A Mother's Touch
The stark darkness of Hearth’s Warming Eve enveloped Ponyville as Twilight Sparkle began to settle down for the night. The nightstand next to her bed held the last burning candle in Golden Oaks Library, its flickering light dancing among the walls and window seal of her bedroom. Her tired eyes set themselves upon her bedsheets and she unfurled her magic to lazily lift them away for her to crawl under. Satisfaction ran through her veins as her coat touched the plush of her mattress, resulting in a well-deserved coo of content.
“I wonder how Spike’s doing,” the Princess thought to herself as she quipped her magic, dropping the sheet on top of herself. A few hours prior to her bedtime excursion, she’d let Spike go over to Rarity’s Boutique to spend time with the Unicorn he held so high on a pedestal. Who knows, maybe Rarity came to her senses and saw how much potential Twilight’s assistant had in him. Perhaps, things could go the other way too…
Twilight shook the thought, turning over from the burning candle and finally letting herself close her eyes. Who was she kidding, Rarity had half the heart to give the baby dragon a Hearth’s Warming gift that he’d work so hard for, right? Twilight smiled, imagining Spike and his special somepony getting cozy next to the fireplace. She dearly hoped that his dream would finally come true on a lovely, wintry night like this.
“Night, Spikey-Wikey,” Twilight giggled to herself.
Soon, she had drifted off into the realm of dreams.
A clatter downstairs had startled Twilight, her horn beaming to life as she tossed off the covers from herself. Somepony, or something, had just intruded on her home’s privacy. If only Spike were here, Twilight thought to herself as she produced a purple orb of bright magic from her horn. Without the candle having burned out long ago, her candlelight spell was her only source of light as it followed her down the stairs into the main part of her library.
A quick inspection of the room found that the front door was left ajar slightly. Through the slit to the outside world, she could see large bits of snow flurrying about, the result of an overnight blizzard scheduled by the Ponyville Weather Patrol. Twilight quickly moved to close it before the wind would blow it open and cause havoc to her opened studies settled about in their respective book stands.
The orb floated above her, casting its warm light around the room. It had also revealed to its owner the shadow of a tail. Twilight could only think of one thing that had such a prominent spade shape for a tail.
“Spike?” Twilight called out in a hushed tone as she approached the last location of the shadow. All she got in response was the clacking of a jewel as it skittered across the floor and tapped her hoof. She looked down and picked it up with her aura. Her jaw went slightly agape afterwards.
A fire ruby, carved into the shape of a heart after it’d been grown by a skilled novice for months possibly, had a chunk of it missing. The sounds of soft sobs and sniffling brought her attention back to her baby dragon in distress. She set the ruby on a nearby table and set out to look for Spike, listening to the direction and pitch of his cries. My poor baby, Twilight grieved a little as she trotted to check behind her custom statue of Starswirl.
“Spike, come out,” Twilight sighed as she got closer. Her eyes were full of sympathy as she called out to him.
A saddened groaned escaped from behind the statue, alerting Twilight to his presence. To surprise him, she used her magic to locate him precisely and launched a telekinesis spell. Her aura gripped around the baby dragon and pulled out from behind his stone cover. The pouting that resulted after affirmed Twilight’s suspicions.
“Spike, what’s the matter?”
The dragon’s answer came in the form of more sniffles and sobs, which came out to be a mutter of something Rarity had done to his heart.
“I’m sorry. What was that?” Twilight asked softly, hoping that she wouldn’t make Spike break down right in front of her. If there was one thing she hated most, it was seeing her little hatchling cry.
“She broke it…” Spike weeped softly, looking up from his huddle to reveal his frozen tears to Twilight. Element of Generosity alright, Twilight thought to herself. She levitated her assistant closer and plopped him down softly.
Twilight’s hoof gently rubbed his back as his sadness turned from soft sobs to a wail of pain in his chest. She couldn’t stand to see him heartbroken, but she had come to terms that it would eventually happen at one point or another. Spike kept his face to the floorboard as his frozen tears began to melt with the heat of his cheeks and newfound sorrow.
“It’s not fair! She didn’t even give me a chance!” Twilight’s own eyes watered up. To see Spike, the one piece of home that she had away from Canterlot, crying like he was broke her heart.
Twilight wasn’t sure of how to respond to his words. She didn’t want to hurt him any further, nor did she want a rift to be caused in the close friendship that Spike and Rarity shared. Love. It always had to be a complicated thing, even for a Princess such as Twilight.
“Hearth’s Warming is ruined…” Spike sniffled now, his form laying limp against the floor.
