Unexpected Arrival

Chapters

Letter #13
Advice
A Talk
Visitor
The Truth
Equipment
Understanding
Attention
Feeding Time
Picnic
"New Messages"
Letter #24 - Honesty
New Leaf
Aunts and Sisters
Sweetielicious
New Attire
Change
Emotion
"To Twilight Sparkle"

Letter #13

Unexpected Arrival by GlitchyProductions

Dear Mom.

It has been a while since I've sent a letter to you. The last time we spoke if I recall was me wondering how things have been in the past few weeks. I don't like talking about - or even thinking about it - but I just want to know if You and Dad are alright if that is even feasible to ask despite what happened in the past two months.

I haven't been able to send a letter to Dad ever since he told us he was moving out of the Family House back in Canterbury, he certainly hasn't replied to my letters and I'm really worried about him. But I suppose you don't want to hear about Dad, right? Well anyways, I hope you're fine looking after yourself back in Canterbury and that we can get together sometime.

Shining Armor hasn't been able to respond to my letters either and he doesn't know much about the reasons why You and Dad split up, he has been too busy looking after the Crystal Empire more than talk to his family. Cadance on the other hand has been trying to talk him into speaking with you but it isn't any use. He doesn't want to get involved in this situation. Which is a big shame. I feel he knows a lot more than he is letting onto.

On the lighter side of news, the Equestrian Bureau of Child Management has given me a special allowance from the local government here in Rumsville. I'm given 100 bits a week as long as they are spent only on Spike for his diapers and his other typical baby stuff to help him.

As for Spike, he just reached eight months and he is still happy as ever. Personally, ever since he was moved to Rumsville and put into my care I've been doing everything in my power to make sure he is okay. His hair is starting to grow a little more and another tooth just popped up in his mouth.

I've never understood why people say looking after babies was such a difficult task but now I fully understand after taking care of Spike. And when I was little, I remember Shining Armor saying I used to be such a wailer and I never understood that... Until now.

Hours upon hours of sleep have been lost looking after Spike, but its all worth the experience, diaper changes, bottle feedings, burpings, all the things you used to do with Me and Shining. I just don't know how you put up with us as we grew up. Despite all of that, he certainly gets a lot of attention from my friends and recently Pinkie Pie's employers wanted to know if me and Spike wanted to do a playdate with their children who are, funny enough, Spike's age.

I'm sorry this letter dragged on, there isn't much to tell you nowadays, my friends are alright and well and my library business is still going strong. At the time I'm writing this letter there is a thunderstorm outside and the pitter-patter of rain feels very calming despite the awful wind blowing everything around outside.

Anyways, love you Mom, see you soon and hope for a reply.

- Twilight Sparkle xxx

Advice

"You need to drink something Twilight. It'll keep your energy up. I doubt the lack of sleep has been helping you either. I could give you some of my delicious home made wheat bars if you want." Mrs. Cake picked up the cup of coffee and moved it closer to the other end of the table. There sat Twilight slumped down on her seat with her arms folded looking at the pieces of paper she pulled from the pocket. Although she heard Cup Cake, she didn't respond or bother to give her even the slightest acknowledgement.

Her eyes were fixed on the response to her letter. Scanning and reading every word carefully to make sure that not one mistake were to happen. She understood the words perfectly but she felt like there was a lack of feeling for the response she was given. The letter was just misery and it didn't surprise her at all.

Mrs. Cake on the other hand sighed in defeat and rubbed her hands together thinking of what to do next. Not wanting to get on the bad side of course, but she couldn't just sit there and let no conversation take hold. "Pinkie Pie told me you haven't slept in two days. That's a pretty long time. Is there anything you want to talk about? Did Spike keep you awake? Or was it the..." She stopped for a moment and gulped. "The other thing?"

Twilight didn't respond, though she took her eyes off the letter and lifted her head to look at Cup Cake. She didn't react right away but she stared deeply into her eyes and tried to pick out the right words to say. But it harder than she thought.

"What..." She mumbled. "What am I going to do?" Tears formed around her eyes and started to flow out they slowly made their way down her face. Cup Cake quickly got up and moved to the seat next to Twilight and wrapped her arm round her and pulled her in for a hug.

"This isn't fair! It isn't fair! It always happens to me! I swear to the Royals it always happens!" She burst out into tears and loudly yelled out for all to hear. She picked up the letter she had finished reading and ripped it into pieces and threw the remains onto the table. Cup Cake tightened her grip on Twilight and rocked her gently from side to side in an attempt to calm her down.

"It's okay Twilight. Everything is going to be just fine. Please calm down for me." Cup Cake, although confused at Twilight's rage looked at the torn letter pieces on the table and released her arm from around Twilight. "What did the letter say? Is everything alright at home? No one is here so you can tell me. But if you don't want to, then that's fine."

Thankfully Twilight did manage to calm down for the moment being and looked at the letter pieces. She wiped her own tears from her face and nodded. "I can't. Not yet... I need to get through this." She then looked at Cup Cake. "I want to see Spike."

"He's in the nursery with the Twins. Is something wrong with Spike?" Cup Cake asked.

"No." Twilight shook her head. "I just want to see him. That's all." She sniffled.

Cup Cake nodded. "Take your time dear. I'll be waiting right here if you need me. If not, I'm in the kitchen." She smiled.

Twilight didn't reply, she took off and went down the corridor and left the table to head for the Nursery. Mrs. Cake on the other hand took this moment in time to grab the pieces of the letter and pile them up to make the table clean. Not even daring herself to try and read the contents.

Twilight took a deep breath before even thinking of entering the Nursery. Her hands were on her hips and then paced back and forth and what to do once she entered. Her thoughts were clogged up with what was said on the letter and it just wouldn't leave her mind, the horrible, degrading, nasty words that couldn't leave her mind were as if they had a voice of their own. Twilight swore she could hear someone saying them, but that would be going too far.

She grabbed the handle and slowly opened the door trying not to disturb the infants in the room. The bright colours from the walls and the carpet were a mighty contrast to what Twilight's current state was. It was like someone was mocking her showing off the happy bright colours while she stood barren and decayed as the odd one out.

Twilight saw the toys and the stuffed fluffy animals scattered around on the floor, the changing table, the shelves full of baby supplies and all sorts of other items for the young ones. She headed over to the crib that was on the other side of the room and leaned over the wooden bar to take a good look at who was inside it.

Wrapped up gently in a nice thick cream coloured blanket were three babies all sleeping peacefully. The Cake Twins were bundled together, sticking with each other and in their own arms in a somewhat cute hugging position. On the other end of the crib was the other baby.

Spiky green hair and eyes to match perfectly was Spike himself. Donned in a light green onesie with his favourite purple pacifier shoved in his mouth also sleeping much like the twins, though he had a teddy bear wrapped in his chubby little arms to accompany him.

She didn't want to wake him up by all means but she felt worse than ever. The letter couldn't have lied at all, there was no way that something so horrible could happen. But it was there in black and white. Twilight had to pick her options and she couldn't bear looking at her baby brother like this.

Before Twilight could do anything she heard the door behind her slowly open to reveal Cup Cake making her way in.

"I'm sorry Twilight. I just wanted to check up on the twins to see if they're okay. I'll leave if you want me to." Cup Cake slowly backed out of the room but Twilight gestured her to stay. Cup Cake came back in slowly made her way over to the crib and stood beside Twilight looking rather worried.

"Is Spike okay? Does he need a change?" Cup Cake asked. "I'll be more than happy to do that for you."

"No." Twilight shook her head. "I just wanted to see him." She gulped. "Because of the letter... I don't know what to say..."

"Honey. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to." Cup Cake wrapped an arm around the Librarian and hugged her.

"Its just... It's too quick... The whole thing happened so fast... I don't know what to say. I don't want to point fingers or blame anyone for what's happened and especially anyone who isn't part of my family but... I think it was Spike that started the problem..." Twilight leaned down inside the crib and gently rubbed Spikes cheek with her fingers. The infant moved a little bit in his sleep but clenched tighter to his teddy bear.

"I don't understand. Spike is just a baby. What could he have done that... You know... Your family." Cup Cake was confused at what Twilight was saying. She continued on with her job and listen to Twilight while checking the Twins at the same time. But when she looked at Twilight she was at the verge of tearing up again.

"I'm not allowed to say." She whispered. "The Centerbury Court told me that I can't tell anyone that isn't involved in the whole problem any information. They said it could make problems worse if people try and defend one side or the other. Something like that, I can't remember what they exactly said."

"There's one of the problems." Cup Cake pulled the blanket up and equally gave it to Pumpkin and Pound so they were both covered up with the same amount. "Have you told anyone about your problems? Besides me. I know you came to me about parenting tips."

"I haven't spoken to anyone for three months." Twilight looked down and crossed her arms. "I just think I need to be alone so I can ponder on my thoughts and figure out how to look after Spike. I mean... He's always crying, He's always smelly, He's always noisy and I just can't get some sleep or even think about what I should do."

Cup Cake leaned back up and placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder. She looked up and noticed the smile on the Bakers face.

"Let me tell you something. People know for a fact that babies are always noisy and smelly, there are hardships, trail and error and many more mistakes you come across when you have to handle a baby. Even the twins can be a pain. But I think you haven't really bonded with Spike enough to know how important he is. The diaper changes, feedings and so on are just part of the experience. But when I'm always finished baking after a hard days work and I come to the Nursery..." She looked at the Twins. "They're always there for me even if they can't speak yet and just the sight of them being happy and carefree makes me happy that I've done my job right. That feeling of accomplishment can be heart warming and so much more."

The words sank into Twilight and she gripped on Cup Cake's hand and held it tightly. For a moment she smiled for a moment and looked back at Spike and felt a fuzzy feeling inside of her.

"I'm sure your parents are going through hard times like you've told me." Cup Cake continued. "But for all its worth, you have to overlook some of the details and go for what's really important. Your life here in Rumsville is very important to you, however, I'm not saying that you should ignore your parents. I think that constantly sending your parents letters about the whole situation and worrying willy-nilly over it is a little bit silly."

"I guess so." Twilight nodded. "All I've done since I was given Spike was just look after him and keep him in the crib with a few toys."

"I think if you go home and spend some time with Spike I'm sure he won't be such a problem. Once he trusts and feels safe with you then I'm sure he won't cry as much and you two can bond like what family is meant to do." Cup Cake nodded and put her other hand over Twilight's.

"Thanks. I feel a little better now." Twilight sighed and shook her head.

And with that, Twilight and Cup Cake left the Nursery together heading back to the Cafe to continue on with their drinks. For once, Twilight felt rather confident about the coming days. But only time would tell.

Author's Note

On a personal level and for those who don't know. I recently took a massive break from writing and decided to call myself a retired writer in the sense from doing stories for FIMFiction. I have come back and to start myself off I wanted to make this small little story to try and get me back in the A-Game before anything serious goes on.

As for the structure of the story its going to be rather passive. The story isn't going to follow the problems that Twilight has with her family or even speak her troubles to others, but it is going to focus on the bonding between Twilight and Baby Spike.

So little random chapters following the more "memorable" moments between Twilight and Spike's bonding together as they go through a few problems here and there. The time period won't skip by months or years, just weeks or days.

A Talk

It was dark outside to say the least. Her journey from the Sugarcube Corner was longer than expected, she didn't want to get home straight away to get on with the plan or try and fix everything as fast as she could. A simple walk at dusk watching the shops close and the street lights turn on was relaxing. Her mind was taken off the usual routines and focused more on the rest of the town and how it changed in just a few minutes of darkness. The moon slowly rose up past the mountains peeking its top for the surface dwellers to see its glory.

Her happiness felt short lived when she felt the weight of the stroller she had been pushing for the last thirty minutes was starting to wear on her. Though she was near the Library and was more than ready to eat dinner and go to bed she wanted to sit down for a moment and feel the cold breeze and soak in the atmosphere. It couldn't be explained but she loved the transition of a busy town slowing down as the darkness creeps over and gives the wanderers to head home and turn on their lights.

Nearby was a small bench. Luckily no one Twilight knew was nearby and she pushed the stroller a little more and sat herself down on the wooden seat. She turned the stroller round to the front and saw Spike wrapped up in a cream blanket with a little image of a yellow ducky sown on the front. In mouth was a bottle filled to the brim with warm milk, he didn't care about anything else, his eyes were fixated on the bottle more so than the adult in front of him.

Twilight smiled a little despite the pain in her legs growing, she reached in and slowly moved her fingers through the infants spiky green hair. But she stopped as soon as Spike quickly shook his head and made a loud grunt. He went back to suckling on his bottle and once again locked his eyes on the milk inside.

Typical, this is how it went nearly every time Twilight put her hands anywhere near him. It was like he didn't want to be touched by her at all.

"Spike." Twilight kept her smile. "Do you want your ba-ba?"

The infant didn't reply or even acknowledge what Twilight said and continued to suckle on the bottle.

Instantly the sinking feeling came back to Twilight faster than she imagined. She leaned back on her seat and rubbed her forehead and felt the pain in the head explode. Her eyes closed and concentrated on the pain until it slowly started to disappear.

"Oof... Why can't you just listen to me Spike... We're in the same boat together and we've got to stay together and cooperate. I know its such a big and difficult change to accept but we need to get through this... Because... Because... I don't think I can... Okay? I don't know. You're adorable and all, but we need to find a way to stick together because I need to look after you. And I don't think you like that, we've only known each other for three months and I'm sorry I never visited you when you were first born."

Twilight opened her eyes and looked at the infant but her words did nothing. Spike still had the bottle in his mouth but he was sleeping sound suckling on the nipple despite the bottle still having half of its contents inside. Twilight put her hands on her lap and felt her lip quiver slightly.

"I'm crazy..." She mumbled. "Talking to a baby about survival... He needs me if he wants to get by in life. But what have I got?" She felt her arms shake at the thoughts that came into her mind. Home was the only thing she needed now.

Twilight got up from her seat on the bench and grabbed hold of the stroller and began to push it down the street towards the library. Constantly breathing inwards and outwards slowly to calm herself down.

A weak light came through the cracks in the curtains. All lazily draped over to try and close the windows without much of an attempt to even care. Some kept hooked to the sides allowing more light from the Moon to come in and shine though the darkness. Twilight didn't even have the strength to care about the windows any more, her thoughts were scrambled on what happened today and the things she read from the letter at the Cake residence.

Eyes wide open lying on her back in bed staring at the ceiling with both arms wrapped around her Smarty Pants plushy, one stroking the fake hair and the other on his stomach. She was out of her usual attire and now into her night wear, a knee length gown made out of a soft material, what was it? Twilight didn't know, but it felt nice.

She turned her head and looked at her answer phone placed conveniently next to her bed on her drawer, also with a glass of water and two white pills next to the glass. Twilight leaned up and let go of her Smarty Pants plush and reached for the pills and put them in her mouth, letting them rest on her tongue. She then went for the glass of water and took a gulp which caused the pills to flow down her throat without a problem.

The empty glass was put back next to her answer phone and noticed a number on the front glowing a bright red.

You have received new messages today!

Would you like to hear them?

Press the play button to hear them in order.

Twilight pressed on the play button and a voice began to play from the speaker on the side.

"You have... Five... New messages..."

*click*

"Hello Twilight. It's me, Rarity. I was wondering how you've been since you came back from Canterbury. I came round yesterday and knocked but no one seemed to answer the door. Though I heard Spike crying inside and I thought you were busy dealing with the little rascal so I decided it would be best if I left and decided to leave you a message if you didn't want guests bothering you at that time. I wish to speak to you about Sweetie Belle baby sitting little Spikey-Wikey for you since she is interested in taking a part-time job as a baby sitter, though I tried convincing her that the singing she does is a better choice she refused to listen and pressed on for the job application. If you can reply that would be swell.

See you soon, Rarity."

*click*

"Hey Twi' guess who? No really, guess who? Anyways. Hey sorry for being a buzz kill a few days ago, didn't know I had that much cider. Guess those Jager Bombs didn't help either, huh? Well if you're not busy I was wondering if you'd like to come to my place and listen to the new Wonderbolts album and drink loads of booze. Also got a poster of Soarin' nude up in my bedroom, too hot for words man. Can't wait for another rockin' night. Shame you've been busy. Can't wait to catch up.

Hope we get loaded soon, Dashie."

*click*

"Hello Twilight...

...

Sorry. I didn't know if I was supposed to speak yet, uh, I wanted to know if you needed anything... Um, for Spike, I mean. Since I found some money that I wasn't using and I thought it would be nice if he needed new shoes or something pretty. Does he like rattles at all? I think babies like rattles... I don't actually know, sorry. Angel told me to look under the couch today and he found some bits and all sorts. I know you're upset over your Mommy and Daddy, but you still have us, right?

...

I mean, I know how important family is but I just wondered if Spike needed to be looked after if you wanted something done. Sorry for wasting your time if you say no, I understand perfectly.

Hope you have the time to listen to my message, but its fine if you can't. Uh... Thanks. It's from Fluttershy by the way."

*click*

"Hey Twi' Applejack here. It's the first time I decided to use one of these weird answer phone machines and I think I got it working. Dunno. Keeps on flashing loads of lights n' stuff. Anyways, just wondering how yer' holding up. Haven't seen ya' much these last three months 'cept for those few times when we get together one and a while. Me an' the girls all decided that we leave ya' to your family stuff like you said that one time. We shouldn't get gettin' involved since it'd make the problem worse. But if you can handle-" *bzzt*

*click*

...

Final message cannot be played.

Initiating callers location

...

Crystal Kingdom, Cadance.

Failed to load.

