A Simpler Time
Spike whistled as he made his way along the halls of his crystal home feeling happy as any kid should be. Mother’s Day had gone off without a hitch, Twilight really enjoying her surprise and the following dinner that had followed it. He beamed, knowing it had been the perfect thank you present to give for all the caring she’d provided for him over the years. The little drawing he’d done on the side had especially made her smile. It was like old times, almost.
Upon making another turn in the hall, he noticed an odd sight. Moving closer to look, he saw several crude crayon cartoons pinned on the wall. It was only on closer inspection that he recognized them. They were his own creations from long ago. The cute little stick ponies got a chuckle out of him. “I was just thinking of you,” He commented to no one as his claw traced over one of a stick figure Spike and Celestia. A warmth spread in his chest as he thought about it more, closing his eyes for a moment. “‘Mmm, sure was easy back then.”
When Spike eventually opened his eyes he blinked a little, confused and staring at the image again. He could have sworn it was eye level moment ago. He shrugged it off though, thinking he was just imagining things, and moved to look at the next few sketches while a constant grin was fixated on his face. “Aww, I remember you.” He said to himself. In the same picture was a purple colored stick unicorn with the dribbled word ‘Mama’ above its head. Twilight had seemed shocked at first when he had given it to her. His little mind hadn’t understood why at the time but he did now.
As he kept observing each fragment, the drake couldn’t help but admit that he had enjoyed being called a baby at times. After all, that meant he was cute. Besides, everyone gave their full attention to a baby. On the other claw though, being so small made it hard for him to be taken seriously. Even Rarity seemed to see him as more of a child despite his maturity. He shook his head as he took a glance back at his wings, giving them a brief flap. Why was he thinking about that? He’d gone through his molt and was one step closer to being an adult. And yet, somehow it felt off. He’d always liked helping Twilight, and now more than ever he had respect and greater responsibilities. Were things progressing too fast?
Letting out a sigh, Spike looked back at the wall before spotting the door that had appeared next to the gallery. Its simple oak frame stood out in comparison to the crystal walls. Approaching it, he saw a rather cute image of himself in his old crib, sucking on his tail and looking at the camera with wonder. His ears pricked up as he heard what sounded like the soft, soothing jingle of a music box on the other side. With his curiosity peaked, the little dragon opened the door and stepped inside, immediately feeling the softness of the plush carpet on his feet.
Spike blinked as he slowly took in the sight before him. Pastel gem patterns covered the walls and judging by the furnatue that lay before him, it was quite obvious what the room was meant to be. It was not unlike his nursery of old! But what was it doing here? “A nursery?” He pondered while walking around the room. Things seemed a bit off, and not just because of the nursery. Everything appeared to be far bigger than he was, making him feel positively small in comparison. Said fact should have startled and frightened him beyond words, but instead he found himself rather puzzled.
A calmness son ran over him as he moved up next to the dresser, staring up at a music box as it played its tune. “That’s familiar,” He mumbled, swaying a bit as he listened. “Where have I heard that beautiful sound before?” He was so relaxed in fact, that he hardly noticed when somepony came trotting into the nursery. “Aww, hello Spike. A pleasure to see you again.”
Spike jumped a little in surprise, turning and staring up at none other than Princess Luna. Much like the rest of the room, she towered over him more then usual. “Princess Luna!” He gasped! “Uh, w-what are you doing here? Why do you look so big?”
“Oh, I’m just checking up on the cutest little hatchling there ever was.” She cooed in a motherly tone, leaning down to nuzzle him.
Spike’s cheeks began to redden as he stuttered. “C-cute? U-h but…but...” He twiddled his claws together, feeling strangely shy all of a sudden. He’d never gotten so flustered around the princesses before.
Luna just continued to smile while giving him a gentle pat on the head. “Is the little one enjoying his nursery?” She asked while rewinding the music box.
Spike opened his mouth to respond, a bit of hesitation appearing in his words. “M-my nursery?” Luna simply nodded, moving over to the crib and pulling out a ragged, cyan colored sheet which had clearly seen better days. With great care, she brought the sheet down to the young drake. “Recognize this? It’s your blanky.”
