//------------------------------// // Opening Up // Story: Adoption: Spot // by Bluetree650 //------------------------------// Chapter 1: Opening Up The day outside was cool with a light breeze to the north, but inside the crystal palace, everything was on fire. A pegasus colt, about seven years old with white fur and red spots on his wings, ran around the now illuminated basement, fire burning through his red mane. “Help! I’m on flipping fire! Mom!!” He screamed “Spot, hold still,” a sharp voice shouted. Spot did as he was told, body shaking and heart quaking, he waited for his mother to do… something. Eventually there was an oomph sound and he found himself covered in flour. “At least the fire’s out?” Twilight said. Twilight Sparkle, purple alicorn mare and Princess Celestia’s golden girl, did everything to advance her knowledge of magic, science, botany, cooking (failing that one) and a number of other topics. Spot blew a puff of air, spitting out a cloud of flour. His white coat turned, well white, and the other, smaller burns sung a chorus of pain all around his body. “Are we done with experiments, mom? I think my body’s taken enough of a beating.” “Oh come on Spot, I thought you were having fun with that one, and I almost turned the tomato into a butternut squash. That’s cool, right?” “Mom! Everytime I am a part of your crazy experiments, I get hurt somehow. I mean, I had black fur at one point, remember?” Twilight flew down to her son’s level, “Yeah, but think of the memories,” she breathed heavily and had a nervous twitch in one of her eyes. That was typically a sign things were about to go from hectic to dangerous. “I mean, we’ll look back on this in a few years and laugh our pants off.” “Mom, we don’t wear pants outside of formal occasions,” Celestia knows Rarity tried to get us to wear them every waking moment. “But,” as if to show she knew how bad she had messed up, Twilight put a hoof to her mouth and started nervously biting her fetlock, “I’m trying my best to make your time with me fun. My books all say that the best way to bond with your child is to do fun things. What’s more fun than blowing things up?” her eyes went wide and she added, “in the name of science, of coarse.” Okay, Spot had to admit that blowing things up was pretty fun, “but only when I’m not being blown up, or getting my coat color changed. It was so much easier to sneak out and see Chrysanthemum with a black coat.” “You still haven’t tied the knot with her?” Twilight’s eyes went half lidded and she gave a kissy face, being certain to make smooching sounds. Spot looked up to the top of the stairs and saw Spike, the local baby dragon, holding a piece of parchment, using it to cover his snickers. He blushed. “Mom, please. Don’t change the subject. I do enjoy spending time with you, but,” he couldn’t finish his sentence. Twilight was actually starting to tear up. “You don’t want to be my son anymore?” “What– No– Mom, stop being so dramatic! I’ve lived with you for two months now and if I wanted to go back to the orphanage I’d have done it already,” Spot decided a little affection was needed. He walked up and hugged Twilight’s left front leg, “Mom, I love you, truly. Sure, you’re a pony that sometimes sets my head on fire, but you have good intentions. That and a giant heart.” “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” Spike shouted, jumping up and down with a camera in his sticky claws, “I want proof that Spot can deal with Twilight at her worst, now kiss!” “How about a nuzzle,” Twilight said. She wiped her tears with a forehoof. “That works,” Spike shouted from above Twilight nuzzled the top of her son’s head, getting a slight groan from the colt, while Spike took the picture of a lifetime, rolled it up in his parchment and blew green magical fire. The resulting flames were whisked through an open window. “Celestia’s going to love that piece of art, I swear!” “You know Spike,” Twilight said, letting Spot get back on all four hooves, “I don’t think Celestia is actually paying you to document Spot’s life story.” “Do you think she would? Maybe I could buy a few gems of my own, oh and I could – wait, Rarity doesn’t eat gems.” Twilight sighed, “No that’s not what I–” “Hey! I told you to stop going after Rarity, Spike,” Spot shouted rushing up the spiral stairs. He glared at the baby dragon, one that could easily set him ablaze once more, “she’s a mother and Chrysanthemum doesn’t need that kind of influence. She’s frail!” There was a pop and Twilight appeared behind him, pulling his tail with a bit of magic, “are you sure you don’t want me to set up a play date for the two of you? The way you care about Chrysanthemum is a bit much for ‘just friends’”   “No mom, I–” Spot went silent, getting a worried look from Twilight. He shoved Spike aside and went up the rest of the stairs. “What’s got him in a tissy?” Spike said, hiding his fear well, “I thought he loved hanging out with Chrysanthemum. The two are closer than the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” “Blazing Spotlight,” Twilight yelled, “you come back her and apologize to Spike!” There was no response, only more loud yelling followed by hooves slamming against the stairs. Spike gave Twilight a nervous look, only to have it replicated. Spot never ignored his mother. No matter how mad he got, Twilight could always rein him in by using his full name. “Spot?” Twilight set Spike down on solid ground and headed after him. “If it’s about the coat color, I can buy you some dye!” Through