The machine turned itself off and the red lights died down and disappeared completely, though it was best said than done, the pills had kicked in by the first message and there lay Twilight locked in a fetal position with Smarty Pants clenched between her arms sleeping like a child with its favourite toy.

Visitor

If it wasn't for the smell of the toast along with the butter slapped on the top and the taste of orange juice still stuck on her taste buds then she would sleep some more. But she couldn't do that now, Twilight had a mission and she wasn't going to let anyone stop her. It wasn't going to begin right away she knew that a proper feeding and the right amount of energy would start her day off.

On the other side of the kitchen table was Spike sitting in his own personal high chair donned with his regular purple onesie and his pacifier shoved into his mouth making loud suckling noises.He squirmed from side to side in his seat shaking his arms and banging them on the plastic tray in front of him which quickly got Twilights attention.

"Spike. I'll give you breakfast in a minute. This won't take long and I'll give you your bottle and some nice porridge." Twilight took another bite out of the toast in front of her and then sipped a small bit of her orange juice.

He wasn't having none of that nonsense, his tummy was rumbling and his gums were started to hurt where his teeth are pushing out of. His legs now kicked wildly without coordination and he spat his pacifier out, letting it dangle on the pendant around his neck and made loud moans to try and get Twilight over to make him some food.

Twilight knew what the baby was trying to do, he had done this before to try and get something he wanted. She tried to ignore him for a little while longer but also speeding up her pace with her food to try and get that out of the way. She put the last piece of toast in her mouth and chugged down the orange juice and left the glass and plate on the table.

She got up from her seat and made her way over to Spike and patted him on the head.

"Okay. Now I'll make you some delicious porridge. How about that?" Twilight offered to her little brother, but he continued to ignore her and flailed his arms and legs around not caring for what it was. If it filled him up, then it didn't matter what it was.

Spike didn't understand the words but didn't see the food anywhere, his moans turned into cries and he smashed his hands onto the plastic tray even harder. Tears and drool came running down his face, Twilight flinched at the noises coming from Spike and went over to the fridge and opened it. She quickly scanned each row and found the baby bottles full of cold milk, taking it out of the fridge and put it in Spike's mouth.

He was quickly silenced feeling the nipple go into his mouth, somewhat confused at what it was but he quickly accepted it and began to suckle on it feeling the soft creamy milk soon disperse out of the tip. This is what he expected but it was starting to slowly fill him up.

Twilight rubbed her forehead again and headed over to the cooker and began to work on the porridge, she grabbed a nearby pot and began to collect the rest of her supplies. All the while not being able to smile.

"Come on Spike. Be a good boy and let me put the porridge in your mouth." Twilight ebbed the spoon a little more closer to the babies face and was met with anger and a loud scream. She quickly grabbed onto the little porridge bowl to stop it from being knocked on the floor.

"Ba-Ba! Ba-Ba!" Spike cried. He then turned his head and closed his mouth to try and get away from the evil spoon. Twilight put the spoon back in the warm porridge and huffed.

"I already gave you your bottle. You didn't want to drink the rest so I gave you porridge instead, what more do you want?" She spoke to the infant knowing full well her words meant nothing. "Look. I'll try one more time and that's it."

"Ba-Ba! Ba-Ba!" Spike continued to kick and scream requesting his bottle to be given back to him, he took his time and turned his head round and then felt the spoon thrust into his mouth and took the warm mushy porridge and swallowed it.

"Ha!" Twilight triumphantly laughed. But felt a short lived experienced when Spike began to fully cry and shake himself from his restrains.

This was the point in the fight where she'd give up and let him win, there was no other way around it that she could think of. Either Spike gets his bottle or else he would continue to cry. She picked up his bottle off the kitchen table and shoved the nipple back into his mouth and within a few seconds he immediately suckled on it and stopped crying.

"You win Spike." Twilight nodded, but it didn't feel right, she felt normal but with that tinge of defeat she couldn't let go. "You win. You can have your bottle... Now you stay in your high chair until I get dressed, okay?" She rubbed her eye and got up off from her seat and headed out of the kitchen and into the living room. Leaving Spike to finish off his bottle and to his own devices.

Twilight walked across the living room as quick as she could, despite still being in her night-wear she needed to have a shower and comb her hair properly. But before she could reach the stairs she heard a knock on the front door, stopping in place and feeling her heartbeat, she slowly walked over to the door and hid her body behind the door and opened it.

On the other side stood Cup Cake wearing a pleasant smile, once she noticed Twilight peeking her head round the door she gave a little wave and put her hands in her coat pockets.

"Good morning Twilight." Cup Cake was the first to speak.

"Mrs. Cake? What are you doing here?" Twilight asked.

"Since our little talk last night went a little bit short, I decided to come over to see how you have been getting along with Spike. I hope you don't mind if you come in."

"Oh... Sure... Uh, come in." Twilight opened the rest of the door and nervously revealed herself and the clothing she wore, despite what she was wearing it seemed that Cup Cake didn't notice she was still wearing her night wear.

"Having a lazy day today?" Cup Cake then looked at the night wear.

"Oh sure..." Twilight nodded slightly.

Cup Cake entered the door and stood beside Twilight and dropped her smile, she put a hand on her shoulder and then pulled her in for a hug.

"You look ill Twilight. Didn't you get enough sleep again?"

It was another moment like this that Twilight could let herself stand free and let her emotions run their natural course, tears gathered round her eyes as she pulled away from Cup Cake's hug.

"I couldn't sleep.. Even with the sleeping pills, just too much on my mind and Spike kept crying every thirty minutes or so to be either changed, burped, you name it. I haven't been able to properly eat and... And..." She gasped for air at this moment but Cup Cake quickly put her arm around her and moved her over to a nearby chair and sat her down.

"Twilight. Deep breaths, calm down, deep breaths." Cup Cake began to mimic long inhales and exhales for Twilight.

Twilight copied the motion and regained control of her breathing and leaned back in the chair.

"I can't do this." She mustered up the courage to speak. "I seriously can't." Her hands began to shake soon followed by the rest of her shaking.

"Twilight, honey, you need to calm down. If you're going to cope then you need to slow down and tell me what is going on. Is Spike causing trouble for you?" Cup Cake lowered herself and tried to look into Twilight's eyes, but she weren't able to as the Librarian quickly pulled her hands up to her face, blocking view of her eyes.

"He is out of control! He doesn't listen or give me a damn chance!" Twilight lowered her hands down and clenched them into fists.

"Twilight. You can't control Spike like a growing child. He's just a little baby, listen, let me get you a glass of water and we'll sit down on the couch and sort this out. I think this is more serious than I believe to be. If you're struggling to control yourself and having moments like that, then something is definitely wrong. Now if you sit on the couch I'll be right with you."

"O-Okay..." Twilight nodded and got up from the chair, she rubbed the tears coming from her eyes and headed over to the couch.

Cup Cake got up and rubbed Twilights back.

"Where is Spike?" She asked.

"In the kitchen, gave him a bottle to shut him up." Twilight moved away from Cup Cake, despite expecting a scolding for her comment she got nothing, Cup Cake nodded and tried to ignore the last part and headed for the kitchen.

The Truth

Twilight kept herself on the couch at all times, legs crossed and her hands resting on her lap. It felt eerily quiet for the moment being after seeing Cup Cake make her way into the kitchen. But it wasn't long before Cup Cake returned into the living room carrying both a glass of water in one hand and Spike in the other. She sat down next to Twilight on the couch and handed the water to her, she grabbed it off Cup Cake and took a little sip.

"Sorry about the wait Twilight. I noticed you left Spike in his high chair so I went in and pulled him out and gave him a little wash around the mouth." She lifted up Spike so they were face to face. "Aren't you such a little messy guy? Getting porridge everywhere? Yes you are! Yes you are!" Cup Cake kept a playful tone when dealing with Spike, he seemed to like it by his giggles and happy yells. But she didn't continue and placed him down on Twilight's lap and rubbed his head and drove her fingers through his spiky hair.

It was a surprise to see Spike let someone else, let alone someone he just met to even touch his hair in that way. Twilight put down her glass of water on the arm of the couch and wrapped her arms around Spike. Luckily, he kept quiet and rested his head on belly.

"Right. I know you've had some troubles over the past few months Twilight and I can't stand looking at you in this way. If you keep on going in the path your choosing to go down then you'll end up seriously ill from the stress. Pinkie Pie told me that you didn't want to get her or any of your friends involved and that you would speak to me if you needed help with Spike. I'm here now, and I want to help you change and get along with Spike for the better. Do you think we can work together?" She looked down at Spike. "He has a big future ahead of him, even if there are problems going on with your family. I know its a sensitive subject to talk about right now but I feel you need to be a big strong girl. After all, you're nineteen years old."

"What do you want me to do? I can't do this Cup Cake, I'm being honest I swear. I've got a job, student to Royalty and my family meant everything to me. That letter I got yesterday was just horrible to read." Twilight trembled at the thought of the words printed on that letter.

"What did the letter say?" Cup Cake asked.

"I'm not allowed to say." Twilight quickly responded.

"Twilight." Cup Cake frowned. "I've heard a lot of bad things in my lifetime, but you can honestly tell me, I won't tell a soul about the letter no matter how bad it is."

This caused a small pause in the conversation, Twilight looked down at the baby boy sitting on her lap contently sucking on his pacifier keeping his head rested on Twilight's stomach, but his eyes on the guest beside him.

"Okay." Twilight inhaled slowly. "Promise not to tell?"

"I promise, Pinkie style." Cup Cake nodded.

"I think Spike was the cause of our family problems." She quickly got out.

"Why?"

"After Me and my big brother Shining Armor moved out of our home and got busy with our lives, we heard talk that our Mom trying for another baby with my Dad. I thought it would be great since I would have a little baby brother and we could see each other and have all these little adventures that kids and siblings have. But it didn't really turn out like that at all."

Twilight stopped for a moment and felt more tears work her way down her face.

"My Dad was kinda angry that my Mom wanted another child to look after. He said that two were enough and that the cost of raising another one would put them in financial jeopardy, but she didn't listen and was pregnant before you knew it."

Cup Cake ebbed a little closer to Twilight and wrapped an arm around the Librarian and pulled her in for a hug.

"He got really angry one day and stormed off leaving my Mom to give birth to Spike alone. It broke her heart and she never saw him again, we got one letter telling us he left Canterbury and will never be coming back because of Spike. My Mom tried to look after Spike but she found it difficult without someone to help her, then the Government took Spike away and told her it was for the best."

"You poor thing. I didn't know, I'm sorry." Cup Cake tightened her grip on the teen and now used her other arm to comfort Spike, though he didn't need it.

"So Spike wouldn't be put in an orphanage I asked the people who took Spike away if I could keep him under my care. I couldn't just sit there and let him be put into a different family, he's a Sparkle and we have to stick together." Twilight kept herself close to Cup Cake feeling like the hug was necessary for what she had just done. She felt bold to telling the truth, but she didn't feel better because of it.

"That is the sweetest thing I have ever heard." Cup Cake sniffled. Now she was starting to get tears in her eyes. "Twilight. You shouldn't feel down because of what's happened, think of what you've done for Spike, if it wasn't for you he would be in a different home with another family. You care so much for him and you don't probably know how much he wants to thank you for it."

"I'm a terrible parent and... I don't want him growing up thinking I'm his real mother. I want to tell him the truth one day so he can learn and accept what he has." Twilight broke out of the hug and looked down at Spike, the infant now attempted to crawl his way over to Cup Cake's lap, which was an arms reach away.

"You don't need to worry about that. Pound and Pumpkin sometimes call Pinkie Pie their Mommy because of how much she cares for them. I think it's alright, you're looking after him and that's what matters. You can be his Mommy and his Sister." Cup Cake put her hands under Spike and slowly lifted him up and held him close to her chest, the infant started to giggle once again when Cup Cake dug her fingers into his belly and tickled him. Along with little raspberries coming out of her mouth.

"I think you're right." Twilight nodded, her worry over this little problem soon cleared now that the answer came to her. "But I want to know something."

"What is it?" Cup Cake stopped her noises and turned to face Twilight.

"How are you doing that?" Twilight pointed at Spike.

"Doing what?" Cup Cake responded, confused.

"How are you making Spike so happy? Whenever I go near him and try to do anything with him he just cries and kicks my hands away. What's your secret?" Twilight asked.

"Oh! That?" Cup Cake giggled. "It's just love. You can't control a baby Twilight, he relies on you to keep him safe, changed and well-fed at all times. When you've done enough he'll start to trust you and he will let you play with him. However I think the case is with Spike is that he's wondering where his real Mommy still is, he's possibly still scared and confused about the change and when he sees you trying to look after you he screams for Mom to come and sweep him off his feet."

"I see." Twilight nodded. "Do you think you can stay a little while longer?"

Cup Cake leaned back slightly, and rested herself to get more comfortable. She nodded and smiled. "Sure. I'll be more than happy to stay. I'll gladly help you with Spike too."

"Thanks Mrs. Cake. I feel a little bit better." Twilight felt that little twitch in her lips that forced her into a little smile.

"Now it's nine in the morning. I'll go and make some tea and we'll talk a little more about Spike and your family. Does that sound good?" Cup Cake handed Spike back over to Twilight and rose up from her seat. The moment she got up Spike quickly raised his arms in the air and reached out for the her.

"Aww, come on little guy. You gotta stay with Twilight, okay?" Cup Cake leaned down and dug her fingers into his stomach and tickled him again, he laughed loudly and fell backwards onto Twilight's stomach. Spike then proceeded to suck on his thumb and kicked his legs around randomly.

Cup Cake headed back into the kitchen and left Twilight to try and bond with Spike.

Equipment

Twilight was the first one to get to the top of the stairs, with Spike wrapped delicately in her arms kept close to her chest at all times. She headed over to the door on the left and stood by it as she saw Cup Cake slowly rise up onto the final step who was inspecting the hall way, occasionally taking glances left and right to get a good picture of the library's halls. She noticed Twilight standing over by a door on the left hand side and noticed a small sign on the door.

A basic wooden oak door with a little handle on the right it seemed perfectly normal, but in the middle of the door was a nail through the door and a sign held up by a thin rope with colourful lettering, each letter in its own colour to show who really slept inside the room.

"SPIKES NURSERY"

The sign dangled from the nail and the rope and Twilight gripped onto the handle and twisted it, a little clicking noise was heard inside the door and it slowly opened and revealed the Nusery inside.

The walls were a basic white with stripes to create a pattern, each stripe was accompanied by a colour of the rainbow. In between where the white was, printed images of toys, teddy bears, pacifiers, bottles and all sorts of baby related items were on the walls.

Inside was a large play mat put down on the floor right in the middle of the room featuring two large symbols that both Cup Cake and Twilight instantly recognized, the Royal emblems for the Sun and Moon were printed at each corner and in the middle was a hybrid of the two images as if they melded into one. A short amount of toys were littered onto the mat ranging from plushes, teddies and rattles.

Directly opposite to them was a large crib made to hold more than just one baby, thick blankets and pillows were put down following a large mobile with toy animals attached to strings were idly spinning on their own.

Cup Cake made her first steps into the Nursery and her mouth simply dropped at the extremely high quality the room presented to her.

"Wow." Cup Cake finally spoke. "This must have taken a lot of bits and hard work to set up." She walked over to the crib and felt the hard wood and strong work that it had been assembled into.

"Actually..." Twilight pondered on whether to tell her. "Princess Celestia gifted it to me with her money, she found out about my whole issue and sent me the highest quality baby stuff, bits aren't a problem with her."

"I bet they aren't." Cup Cake joked.

"Yeah." Twilight nodded. "Only problem was building the crib, changing table and stuff. So Applejack asked Big Mac to come over and help me build the Nursery together."

"I can see where he's been building, he always does very high quality work but to say the least, I am jealous that you've got such a beautiful looking Nursery for Spike. It's probably worth more than our entire bakery." Cup Cake chuckled.

"So what am I going to learn first?" Twilight asked, changing the subject.

"I was thinking of learning a little from you firstly. The best way to learn is to make some observations on what you're doing that could be causing problems between you and Spike. Do you think you can do that for me?" Cup Cake walked back over to Twilight and rubbed her hands, preparing to learn what was about to unfold.

"Uh... I don't know where to start or what to say..." Twilight admitted.

"Hrm" Cup Cake began to think. "What happened this morning in the kitchen, weren't you trying to feed Spike? If you can tell me what happened and what you were doing maybe we can get him to eat properly when you're giving him food."

"I got up and took Spike downstairs I put him in his high chair and let him sit in it for a while while I had my own breakfast. It was just some toast and orange juice I didn't really feel that hungry and he kept crying and he was also trying to get out of his high chair. I made him some porridge but he didn't like it." Twilight finished.

"Was the porridge especially made for babies or it just normal porridge?" Cup Cake asked.

"I gave him the same porridge that I usually eat for breakfast." Twilight replied back. "I buy the Appleloosa

"Ooh." Cup Cake's smile changed. "Babies aren't supposed to eat that type of porridge Twilight. It makes their tummies go funny. That's probably why he doesn't like it."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Twilight quickly apologized to the Baker and hugged Spike even tighter than before.

"It's okay Twilight, we all make mistakes, now is his milk still the typical baby formula?" Cup Cake proceeded to ask.

"Yes. I keep the bottles in the fridge." Twilight answered.

"Excellent." Cup Cake smiled.

Before anymore of the conversation could continue Spike started to squirm and move around in Twilight's arms, attempting to break free from her strong grip as he managed to see the toys he owned over in the distance by the crib. Both Cup Cake and Twilight noticed this.

"What's wrong with Spike?" Twilight looked up and asked Cup Cake, then trying her best to hold Spike in his place.

