“What are you doing, Tia?” Princess Celestia looked up from her comfortable spot on the large purple sitting pillow by the fireplace that allowed a pleasant warmth to fill the room. The steady crackling of the fire, often the only sound she heard besides the scribbling of a quill on parchment during long lonely nights, had begun to die down. Now, however, she was not alone, and so she turned away from the letter that was lying in front of her and towards the right where the sound was coming from. She was met with the deep blue eyes of her sister that were only mere centimeters away from her own magenta colored ones. Luna had tried to look over her shoulder in an attempt to find out what she was writing there, curious as she always was.
Celestia moved her head back a little, and Luna took a step back as well. “It is just a letter for Twilight, sister,” she explained calmly and looked back at the parchment in front of her.
“And what is it that you are writing to her?” Luna inquired and stepped closer again. In the corners of her eye, Celestia could see her leaning down towards the letter and trying to make out the words she had written.
"I want to make sure that the citizenship of our new subject will be handled as quickly as possible,” she said and dipped the quill into the jar of ink, letting it glow with a bright golden light.
“Why?” Luna returned, surprised. “We think this action would only bring more light on him, and is that not the reason we have arranged a meeting with the ambassadors this afternoon? To make sure that he will go on with his life here unbothered by their interests?” Celestia looked up from the letter again and returned her sister’s worried expression with a confident smile.
“It is not a meeting, dear sister. We merely have invited them for a tea party,” Celestia calmed her.
“You may call it what you want, but that does not change the point. What if they begin asking questions? We do not think this will turn out advantageously for either him or us.” Princess Celestia could clearly hear the concern in her sister’s voice. Her concerns were not without reason.
“I do not plan to give out any information,” Celestia replied without taking an eye off the paper, yet she could almost feel Luna’s confusion. “It will simply be a… friendly get-together if you want to call it that. You know just how much I dislike the tension that always forms in the negotiation rooms. And we have nothing to negotiate in the first place. We simply will have a nice afternoon in celebration of our long lasting good relationships. And while we do so, we will ask them about any news that they have heard of. Nothing more than informing ourselves about how far the rumors have spread already. No need to worry ourselves before we do not even know what they know.” After the explanation, Celestia raised her head again and watched Luna processing the information. She remained silent for a few seconds, her mouth hanging slightly open as she stared unbelievingly towards her.
Eventually, Luna closed her mouth again and nodded briefly. “Fine. I do not like the thought that we have to act this way, but I do not see a way in which we are not releasing information while gathering it ourselves which would not lead to a political conflict.”
“I know, my sister,” Celestia agreed quietly. “I have spent a lot of time thinking about how we should approach this situation.” A yawn escaped her lips that still formed a smile. “Maybe a bit too much.”
“Were you not sleeping last night again?” Luna asked, worried as she trotted over to her big sister and leaned down to her. As alicorns, neither of them were as dependent on sleep as their subjects, but it still served as an easy way to restore their powers that were drained by their daily duties. And even an alicorn as powerful as her sister would be showing signs of exhaustion after too many sleepless nights.
Celestia shook her head. “The faster we get this situation dealt with, the better,” she replied firmly although her tiredness was slowly gaining the upper hand. “Unfortunately, I have made no progress at all so far. I might have to consult Twilight for assistance again.” Another yawn left her mouth.
“You should get some rest, Tia,” Luna said as she put a hoof on her sister’s shoulder.
Celestia sighed. “Fine, just let me finish this letter first. How long until our meeting?”
“Three hours, sister,” Luna said and stepped away from Celestia. “I will leave you alone to catch some rest and inform the guards that you don’t wish to be disturbed. I will return later when the ambassadors arrive.” With these words, the Princess of the Night opened the door to her sister’s chambers with a swing of her horn. The two guards outside the door stood at attention as she walked past them.
“Let nopony disturb her for today,” Luna ordered them.
“As you wish, your Highness,” the unicorn to her left acknowledged and both stomped their spears on the ground once before crossing them over the door.
