Spike's Number One Assistant
Twilight knew something was up when Spike walked through the library doors. It was the quiet that tipped her off. Other than the sound of a door opening and closing and an obligatory “I’m home!” from the little dragon, there was nothing else. He didn’t rush in to talk about his day with Zacora, nor come into the kitchen for a mid-afternoon snack gem from the gem jar. She didn’t even hear him begin to start cleaning the main library section.
Honestly, I probably could use his help right now to keep these documents in some semblance of order.
Papers covered the kitchen table, although some had seemingly decided to try their upmost to try and cover the floor as well. This mound of ink and parchment seemed to actively resist any attempts to create sense and order from it, challenging all those with any respect for order and neatness to brave its chaos, and surely would taunt those who failed with more mess and a few paper cuts for their trouble. While being a princess did have some perks, the eventual downside of being a part of the government was the endless paperwork of bureaucracy.
Sometimes, a simple fireball seemed like a preferable solution.
If she hadn’t been so focused on the delegation information for Saddle Arabia’s next diplomatic visit to Canterlot for next week, she’d probably have left the whole mess and check on her number one assistant. Or at least get him in here to help her keep things straight; that is, if she wasn’t worried about him messing with her organized chaos. She has reached a cease-fire with the pile at around noon and didn't want to bring in another party that the paperwork might object to and ruin the tenuous progress she has made.
Besides, the delegation and diplomatic package she was going through was more pressing. After all, what if there was something she missed that was in the paperwork? Something important that is she didn’t do, or maybe if she DID, would ruin the whole negotiations? What if she did something so outrageous out of ignorance, they canceled trade negotiations? It could wreak havoc on Celestia’s projections relating to her upcoming economic proposal (that Twilight still had to read over) and could cause that proposal to fail, which would lead to economic disaster!
…
Okay, so I doubt I’d start an economic slump for possible ordering the wrong kind of pastry for the breakfast meeting, but… why take that chance?
Twilight pushed Spike from her mind. He probably understood how busy she was and didn’t want to disturb her anyway, nothing to be worried about.
No, what THIS princess needed to be worried about was figuring out how she was going to get both Equestria’s and Saddle Arabia’s Fiscal Affairs Department to sop butting heads and agree to a venue for the following lunch meeting (it was between The Fresh Green Grille and Café Miso).
So engrossed was the alicorn that she didn’t notice Spike amble into the kitchen, leafing through a small book as he did so. She probably would have kept not seeing him except that he nodded to himself, set the book down on top of some of her papers (the Parchment’s Democratic Republic of Parchmania would not be pleased) and began creating quite the racket as he began to climb onto the lower cabinet.
“SPIKE!”
The dragon stopped right in his tracks, tittering on the edge of the cabinet top, his little hand reaching for the top shelf. He grinned back at Twilight. ‘
“Oh hey! I was just getting the vinegar.”
With a sigh and a roll of her eyes Twilight snagged the vinegar bottle with her horn and set it down on the cabinet countertop. She looked back down at her papers before stopping with a tiny start.
Vinegar?
She quickly stood up and grabbed the battle again with her magic, whisking it away from Spike, who already had a grip on it. He had a firm enough grip on the vinegar to get whisked off the table, but not a firm enough grasp to keep holding onto it and fell off the countertop.
“And why do you need vinegar?"
Spike quickly picked himself up and dusted his scales off, although with the way he kept that kitchen clean there wasn’t any dust to speak of. Realizing he was just as clean now as he was before, he stopped and looked up at Twilight sheepishly. The look transformed into a visage of childish enthusiasm.
“I’m gonna’ make a volcano!”
Twilight was taken aback. There were a few possibilities she can considered. Maybe Pinkie needed some more for Sugar Cube Corner. Maybe Rarity needed it to help remove a stain or flavor a salad. But “making a volcano” was definitely not one of them.
Sensing the alicorn’s confusion, Spike
“Well, I an’ Zecora were going over chemistry. She’s really good at it you know! I mean, I guess she’d kinda’ have to be to make all those potions and elixirs and stuff, but we were talking about how sometimes when two chemicals come together they do something else, like how nails get rusty or when you mix ingredients up to make a cake! I wanted to know what else you could do, but it was time for math, but she gave me this chemistry set when I left. It had this little book in it, and it tells you how to make a volcano! Pinkie helped me make the volcano base, and I got some baking powder from her, but the cakes had run out of vinegar. I know we had some, so I brought everything over to try it out! Awesome, huh?”
