"Good morning!"
Rarity smiled warmly to Opal as she skittered into the room. Opal was always up before Rarity; not a surprise, considering the typical sleeping habits of cats. As such, Rarity often began her mornings by feeding Opal as soon as she got out of bed. Self-maintenance was important, but care for her little darling was even more so.
"My my, but you're an eager little ball of fur this morning, aren't you?" Rarity sang as the often-grumpy feline rubbed against her foreleg. "I suppose I am getting a bit of a late start this morning. Terribly sorry for making you wait!" She hesitated, then smirked as she opened the can of cat food. "Goodness, listen to me. I'm talking to a cat like she's going to answer me. Perhaps Pinkie was right about needing time to become a crazy cat lady. What do you think, Opal?"
Opal meowed in response, eyes focused on the can. Whether or not she understood the questions posed to her was unclear. Food came first and foremost in the cat's mind.
"Is this what you want, Opal?" Rarity asked as she held the bowl of food up, knowing the answer to this quite well already. Opal let out an annoyed little mrowl, sick of the lack of food that Rarity's little game was forcing on her. Rarity giggled lightly and set the bowl down, giving Opal a gentle pet as she instantly began eating.
"I suppose I might as well prepare my own breakfast too," Rarity mused to herself. She immediately set to work on making blueberry pancakes. Such a fatty food was probably not the best choice for her diet, but Rarity had been quite good recently, and could afford a bit of cheating. She hummed a gentle melody to herself as she prepared her breakfast, stomach rumbling in anticipation.
It wasn't terribly long before the enchanting scent of breakfast filled the air, and Rarity prepared her dish with the same level of fervor as Opal had attacked her food. Rarity might not have been as good a chef as her dear friend Pinkie, but she could fry a mean stack of pancakes. She thanked her lucky stars that Sweetie Belle wasn't staying with her as she began eating. Not for a lack of desire to share–she would have been more than happy to oblige–but more because a lack of company meant that she didn't have to worry about table manners quite as much. She ate at a fever pace, something she never would have done if even a single set of eyes other than Opal's was upon her.
"Delectable," Rarity sighed happily as she finished the last of the stack of pancakes she'd served herself. "I don't think I could eat another bite." She glanced over at the small stack of pancakes remaining on a dish on the counter. Her eyes had clearly been larger than her stomach this morning.
"Now what shall I do with the rest of these pancakes..." Rarity asked nopony in particular. "I can't just waste them, and leftover pancakes don't sound very appetizing." She hummed to herself, tapping her chin with a hoof. Suddenly, her eyes lit up with inspiration.
"Oh! I'll bring them to Spike!"
~~~~~~~~~~
"Rise and shine, Small Scale!"
Spike groaned as Celia's voice calling his fake name woke him up. He wasn't sure if he was ready for another day of being coddled. In fact, he was sure that he wasn't ready for it. Celia had seemed to let up on him a little bit from the way she was immediately upon waking up, and even seemed willing to give him a tiny bit of input on decisions. That tiny bit wasn't nearly enough, though, and she still managed to make him feel guilty about it with those sad looks she'd give him.
That guilt might have been more frustrating than anything. He had no good reason to feel guilty. He was kidnapped from his hometown, taken from his friends and family by a crazy dragoness with an overactive mothering instinct. No combination of those things should have allowed him to feel bad for her. And yet it still managed to happen. He was far too empathetic for his own good sometimes.
Spike was startled out of his train of thought by talons scooping under his arms. Celia had somehow snuck up on him, despite her rather large size advantage. As seemed to be the regular for being picked up, he was first brought to Celia's face for a kiss on the forehead. He squirmed a bit, but otherwise tolerated it. Compared to the other things she was doing to baby him, a kiss on the forehead here and there was nothing.
"I normally sleep later than this," Celia said as she cradled Spike in her arms. "But I couldn't sleep another moment knowing that I was missing out on time with my darling Small Scale. Did you miss your Mommy, too?"
"I miss my real home," Spike responded. He didn't try to squirm out of her hold, knowing how far a fall he had. He didn't like doing it, but for now, he stayed still in her arms. That sad look appeared once again in Celia's face, but she let it go.
