"Spike!"
Spike was lost in his dreamland where a piercing shout woke him up. His eyes popped open to see Twilight staring down angrily at him. Spike blinked a couple of times, hoping that it would be some kind of nightmare. Much to his dismay, each blink made the hopefully-dream Twilight even angrier. She just kept staring him down, like she was expecting him to know why she was angry. Did he know? He was terrible at thinking in the morning.
"Um.... can I help you Twilight?" Spike asked hopefully.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Twilight demanded.
"Calmly-explain-to-Spike-why-you're-so-angry-time?" Spike offered in a vein hope that it would sate the beast before him.
"Ha ha, no," Twilight said. "It's 10 AM. You should have made breakfast an hour ago."
Spike groaned. Of course it was something stupid like that. He rolled out of bed, and rubbed his eyes. He wanted to complain, but he knew better. When Twilight overbooked herself like this she almost became blind to the world around her. By week's end she'd be over this and back to her calm and usual self. Dealing with an irate unicorn would have explained why he was so tired though. He's been dealing with this for.... he caught a glance at the calendar as he walked out of the room. What he saw stopped him dead in his tracks for his moment. It was only Tuesday, as in the week had only barely begun Tuesday. And of course Twilight caught his momentary stop.
"Spike I have a lot of work, and I don't have time to make sure you do your work too. You do know what you have to do today, right?"
"Way too much," Spike grumbled as he started walking down the stairs. He hopped backwards and onto his tail when that same irate unicorn teleported in front of him.
"I heard that," she said. "You think that you've got it hard? Celestia is requiring me to learn and master several extremely volatile spells that could have horrendous consequences if not properly performed. All you have to do is keep house and pick up some cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner this afternoon. Actually, you might want to do that now."
"I thought you wanted me to make breakfast."
"By the time you finish, it'll be lunch. And we're eating out."
Spike left the library without another word. He took a deep breath. He'd survive this week, like he survived every other. He walked down the road, still half-asleep hoping that the morning breeze would wake him up. It wasn't working. And so his mind wandered to all of the things that Twilight wanted him to do this week. It was "Spike do this" or "Spike do that" from early morning until late at night. He was angry for a brief second before he thought of those difficult spells that Twilight kept trying to master. Last night, the entire town of Ponyville and a few neighboring ones got an impromptu fireworks show.
Spike was finally smacked out of his half-sleep thoughts when he bumped into a stallion. When he came to, he realized the stallion was waiting in line at Sugarcube Corner. Then he realized that a lot of ponies were waiting in line at Sugarcube Corner. He facepalmed. If he would wait in this line, then it would be lunch time tomorrow.
"That's clearly an exaggeration," Pinkie Pie said to him.
"Well either way Twilight will be—woah!" Spike said, upon realizing who he was talking to.
"I love being woah!" Pinkie shouted, then she said with a serious face, "it's all like woah."
"That's not what I meant. Shouldn't you be inside, making orders or something?"
"Yup."
Spike waited for a few seconds for Pinkie to continue on that thought, but she just stared at him blankly with a smile. Spike blinked. A bird tweeted. The line moved a little. Spike cleared his throat, but Pinkie just kept staring at him.
"So... why aren't you?"
"Oh that's an easy one! The oven's broken!" Pinkie said, and then she threw her hooves in front of her mouth. "Oops, that was supposed to be a secret."
Within seconds the line dispersed looking at Pinkie and Spike angrily. Pinkie looked at the crowd with fear in her eyes. It looks like the secret was out. The former line began surrounding Pinkie, almost begging her to explain. They took a step forward, and Pinkie bolted. She ran through Spike, catapulting him on her back, and left the crowd coughing in her dust.
"Why did you run? It's not like they were gonna form an angry mob or anything," Spike said, desperate to hang onto Pinkie's mane.
Pinkie stopped, throwing Spike off. She towered over him, giving him the strangest sense of Deja vu.
"You don't know how ponies act when they don't get their pasties," Pinkie said sternly.
"No," Spike said, brushing the dirt off from his knees, "but I'm going to find out when Twilight doesn't get her order of cupcakes."
"Maybe I could help!" Pinkie said, perking up. "We'll just make the cupcakes at your place!"
"I don't think that's such a good—oof" Spike began.
He found himself grappling to Pinkie once again, this time by his feet. Lo and behold he saw a bunch of ponies chasing after them, torches and pitchforks held in many of their hooves. Pinkie wasn't kidding when she was talking about ponies not getting their pasties. Luckily the angry mob was no match for Pinkie's suger-hyped speed. It wasn't long before they were at the library. Pinkie bolted through the door, letting Spike crash into it. A note fell down on his face.
