A Day with Spike the Dragon
Just Another Saturday*
I wake up like I usually do every Saturday morning for the past month, sleeping on my laptop with articles plastered all over my screen. However this Saturday I wake up to a rather large crash.
"Get back here." I hear a rather familiar voice yelling, followed by a deep growl.
I sigh, stretch, then stand up and head to the kitchen. To my surprise, I find a broken dish with eggs splattered all over the floor and a rather small purple dragon wrestling a tray from the jaws of my Bichon Havanese.
"Spike, what are you doing?"
Startled, he lets go of the tray and falls on his back, so does my dog. However she decides to run to me, the tray in her mouth, wagging her tail as happy as she can be.
"She started it." Spike protests to my amusement, "I was preparing a good healthy breakfast for you, since you pulled an all-nighter yesterday, but she had to butt in and grab the tray trying to take it away from me."
I shoot a glance at my dog, then the food, I make a mad face. She drops the tray in front of me then whines with the guiltiest look on her eyes.
"Pippa, go to your house." I command while pointing a finger to her doghouse, without any protest she gets up and heads toward her house, however as she passes next to the baby dragon she growls at him and he flinch back.
"She really hate me." he tells me and I laugh.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up first."
Now before I continue, I have to mention that I am not exactly good with kids, I find them mostly annoying, but I do put up with them when the need arise for it, so dealing with Spike has been interesting to say the least.
After a small shower, I clean the mess in the kitchen, then put up the table for breakfast, today's breakfast is orange cake with milk.
"Sorry I woke you up." Spike looks at me apologetically, "I really don't know what got into her, and just after I put the tray she started to growl and me and then tried to snatch the tray from me."
"She's just jealous that you are taking all the attention and she's not." I explain, trying to lighten the mood, "However you need to put some muscles if a scrawny dog like mine gave you a hard time."
My attempts have definitely backfired judging from his frown.
"It's just a joke Spike, no need to take it seriously." I thought back for a moment, "You don't need to think too much about her either, Pippa only listen to two people on this planet, even my father have a hard time getting her to simply sit."
"You know this isn't the first time I have been around dogs, but yours is the first I have trouble with."
I simply chuckle, then trying to change the topic, "Any plans for today?"
"Well it's a Saturday, so I'm thinking we could go explore the town for a bit," he says eagerly, "You can bring up that jacket and pretend that we are brother like last time."
"Last time?" When did I ever took him outside?
"A couple of days ago, when you went to training and took me to watch." Spike clarifies, "It's only been a week since I came here, you can't possibly have forgotten already."
"Sorry," my reply is accompanied with a blush and an apologetic glance, it's been one heck of a week, trying to keep tabs on everything that happened has been a challenge.
"It's ok," he replies, "I know I've been a burden ever since I came here." His voice growing sadder by the minute.
I need to change the mood and quick, "No you haven't, and it’s because of my research. I have been too focused on it to actually be able to take care of you properly."
"Like buying me some gems?" He almost jumped at that prospect, damn he changes his mood fast.
"Yeah, never going to happen." I reply crushing him instantly, "I don't have the bits to buy you something so expensive just so that you can eat it."
He sits back, trying to hide his frustration with the cutest huff, then after a moment of silence he says, "What is your research about anyway? I know it has something to do with BMX and hepa-something."
"The drug BMX 47 and Hepatocarcinoma, correct." I think back for a moment, "How do you know about my research?"
"I glanced at that screen you keep looking at and read those words." He explains, "So what are they?"
I smile, he is definitely the curious type; “BMX 47 is a potential medicine for a disease called liver cancer I have been researching its actions to make sure that it has the potential to cure."
"I thought you called it Hepato-what's-it's-name."
"Hepatocarcinoma is the scientific name, liver cancer is its common name."
"And is it a problem?"
"What is?"
"Liver cancer."
"It is, liver cancer kills more than any other type of cancer known."
