The Cryssaling pt 2

by storm the castle

Papers and... oh, forget it

Ch 8 Papers and … oh, forget it.

On his way out of “the Glittering Pony,” Sharp Eye, ever the prudent business owner, gave Spike a bit of advice on his job search. “You got lucky here.” He told him. “Your dragon heritage, while it may have lost you the job, is also the only reason you were considered. You need to some reputable job history; start with some random busy work to build up references.”

Spike, despite the small ruby in his claw, was significantly downtrodden. He had never been treated that way before, hated not just for his heritage but for his own actions. Why was Miss Glitter mad? He had saved those kids, hadn’t he? Didn’t that make him the good-guy? Spike was so unsure of what was going on at the moment, and he was only more confused when he remembered that she had said ‘compatriots.’ Did she mean the other two mares in the store, or was something bigger going on?

What scared Spike most was that there was a chance that much of the town now hated him for doing what he had thought was the right thing. If his moral values were so far off from that of normal ponies, what did that say about dragons in general? All this thinking was making Spikes head hurt, and the sick feeling he was getting grew into a full blown tummy ache. In fact, he was so distracted by his sad thoughts that he didn’t notice the red blur coming right for him.

“Spike!” called a thick accent “Look out!” before he could register what he was supposed to be looking out for, he was plowed into by what felt like a metal bathtub on wheels. With a grunt, and the slightest squeak, Spike bounced off of the offending device and right into a tree, where his sharp dorsal ridges sunk in and got him stuck to the side comically.

His previous sour thoughts now lost to the distraction gods, Spike was simply mad at his current predicament. “What the hay?!” he demanded from his awkward position. “Who the heck was that?! Come here and get me down!”

Hearing some stifled giggles to his left, but unable to turn his head, Spike was forced to wait until, inevitabley, three particular little fillies filled his vision. “Howdy, Spike.” said Apple Bloom, trying and failing to keep from outright laughing at the drago. “Are ya stuck?” she asked in an exaggerated manner, eyes wide and a big dumb grin on her face. All at once the three started to laugh hysterically at him, while he simply sat with a very unamused expression, refusing to speak. Once they were done, Apple Bloom pointed out “Ah did tell ya to look out, ya know.”

Spike just grunted. “Whatever. Just get me down will you?” he asked them. Still giggleing, the three moved in and each grabbed one of his limbs, and together yanked him down. “Hmph.” He grunted sourly. “Great way to thank the guy who saved your hides.”

He instantly regretted the comment, as all three became downtrodden in moments. “Sorry, Spike.” Apologized Sweetie Belle, her tail tuck between her legs. “We weren’t trying to be mean.”

Spike scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. “Nah, it’s alright. It isn’t cool of me to hold it over you like that; that’s not why I did it, and it isn’t right to abuse it like that.” He apologized as well. The Cutie Mark Crusaders perked up and smiled, showing it was alright. Once he was sure they weren’t upset any more, he asked “But what are you three doing out here? Shouldn’t you be at home, since I doubt school will be open today?”

“Well, kinda.” Scootalloo responded. “We were worried about Miss Cheerilee, and my mom said it was ok to come see her, their sisters too.” The other two nodded their affirmation of the statement.

It was endearing to Spike to see that the three could still be so worried about sompony else, even after what they had been through. “Well, that’s nice of you. How is she?” he asked them.

Sweetie took the lead. “She says she’s ok, but now that the police and news ponies are gone, she’s having a lot of trouble trying to catch up on grading our papers.” She gasped excitedly all of a sudden, doing a very amicable impression of Pinkie Pie. “Is that what you’re doing, Spike?” she asked. “Are you going to go help her?”

Spike actually had no idea that he had been heading in the direction of the school house, but he wasn’t about to let that ruin their opinion of him. “Sure is.” He lied. “She said you three asked her for a job on my behalf.”

While Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had the decency to blush shyly, Scootalloo was all for the attention, and thrust her chest out proudly. ‘jeeze’ thought Spike, ‘she really is a miniature Rainbow Dash.’ In spite of Scoot’s pride, however, it was Apple Bloom who spoke up. “Yeah, well ah felt right bad for what happened on the farm yesterday, an mah sister says ‘if ya’ll got time ta feel sorry, ya’ll got time ta fix it,’ so that’s what we did.”