"Well, I got a letter today that said the shaman will be home tomorrow," Celia told him. "So once we cure you of that nasty brainwashing, hopefully you'll be a little happier about this. Until then, I'll just have to keep showering you with affection and hope it takes!"
Spike frowned heavily at that. He did not like the sound of this shaman in the slightest. He knew he wasn't brainwashed, but from all of Celia's talk, it sounded like this shaman was likely to do the brainwashing. He had to figure out an escape route fast. He'd worry about finding a route back to Ponyville when the need arose, but for now finding a way out of this cave was top priority.
"Come on, then," Celia said, placing Spike on the ground next to her. "We're going outside."
"Outside?" Spike asked. "Really?" It seemed far too good to be true. Was she really bringing him out and letting him go?
"Really," Celia responded. "It's time for our morning roar."
"Morning roar...?" Spike asked, looking more confused than before. Celia rolled her eyes slightly.
"I know I want you to grow up big and strong like your new Mommy, but that doesn't mean you have to repeat everything I say," Celia said playfully. "Yes, our morning roar to Bahamut."
"Who is Bahamut?" Spike asked, making sure not to just repeat her this time.
"I shouldn't be surprised at this point by how little your pony captors taught you about dragon culture," Celia said with a shake of her head. "Come now, follow Mommy outside." She reached out and took his claw again. As irritated as he was to be treated like this, a part of him couldn't help but be a bit intrigued about the mention of dragon culture. He had looked through Twilight's library once in the past when he felt a sudden urge to learn more about dragons, but there was a surprising lack of material on them. If anything good was to come out of this, he supposed that an opportunity to learn more about his kind was welcome. Celia began walking, and given the strong grip she had on his claw, Spike didn't have much choice but to walk along with her.
"Bahamut is the king of all dragons," Celia explained in a gentle tone as the two walked along the winding corridors. "Much like those ponies that captured you have their Queen Celestia, we have King Bahamut."
"Uh, actually, she's a Princess," Spike offered. "And there are three more-"
"Sweetie, I don't mean to stifle you," Celia said. "But I'm not interested in hearing about those monsters and their royalty."
"They're not monsters," Spike insisted, trying to pull his hand away. Celia only tightened her grip in response, smiling softly to him.
"Please don't try to pull away, honey," Celia said. "I guess I'll apologize for insulting them if it'll make you happy, but I have my reasons for feeling how I do."
"What are they?" Spike asked. There was a long pause as Celia stopped walking. Spike noticed the halting a moment too late, walking right into Celia's legs.
"Please be careful, sweetheart," Celia told him. "And I don't really want to talk about that right now. Maybe when you're older. Now come along." She resumed walking, Spike sighing as he followed.
Spike felt a large amount of relief as he began to notice daylight further down the corridor. It had been a while since he saw daylight, and it was quite a welcome sight. Then he found himself cursing mentally, as his distraction had caused him to not pay enough attention to the path they'd taken. He swore to pay more attention as they headed back. It couldn't have been too complicated, after all.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Celia asked as she pointed at the sun. "Every morning, King Bahamut's will raises the sun to shine light upon his subjects. His benevolence keeps us warm and sustains us, and it's a tradition for his subjects to greet him and his sun with a roar in thanks."
"But Princess Celestia raises the sun," Spike said quietly.
"That's what she wants you to think," Celia said simply. "I've seen the show she's put on at the ponies' little summer celebration. It's an act to make her subjects think that she's doing the work that King Bahamut is really doing." She noticed Spike's frown and sighed, shaking her head. "Never mind all that talk. All you need to know is that it's considered good luck for dragons to roar to the sun as the first thing they do each day. I'll go first, then you. Okay?"
Spike gave Celia a cock-eyed look. The rhetoric she'd just gone through seemed like propaganda to him, but he supposed he could just agree to a roar to placate her. Besides, it was a seemingly harmless thing that dragons apparently did as a tradition, and he was a dragon.
"Alright, I guess," Spike said. Celia beamed and patted him on the head, then turned to face the sun. She took a deep breath, then unleashed a tremendous and terrifying roar, loud enough to make the ground beneath him shake. It was this moment that Spike took to survey the surrounding area. Mountains stood in every direction, and each mountainside looked to have numerous caves carved into them. Spike couldn't even fathom how many dragons were likely to be living here, nor did he have a single clue where "here" was. The mountain range didn't look the least bit familiar to him.
