Start the Machine Pt. 2
Spike and Derpy strolled into Dinky’s room where Nurse Red heart was picking up some leftover dishes from breakfast that morning. The filly, though, was fast asleep, curled into a tight ball beneath the covers.
“Oh, hello you two,” Redheart said, giving the two a brief wave. “I take it you're here to get Dinky up for the show?”
Derpy nodded. “Uh huh, yes ma'am. Is she feeling okay? She's normally storming out of the room to get to recess.”
Nurse Redheart shook her head. “She’s fine, but she had a rough night last night. Couldn’t get her to sleep for the life of me. She stayed up until about three or four in the morning or so the doctor’s tell me. So, she’s been sleeping the whole day away so far.”
Spike frowned. “Oh, that’s too bad. I imagine she's pretty sleepy, huh?”
“Do you think she’s too tired to come see the show?” Derpy asked.
“I'm not sure, but you could try waking her up,” Redheart said with a shrug. “Good luck, though. She nearly bit my head off when I tried to get her up for breakfast. For being so cute, she can be a real grouch at times.”
Derpy chuckled and walked over to her sleeping sister. “It’s okay, nurse, I have experience with this kind of thing.”
She gently stroked her her sister’s mane causing a smile to appear on the small filly’s face. Dinky wrestled underneath the covers and slightly cracked her eyes open before promptly shutting them and burrowing back into her pillow and blankets.
“Mmm, go away,” she whimpered. “I’m sleeping.”
Derpy rolled her eyes and nudged her a bit harder. “Hey, it's your sister. You gonna wake up today, Dinky? We’ve got a special surprise for recess. You might be missing out on a lot of fun.”
Dinky shook her head and let out a small moan. “Mmm, I don’t feel good. I wanna stay in bed.” She waved her sister away with her hoof and snuggled into the covers.
Derpy frowned and let out a sigh. “Are you sure?”
The filly pulled the covers up over her head and a few snores could be heard emanating from the blankets. That was all the answer she needed.
Derpy moved back from the bed with her head drooped. “Well, I guess she’s gonna miss the show. Too bad, especially after all the hard work you did, Spike. I'm sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Spike said. “There’ll be plenty of other fun things we can plan out again. Besides, if she’s not feeling well, she probably wouldn’t have had much fun anyway.” He looked at her face as she clearly attempted to mask a frown. She needed a distraction from all this drama going on in her life. If he could help it, he'd at least try and give her a distraction today.
“Yeah, well,” Derpy began, slowly lifting her head up, “I guess you might be right.”
Nurse Redheart approached her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I understand, hun. But don’t worry, I promise she’s okay, just sleepy. We’ll let you know if anything changes.”
The blonde maned mare nodded and put on her best smile. “Thanks, Nurse. I really appreciate that.”
“Now, in the meantime,” she replied with a smile, “I do believe you two have a magic show to enjoy with the rest of the kids. Celestia knows we could use some more fun around here.”
Spike walked over to Derpy and reached out a claw. “She’s right. I promise I’ll find a way to make it up to your sister. We’ll think of something together if we have to. But, for right now, let’s go check out the show and have some fun. Does that sound good?”
Derpy looked at his outstretched claw for a brief moment before latching onto it with her hoof. “Yeah, let’s go.”
The two walked out of the room, claw in hoof, down the hall, Spike leading the way for the downtrodden mare beside him. The dragon could feel a small ache in his heart trying to think about what kind of things she must be going through in her head. He had never been in a situation like hers, but it couldn't be fun. On one hoof, he wanted to say something that might make her feel better, but on the other he had no idea where to start. He had a history of his mouth getting him in trouble before, so had to choose his words wisely.
“So, you ready to see the somewhat great and not even remotely powerful Trixie?” Spike spoke up, finally breaking the silence. He had a small chuckle within his words.
Derpy cracked a smile and looked at him. “I guess so. I’ve heard great things about her shows, even though I don’t have the most positive of experiences with her.”
Spike shrugged. “Yeah, well, she’s honestly a good performer. Just needs to check her ego at the door sometimes. Her head can get so big sometimes, I'm pretty sure it could pick up radio transmissions.”
The two made their way back through halls to the main room once again. Many of the children were already there and had found seats amidst the bean bag cushions on the ground and various chairs that were strewn about. At the forefront of all the action, though, Trixie was standing by the stage, a cocky grin adorning her face.
“Guess we better find seats,” Spike whispered to Derpy. “We can sit over here.”
Spike led her to two chairs near the back. He had wanted to sit near Twilight and Starlight, but all the seats near them were occupied with various children who were adorning faces of astonishment.
