Roll for Initiative

by David Silver

8 - Start Episode 4 - Resupplying

Twilight looked under her desk before peering around a shelf. She even tried seeing if there was anything in one of her chandeliers. With a grunt, she landed on the ground and shook her head. "Spike!"

Spike came hurrying in. "Yeah? What's wrong?"

"Where did the backup paper go?" She waved her hoof towards each spot she had searched. "I can't find it, and the normal supply is all out."

Spike cringed faintly. The backup paper had transformed into character sheets and drawings for his game. "Yeah, huh, weird..."

"Less strange and more annoying." She sat on her haunches. "Could you stop by town and pick up some more paper." With a magical pop, a bag of bits appeared hovering beside her. "I have to head to Canterlot for a sudden diplomatic meeting--" Her barrel expanded as she drew in a deep breath. "--with a country I'd never heard of outside of a few mentions in a book before."

Spike jogged up to her side and gave her heaving ribs a soft patting. "It'll be alright. You have this under control."

The breath escaped from her in a gust. "Yes, of course. Thank you, Spike." She wrapped a wing around him and drew him close. "If you need any help, the girls will be here. This one's for princesses only."

He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms at her despite still being wrapped in a warm wing. "I don't think I'll need help to get some paper."

"I meant in general, my #1 assistant." She smooched the top of his head and rose to her hooves. "I should get going. I leave the castle in your capable claws."

"I won't let you down!" He snapped into attention as he said it, giving a sharp salute as Twilight spread her wings and launched off towards Canterlot and her royal duties. He turned away and swept his gaze over the castle. "Got the place to myself." He dismissively waved in the direction where Twilight had gone without turning. "As if they'd want a dragon around for 'important pony business', whatever." He chuckled as he moved for the front door, imagining Twilight sweating it out.

Emerging into the light of day, he set his sights below and got to jogging down into town. "I'll get some paper, and hopefully..." He craned his neck around as he went, hoping to see a splash of red as he went. That isn't to say that there wasn't red to be had. Ponies came in many colors, several of them red or close to it.

In fact, just one of those was waving at him. "Hey, Cheerilee!" He returned the wave she had given. "How's it going?"

"Did I just see Twilight take off?" She glanced in the direction of Canterlot. "Will she be long?"

"Why? You sound worried." He cocked a brow at the teaching pony.

"What, me, worried?" She gave a little nervous laugh. "No, no... it's just that she promised... Just tell me if she plans to be right back?"

Spike quickly realized what had happened. "Oh, um, she got a sudden royal call."

Cheerilee deflated, sinking to her haunches. "I suppose you can't do much about that..."

"What was she supposed to do?"

Cheerilee waved towards the schoolhouse. "She was supposed to be a substitute today for me."

Spike looked back and forth between the sad Cheerilee and the schoolhouse. There weren't a lot of ponies that could make room in their own busy lives, where as he just had to get some paper... "Say... what if I did that?" How hard could teaching a bunch of foals be? Heck, he knew some of them quite well and they were friends. The more he thought about it, the more fun it sounded. "Yeah, I can keep an eye on them."

Cheerilee put a hoof around him and pulled him tight to her body, squeezing him. "Thank you! Do you know math?"

Spike blinked softly from within the fur of her front. "Yeah? I am Twilight's assistant! #1! You pick up a few things around her."

She released him, bobbing her head. "Good. We were just going to go over right angles today, so be sure to spend a little time with that. Outside of that, it's your classroom, for today. Keep it interesting and educational." She was clopping her hooves together. "Ohhh, you have no idea how happy you've made me, Spike. Thank you!" She smooched his cheek and trotted away with a joyful smile.

Spike's smile was more satisfied. "Another mare, saved by Spike." He gave a firm nod, pleased with himself. "Huh, now I need paper even more than before." He hurried to Quills and Sofas. With a little hop, he grabbed the handle of the door and swung inside with the momentum of the jump, landing inside dexterously. He bowed for his audience.

"Welcome to Quills and Sofas," greeted Davenport with a smile for the small dragon. "How are you today, Spike?" He set aside a case that likely had a quill in it. "Does Twilight need more quills?"

"Not today." Spike righted himself and stepped up towards the counter. "Actually, I need paper, lots of it."

"Not my specialty, but let me see what I have." He ducked his head under the counter and Spike could hear him rooting around. "Why do I even have this?" A pen flew out into the room. "No, out of date." A vial of ink sailed and bounced off the wall, thankfully remaining intact. "Here we are." He came back up, a collection of paper in his snout. "I knew I had some saved. Twilight gearing up for some writing?" He set it down where Spike could reach.

Spike pulled the collection of paper from the counter into his hands and looked them over. They had a little dust, but seemed serviceable. "Yeah, but me too. I'm gonna teach the foals over at the school today."

His ears went up. "Really? Well, you keep that paper then, consider it a donation to the children."

"Thanks!" He did not kiss Davenport, even if kissing seemed to be the way of thanks that day. "I should get going. They aren't gonna teach themselves!"

They exchanged waves as he dashed out the door, heading straight for the school. "Right angles," he spoke to himself as he went. How did right angles work again? He slowed his approach as he realized that wasn't a thing he had gone over very well. "I'll... think of something. I just have to keep it educational and fun."

He scampered into the room and felt dozens of eyes focus on him instantly. His approach slowed as he raised a hand at all the foals. "Oh, uh, hey everypony!"

Apple Bloom peered at Spike curiously, one ear lifted. "What're you doin' here, Spike? Are ya joinin' school?"

Sweetie Belle bobbed her head. "That's fantastic! You can sit next to us if you want!"

Diamond Tiara snorted at the two of them. "Don't be stupid. He's a dragon."