"Your turn, little one," Celia said, gently rubbing his head. "Let's hear your best roar!"
Spike grinned a little. Celia had been treating him like such a baby all this time. If he could give a loud roar and show how strong and mature he was, maybe she would reconsider things. One nice, loud roar could potentially change his entire fortune. With his confidence at an all-time high, Spike took the deepest breath he could manage. Lungs filled with air, he reared back, then let go. His roar was...sub-par, to say the least. In truth, it probably sounded more like the yell of a petulant child than the fearsome roar he'd been hoping for.
"How adorable!" Celia cooed. "Don't worry, that's normal for a baby dragon. Once you grow up big and strong, you'll roar more like Mommy."
Spike felt utterly defeated as his roar had the exact opposite effect than what he'd hoped. He'd just cemented himself further in Celia's eyes as a whelp that needed her care. His gaze fell over his surroundings, wondering which path led out of the village and which way he would have to go to get back to Ponyville. Before he knew it, Celia was holding his claw once more.
"Let's go have some breakfast, alright?" Celia said. Spike sighed softly. He was hungry. Plans for escape could at least wait until after breakfast, he thought as he was led by the hand back inside.
Gah. these chapers are far to short! i want to read moooreeeee
Really enjoying this story tho.
Definitely turning up the crazy here
This is sure up updating fast ^^
Hrm... I am actually a little disappointed that, based on what we've seen in the show, that the dragons are plain old wrong about who raises the sun. I'd like for them to have a different style of world, maybe one that Spike doesn't like... and maybe more intolerant or self-centered than the ponies Spike knows... but one that's not just straightforward wrong.
... And if it somehow isn't wrong... then things are trippier than I thought.
The first part had a bit too much idle talk for the vestment I had on the pony end of things, but I was able to see that it talks about the ponies are about to discover spike is gone.
The rest, however, is definitely picking up steam. I doubt the story will stick with me in a few months time as the characters still aren't memorable to me. It's still developing out of the shadow of cliche slowly, but it is starting to have a little bit of its own identity. Regardless, I do look forward to the next installments. I just have to realize this story is far more quickly written than most word for word. For an updated each day story, it's not bad.
I personally hoped Spike would be put in a Diaper.
6929068 Or maybe they are both right. Celestia maybe doesn't raise the sun alone. If she would be really this powerful, she wouldn't be defeated so easily like in the battle against Chrysalis.
And maybe Celestia and Bahamut are actually friends and the knowledge of them both raising the sun was just lost. Ponies doesn't seem to have much knowledge about the world outside from Equestria. Their education system is a joke... they doesn't even teach them about the other sentient species of the world that are allies with Equestria.
Sorry for this little runt here. I just HATE this kind of Ignorance.
good kip it up this story is
Even if they don’t find magical brainwashing, they’ll think it’s mundane brainwashing.
So Celia, explain how when Nightmare Moon came back, there was no sun? I don’t like the sound of this Bahamut.
Poor Spike. Literally everything he says just confirms all of Celia’s suspicions.
I hope Spike and Celia can find a compromise when it comes to ponies.
a rock, a pebble some sand Spike why are you sending me this ???
Spike where are you!
Let Spike go scaley
Spike has a mommy you meanie !
Mrs. dragon Celia is it? I'll have you know my Spikey Wikey is the hero of the crystal Empire, A scribe to a Princess, He saved me from the Diamond dogs , wrecked ponyville on his birthday, Saved the Equestria Games, and has wanted me from the first day he saw me at the Summer Sun Celebration ..........oomph.........ah ahhhhhhhhh. . .
Oh looky Celia's making them kiss...........
6929068
6929090
Thing is, due to physics, (physics we know apply regardless of whether its geocentric or heliocentric because Equestria uses round globes) even if the sun IS being moved by magic its always rising somewhere and setting somewhere. Ergo the sun is rising all the time. So either Clelestia is using her sun raising spell 24/7 (unlikely, since it has been shown that she has her limits) or (and more likely in my opinion) she passes it on to someone else once it completes its path over Equestria.
6929090
6929155
Oohoo. Not only an interesting idea, but a plausible reason why we would have this misconception.
This I like.
Yeesh, not only is she coocoo, but she's a Zealot to boot.