"There are other types?" I stop eating when I saw the aghast look on Spike face, "And are they all fatal?"
"Well generally it depends on each case, we can cure up to seventy percent of all cancer cases with what we have, but it's still a dangerous life threatening disease, so research like mine are being conducted all over the world to find more cures with less side effects...Is this the first time anyone told you about this?" realizing just how frightened Spike has become I decide to stop my explanation before I say something I might regret.
"Yeah, it's just that, I never thought a disease like a common cold could," Spike gulps, "Kill." he ends his last world with a shiver, from his previous stammering, I fear I may have traumatized him.
"Well," I need to find an explanation, and fast, "to compare cancer to the flu is farfetched, cancer is a lot more scarce than a normal common cold you get every season, and there is a great chance that one doesn't get cancer their entire lifetime."
That seemed to have made him calm down a bit, "I thought that everyone in this world died of it."
I laughed, "Silly Spike, even if they don't die of cancer, everyone have to die eventually."
And from his horrified expression, I realize that I just stepped on another landmine. Yep I really hate dealing with kids.
It's sometime around noon when I decided to stop my research.
I walk over to the sitting room where I found young Spike laughing in front of the TV, I glance over and realized that he was watching My Little Pony. I smile, "Having fun there?"
"Yeah," he replies with a chuckle, "I never realized that the connection between our worlds is that in yours we are a cartoon."
Guess I forgot to mention that to him, how silly of me. Glad that he finally changed his mood from the somber breakfast we had. I decide to come over, "So how did you find it?"
"It's good," He replies with the biggest grin I have seen on his face since he came here by accident, "I watched that episode where Trender Hoof came to town, a lot of the details are sketchy, and they did omit a lot of what happened."
"Like what?" I ask trying to remember if I watched that episode. You see, a day or so after I found him on my door step, I decided to watch a few episodes from the series, just to get the general idea of who I am going to live with.
And just like that, his smile disappears, "Well they forgot to mention the part where Rarity tried to bed him."
Huh, pony society is comfortable talking about things like sex but not about things like death, that's unorthodox? No that's not the word for it.
Spike however continues with a smirk on his face, "Or like when Applejack bucked him to a tree when he tried to force himself on her."
"What did they get right then? In the show I mean."
Spike looked at me with sad eyes again. "My relationship with Rarity."
Ouch, that's not a landmine, that's a nuke. "Oh, sorry to hear that."
"It's ok, I just never thought that she view me anything more than just a friend." Spike has that 'I just got my heart broken' look that I have seen often.
"Have you ever confronted her about your feelings?"
"Once, but I think there should be an episode about that, so you know how that turned out to be."
Ah, when he turned into a giant rampaging dragon. Yep, shutting a guy up in the middle of a confession is a deal breaker, as far as my meager experience goes.
"How about this then, the moment when you return back, you walk up to her and tell her exactly how you feel."
Spike gave me an anxious look, "but won’t that strain our relationship? I really don't want to lose her as a friend forever you know."
I gave him a confident shoulder pat, "Sure it will, but look at it this way, if you don't take the risk you'll never know whether she really like you or not. And if that ended your relationship to her, then she isn't a good friend to begin with, and you’re better off without her."
"But I don't want to break her heart," he is stammering again, "nor do I want to break mine."
"Oh you worry too much, remember time heals all wounds."
"But if time heals all wound, shouldn't it be able to prevent death?"
God damn it, not this again, why do you have to be so perceptive! "You're right, time doesn't heal all wounds, and it can certainly not prevent or even reverse death. But it will make the pain of the heart tolerable, and eventually it will make you stronger and smarter, so that the mistakes you made in the past won't come back and harm you again."
That finally did the trick in boosting his confidence, and putting a smile on his face, which just as quickly disappeared.
"What now?" I finally give into my frustration.
"Do you think they'll ever want me back?" He looks at me with those hopeful big emerald eyes of his.
"They'll be crazy not to." I reply maintaining my warmest smile.
