"Waah! I overslept!"
Spike made a mad dash down the stairs, nearly stumbling over his own feet as he did. Twilight Sparkle was far from the tyrannical type, but the last thing he wanted to do was come off as lazy. He was a hard worker when he wanted to be, and he wanted to make sure that was recognized.
"I know it's already ten, but I'm scaly-tailed and bright-eyed and ready to work twice as fast!" Spike said hurriedly as he arrived downstairs. "Oh please, don't be upset, Twilight! And what do you want for breakfast? Oatmeal? How about a sunflower smoothie? Grass pancakes?" Spike was not above trying to butter Twilight up to save his hide.
"Spike, don't worry," Twilight said. Her voice was the definition of calm, and if Spike didn't know better, he would have figured that her even voice was just a facade to hide her disappointment. It still had the potential to be the calm before the storm.
"But my morning chores..." Spike started.
"It's okay," Twilight said. "Owlowiscious did them for you."
Spike tilted his head. That combination of words did not make sense to him. Especially that one word.
"Who?" Spike asked.
"He's our new junior assistant," Twilight explained. "He's gonna help out with your chores so you won't be so tired all the time."
"Wha..." Spike stammered. "Wh...What do we need a junior assistant for? I'm not tired. I do fine on my own. I don't need sleep, I..." The baby dragon was in panic mode, seeing his position and his future flashing before his eyes.
"Spike, don't worry," Twilight reassured him. "He's just here to help out a little. Now, I have to go out, so why don't you introduce yourself to Owlowiscious? He's in the library." She smiled serenely as she headed off for her studies, confident that Spike would understand.
"Worried?" Spike asked loudly. "Do I look worried? I'm not worried. Who's worried?" His sweating and stammering certainly spoke the opposite.
Twilight, meanwhile, sat down to read. She had a fair amount of studying to do, and with Spike meeting his new junior assistant, she had all the free alone time she could want.
"Do you seriously think everything's fine?"
Twilight sighed as she turned to look at Sugarcoat. She had practically forgotten that she was staying there.
"What do you mean, Sugarcoat?" Twilight asked calmly.
"You're telling me you didn't hear the way Spike was talking?" Sugarcoat asked. "He clearly thinks you're replacing him."
"He's fine," Twilight said. "Spike is a smart baby dragon. He'll understand what's going on."
"Baby dragon," Sugarcoat stated. "You expect him to be completely mature about everything? Let me put this in perspective for you. Imagine you're a kid and you're doing lots of things to make yourself useful to your mom who you idolize. Then suddenly she has another daughter. Now there's another pony running around with the same title as you. Yeah, if your brain is mature, you'll understand that you can both exist together, if you're a little kid, though, you're gonna think your parents are replacing you."
"B-but he said..." Twilight tried to interject.
"And then when you're in front of your mom," Sugarcoat continued. "You'll say everything's fine, because the other daughter isn't complaining, and if you're complaining and she's not, then obviously she'll look like the better one to keep around. This making sense to you yet?"
Twilight sat, motionless, no longer even trying to look at her book. She looked straight at Sugarcoat, mouth hanging open.
"So are you going to go reassure him?" Sugarcoat asked.
"I am," Twilight said softly.
"Good," Sugarcoat said, getting up to head out. "Sometimes I think you're all looks and no brains." Then she exited the room without another word. Twilight's jaw fell open.
"...She thinks I'm all looks?" Twilight asked nopony in particular, a light blush appearing on her cheeks.