“She’s usually talking about us, though.” Interjected Scootalloo, some humility finally tempering her features. Spike couldn’t help but smile sympathetically.

“All right, you three,” he said, wagging his finger like a babysitter, “You should probably get going home. I’ll get going to help Cheerilee.” They giggled as they all returned to their red wagon, Scootalloo donning her lightning striped helmet at the helm on her scooter, and finally the three took off. Spike waved after them, smiling widely. “Those three are a walking disaster.” He said through his teeth to no-one in particular.

**************************************

‘Knock knock knock’ Spike rapped on the door to the school house. Taking a brief moment to examine his surroundings, Spike noticed there was hardly any sort of indication of the near catastrophe that had occurred yesterday. While the wolves hadn’t really done any real damage, to the kids or the property, Spike still expected some sort of litter from the kids, maybe the area to be taped off by the police, but no. it looked as it did any other day, really.

“One moment.” Called a mares voice, one Spike immediately recognized as Cheerilee, pulling the youngling from his thoughts. The door opened to reveal the mulberry purple mare, and though slightly disheveled, she appeared as bright and alert as always. Seeing the smiling dragon, the two locked eyes, just staring for a moment. It quickly became awkward, but before Spike could break the silence with some sort of witty comment (hey, what’s up counted) her eyes went wide and she leaned into him. “Are you here for what I think you’re here for?” she asked in a harsh whisper, as if speaking too loudly might scare him away.

“Uhhh,” he began, unsure as to why he was getting this sort of reaction from her, “yes?”

Cheerilee immediately leapt into the air, yelling “Yes!” she grabbing bodily and dragged him through the door. “Come inside,” she said, not quite grasping the full purpose of an invitation, “we’ve got a lot to do!” she giggled to herself, seeming giddy for some reason.

“Uhh, Miss Cheerilee?” Spike asked. “What’s going on?”

All at once, she seemed to come to her senses. “Oh, oh my, I’m sorry.” She apologized. “It’s just that I haven’t had much sleep, on account of what happened yesterday.” She fell onto her rump and began to rub her temples. “First the police showed up, and I had to explain everything to them. Then the Mayor wanted a written report immediately, and the courier wouldn’t leave until I had finished it, and finally all the parents came back to yell at me. Do you know what it’s like to have a little over fifteen sets of parents glaring and yelling at you, demanding answers for something you had no control over?! No you do not.” She said, not giving him the chance to interject. “I actually ended up sleeping here, only to get woken up by the Cutie Mark Crusaders, so that was an ordeal.” She sighed deeply. “I know they mean well, and Sweetie actually brought me some really good iced tea, but those three are so high maintenance it hurts.” At this point she suddenly perked up. “But you’re here now, so I don’t have to handle all the kids papers alone!” she giggled manically.

Spike was suddenly noticing the similarities to another purple bookworm in his life, and decided to head the crazy off at the pass. “Uhh, you know,” he told her, “I really can handle this on my own.” He placed a gentle claw on her shoulder, gaining her full attention. “If you just walk me through a few of them, so I can get a handle on your grading criteria, I’m sure I can take care of the whole deal while you get a well-deserved nap. What is it, like twenty or so anyway?” he asked confidently.

“Oh, no, you don’t understand Spike.” She told him. “I have about five different classes in a day, on account of the different age groups.” She showed him the papers, which were in a massive pile behind her desk, the size of which made Spike whimper internally, both for himself and the realization that Cheerilee had taken care of this kind of stuff on her own for years. “I had all five write from the same prompt, so I could have a big reading hubaloo in a couple weeks.” She positioned herself behind the pile, it coming up to her collar, and twice as wide as her body. “In all, there’s got to be nearly one hundred and fifty essays here, some hitting the four page mark for the more dedicated students.”

Spike gulped, immediately realizing this wouldn’t be the quick job he thought it would be. But one look at the bags under her eyes, and Spike knew he was needed, and being the chivalrous drago he was, he fully intended to do his damage to the workload. Rasping it out as he said it, almost as though the nap he could have been taking was choking him to stop the words, he replied “T-the offer still stands, Cheerilee.” He eeked out. “Just walk me through the process and criteria of each age group, and I’ll have it done.”