"I think he wants to be put down from the looks of it." Cup Cake replied. "Lets put him down on the play mat and I want to see how you two bond together. Have you done any of that recently?"

"Actually..." Twilight bit her lip. "We haven't done any of that since I took him into my care."

Cup Cake stopped in her place and gave a strange look at Twilight, she was confused at what Twilight had just said not only that, but she was somewhat disappointed at the Librarian for just simply being so open and carefree saying something like that.

"You haven't tried to play with Spike at all? I find that very hard to believe." She folded her eyes and frowned at the Teen.

"I'm sorry Cup Cake, but I haven't, I've been so busy trying to sort everything out I haven't had the time to play with Spike at all." Twilight walked over to the play mat and went down on her knees and slowly lowered Spike onto the floor, he quickly crawled over to the pile of toys and reached for the teddy bear and grabbed it towards him to play with.

"It's understandable Twilight. Things have been pretty rough for you and I atleast would have thought someone like you would've spent a tiny bit of time with him." Cup Cake crossed her arms.

Twilight kept herself down on her knees and looked at Spike wrapping his arms round the teddy bear he picked up, now wasn't the moment to argue with Cup Cake. She came here to help and the truth was sucking up pretty quickly to her and she came to a final decision that she hoped would change everything.

"Okay Cup Cake. I'll do something about it. I'm going to spend the whole day with Spike, never leaving him behind or in his crib when I'm busy. How does that sound?" She looked up and stared into the Bakers eyes seriously. Like a drive was behind her ready to start off.

"That sounds lovely." Cup Cake unfolded her arms and held her hands together in a joyous pose. "I'll be right back." She then headed towards the Nursery door.

"Where are you going?" Twilight asked.

"I'm going in the kitchen to see if you still have that baby food left. I'm sure we can get Spike to eat in the Nursery if he has a toy with him too." Cup Cake left the room and headed downstairs, Twilight looked back and noticed Spike shoving the Teddy Bear's ear into his mouth to suckle on.

With Cup Cake gone and Spike right in front of her, she felt a shallow pain in her stomach now that she was going to try and do something, it was like something didn't want her to look after Spike. But she ignored these feelings and crawled a little closer to Spike was got his attention. Twilight leaned down and rested her stomach on the play mat and forced a smile at the baby boy.

"Hello Spike." Twilight lowered her voice to a gentle whisper and put her hands out in front of him. Spike let go of the Teddy and looked at Twilight's hands, he opened his mouth and all that came out was baby babble and gibberish, but he sounded happy. He stayed in his position and considered the options, instead, he started to crawl further away from Twilight and move himself behind the Teddy Bear, creating a fake line between the two.

"Do you want to play Hide and Seek?" Spike kept staring at Twilight from behind the bear. "Peekaboo? Rattles? Anything?"

Spike didn't reply, he instead looked at his Teddy Bear from behind and grabbed its arms and shook them up and down while making more noises and gibberish from his mouth.

Twilight sank again, her forced smile dropped and she got back up and repositioned herself. She sat on her bottom and crossed her legs and just overall felt awful again, she couldn't even get her baby brother to play with her.

But something then ticked in her mind and then looked at Spike and Teddy Bear again, he was sitting behind the bear with his hands on the arms of the toy, waving them up and down with a big dumb smile on his face. She leaned forwards a little and tried to speak.

"Are you trying to give me the Teddy Bear?" Twilight asked her baby brother.

Understanding

Spike didn't respond to what Twilight said but he continued to do what he started and looked at the Teddy Bear. He waved its arms in front of Twilight and then pushed the Teddy forward, causing it to flop over and land onto its belly. Spike clapped his hands and giggled uncontrollably at the thing he just done.

Twilight on the other hand was surprised, she didn't know that someone as young as him could even try and communicate, but that didn't matter. There was a chance to entertain and get close to Spike after all, she picked up the Teddy Bear and inspected it. The design for the bear was pretty simple, a large brown bear with buttons for eyes and soft fur all over its body. She turned it round and made it face Spike directly.

"Do you want me to play with you Spike?" Twilight put the bear down on her lap and leaned forward to pick up Spike, she grabbed him and wrapped her hands around his belly. He was slowly lifted up and placed onto her lap right next to the bear, sooner than ever, Spike clapped again and grabbed the bear and looked up at Twilight with a smile.

"Is that a yes?" Twilight wanted to make sure she couldn't be going crazy.

"Ja-Ja!" Spike let out a happy cheer and pushed the bear over again, this time falling off Twilight's lap completely and onto the floor.

"You like the bear don't you?" Twilight giggled. She picked up the bear by its neck and floated it in the air. Spike raised his arms in the air and tried to reach out for the bear, he made another series of gibberish and gurgles all the while smiling.

"Ba-Ga-Goo-Goo!" Spike now saw the Teddy Bear above him and now crawled up to Twilight's stomach and pressed against it to reach up for his Teddy. Twilight lowered it down and felt Spike grab it and pull it down and wrap his chubby little arms around it.

"You did it Spike. You got your teddy back!" Twilight cheered.

Spike clapped his hands together and dropped his Teddy Bear back on the floor. Twilight this time lifted both of her hands and dug them into Spike's stomach and started to tickle him. He quickly rolled into a ball and kicked his legs outwards and screamed loudly in joy.

"Aren't you two the busy pair."

Twilight stopped her tickling and then turned round to see Cup Cake entering the Nursery carrying a small bag and jars full of typical baby food with a baby bottle filled with milk in her apron pocket. A smirk was on her face and she set the items she was carrying on the side of the changing table by the door.

"Uh... Cup Cake... I didn't hear you come in." Twilight felt her cheeks glow a bright red as the Baker put the items down and turned to see Spike on her lap.

"I heard you two having a good time together, were you playing tickle monster?" Cup Cake smiled at the two playing.

"Yeah." Twilight nodded. "I guess I got carried away and got in the moment with Spike." She felt her cheeks burn up even more at saying this.

"You weren't going too far at all. I honestly think you're doing the right thing with Spike playing with him and tickling him. It's actually a good start that you two got so close. What made you play with him by the way?" Cup Cake turned round and tended to the jars and items she brought up and continued to listen to Twilight.

"I don't know." Twilight paused.

"You just felt like playing with him? I get that sometimes, you can't explain it, but you just want to play with him and make sure he has that pretty little smile on his face?" Cup Cake let out a chuckle and continued on with her items.

"Yeah! That's it!" Twilight nodded and then paused again, looking a little confused. "Wait, how do you know?"

"Oh. When I play with the Twins, Pound is always the first to come over and play with his favourite toy, we have such a nice time. Pumpkin comes over and then we all sit down and enjoy a film or sit together in the Nursery and just have a great time together like what you and Spike have been doing." Cup Cake finished what she was doing and turned and knelt down to get a look at Twilight and Spike.

Spike was busy resting himself over Twilight, while keeping his thumb in his mouth he latched onto his sister and rested his eyes. Twilight picked him up and wrapped her arms around him and slowly took her time to stand up, carefully trying not to wake her brother up in any case.

"What's that on the changing table. I saw you holding something." Twilight got up on her two feet and then walked over to the changing table to get a better look at what she brought up.

"Just some baby food and a bottle. I'm going to teach you how to feed Spike properly." She turned round with a smirk. "Even when he doesn't want to be fed."

"That sounds great, but..." She looked down again and nodded at the baby in her arms.

"Oh. We can do it later, we can sit down and have a chat in the kitchen while he rests. We have more planning to do!"

It was a little more lighter now. The curtains were wide open and the light coming from the sun poured through which lit up the entire kitchen. Cup Cake stood beside the kitchen worktop and had two bowls in front of her, one empty and one full of baby food. Also next to her was a small collection of fruits and creams all in their original packaging.

Twilight sat down on the table seat and took a light sip of her warm tea, lacking in sugar but full with milk just how she liked it. The Librarian let out a cute yawn and stretched her arms, slowly feeling her bones crackle and her muscles stretch painfully.

"You seemed a lot more happier after our little talk Twilight. I'm proud of you, no. Surprised even that you went to Spike so quickly." Cup Cake picked up a knife and a banana and chopped it up on a cutting board.

"Thanks." Twilight put her arms down on the table and took another sip of her tea. "What are you doing by the way?"

"I'm going to see if Spike would like some tasty banana cream puree. Pound likes it when I add in a little bit of fruit into his morning breakfast and I'm going to see if Spike likes a little banana with his ceam puree. I've got a few more vetegables from your cupboards and I hope you don't mind me experimenting with his babyfood." She then put the chopped banana pieces into the baby food and mixed the two together inside the bowl.

"It's okay Mrs. Cake, I can buy a lot more where that came from." Twilight put her tea down and chuckled a little.

"I was also wondering if Spike would like another playdate with Pound and Pumpkin? He seems to be getting along and my two little bunnies can't seem to get enough of him whenever they're together. How about going to the park this afternoon when things around town have died down? I know a perfect little spot that Fluttershy told me about that's quiet and perfect for a little picnic." Cup Cake proceeded to use the knife as a temporary spoon, mixing and squishing the banana into tiny little lumpy pieces mixed deeply with the cream.

Twilight didn't respond at first and thought about the offer, to make herself look busy, she took another sip of her tea which got her a little more time. She thought about going around town, but then thought about Spike and the bonding they needed to do.

"That's nice and all. I'd love to go... But... I want to spend a little time with Spike first. Not that I don't want to go or anything. Do you think we could do a picnic on another day when me and Spike are... You know?" Twilight's mind was clouded, she couldn't think of what to say at all, but she also didn't want to upset Cup Cake.

"That's understandable, Twilight. Maybe we can go tomorrow or the day after that? But you're right about getting a little closer to Spike. I can pull a few strings on my personal schedule and change it round. No need to worry." Cup Cake didn't turn round to speak, she was too busy with the food.

Before the conversation could continue, a loud wailing noise could be heard by both Twilight and Cup Cake, they stopped what they were doing and looked at each other quizically. They knew what was happening, Cup Cake stopped what she was doing and went to the kitchen door and leaned out to hear more of the crying coming from upstairs.

"I'll go." Twilight got up from her seat and slowly headed out of the kitchen, leaving Cup Cake to continue with the food. She walked through the living room and felt the noise in her ears get louder and louder with every step.

She reached the stairs and took a deep breath.

Attention

Twilight got up to the Nursery door feeling rather stiff and cold. Her bones felt like jelly for some reason, she couldn't explain why, but her arms and legs began to shake at the thought of going back in to see Spike. The crying wasn't helping her gain the courage to settle this. She could have let Cup Cake come and do it but she didn't, she needed to do this on her own.

She put her hand around the door knob and twisted it and the door soon opened to greet Twilight with the source of the wailing and crying. The Librarian took her few steps into the room and noticed something strange about the crib and who was inside it.

Spike was awake, kicking and screaming as loud as his little lungs could let him. The infant was on his knees with both hands round the crib bars shaking them back and forth violently.

Without a single doubt, Twilight didn't even have to think of what to do, she rushed over to the crib and leaned in to scoop the wailing infant into her warm soft arms. She held him tightly only to be met with tight aggression and squirming beyond belief, but that didn't stop her from trying to calm him down.

"Spike. Calm down please, everything is okay now, don't worry I'm here to look after you please don't cry. I shouldn't have left you in the crib." Twilight kept her little brother close to her chest at the best of her ability, granted Spike wasn't making this easy but seeing him struggle so much.

She didn't loosen her grip on Spike at all, within a minute or so he was starting to calm down in her arms and his crying died down pretty quickly and the room slowly became silent.

"What's wrong Spike?" Twilight looked down. "Did you have a bad dream, Spike?"

Spike didn't respond to what Twilight said but he looked up, lips quivering and his grip on her chest was very tight.

"Boo-Boo-Ga-Gaa!" Spike made a noise from his mouth, a string of gibberish and slobber that made its way down his mouth along with a little smile growing side to side.

Twilight wasn't satisfied with the answer and the quick wrap up that Spike gave out. It felt like there was something more to this than there originally was, to delve deeper, she unlocked the side of the crib and opened up the bars and set them apart. Twilight sat down on the little matress and brushed some of the toys out of the way to sit down comfortably.

Spike was set down next to his big pillow and there he lay on his back, kicking his little legs up in the air randomly. Twilight leaned over a little and grabbed the end of Spikes toes and shook them a little, causing the baby boy to let out a little laugh.

"See? You aren't scared, you were just trying to get my attention, weren't you?" Twilight giggled. "You just wanted to see me, didn't you? You cheeky little monkey."

Twilight couldn't help it now, she wiggled her brothers toes a little more and then worked her way up to Spikes legs and then his hips. All while Spike's laughter began to get louder and louder and he wiggled a little more with every tickle.

"Who's a cheeky little monkey? You are! You are!" Twilight let go of Spike and watched him continue to laugh and wiggle around despite not being tickled anymore. But when she leaned back up she could smell a strange odor coming straight from Spike.

Twilight looked down at Spike again and noticed he was smiling ever so smug, he put his legs down and decided to put his fingers into his mouth.

"Eww." Twilight flinched. "Spike. You're stinky, and I'm not talking about your diapers either. I think you need a bath."

To make sure, Twilight slowly leaned closer to Spike and took a quick sniff of the air. Thankfully, it wasn't his diaper and she let out a sigh of relief.

"I think we need to head into the bathroom and get you scrubbed before we go downstairs for breakfast again, how about that?" Twilight grabbed Spike's toe again and wiggled it a little more. Spike put his arms up in the air and kicked his legs uncontrollably, Twilight dug her hands under his body and lifted him up where he rested on her chest.

She got up from her seat and walked out of the Nursery with a little smile on her face, also trying not to gag at the stench coming from Spike, despite him acting very happy.

Twilight walked down the hallway enroute to the bathroom, more than ready to clean up Spike and spend a little more time with him. But right before she managed to reach the bathroom door, she noticed Cup Cake coming up the stairs looking a little curious.

"Oh, I see you managed to take care of Spike." Cup Cake smiled. "That's excellent."

"Yeah. I think he wanted to get out. He was kicking and screaming the bars on the crib, but he calmed down after I came in and spent a little time with him." Twilight looked down at the infant and rubbed his back.

"That'd good to hear Twilight. How did you calm him down?" Cup Cake asked.

"Uh... I held him closely and then I played with him for a minute or so. He seemed very happy but he smells pretty bad, so I'm going to start a little bath for him." Twilight turned and reached for the bathroom door and opened it. But was stopped when she felt Cup Cake's hand on her shoulder.

"I don't think he needs a bath just yet." Cup Cake added, then proceeded to sniff the air. "I think he needs a diaper change more than anything. Luckily, he's just wet it and nothing else."

"How do you know that?" Twilight turned back round, slightly confused.

"Well. Let's just say when you've been around the Twins, or any pair of babies infact, you begin to learn the smells that they make. I know it sounds disgusting but it's just something you pick up." Cup Cake let out a little nervous chuckle, she walked back over to the Nursery door and went inside.

Twilight looked behind her and closed the bathroom door, she slowly walked over to the Nursery doorway.

"At least you didn't do the other one, I suppose." Twilight entered the Nursery again and set Spike down on the changing table, Cup Cake then took over and proceeded to change him. Twilight took a few steps back and leaned against the wall, letting out a big yawn.

"Oh my, aren't you the little stinker." Cup Cake cooed. Causing Spike to laugh.

Twilight crossed her arms and felt a space between the noise and managed to feel a certain silence, despite the fact that she could hear Spike and Cup Cake play and talk, her ability to block out their voices was kicking in and her eyes grew heavy. It felt like the energy she had before was starting to drain ever so quickly from her body, she wanted to flop over and rest but she kept herself awake no matter how heavy her eyes began to get.

"You're being a little fussy wussy, aren't you? I bet you can't wait to have some baby food and a nice cold bottle to finish it all off."

Thoughts and images of her relatives and loved ones popped up in her head like pictures from an album, ranging from different periods and times Twilight felt happiness with her family before the incident. But the words that were stuck in her mind from yesterdays letter had gone completely, pieces and bits were still stuck in her head but they were blocked out by thoughts about Spike.

"See? You have a new diaper on now. Now let's pop your onesie back on and we can get you downstairs."

Shining Armor and Cadance were the last to appear in her head, nothing bad at all came to mind, but she longed to see them knowing they hadn't seen Spike before. Twilight wondered their reactions now that she was looking after the youngest in the family and not only that, the more recent information from her family letters.

"Such a good boy. I didn't even have to tell you where to put your legs in, you're such a smart little bunny."

Now her friends were in her head, Twilight realized the consequences of isolation from being away from her friends for so long, her sadness that built up made her ponder whether they should know the truth. What's really going on is just the icing on the cake for her, but to her friends it possibly wouldn't seem that devestating.

Twilight felt a little delicate hand creep up on her shoulder for a split second, breaking her out of her thoughts, she turned round to see Spike reaching out for her. His reach was extended by Cup Cake who held him outwards slightly, both were smiling at what they done.

"Oops. Sorry." Cup Cake quickly pulled Spike back into her arms. "Did I startle you?"

"No. It's okay. I was just thinking of stuff." Twilight mumbled. "Y'know, things that me and Spike are gonna do today, stuff like that."

"Okay. Let's head downstairs, I've got a little something running in the microwave that I think should be finished by now. Spike should love it."

And with that, Twilight was the first to leave the Nusery and head downstairs with Cup Cake slowly following behind with Spike wrapped in her arms.

Feeding Time

When Twilight first entered into the kitchen she felt a sensory overload enter her body, feeling the heat from the ovens and the light coming through the windows, smelling the delicious food that Cup Cake had made and finally saw the tons of baby food on the wooden table in the middle of the room. She slowly walked over to the table and inspected the first bowl closest to her.