As Spike talked he spoke faster and faster, getting more excited for his little experiment in chemical reactions to commence. Twilight couldn’t help but smile a little. Zecora was a great teacher; she always seemed to know how to make a student interested in what she was teaching. Twilight knew that half the time she tried teaching him this sort of thing for his daily lessons, he would conk out half-way through. It was a good thing Zecora was able to cover for Twilight when she got busy like this.
Come to think of it, she’s been doing that a lot lately. At least, much more than she used to…
“Sooo… can I have the vinegar?”
Jerked out of her thoughts, Twilight looked down at Spike. He seemed so excited. Then again, he was a boy and they tended to like things like explosions and eruptions.
With a sigh Twilight shook her head.
“I don’t want you doing anything like that when I’m not around. We can do it later, but I really have to get back to work.”
The crestfallen look on Spike’s face was heartbreaking.
“Okay Twilight…”
It seemed to Twilight like it took forever and then some for him to look down at the ground and turn to leave the kitchen. Spike’s steps, once light and energized, were now slow and plodding. It didn’t seem like he could be more disappointed.
We’re just delaying it. I’m sure I can get to it ton… well, okay, not tonight. But I’m sure next… oh right, that’s when the delegation’s due to arrive. But it’s not like I haven’t been spending time with him before now.
When Twilight stopped to think about it though, she honestly couldn’t remember the last time it was just the two of them. Each time it seemed like they could have some quality time together, something always come up. This week it was preparing for the delegation, last week it was preparing for that festival, and the week before that it was helping Mayor Mare with Ponyville’s taxes.
Am I really being so thoughtless with Spike? Well that does it, I really have to pencil in some time for my number one assistant. I can try and fit something in this weekend before the delegation arrives, I’m sure of it.
Her mind having wandered and her concentration waned, the alicorn lost her magical grip on the vinegar bottle and it fell to the floor with a dull thud, causing Twilight to jump. She quietly chided herself for being so clumsy and picked it up again. She moved to put it away, but stopped. Moving the bottle closer to herself, she stared at it for a couple of moments. Her eyes shifted and she looked out the kitchen door where Spike had exited. Her eyes shifted again and the mound of paperwork beckoned for her attention.
She then looked closer and saw the book, “Foal’s First Chemistry Set Instruction Booklet.” It was the same kind her parents got for her when she was a filly, only six months before becoming Celestia’s personal student. She picked the book up with her magic and flipped through some of the pages. Each brought a pang of memory of her silly experiments. But what really made those experiences stand out was with whom she experimented with. Shining Armor was always there to help her. He was her own very big assistant.
Twilight looked back at the doorway.
Well, I DID say I needed to pencil in some time for him…
Walking towards the doorway, looking back only briefly to give a departing “hump” towards the towering pile of papers, Twilight began to slowly smile to herself.
… I never said I couldn’t pencil that time in for right now!
*****
“Volcano powder.”
“Volcano powder.”
Twilight slid the beaker of baking powder over to Spike, who grasped it and with the upmost care and slowly poured the powder into the volcano’s opening.
“Alright Assistant Twilight, are you wearing your protective gear?”
“Yes I am sir, lab coat and goggles check!”
Spike straightened his own lab coat and adjusted his goggles.
“Alright assistant, is the volcano fluid prepared?”
Twilight picked up the flask with the vinegar in it and swirled it around while making a big concentration face.
“Mmmm… I think so boss. The volcano fluid is primed and awaiting deployment!”
Spike clapped his hands and rubbed them together.
“Today, through a joint collaboration between the Equestrian and Draconic scientific communities, we… are about to harness… the power… of a raging volcano!” Spike raised his arm in an appropriately dramatic manner before reaching towards Twilight. “Assistant Twilight, the flask!”
The alicorn placed the flask into Spike’s grip. The dragon, with a final cry of “lets make some science!” dumbed the vinegar into the volcano.
Almost immediately the volcano erupted into a small geyser of while foam.
“Assistant, I need more volcano powder and fluid!”
“Yes sir, Spike!”
The duo repeated the experiment three more times until they were out of baking soda. White foam covered the newspapers that had been laid out in preparation for the volcano’s eruptions.
As the final chemical reaction went off, Spike turned towards Twilight, his face attempting to remain stoic and serious but failing, the corners of his moving up and down as he tried to stifle a smile.
“Very good work assistant, I think our work here was a complete success.”
Twilight turned towards Spike and attempted a stoic and serious face as well, but couldn't keep a straight face either.
“Indeed sir, looks like a job well done.”
Spike raised his hand for a high-hoof, which Twilight gladly gave, and the duo yelled out the same word in unison.
“SCIENCE!”