“Wow, Twilight sure is popular, huh?” Derpy whispered over to Spike once they had taken their seats. “I mean, she is the Princess, I guess, so it makes sense.”
“Yeah, being a Princess will do that to you. It pretty much gives her instant cool points. I figured the kids would like getting to see her.” Spike couldn't help but smile as he watched Twilight surrounded by all the children. It was great to see her out and about again, like old times.
Derpy was about to mention something else to the dragon but was cut off by a bright flash of light from the front of the room. All the children in attendance had their jaws on the floor as the flash subsided revealing Trixie.
“Greetings, one and all!” she exclaimed, bowing very briefly. “The Great and Powerful Trixie welcomes all in attendance to the following presentation which will not only stand to amaze you but which will challenge your very perception of reality!”
As all the children let out their little gasps and oohs and aahs, Spike couldn’t help but snicker and roll his eyes.
“She definitely has the presentation aspect nailed down”, he whispered to Derpy.
“Yeah, no kidding,” she whispered back, focused on the stage.
Trixie twirled in a quick circle, magical sparks escaping into the air. Upon finishing the spin, she was holding a bouquet of bright flowers, which she promptly handed to a nurse. “Please, see these reach the lovely members of my audience.”
The nurse chuckled and took them. “I’ll hand them out after the show.”
“Very good,” Trixie said. “Now, for the first trick, I must pose a question to you all.”
The fillies and foals all stared up at her.
The blue mare cleared her throat and looked over her audience with a mysterious look. “How many of you have ever seen a pony disappear before your very eyes?”
The show went on for the next thirty or so minutes, featuring everything from basic card tricks to full-on disappearing magic, causing some of the foals to question the meaning of existence. The show ended with an eruption of applause and hoof stomps and many, many smiling audience members.
“Thank you, thank you, no need for applause,” Trixie said, taking a bow. “But I won’t argue against it.”
Spike once again rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but smile as he and Derpy clapped.
“Wow, that was awesome!” Derpy said. “Like, I’ve seen magic and stuff before, but that was just really fun!”
Spike nodded. “Yeah, I give her grief all the time, but she’s actually a great performer. If only she could stay out of trouble, though.”
“Alright, everypony,” one of the nurses spoke up, addressing all the children. “That was fun, wasn’t it?”
She was met with a barrage of agreements from all the kids.
“Now, I’m sorry, but it’s time to go back to your rooms,” she continued. “Why don’t you say thank you to Trixie for coming today and then follow Nurse Redheart, alright?”
One by one, the kids walked up to Trixie, gave her a cute remark of thanks then formed a line back to their rooms, eventually leaving just the adults in the room left.
Twilight walked over to Trixie. “Well, I’ve gotta give it to you, Trixie. You put on a really good show. It was a lot of fun.”
Trixie flipped her mane in dramatic fashion. “Oh, my dear Twilight, when will you learn? Trixie is positively incapable of putting on a poor performance. I was never taught how to fail.”
“Hey, keep yourself in check,” Starlight reprimanded her with a small grin. “Remember our talk about accepting compliments?”
“Hmph, fine,” Trixie stated. “Thank you, Twilight. I appreciate the thought.”
“That’s better,” Starlight said with a wink. “Now, let’s get this place cleaned up. And this time, you can help.”
Trixie let out a breathy sigh. “Fine, Trixie will help. But she won’t be happy about it.”
“Oh, be quiet and just help me take down this stage.”
Twilight stifled a chuckle and made her way over to Spike and Derpy. “So, thanks for inviting me out here, Spike.”
“You see, Twi?” Spike said. “I told you that you’d have fun.”
“I did,” she said with a smile. “What about you, Derpy?”
She nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, Princess. It was a lot of fun!”
Twilight rubbed her chin for a moment. “Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don’t recall seeing Dinky here for the show. She’s the little gray one, right?”
Derpy shook her head. “Yeah, she wasn’t feeling too good and had to miss the show.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
“Yeah, but, I’ll think of a way to make it up to her,” Spike cut in, resting a claw on Derpy’s shoulder. “I promised, right?”
Derpy nodded and formed a small smile across her lips. “Yes, sir.”
“That’s very sweet of you, Spike,” Twilight said, trying to hold in a small giggle. “I’m sure you’ll come up with something before too long.”
Spike winked at her. “What can I say? I’m just a giver. Now, if I remember correctly, I believe the three of us had a lunch date planned for after the show, and just between us, I’m pretty hungry.”
The two mares nodded in response and the three of them made their way toward the exit of the room.
