Episode II

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Have you ever had one of those days when you'd ask fate if things could get worse... only to eat those words shortly afterwards? Well let me tell you about how I not only met Spike, Twilight's number 1 assistant... but how things quickly escalated after THAT point...

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The week's been quite a busy one. From more job hunts to potential interviews, I've had a lot less sleep than normal... but with great progress, however, came the price of last-minute issues boiling up.

Some of those issues involved my bike's tires going flat. Others ended up being rescheduled appointments and interviews...

But what I didn't expect throughout this week, was to have not one, but two extra guests arriving from the portal and my bedroom door.

It turns out, I've been given the last-minute chore to babysit my niece today, due to a doctor's appointment for my older brother. As a result, I'm having to watch out for a four year old girl and two Equestrians... or rather, a pony and, according to Twilight, a baby dragon.

Baby? Yes, but still. A. Freakin'. DRAGON!

But that's not the worst part! See it turns out, the portal opened up as soon as Gracie got hungry...

So now here I am, standing in the center of my room with a pony, a dragon, and now another human that knows about Equestria... and that other human happens to be a girl who's hyperactive enough as it is without much to think about! Throw in a creature that looks right up her imaginary alley, and I've got a crisis to avert.

Namely, the crisis of her shouting "PONY!" every time she looks at my bedroom door, which is right next to my older brother's room.

Twilight smiles sheepishly at me as I stand with my face firmly planted in my palm. She raises a hoof to speak, but I cut her off by raising my free hand and motioning "One second" to her. Gracie steps forward one time, but stops when I repeat the motion to her as well.

Finally, with a heavily strained, obviously forced smile, I speak for the two of them, motioning towards the one who's name is called out.

"Twilight, Gracie. Gracie, Twilight."

They both wave and say "Hi!" to each other before looking up at me, silently waiting for me to continue.

Me, however? I'm slightly taken aback by this... unusually casual meeting.

"Okay...? That went down a lot more smoother that I originally thought it would..." I murmur, before clearing my throat and looking at the two unexpected guests.

"So, I'm sure we all have questions for each other... but before then, I have to ask," I look at Twilight and motion towards the purple reptilian thing, "Twilight... why did you bring a dragon into my room?!"

She looks between the dragon and I before motioning towards the two of us, mimicking the introduction style I did for her and Gracie.

"Spike, Justin. Justin, Spike."

Neither Spike, nor I, however, respond with a simple "Hi".

"You got something against dragons, Mr. Daniels?" he hisses, likely offended by my statement to Twilight.

I'm quickly taken aback by the fact that, apparently, her baby dragon sounds like an eight-year-old that's, apparently, fluent enough to talk like a child, and not like a baby.

Regardless of the newfound knowledge that he isn't an out-of-control infant, I still can't stop myself from feeling offended by his assumption. In such a scenario, I usually call it the results of an unclear mood, which was caused by the stress-elevating events transpiring all around me... but I digress.

I cross my arms and return a deadpanned look at him. "No! I have a thing against fire hazards in my room... and from what Twilight showed me, you're supposed to be a baby dragon! Don't you breathe fire every time you burp or sneeze?"

He rolls his eyes and replies, "No!" Twilight, however, nods her head behind his perspective.

I tilt my head disbelievingly at him, then decide to drop the subject, considering my niece is still present, and I'm not feeling like arguing with a baby... mostly because I might end up arguing with one, anyways.

"Alright, then... anyways, it's not just the fact that there's a bunch of flammable objects in my room. Gracie here is... very sensitive when it comes to making new friends and saying goodbye."

"Goodbye?" she repeats, making my point.

"Yeah, goodbye... but not now, though!" I say, as her eyes begin to water up. Like usual, she completely ignored the second half of what I've said, and is convinced that I'm telling her to leave the area.

I sigh and deadpan as she cries and storms out of my room in a fit of anger and sadness. Twilight winces as she hears her raise her voice in the other room, then looks up at me.

"Um... is this a bad time?"

I shake my head and turn to face her. "Nah. She does this all the time... well, when her dad isn't around, that is."

"And have you reported that to him, yet?" Spike adds, still grumpy at me.

I nod and rub the growing pain in my eyes. "Yeah... unfortunately, though, she learns at her own pace... and half of what anyone says just goes in one ear and out the other. Honestly, the only ways to get her to cooperate in this situation, at least when you're not Ron, is either through bribery or threats to get her dad on the phone... sometimes both."

"Phone?" Twilight asks, only for me to pull said device out of my pocket, refreshing her memory on the subject.

"Ron?" Spike tilts his head confusedly, only for Twilight to answer for me.

"It's the name of his older brother, and Gracie's father... correct?"