Spike hopped up onto the stool that was behind Cheerilee's desk, slapping down the collection of paper he had gotten. "Diamond Tiara is correct. I am not joining you, and I am a dragon. No, today, I am your teacher!" He stood tall and proud, waiting for accolades to rain upon him.

Silver Spoon burst into titters, and most of the class joined her. "You can't be a teacher. What do you even know? Are you going to show us how to kiss up to royalty?"

Spike's cheeks warmed at the insinuation. "What? No!" He stomped his foot down on the stool, which slid out from under him and sent him toppling to the ground. The laughing only grew worse. He scrambled upright and flipped the stool where it should be. "Ahem! Silence!" They were not quieting. "Hey!" The room refused to be stilled.

He drew in a deep breath and lit up the room in a plume of green flames that washed over the heads of the suddenly quiet foals. "As I was saying... I know what we'll be doing today, and it'll be fun too!" He hopped back up on the stool and spread out the papers a little. "Does everypony have something to write on?"

Most of the foals indicated their notebooks, some holding it up in mouth or magic.

Spike nodded. "Very good. Today we're going to play a game." That got their attention. They leaned forward. "A very special game." They leaned a little more. "A game of adventure and danger!" He wriggled his fingers as he spoke. "In order to prevail, you will need teamwork, dedication, and maybe to know a thing or two." He tapped his head lightly.

Snips hung his head. "Guess we're out huh?"

Snails raised a hoof instead of agreeing. "What kinda game is it?"

Spike strike a hopefully heroic pose, one foot up on the desk, a fist raised towards the heavens. "Today we will be delving into the mysterious world of Ogres--" He swept his hand across the audience. "--and Oubliettes!"

Pipsqueak suddenly perked up. "Core! Ah've played that game once or twice I have! It's great loads of fun!" He clip-clopped his hooves excitedly. "I don't mean to be picky or nothing but how's that learnin' though?"

Murmurs from around the classroom echoed the sentiment, wondering what that game or any other had to do with whatever lesson they should have been learning that day. Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. "Does it matter? We get a day off with Spike." She smiled at him, eyes half-lidded. "Go on, our little lizard foalsitter. It sounds better than a boring lecture at least."

"Uh, thanks?" He fished out a quill from within the desk. "Let's split up into groups of four and I'll help everyone get their characters created, then we'll all play together, as a class. I'll be the storyteller, weaving your destiny and deciding your ultimate fate!" He brought down a fist in a determined pump. "It'll be fun!"

The next hour was spent preparing. He bounced from table to table, helping the foals get their characters in order. He didn't have his book with him to double check things, but didn't feel that was too important. He transformed those colts and fillies into proud warriors, wizards, rogues, and more.

Apple Bloom held up her sheet to her friends. "See? Ah'm an alchemist!"

Sweetie Belle nodded appreciatively. "I will sing tales of your amazing mixtures."

Scootaloo clopped a hoof down on her sheet. "You'll need a potion to keep up with me!"

The trio burst into amiable laughter as the groups began to break up, everyone returning to their seats. Spike gestured low. "Alright, alright, you all have a character?"

Sheets were lifted into the air, but one had no numbers or words, just a picture. Snips was holding a piece of paper with nothing but a drawing of a symbol Spike couldn't make out. It was surprisingly ornate for something Snips had made. "Uh, what is that?" He pointed at the unknown mark.

Snips looked over at it and back to Spike. "That's the, uh, holy thingie. My grandad told me about it. It, uh, was kinda important, in my family." His head sunk a little. "Did I do it wrong?"

Spike tilted his head a little, considering that.

While he thought on it, Diamond narrowed her eyes at Snips. "We all made these." She held up her sheet. "How did you get that distracted? I swear, even by your dismally low standards, this is amazing."

Spike held up a hand. "Hold up a moment, we can work with this. Snails, you are now a priest." He waved at the symbol. "And that is your faith's icon. Did your grandad tell you about it?"

Snips lifted up in his seat. "Are you sure you wanna know? No one ever wanted to hear about it before..."

Spike thrust a single finger up. "One, it's now part of my world, so I need to know about it. Two--" He raised a second finger "--, we are here to learn, and learning about your family's past sure sounds educational to me. So, yes, please, tell us."

Author's Note:

Is Spike the best substitute teacher?

Not for right angles, perhaps, but he's trying! At least if nothing is written down, typos are avoided. Wait, those sheets!

Comments

[zaku666]

good, good. spread the evil. corrupted the clean

[LtMajorDude]

Diamond and Silver still being butts?

When does this story take place again?

And yay, class is involved in the Devil's game~

[RadicalDishonesty]

Yyyeah. Spike teaching them by playing a game all day might be liable to get him in trouble...

Unless Cheerilee is alright with the sub just giving them something fun to do, which she might be.

Let's hope his newfound passion for roleplaying doesn't land him in hot water.

However, I do like hearing about Snips and/or Snails from directions that aren't how they're dumb and/or really dumb.

[Voldine]

8393562 I haven't read enough of the 5e stuff to know how badly they mess things up. I just know 4e sucks.

[howard035]

I bet Snail's family worships the Sun Queen.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Well, it's certainly orthogonal to what Cheerilee had in mind...

Also, Davenport found a typo in his stock room:

Spike pulled the paper of paper

Unless that's some really impressive paper, I'm guessing the first one should be "pile" or something similar.

[David Silver]

8395380
Found another lurking just nearby. Cleave!

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Uh, unless this is taking place prior to "Crusaders of the Lost Mark", Diamond and Silver shouldn't be as mean as they were.

Also, Spike, you sure Cheeirlee will approve of you playing games with the class instead of teaching them? This isn't recess you know.

[OmniFox]

Yes he is.