Cheerilee looke like she might cry from joy, but she chose to just give him a quick hug instead, and pulled out a stack of papers from a drawer in her desk. “Thank you so much, Spike, you don’t know how much that means to me.” She pressed the papers into his claws. “These are the criteria check cards; these ones are for the kindergarten class, and theres more in that drawer there for the higher grades.” She trotted over to a couch in the back, pulled out a worn out blanket and plopped down for a nap. “Just follow the checklist, and I won’t even need to help you. Just wake me up if you need something.” She waved a hoof at him tiredly.

Damning himself for his chivalrous attitude, Spike smacked the cards against his head a few times. With an exasperated gasp, he looked at the pile of essays, just thrown in a corner. ‘guess the first thing I’ll be doing is separating out the age groups.’ He thought glumly, Twilights training taking over for better or worse. As an after-thought, he yelled out “Hey, Cheerilee? One thing.”

“Yes?” she said tiredly, obviously not long for consciousness.

“What’s the prompt for the essays? You said they all have the same one.”

She thought a moment, then said hazily “It was… hmmm… tell me who your favorite princess is… ‘yawn’… and why.” With that she fell into her dreams.

Looking to the pile with newfound fear, Spike muttered out “Hoo-boy.”

**************************************

He was done. After all this time, all the work, all the crying over how bad the upperclassmen had written, and the seething frustration at the underclassmen’s hoofwriting, he was finally done. Many of the paperes were the same, despite being about different Princesses; the boys said ‘cuz she’s super hot,’ and the girls said ‘cuz she’s really pretty.’ (Odd how the two coincided, now that he thought of it.) Still, some weren’t too bad, Princess Celestia holding the biggest sway, Luna right behind, as well as some for Cadence. What surpised him was that Sweetie Belle’s had been about Twilight, focused on how nice and friendly she was, and how she had done so much for everypony. He had resolved to invite her to lunch with him and Twilight next time he got the chance.

Weakly, but not without pride, he looked at five stacks of papers, graded according to just below Twilight’s standards. “Cheerilee.” He called feebly to the mulberry lump on the couch. “Cheerilee, I’m done.” Slowly, the schoolteacher in question began to stir.

“Hmm? Whozat?” she looked around blearily, having forgotten where she was.

“Cherilee, it’s Spike. I graded the papers for you, Remember?” it hurt to think about.

Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she slowly, but with gathering speed, regained her senses. “Really?” she asked. “Oh, yes that’s right, I remember. How’d you do, hon?”

He perked up at the chance to impress her. “I’m finished!” he declared, and waved at the five stacks. Cheerilee looked at the piles dreamily, as though expecting him to say ‘psych! You’re still asleep, and no-ones gonna help you!’ However, when that didn’t happen, her eyes widened and a smile erupted on her lips.

“Spike!” she exclaimed as she leapt up, “This is wonderful! Thank you so much!” she trotted over to the piles, enthused at the prospect of not having to read them all. To check his work, she read the pages that were on top, and nodded after a bit. “This is wonderful! You’re a bit stricter than me, but I’ve been getting soft anyhow!” she did a little happy dance where she stood, more and more reminiscent of Spikes own caretaker.

“If you like that, than you’ll love this.” He held out five pieces of paper, each with the names and grades of the ponies in the respective classes. And he was right. She took the papers in her hooves and looked them over, looking like she might be about to cry. ‘wow, this poor mare really needed a break. I should probably change the subject before she asks to marry me.’ He pulled three papers from behind the piles on the desk, and offered them to Cheerilee. “These three were exemplary in my opinion, and they even run the gambit on the age groups.” He let her take them, and came up beside her to look at them. “Not only are they well thought out and organized, but they are actually very well written, the one by Puppy Tales especially. Though, you know, it’s kinda funny how their all about-”

But then, midscentence, that rotten old jerk Murphy and his stupid law decided to pay a visit. Being as close as he was to Cheerilee, her bedhead being as bad as it was, her hair invariably went up and tickled his nose. And of course there’s only one reaction when that happens.

“AAA-CHOOO!!” Spike sneezed emerald flames directly on the papers, incinerating them instantly.

