a cave somewhere around this area, but I couldn't quite tell which cave it was. So I want us to split into groups of two, one with Rarity and one with me. Rarity and I will use magic to send out a flare when we find him.”
The girls nodded before splitting up. They searched the area, calling Spike's name.
“Spike! Spike!” Twilight shouted, her eyes drifting around the forest, keeping an eye out.
Some distance away, not too far from where Twilight Sparkle was searching, Spike was inside a cave, resting with his back on a polished rock acting as bed. His rock bed was surrounded by a multitude of natural gemstone deposits which sparkled comfortingly, like night lights.
Antioch came into the room, dropping another pile of fish from her mouth. Spike sat up and jumped out of his bed with zeal, crawling down the side of the rock to get to the fish. It was such a new and exciting flavor.
Spike picked up a fish and bit into it. Living with Antioch was great. He was waited on claw-and-foot, and between Antioch going out and hunting, along with the deposits in her cave, he had access to all the fish and gems he could ever want. It was all enough to make him forget he hadn’t been brought here entirely by choice.
Spike was gulping down his fish when he heard an unpleasant noise he didn't want to hear right now: the sound of Twilight's voice.
“Spike! Spike!”
“Spike, where are you?”
“COME BACK, SPIKE!”
That last one had to be Pinkie Pie, Spike thought. And the second being Fluttershy was a good bet.
Spike crossed his arms and sulked, turning away from the fish.
“Spikey?” Antioch asked, worried when Spike stopped eating his fish. “What's wrong?”
“It's nothing.” Spike looked away from her.
Antioch made a worried coo. “Are you sure? I don't want you to be upset.”
“It's fine … ” Spike put a and on his hand and sighed. “Okay. Do you remember when I mentioned I didn’t know where my parents were?”
“Of course! How else could I have taken you in?” Antioch asked with a warm smile.
“Well… that wasn’t… entirely true. I do have a mom, more or less. A girl I live with who takes care of me.” Spike pinched his his head while Antioch looked at him in confusion. “ Okay... here's what happened.” Spike said. “There was this girl that I used to like. Or maybe still like. Honestly, I'm not sure. But she's seeing someone else now, and today, she found out I did something that upset her. A lot. And I didn't know what to do, so I tried to go find the girl I'm dating right now to ask her for advice. Except the girl I live with disapproves of me dating the girl I'm dating.”
“Oh, I know what you mean.”
“Yeah. So they were having a big fight when I got there, and after the girl I’m dating left, the girl who I live with yelled at me. Pretty harshly. She… she said some pretty mean and rude stuff.” Spike rubbed at one of his arms. “I couldn't take it anymore and didn't know what to do, so I ran away from home and into the forest. That's when you found me. And now they're looking for me.”
Antioch scratched her head. “I'm confused. If this girl is as rude as you make her sound, why would she even want to look for you?”
“Well...” Spike turned away again. “She may have yelled herself hoarse at me, but she does care for me. We've been through a lot together. And I know… she does what she does because she cares, but… it still kinda smarts, you know?”
“Spike? Spike!”
Spike looked to the cave entrance. Twilight Sparkle was standing at the cave's lip, with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie by her side.
“Girls, we found him!” Twilight shouted to the outside of the cave. “Spike!” Twilight exclaimed, galloping into the cave. “I'm so glad I found you!”
“Intruders!” Antioch yelled. Twilight Sparkle halted as Antioch reared up, opened her mouth, and took in a deep breath, getting ready to breathe fire on the invaders.
“Wait!” Spike ran in front of Antioch and held his claws up. “Stop! This is the girl I was talking about! Granted, I'm not too happy to see her again...” Spike shot Twilight a dirty glare over his shoulder, causing an awkward reaction from Twilight. “But that doesn't mean I want you to fry her! Let me have a chance to talk to her.”
Antioch calmed down. She lowered herself and blew out a puff of smoke. “Oh, all right. The last thing I want would be to upset you, Spikey.”
“Spikey?” Twilight wondered while Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie joined her now that the dragon seemed to pose little danger.
“It's a long story.” Spike said. “What are you doing here?”
“I came here to bring you home, Spike.” Twilight brought a hoof over her heart. “And to apologize. I'm sorry about what I said. I still think you're being immature and that dating Celestia isn't a good idea, but that isn't a license to be mean to you. I-I shouldn't have insulted you and called you stupid. I'm sorry, Spike. I crossed a line. Can you forgive me?”
Spike rubbed his chin, squinting at the ceiling. “I don’t knoooow… you let me have it pretty hard earlier,” he spoke in a teasing voice.
Twilight looked at him with concerned eyes, her eyebrows forming a triangular shape as she worried about Spike's willingness to forgive her.