Luna nodded absently and slowly made her way back to her own quarters. Oh sister, what game are you playing again?
***
Twilight lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling of her room. The night had already begun its daily retreat against the slow march of the incoming day. If this had been an ordinary day, she would have already been out of bed, preparing for a day of studies and going over her checklist one final time. It was a Friday after all; what was a better way to start the weekend than with some light reading in the form of Starswirl’s ‘Theoretical Conjurations, Fourth Encyclopaedia’, after all? She had even scheduled some time for helping Pinkie Pie bake some cookies for the patients currently warded in Ponyville’s hospital.
However, the events of yesterday had turned the new day into a swirling mass of uncertainty, one Twilight found herself resisting the need to tackle. In her young life, she had fought against a corrupted night princess, stopped a lord of chaos in his tracks, and even stood up to a changeling queen when nopony else would stand with her. And yet despite all that, she was unsure of how to handle the angry barbs flung her way by the dragon she affectionately called her number one assistant.
Unbidden, her mind took great delight in reminding her of what had occurred. After their… confrontation, she had spent the remainder of the day in an unproductive daze, the combination of exhaustion and her indecision to confront Spike so soon afterwards rendering any plans she had futile. Spike, on the other hand, had thrown himself into his work, sweeping, dusting, washing, polishing, and mopping with a vengeance, his small body seemingly containing endless energy while a perpetual frown constantly adorned his face. For all that time, he had refused to even look in her direction. She had been unsure as to whether or not to be relieved at that. While him not wanting to see her certainly hurt, him constantly glaring at her would have been much worse.
Her eyes shifted over to the empty basket at the foot of her bed. The sheets were neat and unruffled, evidence that Spike had not slept in it last night. She had waited patiently to see if he would be in a more amiable mood as the day had progressed. By the time the clock had struck ten, she had had enough, quietly tiptoeing down the stairs in search of her charge. He had neither been in the library section itself nor the kitchen. When the first pangs of panic had begun to rise, she had finally found him in the basement nestled in between two of her machines, a thin sheet the only barrier between him and the cold floor. An old dirty blanket had covered his body, rising and falling as he breathed. He wheezed quietly on occasion from the dust in the room, probably the only place he had not managed to clean that day. She had stood there for a while, indecisive as to whether or not to leave him there or to carry him back to her room. Eventually, she had slunk up the stairs, leaving the unsuspecting dragon behind, feeling as though she had somehow abandoned him.
Now she was left with the additional feeling of guilt to gleefully mix with the other emotions that had been rolling around inside her ever since their fight.
She groaned to herself, lifting and then slamming her head down onto the pillow while blowing a few errant strands of her mane from her face in frustration. She took a deep breath before exhaling, trying to collect her thoughts from their current chaotic state in order to try and analyse the situation she had gotten involved in.
Spike was angry with her and had been so for quite a while. After all, he wasn’t somepony to be so enraged to have acted like that on impulse. Sure, he could sometimes become annoyed or grumpy on occasion, but he was good-natured for the most part and could take a prank or practical joke and wave it away with a laugh. So why had he exploded at her like that? While she believed he was being truthful about being angry with her for not taking him to the party, his own words had revealed that it was just the catalyst in a long list of grievances that he held against her.
‘You’ll just think that I’m being stupid or childish as usual.’ That had been the first direct accusation he had hurled at her. She took another deep breath, trying to block the hurt that had been associated with the memory. She was only partially successful. She took a moment, allowing herself to think back, attempting to recall as much of their interactions as possible. She had known him for so long, from the day he had been hatched. Their time in Ponyville had only increased their closeness, and yet Twilight found that there were times when her memories of Spike just melded together, the recollections of her studies overriding most of whatever memories she may have had of what he had been doing at the time.
The only thing she could be certain of was that she had never intentionally thought of him as being stupid. It wasn’t fair to compare their intellects since they both knew how to do things the other couldn’t do. She couldn’t recall ever feeling a sense of superiority over anypony just because they didn’t know the theory and history behind a shield spell while she did, and that went especially for Spike.