A bowl full of typical baby mush mixed together with the banana pieces that she saw Cup Cake use earlier along with a bottle full of milk right next to it. But it smelt very sweet for baby food, not the type of thing that Twilight had in mind for giving Spike at all.

Cup Cake then entered the room still keeping Spike close to her chest, she walked past Twilight and put her baby brother down in the high chair opposite her. He was quickly strapped in and protected by the plastic tray attached on the top of the chair. Spike wiggled a little in his seat and happily let out of a series of gurgles and happy moans to signal it was time for breakfast to start.

"I bet you're ready for some delicious food." Cup Cake put her fingers through Spike's hair and playfully messed it up.

Spike let out a cheer and kicked his legs randomly, he put out his arms and reached for whatever Cup Cake was going to give him.

Cup Cake walked over to the table and immediately noticed that Twilight had her head down on the table, eyes closed and arms folded like a student sleeping in class. She picked up the food she made and the bottle and placed it on the plastic high chair tray.

"I hope you like banana's and cream, this has all the little nutrients you need to grow into a strong healthy boy." Cup Cake proceeded to pick up the spoon out of the bowl and take a little slop from the bowl and then aimed it at Spike's mouth.

As the spoon got closer to his mouth Spike quickly shut his lips closed and turned his head away and smacked his hands against the plastic tray.

Cup Cake knew what Spike was doing, he was outright simply refusing the food. If her knowledge and experience with the Twins helped her, she knew that this wasn't her place to do something like this with another baby. She put the spoon back in the bowl and turned round, leaving Spike to head over to Twilight.

"Twilight... Twilight dear, I think someone wants to be fed and he wants you to do it." Cup Cake put her hand on Twilight's shoulder and gently shook her to wake her up.

Soon enough, Twilight opened her eyes and raised her head off the table and blinked. She rubbed her eyes and looked at Cup Cake.

"Sorry Cup Cake, I must have fallen asleep again." She raised her arms in the air and stretched them outwards, then a big yawn followed which she tried to cover with her hands.

"Spike isn't eating his food again, I wanted to see how you and him work together when it comes to food. Can you please show me how you try and feed him?" Cup Cake asked.

"Sure." Twilight got out of her seat and walked over to the high chair. She didn't even have to notice what her baby brother was doing because it was obvious.

He slammed his hands on the plastic tray and kicked his legs without coordination like usual. But he never touched the food or the bottle, instead he looked up at Twilight and spat out a series of gurgles and gibberish and lifted his arms wanting to be lifted up.

Twilight paused for a moment and slowly lifted the tot out of his seat and held him tight close to her chest.

"Do you feed him while carrying him?" Cup Cake asked.

"No. I just sit him down in the high chair and I give him the food, I mean... I usually just put the food next to him and I try and feed him but he doesn't like it. He just wants his bottle all the time." Twilight replied.

Cup Cake took the information she was told and crossed her arms curiously, but placed one hand under her chin and began to think.

"He just wants milk all the time? Hm... What did your Mom do when she looked after him, that is, if you know." Cup Cake put her hands back down to her sides.

"Uh..." Twilight felt another twinge in her stomach, there was something she knew that no one was supposed to know, but there was no way out of this. She let out a sigh and slowly put Spike back into his high chair seat. "My Mom used to y'know... breastfeed Spike when he was few months old, he was so used to it that when I took him under my care he just wanted milk all the time. I did manage to get him to eat a little bit of baby food if that helps."

Cup Cake put a hand back on the bottom of her chin and rubbed it slightly, she looked at Spike still raising his arms in the air and then turned to Twilight.

"Did you ever-"

"No." Twilight quickly shook her head. "I've never done anything like that, I swear. Besides, I don't think I'll ever do that." She let out a nervous chuckle and took a few steps back. It was obvious to Cup Cake that the Librarian was hiding something, she smirked and crossed her arms.

"Twilight. It's okay to tell the truth, I'm not going to make fun of you or anything silly. I've done that with Pumpkin and Pound when they were born, it's natural." Cup Cake took little steps over to Twilight and wrapped her arm round Twilight's chest and pulled her in for a hug.

"Promise you won't tell anyone." Twilight pleaded.

"I promise." Cup Cake nodded.

"I mean... Well... I just wanted to get on the right track with Spike and I tried to do what my Mother did... I didn't know it was going to be that weird, but he just kept on asking and asking but I only did it once. I swear! But he kept on crying so I gave him the bottle instead, but he won't stop crying for me." Twilight broke out of Cup Cake's hug and stood away from both the Baker and her baby brother, she felt tears running down her eyes but she didn't want anyone to see so she covered up her eyes with her hands.

"Twilight, it isn't bad that you breastfed him, that is a sign on bonding in some cases, and it's also a reason why he isn't accepting normal baby food. He should be eating baby food normally but feedings like that are less common as he starts to grow. I can't speak for you when it comes to something like this, but you need to sort this out with Spike alone." Cup Cake let out a sign and looked at Spike, still wiggling around in his high chair trying to break free.

"I guess you're right Cup Cake, thanks." Twilight still felt horrible to say the least, that sick feeling in her stomach was coming back but she still managed to smile at the baker for her kind words.

"I think giving him his bottle for breakfast should keep him going for a little while, I can put my special food in the fridge for later if you like." Cup Cake picked up the bowl and headed over to the fridge, she opened the door and put it on a tray next to a pair of baby bottles which happened to be filled with milk.

"I can take him into the living room now." Twilight walked over to Spike and smiled a little when her baby brother started making noises as she got closer to him. Her hands wrapped around his chest and he was soon lifted out of his seat and latched onto Twilight's chest.

"You do that. I'll clean up the kitchen." Cup Cake closed the fridge and reached for her apron knot and tightened it. A look of determination came on her face and she proceeded to pick up all the utensils and tools used to make the special food and put them in the sink, one by one.

Twilight walked into the living room and headed straight for the couch, with Spike delicately wrapped in her arms she carefully walked at a slow pace to try and hold on to the baby bottle she held under her arm pit.

She sat down and loosened her grip on Spike the second she sat down, the infant quickly let go of Twilight and started to put his fingers into his mouth. His feet continued to kick randomly but his arms were kept still. Twilight picked up the baby bottle and handed it to Spike, he instantly took his fingers out of his mouth which caused a thin string of drool to drop from his mouth and onto her sleep wear.

He grabbed the bottle off Twilight and shoved the amber nipple into his mouth and began to suckle the delicious milk that came out of it.

With Spike now being topped up with his breakfast, Twilight leaned her head back on the chair and felt a little bit of comfort knowing that her baby brother was content. She could feel him squirming around on her lap constantly dropping the bottle and picking it up again to suckle on.

She looked turned her head still keeping it laid back and rested on the top and looked out of one of the many windows in the living room. The first thing she noticed that it was raining outside, a light pitter patter of weather wouldn't hurt anyone. But she noticed a strong gust of wind going through the trees planted in the street outside.

Spike dropped the bottle for a final time, this time, not on his sisters lap but he rolled it over and it fell to the floor causing a loud bang. The tot giggled and clapped his hands at the noise it made and crawled off Twilight's lap and explored the rest of the couch without her noticing where he was going.

His journey across the couch was very short lived when a pair of hands soon made their way under his belly and picked him up, Spike found himself back on his sisters lap with her looking down at him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Twilight playfully asked. "Are you trying to escape?"

Spike didn't reply, he let Twilight put him back down on her lap and then decided to crawl his way over to where he pushed the pillow off. But the second he left Twilight's lap he was instantly picked back up and put back down on her legs and this time he was locked in her arms.

"Still trying to escape, are you? I think you need to be taught a lesson by someone very special." Twilight smirked for a moment before feeling her grip on the infant becoming challenged, he kicked and swung his arms round without coordination and tried to break free of his prison, but he wasn't doing a very good job of it.

"Here he comes..." Twilight cooed, slightly leaning forward and ever so close to Spike's head. "The tickle monster!"

Twilight pounces her fingers towards Spike and dug into his sides and began to tickle him in no other way she had done before. With Spike kicking and screaming in delight he fell on his back and tried to grab his sisters big hands that dug into him.

"I bet you like that, huh? Ooh, he's gonna get you and tickle you silly!" Twilight having too much fun with what she was doing, she continued to tickle him for one last time and stopped when tears came from Spike's eyes. But Twilight then noticed something when she took another look at her baby brother.

His laughter seemed to die down pretty quickly, unlike the other times he had been tickled he continued to laugh well after she finished playing with him. Spike had his hands on his belly and looked a little bit upset, the look of his face felt like he was trying to communicate with her.

"Are you alright Spike? Is something wrong?" Twilight spoke to her brother, putting a hand behind his back to lift him up onto his bottom.

Spike didn't respond, but he still kept his hands on his stomach as tears slowly made their way down his face. He then raised his arms, requesting to be picked up.

"Ba-Ba!" Spike whined.

"You want your bottle? But you just had some milk, why would you want anything el-" Twilight paused for second and just realized what he wanted from her. She picked him up quickly and lifted him up so that they were both face to face. "Listen buster, this isn't going to happen again and you know it won't. I'm to bre-"

Suddenly, Spike let out a long burp in front of Twilight's face, she could feel the air coming out of his mouth and she quickly recoiled in slight disgust.

"Eww!" Twilight leaned her head back and shook off the fact that he belched in her face. Spike on the other hand had a big grin on his face, he let his arms and legs dangle from Twilight's grip and exhaled.

"Aah..." Spike looked more relaxed now after doing that.

"So you wanted me to burp you? Oh. Right, because of the bottle, silly me." Twilight felt her cheeks warm up and go a bright red, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Before anything else could be don, Twilight heard footsteps coming from the kitchen, soon enough, Cup Cake entered the living room and stood between the door hinge that connected the kitchen to the living room. Twilight looked up and noticed that Cup Cake wasn't smiling.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked the baker.

"It's eleven o' clock, Twilight, sadly I've got to go home and work on some delicious treats. The Sugarcube Corner is going to open in an hour and I need to get ready, Pinkie Pie and Carrot Cake are probably wondering where I am. Sorry about this, I didn't know time went so quickly when you're having so much fun." Cup Cake walked into the living room and made her way over to the couch, but didn't sit down.

"Okay. If you have to go and set up the shop I don't mind, do you think you'll be able to come back later?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know. Today is Wednesday, isn't it. So business is going to be pretty, well... busy. I also promised I'd teach Pinkie Pie how to use the special oven today, hope that isn't a disappointment at all that we have to cut things so short. I'd spend the rest of the day with you but I need to go." Cup Cake leaned down and ruffled up Spike's hair, he cooed a little and drooled all over himself.

"What am I supposed to do with Spike? I mean... looking after him, that is. Do I still need to experiment with the foods and bond with him?" Twilight asked the baker.

"Oh, Twilight, I'm sure you'll do an excellent job, look, if I'm not able to come back tomorrow I can atleast promise that you can talk to me on the phone when I'm working. And don't worry about looking after Spike, you're a smart girl, you'll know exactly what to do." Cup Cake leaned back up and stopped playing with Spike and headed over to the front door. "I cleaned up the kitchen and wrote down the ingredients for that special food I made, the notes are on the table if you start looking for them."

Cup Cake opened the front door and slowly walked out, she closed the front door, leaving Twilight and Spike on their own. A silence came over the library with only the pitter patter from the rain to stop the void. Spike lay still with his head rested on Twilight's stomach and kept his thumb in his mouth.

To be continued...

Author's Note

This is the last chapter before I start to write the story a little bit differently to help create a relationship between Spike and Twilight, in the comments section I mentioned that there would be a passage of time involved, but it's up to the reader if they'd like to guess how long the difference between each chapter is.

Please understand for those that don't, this isn't the end of the story, I'm going to change how the story progresses to show off random events that involve Twilight and Spike. Like one-shots that all connect, if that makes sense.

I also had a few problems behind the scenes wise, my computer was being an ass, so if there is any spelling mistakes or whatever then please tell me.

Picnic

Twilight felt the heat of the sun hit down on her like a heavy ton of bricks, that, and also the fact she was handling more than she could chew, and it was killing her arms and legs to the point where her legs were starting to shake.

She had not only to push the stroller down the stone pathway, but she had to hold on to a large picnic basket hanging on the edge of her shoulder filled to the brim with supplies for their ongoing trip. Twilight felt moderately happy with her position right now, she had just passed through the most busy part of town and no one had spoken to her, wondering about Spike or anything else that was going on.

Luckily she didn't run into any of her friends, not that it was a bad thing at all, but there was a time and a place for talking and a place for doing so. She needed to get things done with her baby brother and it seemed it was the only thing stuck on her mind right now, the last thing she wanted was Pinkie Pie stepping in trying to stall them about a new type of cupcake or how Rainbow Dash recently shown herself up during one of her drunken episodes.

But it felt nice to be a little secluded from the others, there were no real adult matters like partying, drinking or fashion to talk about. It was just her and Spike, plus, a whole range of time to know him better than ever.

They reached their destination, a honey spot for most outdoor lovers, but thanks to Fluttershy she didn't have to worry about being seen any more. Up in the distance was a large oak tree and behind it was a vast field sporting all sorts of beautiful plants and noticeable wild life lumbering around keeping a clear distance from the new guests.

The oak tree itself was tall, incredibly tall, it sported a large amount of shade underneath and the sound of the wind rustling the leaves at the highest branches felt very relaxing. Twilight got to the bottom of the tree and put down her bags and stopped the stroller in its tracks.

She got down on her knees and opened up the picnic basket, the first thing she got out was a large plain white blanket with little icons of the Royal Sun and Moon on each corner for basic decoration. She unfolded the blanket and shook it greatly, causing it to quickly unfold and fly up into the air and drift back down slowly onto the ground, fully expanded and ready to be sat on in the shade.

Next she pulled out a few items that were wrapped completely in tin foil and a plastic bag and put them down on the blanket. She then pulled out a can of cola for herself and put it down next to the other food she brought out.

Now that she was done taking out some of the food to prepare the first part of the picnic, she had to take out Spike from his stroller. She got back up on her feet and walked over to the front of the stroller and leaned back down.

Spike was sitting in his stroller happily making bubbles with his spittle to keep him busy, donned in just a white t-shirt and a diaper he looked up and saw Twilight leaning down who started to unstrap him from his restraints one by one. Soon he was able to move freely and attempted to get out of his stroller by his own, but his plans were foiled when he was picked up by Twilight.

"C'mon you, time to get some sun and have a delicious picnic." Twilight wrapped Spike in her arms and held him close to her chest, she walked back over to the blanket and placed him down. Twilight then moved onto the other side and sat down opposite Spike.

She grabbed the wrapped up food and began to unravel the plastic and tin foil until one of the items revealed a cheese sandwich, she flattened the tin foil and put it down on the blanket.

"This one is for me."

She unpacked another item and it revealed a packet of banana yoghurt with a small plastic spoon, she put it down next to the sandwich.

"This one is for you."

The final item she unpacked revealed to have a bottle full of milk and a juice carton together in one serving of tin foil.

"And these are for both of us!"

A smile grew on Spike the second the bottle came into view, he started to crawl over to Twilight and where the food was, determined to grab the bottle and enjoy the milk inside. But he was quickly stopped when Twilight lifted him up once again and placed him down on her lap.

He started to wiggle and struggle out of her grip and reached out for the bottle. But Twilight picked up the yoghurt and opened the packaging before Spike could escape and grab the bottle.

"Come on, Spike, if you have the yoghurt then you can have your bottle, does that sound fair?"

Spike didn't listen or even care about what his big sister was trying to say, the bottle was in front of him, but he wasn't getting any closer to it whatsoever. He wanted it more than anything, but Twilight wasn't having none of his behaviour.

Twilight on the other hand took a deep breath and dug the spoon into the yoghurt and scooped up banana scented mush from the container and aimed it directly towards Spike's mouth. He quickly turned his head and groaned at the sight of the food and let out a little whine, Spike continued to try and break free, but he was too weak.

She knew that this would cause a scene between her and him, but Twilight had an idea that was make him eat the yoghurt, it wasn't nice but she had to do it.

"Okay Spike, you win, you get your bottle."

She pretended to act defeated and complied with Spike's orders for the bottle, she picked it up and took off the plastic top and shook the milk a little, she slowly aimed it for his mouth and Spike fell for the trap, he opened his mouth awaiting the amber nipple to be put inside his mouth.

Twilight dropped the bottle and quickly shoved the spoonful of banana yoghurt into his mouth while it was open, surprising the infant with the mush effectively forcing him to swallow it down the hatch. Spike spat out his tongue and pouted.

"Either you eat the yoghurt and be a good boy, or else you won't get your bottle at all, what'll it be?"

Spike could still feel the last tinge of banana stuck on his tongue from that random attack on his mouth, though he didn't like the mush and preferred the milk over anything else, it felt rather refreshing to have something that didn't taste like milk. He bit the bullet and decided to open his mouth again.

Twilight took another scoop out of the yoghurt tray and shoved the mush into Spike's mouth for a second time, he swallowed the goop down the hatch and started to understand the taste, though it still wasn't as good as the milk he had it certainly was different.

"Good boy! Do that a few more times for me and you'll get your bottle!"

The process repeated until Twilight had finally managed to scrape the final bit of yoghurt out of the bottom of the tray, she put it into Spike's mouth and he swallowed the food without a problem.

"You're such a good boy! I bet that yummy food filled you up, didn't it? I bet you want your bottle now, don't you."

Twilight picked up his bottle and slowly directed it into Spike's mouth and felt a sense of accomplishment, she managed to make Spike eat food for once, not just suckle down his bottle, this was a great day for her. The thoughts of the miserable attempts to make him eat his food soon disappeared and now this day was kept in her head for all times sake.

