Quite some time later
Once her questions had been answered, Moondancer was rather cordial about the whole affair, which Spike found reassuring. That was the thing with Moondancer; once her paranoia was assuaged, she returned to being the pony that Spike remembered going back to his earliest, most formative years. Like Twilight, Moondancer was only all too happy to answer all of his ‘why’ questions and she had been patient with him during his most inquisitive phases. In her own way, Moondancer was responsible for the dragon that Spike had become and he felt a faint, but nonetheless painful twinge of regret about the years that they had drifted apart.
She was watching now, studying Talespin with marvellous, Moondancer-esque intensity while the filly continued with her task of organising and shelving the books. While Moondancer watched the filly, Spike sort of watched her, in between bouts of sorting books so that Talespin could swoop in to pick them up. As quickly as things had fallen apart, they had come back together, which was the way of things, he supposed.
Spike felt bad for almost setting her on fire, but Moondancer, as always, had been prepared. In the blink of an eye, she had raised a shield and then had extinguished the flames before any real harm could be done. She wasn’t even angry, annoyed, or the slightest bit ruffled. Mere moments after it had happened, she had hugged him and comforted him—a reminder of what sort pony Moondancer truly was—the pony she had always been and the part of her that remained after her troubling ordeal.
As he calmed down though, his powerful sleepiness returned, bit by bit, little by little. Sorting through the books was becoming far more taxing. Realising that Moondancer was a unicorn, and not just any unicorn but a unicorn whom possessed powerful magic, Spike had an idea. Setting a book down, he gave voice to his thoughts.
“Any chance of you helping us?” he asked, hopeful that this might be over in the next few seconds.
“Not a chance,” Moondancer replied without skipping a beat. “You got yourselves into this mess, it is good for you to get yourselves out of it. I am here as an observer, nothing more.”
The response was just a teensy-weensy bit frustrating, but Spike accepted it. He was too tired to be angry, or to have an emotional response. Plus, he didn’t feel like resenting Moondancer after she had soothed and comforted him after his explosive outburst. In general, dragons didn’t have protective maternal figures for the most part, so angry dragons tended to stay angry, and become jerks. Spike knew that he was who he was because of ponies like Twilight and Moondancer, as well as so many others. His anger never lasted long and any time he got his scales bent out of shape somepony would help smooth them out.
He was not a wild creature trapped in a perpetual state of temper tantrum.
“You’ve made a fascinating friend, Spike,” said Moondancer in a low whisper. “I know Night Glider. Starlight introduced us. Night Glider is a fierce warrior of a mare… but I had no clue that she was keeping a secret. Which is, perhaps, the point of keeping a secret. What I am trying to say is, I would have never expected any sort of abnormalities. She never showed any signs of being different.”
“The ponies that stayed in Starlight’s town did so for a reason,” Spike replied.
“So they did, Spike. So they did.” Moondancer’s face went slack while her eyes turned thoughtful. “You know, with things as they are right now, I too might’ve tried to find solace in a place like that. Nopony trusts me, Spike. I hear the whispers behind my back. I hear the ponies second-guessing Twilight’s good judgment. It’s so bad that even I second-guess her judgment, because I failed so hard. I got duped, Spike, and then I was taken. You… you’re one of the few that still treats me the same. I mean to say, you haven’t changed, even though I have.” She shook her head while huffing out a sad sigh. “I don’t know what I’m saying or the point I’m trying to make. But I can talk to you, like I’m doing right now.”
“There’s Sumac—”
“Yeah, but that’s super weird for me. Sumac was friends with the infiltrator who replaced me. I don’t know what I’d do without his friendship… I can’t even make sense of his friendship. That poor kid, he has it rough. He’s got the sorcerer’s curse.”
“She’s got it rough too,” said Spike whilst gesturing at Talespin. “Getting her to open up and be trusting is going to be hard. You won’t help me with the books, and I’m fine with that, but do you think you can help me with her? She can keep you company on the nights you don’t sleep. She needs to know that she can be herself while she’s here.”
