It's Hero Time!

Chapters

When you wish upon a star.
You pay the price.
The 10.
The 10. Part II
The 10. Part III
The First Strike
The Plumbers
Steel Gear
Training and Equipment
Tests and Truths
Apologies
Learning Sucks.
Screw Destiny
A new era
Celestia's day off.
Bounties and Time
The Doctor is in.

When you wish upon a star.

In the town of Ponyville there was a lot of hustle and bustle for a what was considered to be a small town. In that town there was everything that a pony could need to live comfortably and it that town was a dragon named Spike. I was content with my life, assisting Twilight and her friends. Though if I were to be truthful with myself, I want to help more. I looked up at the stars and then back at the pony that I considered to be my mother. Who was sound asleep after a tough night of studying. Sometimes I wish I could help more with them, that’s me I’m Spike.

I liked looking at the stars, it makes me wonder sometimes about what could be out there. I’ll never tell Twilight though, hopefully she’ll never find out. I looked back out on the stars and smiled, then I saw an incredible sight. It was a shooting star! I saw it and closed my eyes making a wish. I wish I could help the girls more. When I opened my eyes I saw the same shooting star, getting a little too close. “That’s not a shooting star.” It’s a meteor! The meteor crashed in the Whitetail woods. I almost stumbled off the balcony. I ran over to Twilight and shook her yet she wasn’t budging. I knew the Whitetail woods was a popular camping ground and it was summer time, so it was almost a guarantee.

I had to go look to make sure that nopony was hurt! I ran off to the supply closet and grabbed a jacket, a first aid kit, and a flashlight. I ran out of the library and ran as fast as my legs could carry me then I tripped and fell. I got up, dusted myself off and grabbed my stuff double checking to make sure that none my stuff was broken or missing. Then I continued to the place where the meteor crashed. As I looked around I saw small fires and stomped them out before they could spread. Being a dragon had it’s perks, that meant an immunity to flames, lava, and magma.

“Hello? Is anypony there?” I asked with my voice raised. It seems like nopony was answering. I looked around some more and then I stumbled upon the point of impact. The crater that the meteorite had left and I peaked inside the crater. Looking at the meteorite it was…different.

I read a few astronomy books, mostly when I was bored and had read all my comics. Almost if not all of meteorites were rocks, but this looked to be made of metal. My curiosity getting the better of me I climbed over the lip of the upturned dirt and slid down into the crater. The metal meteorite then suddenly opened up and inside of it was……a wristwatch? That’s strange I reached out to touch it when the wristwatch suddenly came alive and jumped out at me!

It attached itself to my wrist and closed around my arm! “AAAAAHHHHH!” I shook my arm trying to get it off but it wouldn’t budge. “Uh oh, Twilight isn’t going to be happy about this.” Then I heard a noise come from the wristwatch and stared at it. It looked so weird, my curiosity overriding my logic I started to mess with the watch. It looked like it had buttons on it so naturally I pressed it. Then the center of the watch popped out and on its surface was a silhouette. “Huh?” I pressed down on the center to see if it would go back in and stay like that, oh how wrong I was.

There was another noise and then I felt myself changing, my body was becoming hotter and hotter, while my skin start to change into these clustered rock-like formations. It spread faster than I could imagine and before I knew it I had changed. I looked down to see that not only had I changed, but I grew taller. “Whoa!” Not only that, but my voice changed as well! I was looking all around my body to see that I had become like a mix of lava and fire. I looked in the shiny reflection of the metal meteorite and saw my face was different. I put one of my hands up to my face, which was now an never ending torrent of fire. When I heard the voice of someone familiar. It was the voice of Rainbow Dash.

“Hey I think I see something over here!”

I was almost about to call out when I realized something I didn’t look like myself. They might treat me hostile! I don’t want to fight my friends! I was panicking thinking of something to do or say that might convince them that it was me, but it was too late. I heard a collective gasp and when I turned around I saw my six best friends all looking at me. “Um……hi?”

“Get back girls this thing could be dangerous!” I heard Twilight say. That really hurt me, I know she can’t tell that it’s me but calling me a thing isn’t really nice.

I got up and climbed out of the crater. “Look, I’m not going to hurt any of you, there’s been a big misunderstanding!”

“Twilight, it’s an alien!” Rainbow Dash said. “What should we do?”

“I-I don’t know, I haven’t dealt with anything like this before!” Twilight said.