Spike,
I've already headed to the Hay Barrel. Bring the cupcakes there by 12:30. I can see that you're running a little late, but I can't wait forever.
Spike walked into the library and the paper instantly fell to the floor. Books and papers were scattered all around the library, and globs of pastries splattered all of the walls. Spike took a few steps forward and got hit in the head with a pile of frosting. Spike looked up and gazed in horror. How in Equestria did Pinkie get sprinkles on the ceiling? Spike was hit with another pile of frosting. When he wiped it off, Pinkie came out of the kitchen.
"Pinkie Pie, what did you do in here!?"
"I made cupcakes!" Pinkie said, holding out the fresh tray of freshly baked cupcakes.
At least she got the most important thing done. How he would explain this mess to Twilight without her exploding, he had no idea. He looked at the clock. It was already 12:15. He was running late already! He took the cupcakes from Pinkie and rushed out through the hole in the door, deciding to figure out later when he wasn't pressed for time. He ran through Ponyville, desperate to get to the restraunt on time when he tripped on a rock. The cupcakes flew into the air and splattered a certain purple unicorn in the face.
"I see that you got the cupcakes," Twilight said, wiping the mess off of her face.
"I'm sorry, it's just I was in a hurry and—"
"Don't worry about it," Twilight said, and then she levitated a small bag in front of Spike.
Spike opened it to find a sapphire inside. He just realized how hungry he was, and swallowed it whole. He hadn't eaten anything else today except for the frosting that hit him in the head. The frosting! The mess! What was he going to tell Twilight? How was he going to explain the entire mess to Twilight?
"Um Twilight," Spike asked, pulling at Twilight's hooves, "maybe we can see a movie, go to the bookstore, or anything other than going home right now?"
"Spike, you know as well as I do that I have a lot of work to do. I took a break so we could eat together, but someone was a little late."
Twilight had her hoof on the door that surprisingly had its hole missing. Wait, did Pinkie do that? No. There was no way. She couldn't have done that in like five minutes. Twilight pushed open the door to find that the library was squeaky clean. Pinkie Pie was searching through a shelf while whistling a happy tune. That's right, with Pinkie Pie there was always a way.
"Pinkie, what are you doing here?"
"Just looking for a book," she said.
"Which book?"
"Hmmm," Pinkie thought to herself. "How about I Cleaned the Mess by R.U. Happy?"
"Pinkie's that not a real—" Twilight said before she got hit with pile of frosting from the ceiling, "book."
"How about Missed a Spot by I.M. Sorry?" Pinkie said, her ears drooping down.
"Do either of you want to explain why there's frosting on the ceiling?" Twilight demanded. "Or why this is the same frosting that I got hit with a few minutes prior?"
She turned towards Spike. Spike looked to Pinkie hoping for an answer. He got an answer; just not one that he could decipher. She started hopping up and down. Then she stuck her tongue out and began pointing at it like he was supposed to figure out what was going on. When Twilight saw that Spike was looking past her, she turned around only to find Pinkie whistling.
"Pinkie, do you want to leave? I need to talk to Spike alone."
"But I'm still looking for that book!"
"I think there are some angry ponies outside wondering where their pastries are," Twilight said.
Within seconds, Pinkie was gone. Twilight turned to Spike with disapproval. Spike tried to explain what had happened, but looking at the frosting that was still dripping from the ceiling forced him to choke up. He couldn't seem to find the words and Twilight just sighed at the end of it. Twilight levitated him.
"Just clean the mess," Twilight said sullenly.
"How am I supposed to get up to the ceiling?"
"You figured out how to get it up there, you can figure out how to get it down. I've said it many times. I have a lot of work to do, and it's hard enough without worrying if I'm going to get frosting to the head."
Spike to the mop without another word. By the time he managed to get all of the frosting off of the ceiling, the sun had long since set. Twilight came into the library with a yawn. She smiled at the now-clean room. Spike through the mop down and yawned himself. He was ready to get some sleep and end this terrible day once and for all.
"You can go to bed soon. There's just one more thing I need you to do. It's the most important thing I need you to do today. I need you to help me test a spell."
"Alright, what exactly does it do?"
"It should let ponies (or dragons) travel back in time."
"Like the one we found in Canterlot?"
"Almost, except this one doesn't have such a short duration."
It may have just been the exhaustion of the day, or it may have been the overwhelming desire to just end the day, but Spike agreed to have the spell cast on him. Spike stood there as a lavender orb began cascading around him. He began to shimmer when all of a sudden there was an explosion. He shot back into the wall. Twilight immediately gave up on the spell and dashed at Spike as his eyes began to close.
"Spike!" Twilight kept shouting.
"Spike!"
"Spike!"
"Spike! Wake up!"
