//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: The Path to Parenthood 
// by FictionFreek 
//------------------------------//

Standing on the balcony of her tower, Celestia gazed upon the sky, watching as the sun and moon switched places for the night. She could never grow weary of this, the moment she and her sister share each day, one no one else could experience. Looking over to her side she saw Luna waving at her from the other tower. “Sleep well, Tai!” she called out to her, Celestia returned the wave and responded in kind. 

“And you enjoy your night!” she said back before retreating to her bed chambers. In truth Celestia was no quite ready for bed yet, there was still some time before it got too late. After removing her regalia she turned her attention to the book shelf against her wall. Carefully reading the titles for something that may catch her interest.

There were many genres in her collection to choose from; from riveting crime stories, to scandalous love novels. While both were great for a read, tonight she was in the mood for something light hearted.  

“Ah-hah!” she said as she pulled out one book with her magic. “The Life and Times of a winning Human” read the title, it was a new one to her collection, one she had yet to start. A romantic comedy that had gained its fair share of attention during the human craze, one that she’s not ashamed to say she’s a part of.

Climbing in to bed Celestia tucked herself in and opened the book. Some quiet time while reading a good book was the perfect way to spend her time off. But before she could begin reading, something happened. Green flames began to materialize before her eyes as something seemed to be forming within it. When the flames the flames finally died out it was revealed to be a rolled up parchment which fell on to her book.

“Well now, what have we here?” she asked as she grabbed on to the parchment with her magic. It had been some time since she last received a letter in this manner, she could feel a slight warm of nostalgia as she unrolled it.  After reading what was written on it she raised a brow in curiosity. Not long after she removed herself from under her sheets and made her way towards the door. The book would have to wait until another night. 




The letter that Celestia received was short, all that was written was a simple request. That she make her way to a certain part of the castle. And after a short stroll through the halls she found herself standing just outside of it. “The castle library.” Celestia said to herself as she gazed upon the door. “Why would he ask me to meet him here?” she wondered. But she knew that she wouldn’t get the answers by standing outside of it. So with the use of her magic Celestia opened the door and stepped inside. 

The library seemed void of anypony else, even the librarian had turned in for the day and gone home. But still the lights remained on, enough to tell her that he was already waiting her for to arrive. But as she walked about, searching through the room, she found that something was odd “Where is he?” she wondered. Given his size she thought she’d have been able to spot him quickly, yet he was nowhere to be seen.

But then she heard something around the corner, the sound of something being knocked over. “Spike?” she called out as she walked towards the source of the sound. 

“Over here.” Celestia paused, that was indeed Spikes voice, but there was something odd about it. It wasn’t the voice that she remembered him having, at least, not in recent years. As she rounded the corner she turned tilted her head slightly. Spike was large enough that even she needed to look up in order to look him in the eye. Yet to her confusion, she found that there was no one there. 

“Spike, where are you?” she asked as she looked around. 

“Down here…” doing just so, Celestia tilted her head downwards, enough that she was now looking at the ground. And there she spotted him, looking back up at her stood Spike, currently at about two feet tall. The two simply stared at one another in silence for a short period of time, eventually though Celestia managed to say a single word.

“Discord?”

“Discord.” Spike said with a confirming nod. With a small sigh, Celestia used her magic to pick Spike up off the floor and on to her back. 

“You two didn’t start another prank war, did you?” she asked him.  

“No, not this time.” Said Spike “I actually asked him to do this.” Celestia arched a brow at this “Well, technically I asked him to make me small enough to move freely within the library. But as you can guess, he too some liberties.” He clarified. That answered the question about his size, but another was still left unanswered. 

“But why did you go to such a length to see me in the library?” She asked him.

“Because there’s something here that I need.” He said. 

“And what’s that?” 

“A book from Twilight’s archive.” The room fell silent, now it all made sense to her. Why Spike had himself shrunk, and why he waited until after the library was closed to ask to see her. “I know that after she passed, you collected all her books and put them in safe storage. There’s a book in that collection that I need to find, so I wanted to ask for your permission.” When Spike was finished, Celestia offered him a smile. 

“You are as entitled to those books as she was, Spike. You’ll never need my permission to see them.” She said as she nuzzled him. “Come, I’ll take you to them.” Turning her head to face forward, Celestia made her way deeper into the library. She didn’t stop until she reach the far back, just in front of two large book shelves. Casting her magic the two shelves began to glow, until the sound of a latch coming undone could be heard.