However… there were times when she had felt impatience with Spike over his questioning as to why she was doing something a certain way or if she was certain something would work, then having to slowly explain it to him. Was she being… condescending? Her eyes widened as the thought struck her, and she swallowed, suddenly feeling lightheaded as it seemed to strike home. But most of the time, those moments had been when she was in a hurry; she had never meant it in a way to belittle him! And yet it appeared that the young dragon had taken the tone behind her words the wrong way, taken them to heart.
‘Can we just move on and pretend this never happened?’ This was the one sentence that had caused her the most discomfort, the one that caused the guilt hungrily gnawing away at her. Even now, when she could think without being blindsided, her initial reaction to the accusation still rang through. The tired resignation that had been present spoke of his belief that whatever he had to say would amount to little. Could she honestly say that she had always taken Spike’s opinion into consideration? The answer was a swift no. She could argue that there were times when following his opinion would have led to even more damage, like the time he had decided on going with the other dragons. However, had she taken it a step further, done it to such an extent that he had come to realize that arguing with her would be a futile endeavour? She found that she could not give herself a satisfactory answer.
The accusation that he was the one who had to clean up after her was one she, having mulled it over several times, found difficult to comprehend. Not because it wasn’t true – since it was – but because she didn’t know exactly what she had done wrong. Spike was her assistant after all, and it had been his job to do the cooking and cleaning while she was studying. Nothing had changed in that regard. Except… ‘you tear it apart to find one book.’ As much as she hated to admit it, it was something she had done more than once, leaving Spike to start from scratch. She groaned again. She was doing it again, looking at things from her point of view and not taking his into consideration. He no doubt saw it as just another way she continued to treat him unfairly. Yet another red mark against her.
‘I almost never get invited to anything your friends do, and when I do, I still end up having to stay here to take care of the library.’ This was the one that had stayed with her the longest despite the fact that it was the charge she had been the most willing to accept. It still didn’t make it easier to think about. In her defence, she had insisted on Spike remaining behind on most of the adventures she and her friends and been on for his own safety. She would never have forgiven herself if she had allowed him to accompany them only for him to end up being hurt. She still sometimes had nightmares of their trip to the Crystal Empire, and a fair few of them involved her assistant. Yet… even in Ponyville, it had been so easy to continue that pattern, to leave him in the safety of the library whenever she had gone out to meet her friends.
It all added up to a conclusion that she desperately wanted to ignore, a conclusion that her conscience kept waving in front of her, demanding to be acknowledged. She felt almost nauseous, the rollercoaster of emotions not easing in their intensity on her psyche. She wanted nothing more than to just slink back under her covers and have another crying session. Her tears, however, had long dried up, and despite herself, she found herself struggling to get free from her blanket before dropping down onto the floor. She sluggishly dragged her way to her door, mustering whatever little reserves of energy she had to brace for the new day. Stepping out and closing it behind her, the most noticeable thing immediately roused her attention, the very nature of the assault on her senses causing a tiny spark of hope to tingle in her stomach.
For now though, the only thing that was running through her mind was, is that... pancakes?
***
Spike laid his weary head onto the kitchen table, allowing the coolness of the surface to seep into his body. His back ached from the rough night on the basement’s floor, and he had accidentally squeezed his right hand in one of the cupboard doors whilst trying to wrestle out his favourite cast iron skillet. Still, when all was said and done, a stack of pancakes stood tall in their steamy goodness next to a cup of hot coffee, one lump of sugar with a slight amount of milk. It was a simple breakfast but it counted as Twilight Sparkle’s favourite.
Spike sighed, the sound louder than intended in the quiet of the kitchen. He had really done it this time. He pounded a fist half-heartedly against the table. Why did Twilight have to go and push him like that? He was content to just keep grumbling to himself but nooooo, Her Majesty’s student just had to be in one of her pushy moods where she wouldn’t take no for an answer. Goaded beyond his control, he had let out all his frustrations, all his anger, all his grievances on her in one go, finding himself unable to stop once he had started talking. He had left her there, walking out on her though not before seeing how her expression had crumbled into misery.