Spike took the familiar looking blanket in his claws and gave it a tentative sniff. His eyes opened in realization as he rubbed it on his cheek, feeling waves of memories come back to him. It was his old baby blanket! It even still had the light burn marks on it. “What’s this doing here?” He asked, continuing to snuggle it and puzzle how it was still so big. Surely it should’ve been smaller after how much he had grown over the years.
The night princess simply giggled and patted his head once more. “Why, to keep you safe of course. You do feel safe, right?” Her words felt like a guiding light as the dragon visually relaxed. She watched him glance around the room with a smile, moving about to take it all in with his blanket never leaving his side the entire time.
Spike’s Idle wandering soon led him up to the changing table where his eyes took in the sight of a nearby shelf of folded gem print diapers. Curiously he reached out, giving the fabric a tentative poke with his claw. “A-are those mine?” He stuttered, his cheeks once again turning red. “But I’m too big for-“ Before he could comment further, Luna put a hoof on his shoulder and cooed softly at him. “Shh, it’s alright. Do you want to do a special surprise for your mommy?”
Spike perked up at the mention of Twilight, fiddling with his blanket some. “Sure, uh what do we do, Luna?”
Luna reached down, scooping him up by the armpits and sat him upon the change table. “Well first we need to get you dressed up properly. Just lay back and relax, this won’t take long.” She mothered, carefully nudging him onto his back.
“O-okay,” Spike mumbled, staring upward at the mobile that dangled over the table. He smiled, comforted upon seeing Twilight’s cutie mark there alongside her friends’ cutie marks as well. He still looked back in time to see the diaper be set next to him and his legs raised in the air. “I don’t-“ He began to protest.
Luna shushed the drake softly and kept up her motherly smile. “Just trust me. This will all be worth it.”
The drake nodded, slowly watching as the garment was slid beneath him. Said action felt familiar, like something he had forgotten. As the powder was applied, he took a quick sniff of it, letting out a content sigh at the pleasing and infantile scent.
“See, isn’t that nice?” Luna asked, taping the padding snuggly into place.
The little dragon kicked his legs, listening to the diaper rustle as he did. Taking a closer look, he gasped upon seeing that Twilight’s cutie mark was also printed on the landing zone! This caused a smile to spread across his face. Feeling rather childish, he bounced up and down, noting how soft the diaper felt on his body, not unlike having a nice cushion taped to it. The hugging sensation made him feel young and cared fo again. Then he glanced back up into Luna’s eyes, his cheeks still flushed. “So, what’s next?”
“Why, your egg of course.” Luna beamed, lowering him to the floor before patting his diapered bottom.
Spike squeaked at the pat before wobbling a few steps forward. “Egg?” He tilted his head in confusion. “But Luna, I’ve already hatched.”
Luna chuckled, giving the baby dragon his blanket back. “Yes, and you shall again for your mommy.”
Needless to say, Spike was confused up until he saw Luna set down a nest with two halves of a paper-mâché egg painted just like the one he’d hatched from. The sight made him laugh as he waddled his way over. “What, do I climb inside?”
Luna nodded, picking him up and setting him in the lower half of the egg. “That’s right. And when Twilight comes in, you burst out of the egg and say hello.”
Spike laughed at the thought, now imagining the look on Twilight's face for when he’d pop out. “Hehe, sounds like fun.” He shifted on the spot, resulting in several loud crinkles. Then he watched as the top half was brought over. Pulling his arms in, he watched as the light faded when the shell was put into place. Surprisingly, he felt rather comfy inside.
Luna was heard cooing as she turned something on with a click, causing the egg to warm up. “Here’s a little lamp to keep you cozy. I’ll be right back with your mommy, little one.”
Spike sighed happily as the inside of the egg got all nice and warm. Even being a dragon, it still felt soothing. He waited a second before experimentally pushing on the edge of the shell, and found it felt strangely more solid than before. There was no worry, however, as some instinct inside him gave him guidance on what to do when the time came.
The room was silent for just a few moments, before Luna was heard coming back inside followed by what sounded like a younger Twilight. This puzzled the young drake as he heard Twilight’s voice, higher pitched and squeaky.