The two shelves then began to move, moving back, then opening towards the sides revealing another room. On the ceiling a chandelier turned on illuminating it; it was a small room, just big enough to house all of the books inside. “Here we are.” Said Celestia as she placed him on the floor. 

Spike scanned the room, each of the book within them were in pristine condition, not a speck of dust to be found. Given how old most of them were it was a surprise to see, Celestia did everything she could to care for them. He’d been a part in the creations of some of these books, so Spike needed could take them apart as a single glance. Eventually his eyes came to rest on one of them, a single book that rested on the top of the shelf. 

With the use of a step ladder Spike climbed up to the book and retrieved it. Once he was back on the ground Spike held out the book and read the title. “A Dracony Study, by Twilight Sparkle.” A slight stinging sensation filled Spikes eyes as he thought back to when this book was first written. But he fought them back, and with a deep breath he turned his attention back to Celestia. 

“Thank you.”




After Spike retrieved the book, he and Celestia retreated back into the main library. Taking a seat by one of the desks, Celestia watched as Spike skimmed through the pages. “This is the book Twilight started, after Claire was born correct?” she asked. 

“Yeah,” said Spike “Before Claire was born, no one even knew that a hybrid like her was even possible. So after she was born there were so many questions, what would she eat, how fast or slow would she age, and many more without answers. So Twilight set out to try to answer as many of them as she could.” Spike continued to flip through the pages, until he reach a blank one. Closing his eyes Spike let out a small sigh and close the book again. 

“But she never finished it.” Said Celestia, summing up Spikes story. 

“Yeah…” said Spike “I hadn’t thought about this book in years. But when Claire told us about her pregnancy it was all I could think about. I saw it as a chance, to maybe be able to get closer to finishing this…for her.” The stinging in Spikes eyes grew a little more, a single tear managing to escape and run down his cheek. 

With a napkin in her hoof, Celestia wiped the tear off of Spikes face. “A kind gesture, from her favorite assistant.” She told him, a smile on across her lips. 

“Thanks,” said Spike as he returned the smile “Problem is things are different than when Claire was a child. She’s not too open about giving away any private information like this. I’m just not sure how I could convince her to go through it this.” He admitted with a small sigh. Both went quiet for a moment, neither quite knowing how to answer it. 

“You could try asking,” at the sound of the voice, Celestia and Spike turned their heads. Standing not too far away from them stood the very mare they were speaking of, Claire. 

“Claire,” said Celestia “What brings you here?” she asked. 

“Couldn’t sleep,” she said with a shrug “Decided to go for a walk around the castle when I heard some voices.” Walking up to the table, Claire’s eyes were locked on to the book. “May I?” she asked motioning towards it. With a nod Spike handed the book over to her, and watched as she scanned through the pages. As she read through it, a small feeling of nostalgia swelled up inside of her. 

“I can still remember the days when I’d help her add to this book. Back then it never felt like an experiment, she always went out of her way to make it feel like a game. From having me run with her to see how much stamina I had, to letting me tear something up with my claws to test how sharp they were. There was never a time when I didn’t find myself giggling none stop. It was most likely some of the most fun I’d ever had as a child.”

“But as I got older we ended up spending less time on the book, because there weren’t as many questions that needed answers. And you were right, there were some that I just didn’t feel comfortable answering. I guess eventually Aunt Twilight shelved the book, hoping that she could get back to it someday.” Claire closed the book again and stared at the title, a small look of shame in her eyes. 

“Guess that day never came…” she added. 

“Don’t be too hard on yourself.” Said Spike “She never had any intention of making you do anything you weren’t comfortable with when she started the book. You helped her with a lot more than she could have imagined, and she was thankful for that.” Despite his current size Spike still managed to pull in his daughter for a comforting hug. 

“Thanks dad.” Said Claire as she returned the hug. “But still, this book meant a lot to her, and to me as well, there are a lot of good memories in these pages. She always used to tell me, ‘Once you start a book, you have to finish it.’ And this book is far from finished.” She said placing it back on the table. 

“But not for long.” She said with a stern expression “I’ll read thought it again, refresh my memory on what it’s missing. Then I’ll start filling in those blanks whenever I find the answers myself. I can already think of a few that I can add to it.” Closing her eyes Claire placed her claws on her stomach. There wasn’t any bump, not yet, but she knew that she would gain one in time, as it grew. 

“And as the months pass by, I know I’ll have more.”