It was that face that had haunted him throughout the day and well into the night, and he found himself too ashamed to face her when it was time for him to sleep. Instead, he had snagged a sheet from the laundry basket and used an old blanket he had found in the basement and huddled next to one of Twilight’s whacky machines, all the while thinking of how he could end up fixing the mess he’d made.
He sighed again, rubbing a scaly hand over his eyes to try and stave off the tiredness that always seemed to be nearby these days. He knew he was probably going to be in a lot of trouble sooner rather than later; he had said as much in the heat of the moment yesterday. Twilight might end up telling the rest of the Bearers what had happened, and he cringed at the thought of all six mares ganging up on him. She could also tell Princess Celestia what he did, guaranteeing that he would be receiving a stern lecture from her. He shuddered at the thought of her eyes that were filled not with anger, but disappointment. The last time he had received that look was when he had knocked over one of her valuable vases which nearly fell on top of him while running. This time she might even declare that he wasn’t fit enough to be Twilight’s assistant, and who knew what would happen to him then?
Why did I have to open my big mouth? he asked himself bitterly. The answer came to him almost immediately. It was all because of Twilight. Ever since they had come to Ponyville, they had spent increasingly less time with each other, and when they did, it was more in the role of him just taking care of the library while she focused on her work. And when she wasn’t studying, she would be out with her friends while he took care of the library. And they would go off on grand adventures while he took care of the library. And they would throw each other parties while he took care of the library.
He shook his head in an attempt to get his jumbled, disjointed thoughts in order. Deep down, he knew that the reason he was feeling this way was not because he was wrong. No, Spike liked to imagine that he would admit to any wrongdoing he did… eventually. Despite how guilty he felt for putting Twilight through all that, he knew that the bottom line was that he was right. She had been the one to leave him behind for the party, she was the one who kept piling on the chores, she was the one who kept ignoring him. So why am I feeling like I’m the one who did something wrong?
It was a rhetorical question; the answer was one which Spike had been coming to accept even though he tried to fight it. She was simply more important to a lot more ponies than he could ever hope to be. His biggest fear was the feelings of selfishness and greed that welled up whenever he thought of her leaving. Yet he knew that no matter how much he wanted to go back to the days when it had been just the two of them, he knew that it wasn’t fair to Twilight. She had ponies who depended on her, both friends and Equestria at large. And if he was the one to be left behind, well then that was oka—
“…Spike?” Twilight’s hesitant, quiet voice caused his head to rocket off the table, staring at the pony as she peered at him uncertainly. He grimaced inwardly as he noticed the puffy bloodshot eyes and the dark circles around them.
Good job, Spike, he sarcastically congratulated himself before turning to the unicorn. This was it. Time to smoothen things over. Time for her to move past this. “Good morning, Twilight.” That’s it, keep it steady. “I made you breakfast.” He swept his hand over to the mountain of pancakes awaiting her.
“Oh. Thanks.” She levitated her chair out and took a seat while Spike hurried over to serve her breakfast. She simply stared at the plate for a few moments, a tense silence filling the room. Spike took the opportunity to get in a few words.
“Twi, I just wanted to apolo—“ was all he was able to say before her head shot up, eyes wide in shock.
“No! I’m the one who should be apologizing! And I am. I am sorry, Spike,” she blurted out in a rush. Silence reigned again before Twilight took in a shaky breath, finally managing to make eye contact with the dragon. “Spike,” she said, her voice steadier this time, “I’m sorry. I should have woken you up that night for the party. I should be taking better care of the library because you already try so hard to maintain it. And I just wanted you to know that I n-never thought you were anything but a smart young dragon,” her voice seemed to break towards the end, the shards stabbing into his heart. “And I promise that—“
It was then that he held up a claw, the gesture enough for her to falter. He didn’t want to do it, but he wanted to stop her from making promises he knew she wouldn’t be able to keep. “Twi… I accept your apology.” If it had been any other situation, he would have wanted to laugh at how quickly her forlorn look evaporated. “… And I want to offer my own. I never should have taken out my frustration on you. I knew I should have spoken to you, and I know you would have listened.” It just struck him as… sad the way her entire posture just seemed to slump over in relief. “I was angry, but that didn’t give me the right to take that anger out on you. I said a lot of things I didn’t mean, and for that, I’m sorry.” To complete his apology, he bowed deeply, knowing it would catch her off guard. Sure enough, a purple aura surrounded him, and he was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug the next moment.