I took a step forward and the girls got into a defensive stance. “Don’t you dare make another move!” Applejack threatened.

I raised my hands up defensively when all of a sudden fire shot out of my hands and the girls had to split up to dodge it. “I didn’t mean to do that-” I was too late as Rainbow Dash charged forward at incredible speeds and I had to drop to the ground just to barely avoid getting hit.

“Think you can attack by surprise do yah hothead!?” Rainbow taunted from the sky. “I’ll show you not to mess with Rainbow ‘Danger’ Dash!” She charged again.

Twilight meanwhile had put a shield up and was looking at the fight when something caught her eye. It was a first aid kit, and not just any first aid kit. It was hers, there was also a flashlight there too! No wonder Spike was missing when the girls woke her up to investigate the crash, Spike had gotten here first! That alien must have done something to her baby! Twilight was pissed off now! She dropped the shield and shot at the alien with a magic stunning beam. “What did you do to my SON!?” She yelled while joining Rainbow in the fray.

Twilight thinks I did something to me! I got to show her that I’m Spike! Stupid watch, can’t you change me back!? I thought to myself as the symbol on my chest started to flash red and make a sound like it was shutting off! Then a red flash of light went off blinded both Twilight and Rainbow Dash. When they looked back to see where the alien had gotten off to, yet in it’s place was…...Spike!?

You pay the price.

“Spike!?” Twilight yelled out in confusion while Spike held his head. The other girls rushed forward, “Spike what happened to you? I thought you were hurt or worse!”

“More importantly where did that alien go off to?” Rainbow said. “That thing has got some questions of mine to answer.”

“Girls, that wasn’t an alien. It was me.” Spike said then he showed the wristwatch. “This thing turned me into that.”

“What is it?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know.” Spike then explained what happened up until now.

“Can you take it off?” Rarity asked.

“I tried but nothing I do will work!” Spike exclaimed.

“Let me try.” Twilight approached her baby dragon and try she did but nothing worked. The other girls stepped up to the plate, sans Fluttershy and still nothing worked. Applejack tied a lasso around the base of it and almost dislocated Spike’s shoulder. Rarity used some knitting needles that Twilight conjured for her to try to use leverage to get it off but they just bent into a weird shape. After almost everypony tried to get it off they gave up.

“Okay, I know when to give up and I usually never do.” Rainbow said. “I’m tapping out.”

Twilight’s head then popped up when she realized something. “Oh Spike I’m so sorry!” She hugged the baby drake.

“For what?”

“I called you a thing, then Rainbow and I attacked you!” She hugged me tighter.

“It’s alright Twilight, I don’t blame you. Although your words hurt, I understand that you were confused and didn’t know.” I said to her.

“Alright, now that that’s settled I want to say a few things. First I’m proud of you for responding as you did, and I won’t scorn you for going off because you did try to wake me up first. But I’m also a little mad because you scared the daylights out of me, you didn’t think to leave a note?”

“I’m sorry Twilight.” I said to her.

“I’m just glad everything is alright.” Fluttershy said.

“Well now what do we do?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“We need to inform the princesses about what happened.” Twilight said. “Spike, take a letter.”

“Twilight, I know it’s one of my jobs as your assistant, but could you do it yourself please? I’m pooped.” I said to her while flopping down and blinking my tired eyes.

“Alright, but you have to send it okay?” Twilight told me as she used her magic to write the letter.”

“No problem.” I said as she finished drafting the letter, rolling up into a scroll, and I used my magic fire breath to send it to the princess.

“She should get it in the morning.” Twilight lifted me onto her back and used her magic to levitate the other items I had brought in her magic. I fell asleep on her back, but not before I noticed that the watch turned from red back to green. I didn’t care at the moment though.

Twilight walked back to the library and set Spike down in her bed and tucked both him and herself in. “I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling about this.” Twilight said as she eyed the watch that was attached to Spike’s wrist.

The dawn came quickly and I shifted awake, I sat up and stretched out my limbs feeling a weight on my right arm. I looked to see the watch. “Oh, so it wasn’t a dream.” I looked around and heard a conversation coming from downstairs. I got up and straightened the bed before I walked downstairs and saw Twilight talking with the Princesses.

“There he is, Spike did you sleep well?” Twilight asked.

“I did, may I ask why the princesses are here?” I asked.