“Hold on,” Twilight said before turning around. “Starlight? Do you or Trixie need some help cleaning up?”
Starlight turned toward Twilight and gave her a sly wink. “Nah, we’re good. It’s only fair after all the work we did to set it up that Trixie gets a turn to enjoy the feeling of a hard day’s work.”
The blue unicorn herself gazed up at Starlight with a frown. “Hard day’s work, my flank. You all just enjoy seeing me suffer, I swear.”
“No, of course not,” Starlight said with a laugh. She quickly used her magic to move a chair from one side of the room to the other. “You see, I’m helping, too.”
“Grr, Trixie will see justice served for this mockery, just you wait,” she replied.
“Fine, fine, I’ll help for real. But, Twilight, don’t worry about it. We get this. You three enjoy your lunch time, alright?” Starlight then trotted over to Trixie and started helping her take down the stage.
“Well, that settles that,” Spike said. “Let’s go guys.”
The three of them made their way through the corridors of the hospital before eventually making their way out to the warm, fresh air of the outside world once more.
“So, Spike, I take it we’re going to the burger place?” Twilight asked.
“You would be correct,” he replied. “There is not a better food establishment in the whole town.”
Derpy could feel her tummy rumbling. “I could totally go for a nice hayburger right about now. I’m so hungry.”
“Well, if that’s the case, let’s now waste time, alright?” Spike took the lead as the three of them moved away from the hospital and down the concrete path.
However, their progress was halted as Mayor Mare ran up to them, panting heavily.
“Oh, Princess Twilight, I’m so glad I found you!” she said, trying to catch her breath.
Twilight cocked an eyebrow at her. “Is everything okay, Mayor? What’s wrong?”
“We have a situation!” she exclaimed. “You know the business representatives from Manehattan that were supposed to arrive later this afternoon in regards to buying land here in Ponyville? Well, they’re here early and are demanding to speak with both you and me. I didn’t know what to do, so I told them I needed to use the restroom and spent the last thirty minutes trying to find you.”
Twilight bit her lip. “Mayor, I’m sorry, I was busy today. Honestly, I have plans right now, so—”
“Please, Princess Twilight,” she said, her voice raising in volume. “If we don’t get the deal done today, they may simply decide to take their business elsewhere.”
Spike let out a sigh. “It’s okay, Twi. You should go. You’ve got a job to do, it looks like.”
Twilight smiled. “Thank you for understanding, Spike. I promise I’ll make it up to you, sometime in the near future. Maybe next week we can go out.” Twilight turned her attention back toward the panicked Mayor and walked toward her. “Alright, Mayor Mare, let’s get this done.”
As the two of them walked away, an air of quiet disappointment permeated between Derpy and Spike.
“Well, that was unfortunate timing,” Spike said. “I”m sorry, Derpy.”
Derpy kicked at the ground. “It’s okay, Spike. Things happen. I guess we can try again some other time, maybe.”
Spike was about to agree but thought again. Just because Twilight couldn’t make it didn’t mean they had to cancel altogether. Derpy deserved to have a nice lunch like he promised. If he backed out now just because Twilight wasn't going, that could ruin all the fun she seemed to be having. Not to mention it'd make it look like he didn't care about her at all and just invited her along for charity.
“Well,” Spike said aloud, “if it’s okay with you, me and you could still go. I mean, I’m not as cool as Twilight I guess, but it would still be fun probably.”
“Just the two of us?” Derpy asked, a slight blush on her cheeks.
“Yeah,” Spike said. “You know, as long as it wouldn’t be too awkward or whatever for you. I wouldn't wanna put you on the spot or anything.”
Derpy chuckled nervously. “Oh, no, it’s not like that. I’d love to, actually.”
“Really?” Spike asked. “I kinda expected you to slap me or something, to be honest.”
“Of course not,” she replied. “I actually haven’t been able to go on a friendly date in a while. It’d be fun. We’re friends now, I guess, aren’t we?”
Spike playfully rubbed his chin. “Well, we’ve been seeing enough of each other recently that I guess we could say that. Yep, I’d say we’ve officially graduated from acquaintances to friends.”
Derpy smiled and laughed. “Well, then definitely, let’s do it. It’d be a good chance to learn more about each other, maybe.”
“Yeah, I agree,” he replied. “Without the usual depressing setting.”
The two made their way down the concrete pathways leading to the hospital toward the town, ready to enjoy a nice lunch with each other’s company. It was something that both of them needed.
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Nice as always. Poor Dinky, I hope it won't get worse. Have a "Get well soon" card from me.
8315556
I'm sure she'd appreciate it.