“A dragon egg?” Twilight asked, moving closer to it. Spike shook his egg, rubbing his fins on the top of the shell. “Eep, it’s moving! Come on, you can do it!” Twilight encouraged, her squeaky voice drove the dragon to keep going.
Spike clawed and kept up the pressure, soon seeing lines of light peek through. A spider web like object spread, until there was suddenly a rush of light as the top split open and his eyes locked onto Twilight’s. She was indeed smaller, the same size (and probably age) she’d been when she’d first hatched Spike.
“Mommy!” Spike cheered, breaking more of the shell apart until he was able to hold his arms up.
Twilight cheered too, picking him up with her eyes full of wonder. “He called me Mommy!” And she gave him a hug, letting his head rest over her shoulder.
Spike immediately wrapped his arms around her neck, snuggling into her nice, soft fur. His caretaker gave several soft pats upon his diaper, before her hoof moved up to rub his back. The little one held on tighter, a smile growing with every moment that passed. Sighing once more, he leaned forward into the embrace, not wanting the hug to end.
Luna stood in the corner as a silent observer as the young filly moved across the room to the highchair. She lowered Spike into it with a light crinkle. Then, booping the baby’s nose, Twilight cooed. “I bet some drake is hungry.”
Spike, now abuzz with energy, bounced on his seat and clapped his claws together! He watched in excitement as his mommy fetched a large, sparkly jar from a cupboard along with a bib. He cooed as she tied the bib around his neck.
“Aww, does Spike like his bib? Yes he does.” Twilight mothered, giving his nose a little boop again, before opening the jar. Crushed gems were sprinkled throughout, just what a hatchling needed.
Spike opened wide, bouncing about as he did so. Each bite was eagerly devoured with happy muffles escaping his mouth every time. Despite his best efforts though, bits of mush ended up on the bib and his cheeks. Perhaps it was just because of how hyped up he was (or subconsciously he had done it intentionally). Whatever the case may be, he was quite the messy baby by the time his feeding was done.
As Spike let out a cute belch, Twilight fetched a washcloth and began to wipe his face off. “There we go, Spikey, all nice and full. Yum yums for your tum tum.” She then poked his tummy, resulting in more happy laughter. Helping him down, she watched as the drake wobbled about while trying to take a step forward. He seemed quite determined to do so, his tongue sticking out and everything.
Spike was trying his hardest to focus as much as possible on keeping his balance. He wasn’t sure why it was so hard, he really wanted to impress his mommy and make her happy. His arms went out to his sides for balance as he moved his leg, taking an unsteady step forward. A gasp came out as he felt excited! However, a second later he lost his balance and fell back. Luckily, his poofy bottom was there to soften the impact. The baby laughed at his antics, soon feeling his mommy grab him under his arms to help him up.
“Aww, you can do it, Spike. Walk to Luna.” Twilight reassured him, patting his diaper. The baby dragon felt joy at the praise as he resumed his slow steps. Each one made him wobble, but he knew Twilight was there to prop him up if he fell. Little did he know that she was indeed holding him up and supporting most of his weight as he moved.
Luna leaned down as he crossed the halfway point, cooing softly. “Almost there, come to Auntie Luna,” She held out her hooves with a grin, helping the hatchling feel welcome. When Spike crossed the final threshold, the princess happily scooped him up and cradled the little drake. “Such a good boy! Yes you are.”
Spike blushed and leaned into the cuddle, grinning from ear to ear. He couldn’t possibly feel happier if he tried. “Hehe, thank you.” He babbled. Then looking around the room from his new vantage point, he spotted more familiar crayon drawings. One of which was of himself and Twilight together at the park.
As if reading his mind, Twilight looked up with joy. “Oh, oh, can we take him to the park?!” She asked Luna, rushing over with a light blue stroller.
Luna nodded as she lowered Spike into said stroller, buckling him in without issue. Spike kicked his legs, making his bottom crinkle more. “Yay park!” He was loving the attention he was getting, not letting such baby attire let him down.
Spike snuggled into his blanket as he was wheeled out the castle door, and in no time at all reached a large park. The park was active with plenty of other foals running around and random butterflies fluttering about. His little mind can’t help but track the pretty colours as he was moved along down the path. It wasn’t long until he pointed to the swing set and giggled. “Swing, swing!”