6929155 Hm... I agree with your second theory.
There are possibly even more as just Celestia and Bahamut who move the sun. Maybe the Minotaurs or even Griffins have some kind of Powerful Wizard/Mage or some kind of ancient Ritual to help keeping the sun moving.
Why do I have this strange feeling Bahamut would admit Celestia raises the sun, then hit on her? Just got a feeling for Immortals Species means nothing and he's probably tried to date both Celestia and Luna in the past. Might even be a fun idea if Bahamut masqueraded as a Famous pony at one point and Celestia did the same as a dragoness.
6929096
I'm more worried about this 'shaman'.
Spike's not brainwashed, so what're they gonna do when he continues being pro pony? Depending on how fanatical they are (and Celia comes off as a pretty heavy one) I see them doing their own 'de-brainwashing' that's really the opposite.
Here's hoping Rarity sounds the alarm soon...
C'mon Spike ask for some paper and crayons or something! Get a message out, dude!
Why do I get the distinct feeling that there is: either some really bad blood between Bahamut and Celestia -OR - that the Shaman or some other dragon is brainwashing the other dragons.
Come on blood-soaked ending! Come on blood soaked ending! On the scale of what happens to the Joker in this video!
Spike needs to write a letter, in crayon.
6929227 Wouldn't be surprised if it was a sore spot that Celestia whooped them / said "no" to being a 'compatriot' of one of the older dragons, way back when.
Well on the plus side, she's acting a little less creepy... Maybe after hearing more of her backstory, her actions will make more sense.
And yay for Spike still being rational.
6929090
That, or perhaps:
Bahamut: "Welcome Spike! Or should that be Small Scale?"
Spike: "Wait! You already know about me?"
Bahamut: "Of course. I'm Bahamut, the King of the Dragons. I know everything. I'm the one who raises the sun. My sister, Queen Tiamat, raises the moon."
Spike: "Ha! 'Knows everything!' Pft! That's Princess Celestia who raises the sun and Princess Luna who raises the moon! I've seen them jiggle them back and forth on a dare."
Celia: "Small Scale! Don't be rude! "
Bahamut: "Celia, if you'll please excuse us? And don't worry, I won't harm Small Scale."
*after Celia leaves*
Spike: "So. Are you going to stomp on me for calling you both out for liars?"
Bahaumut: "Not at all, My Little Dragon. In a way, you both are right. Celestia does raise the sun. As do I. What do you want me to do? Move it up and down? Left and right?"
*the sun moves as directed*
Spike: "H-how is that possible?"
*Bahamut transforms into Celestia, and Tiamat transforms into Luna.*
Spike: "oh, futa! --- WAIT! What about the Changeling invasion??"
Luna: "That was actually me and my Lunar Guards."
Spike: "Huh! BUT WHY!?"
Celestia: "Cadance, Shining and us were just pulling a prank on Twilight."
Spike: "Really!?"
Luna: "Indeed. In fact, the rest of the Bearers, as well as all of Canterlot were in on the prank."
Celestia: "This is the 'Twlight Show', after all. Welcome to the production staff, Spike."
Spike: "So...uh...does Celia know anything about all this?"
Luna: "Actually, Celia is Twilight."
Spike: ""
Celestia: "Yeah. Another spell gone wrong."
Luna: "Again!"
Spike: "BWAH HA HA!"
I wonder what it is behind dragon history according to Celia that Celestia has never mentioned or know about.
6929155 I'd go more on the rooute of Celestia giving a Magical push to it.... then when it's time for Night time sunbutt uses the spell to deacelerate the sun keeping it in Orbit.... in that moment Bahamut uses Dragon Magic to get the sun rising and moving through the Draconic lands, and so forth...
I think if Celia were to learn more about Spike's life, she would be very annoyed. First of all Spike wanted to be on the dragon migration and learn more about himself. But instead, he ended up joining a bunch of crooked juveniles, who we may end up meeting. Also, because Twilight didn't know about dragon greed, it led Spike to nearly obliterate his community. While Celia has no right to keep Spike, she wouldn't be wrong to say that raising him the "pony way" had consequences.
I wonder if Spike may eventually get the opportunity to escape, or at least get a message out to Princess Celestia, only to be given the chance to learn about his ancestry, which could end up tempting him to stay.