“We’re here to investigate the meteorite.” Luna said.

“I’m here to make sure that none of the ponies panic over this.” Celestia said.

“We are here to run security and make sure that nothing is tampered with. We would inquire you to come along since part of the investigation involves what is on thine wrist.” Luna said.

“You’re doing much better with catching up with the modern language.” Twilight complimented.

“Thank you Twilight.” Luna smiled.

“I don’t mind coming along.” I said. “It would really benefit us if we found out what this thing is.”

“Yes it would.” Twilight agreed and Celestia nodded.

The group of four filed out of the library and split up, Twilight went with her mentor and I went with Luna. “Hey Luna?” I asked while we were walking.

“Yes Spike?” Luna looked at me.

“I was wondering, how come you didn’t know that this meteorite was coming if you’re the princess of the night? Don’t you control the stars?”

“Well it’s difficult to explain, I do and I don’t. If I could physically control the stars Nightmare Moon would have been much more powerful.” Luna shivered a bit at the thought. “The thing is the stars are actually like the sun, and they are very massive, yet their light takes millions of years to reach our vision. So what I do is that I bend the light to make different images in the sky each night, but I can’t physically move them.”

“Then why say you do?” I asked.

“Because the reason I just explained is very complicated and it’s easier to say I do. I don’t like to lie to them, but it’s easier.” Luna said.

“I understand.” I said.

“I did try to explain, but the ponies just got confused and I just sighed and said I move the stars.” Luna finished as they reached the area where the meteorite landed. “Come with me Spike.”

I followed along beside her. “What are we going to do?”

“First we’re going to examine and see if there is any reaction between the device on your arm and the meteorite.” Luna explained and I nodded and followed.

“What if nothing happens?” I asked.

“Then we will shift our focus onto the device.” Luna said and gestured to to a table. “Please sir Spike.”

I hopped onto the table and held out my wrist to the meteorite. Nothing happened, so I waited patiently for a few seconds as ponies looked. “Nothing’s happening.” I said.

“Hmm, alright so we can conclude that the meteorite was more of a transport vessel for the device.” Luna said. “Can we see what the device can do?”

“Alright.” I pressed the button and the center popped out. The image was different. “Wait a minute.” I didn’t press the center down but I shifted it to the side and the image changed. “Luna, look.”

Luna looked at the display as Spike turned it. “It seems like that you have multiple selections. Try one.”

“Okay.” I was hesitant but switched it to something I liked, it looked like a big guy, so I pressed it down. My skin started to change color and soon turned red while I grew bigger and then I grew two extra arms!? By the time the transformation was finished I was taller than Luna and she stared at me with a mix of excitement and shock. When I transformed Twilight came in the moment before I activated the watch.

“Whoa.” Twilight and Luna said in unison.

“Spike? Is that you?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah it’s me.” I said to her. I looked at my muscles and flexed them. “Get a load of these pythons. I bet I could beat Big Mac in arm wrestling now.” I smiled.

“Yeah I bet.” Twilight giggled. “Though what confuses me is that you weren’t the same as last night.”

“It seems that this device can transform Spike into more than one creature.” Luna explained.

“So then how many creatures can Spike turn into?” Twilight asked.

“That remains to be seen.” Luna said then she turned to Spike. “Spike you must understand that even though that this was an accident it still is a great responsibility. You must be able to control yourself and not let your desires override that.”

I looked at Luna, “I understand princess.”

“Don’t worry princess.” Twilight spoke up, “I’ll keep Spike in line if he doesn’t keep to his word.” Then she looked at Spike again. “Well, I’ll try my best.”

“Now Spike, do you mind if we run a few tests while you’re in that form?”

“Not at all.” I agreed and they took several small samples. Nothing that couldn’t grow back in a week or so. Then they drew some blood. They were lucky they did it on time because the watch timed out soon after.

“Hmm fascinating.” Luna said.

“What is it?” Twilight inquired.

“I had one of my scientists keep track of how long Spike stayed in that form and it’s exactly 10 minutes to the dot.”

I walked up to Twilight. “Hey Twilight, can I talk to you in private?”

“Sure.” Twilight walked out of the area that the guard had closed off and I followed. We walked until we were out of earshot from the others and then I started to talk.

“Twilight, last night. I made a wish.” I told her.

“Yes?”