“Okay, okay, sorry. Just had to get back at you there.” Spike saw the worry on her face and decided to quit dragging this ordeal out. “I guess I can forgive you.”
“You can? Oh, that's wonderful, Spike, thank you! So, will you come back home?”
“Whoa now. I didn’t say I’d do that. Sure, maybe I didn’t intend for this to happen... ” Spike shrugged. He climbed back up on his rock bed. “But I'm living with Antioch now, and she gives me all the fish and gems I could ever eat. I’ve got a comfy bed, and she could use her fire breath to keep me warm. Why would I want to leave?”
“Oh, really?” Twilight asked with a healthy bit of skepticism. She seemed to be taking the idea Spike would try to replace her with Antioch rather well. “So Antioch is your mother now?”
“Yeah, sure, I guess.” Spike said. “She's always wanted a child, and I'm not coming back to Ponyville with Rarity and you there to judge me.”
“Uh-huh.” Twilight nodded. Fluttershy's and Pinkie's faces grew worried, but Twilight acted as though she had the situation in complete control. “So tell me, Spike. Does Antioch know your favorite flavor of ice cream and cupcake?”
“Well… no,” Antioch admitted. “But I can learn!”
“That's just one thing.” Spike said.
“Sapphire sprinkle, if it helps,” Twilight said. “Does she know your birthday?”
Spike raised a finger to answer, to object, but Antioch spoke over him.
“Noooo…”
“She can learn that, too,” Spike said.
Twilight continued to needle him. “What about your favorite lullabies? Can she sing them at the exact notes, just the way you like them?”
“Well, uh… no, no she doesn’t. I mean, she doesn’t know the the lullabies, and I don’t know if she could sing them the way I like…”
Twilight bore a well-deserved smug grin for her expert handling and manipulation of the situation before pushing it aside. “Besides, Spike. Think about Princess Celestia. What about the sapphire sprinkle cupcakes Pinkie Pie bakes for you? Watching Rainbow Dash do tricks and helping Fluttershy with her animals? I know I hurt you, Spike, but it’s time to stop this game and come home.”
“Spike…” Antioch said. “She’s right, Spike. You don’t belong here.” Antioch rubbed the back of her head. “And I guess I was being rather silly and impulsive.”
Spike sighed and walked towards Twilight. “You’re right, Twilight. I’ll come home.”
“That’s my dragon. Come here.” Twilight wrapped a leg around him and pulled him into a hug.
“Yes.” Antioch said, watching them go. “You should go home, Spike…” She sniffed. “Even if it breaks my heart.” She turned to face away from them before bursting into tears.
Twilight and Spike grimaced, as neither of them were sure what to do.
Fluttershy did. Forgetting about her fear of dragons for a moment, Fluttershy flew up to Antioch and put some comforting hooves on Antioch's jaw. “Please don't cry.” Antioch stopped crying, if only to hear what Fluttershy had to say.
“I'm sorry, but Spike belongs with us.”
“I know. I can see that now...” Antioch nodded, sniffing before turning away. “Mother always did say I got attached too easily…”
“But don't worry.” Fluttershy patted the side of Antioch's jaw. “I can tell you've got a big heart with lots of love, and somewhere out there, there's a nice boy dragon just waiting for an amazing lady dragon like you to come into his life!”
Antioch sniffled. She wiped a tear from her eye. “You really think so?”
“I know so. All you have to do is be patient. Can you do that?”
Antioch smiled and nodded. “All right. I'll try.”
“Good.”
Fluttershy removed herself from Antioch. Fluttershy, Twilight, Spike and Pinkie waved her goodbye. Antioch waved goodbye to them before going further into her cave to rest. Twilight and the others departed the cave.
As they walked, Spike ran up to Twilight's side. “I'm… sorry about running away from home.” He rubbed the back of his head. “You know. Again.”
“Don't be.” Twilight said. “I shouldn't have said those things to you, Spike. I feel awful. I still feel terrible I called you stupid. I was too critical.”
“No,” Spike said. “I am deluding myself. You were right. I didn't think this “dating Celestia” thing through very well. I am… living in a fantasy. In love with an idea of Celestia in my head who's the perfect replacement for Rarity instead of the real Celestia. But no more. I intend to fix it. One of these days, I'll sit down and have a talk with her. A real talk. A serious talk. Like the one we're having now. And then we’ll… I’ll… no, we’ll decide if we want to call if off, or if we want to try to start again under better circumstances and see if maybe there’s a spark in there somewhere… ”
Twilight giggled. “It's good to hear you're starting to take this seriously. Congratulations, Spike. You're growing into a real stallion.”
“Yeah...” Spike blushed at Twilight's words.
Twilight stopped walking.
“I want you to be happy, Spike. But I also want you to be safe.”