“Oh, Spike! Please don’t do that!” He could feel the dampness of the tears as she squeezed him even tighter. Just for that one moment in time, he ignored the discomfort and allowed himself to return the embrace, to enjoy the feeling of being so close to the pony he had known the longest. His Twilight.
He patted her sides and stepped back. Twilight took the hint and released him, allowing him to breathe once again. “Are we okay now?” she asked uncertainly.
“You bet, Twi!” he returned enthusiastically. I’ll make sure that at least you will be. “Now how about some breakfast?” And just like that, the tension between them fully dissipated, and she gave him a smile, a real, genuine smile.
It won’t be long before it all goes back to normal. She’s going to start ignoring me and leaving me behind again, he thought to himself. But as long as she’s happy, that’s okay.
Woo character development!
Just three word. Beautiful as always.
His last thoughts where a bit sad but we will c if that will change or stay the same. Love'd it!!!
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, good job as always.
4271972 Thanks for that input. That is a very valid point but at the same time consider the following. I don't know how far you have read on from there so I try to keep the spoilers at a minimum. It is obvious that he goes to Canterlot at one point. I wrote it that they don't serve meat there either, even though as a capitol they have quite some foreigners there.
With that in hindsight the reasoning behind it is that in pony cities, even the ones where a percentage of the population is carnivores, meat is still not a common good that is served/eaten in public. There are multiple ways the whole thing got handled. The griffons bought the meat at some markets that were out of town and then ate it at home, or they just didn't ate it in the town at all because they were so used to the ponies around them all being herbivores that they over time just lost interest in meat and basically practiced a vegetarian lifestyle.
Before I elaborate too much: I thought at the point that Rainbow just never saw Gilda or any other griffon eating meat, therefore it never really occurred to her that she was a carnivore.
But I see your point and think that both versions are acceptable solutions.
To all others. Glad that you enjoyed the new chapter.
Beautiful chapter.:D
Poor spike, slave conditioning is a horrible thing. Its bad to be a slave, but its worse if you're a slave who maintains his own chains.
4279235 the solutions for all foreigners wanting exotic goods, the black market.
I know there's usually an exotic market in every city, depending on where you look. It was never touched on whether meat was illegal, per say, but even if it's legal a black market should have it. Possibly with hunting equipment right next stall.
4279217 What was up with it? If I'm making persistent mistakes I'd rather people say so in order to stop me making them again.
EDIT: Just realised I'm an idiot, that's from chapter 7, I didn't come in until later on, sorry. I'll leave this on though because I do want people to let me know if I keep missing things out.
No 'sad' tag, so I suppose you couldn't have taken this whole ordeal a few steps further down before it got better.
Ohh well
4279870 It isn't exactly over. The path Spike chose isn't exactly a healthy one in the long run. His issues will be more of a cold war scenario than an upfront confrontation.
I was a bit surprised to see such a small chapter - relative to the length of most others - but the amount of character-development easily made up for it.
I like the concept of Celestia (or all Alicorns for that matter) for needing less sleep than the general pony but that they still can't keep going without sleep for extended periods of time.
I'm a bit unsure why exactly Celestia would need Twilights assistance regarding the citizenship of Steve. As one of the two rulers, if she declares someone a citizen, who would disobey that order? Then again I never bothered to think too much about something like that.
As much as I like the part wth Spike and Twilight, I still wonder if Spike is not acting too mature here, especially at the end. But that is always the problem if you include Spike: how mature is Spike? We never get a good answer to it, even the Spke-Issue of the Comic Micro-Series only hints at he being more mature than the average kid his age. This makes Spike into a difficult character to write for, something he shares with Celestia.