“And that wish was, that I could help you girls out more. I know you girls appreciate and thank me for everything I do but with all the adventures you go on, I felt. Left out.”

“Spike why didn’t you say anything?” Twilight asked getting choked up.

“Because it wasn’t that I was mad, or angry, in fact I was happy. I know you girls didn’t do it on purpose. But I always felt that I could do more than just be a number one assistant. When I made that wish, the meteorite crashed and I got the watch. I’m telling you this because I want to join you girls more. I want to feel like I’m as much as part of the group as anypony else.”

“Spike.” Twilight wiped her tears and hugged me. “I’m sorry I forgot you, even if it was an accident. Yes you can come along with us.”

“But if I do come along I can’t get my chores done.” I said.

“How about we split the chores, and if I skip out on a day I’ll do all of them the next day. But the only thing I ask is that you keep cooking.”

I chuckle a bit, “Yeah you are pretty bad at cooking, almost as bad as Sweetie Belle.”

“Yeah.” Twilight scratched the back of her head.

The watch beeped and turned green. I looked at it, “I know Luna said I have to be responsible but I want to have a little fun with it.”

“Nothing too dramatic, and don’t go scaring the locals.” Twilight said.

“Would you mind getting the girls? I want to show them what I can do as well.” I asked.

“Alright, we’ll meet at Applejack’s orchard. That has plenty of space and we can get you hidden fast if anypony decides to pay them a visit.”

“I’ll see you there.” I started to walk to Applejack’s farm.

The 10.

The girls had gathered in the east orchard, since almost all the apples there had already been harvested. They gathered around Spike. “What do you think I should try?”

“Well we don’t know how many forms you have, but we do know of two.” Twilight said.

“Heatblast and Four Arms.” I said.

“What?” Twilight asked.

“Well I’m going to have this thing on, we can’t just keep calling them creatures so I came up with nicknames for them.” I said. “The first alien is Heatblast, since he is made of fire and I can blast fire from my hands while I am him.”

“And the other?” Rainbow asked.

“I have four arms when I am that alien so it seemed kind of obvious.”

“I want to see a new alien!” Pinkie yelled out.

“Pinkie you’ve been relatively quiet about this the entire time.” Rarity said.

“That because I’ve been trying to wrap my pinkie pink brain around it. But eventually I just gave up when I couldn’t figure it out.” Pinkie smiled.

“That’s pretty, un-Pinkie like for you.” Applejack commented.

“I know.” Pinkie said. “Less talky more changey!”

“Alright.” I pointed to Rarity. “Rarity pick a number between 1 and 10 and a direction between left and right.”

“Hmm, alright. Three and Left.” Rarity said.

“Alright.” I pressed the button and the center popped out. Then I moved it three times to the left. The image wasn’t clear and the only thing I could see was a point at the top. “Alright pointy head. You’re up.” I slammed my hand over the center and then my skin started to change and I could see crystals growing out of me, covering my body and I grew.

In a green flash of light the person that replaced me was a giant made of crystal. I looked at the girls and I could see that Rarity was almost over the moon. “HE’S MADE OF GEMS!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!” Rarity stomped all of her hooves and squealed like a fangirl.

“Pfft. Lame.” Rainbow said.

I looked over at some old barrels. “Hey Applejack are you using those barrels anymore?”

“Naw, why?”

“I have a feeling about something.” I pointed my arm at the barrels and it transformed into a bunch of crystals then as if instinct took over crystals shot out of my arm and pierced the barrel sticking to the ground.

Rainbow Dash saw that. “I take it back. THAT! WAS! AWESOME!!!”

“Wowwie zowwie, you made that barrel go powwie!” Pinkie bounced.

Fluttershy was busy hiding behind Twilight while she was taking notes. “Amazing.” Twilight muttered.

“So Rarity, do you want to name this one?” I asked her.

“Wait, she gets to name one of your aliens?” Rainbow said, that’s unfair.”

“I’ll let you all name one of my aliens.” I said.

“Hmm, well I don’t know much about it. But I’ll give it a try.” Rarity said then she looked at me. “Your complexion resembles that of a diamond.” She tapped on my arm. “And the durability too. So I’m thinking something starting with Diamond.”

“Diamond Back?” Pinkie suggested.

“No that’s the name of a snake.” Rainbow said. “Gilda used to have a pet Diamond Back.”

“What about Diamond Head?” Applejack suggested. “I mean jus’ look at ‘is head. It’s so pointy that thing be a mountain.”