the three blast doors, (She never took any chances with her experiments), and up the second flight of wood stairs, Twilight made her way to the ground floor of her castle. That was where all the books lay in wait, a maze of mysteries, science fiction, horror and romance stories ripe for the picking. She checked the kitchen, got an aerial view of the library, even looked outside for a full minute before heading upstairs. She wouldn’t notice the mess of books that Spot had thrown to the ground until later. Pressing her ear to the opaque glass door that held Spot’s room, Twilight listened. She heard crying. “Spot?” Worry crept through her voice like rain through a cracked wall. Opening the door was easier than she thought. He tended to lock it whenever he got mad. “Spot, what’s wrong? If it’s the teasing, I’ll stop.” Spot sat on his twin sized bed. Twilight had offered to get him a king of his own, but he wanted the twin, more comfortable that way as he says.  His room was sparkling clean, as usual, but it felt dirty, like Twilight caught him, experimenting with his special parts. That isn’t for another few years, Twilight thought as she moved through the doorway, past his desk and sat next to him on the bed. She used her hoof to wipe away the few tears that made their way down his cheeks. “Spot,” her words were soft and caring. Spot leaned against her chest, “what’s the matter?” “Did you adopt me so I could be your test subject?” The colts words shook, but he’d stopped crying. “Day in and day out I see you watching me. You say I can explore as much as I want, talk to whoever I want, but you’re always there, with a clipboard.” “What, no, of course not,” Twilight was frantic. Why would her son think such a thing? He had asked to stop the experiments, that he didn’t like getting hurt, but Twilight pushed him, giving her usual speech on the memories they’d make together. Maybe she had pushed a little too hard? Maybe she should have stopped a while ago? “Spot, you’re my son, I adopted you because I saw something special in you. Something I wanted to nurture, so you can grow into the leader I know you can be.” “Then why do you watch my every move? Mom, you treat me like a two year old.” Twilight smiled, “That just comes with the territory, my son. I’m a mare of science, and you’re the son of a mare of science. Everything you do will be recorded for future reference. Every fight you get into, every kiss you have. All to further my understanding of children!” Twilight noticed how Spot tensed up. Her previous logs and books said that a child only tensed when he or she felt threatened. “How about this. I’ll make your room a safe haven. I will never record your actions here, and I’ll even drop the number of experiments per week. Let’s say, two instead of five. That sound fair?” Spot relaxed, which was a good sign. He even chuckled, which was better. “There’s the heart I knew you had Mom,” he said with no sarcasm in his voice. Twilight silently patted herself on the back as another bomb was defused. “You know,” he pulled himself off Twilight’s chest and looked her in the eye, “I don’t think I’ve told you about my other mother.” Twilight’s ears twitched. Give your colt some leeway and he’ll trust you more. When he trusts you more he will tell you more about himself. She internally jumped for joy. “Your other mom? You never told me about another mom?” Spot sat up and pushed away from his mother’s grasp. He moved over to his pillow, wrapped in a plain blue case, and stuck his hoof underneath. “I guess that means I can take your word on keeping my room a safe haven then,” pulling his hoof back, he revealed a picture, “her name was Cloudy Melody. This is her holding me when I was a few months old.” Twilight scooted over, the sun just strong enough to reveal a blue pegasus mare brightly smiling as she held a sleeping colt with black fur. “Wow, your other mother was beautiful.” Spot sniffed. “I know, she was kind and loving, and taught me to understand everything,” he looked up at Twilight, who once again wiped his tears away, this time getting a laugh in return, “she told me that there’s always more than one side to every story. That I need to try my best to look at things from other perspectives. That’s why I didn’t scream at you about the experiments, mom, because I knew you’d be hurt by that. I don’t want to hurt you, just let you know how I feel.” “And I’m sorry about forcing too much upon you,” Twilight rubbed her son’s shoulders, “here, this isn’t something you should hide away,” she levitated the tape from Spot’s desk, “this is something to be put on display and admired,” with two small strips of tape, Twilight stuck the picture just above Spot’s bed, “now every night before you go to bed you can say goodnight to her.” Spot sniffed again. He waited for Twilight to finish taping the picture before getting up and looking at the final product. Silence filled the room as he just looked at Cloudy Melody’s face. He pressed his forehead against the wall, “she killed herself.” Twilight gasped, “what?” Spot started to tremble, “she jumped off a cliff in the middle of the night. I never learned why. I went to the orphanage the very next day!” he moved back and fell into Twilight’s lap, shuddering as arms enfolded around him. “You aren’t going to jump off a cliff too, right?” Twilight wanted to crack a joke, say it wasn’t in her plans, but that felt deathly wrong. Rubbing his back, she said in her most serious tone, “never, I would never hurt you like that,”