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              Once a Mother, Always a Mentor               
                     -by Lucky Seven-                      
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                         One-Shot                          
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One-Shot
Once a Mother, Always a Mentor
Written & Edited by Seven81493
“Spike, what a pleasant surprise!”
Spike stared up at the pony in front of him, suddenly beginning to doubt if coming to Canterlot had been a good idea. But eventually, he gathered his resolve, and gave a response to the one pony he had always looked up to. “H-hi, Princess.”
For a while, the two simply stared at one another. It was an awkward silence, and Celestia could tell that something was troubling the young drake. But still, she couldn’t think of anything to say. So instead, she giggled and opened the door leading to her royal chambers a bit further. “Well, I’m fairly certain you didn’t come all this way just to stare at me. Come in, Spike.”
And so he did, albeit nervously. It had been a while since he had been in the room he now found himself in. A little over three years, and it had barely changed at all, the only difference being that there were now numerous letters framed on the wall, no doubt Twilight’s friendship letters. But the most important part of the room, at least in his mind, was her glorious bed. It was a very dark purple with an image of her cutie mark sewed into the middle of the blanket. Simply awesome, and perfect for napping.
“So what brings you up here, Spike?” asked Celestia, breaking the silence abruptly.
For a few seconds, Spike remained silent. But Celestia made no move to hurry him, and instead watched as he climbed onto her bed before turning to face her and sitting on the edge. All the while, he was twiddling his fingers nervously. Eventually, he let out a sigh, and bluntly put forward his question.
“Have you ever doubted yourself, Princess?”
In an instant, a smirk grew on Celestia’s face. “Every single day, Spike.”
“R-really?” he asked stutteringly, to which Celestia nodded. “But you’re the princess! You mean everything to Equestria!”
“And that’s exactly why, Spike. If I don’t keep the citizens of Equestria pleased, what does that make me?”
“A bad ruler…?” he nervously responded, to which Celestia let out a giggle.
“Don’t worry, Spike, I won’t be mad at you for speaking your mind, but yes. Now tell me, what’s troubling you?”
“I just… I don’t know, Princess. Lately, I’ve been feeling like I don’t have a purpose in life. Sure, I’m Twilight’s friend, but I’ve never done anything for myself. I want to do something for myself for once, but I don’t think I can.”
“Why not, Spike? I’m certain that you can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it. You are a very brave dragon, after all.”
Before Spike had a chance to respond, a golden glow surrounded him and he found himself floating in the air, levitating towards a mirror that was set up in the corner of the room.
“What do you see, Spike?”
“I see a baby dragon who can’t do anything right…”
“Stop that right now, Spike. With that kind of attitude, it’s no wonder you can’t do anything right.”
“What do you mean by that?” asked Spike, sounding slightly offended.
“What I mean, Spike, is that your attitude affects your life. By thinking negatively all the time, you’re limiting yourself. That’s the root of your problem. You simply need to think positive.”
“But what is there to think about? No offense, Princess, but your word don’t mean much if I have nothing to think positively about.”
“What about your friend Rarity?”
Hearing his crush’s name mentioned caught Spike’s attention, and he turned his head to look at Celestia. “What about her?”
“Spike, anypony can see that you love her. Why not try to pursue her?”
For a second, Spike remained silent, a small bout of sadness overtaking him. “I doubt she even likes me like that, Princess. I’m just a baby dragon…”
“You're anything but a simple baby dragon, Spike. In fact, your bravery even inspired me,” Celestia said in hopes of raising the drake’s spirits.
“I-I inspired you?” he asked, stunned.
“You certainly did, Spike. Your bravery convinced me to take on my sister alone upon her return.”
Before Spike could retort that she had been defeated, he found the room around him slowly fading away. After a few seconds, a playground had taken its place. Looking around, he instantly knew where he was.
“Hey, this is the playground Twilight and I used to go to every day!”
Instead of responding, Celestia stood absolutely still, staring off at something in the distance. After a few seconds, Spike decided to look as well, and what he saw stunned him.
“Hah! Look at the little nerd playing with her stupid doll!”
“Smarty Pants isn’t stupid, you jerk! Now leave me alone!”
Spike watched as filly Twilight was pushed down by her childhood bully, a pony named Starlight Moonbeam. He knew what was about to happen, and it made him snicker.
“Hey, leave Twilight alone!”
Before the bully could react, his behind had been burned by a toddler Spike, and he ran off crying. Slowly, toddler Spike walked over to filly Twilight and leaned upwards, hugging her tightly around the neck, a hug which she returned in full, causing him to giggle.
Before he could ask Celestia how she had done what she did, the room swiftly shifted back to being hers.
“Why did you show me that, Princess?”
“To show you that you’re not useless. Nopony cares more for the ponies around them than you do. You’ve charged headlong into enemy territory just to save your friends.”
“That doesn’t mean anything if I don’t save them, Princess…”
“It does to them, though, Spike. To know that there's somepony who would risk their life to help you is the greatest feeling in the world. There’s no doubt in my mind that your friends are lucky to have you.”
“Really?”
“Of course, Spike. After all, the fact that you’ve put yourself in the sights of danger numerous times just to help your friends speaks bounds about your bravery. It’s more than I can say for any big, greedy, dragon.”
Celestia’s words touched Spike. Normally, they wouldn’t have, but coming from somepony like her? It meant the world to him.
“T-thanks… mom.”
“Hey now, I thought I told you to stop calling me that. It makes me feel old.”
“But you are old, Princess.”
For a second, Celestia had no response. But eventually, she burst into laughter at Spike’s bluntness.
“Never change, Spike. Never change.”