But, aside from that, really god chapter.
Read you next installment.
Oh, and, please, don't swap Steve for this Blue's Clues Guy, better make it Marshal Bravestar, he even has experience with taling horses...
4279880 Yeah, but for Twilight, it is over for now.
4279891 I tried to make him slightly more mature than he's usually portrayed on this site. In the show, he tends to swing from somewhat mature to childish, so I don't really know what the 'standard' really is. If you noticed last chapter, he was pretty juvenile at the beginning with his snarky attitude, sarcasm, and then his outburst, and then he sobered up a bit and was a bit more mature. Or at least that was what I was aiming for. Not sure if I succeeded.
4279897 Oh I wouldn't say that. What it all leads to, even I don't know as yet.
4279937
Spike's character was portrait well enough, I think. Only the end was a bit too mature (for a kid that is supposed to be max in his early teens) for my liking, which is a minor thing, because as you said, we never really get a good look at what stage of his development Spike really is, because it dempends wholly on the writer of an episode how much we see of him and how mature he acts.
Heck, even authors like The Descendent, who have Spike among their favorite characters sometimes struggle to portrait him right, so no worries.
Oh man, Steve was my preschool years. I have to admit, it would be funny if it turns oug that both Steves were the sam person the entire time.
4279891 You are surprised that Celestia lets Twilight do the dirty work? Do you even watch the show??
As you may remember Steve is not on the best terms with our glorious leader, the Princess of the Sun. And in this chapter it was mentioned that she didn't want to make a fuss about him that attracts him unnecessary attention. So if she just decides something that is against his will, what do you think his reaction will be?
4282527
How snarky, didn't you get your cup of coffee just yet?
Well, doesn't matter. Luna could have done it without Steve throwing a hissy fit.
Then again, what would he have done if Celestia had been so bold as to act as a ruler? Cry foul that he now has do abide by the same rules every other sentient being in Equestria already has to? She could have even just ordered the Mayor to handle it without Steve's notice.
Seems just unnecessary at this point. Maybe if there had been any indication that one or more of the other delegates from other species had (strong) reasons to be against it or Steve himself had shown unwilling to get an equestrian citizenship it would seem more fitting.
4282553 No I didn't have a coffee yet. Sad life . Well, there is a reasoning behind why I went that way, so I'm explaining it by throwing out my favorite answer.
That would be a spoiler.
4282601
What? No coffee? The Horror! THE HORROR! (I still blame the "Flower-Trio" for most ponies not showing up at Steve's party, they're like Ponyville's own Team Rocket, somehow)
I can live with that. Hopefully it's not just another instance of "Twilight Ex Machina", I've gotten tired of the call to that superclass.
4279235 Another excellent chapter, hope to see more soon!
global3.memecdn.com/handy-dandy-notebook_o_492247.jpg
FUCK YEAH, BLUES CLUES
(Ahem) great chapter, as always. I really like how you resolved the conflict between Spike and Twilight instead I letting it stew and then pewter out. Looking forward to the chapter with high expectations
4286337
4336492 Also Sarah told him in Chapter 2 that her short range scanner identify an urban settlement and a group of heat signatures are approaching from there. Therefor he concluded it must be intelligent life. Also he wasn't the first to speak, if you ignore the part where he muttered 'ponies' to himself, he just described what he saw in his mind until Twilight took the word, confirming that they were indeed intelligent.
4341747 He expected it to be more of an hyperbole because she said it casually like she was talking about the weather. And Twilight quickly led the topic onto the forest, so he just didn't give too much thought about that.
Also, if you throw the expression 'Cerberus' at someone he might have to think about it for a moment what it was. It is a mythological creature after all, and some don't think about that regularly, and he didn't have the time to think.
Damn, that's f-ing true... Spike, congratulations, you are now even more mature than any other of the mane six. Guess we all have to get use to thing we hate but forced to do, like I don't know, loving a parent that doesn't love you; only cares about money and public status.