I nod my head in response, then sigh. "Yeah..." I then look at Spike and scratch the back of my hair. "Hey, listen, uh... Spike. It's been a pretty stressful week for me... but maybe I've overreacted a bit. I'm on some pretty heavy medication right now, so I'm really not fully aware of some of the things I say.

"That said, I'm sorry if anything I say comes off on the wrong foot... or hoof... or claw, whatever.

"Point is, if you promise not to burn the house down, then I'm cool with you being here. Alright?"

He nods and seems to lighten up at that. "Yeah, okay... sorry for coming here unannounced."

I wave a dismissive hand at him. "Nah, it's all good. Twilight's first appearance was similar... and to be honest, I doubt if there's even a way for us to announce who appears where."

Twilight rubs her chin in thought, then looks at me confused. "I have to ask, though... Spike lives in a library that's literally made out of wood. The pages of the books and even the walls themselves are a lot more flammable than most of the things I see in here. Why exactly were you worried about Spike causing a fire?"

I shrug my shoulders. "To be honest, your world has magic. Literally anything could happen there... maybe your library has fireproof wood? Whatever the case, since this world has no magic in it... or probably a little magic due to the portal and what-not, I doubt if you'd be able to cast a fireproof spell big enough to sustain it in time... at least without hurting yourself too much."

I point at my TV on my desk, where a Wii U and an Xbox One rest in front of it. "Plus I have some expensive equipment in my room... not sure if your magic could fix that if it got burnt... especially considering you may not even have such technology in Equestria."

Spike, however, gasps and stares wide-eyed at the assortment that he's now noticing for, seemingly, the first time.

"Wait... dude, you have games on this planet?!"

I raise an eyebrow as a small smile begins to creep up on my face. "Yeah, actually... lots of 'em. You have video games there, too?"

He nods and claps his claws together. "Of course we do! I sometimes visit my friend, Button Mash. Other times, he visits Rarity's place, and it ends in a sleepover."

"Rarity... that's one of Twilight's friends, isn't it?" I look to said unicorn for clarification. She, of course, nods her head in response.

"Yeah. He's her younger sister's coltfriend, so he visits quite a lot. Every time, though, he'd bring his game systems with him, and we'd either play a few fighting games, or when we feel like cooperation, we'd boot up a few RPGs... or R-"

"Role-Playing Games?" I half-ask, half-complete.

When he gives a toothy grin, my smile grows wider. Perhaps this visit won't be so bad after all.

"So hey, Spike... got room for a few games?"

Twilight interrupts his wide smile with a frown. "Um, sorry to interrupt, but isn't this trip supposed to be about us learning more about each others' worlds, and not mindlessly playing video games?!"

Spike sighs and deadpans at her, before muttering, "Killjoy..."

I, however, already have a plan for this.

"Actually, who's to say that this can't be an educational experience?"

"Uh... what do you mean by that?" she asks, now starting to show intrigue.

I shrug and reply, "Well, we know the genres are similar by name... but who's to say there aren't any differences in what we find entertaining?"

And now, she's confused. I clear my throat and clarify.

"What are the differences between the games of my world and yours?"

She rubs her chin and shrugs. "I don't know... but why would it matter?"

And now it's me who looks shocked at her. Spike nudges my leg, and whispers, "She doesn't like video games."

"Wait... what do you have against video games, Twi?"

"Yeah, Twilight! Why don't we just see if this world's video games are much more interesting than the ones in Equestria?"

She glares at me, before groaning. "Fine... but I get to play the first one!"

I look at Spike, who shrugs and nods. "Alright, then, Twilight... but I get to choose the game for you."

When she agrees, I boot up the Xbox. Gracie peeks inside from the corner of my door.

I look at her and ask, "Gracie... game?"

She cheers and jumps for joy, before carrying her small pink chair in.

Once everyone's all seated, I start the game up... I choose Call of Duty Zombies. Good ol' Nacht der Untoten.

Her mane is frazzled as she rushes from window to window. To my surprise, she's made it to Wave 20 after repeatedly dying due to the lack of understanding in the controls. (Her first death was hysterical. She actually asked how I can wave at it and greet it nicely!)

I've hooked up a second controller for Spike to use. It's quite amazing how well coordinated the two of them are, as well as how strategic their plans have been thus far. When one would fall in battle, the other would rush to their aid.

Gracie's taken quite a liking to them. When she first got her chair, she asked for me to help her because her chair was "stuck"... and by that, it was held in an angle that made it catch onto the crack between the door's hinges. And I could feel her teasingly pushing it further into the crack, as if trying to overpower my strength.