Twilight’s eyes glimmered with a special spark, something that she hadn’t felt since the Nightmare Moon incident a couple of years ago. Family.
“Spike,” Twilight started off, a soft smile replacing her expression of sympathy, “Just because one thing doesn’t go right does not mean that your whole holiday is ruined.”
Spike groaned as the Princess actually took the time to pick him up from the floorboard with her hooves and tuck him into her forelegs. “She’s all I ever wanted, Twilight…”
Twilight knew this was true. Ever since the day that they’d set foot into the half-decorated city hall of Ponyville just a day before the Summer Sun Celebration, Spike had never given up on his dream of being with the one that he felt was right for his heart. At first Twilight couldn’t blame him. Being the Element of Generosity, Rarity seemed to be a good candidate for the love that Spike had dreamed of since before they came to Ponyville.
“Why couldn’t I be a big, strong pony like Big Mac? I’m sure I would’ve won her in a heartbeat…” Spike tucked his dragon muzzle into the crook of Twilight’s foreleg, hiding his face from her. She already knew the answer to this, one that she’d preached to him since the time he’d tried to use the mustache she’d conjured up on him to try and woo Rarity.
“Because that’s not who you are, Spike.” Even with the sobering guilt that she had for her baby dragon, she couldn’t help but smile. The silly mistakes that someone could make in the past can come back as a healthy reminder of avoiding the mistake once again. This was such an example. “Even if Rarity did love a new you, she still wouldn’t be loving you.”
“I… I guess you’re right…” Spike sighed into Twilight’s coat, his sopping eyes also leaving a splotch of clear warmth on her skin. She hugged him tighter to her chest, happy that he understood the small lesson that he’d learned from the Ursa Minor fiasco just a couple of months after their permanent departure to Ponyville.
Twilight giggled softly stood up on her hooves, holding Spike in one of her forelegs and she lit up another candlelight spell to light her way up to their sleeping quarters. As the dragon settled in her hold, she lit her horn and grappled the chipped fire ruby heart discreetly. Spike yawned softly as Twilight began to ascended the stairs, the spell orb floating above their heads.
As they rounded the top of the stairs, Twilight could see the dimly-lit sky as the flurry of snow still blew about in the wintry winds. At least Spike’s home now, she assured herself, glad that her little boy had come straight home instead of trying to brave the storm and hide from everypony. Twilight immediately headed to his cot by the foot of her bed, using her magic once again to levitate the dragon into his snuggly blue blanket.
“But Twilight, I’m not tired…” Spike trailed off, his bloodshot eyes appearing and disappearing behind his fluttering eyelids. The tears still laid dormant in the crooks of the his sockets, but Twilight made quick work of them by wiping them away with the back of her hoof.
“Every little dragon needs their rest,” she assured him with a nuzzle. Spike, being his fairly young and loving self, giggled softly as she brushed her cheek with his. He even reached his arms to wrap around her head, receiving a well-deserved cuddle with his very best caretaker. Twilight used the time they had near one another to levitate his fire ruby and tuck it next to him. She felt his arms relax, signaling her to lift her head from his grasp.
“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Mom…” Spike yawned as he cradled the fire ruby next to him. His green eyes once again hid themselves behind his eyelids, clear of the tears that were once brought on by the sadness of being alone. But Twilight’s own eyes had begun to trickle with warmth and saltiness. He called me Mom…
Twilight kept her tears from dropping onto his dry blanket as she levitated it over his resting form. She tucked in the corners and made sure that her baby dragon was snugged in for the night.
“Good night, my son…” Twilight sniffled as she laid a motherly kiss on his forehead, avoiding his scales to prevent herself from getting a cut. She felt a sense of pride in herself as she left Spike’s side, heading towards her own place of rest. After all that she’d been through, nothing in the wide world of Equus could ever top this moment in time. Through her years of learning lessons about friendship, nothing would ever beat the moment that her hatchling, the one that she’d been raising since her filly years, would ever call her his mother.
This opened up a new avenue of lessons and adventures, the Magic of Family. But perhaps, that could wait until after the holidays, when Spike had fully recovered from his heartbreak and the thought of Rarity being the cause of it had disappeared into the wintry sky above. There was no questioning it as she tucked herself into her bed as before: She had a wonderful friend-base that was intangible, but the will to do it all came from the one that had been at her side since the beginning of it all.
Spike. Number one assistant and number one son. Twilight smiled as her eyes closed next to her fluffy, comfortable pillow. Her candlelight spell was at its last lengths just as she fell back into the realms of dreams. Once the burdening light of the present burned out, the thoughts of the future began to flow. Hearth’s Warming Day should be a much better beginning to a new mother/son relationship...