Spike's Pet

by LiterarySerenity

Chapter Two—Where a Dragon Wants a Pet

“Spike, you need to be more careful.” Twilight said, after they had mopped up the floor—which was wet the way down the hall to the castle washroom—and returned to their bedroom. She managed to conjure a small table, and to rest the sphere on a cushion laid upon it. This was a relief, although its near loss still caused a weakness in her knees. Twilight could only have imagined what disaster might befall herself, or even Ponyville and Equestria beyond, if something happened to the chaos with which Discord had entrusted her.

Twilight had no idea how Discord might react in that event. In the past, he probably would have laughed and thought the whole thing a good show.

But now he was her teacher, and actually taking these lessons seriously.

Twilight wanted—no, she needed to learn from him.

What if Discord refused to teach her anything else about chaos magic, or stopped coming to Ponyville altogether?

What if he told Princess Celestia of her irresponsibility, and she disappointed her first true mentor?

What if—?

Wait a minute. Twilight was being ridiculous. Discord wouldn’t do that.

Would he?

“I’m sorry, Twilight.” Spike broke into her frenzied thoughts from behind, and the princess realized with some shame she must have seemed particularly angry, facing away from her dragon assistant while staring at the chaotic sphere. “Really, I am. I didn’t mean to cause such a big mess, or anything like that.”

“It’s all right.” Twilight came over to give Spike a comforting hug, which clearly made them both feel much better. “Accidents happen, and we were able to clean everything up without a problem. However.” She pulled gently back from him. “Would you mind explaining how a soapy squirrel wound up in the palace in the first place?”

“Oh. Well, you see, Ponyville is supposed to host the Equestria Pet Show next week.” The dragon rubbed his arm, eyes on the floor as he tended to do whenever sad or regretful. “It’s usually somewhere else in Equestria, and that’s fine. But now that it’s here in our town, I can’t help thinking.”

“About—?”

“About Pee Wee.” Spike went to his basket, pulling back the covers and lifting up the pillow behind to expose a photograph. There were other framed pictures of the small phoenix he had taken in for a brief period already on the wall, alongside those depicting their other friends or memorable events, yet the one Spike retrieved showed a shot of the fiery baby bird cradled in the dragon’s arms. It was one of the first pictures they had taken, after Pee Wee had hatched. “Taking him back to his parents in the forest was the right thing to do, as you said, but we became so close before then. If he were here now, we would enter the Equestria Pet Show together, and I know every pony would have loved him just as much as I did.”

Ah. Twilight saw the whole story in a moment. Poor Spike was missing Pee Wee with the arrival of the Equestria Pet Show, and he probably wanted a way to fill the gap he felt left by the tiny bird’s absence. The princess could remember how close the two of them had been, and the touching way Spike had had of attending to his needs. On many a night, Twilight had tucked Spike into his basket after the dragon dropped off to sleep feeding Pee Wee a special phoenix solution Celestia had actually suggested, given his age.

Unfortunately, Twilight could also remember the huge messes caused by the pair, the hard-to-remove stains, and the singed letters to the princess. A case of the hiccups used to turn Pee Wee into a miniature fire hazard, costing them several valuable editions in the process. Several times the Golden Oak Library had almost gone up in a similar conflagration, confirming her suspicions that a library was no place to raise a phoenix still discovering his abilities.

Then there had been the dreaded “ice cream incident,” which all her friends had agreed to avoid discussing whenever possible.

Spike had been so brave and generous, to return Pee Wee back to his family in the Everfree Forest. But Twilight still caught him watching other pets and their owners in Ponyville with a wistful air, at times—and it would probably be more than he could stand to have a whole pet show unfurling so close to home.

A thought struck her. Twilight came to the open bedroom window and whistled, bringing a hooting owl down to rest on her uplifted hoof.

“You know.” Twilight said, indicating the feathered arrival. “I’m sure Owlicious would love to enter the Equestria Pet Show with you, and to put on an amazing performance together.” She winked at the owl, and Owlicious hooted at Spike in agreement at this possibility. “As a judge, I can’t enter the competition myself. So Owlicious wouldn’t be able to participate. It might surprise you what you could accomplish as a team.”

“Thanks, Twilight. But no thanks.” Spike answered, wringing his claws. “And no offense to Owlicious.”

“Who?” Owlicious said.
“You, Owlicious.” Spike persisted.
“Who?”

“Argh! You know what I mean.” The dragon sighed. “It’s just that Owlicious is your pet, Twilight, not mine—it wouldn’t be the same.” At this, Spike started toward the door. “Perhaps I’ll just go take a walk for a while, just to clear my head a bit.”

Poor Spike. The little guy was really trying to keep up his spirits, despite missing Pee Wee so much. Even Owlicious looked remorseful. And lot had definitely changed since Pee Wee had left them. At that point, Twilight had thought Spike might not be ready to have his own pet.

But then, Spike had done a great job watching Owlicious and the pets of her friends while they had gone on a trip to see Princess Cadence in the Crystal Empire.

They also lived in the palace now, and the library was much larger and safer than before.

There would be plenty of room.

“Hey, Spike?” Twilight called her assistant back.

“Yeah?” Spike wiped away a tear.

“How would you like to go visit Fluttershy, and to adopt a pet?”

In response, Spike’s face lit up. His eyes sparkled, and an enormous smile threatened to overwhelm his other facial features. Bouncing on the tips of his toes, the little dragon looked so overjoyed Twilight had to laugh.

“Do—do you really mean it?” Spike breathed, delirious with glee. He practically floated off the floor.

“Sure. I’ll even let you do the honors.” Twilight said. “Just make sure it’s nothing too big or wild. You have to be responsible, and take care of all its needs and training. All right?”

“Yes, of course!” Spike squeezed Twilight around the neck once more before dashing for the door, as if this time he couldn’t wait to leave (which, he most likely couldn’t). “Thank you, Twilight. This is going to be the best Equestria Pet Show ever.”

Then the dragon was gone, although Twilight could hear him celebrating all the way down the hall.

“Well, that went well. He’s truly growing up, isn’t he?” Twilight remarked to Owlicious, who nodded his head and flew outside once more.

The chaotic sphere was secure, and now the princess could flop onto her bed for a much needed nap.

And by the time she awoke, Spike would probably have come home with a nice little critter of his very own.

Yes. Everything was working out just fine.

Author's Note:

Nothing could go wrong, right? ;3

Comments

[Clemerl]

Author's Note:

Nothing could go wrong, right?

.... Well, time to call Murphy and tell him someone's calling him out; again.

[LiterarySerenity]

5440421 Yeeeup!