She held the back of his head with one hand and aimed the bottle into his mouth with the other, she never felt so proud of something so strange. Spike kept his eyes closed and started to suckle on the bottle like he always did.

When he finished with the bottle he dropped it and it fell onto the blanket, he soon squirmed a little in her arms and Twilight knew what was about to come up. She lifted him up and put him over her shoulder and started to pat on his back.

"Come on, Spike. Cough up all those yucky bubbles in your belly and burp it all up."

Twilight patted Spike's back for the final time and moved him back in front of her, she saw a trail of drool make its way down Spike's t-shirt with a little grin on his face.

"Ugh, should've brought you the bib, messy bo-"

Spike let out a big belch right in front of Twilight's face again just like before, she smelt his breath and smelt the awful tinge of banana and milk mixed together was just horrible.

"Who's a good boy? Did you get the yucky bubbles out of your tummy?"

Twilight shrugged off the smell and decided it was best to try and see how playing would work with Spike. Despite them doing it together in the Nursery a few times they never had spent a proper amount of time together. In response to Twilight's question, Spike let out a happy gurgle and then put his thumb in his mouth to suck on.

While keeping Spike held up, Twilight moved him closer, so close in fact that they rubbed their noses together in a playful manner.

"I bet you want to play with your big sister, Twiliy!"

Spike giggled and nodded his head up and down, he grinned and shown off his toothless mouth. Twilight put him back down on the blanket and turned round, she reached for the picnic basket and pulled out a few baby toys, a rattle with the image of the Royal Sun on the front of it, a toy chariot made to look like the one that the Princesses use and a small brown teddy bear. Twilight put them down on the blanket and watched Spike pick the teddy bear.

"You want the teddy? Here you go."

Twilight took the teddy bear and moved it closer to Spike, he crawled over a little and grabbed it with both arms, causing him to fall on it. Luckily, he used the teddy to soften his landing and began to play with it.

But before Spike could do anything with the teddy, Twilight took it off him and grabbed it by the back of the neck, she moved it around trying to pretend that it was coming to life and moved it close to Spike and began to play with him.

"Hello. My name is Smartypants Jr, what's you're name?"

Twilight reworked the way she was sitting down and now leaned on her stomach and controlled the bear, she put on a voice and wiggled the toy in front of Spike's face. He clapped his hands in wonder and tried to crawl after the bear.

"Spike? That's a nice name, isn't it? What's your favourite toy, Spike?"

"Ba!"

"Oh really? I like Twilight's Smartypants doll, he's a lot of fun to-" Twilight let out a giggle. "He's a lot of fun to play with, he's also my big brother too!"

"Ba! Ba!"

"No way! I like bananas too!"

"Goo!"

"Yeah you do! See! Twilight knew that the banana yoghurt was good for you!"

Twilight couldn't go on with what she was doing, she was at the point of bursting, this was too funny for her to carry on and she let go and began to laugh loudly. Spike wasn't interested in his sister at the moment, he continued to crawl and grabbed the teddy bear and hugged it tightly.

"Oh boy, I've never done anything so silly in my life."

Twilight wiped a tear that came from her eye.

"Spike. You're really fun to play with. I needed that laugh, thanks for that buddy."

Spike looked at is sister and held tight onto his teddy and let out some baby gibberish and then continued to play with his teddy.

Twilight felt very relaxed at this point, she needed to calm down and catch her breath, she turned herself round and lied down on her back and felt the sun going through the oak tree.

Now that she had some fun and kept Spike happy with the food and toys she brought, now it was her turn to take a bite out of her own food and feel as relaxed and as carefree like her baby brother. She leaned herself up against the tree trunk and reached for her juice carton and her sandwich and started to unwrap them.

She took a bite out of her sandwich and dug into the juice carton after pulling the little straw out and took a look at the world around her.

Twilight didn't know how to feel now that she was on her own with Spike, things seemed very quiet with the sound of the wind continuously rustling the leaves, not to mention the chirping of the birds. She thought about different things and ideas that she could do, but she wanted to fix a few loose screws and do something that hadn't done in a very long time.

Speak to her friends.

She knew that she wasn't out of the water just yet, but she had to accept the facts and the things that life decided to throw at her for whatever reason, that her family may not be the symbol of the typical Equestrian family and that some can show their darker sides. But the thought of Spike growing up seemed alien to her, the fact that he may have to grow up alongside her and it would be his choice whether the role of sister or mother would be given to her by his own choice.

But then there was the problem about telling him about the rest of the family and the bad things that happened, she couldn't dwell on the facts, but they were things that were about to happen and she needed an answer.

Another possibility, a dire one she personally thought of, was that she could branch herself off from the rest of the Sparkle family and raise Spike as her own, but this was very out there for her. She couldn't just leave her own family because of what happened.

Twilight finished her sandwich and sipped the last of her juice carton and neatly put the wrappers and packaging back in the picnic basket and looked at Spike. He seemed to be wrapped up with his teddy right next to him, curled into a fetal position with his thumb stuck in his mouth. Twilight let out a little smile and leaned forward to pick up the sleeping infant into her arms.

"Right now, from this day on. I'm going to try and make sure you're as happy as can be. I don't care what I need to do, no matter what mood or day nor storm, I'll keep you safe and I'll definitely love you till the end of time. Your life isn't going to waste because of what happened in the past, no need to dwell on it at all, but when the times comes, you'll just shrug and understand that you didn't cause any of this. I strongly believe you didn't, and I stand by that. You're such a smart little guy and I'm going to keep on doing what's best for you, whether you call me mother or sister, it doesn't matter. I'll look after you."

Twilight kissed him on the forehead and then put him back in his stroller, ready to go home.

To be continued...

"New Messages"

You have received new messages today!

Would you like to hear them?

Press the play button to hear them in order.

"You have... Three.. New messages..."

*click*

"Hey Twi', me again, so yeah... You didn't reply to my Wonderbolts concert stuff, but that's cool. I'm guessin' you're just really busy with Spike n' stuff. Anyways, I saw you going to the oak tree me and Fluttershy found today. I was totally gonna come over and ask what you were doing and I saw the stroller and the picnic basket so I backed off and left you to it. But hey, just wanna tell you that I'm there for ya' even if things aren't workin' out with Spike.

...

Yeah... I'm also wondering if you wanna hang out and get drunk? Pinkie Pie told she ain't gonna drink any alcohol since Mrs. Cake took it from her that one time. Shame you missed it, pretty funny stuff.

Right, gonna get a few cans of cider, see you soon."

*click*

"Hello Twilight, greetings from Rarity. I'm sorry if this sounds like I'm bugging you but Sweetie Belle has been constantly pestering me for more information about looking after Spike. I constantly reminded her that you and Spikey-Wikey are having a spot of trouble, yet she still doesn't get the message. Either way, we haven't spoken to each other for quite a while now and I wanted to particularly say that whatever you do, I'll support you. Sorry, but I have to make this short.

...

SWEETIE BELLE! NO! I AM NOT SPEAKING TO TWILIGHT!"

Ciao."

*click*

...

Final message cannot be played.

Initiating callers location

...

Griffin Capitol, Unknown caller.

Failed to load.

Letter #24 - Honesty

"Dear Mom.

It's been two days since I wrote a letter to you. I've been wondering how you've been holding up lately, since I received your letter about that man you started dating in Canterbury who works at the gallery. I've heard a lot of great things about him before you started dating him, my friend, Rarity said that she once made a pair of swimming shorts for him and he paid her a really big amount of bits. And the fact that my other friend, Rainbow Dash said she used to have a poster of him when he used to be in the Wolderbolts band, isn't that swell, save for the fact that her poster of him was a nude one.

Anyways, me and Spike have been starting to get along together a little more with the help of Mrs. Cake, another mother who lives in town who has been trying to help me look after him. I'm very thankful for her help. Spike and I have been on a picnic together yesterday and we grew so close and we learned so much about each other.

But I'm sure you don't want to hear about Spike.

There is something that I've been meaning to tell you for a very long time, ever since we started sending letters to each other in fact, hope you aren't annoyed by this at all but I need to get this off my chest before anything else starts to happen.

I'm honestly disappointed in you. I just want to get this off my chest before this anger stays inside me and I can't afford to let that happen any more. You're a bad person and I've just realized that, your own daughter thinks you are a horrible, selfish, crazy lady. I personally think that, yes, and I am not going to say sorry.

I've spent time away from my friends to wrap my head around this situation and the fact that Shining Armour has never sent you a letter or gotten involved in what's going on. And you know what? I don't blame him. He saw right through you faster than I could, he always had a way of seeing things before they could happen and I don't blame him at all for staying away from us, especially you.

When I look after Spike, the worry comes to mind whether he grows up thinking that I'm either his mommy or his sister and I'm going to let that slide, because I don't think that such a bad person like you should even have the title of mother for a good boy like Spike. I've felt miserable about the whole thing, countless hours of sleep and energy have been lost because I have had to calm down a scared little boy, and now I'm getting to the point where he is starting to trust me.

My personal health was at risk because of what you created, but at the same time I can't damn you for what you've done or else I wouldn't of had the chance to look after the most beautiful baby boy in the entire world. I'm going to try my best and raise him as whatever he wants to be, him wasting his life over something stupid like what you have done isn't worth it all.

I'm going to stop now. But I'm going to put this down and this will be my final letter to you.

You will never hear from me or Spike again, that is a sacrifice I am willing to take to make sure that his life, HIS LIFE, is worth living for.

- Your daughter, Twilight Sparkle."

New Leaf

"... I came here to tell you that I am starting a new leaf with Spike." Twilight took a sip of her coffee. "And this decision is final."

Cup Cake nervously rubbed her hands together and cleared her throat.

"I'm not one to argue, Twilight. But aren't you going a little too far with this? I mean... I read that copy of the letter you sent to your mother and doesn't it seem a little..." She paused and looked down at the table. "Harsh?"

"It isn't." Twilight replied. "I don't want to keep on fighting and arguing over my parents or who has the most likely story. I just want to keep Spike happy and make sure that his future is secure, when I see a smile on his little face I feel good inside, I can't let that smile go to waste on my parents, can I?"

"I understand, Twilight." Cup Cake nodded. "Though it's your decision to say what you want to your parents and I as your friend won't intrude on your problems, I personally think what you wrote in that letter was very harsh, but if that's what you think and want to say I won't stop you or even judge you for saying it."

"Thanks Cup Cake." Twilight smiled. "That means a lot to me."

Cup Cake smiled back at Twilight, but let out a little sigh, she took a sip of her drink and put it back down on the table.

"No worries, Twilight. I honestly think you are able to handle Spike in more ways than one, you seem to understand and fix mistakes pretty quickly and you keep things organized despite your lack of sleep. You'll do fine, every time you feel down in the dumps, just think of the reason why you're looking after Spike and what your love and care will do to him in the future. I bet when he's a ten year old boy, he'll still be that little adorable rascal that he is today." Cup Cake finished with another little smile and then took another sip of her drink.

"I suppose the whole education issue isn't really a problem." Twilight said. "I can start reading to him from an early age and help him with numbers before he heads off to school or kindergarten, whatever they call it these days. It's almost kinda funny now that I mention it. Whenever I read a book during my free time, Spike seems to always be interested in the book itself, not what I'm reading, but just the books. Maybe that is a sign that he'll be great with reading, or writing for that matter."

"Have the Princesses ever seen Spike in person? Since you're connected with Royalty I imagine that you would get a top-notch education from Canterbury and all sorts of other bonuses." Cup Cake leaned back in her chair and put her hands on the table top, waiting for Twilight's answer.

"I know that Princess Celestia and Cadance have seen him, though, it was when I adopted him back from the Government. Princess Luna on the other hand hasn't seen him, she was pretty busy that day with her Royal duties."

"Hmm. You know what you should do." Cup Cake pointed at Twilight. "You should go see your friends, Pinkie Pie has been asking me nearly everyday what's happening to you and how you've been feeling. I'm sure they will all understand what choice you've made."

Twilight's smile slowly dropped and she it her lip.

"I don't know... It's been a while, two months in fact and I haven't really told them anything but to stay clear of me until I give the say so. Should I go and tell them everything is okay? Y'know, telling them about what I said to my mom?" Twilight scratched her head.

"You don't have to tell them that exactly." Cup Cake added.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"You could just tell them that you're in a better mood and you can spend some time with them, as long as you are able to spend it with Spike also. Then again, if it's a girls night out, I don't mind looking after Spike for one night."

"I don't know. I guess speaking to Rarity would be nice, after all, she is the oldest out of the six of us and she would take the news in a mature way." Twilight shrugged.

"Teehee." Cup Cake giggled. "I heard that Sweetie Belle is trying to find some babies for her babysitting course, Rarity told me that was what she wanted to do in the future, though she hasn't asked me about the twins yet, I'm sure she's just a little nervous, that's all."

Before the conversation could continue, a little beeping noise soon filled the room causing Twilight to look round the room, confused where the little beep would be coming from. Cup Cake quickly pulled her arm up and looked at her watch on her wrist.

"Oh. Don't mind that. It's my wrist watch that my hubby gave me on our anniversary, it means it's time to open the Sugarcube Corner. Shame, I had a nice time talking to you, Twilight, maybe you should leave now and we can talk later." Cup Cake rose up from her seat and grabbed her cup of coffee and took a big gulp and emptied it as fast as she could.

"Yes. It was nice talking to you again, Cup Cake, I suppose I could go visit Rarity and Sweetie Belle and tell them the news. Thanks for that." Twilight smiled at the baker and also got up from her seat. She didn't even have to turn to see Spike, strapped in his stroller wearing his usual purple onesie with a big bottle full of milk shoved in his mouth.

"Remember." Cup Cake began to speak. "I'm always here for you."

Twilight nodded at Cup Cake's words and moved over to Spike, who seemed to be too busy with the bottle he had to even notice his sister hovering over him. She dug her fingers into his hair and ruffled his short green spiky hair up, but that didn't get his attention.

"We're going to see Aunt Rarity, what do you think of that?" Twilight cooed.

Spike finished the last bit of his bottle and pulled the amber nipple out of his mouth, followed by a string of drool still hanging onto the nipple he suckled on. He gave a big dopey smile to Twilight and stuck his thumb in his mouth.

"Looks like were heading to the Boutique."

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I've been looking for jobs around my local area which has been a pain lately since there are loads of other people wanting the jobs I'm interested in. Not to mention GTAV has been keeping my hands away from the keyboard for quite a while since it came out.

Aunts and Sisters

Twilight stood before the front door feeling unsure of what to do. She held onto the stroller handles tighter more than ever and felt that strange rumble in her stomach again, a slight pain, but a major twist deep inside. Aside from the birds chirping and the noise of the wind making it's way through the trees on the streets, she could hear the poorly concentrated sounds coming from Spike, who was still strapped tightly in his stroller.

The Librarian let go of the handles and moved a little closer to the front of the stroller, she noticed Spike was wide awake with a happy grin plastered all over him. He kicked his feet up and down and looked back at Twilight and stuck a finger or two into his drool infested mouth.

"Gha-ba-ba!" Spike let out an array of gurgles and gibberish, he soon leaned forward as best as he could and nodded his head slowly.

"You want to see Aunt Rarity, huh? When we get inside, I'm gonna have to check your diaper. Since you're a stinky little guy, aren't you?" Twilight got on knee level and reached inwards and dug her fingers into Spike's soft hair. He giggled in return and reached for her arms, he latched onto them and stuck out his tongue as a response.

"I know." Twilight pretended to sigh. "Silly me. I should have checked you when we were at the Sugarcube Corner." She cooed.

Spike put his tongue away but kept his hands wrapped around Twilight's arm.

"You want to ring the doorbell, Spike?" Twilight put her hands down to the straps that kept Spike in the stroller and started to pull them apart, he was soon free from all bonds.

Spike was lifted out of his seat, his little feet dangled in the air as he was positioned in front of a big red button with a musical note in front of it. Out of curiosity, Spike lifted a hand and pressed on the red button and heard a noise come out from button.

He clapped his hands and cheered for what he done and was soon put back in his stroller. Twilight leaned down and strapped him back in and also clapped her hands.

"You're such a smart baby boy, aren't you, Spike?" Twilight smiled and grabbed the straps that kept Spike in place and quickly pulled them together. She got up on her feet and moved over to the back of the stroller and grabbed the handles, now waiting for someone to answer the door.

...

Nothing happened. Nothing at all. Not even a single footstep or a noise came from the inside of the Boutique, this wasn't right at all, Twilight relaxed herself a little and walked over to the front door and knocked on the door again. She cleared her throat and knocked a little louder than her first attempt.

"Hello, Rarity. Are you in there? It's me, Twilight. I just want to see how you were doing?" Twilight felt uncertain about knocking the door for a second time, but she soon realized that her knocks soon moved the door open slightly. Twilight back pedalled to the side of the stroller and noticed that no one was behind the door.

It slowly swung open revealing the hallway, the bright light coming from the sun penetrated the room, causing it to light up immensely.

"Hello?" Twilight let out a call, but she was met with silence. She looked back at the stroller and focused on Spike. "I don't know if we should be doing this, Spike. Rarity might have left her door unlocked and I don't know what to do."

Spike stared at his sister for a second and tilted his head slightly to the left, giving off a look of curiosity to the Librarian which she frowned at. Twilight took a deep breath and exhaled while she grabbed the strollers handles and began to push it into the Boutique.

Twilight poked her head through the first door but it was impossible to tell what state it was in or what was exactly in it. From what Twilight could understand, all of the curtains were closed which blocked out of the light from the sun, save for the small crack of light coming through from the holes where the curtains couldn't cover.

