//------------------------------// // 1. Friend, Foe, Fan // Story: Sunny, Moonie, Twily // by Jetto //------------------------------// Spike sighed deeply. On one hand (he was the only creature in the entire Canterlot allowed to use that term legally) the end of exam period in Celestia's Academy for Talented Unicorns was a calmer time. One where students allow themselves a little rest, go back home for a day or two, hang out, stay in their rooms and play tabletop games and in general be in every place other than library. That meant peace, quiet and not much work for at least one week. But it also meant something else. Returns. All the books previously used for studying, all few hundred of them, were back since yesterday evening, after his shift was over. And no employee of the library ever dirtied their hooves (or horns, since they were all unicorns) with physical labor. That's what they had Spike for. The only tamed dragon in entire Equestria, the only one that didn't want to burn and destroy cities and menace the population, and they used him as a librarian. And no, being the only creature with opposable thumbs was not a strong enough argument when your boss was using magic all the time. He had nothing against Mrs. Bookmark (other than hushing him when he's humming at work), but that lady could cut him some slack and sort those books herself. He often wondered how this library operated before he was born. Sighing, he fully knew that complaining in his own mind wouldn't solve the problem of a giant wall of books at least thrice his size and many more times as wide. He stretched his hands and walked toward the pile, grabbing the first book and heading over to the moving ladder to replace it on the top of the shelf. The existance of the ladder in itself was questionable, considering that, again, everypony here was using magic. And not just street level magic, but academic level magic, given what this place was. But at the same time he was grateful it was here; making his job easier, or even possible in some instances. Where (or why) they got a ladder older than himself was a mystery he was unable to solve. His rant was stopped when something covered his eyes from behind. "Guess who?" Purple hoof, familiar voice, a friendly, big sisterly aura. "Princess Celestia?" "Close." Twilight Sparkle snorted, removing her hoof and giving her little friend a gentle nuzzle-hug. "How's my favourite junior librarian doing today?" As the pair unhugged, Spike hummed, placing one finger at his chin. "Oh, I don't know. I could ask him for you?" "Spike, I meant you." She deadpanned, but he ignored her and turned to his side. "Hey Spike, Twilight wants to know how you're doing." he stepped back and turned one eighty. "I'm good. Tell her I said hi and thanks." He went back to the original position and faced Twilight. "He's alright and thanks for asking." He announced with a playful smile. Twilight rolled her eyes and shook her head, as if stopping herself from saying "kids". "So, another dozen books for your studies?" He asked, all too well aware that Twilight contributed to his pile of work more than any other student. "Nah, I just wanted to see how you're doing." She answered, then muttered to herself. "And I was just informed, so that's done. But now that I'm here..." She hummed and looked around the bookshelves surrounding her. "I think I'll pick some light reading while I'm on it. Got the latest copy of Metaphysical Theories of Kharmatic Thaumaturgy vol III?" She asked with a happy grin. Spike blinked and pointed at one of the shelves. "Try under M." "Sweet, thanks! Be right back!" She happily trotted, huming happily along the way. Until Mrs. Bookmark hushed her, after that she was just trotting happily if silently. Spike shook his head as he watched her walk away. As the years passed she got taller and older, but deep inside this was still the exact same filly he met when he was born. As he went back to climbing the ladder to reshelf the books, he pondered on his surrogate sister's life. A lot of ponies said that she needed to get some friends, but he knew better. She needed DIFFERENT friends, and more of them if that could be done. It didn't help that he could count all her closest friends on his hand (and he only had four fingers). And that's counting himself and Shining Armor. But the other two were all problems. He still wondered how a sweet, nice, smart filly like Twilight was friends with the likes of... "Yo!" Spike yelped and jumped as he heard the mare's voice. And being on the ladder meant he had to sacrifice both his grabby hands to hold onto it and not fall to his death (or at least some bruises), which meant the books fell without him. There was no thud or crash as they all stopped midair, held by a light-red magical aura of the flame-maned unicorn. His eyes narrowed as he looked deep into her bemused eyes. "Sunset Shimmer." "Spike." The two glared at each other in silence for a few more seconds. Slowly, Spike regained his hold at the ladder and carefully got down, while Sunset Shimmer gently put the floating books at the nearby table. Once down, he faced her with crossed arms. "What do you want?" "Geez, I wonder?" She rolled her eyes. "I'm a student, this is a library and you work here. What DO I want?" Spike groaned and rubbed his temple. "Which one?" "Summoning Demons and Fairies: Differences and Warnings." "Try under..." "I tried