Spike opened his eyes to see Twilight standing angrily over him. What did she want now? She nearly blew him up with that last spell. After a couple of blinks he realized that he was in broad daylight and he was on his bed. Did the spell knock him out all night? If that was the case then why was Twilight so angry?
"Um... can I help you?" Spike asked confusedly.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"Umm... no," Spike said.
"It's 10 AM. You should have made breakfast an hour ago."
Spike blinked. He rolled over to look at the calendar. Sure enough it was marked Tuesday, and during a week like this the last thing that Twilight would ever do is forget to keep the calendar up to date. There was only one real possibility—Twilight's spell worked! It must have sent him to the beginning of yesterday. He was about to tell her, but then he thought better of it. Yesterday went so badly. There was so much he messed up, and he now had the perfect opportunity to fix everything that went wrong.
"Right," Spike said, perking up, "sorry about that. So, does hay-browns sound good?"
"Just forget it," Twilight sighed, "by the time you finish it'll be lunch, and we're eating out today. Speaking of that, I need you to pick up some cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner for dessert."
"Right on it!" Spike said.
He perked up, and dashed down the stairs leaving Twilight blinking in surprise. Spike was given a second chance and he wasn't going to let it go to waste. He stopped just short of smacking into the stallion at the tail end of the line spurting out of Sugarcube Corner. He had forgot about that. Either way he started looking for Pinkie Pie. She was his ticket out of this mess. How did he get her to come yesterday? Pinkie only came at the most random of times.
"That's clearly an exaggeration," Pinkie Pie said, managing to surprise Spike once again by sneaking up to him.
"Pinkie Pie, I need your help!" Spike said.
"Ooh, are you trying to hide from a pony who escaped from an asylum who has vowed revenge on you and Twilight?"
"Um, no."
"Are you trying to collect seven crystals from across the world to stop an evil wizard from trying to conquer Equestria!?"
"No, Pinkie I—"
"Oh I know, you managed to go back in time with a spell from Twilight and you're trying to fix all of your mistakes that you made!"
Spike blinked. "Yes, actually."
Pinkie nodded and launched him onto her back and started galloping, presumably to get back to the library. This time things were going to go much better. It was already going better; they weren't getting chased down by an angry mob. And Spike managed to hang a lot better. Then it hit him: Pinkie was going to dash through the library door, letting him hit it. The door was in plain sight, and getting closer. At the foot of the library yard, Spike jumped off of Pinkie has she dashed through the door.
As expected, the library was destroyed in the fifteen seconds it took Spike to get there. He wasn't going to complain right now. There was no reason to. He grabbed the cupcakes from Pinkie and dashed off through the hole in the door, catching the clock on the way out. It was only 12:00; he was ahead of schedule. Spike smiled to himself, and lost in his thoughts he tripped over that same rock. Spike dashed forward and caught the cupcakes before they splattered on the ground. That was a close one. It wasn't long before Spike made it to the restraunt, although he was short on breath.
"Wow Spike, I'm impressed," Twilight said with a smile as she checked the cupcakes. "They're a little jostled, but otherwise good. And on time too."
Spike smiled to himself. Everything was going according to plan, until they made it back to the library. Twilight dropped her leftovers on the ground as she saw the entire building loaded with that same familiar pastry mess. Pinkie was there, sitting and whistling to herself. While Twilight was stunned by the mess, Spike angrily stormed up to Pinkie.
"Why didn't you clean up this mess?" he said through clenched teeth.
"Well, it didn't seem to bother you," Pinkie Pie said, innocently.
"H-how did you get frosting on the ceiling?" Twilight wondered, still entranced by the mess.
Spike sighed and went to grab the mop. He once again spent the rest of the day cleaning up the mess. When Twilight came back downstairs long after the sun went down, he smiled remembering what was coming. It was another chance. He could keep doing this until he got it right! Without any apprehension he agreed to be hit with Twilight's spell, which once again launched him into the wall. The next time he opened his eyes, Twilight was angrily standing over him.
"Spike, do you have any idea what time it is?" she asked.
"10AM. I know I should have had you breakfast ready and hour ago. Sorry."
"Well um, yes," Twilight said surprised, "and now I need you to—"
"Pick up some cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner? Don't you worry, Spike is on the job!"
Spike dashed down and out of the library, leaving Twilight stunned in his dust. Third time was the charm, he told himself. He kept repeating that mantra to himself. It was off to Sugarcube Corner to pick up Pinkie. Then it was back to the library to make the cupcakes. Before he left he made sure to tell Pinkie to clean up the mess. She almost got it done this time. Unfortunately she forgot the ceiling once again. It was on to try number four.