8315572
What can I say, she's my favorite background filly.
Uh...huh. Y'know, I think Celestia's trying to teach Twilight about being a doormat. Celestia dictates the schedule of her supplicants, not the other way around, and I imagine is waiting for Twilight to realize that.
8315622
I like to think Twilight is still in the learning process of being a Princess. Where she's still working on aspects of being a leader and having that balance in life and responsibility. Celestia has had a long time to learn, so Twilight will probably take some time, too.
8315628
Yes, but at the same time, Celestia has already learned those lessons and it is very much within her power if not responsibility to impart such knowledge in a meaningful manner. In fact the only reason I'd imagine she wouldn't would be if she was waiting for Twilight to just ask her, and Twilight just never does.
8315772
Very good point. Thank you for the thoughtful comment.
Just curious but...did you springboard this idea off "A Flurry of Emotion" where Spike ended up reading to the kids in Twilight's stead? If you did, excellent use of Spike's development, if not, then congrats on syncing up with the minds of the writers.
8315779
I did not, actually. I originally had this story idea back in early 2014, but never got around to putting on paper until last month. Go figure, lol.
But, on that note, I've always tried to give Spike a progressive character as opposed to the regressive nature he gets in the show, a lot.
Yay! First date is official now! No Twilight to be a third wheel, lol.
8315785
And it only took 25k words!
8315786
Meanwhile, it's over 220,000 words in, and Coco still can't get one.
Never mind that she's had a series of bad ones, and she's in theatre, so it's harder to make time. It's funnier this way.8315802
I wish I could plan that heavily in advance.
8315804
Sad thing is, it's not as planned as you'd think. I still have no clue if the cop with connections to past cases is corrupt or not, and I have to decide that by next part!
(I'm leaning towards "not corrupt," but only because the "not corrupt Orange" total is at a grand total of two by now. Well-intentioned corruption at the most.)
8315784
Apparently the writers agreed with you then. Spike's been having some good moments I think this season. Either way, consider this story faved and watched,
8315833
Hoorah! i try to update twice a week, so you won't have to wait long for another update.
um... Manehattan and Ponyville are both part of Equestria, I don't think you are using the right word.
Yes!! I want more!! ... But I will wait for more.
8315873
What I was trying to convey was that they were reps from a particular business in Manehattan. I'll go ahead and make that a bit more clear in the story. Thanks!
8315883
okay
8315786
At least nopony can say things happened too fast. I personally think this pacing is good. It's nice having a sweet little story unfurl slowly. It feels more natural to me, especially with this date being not specifically set up as such.
8315873
Representatives was used correctly there, If the author had used the word 'ambassadors' or 'diplomats' there could be a case for confusion, simply from word-usage and association.
If you ask me, 'getting' is unnecessary. Look at me, now I'm editing your work. LAWL
But anyway, nice little chap here.
8316302
Sometimes, I include unnecessary verbiage and such in dialogue because when we talk, we don't always use perfect grammar. Little imperfections here and there add a level of authenticity I've always felt.
Friend Zoned? Nah, Spike will definitely get Derpy
yes
make it a ship!
Wow things didn't end in a disaster...
Wait a second I'm gonna go buy a lottery ticket
And so it begins...
In that chase I love to see what you do with the story, as long as that doesn't means the moment they are together or kiss, is the end of the story. I hate if it happens and the story just stops.
8317496
No, nothing of the sort. He just helped me figure out ways to make things continue a bit smoother as opposed to being drug out day by day like I've been doing. The story's direction and purpose will primarily be the same and the relationship will still develop in its own accord. No worries.
i swear if anything happens to dinky i'll be shedding manly tears in a corner curled up in a ball
I’m a fan of slow burn ships. Nw If I could write any of my own, that would be a miracle.
I hope that this gets an update in the future, i really enjoyed it!
you know, it's a shame that I decided to add this to "read later" instead of tracking. pretty good so far and it keeps getting better.
Twilight needs to learn how to properly abuse her god-like powers.
"MAYOR MARE!!!" shouted Twilight in Royal Librarian Voice. "THOU SHALT INFORM THESE MANEHATTAN SNOBS THAT THEIR MAGESTIC AND VENGEFUL PRINCESS SHALL SEE THEM AT HER LEISURE!!! IF THEY DISRUPT HER MEAL ONCE MORE, TO THE MOOOOOOOOOOON, BEEEEEEYAAAAATCH!!!"
And now they’re alone. I’ve been hungry for the romance to kick in, so looks like I’m getting my treat now!
And then there were two.
yessss gotta have a delicious slow-burn here