Though there was one source of light in the room. A large widescreen TV was sitting on a stand in the corner of the room glowing a faint blue from the screen, all there appeared to be was static.

After thoroughly scanning the room, Twilight moved in with Spike wrapped deep into her arms. He head was kept tight against her chest, Spike squirmed a little despite having a pacifier now in his mouth to keep him quiet.

it was too dark to fully see what was going on, despite the little to none help with the TV, luckily the curtains were close to her. With one hand she pulled apart one of the curtains and allowed some light in and looked outside through the window for a moment.

"Spike." Twilight looked downwards at her baby brother. He also looked up and stared into her eyes. "I don't think Aunt Rarity is here today. She might be outside shopping or something, maybe we need to come back later."

Twilight started to turn round still keeping her eyes locked onto Spike and then slowly looked up and felt a massive shock go through her.

"Gah!"

Now that the room was much more brighter, Twilight could see everything, and she could see Rarity standing opposite her by the entrance to the boutiques kitchen.

Rarity leaned against the doorway wearing just a rather skimpy night gown showing more of her body than Twilight needed to see. She averted her eyes and covered up Spike's eyes, despite the fact he tilted his head and saw everything thanks to Twilight's lack of direction and blind help. He giggled and smiled at the other person in the room.

With a wine bottle in hand, Rarity hiccuped a little and leaned forward, feeling a pain pulse round in her head.

"Oh sorry, Twilight, I didn't know you were here. I didn't hear you knock." She let out a very weak giggle and readjusted herself, she stood firmly on both feet and slowly walked over to her guests and tightened her grip on the wine bottle in hand.

"Rarity? Is that you?" Twilight opened her eyes and took a good look at her friend. Upon closer inspection she noticed Rarity's perfectly combed hair had been reduced to a mess and there were visible bags under her eyes.

"Oh yes, Twilight. How have you been?" Rarity politely asked.

"How have I been?" She replied back quickly "How have YOU been. What in Abbacus' name happened to you? Are you sober right now? It's only ten in the morning."

Rarity let out a short laugh and then walked over to the couch opposite the TV and sat down. She put the wine bottle on the floor and put her hands up to her head and sobbed loudly. Twilight's jaw dropped, she quickly rushed over to the couch and plopped Spike down beside her and wrapped her arms around the fashionista.

"Rarity. If something bad has happened to you then we can talk and sort it out. I'm your friend, please, tell me what's so troubling." Twilight held her friend tight and pulled her head up to get a good look at her, but Rarity moved her head at the wrong time and kept in down on Twilight's shoulder, where she could rest it.

"Oh Twilight... You have no idea how wonderful it is to see you! I feared something bad happened to you!" Rarity lifted her head off Twilight's shoulder and leaped forwards, wrapping her arms around the Librarian causing both of them to slightly fall back and lean against the back of the couch. It didn't help that Twilight felt Rarity's strong grip and her head was placed next to her chest, making this more than uncomfortable.

"W-What?!" Twilight yelped. She turned her head to the side and saw Spike happily watching them hug each other. He carelessly sucked on his pacifier, keeping his eyes on Rarity who now sat on top of Twilight.

Rarity got up and took a spot on the couch and blushed a little, her cheeks went slightly red and she tended to her hair.

"I'm sorry, Twilight. It's just... Well... I haven't seen you in a very long time and I got myself a little excited there." She tried to let out a little chuckle, but Twilight got up and frowned.

"It's okay, Rarity, I was a little worried about you since the front door was unlocked and the curtains were shut. Naturally I assumed the worst and came rushing in to see what was going on." Twilight reached out for Spike and picked him up by his sides, he was soon placed on her lap, causing him to immediately squirm and fidget.

"Grr. Sweetie Belle." Rarity hissed. "She's been careless with the front door as of lately and I've been warning her so much about the dangers of thieves and burglars coming into the Boutique. She's the most scatter-brained child I've ever had to deal wit- Sorry, Twilight. I shouldn't ramble on. I apologize, it's just... Since your absence, things haven't been going that great."

"What?" Twilight's mouth dropped wide open. "What happened?"

Rarity let out a discomforting sigh and rubbed her eyes slowly.

"It isn't all that important now that you're talking to me." Rarity shrugged.

"No." Twilight replied calmly. "I want to know what's been going on. I've had quite a lot of problems looking after Spike and I just managed to fix my relationship with him, not to mention a few things happened with my family-"

"And that is the precise reason why it doesn't matter anymore, Twilight. We've all been anxiously waiting for you to come out of your library and tell us that everything is going to be okay, but you've spent three months cooped up inside your home without a single letter or a single reply to one of our messages. We've all been worried sick, Twilight." Rarity leaned back a little and rubbed her eyes some more, allowing more tears to escape and run down her face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Twilight now felt awful. "I've just been so busy I didn't realize that-"

"It doesn't matter, Twilight." Rarity sniffled. "You're outside the library, which is good news. We can talk about this later, I doubt you've come over here to see me cry." She wiped the tears from her face and pulled back her hair to show off the rest of her tired face.

Twilight on the other hand sighed and rested into the chair and inhaled through her nose, she rubbed her forehead and nodded slowly.

Spike had other plans, his eyes were kept on Rarity, who was still sitting up tending to her hair and all sorts. He started to crawl over Twilight's legs and managed to reach the space inbetween the two of them, he reached out and tapped the fashionista on her leg. Rarity looked down and let go of her hair and put her hands down on her lap.

"Ooh! Spikey-Wikey!" She cooed. "How could I forget such a cute wittle face like yours, huh?"

"Gha-Ba!" Spike giggled, as if to reply to what she said. He wiggled his bottom from side to side and let out a big goofy smile.

Rarity reached out for the infant and wrapped her hands around his sides. Spike was slowly lifted up into the air within arms reach of Rarity's face.

"I bet you missed Aunt Rarity. Did you have a great time with your big sister, Twilight?" Rarity placed Spike down and bounced the baby boy up and down on her lap. He then proceeded to let out a repeated cheer for every time he was bounced. "Oh, Twilight. Spike is just so adorable, he's gotten so much bigger. Oh, haven't you? My little Spikey-Wikey!"

"Gwahaha, ja-ja!" Spike replied back to Rarity, he happily reached out for her chest and struggled in her arms.

"Does my wittle Spikey-Wikey want a big huggy-wuggy?" Rarity pulled the infant into a big hug and wrapped her arms round Spike and kept a tight grip on him.

Twilight on the other hand wasn't paying attention to the scene at hand right next to her. She had her head turned thinking of the rest of her friends, thoughts and ideas popped into her head causing her to naturally assume the worst, as usual. But her day-dreaming soon broke when she saw someone enter the living room, coming in from the door that both her and Spike came in though.

Sweetie Belle entered the living room looking mildly cautious, scanning the room slowly for signs of life and found her sister sitting down with Twilight. But her eyes soon locked onto Spike, who was wrapped so tightly around Rarity's bust she didn't know whether to laugh or peel him off her.

Rarity looked up and spotted her little sister slowly entering the room and gave a little frown.

"Sweetie Belle!" She snapped, which got her sisters attention. "Where exactly have you been this morning?"

Sweetielicious

Sweetie Belle shifted a hand slowly from the side of her hips to her back and quickly thought up of an answer. With Spike, Twilight and Rarity all laying eyes on her she felt a lump going down her throat along with a bead of sweat making it's way down.

Rarity tapped her foot impatiently and crossed her arms, despite having Spike also on her lap who stared at the girl in the room, he mindlessly shoved his thumb into his mouth and kept quiet.

Sweetie slowly moved herself a little closer to the couch and stood inbetween Rarity and Twilight, she kept her eyes down on the floor and stood perfectly still.

"Well?" Rarity began to speak. She leaned back slightly and loosened her grip on Spike.

"Sorry." Sweetie Belle gulped. "I went outside and had breakfast at Applebloom's house. I swear I was going to come back faster than this! Honest!"

Rarity blinked.

"You left my Boutique unattended? Sweetie. We have all sorts of food here, not to mention that special cereal you like, but why in the name of Abbacus would you eat at the Apple residence?" Rarity sighed and nodded quietly. "Was it because of me? You don't have to lie or hold anything back, it's better to get everything out of the way right now before this turns into an argument."

"Yeah." Sweetie mumbled. She twiddled her thumbs and looked up at her sister. "I don't like it when you drink that wine stuff. Applebloom invited me to come over... And stuff..."

Brief silence went through the room and Sweetie Belle put her head down again. Rarity bit her lip and sighed.

"Okay. Okay. This is a conversation for another time, despite what I just said. Listen, Sweetie Belle, to make it up to you, why don't you go upstairs with Spike and practice the things you learned from Cheerilee at school." Rarity offered.

"Wait a minute." Twilight leaned forward. "I'm not too sure about this." She quipped.

Sweetie Belle, upon hearing the idea, turned her frown upside down and let out a beaming smile. She wriggled with excitement and held her hands together and got down on her knees in front of Spike.

"Oh please! Let me look after him! Please! I'll do my best! I'll hug him! Change him! Feed him! Anything!" Sweetie Belle quickly put an arm round Spike and pulled him into a hug, whether he liked it or not. He pulled his fingers out of his mouth and let out a bunch of giggles and gibberish and reached for her hair and pulled on it.

Twilight looked at the pair cautiously and gulped.

"Okay. You win Sweetie Belle. You can look after Spike, but only on one condition." Twilight tried to smile.

"Uh-huh." Sweetie Belle nodded.

"Keep him in the living room and if he needs a change, tell me."

"No worries. I can change him. Cheerilee taught me how to look after a baby."

"I'm not too sure about that." Twilight replied. "He can be quite the little stink bomb."

"If anything, Twilight." Rarity snickered. "He won't be as bad as Sweetie Belle when she was his age."

Sweetie Belle felt her cheeks suddenly go red and flame up on the inside, she quickly unwrapped her arm around Spike and recoiled away from her sister. Her mouth was left wipe open in surprise.

"Sis! I thought you'd never tell!" Sweetie whined.

"I'm only joking, Sweetie. You always used to smell of peaches and cream." Rarity chuckled loudly and moved Spike onto the couch, she rose off her seat and stood up and corrected her hair. "Now, that you're going to look after Spike, Sweetie. Then me and Twilight are going to be in the kitchen if you need us."

"Why?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"We're adults so we're going to talk together in private about things." Rarity walked over to the entrance to the kitchen and leaned against the wall. Twilight rose up from her seat and slowly walked over to Rarity, she kept her eyes on Spike, but he didn't look at her.

Spike had his eyes on Sweetie Belle, his mouth was open and drool escaped from it, he held his arms up in the air and reached out for the girl.

Twilight stopped in her tracks and walked back over to the couch and leaned down to Spike's level, both of them met eye to eye. She leaned forward and lightly kissed him on the forehead she then pulled herself back with a humble smile.

"Be a good boy, Spike." She got back up on her feet and walked off, giving a little wink and a wave to her baby brother who smiled as she walked into the kitchen next door.

Sweetie Belle quickly leaned to one side and cupped a hand around her ear, she heard the faint noises of Twilight and Rarity talking along with the sound of the kettle turning on. She was now excited to be left in a position of responsibility with an infant, the first of her kind.

Her mind was buzzing with all sorts of ideas and the knowledge she learned from school about babies, Sweetie sat down on the couch beside Spike and took a hard long gaze at him. Spike also stared back at her with a big dumb grin and a collection of spittle and drool going down his onesie.

Sweetie Belle slowly placed her hands around Spike's hip and tightened her hold on the baby boy, she felt his soft pudgy belly under the thin cotton material. It felt weird for her to pick up Spike but she initially took a moment and slowly lifted him up into the air, his feet dangled about and he giggled with each passing second.

He was soon put down onto her lap and was made comfortable using the space that was given to him. The first thing Spike did was immediately tug on Sweetie's dress and continue to smile.

"Aww..." Sweetie Belle leaned back into the pillow behind her. "You like my clothes, don't you?"

"Ta-ba-da!" Spike pulled even harder on her white dress and giggled.

"If you like my clothes so much- Ooh! I know! We could play a game together!" Sweetie suggested.

Spike nodded in reply.

"What game should we play together? Tickle Monster? Hide n' Seek? Ball?"

"Ga!" Spike gurgled.

"That's great." Sweetie Belle pretended to agree with him. A little smirk came on her face and she wrapped her arms around him. "Dress up it is!"

The second those words hit Spike's little ears he quickly stopped and kept motionless, his mouth dropped open and he tried to crawl off her lap as quick as he could. But a pair of hands pulled him back before he could even move out of the way.

"Don't worry Spike, it'll be pretty fun, I've got loads of baby clothes for you to try on."

Before Spike knew it, he was shuffled closely to Sweetie's chest, she got up on her feet and headed for the stairs.

Spike couldn't escape from his captor and knew what was coming, but as he ascended up the stairs there was only one thing he could do. Accept his fate and try not to cry.

Meanwhile...

"... Sweetie Belle won't do any harm to Spike, I can assure this with my life deary, if I knew that she would make a mistake somewhere along the road then I'd take Spike away from her even behind she could lay eyes on him. I think you need to stop worrying and allow yourself to calm down and rest."

Twilight rested her eyes for a moment and nodded slowly. She reached for her cup of tea and lifted it up to her mouth and sighed, the cup ebbed closer to her lips and she took a little sip of the warm liquid. Twilight placed the cup back down on the kitchen table and cleared her throat.

"Yeah..." Twilight coughed. "I guess I've got to stop being so overprotective over Spike."

Rarity nodded in reply.

"I'm just starting to worry about him all the time and it takes a lot of my day to make sure that he's fed, changed, burped and even put to bed at the right time. And not to mention, my family is going crazy. Shouting, name-calling and even downright lying to try and make them look better than one another."

"Oh yes... Your family. You don't have to tell me if you don't want me to get involved, like you said last time."

"It's okay, Rarity. Things have died down a little, well, for me personally so I can get back on track with my life."

"I see." Rarity nodded. "Has Spike been a pain for you? I remember when Sweetie Belle was only around the same age as Spike, she never used to stop crying unless I came into her room and tended to her needs. My Mother and Father couldn't understand why she always preferred me over them. I guess it's just a sister thing."

Twilight felt a little smile coming over her, she couldn't help but let out a small chuckle right before taking another sip of her tea.

"Oh boy... He's been such a little angel and at the same time he's also a little hell spawn. I think I initially got off on his bad side, tantrums, screaming, crying for no reason all of that stuff. But ever since I took Spike into my care, Mrs. Cake has been there to try and help me get Spike into a happy mood. I've learn't so much from her I don't know how to thank her."

Rarity smiled. She leaned back in her seat and chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Twilight asked.

"Mrs. Cake taught you too?" Rarity picked up her cup and took a sip.

"What?" Twilight didn't understand.

"Few years ago dear." Rarity stopped and cleared her throat. "Sweetie Belle was an uncontrollable mess. Punishment wouldn't do anything, taking her toys off her wouldn't do anything. Just when I was about to give up, Mrs. Cake came out of the blue and decided to help me and teach me things that could help me bond closer to my little sister. And this was before she gave birth to the twins mind you."

"I didn't know." Twilight gasped.

"You don't have to work yourself over something like that. I can understand the troubles you're having, except that I've spent nearly ten years looking after Sweetie Belle and you have just started looking after your own."

"That's amazing, Rarity." Twilight gasped.

"Not exactly. We're only sisters, yet Sweetie Belle has gotten used to me. Our parents are very busy all year round on different trips to all sorts of countries, shame though, I wonder what goes through her head from time to time with the lack of real parents around her to comfort her or even quell her needs."

"But she's got you."

"Yes. In fact..." Rarity's cheeks went red slightly. "Sweetie Belle has occasionally slipped from time to time. She has called me Mommy here and there, doesn't happen often. I tend to look the other way or simply ignore it. However, I take it as a compliment, knowing that she appreciates me similar to how a child does to their own mother."

"That's so-"

Before Twilight could finish, they were both stopped by a loud scream and a series of bangs that came from upstairs. Rarity and Twilight both looked at each other slightly confused. Rarity got up from her seat and groaned quietly. She put her tea down back on the table and walked over to the kitchen door.

"Wait. I need to check on Spike." Twilight slowly rose from her chair and stood up, but was quickly halted by Rarity.

"I'll go. It's the least I can do." She insisted.

Twilight thought about this for a moment and slowly nodded. Rarity also nodded and proceeded to leave the kitchen.

New Attire

It had only been a few minutes later and Twilight's patience soon began to wither. Not a single sound occurred after Rarity went upstairs to try and dismantle whatever scheme Sweetie Belle had in mind for Spike.

The librarian soon picked up her cup of tea by the handle and took another sip of the warm relaxing liquid. As it went down her throat she felt the hours of sleep that were never meant to be suddenly collapse on her. Pain swam through her forehead and she quickly put down her tea back on the table and rubbed her forehead to ease the building pressure.

"It's going to be dealt with." Twilight began to speak, but only to herself. "Rarity is going to talk with Sweetie Belle and Spike will come back downstairs, no worries..." The librarian groaned out load and lifted herself out of her seat and ran to the stairway.

She quickly ascended the stairs and got to the top before she even realized. Twilight immediately spotted Rarity standing by one of the bedroom doors, who wasn't looking very happy. The fashionista turned her head and noticed Twilight in the hallway.

"Twilight." Rarity pulled a fake smile. "Everything is under control."

Twilight blinked.

"It's just that a certain little MINX has gotten into my old line of baby clothes." Rarity was fuming at this point, she grabbed the door handle and twisted it. The door didn't open and the sound of the lock inside the door could be heard.