“Hmm, it’s a little crude but that will do.” Rarity said as the watch timed out and I changed back into my usual self.

Twilight walked over and took one of the crystal projectiles out of the ground. “I’m going to study this.”

Rarity walked over and did the same. “And I’m going keep this, I don’t think I get another chance to have it and I really admire it.”

I walked up to Fluttershy. “Hey. I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“No you’re fine Spike.” She smiled.

“How about you do what I asked Rarity to do.” Spike said.

“Okay, um…… seven and right.” Fluttershy said.

The watch beeped letting me know that it was ready again and I pressed the button turned it seven times to the right and slammed my hand over the watch. My body shifted as orange fur started to grow out my vision changed from regular to tones of red and my nails grew and suddenly I was a dog! “AAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Everypony turned to see me and well, I could see them but everything was red.

“DOGGIE!” Fluttershy yelled out and I covered my ears.

Ouch that really hurt!

“Oh I’m sorry.” Fluttershy approached me and looked at me. “Spike?”

Yes?

“Oh that’s good.” Fluttershy said. “You had me startled there for a minute.”

Wait you can understand me?

“Yes.” Fluttershy nodded, “Though I didn’t expect anything like this.”

What do I look like? Everything is all red.

“Well you don’t have any eyes.”

What?!

“I think you must use your other senses to get around.” Fluttershy start to pet me and I started to wag my tail.

What do you think is a good name?

“Hmm, how about Wildmutt?”

I like it but can you bring the volume down a bit?

“I’m barely talking normally.”

I guess it must be sensitive hearing.

“Well you don’t have the ability to see so your other senses must be incredibly heightened.” Fluttershy said. “What about your smell?”

I went up and sniffed Fluttershy. You smell like flowers and honey, did you have an interaction with bees earlier?

“Yeah but, that was two weeks ago.”

I licked her face and she tasted sweet, like her personality. The watch started to time out and I changed back. “That was fun, but I don’t like not seeing.”

“How about we take a break? It’s almost lunch time anyways.” Twilight suggested.

"Good idea Twilight." I smiled. "I'm starving anyways." I followed the girls to the Apple family picnic area. Little did they know that they were being watched. By three little nuisances called the Cutie Mark Crusaders and by one in the cosmos called Vilgax.

The alien warlord was hell bent on possessing the omnitrix for himself. "It's fallen on a backwards planet into the ARMS OF A CHILD!!!" Vilgax screamed. "You will pay for this Azmuth!!!"

The 10. Part II

Author's Note

I'm sorry for this in advance but I'm going to be replacing Upgrade with Bloxx, mostly because Upgrade wouldn't have a lot of things to sync with in equestria being more a magic based planet and Bloxx would be a lot more practical.

The 10. Part II

I loved having lunch with my friends, and soon after we ate we all returned to the orchard. Twilight levitated her notepad, "So we have Heatblast, Four Arms, Diamond Head, and Wildmutt." She checked it off.

"Alright so who's next?" I asked.

"I am! Fluttershy and Rarity already went before I did and I'm not letting anypony else go until I do." Rainbow nearly shouted. "I want to see it you have any alien that can keep up with me!"

"Well I don't know Dash." I told her. "I just got it and I don't know all of the aliens yet." I pressed the button on the watch letting the display pop out and show the silhouettes. Switching through them I continued to look until I saw one that just stuck out. It's stance was weird and it had a tail. "Alright let's try this one." I slammed my hand on the display and my body started to shift, my legs grew out and my tail elongated my feet changed to balls and my fingers grew until they were almost like three blades. I finished transforming and looked at my body. "Well this is certainly different." Instinct took over my body and I raced down to the fence of the far side of the orchard and raced back. "Looks like you got your wish Dash. Now let's see if you can keep up!" My helmet's face mask came down and I blasted off at hyper speeds and Rainbow took off after me.

"No fair you got a head start!" Dash complained.

"You only complain because you can't keep up!" I raced faster and jumped over the fence and down the dirt path that surrounded the town.

Rainbow accelerated. "Shut up!"

I laughed touched the library and ran back. Rainbow skidded in the air touched a branch of the library and flew after me, her eyes narrowed and she kicked it into another gear. She caught up with me and I put some more effort into it and we zoomed across where the girls were at the same time. "So Rainbow what do you think."