Maybe Celestia only raises the sun in the pony lands and it works differently outside of Equestria? I dunno.
I'm getting this weird vibe, like I know where this story is ultimately going...
What if Celia really IS Spike's real mother? What if the reason she hates ponies is because her egg went missing years ago, and it's HER egg that was hatched by Twilight Sparkle?
I called it
Anyways... It's interesting how Dragons see Bahamut raise the sun instead of Celestia... who knows, maybe neither or either do?
Anyways... you got to admit though, Spike's viewing of his own kind makes him look and act like an Uncle Tom, and Celia's views are dogmatic to say the least... like I mentioned in a previous comment, I think ponykind did her a great wrong and her impression on ponies have been altered since...
6929321 maybe each race has someone that raises the sun & moon. Maybe they all raise the sun and moon together.
whyyyy yyy are these chapters so shooooort
6929398 Actually, there's an interesting concept. What if the rulers of each species/nation did help raise the sun and moon every day, they just gave up on getting their followers to understand the 'working together' part. That might be very frustrating to be seen as the 'all powerful King/Queen/Princess/Mine Boss' by your underlings, when it requires co-operation with your fellow leaders, ones seen as brutes and savages by your nation...
I really hope it doesn't turn out Celia is Spike's actual mom. I think that would be the story officially jumping tthe shark
6929386 Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing.
I'm not saying it isn't good but I'm reading this and the more I think about spikes personality and the actions he's taking it makes me wanna jump into the story with a m-60 and tell that 'mommy' that she can shove a mountain up her rear and return spike before I blow her head off! I mean honestly, Spike dude I love ya but come on its not like you couldnt have ran. I know there is a crap ton of racism, but WTF! If anything the Dragon's are insensitive a-holes in the series.
6929068
Same here. This story started with subtle hints that Spike wanted to learn more about his people. I was expecting that this would start out as a kidnapping, but would end up being a positive experience for him and that he'd learn and grow to appreciate his kind, while simultaneously helping Celia overcome her emotional issues from having lost her child, and that everyone would come away better for having had the experience.
Now, it's kind of looking like the conclusion is going to be "dragons are dumb, glad I'm back with ponies, thank you Twilight for treating more like an adult than they did." Which would be disappointing.
6929523
Unless of course it's Celia alone that is the crazy one, even by dragon standards.
6929090 Power does not equal combat skill, to be fair. The ponies in general, even the ones explicitly supposed to be soldiers, suck royally at combat. It's possible Celestia, being royalty, has absolutely no combat skill or know-how whatsoever (which, in the real world, makes sense, unfortunately).
6929202 Actually that could lead to an interesting point; what if the shaman also brainwashed Celia? She could have had her egg sold to the ponies (whom didn't know it was stolen) and then he told her ponies did it.
She could also be made to believe that some one else was moving the sun each day. That'd be an interesting angle...
I think you may be missing a word here.
Don't give up Spike. SEND A LETTER!
Reading through all these comments I have noticed something that all your readers seem to agree upon: need more chapters.
Is it weird that, Celia, bad talk of, Spike's, pony friends is making me mad. Because it is.
6929559
That would be a really cool angle. Celia takes Spike to the Shaman and he's just like.
"Celia we talked about this. You can't keep kidnapping all of these children." And then sends spike home.
6929727 It's making me feel the same way.
6929155
If that's the case then why did whoever raises the sun before Celestia not step in to fix the problem when Nightmare Moon showed up, after all, having the sun not set there would be as dangerous as the sun not rising in Equestrian, to say nothing of the fact that Nightmare moon shows no desire to go after other "sun-raisers" other than Celestia despite them being a threat to her eternal night. My theory has always been that her raising and lowering the sun is just her giving it the momentum to complete the journey, and her spells are just topping that up so to speak.
6929279
This would be the most nonsensical conspiracy since Alex Jones learned to edit videos.
6929785 That's why they're so much fun--they're too ridiculous to ever take serious, but they still make sense (if only within their own logic)
6929155
Actually you are making a pair of assumptions:
First, that the world Equestria is on is reasonably close to being a sphere.
Second, that the sun is a singular object that has a position relative to that sphere.
We actually know that the second assumption is probably false, because if it were true then you could not have had the state of half-day/half-night that occurred when the plunder vines kidnapped Celestia and Luna.