"But it's already been a week, what if..."
"Then I just earned myself a number one assistant." I reply playfully, hoping he caught on to my joke, "trust me, there is no way any pony will leave a great friend like you behind."
With his smile returning, I hear a notification on my laptop, I go there and realize that my professor had sent me another article, which I decide to ignore completely for the moment, I have a homesick baby dragon to take care of.
"Say Spike," I say from my bedroom, "have you ever had fried chicken before?"
"You mean meat?" He replies bobbing his head into my room, "They say it's important for my diet, but I never had any."
"Then you're in luck," I say while taking my jacket, "Go grab your disguise, I'm taking you to taste your very first chicken sandwich."
"Is it going to be like your martial arts training?" he replies apprehensively, "Because you nearly gave me a heart attack back then."
I deadpan, then break into laughter, "Nothing of the sort." I reply while giving him his jacket.
I may not be good with kids, but I have a feeling that I'm going to miss him when he leaves.
Author's Note
120 minutes + distractions,
And now proofread to the best of my capacity
A Day with Spike the Dragon
Earth:
"You take a small amount of the sample using the micro-needle, then inject it in the sample holder here. But first you need to open the holder by turning this dial to the indicated direction." I take a deep breath, while carefully cleaning the needle using a special tissue provided by my lab.
"So, what does this thing do again?" Spike asks after taking the fury of notes.
"This is an HPLC," I explain, "It will separate all the molecules within our sample and it will tell me if the protein we are looking for is there or not, simply by reading the peaks that comes out on the monitor."
Today is a Monday, it is also a celebration for Spike being here for a month now, and to say that I got attached to the little guy would be an understatement. Spike took a central part in my everyday life, and he did it ever so subtly that I didn't even realize I was leaning on him that much until my sister pointed it out when she came to visit last week. That goes without saying however, I grew quite fond of his little quirks.
Although the homesick baby dragon has gotten used to his environment quite well, I still can't help but feel him being evasive. At first I thought it was homesickness, or missing his friends and family. But then I started to realize that there are some details he keeps hidden from me whenever we talked about the show, or just talk in general.
Regardless of what it is or what it should be, personally, I don't have the time or the energy to worry about that, because today is the first day of practical work on my research. Last week I finished reading all the articles that were sent to me, then managed to draft an experimental procedure which earned the good-to-go from my professor. I do own my fast pace to Spike for his amazing help. Say what you will about him, he is an amazing assistant.
Which brings us to today, as I prepare the sample for injection into the machine, I hear my phone ringing, "Spike, can you please answer that?"
Spike nods, picks up the phone then goes out into the hallway, after a brief conversation, he bops his head back in, "It's your mom, she says it's important."
I nod, "tell her I'll be right with her, just as soon as I finish this injection and start the process."
Spike nods, then tells my mom to wait a moment.
Surprisingly though, my family took quite well to the baby dragon, at first there was a bit of apprehension, being a mythological creature entering your home and all. My dad in particular wanted to keep an eye out for his fire breath, being the paranoid father he always is. However Spike's good nature and willingness to learn did ease the tension, albeit by little.
After I finish the injection and realized the process started on screen, I went to the hall and picked up the phone, I answered in my native tongue, "[What could be so important that you need to call me in the middle of my first day of lab work?]"
The next words that I heard left a hole in my heart, "[Someone is here for Spike; his name is Shining Armor. He is a horse, son.]"
My mouth became dry, and my mind swirled in a thousand direction, however the only thought that kept popping up in my head was too soon.
"[Pippa stop growling at our guest.]" My mother's voice broke my daze as I realized that my dog is still giving a low, though audible, growl, then I hear a nervous voice from the background saying: "Nice doggy, good doggy."
I look at my watch and realize it's still 7:30 in the morning, so my mom is still at home and haven't went to work yet, "[I'll be done around 1:00 at noon, so I'll be there around 3:00 in the afternoon.]"