She was breathing deeply. "Lemme.........catch........my........breath."

"Wait you're actually tired?" I asked.

"N......yeah I am." Rainbow admitted.

"Wow." I said. "I must be pretty fast to wear you out. So what do you think the name of this one should be?"

"XLR8." Rainbow said.

"Accelerate?" Twilight questioned.

"No, X-L-R-8. It makes it sound so cool, like me because speedsters are cool." Rainbow smiled.

Twilight rolled her eyes and wrote down XLR8. "What do you think Spike?"

"I'm fine with it." I said as the watch timed out. "That was fun Rainbow we should do it again sometime."

"Heck yeah we should." Rainbow said. "I'm glad to have someone that can keep pace with me for once."

"Excuse me?" Applejack said.

"I mean speed wise AJ, you and I are still tied for the most athletic pony in Ponyville." Rainbow Dash admitted, though on the inside she was a little upset that she did.

"That's better." Applejack smirked.

Pinkie bounced around Spike. "I want to see another!" She kept chanting.

"Pinkie, you have to wait until it recharges." I told her.

"Okie doki loki." Pinkie said and started to play in the leaves.

"I'm just glad Pinkie isn't the one with the watch." Twilight sighed.

"Well I'm glad somepony taught me how to be patient." I said to Twilight. Who then smiled and gave me a hug, I smiled and hugged back.

"Aww." Rarity and Fluttershy cooed. Pinkie stopped bouncing for a moment and smiled too, Rainbow just shrugged and Applejack smiled to herself.

Twilight and I separated from the hug and Twilight spoke up. "The thing about the watch I'm scared about is that we don't know it's origins."

"Uh, english Twi?" Applejack politely asked.

"We don't know where it comes from, or who even made it. The situation is a big accident and is bound to have rep- consequences later." Twilight said. "That's why I'm a little hesitant about this whole thing."

"I get it Twi." I said. "In fact I'm scared too."

"I think getting these powers would be cool. So why are you scared?" Rainbow asked.

"The thing is that, this isn't magic. This is a very high form of technology." I said. "And this shows that there are more than one species of aliens out there. That just begs the question, what if they aren't as friendly as we think?" Everypony paused at what I had said and thought about it.

"Well, no matter what. We'll stand by your side Spike." Twilight said, when she said that the watched beeped and turned green.

"Alright Pinkie you're up." I said to her.

"Before we continue. Let me just check the list I made, there's Heatblast, Four Arms, Diamond Head, Wildmutt, and XLR8." Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash who was sitting on a cloud.

"What?" Rainbow asked.

"Nothing." Twilight gritted her teeth and smiled.

"Okay, let's see if you have anything fun!" Pinkie said.

"How am I supposed to know that?" I asked her.

"I'll Pinkie sense it. I can always pinkie sense fun things." She said with a huge grin.

"Alright." I pressed the button and made the display pop out and switched between them until Pinkie shouted.

"THAT ONE!" Pinkie shouted and pointed at the watch.

"Alright." I slammed my hand down on the display and started to shift. My veins popped out and my fingers shifted into...building blocks? The building blocks continued to cover my body until I was slightly hunched over and was completely made out of the blocks. "Okay, this is weird."

The 10. Part III

I was busy staring at what I had just turned into, which meant staring at my hands and feet. "What am I?"

"It looks like something that the cake foals with play with." Applejack commented and Rarity nodded.

I moved and looked in a mirror that Twilight conjured for me. "O....kay....." I stared in the mirror. "I'm lost. I don't get why this would be in here." I extended my arms to twice the length they were. "Hmm." I scratched my chin, and wondered. I then turned my arm into a cannon with other blocks feeding into it. "Maybe this won't be too bad..." I then turned my other arm into a shield. "So whatever I imagine I can turn into. Hey Applejack, want to fight?"

Applejack perked up when I asked her that. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Well think about it, the past few bad guys we've had to deal with used fights and conflict. I figure if I'm going to have the watch I might as well know how to fight back." I said.

"I don' wanna hurt ya sugah cube." Applejack said.

"Well if anypony is coming after the watch they're not going to hold back, and you girls won't always be there for me." I said.

"You do raise a good point Spike, knowing how to fight back would be very useful." Twilight commented.

"Are ya sure Spike?" Applejack asked.