under S. And D. And F. And under new releases. And yes, I asked Mrs. Bookmark and somepony just returned it recently. I had literally no other choice but ask you." He had to give her credit- as much as they hated every fiber of each other (don't ask them for the reasons, there are none), she made a clear, conscious effort to stay away from him whenever possible. He respected that and tried to repay her with the same treatment, to the point where they had to learn to share Twilight's time between one another so there wouldn't be any overlap. Just to get her over with, he went towards the pile and started sifting through all the books as quickly as possible, Sunset joining him in telekinetically sorting one by one. All in all, Sunset was the least of his worries when it came to Twilight's social life. She wasn't nearly as bad as... ...wait. "Hold on," Spike stopped and looked at Sunset with terrified gaze "if you and Twilight are here... does that mean...?" His scales went numb as shivers went down his spine. He swallowed and looked around himself, sensing a predators' gaze. He knew it was there. He knew it could smell his fear and would not hesitate to attack any second now. He looked everywhere for a cover, but not even a fort made of books would save him right now. He was desperate. "S-sunset, hide me!" Very desperate, as he knelt down before the mare still occupied with sifting through the books. "If I knew how, I would've done it myself long ago. You're on your own." Tears appeared in Spike's eyes. "T-traitor!" Sunset shrugged, not even looking in his direction. "When was I ever on your side?" The dragon stopped and raised a finger. "W-well... shoot, that's a good point!" The shivers went through him again. The terrifying presence was getting closer. "SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKEEEEEEEEEEEYYYY---" He looked left. He looked right. Up. Down. Behind. Nowhere to hide, nowhere to run. "---WIIIIIIIIIIKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYY!!" He opened his mouth to try and scream in terror or to call for help, but it was too late. SLAM! The white blur slammed into the purple dragon, sending them both past Sunset Shimmer (who made a single step to avoid getting hit as well) and right into the giant pile of books, scattering them all around and destroying what little order there was. Sunset caught a book that flew at her face. She nodded as she noticed the title. "Found it!" She happily announced. She squinted as she heard cracking noises from under the pile. The little purple dragon's hand emerged from under the pile, struggling to get himself away from the embrace of two surprisingly mighty hooves of a red with purpled highlights maned unicorn mare. One of the reasons why Spike tolerated Sunset Shimmer was that at least the firey-maned one didn't try to snuggle him to death everytime they met. Moondancer however... "There's my Spikey-Wikey-Dikey! Come and give me a hug, you little cutie-pie!" She said, as she proceed to (unintentionally?) crush his bones with a powerful embrace. Spike tried to waggle his hands out and kick around in hopes it would weaken her. He even tried to breath some fire to burn her hooves, but he barely had enough air to survive, let alone fight back. "H-h-help!" "Who's the cutest dwagon-wagon? You are!" "C-can't... b-b-reathe..." "You're so cute I could cuddle you all day, every day!" "N-n-nooo!" Sunset looked up from her book and shook her head. What she saw was pretty funny... the first twenty times. Now it was getting old, but she didn't feel like interrupting. It was either him or her. She symphatized with him, but she had her own safety to worry about. It was a pure survival instinct. When all hope was lost and Spike had given up and accepted his cruel fate... BLINK! He fell down on the ground with a weak thud. As he took a long awaited breath, he looked up to see Moondancer, as surprised as he was, at a safe distance from him, floating in the air, surrounded by a bubble of an unmistakable, purple aura. His eyes teared as he noticed the familiar purple unicorn walking by, effortlessly using her magic to contain both Moondancer away from him and levitate a thick book. "T-Twilight!" Spike cried as he ran towards his savior, embracing her in a hug. "I was so scared!" Twilight delicately patted his head. "There, there, it's alright now." She reassured him, then turned toward her trapped friend. "Moondancer, what did I tell you about cuddling Spike?" Moondancer crossed her hooves and looked away, pouting. "I can't help it! He's so soft and cuddly!" "He has scales!" Said Sunset Shimmer. "Eh, I'm not judging." She shrugged and went back to pouting. "Ekhem!" All four looked at a middle aged mare with glasses, staring flaming daggers at them. "Umm..." Twilight smiled sheepish "...hello Mrs. Bookmark..." The next few hours were spent by the trio (and Spike) sitting quietly on a bench labeled "I was loud in a library". And no, they were not given any books to pass the time, which drove Twilight to near madness, as she kept quietly muttering 'misbehaved' to herself. Moondancer was no more happy, since she sat rightmost, while Spike was on the opposite end. "I didn't even do anything!" Sunset tried to protest, but was promptly hushed by the librarian instantly. And Spike? Lying on the chair, legs on the table and hands supporting back of his head, he was okay with it.