"[Son, I don't think you heard me right. There is a Horse, in my House.]"
"[Mom, we talked about this, the dragon comes from a land of candy colored horses. Besides, he is sentient, so I'm sure you can talk to him about it, he'll understand.]"
"[Fine, but if he makes a mess, you're cleaning it up.]"
I sigh before closing the line.
Spike looks at me with concern, "Is everything alright?"
I look at him and gave a smile, "Good news, you're going home."
Its 2:00 in the afternoon, Spike has been unable to hold his excitement, as he keeps jumping up and down on the window of the bus. After I told him who came to pick him up, Spike left to my dorm, packed all his stuff, then returned to the lab all giddy and such, then waited patiently while I finished my work, got my results, ate lunch with him, sent my results to my professor, went straight to the station, met up with my sister, then took the bus to my hometown.
"[Such a sad face,]" my sister teases, "[and here I thought you'd be happy for him, not that you grew overly attached or anything, just saying.]"
"[I am,]" I reply nonspecifically, "[there has been something on my mind though.]"
"[Care to share?]"
"[Well I don't think Spike is being completely honest with me.]"
My sister turns to me with a fake shocked expression.
"[You knew, didn't you.]" I say expecting her answer.
"[Call it instincts, it just seems like he knew you too well, he knew you would house him in, although he is a creature from another dimension, he knew you would take care of him, keep him safe, don't you find that a little odd?]"
I nod at her insinuation. "[What bugged me the most is that he knew exactly where I lived, both my dorm and our hometown, it's like he's been instructed to know.]"
"Hey," Spike looks at us, "What are you two talking about?"
We both look at him for a moment, I sigh then answer, "Well, I've been wandering about something."
"About what?"
"Every time you talked about the show, I get the feeling that there is something you keep hiding from me, like there is another character, or a series of events that you purposefully don't want me to know about."
Spike's expression changed almost in an instant, he has that same look my dog has when she gets caught doing something bad. "Like when?" he feigns ignorance.
"Well, when you told me about that time you released Discord from his prison." I explain trying to recap his exact words, "You said Celestia had a very big plan for him, and that he is the only one who could perform it, but you never told me what it is, even though you seemed to have known about it."
"Or that story about Flim Flam brothers," My sister interjects, "You said that someone already proved their tonic didn't work but everyone ignored him because Applejack said that it did."
The guilt on his face intensifies, "Ok," he cracks surprisingly fast, "there is something I kept hidden from you."
"[Aha, I knew it.]" My sister replies triumphantly.
"[Shut it.]" I tell her, knowing my sister, I wouldn't hear the end of it. However that did earn me that Oh so joyful death glare from her, which means I am definitely not going to hear the end of it now.
I then return to Spike who looks at me apologetically, "Are you mad at me?"
I gave a deep sigh, "Not really, but I do like to know what it is you are hiding from me."
Spike hesitates for a moment, "I...can't. I made a magical promise not to."
Frustration starts to show on my sister, "Oh come on, don't tell me it's that Pinkie Pie promise, you know that a horse isn't going to come out of nowhere and punch you in the face, right?"
Spike looks a bit on edge, "You wish it's a Pinkie Pie promise." he turns his neck to us, and for the first time I notice there is a triangular mark on his neck.
"What on earth is that?"
"It's a charm, it prevents me from talking about it."
My sister looked more aghast than I am, "[I'm not sure I want to send him back.]" she tells me, and for the first time I agree with her, that is extremely cruel.
"[We'll ask about it before we give him to whomever is there to pick him up.]"
"I knew it, you're mad at me." Spike's eyes tear up all of a sudden, as the once very cheerful dragon turns sad.
Surprisingly though, it was my sister who picked and started to coo him, "There, there, we're not mad at you, calm down now and stop crying, remember you are going back home." Which earned us more than a few inquisitive looks.
"[Just focus on your driving.]" I yell at the bus driver, who seemed most eager to butt in.