"Come on." I motioned for her to bring it, before I finished AJ rushed me and hit me with her fore hooves knocking me back in the process. My body shifted and reassembled then I was back to a vertical position, AJ rushed me again but I brought up a shield and knocked her back.

"For a feller made of plastic you can really fight back." AJ commented, I took the initiative and rushed her with my other arm forming into a hammer and smashed at the ground in front of her.

She jumped up and tried to kick me in the face but I just shot an extra hand out of my body and caught her. "You're gonna have to do better than that."

Applejack wiped the sweat off her brow and took out her lasso. "YEE-HAW!" She threw her lasso around my waist and pulled as hard as she could. I got pulled towards her but disassembled my body and reassembled in a different location. I grinned and turned my arm into a cannon and started to shoot blocks at her. I stopped the moment the blocks EXPLODED!

"Okay no more of that now." I said when Applejack when bug-eyed.

"SPIKE!" Applejack yelled at me. "DON'T GO BLOWING UP MY FARM!"

"I didn't mean to. I was just in the moment, ya know?" I waved my hands in front of me.

Applejack breathed in and out then she calmed down. "Sorry for yelling, it just surprised me." Applejack said. "I'm still a bit mad for the whole exploding blocks but I don't blame yah, yah didn't know."

"So Pinkie what's the name of this one going to be?"

"Bloxx! With two x's" She directed the latter part to Twilight, who rolled her eyes and wrote it down.

"Hey, how about we move this whole showcase down to the lake?" Applejack suggested. "As much as I like seeing these new critters, I like not having my my farm torn to shreds." Everypony agreed it was for the best and helped clean up the messes that they made, then moved everything to the lake. It was around the time of year were things were cooling down so nopony would really be around to watch them and the princesses arrived as well. Twilight showed and told both of them about the different aliens that Spike has.

"I'm impressed." Princess Celestia said.

"If you don't mind me asking Princesses, why are you still here?" Rarity asked politely.

"Oh it's not a problem, we just wanted to check in with Spike to see how he was adjusting to his new abilities." Princess Luna told the group.

"I'm doing pretty well all things considered. We were trying out the aliens in AJ's orchard but... hehe...something unaccounted for happened." I scratched the back of my head.

"It's fine Spike, but what I'm more worried about now is somepony lookin' at Spike while he's changing." AJ said.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other and smirked. "How about our old castle in the Everfree?" Celestia offered. "I'm pretty sure with some work the training yard could be good as new in no time at all."

I smiled. "What do you girls think?" The girls nodded and agreed. The princesses lit up their horns and teleported us to the castle in the Everfree. The princesses helped clean some, although Twilight protested.

"Twilight my dear student. I have spent many days being attended to by hoof. This is my only day off in a few years, if I don't do something I might wind up like Nightmare moon." Princess Celestia sighed.

"Sorry Princess." Twilight apologized.

"It's fine, and please call me Celestia. We've known each other far too long to keep being formal."

"Ok pri- I mean Celestia." Twilight said and helped her teacher.

Moments passed and the training yard looked good as new. Twilight sat next to Luna and Celestia telling them about the aliens that Spike had previously transformed into. Then the watch beeped letting me know it had recharged. "You ready Twilight?"

Twilight nodded and I popped out the display and switched to an alien that I didn't discover yet. The guy was small but I pressed it anyways. My skin changed to gray and my vision became wider it was like looking through a weird telescope and I... shrank? "Okay this is a predicament that I haven't questioned before." I said.

Twilight looked at me. "Spike is that you?"

"It is, somehow I feel that my cognitive functions have increased tremendously and that I am able to process knowledge at a faster pace than I was able to before." I said. "This is quite the quandary, not only has my stature greatly decreased but in light of that my thought process has increased by at least a thousand fold."

Twilight's mouth was hanging open, in fact so were the princesses. "Spike, I think this alien is hyper-intelligent."

"Hmm, yes also did you know that the sun does not revolve around the planet? From my calculations the mass of the closest star would be far to great, and adjusting it in any manner would have dire consequences for all of those involved." I said. "My apologies princesses but why lead ponies on with this farce?"

"I well..... um.... it's easier?" Celestia said.

"Wait hold on a minute!" Rainbow shouted. "How do you explain Discord being able to change it from night to day so fast?"