"I'm not coming out until I dress up Spike!" A muffled voice came from behind the door.

Twilight took a step back and rested up against the bathroom door and felt the weight of the situation set in. Her head was still pounding and the mad dash up the stairs made things even worse for the poor librarian. Twilight's breathing felt slower and harder to control and she continued to stare at her friend plant her fist into her little sisters bedroom door.

"Please." Rarity growled. "I'm not angry with you." She inhaled. "Because that isn't even the word that describes how I feel right now!"

Twilight didn't want the fuss, the shouting done by Rarity wasn't going to solve anything at all. At times like this, she wished Cup Cake was here to magically set things straight.

"Sweetie Belle." Rarity huffed. "If you come out now and hand Spike back over to us and apologize for your childish behaviour then I'm sure Twilight will reconsider letting you babysit for her." There was a pause.

"I'm not coming out until I put Spike in some new clothes." Sweetie Belle mumbled.

"Why you..." Rarity rested her head against the door and groaned once more. "If you're atleast going to dress him up then please for the love of Celestia don't put him in that ugly sailor suit. That wasn't mean't for him."

"He's not wearing the sailor suit!"

Twilight couldn't take this any more, the screaming, the yelling and the constant pain in her chest. She stepped over to the door and gestured Rarity to move out of the way. Rarity placed her hand on Twilight's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry about this Twilight, she can't stay in there forever." Rarity wrapped her arms around the librarian and felt Twilight's head rest on her shoulders.

"I want to try." Twilight whispered.

"I'm more than capable to coax her out of her bedroom." Rarity leaned back and looked her in the eyes.

"No." Twilight broke out of her whisper and spoke as calmly as she could. "I don't think this is working."

"Just a few more minutes, Twilight." Rarity nervously nodded, she glanced at the door and then looked back at Twilight.

Twilight didn't listen, she shuffled over to the door and dropped onto her knees, truly feeling how weak her legs were now becoming. She raised her hand and knocked on the door as soft as she could.

...

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Twilight." She forced a smile, despite Sweetie Belle not being able to see it. "I know that you want to dress Spike up and I think that's great. What are you making him wear?"

...

"Err... It's a surprise!" Sweetie Belle responded, with the occasional babbles and gurgles coming from Spike.

"A surprise?" Twilight perked up. "Do you think I can see him?"

Before Sweetie Belle could respond both Rarity and Twilight heard the overly-enthusiastic baby babble that came from Spike. Twilight stood up and looked at Rarity, she stepped closer and embraced her into a tight hug before quickly moving back over to the door.

"Darling." Rarity coughed. "How did you-"

"I'll explain later." Twilight spoke up, she dropped her fake smile and genuinely looked unhappy. "I just want to see Spike."

The lock inside the door made some more noise and it finally clicked, the handle turned on its own and Sweetie Belle peeked through the door to see Rarity and Twilight standing in front of the door.

"Twilight." Sweetie Belle squeaked, her hand went through the small opening in the doorway and gestured for the librarian to come inside. Twilight slowly walked through the doorway and entered Sweetie's bedroom. Without a word, Rarity walked closer to the door only to find it shut directly in her face.

Twilight scanned Sweetie's bedroom and found it surrounded in all things girly. Pink bedsheets, butterfly curtains and a pearl white wardrobe with heart shaped emblems on the wooden doors. It somewhat resembled the nursery back at the library, this felt so weird for Twilight.

On the floor was a cardboard box filled to the brim with clothing made for infants and toddlers ranging from onesies, overalls, t-shirts, diaper covers, bibs and more that all came with Rarity's style and sense of quality.

Sweetie Belle walked over to her bed and sat on the side, she looked at the ground and tapped her foot on the wooden flooring. Twilight immediately noticed a lump in the thick white blanket over the top of the bed and instantly knew that Spike was underneath.

"I'm sorry." Sweetie began to speak. "I hope you're not angry with me."

Twilight took a few steps forward and looked at sat herself down on the edge of the bed. She lifted the blanket up and saw Spike in his new clothes.

There was something that made Twilight's heart suddenly beat faster the very second she laid eyes upon her baby brother, the stress and pressure inside her head suddenly evaporated just for this moment. She leaned back and felt her jaw drop in amazement.

Instead of wearing his usual purple onesie, the one with various drool, milk and porridge stains all over the front. He sported a clean white t-shirt with some light blue jeans, his diaper poked out from the top of his jeans ever so slightly. A pair of white velcro shoes with a streak of blue going through the middle. He had a purple pacifier in his mouth which he happily suckled on.

The infant instantly recognized Twilight and raised his arms up into the air, spitting his pacifier out, only to have it dangle about thanks to a special strap that was attached to his t-shirt.

"Ba! Ba!" Spike happily yelled.

"Spike!" Twilight reached for her baby brother and picked him up, she wrapped her arms around the infant and kept him close in a tight hug. Sweetie Belle shuffled over a smiled a little at the sight of her handiwork.

It wasn't long before Rarity opened the door and barged into the room looking very unhappy, she walked right up to Sweetie Belle and grabbed her by the collar.

"Sweetie Belle." Rarity growled. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Before Rarity could continue, she turned her head and looked at Twilight to find her with Spike in her arms. She let go of Sweetie Belle and sat beside her friend, peering over her shoulder to get a glimpse at Spike.

"Oh my." Rarity gasped. "I'm so glad that Spike is okay."

"He's more than okay." Twilight looked up at the fashionista, tears had begun to fall down her face and her lip quivered uncontrollably. She instantly broke down into a mess and held Spike even tighter than before. Rarity wrapped her arms around the librarian and gestured for Sweetie Belle to leave the room, Sweetie complied and sheepishly moved out for the two adults to have their time alone.

"What's wrong?" Rarity tapped Twilight on the back.

"N-Nothing, Look at him. He's so beautiful." Twilight started to choke on her own words. Nothing right now could describe the mix of stress and happiness that was wrapped right in her arms. She turned to look at Rarity and sniffled. "I c-can't help it. I haven't been able to sleep for the last few months and I can't stop crying."

Rarity didn't respond.

"I told my mom that I didn't want to see her again and now I can't stop thinking about her. Oh Celestia, I just wish this would all go away!"

A look of seriousness came over Rarity, she hopped off Sweetie Belle's bed and walked over to the door.

"Stay right there, Twilight." Rarity opened the door.

"Where are you going?" Twilight gasped for air, clutching her baby brother still tight as ever.

"I'm going to make an important phone call."

Author's Note

So...

It's the first chapter I've written in a very long time and for those who don't know, I announced back in January 2014 that I was going to leave the site and move on with different projects. Life and more personal issues got in the way of that I told a lot of people that my account is dead and I would be no longer writing.

Things have changed for the better and now I'm able to return writing and I seriously hope I can pick up the slack and do something good on this site.

So yeah, Unexpected Arrival. It's been a long time since I've written this story and I'm more than happy to come back and continue writing. I think there is a lot of potential and ideas that can be explored with a story like this and I want to see how far I can push it.

I've done a small chapter to get myself back in the whole writing game and I wish to make longer chapters that will be satisfying for all readers. I apologize if my writing skills aren't very good as I've been a bit rusty and behind on a lot of things. Hopefully I will be able to improve my skills and continue from where I left off.

Change

It wasn't long before there was a knock on the front door. Rarity hopped off the couch and rushed herself over to the door, not caring that she dropped the telephone and left it on the floor in a mad bid to stand up. She grabbed the handle and opened the door to reveal Cup Cake standing on the other side.

The baker didn't look very happy, her usual smile was gone and her apron was missing beside for a random spoon that was resting in her chest pocket for some reason. Rarity glanced behind her and noticed the sky had darkened and the clouds were turning black.

"I came here as fast I could." Cup Cake skipped the formalities and entered the boutique. She passed Rarity and entered the living room, prompting Rarity to close the door behind her.

"I'm so sorry about this, Cup Cake." Rarity sniffled; she rubbed her eyes and adjusted her night gown.

Cup Cake turned round and looked at Rarity, quickly scanning the room for any sign of Twilight and Spike.

"No." She shook her head. "You had every reason to call me and I'm so proud that you called me in for help." Cup Cake took a step closer to Rarity and embraced her into a hug; Rarity wrapped her arms around the baker and rested her head on her shoulder.

"It's just..." Rarity moved her head away from the baker and groaned. "Sweetie Belle started playing with Spike and..."

"We can talk about this later." Cup Cake interrupted her friend. "Let's just make sure Twilight and Spike are fine before we start pointing fingers at who caused the problem. She's got enough on her plate as it is so I'll go upstairs first, alright?"

When Cup Cake reached the top of the stairs, she didn't hear any crying or screaming whatsoever, her steps soon become gentler and gentler as she sneaked up to Sweetie Belle's room. She got to the door and poked her head through and saw Sweetie Belle sitting on the edge of the bed looking very upset.

Sweetie realized the baker had slowly entered the room and stood to her presence.

"It wasn't my fault!" Sweetie Belle walked up to the baker and held her hands together. "I just wanted Spike to be happy." Her lip quivered before she broke into quiet sobs, Cup Cake planted her hand on the child's shoulder and soothed her.

"Hush. It's alright." Cup Cake looked at the upset child. "Just go downstairs and tell Rarity to make a nice coffee for me and Twilight. Okay?"

"But what are you going to do?" Sweetie Belle sniffled.

"I'm going to make sure Twilight and Spike are fine, just go downstairs and wait for us."

Sweetie Belle slipped by Cup Cake and left the bedroom. The baker stood up and noticed Twilight and Spike lying on the bed together, but something made her smile somewhat and the pieces were all coming together. There was no noise, no fuss and no anger between the two whatsoever.

Twilight and Spike were both lying down together wrapped in a thick red blanket, both caught in a heavy sleep and wrapped in each other’s arms. Cup Cake sighed and readjusted the blanket for both of them, she pulled it up closer to Twilight's neck but left it low enough so that Spike wouldn't be covered up entirely.

She noticed Spike's new clothing and the familiar smell of a dirty diaper hit her nose like a slap in the face, Cup Cake recoiled in disgust at the smell coming from the baby. "Jeez, Twilight was right." Cup Cake coughed. "He is a little stink bomb."

Not wanting to break them apart she slowly picked up the infant and held him close in her arms. Spike squirmed in his new position but was still kept in his deep sleep. Cup Cake stood up and left the room.

"Sweet dreams, Twilight." Cup Cake left the room and looked back at the teenager on the bed; a tear fell down her face before the baker slowly shut the door in order not to wake her up.

Rarity and Sweetie Belle sat together round the table in the kitchen. The middle of the table rested a large plastic tray which had a half-full bottle of milk for Spike and two cups of coffee for Cup Cake and Twilight; it wasn't long before the pair heard a set of footsteps coming from the stairs and to find Cup Cake coming down with Spike in her hands.

Sweetie Belle's frown soon turned into a smile at the sight of the baby in the bakers arms. Rarity picked up Cup Cake's coffee and placed it on a small coaster for her.

"Is Twilight alright?" Rarity asked the baker.

"She's asleep at the moment." Cup Cake sighed. "Tuckered out from looking after Spike. It's to do with the stress that comes with looking after a little one and..." Cup Cake bit her lip. "You know... The other thing."

Spike opened his eyes and found himself being softly held by Cup Cake, his legs dangled with each step the grown up took and the back of his diaper felt very odd to him.

"Isn't that right?" Cup Cake looked down at the infant; both Spike and Cup Cake looked each other and smiled. "You kept Twilight awake for the last three months?"

"Hrmm... Ba ba." Spike spat out.

"And now you need a change, don't you?" Spike giggled in response. "I hope you girls don't mind but I need to change Spike." Cup Cake bit her lip and scanned the kitchen. "I don't suppose you have a flat surface you can let me use to change him."

Rarity looked at the infant. "Did he go, er, well...? You know?"

"Yes."

"Eew! Eew! Eew!" Sweetie Belle yelped, clenching her nose at the smell that emanated from Spike. She got up from her seat and took a few steps back from the baby and stood behind Rarity. "That's the worst smelly smell in the whole of Equestria."

"I'll just change him on the kitchen floor but I need to get his changing supplies from the stroller." Cup Cake looked at Rarity. "If you'd be so kind and hold Spike for just a second."

Rarity got up from her seat and walked over and grabbed Spike off of Cup Cake, she held him forwards so that he wasn't able to touch her besides her hands. Spike looked directly at the fashionista and smiled.

"Be! Be! Ghama..." Spike reached out for Rarity and swung his legs back and forth. Rarity cringed.

Cup Cake walked out of the kitchen and headed to the stroller, leaving Rarity and Sweetie Belle to tend to Spike on their own.

Spike on the other hand was enjoying the attention; he continued to reach out for Rarity and stared at her messy purple hair. Rarity silently sniffed the air and felt concerned; she glanced at Sweetie Belle and then looked back at Spike.

"Ugh." Rarity flinched. "What IS Twilight feeding you?" She looked at Sweetie Belle for the second time. "I'm so sorry, Sweetie. When you were younger I always thought you were the smelliest but now..."

Sweetie Belle blushed; she kept herself on the other side of the table away from Rarity and Spike.

Cup Cake walked back into the kitchen with a small bag around her arm filled to the brim with diaper changing supplies. In one hand, she held a fresh diaper ready for Spike. She placed the bag down on the floor by the refrigerator and stepped over to the sink and picked up one of the hand towels.

"I'm sorry, Rarity. We're going to have to improvise since there isn't a changing mat here." She placed the towel next to the diaper bag and unfolded it completely; she looked at Rarity and smiled.

"As long as my precious little Spikey-Wikey gets his stinky diaper changed then that's all fine by me." Rarity pulled the infant up closer and rubbed her nose against his, causing Spike to giggle and tap Rarity's arm. She lowered him down onto the towel and maneuvered him so that he didn't sit on his diaper.

"If you excuse me." Rarity stood back up and headed to the kitchen door. "As much as I love my little Spikey-Wikey, I simply refuse to be in the same room when this type of thing happens." She gagged at the thought of watching.

"That's fine." Cup Cake got on her knees and began to unzip Spike's trousers. He idly kicked his legs about until Cup Cake took his jeans off completely to reveal his diaper.

Cup Cake reached into the diaper bag and pulled out some talcum powder and a few antibiotic wipes. She placed them next to the towel and reached inside the bag for one more item.

Spike was getting bored of this already, Cup Cake reached inside the big diaper bag looking for something else and there was a packet of wipes and a small plastic container which strangely resembled a bottle. His eyes widened at the shape of the object hoping that there would be delicious milk on the inside. Still lying on his back, he reached out for the talcum powder and grabbed the small handle, but as much as he tried to pull and pull the object it just wouldn't get any closer.

This was starting to upset him, badly. If that wasn't a bottle, then what was? And where is one? He was thirsty after all.

Sweetie Belle kept her distance away from Cup Cake and Spike, carefully watching what the pair were doing together in order to take notes. Cup Cake reached out of the bag and held a small tin of rash cream for Spike's behind. The baker turned and looked at Sweetie Belle, sitting at the table watching the two.

"Why don't you come over here?" Cup Cake gestured for the child to come and watch Spike.

"I can't." Sweetie Belle sighed.

"Why not?"

"Because..." Sweetie shrugged.

"I'm not going to be angry with you." Cup Cake smiled. "Come over here and I'll teach you something very important."

Sweetie Belle sat at the table and shook her head.

"A little birdy told me that you wanted to be a baby sitter when you're older, is that true?"

"Uh huh." Sweetie Belle mumbled. "I don't think I can ever be a baby sitter when I've been a big doofus like today."

"It wasn't your fault Sweetie." Cup Cake tapped on the floor, gesturing for Sweetie Belle to come over and watch. “Twilight and Spike have a few personal problems that they need to solve together.”

Sweetie Belle slowly got up from her seat and looked away from Spike and Cup Cake; she went over to the towel, sat down and crossed her legs. She felt miserable for causing all of the problems in the boutique, especially making Twilight cry.

Cup Cake knew the child was upset with the current situation and she had an idea. The baker picked up the new diaper off from the floor and handed it to Sweetie Belle.

"I want you to try and change Spike."

Sweetie Belle blinked. "W-What? I can't do that."

"Why not?" Cup Cake asked the child.

"You're a professional at this! I've never changed a diaper before!" Sweetie exclaimed.

Cup Cake chuckled. "I'm not a professional, where did you get that idea from?"

"I mean..." Sweetie Belle scratched her head. "You know all this stuff about babies... I mean... someone must have taught you or something.

"Nope." Cup Cake happily shook her head. "I didn’t go to school to learn how to look after babies. In fact, I wasn't sure I wanted children when I was younger."

Sweetie Belle felt a large lump in her throat, she was nervous and she didn't know where to begin, she looked down at Spike to see a lack of a smile on his face while he waited in his very uncomfortable diaper. His arms were crossed and he glared at her and Cup Cake back and forth impatiently almost as if he was telling them to get on with it.

“I think he’s waiting for you, Sweetie Belle.”

Author's Note

The chapter is responsible for putting the whole story in the featured box for the first time.

Huh.

Emotion

"It's been a few hours since you fell asleep." Rarity took a sip from her cup of coffee and rested it and on her hand.

Twilight blinked.

"Hours?" She silently chuckled to herself. "That can't be right."

"I'm afraid so." Rarity moved closer to her friend and sat beside her on the bed, after taking another sip from her coffee, she placed her hand on Twilight's arm and moved her thumb up and down. This caused the librarian to blush slightly. "Mrs. Cake and Sweetie Belle have been looking after Spike for you."

Twilight leaned forward and attempted to get out of bed, she was soon held in place by Rarity.