“Spike!” cried Cheerilee, partly out of fear, and partly out of anger. “Be careful! You toasted those papers, and you could have hurt me!”

Spike waved his claw at her to try and calm her down, his other engaged in covering his face to prevent another sneeze. “Don’t worry!” he told her “that fire wouldn’t have been able to even singe your fur, and the papers are fine!” he pointed at the ground. “See? No ashes, so that means all I did was send them… to…” he slapped his forehead hard enough to produce an audible ‘SMACK.’

“What?” asked Cheerilee. “Where’d they go?”

**************************************

Princess Celestia was having a marvelous day. Not only had court been remarkably empty today, but she had been able to spend time with Twilight, once she stopped being so mad about the Spike thing. They had even eaten the rest of the cake he had sent over (the second cupcake never left the throne.) So, all in all, things were going well.

Until three messages arrived by Spike fire delivery. Alone in the throne room, enjoying some of her down time while catching up on some paper work, she was quite surprised to see them. At first delighted to see the correspondence, her mood swiftly darkened when she read their headlines.

“Why I Think Princess Luna is the prettiest.” By Fleetfeather, 2nd grade Cheerilee’s Class.

“Why Princess Luna is Amazing.” By Tender Hoof, 4th grade Cheerilee’s Class.

However, the last one took the proverbial cake, leaving no bones about the authors stance on the subject. It even had a cover page, the title and heading printed boldly as the only subjects of the page.

“Luna Is Best Pony”
By Puppy Tales
Kindergarten, Cheerilee’s class.

**************************************

Princess Luna was having an absolutely horrid day. Not only had she received what she believed to be a bribe of love from Spike, but her sister had insisted on telling Twilight, as well as anypony who was passing by, forever extending the poor lunar Princesses woes. And on top of it all, with the day court being so quiet, that meant something was likely revving up to practically attack the night court. Could this get any worse?

Yes.

In a sudden burst of light and sound, there stood in her shattered doorway her very own sister, crackling with the energy needed to bypass the teleportation block on her royal chambers and her eyes glowing a sterile white. “Luna, dear sister, we need to talk.” Yes, it certainly can.

Comments

[Jay2 Dax]

[ThePrimoChocolatePony]

Before this is over I forsee 3 certain princesses having a nice chat with spike. One being concerned, another flustered, and the third royally pissed to levels unfathomable to pony kind. It will be glorious

[storm the castle]

4952560 -he knows too much!
-end him swiftly, before he talks!

[ThePrimoChocolatePony]

4952565 if you believe you have what it takes then fill free to try but know now my end will only come with the collapsing of a grand star and not before then. If your mettle be strong then step into my abyss and let my shadows welcome you to your grave.

Of course this only happens once your story is fully finish so thus becomes a moot point.

[storm the castle]

4952617 hmm. hardcore. what comes after that? OH OH, I remember! sing it with me kids!
tuck your head between your legs and kiss your butt goodbye!

[Smurf]

you can't win Luna, just give in it's the best thing for both you and Spike

[Lord Olympius]

When is Spike going to finally realize that he sent that stuff to the Princess and get it back. They all can't be that stupid besides that I love the story and I hope Spike gets a good break/job soon. Also a I think Luna/Spike would be cute and the hybrid they'd make would be awesome.

[storm the castle]

4988064 have you read the most recent chapter? or the fifth chapter? he knows, he just can't do jack about it. Luna's the one freaking out.

[Lord Olympius]

4992584 I've read all the chapters don't remember when it said he can't control the fire. So if if he just wanted to burn something for no good reason, there'd be a 50% chance it would go to the eldest princess.(I keep spelling her name wrong).

[storm the castle]

4993199 even in the show, he's had issues with sending things by accident when he sneezed or hiccuped. explaining his lack of finer control should have been part of an inherent understanding that puberty was goofing with his life, making what had before been very easy rather complicated. as far as it going to Luna instead of Celestia, it's called plot convenience, so there.
oh, and i wrote the story, and i reread it every time i start up again. i know for a fact that i mentioned that he knows where they've been going, and the issue is that he can't get it back without asking Celestia.

[Lord Olympius]

4996145 Guess I need to reread some chapters sorrry.