Chapter 4
The doorbell chimed, letting Twilight know that somepony was at the door. Almost panicking, Twilight looked up from the book she had been reading to Adora, her eyes meeting with Adora’s for a moment, and then looking off at the wall, almost as if she could look through the wall somehow and see the front door that was beyond it.
“Adora, I need for you to stay right here in this room. Right here,” Twilight said as she tapped her hoof upon the floor. “I need to go answer the door and I don’t want anypony getting scared. So stay here, out of sight.”
Blinking, Adora replied, “Okay.” There was a flash of pink light and Adora became an enormous pink sofa with mismatched cushions and fabrics. Plaids, polka dots, stripes, along with fuzzy, shaggy bits and smooth silky places.
It was the sort of sofa that might haunt Rarity in her nightmares. Twilight Sparkle cringed as she got up to go and answer the door. A draconequus simply did not make for good furniture.
Twilight’s hooves made loud ringing sounds upon the floor of the crystal castle. She hated this place just a little bit sometimes. It was large, cold, drafty, and empty. She missed the warmth and living wood of the old library tree. She trotted down the hall towards the double doors, hurrying when she heard the chime once more, wondering who it might be.
Reaching the doors, Twilight paused, closed her eyes, drew in a deep breath, and prepared herself. She opened her eyes, took another deep breath, unlocked the door, and then pulled it open as she plastered a ‘no, no, there is absolutely nothing wrong’ smile upon her face.
Standing in the doorway was one small purple dragon and one yellow pegasus. Twilight Sparkle, for whatever reason, had to repress the urge to scream at the top of her lungs when she saw Fluttershy.
“Spike told me a little bit about what is going on. I came to help,” Fluttershy said in an unassuming near-whisper to Twilight. “I have experience in foalsitting, I looked after the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
Panicking, Twilight Sparkle grabbed both Spike as well as Fluttershy in a magenta aura and yanked them inside, pulled the double doors shut, and double locked the double locks.
Fluttershy let out a very polite sounding petite scream when the pink sofa became something else. She almost fainted, but there was a blinding pink blur that shot across the room and caught her before she could hit the hard stone floor.
Twilight thought about Adora’s rules, not allowing a pony to come to harm. A draconequus was believed to be a dangerous, unpredictable creature. While Adora seemed a little exuberant, she also seemed good hearted, kind, and gentle. Twilight watched as Adora hugged Fluttershy, feeling a vague sense of ambiguous worry. Fluttershy was already warming up to the fuzzy pink nightmare.
Thoughtful, Twilight Sparkle watched as Adora and Fluttershy continued to warm up to one another. She thought about Adora’s rules and the things that Twilight from the future had taught her, such as the rules about conjuration. Adora was one hundred and twenty one years old. Twilight Sparkle contemplated Adora’s maturity, feeling a strong need to question Discord about this.
As all of this lingered in her mind, Twilight suffered a terrible realisation that made her blood run cold, a dark thought that she tried to push away from her mind right away. What if Adora was more of a mature adult than a foal? And what if she had been treated and kept more as a foal to keep her manageable? What if she was babied so she would be perceived as less of a threat? Twilight Sparkle struggled to push the thoughts from her mind.
“Oh, you are precious,” Fluttershy said as she and Adora rubbed cheeks together.
“I heard stories about you from Daddy.” Adora wrapped her forelegs around Fluttershy and curled her body around the pegasus. “You were his best friend… his only friend for a long, long time. Daddy said you taught him how to think of somepony other than himself.”
Jolted from her thoughts, Twilight Sparkle’s ears pitched forwards when she heard Adora’s words. A lingering feeling of paranoia remained in Twilight Sparkle’s mind and her dark thoughts would not go away, not entirely.
“Because of you, Daddy said he understood how to raise me so I’d be a good draconequus foal.” Adora snuggled her head against Fluttershy’s neck. “I like being a good draconequus foal. I want to be a good foal forever.”