Twilight beamed at her little dragon and pulled him out and into the big baby swing. With the belts over his shoulder.there was no way he was going to fall out and get hurt. Spike tried kicking his legs to get started only to find that he couldn’t get any speed on his own. Twilight dawed at his attempt, before gently pushing him. “Up you go, Spikey.” She cooed, keeping up a steady speed.
As time went by, Spike felt overjoyed with all the attention his mommy was giving him. He squealed with glee, kicking harder while staring up at the sky. “Higher! Higher!”
Time seemed to fly by as he was moved from the swings to the slides, then to the sandbox. Grabbing the little blue pail and shovel his mommy gave him, he began to scoop sand into the bucket bouncing on his tushy as he did so. During so, he had the funny idea of pouring sand down into his diaper, but found that the diaper was on too tight to do so. Pouting as his failure, he tipped the bucket upside down and soon pulled it up to have a tower of sand. It was simple for sure, but it was his after all. His little claws draw smiley faces into the side causing Twilight to aww once more. While he was doing his sculpting a small ladybug landed on top of his castle. The little drake cooed staring intently at it before raising his shovel like an axe plumping it down to smite the invader. It flew away before the blow struck of course, causing his magnificent tower to crumble. He didn’t mind however he was just a baby, smashing was fun.
Once his mommy had dusted him off, the final activity came as the drake watched what appeared to be a large ball of some kind being inflated and then rolled towards him. It was only as the ball got closer that he noticed it was twice as big as he was. Having to hug the ball, Spike lifted the ball into the air, doing a pretty cute impression of a heavy weight lifter in the process
Wobbling as he did so, Spike sent the ball back with a toss. He watched it float lazily through the air. His mommy was quick to catch it and send it back, however it went farther than expected, floating over his head and landing some feet away.
“Go get it, Spike.” Twilight cooed, giving an encouraging smile to him.
Spike stared at his new goal, legs wobbling as he took his first step. Bracing himself with his arms out to his sides, he began his slow quest to his goal. Mommy would be so proud when he came back with the ball.
The little dragon giggled with each step he took, even when he fell down a few times. Each time he did, he just get right back up and kept going. After what felt like a marathon, he found the ball next to a tree and cheered grabbing it in his claws once more. “Me did it!” He clapped joyously, putting the ball back across the grass. He used its smooth surface for support as he waddled his way back to his mommy, the ball rolling in front of him. This trek was much easier coming back than it was going away.
Twilight awed at him as she scooped her hatchling up and patted his diaper again. “Such a big boy, yes you are. You’re growing up so fast.”
Spike laughed at her words, lightly nipping her snout. “Nu uh,” He shook his head. “No big.”
Twilight blinked before laughing as well. “Oh you aren’t? Then I guess the tickle monster can still do this!” Without warming, her mouth was pressed to the baby’s tummy to blow a raspberry.
Spike kicked about helplessly at the attack, pushing on Twilight’s head. “Haha! No, stop! Hehe!”
As Twilight pulled back, she carried him toward the tree. “You will always be my little baby, Spike. Always” She cooed, showing Spike the familiar wicker basket that had once been his bed. The little drake reared up a bit as he was laid down into its soft embrace and its blankets pulled up over him.
Spike snuggled the blanket, his smile growing even bigger. “Mommy.” He sighed, leaning back as Twilight gave a light kiss to his forehead. As he closed his eyes, he was pulled to sleep by a soft lullaby.
As the scene began to dissolve, Luna smiled pridefully at her work. “Another job well done. I always did have a soft spot for that little dragon.” She thought.
Spike awoke in the morning, rubbing his eyes and feeling a sudden strange urge inside of him. Leaping out of bed, he rushed as quickly as he could to Twilight’s bedroom and pushed open the door. Seeing that she had just woken, he hurried up to the bed and climbed up, soon wrapping his arms around her in an embrace.
Twilight blinked and flinched a little. “Spike, is something wrong?” She asked, instinctively putting a wing around him.
Spike peered up at her motherly gaze and simply grinned. “No, everything is perfect,” He held her tighter as he added. “Mommy.”