Moondancer turned away, her ears splayed out sideways in a relaxed position, and she sighed, a soft, weary sound that was a match for Spike’s own exhaustion. He realised that his friend was feeling sorry for herself and he agonised over his awareness. A stray glance at the clock told him that it was just a little past the second hour, which meant that there was only about four hours left before dawn.
“Moondancer…”
Her ears pricked, though they did not stand, an indicator that she was listening.
“You’re good at making others feel like they belong—”
“Me? The recluse that lived alone, cut off from my friends? Me? The pariah that I am right now? Me… the pony that nopony trusts because they all think the changelings did something to my mind? I don’t belong at all, Spike.”
“You never made me feel shut out,” he said, struggling to overcome her harsh, self-condemning words. “I’m a dragon… lots of ponies made me feel like I didn’t belong. It… it… it was you that got Twilight’s other friends… our friends, to accept me. You… you shamed them into it. You made them feel guilty for shutting me out. You helped Twilight too, by helping me, because when I was shut out, Twilight felt the same. She never felt accepted unless I was accepted and that’s true even today. And… and… and maybe Sumac needs you, because he’s an outcast too… in his own way. You don’t treat him like a sorcerer, Moondancer. To you, he’s just another pony.”
“Just another pony… who just so happens to be a sorcerer.”
Spike felt the tension return to his shoulders and he wished it would go away.
“Thanks, Spike.”
“For what?” Puzzled, he tried to read his friend’s face—but to no avail.
“For making me feel better. For helping me to see some value that I wasn’t even remotely aware of. For being my friend. Take your pick, Spike.”
“Oh.” Spike held a book in his claws, but try as he might, he couldn’t seem to read anything and his current state of distraction proved impossible to overcome. There was a warm prickle beneath his scales and he found himself possessed with a strange desire to hug Moondancer, a physical, intimate reminder of their friendship.
Dropping his book with a heavy thump, he rushed to end the emptiness between his arms…
Later… an unknown period of time later…
Spike awoke from troubling dreams about moths banging against the window and pleading to be let in so that they too, could enjoy the warmth and light. Dizzy, disoriented, he could not remember going to sleep. There was no memory of getting into his bed, or of finishing his task in the east wing for that matter. No memory of being covered in a blanket, and yet, here he was, in his bed, tucked in beneath a blanket.
His body was sluggish, uncooperative, and more than just a little hungry. He had missed Miss Kerning’s inspection. After all that fretting, fear, and worry, he had met with failure. A part of him wanted to go back to sleep, because he didn’t want to face the consequences—not now, maybe not ever. As a dragon, he could sleep for a long, long time. Why, he could sleep out his problems with ponies if he so desired, and when he woke up again, they would be dottering about with old age.
But no, sleep was the enemy. Laziness and lethargy would rob him of meaningful, wonderful experiences, moments that he would miss, the times that he would treasure. Ponies only lived for the blink of an eye, their lives were short, so short, and ended all too quickly. To be like them, to be with them, he had to sleep like them, which meant following a schedule, which he had broken.
Dragging himself out of bed, he agonised over his failure.
He found Twilight in a rare moment of downtime, sipping a cup of tea that had no steam because its residual warmth had long since departed. She was looking up at a life-sized portrait of Princess Celestia and there was a serene calm about her face. Still freaking out, Spike rushed to her side and came to a skidding halt, his claws dragging sparks from the floor.
“Constance couldn’t quite recall ever seeing the shelves in such a state of perfection,” Twilight remarked while Spike began to wring his clawed hands together. “Not one book was out of place. Spine-alignment was perfect. I daresay that mare was impressed, Spike.”
Try as he might, he could not remember finishing the job. He remembered hugging Moondancer, and not wanting to let go, and she had said things to him, kind things, reassuring things, and… she had held him. What had happened beyond that was anypony’s guess, but he needed to know. He had to know if Talespin was okay, because he had taken it upon himself to save her.
“Moondancer told me some mighty peculiar things about Talespin, Spike. I had a chance to meet her just a little while ago. The legacy of Our Town troubles me.”
“I would imagine so,” was his weak reply. “Where is she now, Twilight?”