Twilight’s eyes narrowed as she listened. This was coincidental, nothing more. She had thought about Adora’s rearing, and now she was hearing something that she could construe as supporting her assumption, except that this was all coincidence. None of this was fitting to draw conclusions from. This was maddening. Twilight Sparkle could feel the pressure building. It was just foal-talk, nothing more. The corner of Twilight’s eye twitched.
“I think I’ll go look after Spike and see what he’s up to,” Twilight Sparkle said to Fluttershy in a low, wavering, ‘I’m under an incredible amount of stress’ voice.
“Nachos?” Twilight Sparkle stared at the mountain of nachos that was taking shape. Spike used his fire to melt cheese and toast the tortilla chips. “Why so many nachos?”
“Have you seen how big Adora is?” Spike, annoyed, squinted at Twilight. “Do you think a few cookies can keep her satisfied? The only reason she hasn’t complained about being hungry is because of her desire to be good.”
Twilight jerked her head back, her eyes going wide. Could that be true? She stared at Spike, watching as he added a dollop of refried beans to a spot where the chips looked a little bare. She watched as Spike added salsa in a basin shaped out of refried beans. It protected the chips from getting soggy by keeping the liquid salsa away from them.
“I have ideas Spike…” Twilight, feeling antsy, changed the subject. “I think I can do a few tests with hair. I have sent my own hair back in time and when Discord arrives, I plan to send his hair back in time to see what happens and then I will send Adora’s. Discord will make for a good control. Who knows what will happen if you send draconequus hair back in time...”
“Hmm.” Spike, leaning over his creation, made only the barest sort of non-committal reply as he added a bit more cheese. He let out a puff of fire to melt the cheese and make it crusty.
“Spike, you don’t seem interested,” Twilight Sparkle said.
“Twilight, I’m more interested in Adora. Making her feel welcome. Making her feel at home.” Spike lifted his head, turning away from his work, and looked at Twilight. “When I was out telling the others, all I could think about was how much poor Adora must be missing her parents and how hard this must be for her.”
The corner of Twilight Sparkle’s eye twitched again, and she felt her cheek convulsing, tugging at the corner of her mouth. Something about Spike’s words bothered her, but she couldn’t say what or why. “I’m worried about her too, Spike… I just feel that we should also be trying to learn as much as we can.”
“Adora is a big noodly draconequus made of love… that’s all I need to know,” Spike said to Twilight, returning to his work. “Why make things complicated?”
“Because… well, because… Spike… um, well, there are a lot of unknowns, Spike,” Twilight stammered. Her eyes narrowed. “Spike, you were the one wondering if Discord was pranking us. You had questions. You were the one wondering if she was telling the truth—”
“And none of that matters to me now,” Spike said as he raised his claws and waved them around. “I can’t explain it, Twilight. I’m her friend. In the future, I am somepony that she loves. I… I… Twilight there are some weird feelings and I can’t put them into words!”
Spike, looking distressed, rubbed his stomach, his cheeks bulged, and then he belched. A scroll appeared, arced through the air, bounced on the table, almost hit the nachos, then rolled over the table’s edge, and fell down to the floor.
Twilight Sparkle stared at Spike for what felt like several minutes, not knowing what to say, until at last she was overcome by curiousity. She lifted up the scroll, broke the seal, and opened it up.
Spike, standing on a chair, staring at his leaning tower of nachos, rubbed his stomach and then turned his head to look at Twilight. “What does it say?”
“It says to keep Adora secured in my castle and to wait for further instructions,” Twilight replied in a disappointed voice. She sighed. She had expected something else, she wasn’t sure what, but some kind of meaningful instructions. Some means to make this situation better. Some sense of direction.
Spike groaned and his eyes narrowed. “See, this is what is bothering me. No word on keeping Adora happy, no instructions on caring for her, just… keeping her a prisoner—”
“Spike, she’s not a prisoner,” Twilight said.
“She can’t leave though. She can’t go outside and play… This bothers me… I don’t like this.” Spike flopped down in the chair he was standing in, sitting down with a thump.
“Spike, what is bothering you exactly?” Twilight Sparkle asked.