Spike decided to leave Pinkie Pie out of the equation altogether. It could have just been easier to make the cupcakes himself. Not so, apparently, Spike thought to himself as he held out a tray of burnt cupcakes. Maybe there was still time to get the cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner. Spike ran to the bakery to find an angry mob storming the place with their torches and pitchforks. Yeah, that wasn't going to work. Leaving Pinkie Pie out of the equation wasn't viable.
Try number five almost worked. Spike rushed off to Sugarcube Corner to get Pinkie, and made sure that she cleaned up the ceiling as well. While running to get to Twilight, he picked up the rock that he had so often tripped over. Then he tossed it... right into a window. Tries number six, seven, and eight ended similarly, but he felt himself getting closer and closer to the point where he could finally get it right. After a dozen or two times (Spike lost count) he had finally done everything perfectly, except for one thing—Twilight's spell.
"There's just one more thing that I need you to do today," Twilight said.
"Just name it, I can do anything!" Spike said before he remember exactly what Twilight was talking about.
"I need you to help me test a spell. If I'm correct it should allow ponies (or dragons) to travel back in time!"
"Um... can we do it tomorrow? It's getting kind of late," Spike asked hopefully.
"Don't worry. It'll only take a minute," Twilight said, "and I want to get a fresh start tomorrow."
"Please," Spike begged. It took him so many times to get this right, he wouldn't let this effort go to waste.
"Spike, I don't have time to argue! I'm tired, you're tired. Just let me test the spell and we could both go to bed. It's not going to hurt."
"Wait!" Spike said, "you already cast the spell on me! A bunch of times! It sends me back to the beginning of today. I didn't want to tell you this because I saw it as a chance to do everything right, so I kept repeating today until I could. For me, it's been Tuesday for like three weeks!"
"Wow, you've got an active imagination. This spell is supposed to give a pony full control of the point of time they want to go. If you don't want to go back to the beginning of today then the spell wouldn't make you do it. So can we please get this over with?"
"Please!" Spike begged.
"Spike, I am tired. Let's get this over with already. Now hold still."
Spike sat there defeated as Twilight cast the spell. Just like he told her, it sent him back to the beginning of the day. It was once again 10 AM Tuesday. He rolled out of bed at Twilight's nagging and set about going around the town. Why bother even trying if nothing he was going to do would even be remembered? He sat on the stoop of the library, just trying to think of a way out of this. Twilight wouldn't even believe him when he said that a spell she was trying to test was going wrong. Speaking of her, Spike felt the library door hit him.
"Spike, I thought I told you to go get some cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner."
Then Spike realized. Even if he did succeed, and managed to somehow save the progess he made, Twilight would just be asking him to do run around town doing her errands like this without any concern of how much trouble he had to go through. All of the trouble—the broken oven, the angry mob, the frosting on the ceiling. Spike was just sick of it.
"You know what, no."
"What did you say!?" Twilight demanded.
"I said no."
"Spike, I told you that I don't have time to worry about your work on top of mine!"
"Do you at least have time to consider my feelings?" Spike shouted. "Every time you overbook yourself like this you have me running around Ponyville like some kind of idiot from early morning until late at night and treat me like that's all I'm here for. If I ever had a problem you wouldn't listen to me until you've got all of your nonsense sorted out!"
"I—I listen you," Twilight said, stepping backwards.
"Uh-huh. What if I told you that that spell you're planning to make me your guinea pig with tonight forces me to repeat today over and over again?"
"But it's not supposed to—wait, how do you know—?"
"See, you wouldn't believe you. I just told you how I know. I'm sick and tired of all of this. I might as say whatever I want to say because you're just going to cast that spell on me again and everything I do will just be forgotten. Maybe that spell doesn't have any effect after all, huh?"
"Y-you're right," Twilight said. She was looking down so her hair covered her eyes. "I really have been taking you for granted. I'm so sorry, is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"
Twilight lifted her head to show tears beginning to form. Spike couldn't stay angry at that.
"J-just take some time to consider my feelings, and don't ever cast that spell on me again."
"Deal!" Twilight said, and she grabbed Spike into a hug. Their embrace was broken by Pinkie Pie running from an angry mob.
Later that night, Spike began writing a letter.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned that sometimes trying to keep another pony happy can stop you from feeling happy yourself, especially if they take your efforts for granted. You can keep doing the same things for them over and over again, but if they don't appreciate it then you might find yourself doing the same thing over and over, hoping to get things to change. If you don't feel appreciated by somepony then the best thing to do is just tell them.
Twilight added to the letter
And I learned that I shouldn't let my own busy life get in the way of other ponies' thoughts and feelings. You're never to busy to try and have a little empathy.
—your faithful students, Spike and Twilight