We reach our family house at 4:15 in the afternoon to find, much to our surprise, the front door open, and Pippa barking rigorously at something from inside.
I motion silently to my sister who was carrying Spike on her shoulder to hide in the hallway while I sneak in from the door to my room, then silently reach to my Bokken before heading toward the saloon where I found my dog barking at a large purple bubble.
"Uh, Hello?!" I yell from behind the door.
"Help me." was all the bubble could manage.
"Shining Armor I presume?"
"Yeah, can you please get that monster away from me?"
I smirk, then motion for my sister to get in with Spike.
"[Pippa, down.]" I yell and my dog runs to greet me all the while keeping an eye on our guest.
"Shining!" Spike yelled then ran toward his elder sibling.
Shining, at hearing his younger's voice, brought down the shield then trotted toward him giving him a big hug.
My sister came from behind and whispers, "[Can I keep him as a pet?]"
"[The horse?]"
She nods.
"[Do you want to give your mother a heart attack?]"
"[But it's a magical talking horse with a horn on its head, it's every girl's dream to own one.]"
I gave her a deep contemplative stare before breaking into laughter.
"Thank you for taking care of him," Shining steps toward us, earning a growl from my dog, "we were worried sick that he might be in deep trouble."
"It's ok, just one thing, why was the front door open, and where are my parents?"
Shining scratched his head with his hoof, earning a squee from my sister. "I think your parents are still at work, as for the door..." his eyes trail off to my dog, "I was running away from her, but she didn't even let me through the door."
I don't know what's more comical, the fact that a dragon is afraid of my pup, or the fact that a full grown horse is afraid of her.
Either way, she is being a bit too aggressive for my liking, I know she doesn't like strangers, but to that degree!? I think a behavior correction is needed before things get out of hand.
"We still need to ask you a few questions before you leave," I hear my sister step in from behind.
Oh right. The mark.
"I know." was all Shining Armor said before a shroud of purple light surround his horn and knocked my sister and I unconscious.
"What did you..." was all I heard before darkness swept in.
"[Pippa, Stop.]" I wake up with my dog licking my face, just as I got up, I realize I was in my room, which is pretty odd, because the last thing I remember is looking over the results of my experiment, in the university's cafeteria.
"[How?]" But before I could ask my question, I hear my mother from the door, "[You're awake!]"
"[Why am I here?]" I ask her, "[Or better yet, how did I get here?]"
"[I don't know, your dad and your sister are here as well,]" her answer seem mired with mystery, "[seems we are all having a collective amnesia or something. Do you remember anything from last month?]"
I tried to remember, all that came into my mind are the plethora of articles I have read this month to get to the practical stage of my research. "[Just studying. Is everyone alright?]"
My mother nod.
"[Guess I have to go back to my dorm, any idea what time it is?]"
"[It's half past midnight.]"
Damn.
Equestria:
Shining Armor and Spike walk of the portal mirror, and for the first time since its opening twelve hours ago I start to relax, ceasing whatever amount of magic I have been conjuring. I watch as a purple alicorn to my left does the same, and to my right, the draconequus flops on a fainting couch with Rarity still on it.
"Get off of me you brute." the white unicorn exclaimed as she ran toward the dragon who was being hugged by his sister. the same sister who had been frantically trying for the past month to find a way to bring him back after she 'accidentally' did a test run on my fourth wall breaking mirror. Which isn't complete by the way.
Shining Armor approaches me, "You could have warned me of how vicious your dog is."
I give him a hurt expression, "my dog is a shrimpy canine who likes to jump, lick, eat, sleep, and poop. And not necessary in that order."
"And use me as a chewing toy." Spike protests while being smothered in hugs and kisses.
"And chase me around the house." Shining Armor continues, "Seriously, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were raising the spawn of Cerberus."