“She’s a draconequus… I’m a dragon… what if I was in Adora’s place and I was sent back in time and I asked you for help, but you didn’t know me… would I be studied? Made a prisoner? What if I loved you so much, but you, you were suspicious of me?” Spike shook his head. “I don’t feel hungry. See that Adora eats. I’m going to my room and I don’t want to be bothered.”
“Spike… wait…” Twilight said as Spike lept down from his chair. She watched as the little dragon waddled away, leaving behind a steaming tower of nachos.
“Love is never a mistake, Twilight… Adora loves us. Me… and you. Even if we don’t know her, she deserves better from us,” Spike said as he walked away, his clawed feet scraping over the floor.
“Spike, please—”
“I need some time to myself… some time to think. I’ll be out later to spend time with our prisoner,” Spike said, refusing to turn back and look at Twilight.
Twilight, now alone, had no idea how to deal with this situation. It seemed to be becoming more and more complicated. She stared at the nachos, thought about Adora, and wondered what she might do to make Spike feel better.
“Oh my… look at her eat… nature is so fascinating,” Fluttershy said as Adora nibbled nachos. “She kind of eats like a bird. Or maybe a lizard.”
Twilight grunted in reply, lost in her own thoughts. She was hunched over the table and she ate the occasional nacho herself. She was hungry, but she didn’t feel like eating. Somehow, Adora was eating messy nachos and she hadn’t done as much as get a single glob of cheese dribbled on her pelt.
There was a lot that Twilight wanted to talk about, concerns that she wanted to give voice to, but she couldn’t talk to Fluttershy with Adora in the room eating. How might Princess Cadance react to all of this? She wanted Fluttershy’s opinion on how Discord might respond to this. She wanted to talk about her own growing worry on how her big brother, best friend forever Shining Armor might take the news.
But Twilight Sparkle remained silent, not wanting to upset Adora.
“Such a well behaved little draconequus… who’s a good draconequus?” Fluttershy asked in a cooing voice. “You’re so kind, gentle, and sweet… your parents loved you and I can see why.”
“Can I call you ‘Auntie’ or would it bother you?” Adora asked after she swallowed her mouthful of nachos.
“Oh!” Fluttershy’s face turned pink and she clapped her front hooves together. “I’d like that. I think you could use another aunt… oh thank you!”
Twilight, watching this exchange, did not know how to feel about it.
Next chapter... next chapter gets complicated. Really, really complicated. I hope I am up for it. 
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... As usual, Spike's observations (and his inability to figure out exactly what's going on with himself, emotionally) are utterly fascinating to me.
This is very interesting... and Discord, Cadance, or Shining Armor still haven't yet made an appearance, which will make things... chaotic. Possibly painful, even.
6318049
Spike brings up a very important point though. What if he came back to a time or a place where he didn't exist and asked Twilight for help? He's not a pony. He's a dragon. Would he be welcomed or shunned? Would he be loved?
For a baby dragon, this is a tough thing to think about.
I've always wondered, where exactly does Spike shop, how often, and how much does he buy at any one time? How did they happen to have enough nachos, etc. to make an 'Adora' sized portion (I'm assuming we're talking about 2-5 gallons, give or take a few cups). In every story it always seems that Spike's kitchen (Library Tree or Castle) seems to be very well stocked. Just one of those complete non-sequiturs that has no bearing on anything in the current story and/or chapter.
(*Makes mental note to write story where kitchen runs dry... right as random royalty shows up*)
6318068 Now I want someone to writed a story about Spike going to an alternate universe where he doesn't exist to try and get the local Twilight to help him!
I would do I myself but I know I would never finish it...
6318068
Unfortunately, evidence within the show itself points to shunned and avoided if his arrival didn't cause an outright panic...
6318257 my head canon is that he buys at markets and has a garden in the castle. maybe he makes the nachos himself?
good luck
Aargh, now I'm starting to ship! I told myself, "no feels!" But confound these ponies. Now I'm going to cry at the end, I just know it. But it'll be a good crying.