“Miss Kerning pulled her into her office for a chit-chat—”
“NO!” Every nerve in Spike’s body jolted to life and before he realised what he was doing, he was sprinting for the door, waddling as fast as his stubby legs would carry him. His own tail worked against him, swinging from side to side in a wild way that threatened to destroy his balance. “I gotta save Talespin!”
Spike hit the door running and very nearly tore it from its hinges.
A short run later…
Spike cannonballed though Constance Kerning’s door, which banged open on impact. Heaving smoke, he froze in the doorway while his eyes tried to take in everything. Talespin was in a chair, looking a bit sleepy, as if she had just woken up. Constance’s desk now served as a makeshift table for tea and the horrible lecture that Spike had dreaded… did not seem to be happening.
Smirking, Moondancer waved while Miss Kerning took a deep, steadying breath.
“Hello, Spike. Would you like to join us for tea?” Miss Kerning asked while the ghost of a smile haunted her stern features. “I was just getting to know young Miss Talespin, getting to know her strengths and weaknesses so that we could tailor the program to be a better fit for her.”
“I will be…”—Talespin raised her teacup during her dramatic pause—“the Librarian of the Night! I will strike down evil in the form of unsorted, unorganised books! Mild-mannered sleepy filly by day, book-sorting maniac by night!”
It was at this moment that Spike suffered an emotional crash. His limbs turned leaden, his brain mostly shut down, and he stared at Miss Kerning with a dullard’s dimwitted stare. He… he had put so much time, effort, and energy into saving Talespin—such a big deal had been made about saving her—and she… she was saving herself. His brain simply could not process this information and he stood in the door, stupefied.
“Poor Spike… he just woke up, Miss Kerning. He was up way past his bedtime last night. Talespin is nocturnal, Spike… not so much. Please, forgive him.”
“Indubitably.” Miss Kerning gestured at the table. “Please, join us. Have a seat, Spike.”
As the words were spoken, Spike felt himself dragged to the table by an irresistible force, and then he was plopped into a chair beside Talespin. His mind was desperately trying to make sense of the situation and his body could do nothing until his mind had finished its task. Had Moondancer saved him and Talespin? Had she finished the books? He had to know. He needed to know, so he could be grateful.
“Miss Talespin here was just taking her first steps towards a glorious professional future by telling me more about her special needs. Her specialised assets, as I like to think of them. Libraries are busy places by day, but deserted by night, and night time is the best time to get work done. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Spike gave Miss Kerning a slack-jawed stare while the stern mare set a cup down in front of him and began pouring tea.
“Being Twilight’s most trusted, most valued assistant, you saw Talespin’s potential right away, because of course you did, and you made a valiant effort to create a circumstance where she might shine. Quite impressive, Spike.”
“Yeah?” Having recovered enough to speak, he watched as Miss Kerning drizzled a bit of honey into his tea. “Yeah… I did… I did that.”
“It presents a bit of a challenge, it does. The library education program happens by day, but I am confident that a workaround solution can be reached somehow. You’ve already taken steps towards that end, Spike, again, showing remarkable foresight and leadership.”
In silence, he watched as a few teacakes were set down before him.
“Moondancer is an accredited Master Librarian, among her many outstanding qualifications, and one of her many degrees is in the library sciences. I do believe that Moondancer would appreciate having a student to help while away the long hours of the night.”
When Spike turned to look at Moondancer, she was grinning at him in the most disturbing way. The sight of her made him shiver, because she looked just a little too pleased, and something about her face reminded him a great deal of Twilight during one of her neurotic victories, when she seized upon something and could not let go.
Sometimes, it was better to let go.
Could a pony be saved by accident? The idea settled into Spike’s brain and made itself at home. Talespin was giggling about something and he turned to look at her, to study her, to understand her. No… no. She had saved herself—but had done so because he had inspired her trust. For a moment, he started to feel disappointed that he hadn’t saved her, as if he had failed in some unknowable way, but he dismissed that. She had saved herself and he felt… he felt proud about it.
Talespin was free to be herself and she had found others that she could trust.