"Any way." I need a change of subject, "Thank you for your unnecessary help Twilight, again. Now I know how to fix the time and space because of your little mishap. Still I need to find a way to incorporate a species changing spell into it, can't walk in the human world looking like a changeling." I give thme a halfhearted laugh.
"Oh you're such a downer." Jumps Discord who had been oddly calm until now, "Where is the fun in being the same specie as everyone else? I mean look at me." fireworks starts to come out of his back side. "Besides, you're a changeling, can't you change into a human once you're there?"
"There is no magic in the human world," why am I having this conversation anyway, each and everyone in this room have at least tried to kill me once, some even thrice. "And unless I want to end up on a burning spike in city center square, I will never head home as a changeling."
"But I never saw anyone being killed like that." Spike has the rights to it. But yet again, he spent his entire time wearing the most concealing clothes I could ever find for him. So even if he was ever seen, he'd probably looked like a stompy little kid.
"In fact, the only time I ever saw violence, is when you told Shining Armor to wipe your memory and the memory of your entire family, of Me!" The sudden sadness on Spike's face spoke volumes, as a changeling I can taste his love for me, and I have to admit, there is a lot of it, have I made a mistake?
"You need to understand, Spike, I only did this to protect my family from this." I motion to myself, I don't know if my family will become changelings if they come here, but after what I have been through... "Unfortunately it came at your expense."
"I understand your need to protect your family." Spike broke from the hugs of his lover and sister. "But what about your memories? Aren't I important enough for you to remember?"
"I'm sorry," I answer while shaking my head, then grab the mirror with my magic and start to trot toward my house at the other end of town. Leaving without saying a word is becoming a habit I must get rid of before returning home.
Half way home Discord interrupts my march, "wait. Aren't you forgetting something?"
"What are you talking about?" I really don't want to deal with him at that moment.
"Aren't you forgetting to say something to your readers?"
I got dumbstruck for a moment, "Your utter disregard of the fourth wall is frightening."
"Says the guy who is trying to cross It." he quirks his head toward me. "You'll be leaving them with a major cliffhanger ending of what is supposed to have been a one shot fan fiction."
"You do realize that in my other fan fiction I am trying to kill you, right?" I reply expecting something to change.
"Meh, I'll survive." he replies nonchalantly, to my disappointment. Then gets excited again, "So, tell them!"
"Fine, but I'll tell them only in letter form." I don't need him to know what I'm about to tell them, he is more fickle than my mother about my dates.
My dearest, most faithful readers.
What you have just read is the prelude to a major story I am currently writing titled "From Biochemistry with Love."
Hope you enjoy it as much as I am enjoying writing it.
Yours truly.
"That's it?" Discord suddenly snatches the letter from my magical grasp. "Where is the juice? Where are the secrets? Where is the action?"
"Discord, get back here with that letter or else." I growl with anger, I am at wits end with this world, and that chimera's pranks.
"Or else what?" he taunts me, while waving that letter in front of my face.
It takes me a second to conjure my magic and change my shape into that of my dog. A growling Bichon Havanese.
"Oh you're so cute, with those floppy ears and that bushy tail and... AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH."
And Discord learned his first lesson about the human world: dogs there, no matter how small, have very sharp teeth.
Author's Note
Just to satisfy your curiosity, here is a picture of my dog and her pup:
my dog and her pup
Also, my dog is nowhere half as vicious as I make her out to be, she is a guard dog mind you, but she spends all her time sleeping on my bed instead of actually being a threat to strangers who she doesn't like.
About "From Biochemistry with Love." Well you just got the main idea from this little exposition, however that story is much older than this one, the only problem is that it doesn't have a timeline or a structure, and previous experience have proven that I can't publish a story without a timeline at the very least. (for those who remember Darkrise) However I made the connection between the 2 stories yesterday eve when I received not one but 2 comments on continuing it.
And finally, 'From Biochemistry with Love.' will not be published so soon. there is still much work to be done before that happens. Consider this a teaser from me because I am mean spirited.
Yours truly
IMN