She tends to toy with me a lot... not sure if it's from her grandfather's side of the family, or what. Regardless, though, she gave Twilight and Spike a good laugh or two when she sent me back and forth for Honey Buns.

"Honey... Bun!" I would say with slight annoyance within my tone.

"Hunny Bunny!" she would retort, sticking her tongue out at me, as I continuously try and try again at correcting her English.

Twilight and Spike would at least be entertained from our shenanigans. And what's more, Twilight doesn't seem to mind Gracie addressing her as "Pony"... or in Gracie's Volumetric level, "PONY!"

Before long, though, my watch beeps, pulling them all from their stupor.

"What? It's been an hour already?! But it's almost like we just got here!" Twilight whines.

I roll my eyes and smirk. "Well you were on Call of Duty for over fourty five minutes, before I started fixing us the sandwiches."

She sighs, but nods her head in understanding. "Yeah... though I'm still slightly disappointed in you for not fixing me a daisy sandwich!"

I see the playful smirk on her face, and direct my own wit back at her. "Yeah, because us humans would rather eat daisies instead of good ol' proteins and such."

They chuckle once more before they start heading towards the bed.

As soon as they begin walking, however, Gracie starts to tear up. "Pony?"

I sigh and crouch down to her eye level. "Yeah... sorry, but they've gotta go home for now. Don't worry, they'll be back next week. Alright?"

"Okay..." she says before sniffling.

I've already been through this act before. She's not really that upset, what with them having only known each other for a little while. However, I've already got a plan. I pull a small laser pointer out of my pocket and flash it at the wall outside the room.

"Hey Gracie! Look, it's a fairy!"

She follows my finger as I point at the culprit on the wall. She gasps before rushing towards it.

When she's out, I close the door. "Thank goodness for ADHD..."

I then look at Twilight, who already sent Spike back into the portal.

"So, I take it the games in this world are better?" I ask, to which she silently nods.

"Oh, yes... I was so immersed into it... despite how scary it was, though, I had fun."

I nod my head and smile back at her. "Thanks... I'm glad you liked it."

"But I have to ask... how come you didn't recognize Spike? Wasn't he on the crystal memories I've sent you?"

I think back, but come up blank. "Sorry, Twilight. Can't say I could recall him from those things."

"Oh..." she says, now being slightly downtrodden.

"Hey, what's up? Why are you so down, now?"

She sighs and shakes her head. "Well... ever since I've moved into Ponyville, my main focus was to study on the Magic of Friendship... but up until recently, I've been focusing less on Spike, and his well-being."

I cross my arms over my chest. "Something you need to talk about while he isn't here?"

She nods her head. "Yeah... you see, not too long ago, he got into an argument with me on the matter... or rather, we got into an argument with each other about it."

"An argument, huh? Well, can't say that isn't a common thing here, too."

"I know... but even still, it got pretty heated up... I was afraid that he was going to run off, again!"

"Hmm..." I ponder, only to hear the familiar sound of the portal crackling up.

"Come back tomorrow, and we'll talk more about it, okay?"

She smiles and nods, before rushing towards the portal. "Okay... thanks, Justin! I'll be back around noon-ish!"

"Sounds good!" I wave at her as she vanishes beneath the bed. Mere seconds pass before the sounds of the portal's shimmering fade.

And then, silence.

"Well, crap... they looked fine to me... was there something I missed?" I ponder a bit longer, before hearing Gracie knocking on my door.

I open it up, and smile as she jumps in the air. "I did it! I caught the fairy!"

I clap my hands and gently brush her hair. "Good job, Gracie!" I then get to her eye level again, and give her the "Serious Look"... something she's thankfully gotten familiar with when I have something important to tell her.

"But listen, Gracie... can you keep a secret?"

"A secret?" she echoes, to which I nod and make a shushing gesture. She shushes back and nods her head.

"Okay... it's about the pony."

"Pony?"

"Yes, the pony. Can you keep her a secret from everyone?"

"Everyone?"

"Yes... don't tell anyone about her, alright?"

"Alright!" She nods her head and claps her hands, before running through the hall again.

I sigh in relief, knowing that the crisis was averted.

"Daddy!" she yells, followed by the sound of the front door opening and closing.

"Hey, Gracie!" his voice responds. "How're you doing?"

"I'm good!" she replies. I smile, having had yet another good-

"I played with a dragon!"

I deadpan, then plant my face into my palm.

"A dragon, you say?" he asks, sounding evermore confused.

"Yeah! But we can't tell anyone about the pony!"

And now, my face meets the wall.

Author's Note

EPISODE II: COMPLETE!

Episode 3 Status: 100% (Posted!)

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7,918/7,918 Words

Last Update: 4/10/2017