"No, Twilight. Just stop." Rarity commanded her.

"Rarity," Twilight groaned, "I'm fine. Honest." She gestured to herself and forced a smile.

But the writing was on the wall, Rarity shook her head and put her coffee down on the wooden flooring, she looked back at Twilight with a concerned expression.

"But you're not." Rarity dead panned.

Twilight lowered her head and sniffled.

"Three months." Rarity continued. "We're your friends, Twilight. Don't you see? It's just like last time when IT happened."

"Rarity..." Twilight attempted to speak.

"No." The fashionista cut her short. "Remember when you had that assignment for the Princess and you couldn't find anything to report on? It's just like that. You won't stop until you give yourself a heart attack."

Twilight frowned.

"Now you're being silly."

"Silly?" Rarity yelped. "What's so silly about thinking about you? We've done nothing but worry for the past few months, day after day, week after week and we were all assuming the worst like before. But you didn't want us to help. You said we shouldn't bother because you thought you had everything under control." Tears had begun to fall down her face, further ruining whatever remains of make-up she sported.

There was a pause in the conversation, Twilight leaned further back and rested on the upright pillow and felt another throbbing pain in her head.

"It started with the headaches." Rarity wiped the tears from her face and placed her hand on Twilight's shoulder. "And then..." She turned to face Twilight.

"And then..." Rarity was close to her limits, the fashionista tried her best to hold back the emotions inside.

"It won't happen again." Twilight interrupted. "I swear on my life I would never let something like that happen to me again."

Rarity's lip started to quiver, her sobs were becoming audible and it was tearing Twilight apart. She too had tears welling up inside her.

"I can't let Spike down." She shook her head. "I made a promise to him and I'm going to keep it."

"I fully understand that you want to look after Spike." Despite her tears, Rarity managed to break out a small smile in the middle of her light sobbing. "Oh," She cooed, "my Spikey-Wikey." Rarity's smile grew. "He's just so adorable, isn't he? If I say so myself and I think it would be the end of me if Sweetie Belle heard this but her choice in clothes for Spike are... surprisingly nice."

It was in that moment, all of theirs tears, sobs and negative feelings suddenly vanished. Twilight found herself to be genuinely smiling. "I know. All he needs now is a dinky little sailor suit." She teased. Rarity responded with a hearty laugh.

"Oh my," She chuckled, "Imagine him on the Canterbury catwalks."

Both Twilight and Rarity soon burst into laughter, Twilight leaned forward unable to control herself and put a hand over her mouth to muffle her cries of laughter.

"Imagine..." Twilight couldn't stop laughing. "Imagine if he went in a little bunny onesie!"

"Ooh. Stop," Rarity’s cheeks were starting to hurt, "that is outrageous."

"He'd go in front of the judges and wiggle his little tush at them."

The laughter continued to escalate when Rarity slipped off the bed and landed on the wooden floor below. Her laughter got even harder when she realized what she had done and glanced at Twilight to also see her friend was in bits due to her mistake.

Rarity stood back up and gently rubbed her behind before deciding to move back onto the bed. Instead of sitting on the edge of the bed, she climbed up and carefully crawled over to Twilight and rested herself besides her friend. Twilight was pulled into a close hug which gave her no choice but to relax her head up against the fashionista's chest.

"This is just too much for a lady to handle," Rarity wiped a tear away, "just the sweetest little things can make you so happy."

"Yeah," Twilight beamed.

"See?" Rarity smiled. "You're not upset anymore."

The realization came to Twilight a little longer than Rarity had hoped for, but Twilight found her fears and anxieties fade away without even thinking about them. Her body couldn't explain it, but a sudden jolt of energy shot through her like a lightning bolt, she wanted to get out of bed and run a whole mile with this incredible feeling.

"Who needs Pinkie Pie when you have the likes of me to keep you happy?" Rarity triumphantly announced.

"Where's Sweetie Belle?"

This was exciting. It had to be some type of game, because why would Sweetie Belle just leave Spike in the living room and constantly call his name? It now felt like an adventure, exploring a living room without a pesky adult to imprison him in their long arms or a rotten crib was the definition of freedom.

"Come and find me." Sweetie sang.

"Swe we bwo!" Spike chirped. He heard her voice again, and again, it was his mission to find Sweetie Belle. There was no way a voice that sweet should hide from him. Now with his ability to crawl wherever he wanted, she couldn't hide forever, and with legs like his, finding Sweetie Belle would be inevitable.

"Where AM I?" Sweetie Belle continued to sing.

Sweetie Belle hid from Spike's view, but to any adult, she was just hiding up against the couch where Spike wouldn't be able to see her for about a minute or two. Her head poked out of its hiding place and spied on the infant who was hard at work, trying to figure out where she was hiding.

"Swe we bwo!" Spike called out for the grown up. He slowly crawled up to a potted plant that he stumbled across that was sitting on a wooden coffee table. His thoughts for Sweetie Belle disappeared when the bright colours caught his attention. "Woah," He gawked at the pretty flower before putting his thumb in his mouth, forgetting the large pacifier that was strapped to his t-shirt.

"Oh Spiiike!" Sweetie sang, once again.

...

"Spiiikeyy-Wiikeey!"

...

"Spike?"

There was no response from Spike at all. Sweetie Belle gingerly poked her head from out of her hiding place and scanned the living room, just to make sure he hadn't wandered into a different room. Sweetie immediately spotted Spike sitting next to the coffee table where one of the few house plants rested, she sighed in relief that the infant hadn't toddled into the kitchen.

Spike heard Sweetie's footsteps and didn't even bother with her. All of his attention was focused towards the pretty flower and that's where he wanted it to be. In fact, he found the act of staring at the flower to be more enjoyable than the game he was just playing.

"There you are." Sweetie Belle cooed.

Spike felt a pair of hands wrap around his belly before being lifted up into the air and into Sweetie Belle's soft grasp.

"Swe we bwo!" Spike had finally found what he had been looking for.

"You found me!" Sweetie Belle cheered. The two embraced in a big hug.

Spike peered over Sweetie's shoulder and fixed his eyes on the plant on the table again. He wriggled and squirmed in Sweetie Belle's arms and reached out for the pretty colours he saw not just a few moments ago.

Sweetie Belle turned round and glanced at the flower on the coffee table before looking back at Spike, not even bothering to acknowledge her presence and instead kept on reaching for the plant.

"Oh." Sweetie put two and two together. "You want the plant, don't you?"

"Hrmm..." Spike hummed.

"Silly billy," Sweetie playfully shook her head. "You can't touch the plant, Spike."

Spike recoiled back.

"That's not for babies." She pretended to scold him, waving a finger in front of his face. "Babies can't play with flowers; I bet you want to play with a big cuddly teddy bear instead. It’s much better than a boring old plant."

The two of them were interrupted by a rumbling noise that originated from Spikes stomach. Sweetie Belle heard the noise coming from him and glanced at the kitchen door.

"Does Spike want his bottle?" Sweetie Belle cooed.

It was a word that he understood right away before Sweetie Belle could finish. He over-excitedly nodded his head and bounced in her arms.

Sweetie Belle tightened her hold on Spike and rested a hand on his bottom in order to support his body. Her other hand was placed on Spikes back to keep him rested against her chest.

"Let's go to the kitchen!"

"I take it you're feeling much better than before?" Mrs. Cake wrapped a hand around the cup handle and lifted it to her mouth and took a sip.

Rarity and Twilight sat together, both with their own drinks in hand and an assortment of biscuits in the middle of the kitchen table resting on a small plate. Rarity picked a digestive and dunked it in her tea. Twilight responded by nodding at the baker.

Taking a biscuit, Cup Cake swallowed it and looked up at Twilight. "I didn't feel like it was my place to go up and calm things down. You came here to see Rarity and I thought it was more of her obligation to go and see you."

"I'm feeling so much better," Twilight took a sip of her drink. "In fact, my headaches have stopped and that's a first."

"That’s wonderful news, Twilight," Rarity smiled. “Just keep imagining Spike in the little sailor suit.”

Mrs. Cake couldn't but help but smile for the two young adults when they both giggled together.

"What are you planning on doing next now that you're feeling a lot happier?" Cup Cake pinched another biscuit.

"I'm thinking I can take Spike to see Fluttershy." Twilght mused. "Maybe Rainbow Dash, if she isn’t drunk.”

"I didn’t know that Rainbow Dash wanted to see Spike." Cup Cake got up from her seat and made her way over to the kitchen sink, looking back at Twilight and Rarity as she placed her empty cup into the sink.

"She isn't," Twilight stated. "I think she just wants to see me again."

"Well now," Rarity crossed her arms, "you're not actually interested in listening to that dreadful Wonderbolts album, are you? How can a lady expose her ears to that type of ear-bleeding noise is beyond me."

"I don't know," Twilight shrugged, "whenever Rainbow Dash does something crazy, she always comes out on top."

As the adults continued their conversation, Sweetie Belle entered the kitchen, still carrying Spike who continued to bounce and wriggle in excitement for his bottle. Spike's little yelps and babbles of happiness soon got their attention; Twilight and Rarity turned round and saw Sweetie with Spike.

Rarity cautiously stared at her little sister while Twilight smiled at the two, happy to see Spike unharmed and Sweetie Belle in a good mood. Mrs. Cake returned to her seat and noticed the new guests in the kitchen.

"Had enough of Spike, Sweetie Belle?" Mrs. Cake leaned forward to get a better view of the infant in the child’s arms.

"Nope," Sweetie squeaked, "We've had a ton of fun, haven't we, Spike?" she looked at the baby and nodded her head in front of him. Spike didn't bother; he scanned the kitchen for anything that looked like his bottle.

"Does he need changing again?" Twilight silently sniffed the air, making sure he hadn't done a foul.

"Sweetie Belle took care of his dirty diaper, didn't you?" Mrs. Cake remarked.

Sweetie's handiwork resulted in a small clap from Twilight, who leaned against the chair and looked at her baby brother.

"Well... I mean," Sweetie Belle blushed. "It was really icky."

"I don't think we need to know that." Rarity interjected, holding a hand up in the air, facing it towards her little sister. "The amount of times I gagged when I had to change you all those years ago was more than enough, thank you very much."

Twilight didn't mind. "Was he a good boy?" She asked, changing the subject slightly.

"Oh yeah," Sweetie beamed. "He kept still long enough for me to clean him!"

The rumbling that came from Spike's stomach was getting louder and everyone heard it. His happy little gurgles and baby talk soon turned into light whines, his feet started to kick erratically, socking Sweetie Belle in the stomach somewhat by a well-aimed kick.

"I think he wants his bottle." Sweetie Belle spoke up.

"And how do you know that?" Rarity scoffed.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes.

"I'll go and get a bottle from the stroller." Twilight got up from her seat and walked past Sweetie Belle and Spike. Spike on the other hand reached out for his sister as she passed by, resulting in even louder screams coming from the infant.

Sweetie Belle took Spike over to the kitchen table and lifted him up onto the top, he shuffled around and attempted to crawl away from his friend before being pulled back by Sweetie who had sat down and grabbed a biscuit from the middle. He sat on her lap with Sweetie's hands wrapped around his empty stomach; Spike didn't nothing but just pout at his predicament.

Twilight re-entered the kitchen with a bottle in hand, the inside was filled with delicious milk right up to the very top, and Spike felt an extra amount of drool escape his mouth.

She knelt down in front of Sweetie Belle and ripped off the bottles plastic top which resulted in it making a loud popping noise. With the body ready to be inserted into Spikes mouth, she placed it on the table and headed back to her seat. Sweetie Belle blinked, wasn't Twilight going to feed her baby brother? The librarian gestured for Sweetie Belle to take the bottle.

Sweetie Belle complied and grabbed the bottle, using her other hand to keep Spike rested on her lap, despite how hard that was getting right now. She lowered the bottle in front of the infant’s face which grabbed his attention almost instantly and Spike reached for it.

Sweetie tilted the bottle and slowly dipped the nipple into the baby's mouth, making sure that she wouldn't force it in or make it head to the back of his throat. She quickly glanced at the adults who were all carefully watching her, Rarity on the other hand glared at her.

"This is what Cherilee taught me," she tried to start another conversation, "you put the bottle in his mouth but not too far." Sweetie looked at Mrs. Cake who gestured her to keep her eyes on Spike.

"That's right, dear." Cup Cake nodded. "You have to keep the bottle is at the right position or else the milk might spill out of his mouth, or even worse, prod Spike in the back of the throat."

"Am I doing it right?" Sweetie Belle quickly looked at Twilight and then focused back on Spike.

"You're doing just fine." Twilight cooed.

It didn't take long for the contents of the bottle to deplete, just a small slither of milk dribble back to the bottom of the bottle and Spike spat out of the nipple. He felt full and that made him happy, the infant let out a happy sigh and cuddled Sweetie Belle.

"That's it." Twilight congratulated the child. "You've changed AND fed Spike his bottle."

"Well..." Sweetie Belle blushed.

"Now that you've fed him, you can change him again." Mrs. Cake chuckled, Twilight and Rarity soon joined in, leaving Sweetie's cheeks to redden. "But," Cup Cake continued, "I won't be here for that." She stood up and wiped the biscuit crumbs off of her sleeves.

"You're leaving?" Rarity asked the baker.

"I'm afraid I can't stay here all day and be with you but I need to get home and check up on my little spring bunnies," she smirked, "including Pinkie Pie." Mrs. Cake took another biscuit and took a bite out of it and looked at Twilight. "I'll tell Pinkie Pie how things have been going, except for you-know-what."

"Thanks, Cup Cake." Twilight stood out of her seat and walked over to Cup Cake; she wrapped her arms around the baker and embraced her into a big hug. "Thank you for so much."

"Not a problem.” Mrs. Cake cooed, she broke out of Twilight's hug and walked over to Sweetie Belle, who was now cradling a sleeping Spike in her arms. "You're doing very well for yourself young lady, keep this up and you'll be a baby sitter in no time."

Sweetie Belle couldn't stop smiling at the compliment, she leaned forward and wrapped an arm around the bakers leg and tried her best to hug her without disturbing Spike. She looked at Rarity and kept her smile.

“Did you hear that, Rarity?” Sweetie squeaked, “I did a really good job!”

"Yes, yes.” Rarity nodded in response to Sweetie’s excitement. “We’re going to have a long talk about your baby sitting skills later.” She glared.

Cup Cake walked over to the kitchen door and stopped in her tracks, "Twilight," She gestured for the librarian to come over, "A word." She stepped over to Cup Cake and both adults went into the hallway.

They both left the kitchen and went over to the front door; Cup Cake twisted the handle and gestured for Twilight to stand outside. Twilight did what she was told and moved outside, now noticing that it had gotten darker from when she originally visited the boutique. A chill ran down her spine as the warm weather she remembered being in a few hours ago had disappeared and been replaced with a cold autumn chill.

Cup Cake followed suit and left the boutique with Twilight besides her. The baker noticed it too had gotten darker and it was time to head home.

"Did you want to tell me something?" Twilight asked.

"Yes." Cup Cake nodded. "I just want to let you know that I'm very proud of you for getting through this."

Twilight blinked.

"If you were my own daughter I'd..." Cup Cake stopped right there, tears started to form around her eyes; she quickly looked away and took a step back from the librarian.

Twilight's breathing started to get heavy.

"I'm going home now." Cup Cake nervously looked at the street and then back at Twilight. "If you need anything, and I mean anything, then let me know. Okay? Just don't forget to visit the rest of your friends."

And with that, Cup Cake started to make her way down the street and into the darkness. Twilight stared at the baker disappear into the night before shaking her head, clearing her thoughts about the bakers choice in words.

"If you were my mom..." Twilight didn't finish her sentence, she looked back at the street and had enough, she slowly walked back over to the front door and twisted the handle to enter the boutique with a loud yawn.

The street lamps turned on and a chilly wind slowly passed through town, it was going to be a long night for Twilight.

Author's Note

For Spike and Sweetie Belle, I want to go on record and say that their interactions together are going to be silly in nature. When Spike is with Sweetie Belle so he can be a little more talkative, almost as if they understand each other regardless of the language gap.

I want to keep the more tender moments between Spike and Twilight as they're the main focus in a majority of chapters.

Thanks for reading this chapter.

"To Twilight Sparkle"

"Dear Twilight Sparkle.

It's been a long time since I've replied to one of your letters so I've got the chance to talk to my big girl again. I want to know how things are in Rumsville, has Spike been a good little boy? I hope so. Seems like just yesterday when I gave birth to him and cradled him in my arms.

I know I shouldn't be asking too much, but I know you're obviously worried about me back at home so I'll tell you a few things that have happened in the past two weeks.

Firstly, I met another man a few days ago and he is gorgeous, his name is Huey, he works at the Gallery in down town, not the one with the painted pictures, the one where people do their modelling. He's such a handsome man, and polite too, much better than your father. There's just so much to say about him that you can do it all on one piece of paper, there should be a photo of me and him together at the Olympus Falls which happened last Thursday.

Second, I received a visit from Princess Cadance, always a pleasure to see her again after all the nice things she has done with our family. She came round to my apartment to see how I am doing and asked me if I am thinking of getting back with your father, I told him about Huey and she sounded delighted by her reaction. She used to go to school with him apparently when they were younger, but he was a few years older than her if I recall her saying.

Third, I'm now a free woman. I'm no longer legally tied to your father in any other way. Isn't this exciting? Oh well, I got a claim and received some bits from the local Government because your lazy father didn't show up to the court case. Typical men, Huey will be such an improvement over him you won't believe it.

Anyways, I have to cut the letter short, I'm going out to get some shopping done. Hope you and Spike are doing fine and give him a big kiss for me.

- Mom

xxx"