It had started off with him trying to be her friend and had turned into this… whatever this was.
“After you went to sleep last night, Moondancer and I—”
“Hush, Talespin. We Librarians of the Night must keep our secrets.”
“Oh, right.” The filly’s eyes darted about in a sneaky, furtive way. “The Superhero Code of Silence.”
While clutching his teacup in his claws, Spike stared at Moondancer, demanding to know what had happened. She was smiling, Moondancer, and he could not recall the last time he had seen her this happy. It had been a while… happy moments for Moondancer had become elusive after her capture, but to see her now reminded Spike of the filly he once knew. Dragons had long, perfect memories and he retreated into these now while a warm prickle played beneath his scales.
“Miss Talespin, we need to do something with that unruly mane of yours. It is not professional. Have you thought about wearing a bun?” Constance sat down in her chair and did so with perfect, rigid posture.
“No, I’ve never thought about transforming my secret identity into a grandma before.”
Moondancer snickered.
“Buns are very professional,” Constance said, her twitching cheeks tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“I wouldn’t know,” Talespin said, “because I sit on my buns. I am not a bun-head.”
“Perhaps a braid.” There was a never before seen twinkle in Constance Kerning’s eyes now. “Anyhow, if you are to be a librarian, you must look the part. It is done to reassure the public, dear. The librarian is a reflection of how they keep their books.”
Talespin’s head made a slow swivel, turning in Moondancer’s direction. Though not a word was said, Spike understood the intention; in his struggle to contain his laughter, he almost dropped his teacup. Moondancer scowled, but it was a good natured scowl, and Talespin had a mischievous gleam in her eyes. At some point while he slept, a new friendship had formed and he was witnessing it now.
The strangest things happened while one slept.
At long last, Spike relaxed, and did so without realising it. All of the tension melted away, his shoulders slumped down a bit, and a contented sigh escaped him while he settled into his chair. This felt good. Maybe he had overreacted just a teensy-weensy bit, but things had turned out okay. Everything had sorted itself out, as things tended to do. He had, in his own way, contributed to the stability of Twilight’s castle.
A filly had been given purpose, trust had been established, Moondancer had a companion to ease the long hours of the night, a new side of Constance had been revealed, and Spike knew it was all because he had made a choice to save a pony. No, Spike realised, it wasn’t about saving a pony, it was about choosing to care. Talespin could very well be just another face, another filly, one of the many who frequented these halls. He could have brought her back to the castle and left her to her fate, but because he cared, because he had shown compassion, something better, something greater had been achieved.
For Spike, it was a confirmation of the values that he and Twilight shared.
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Yay the filly is finding her place
Man, Spike has it rough. I feel for the guy, so I'm glad he got a win.
I tend to think while he'd never say it Spike's friends are his horde.
When in the timeline is this? ... there are mentionings of Sumac, and the Changeling abduction of Moondancer seems distant enough that she's not mentally unstable but still paranoid over it ... wonder if Talespin will meet Sumac and Co.
9033327
It clearly says it in the story if one pays attention to the small details.
9033335
This fox may have missed that, or just ka-derped on my memory. Sleep is getting a bit wonky lately due to ear infection.
I recall it's set between school years, as Twiley is dealing with registrations and such. And Sumac is experimenting with flight, so definitely post-year 1 for him.
No mentions of developments that happened later, such as ascended Sumac or Eterni-Twi, so definitely before Sumac was older than nine or ten.
9033327
9033335
This.
It is a bit fuzzy in my head as well, but the biggest clue is Sumac crashing a flying invention in chapter one. This means Sumac is in his teens and apprenticed to Vinyl, but is still before Olive got shipped off to become an Immortal Solar Guard.
9033361
Nope.
9033356
9033361
It’s the year right after PTSSFFF if im correct. It’s second year.
This is a good idea for how to employ Talespin.
Don't be so hard on yourself, Spike, this there's a direct line between your plan and this result.
I figured from the start the 'fix' to this situation is just telling the responsible people at the top they have an assistant with either special needs or a special set of skills, knowing that they're trustworthy people if Twilight vetted them.