“Yeah, well… hey. Rarity, um, found out about what happened. With, you know, Hayseed and I and the lying about the bouquet. Do you think she'll forgive me?”
Twilight wrapped a leg around him and pulled him close. “Why don't you go find out?” Twilight pointed to Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, coming to reunite with Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy after going searching for Spike.
Rarity saw Spike and stopped in her tracks. She grimaced, remembering what happened earlier today.
Spike gulped. Twilight released him, and he ran up to Rarity.
The two of them stood there, staring at each other.
Spike gulped again and prepared to speak.
“I'm sorry.”
“I know.”
Spike offered up his claw. “Friends?”
Rarity stared at his claw. She hesitated for a moment, but she put her hoof into Spike's palm and shook it, signifying her forgiveness and acceptance of his apology. “Friends.”
Night was falling over Canterlot. Stars could be seen outside the window.
Inside a room designated for the express purpose of giving her somewhere to read in peace, Celestia was holding some scrolls in front of her with her magic, reading over the proposals presented to her today by nobles.
A flash of white light filled the room, which surprised Celestia and made her lose her grip on the parchment. The golden glow of her magic faded from them and the scrolls dropped to the ground.
Discord appeared, curled in the windowsill, a heart-shaped box in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other. A miniature piano was hovering in the air above him.
“Hello, Discord,” Celestia said. “What a surprise.”
“Hello, Celestia,” Discord said.
“I must say, I wasn't expecting you.”
Discord rolled his eyes. “No pony ever is. Do you have a moment?”
“I don't know, Discord.” Celestia looked to the fallen scrolls on the floor. “I'm busy with some of these proposals and petitions.”
“Please?” Discord begged. “I'll just be a minute.”
Celestia regarded Discord. He had a great, wide smile and a look of hope in his eyes.
“Very well,” Celestia said.
“Excellent. Here, take this.” Discord handed Celestia the box. “And this.” He handed her the flowers. “And just sit back and relax.”
“This isn't some sort of scheme to take the Equestrian throne back from me, is it?” Celestia asked, regarding the flowers and box with suspicion. Discord might have put some kind of substance or oil on the flowers to hypnotize or knock her out, for instance.
“Oh no! Nothing of the sort.” Discord adjusted himself, grabbing the piano and re-positioning it to where he could play it. “Just a little something for my favorite Princess.”
“I'm your favorite, am I?” Celestia asked with a smirk.
“The one and only. Now, you just sit down, relax, and let me do all the work.” Discord used his magic to summon a top hat for him to wear and proceeded to play a tune on the piano, his claws running over the keys with a fiery speed.
Celestia sat on her haunches and enjoyed the show Discord was putting on for her. She used magic to lift the lid off the box and levitated out a chocolate from inside, popping it into her mouth before putting the lid back and pretending as if she had taken nothing from inside.
Discord continued to pound on the keys for a while, lifting his claws away from the piano for dramatic effect during intervals between notes. He played his tune from beginning to end, whereupon finishing, rather than simply teleport the piano away with a finger snap, he lifted it up and tossed the piano out the window, where the piano’s crashing, smashing keys played an out-of-tune funeral dirge for itself, with the musical accompaniment of an unfortunate, oddly conveniently-located cat yowling in pain.
Celestia gave Discord a stern glare.
“I'll clean that up,” Discord assured her. He took off his hat and bowed. “I hope you've enjoyed your entertainment for the evening, Princess. Well, I'm off!” Discord snapped his fingers and in a flash, he was wearing a janitor's outfit, complete with broom. In another flash, he was outside the window and went on a slow descent down to where his piano had landed.
Celestia turned away from the window. “Huh. How prodigiously odd of Discord.” It wasn't like him to stop by, play some music, and leave again without making a sarcastic comment or unreasonable demand.
Celestia looked again at the bouquet and box of chocolates in her hooves.
“Oh no.” Celestia groaned with realization. “No. I see what's going on here. Oh, Discord … why are you so stubborn?” Celestia placed the box of chocolates on a desk. “It didn't work then.”
Celestia threw the bouquet to the floor. She had half a mind to call a servant, give them some money, and have them buy and send a bouquet to Spike for little reason other than pure bitter-heartedness and trying to send Discord a spiteful message.
“It won't work now.”
Celestia brought her hoof down on the bouquet. Some of the petals on the flowers detached and flew off under the sudden pressure. Celestia grit her teeth, wanting to ground her hoof into the bouquet, to crush it and break all the stems of all the flowers inside. She sighed, unable to muster up the violent intent to do so. She picked up the only-partially ruined bouquet, lifted it to her muzzle and smelled the flowers. Letting out another sigh, Celestia placed the bouquet on the windowsill and turned to leave the room.
She doubled back to pick up the box of chocolates. One doesn’t let free chocolate go to waste, after all.