"By changing the rotation of the planet." I explained. "The planet is on a fixed rotation on an axis yet it needs a constant source of energy or else it would cease to rotate, thus that's where the princesses come in they continue to provide the energy that the planet needs on a 24 hour schedule. But you can change the direction of the energy, making the planet go from day to night or night to day it's as simple as flying."

"Okay you lost me." Rainbow sat down.

"It's simple Rainbow. The planet spins like a ball, but the ball can spin in more than one direction, it's up to the princesses to keep that ball spinning in the same direction at a fixed pace." Twilight said.

"So you don't raise the sun princess?" Fluttershy asked.

Celestia sighed. "It's true. The only reason I never told anypony is because it would be too complex to explain."

"All I do is keep the moon from leaving the orbit of the planet, other than that it spin around on it's own." Luna said.

"But what about your immortality?" Twilight asked.

"That is a result of Discord, when he was trapped in stone, before he was completely encased he cursed us to only perish when he does." Celestia explained.

"So what about Cadence and I?" Twilight asked.

"You will live normal lives and when it comes time for you to depart from the world you shall do so." Luna told Twilight.

"Okay, to be honest I was worried about that for a second." Twilight admitted. "As much as I would like to be a princess I don't think I could do it forever. No offense."

"None taken my dear pupil." Celestia said.

"What title shall we give my current form?" I asked.

"May I name this one?" Twilight asked.

"Please proceed." I said.

"Gray Matter." Twilight named. "Personally I think this one will be my favorite. It will be good to have another intellectual to banter with."

I hopped up onto Twilight's shoulder. "Personally I have some conflicting ideas with this. The small stature would help in some cases, though they seem few and far between."

"That's understandable." Twilight nodded and the watch started to beep so I hopped off of her shoulder and was changed back. "So now there is, Heatblast, Four Arms, Diamond Head, Wildmutt, XLR8, Bloxx, and Gray Matter."

I stood next to Twilight and the princesses. "That's seven so far. I've only seen 10 aliens on the watch."

"So three remain." Luna stated.

***************

"So we have Heatblast, Four Arms, Diamond Head, Wildmutt, XLR8, Bloxx, Gray Matter, StinkFly."

Applejack smirked. "I don' care who ya are that's a funny name."

"Rath, and Ghostfreak." Twilight finished.

"Now there's the future to look forward to." I said.

The First Strike

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

The Plumbers

I finished reverse engineering the laser rifle as best as I could for the girls and changed back into my normal dragon self. “There, it should be simple enough for scientists and engineers to understand.”

Twilight was talking with the Princesses over a full body scribing mirror gifted to her by Princess Celestia. “Guns?” Celestia questioned.

“They’re very deadly.” Twilight said. “Though as much as I hate to admit it, it could help advance our society by leaps and bounds.”

“I’d have to run this by my advisors and the court.” Celestia put a hoof to her chin. “But if you think it would help, I trust you.”

“I think the benefits greatly outweigh the drawbacks.” Twilight said. “I had Spike take apart and engineer a prototype as Gray Matter.”

“If you don’t mind Twilight I’d like to talk to Spike alone for a bit.” Celestia said.

“Alright.”

“And Twilight.”

“Yes?”

“No eavesdropping, this is strictly between Spike and I.”

“Is it about the omnitrix?” Twilight asked.

“Yes. There are some things I need to talk to him alone.”

“I’ll cast a sound cancelling spell around the room.” Twilight nodded. I heard Twilight coming down the stairs, the rest of the girls went to help with the clean up of Sweet Apple Acres before Applebloom got back from her field trip. “Spike, Princess Celestia wishes to speak to you.”

“Sure.” I got up and jogged up the stairs and to Twilight’s room. I saw that Twilight’s scribing mirror was active. “Princess.” I bowed my head.

“There’s no need for formalities. I need to speak with you about the omnitrix.” Celestia said.

“ Okay Mom, what about it?”

“I know more about it than I have let on.” Celestia said. “I did not want to mention it to the girls because I don’t want them to worry. Spike, there is more to the universe than meets the eye, before our reign as rulers of Equestria Luna and my parents were apart of the galactic peace council. They established an intergalactic commission of peacekeepers. They are called the Plumbers.”

“Why the plumbers?” I asked.

“It was the perfect way to disguise something is to hide it right under their noses.” Celestia continued. “Over the years some of my ponies that have showed a unique ambition for these things have been trained and inducted into the plumbers.”

“Should I know who they are?” I asked.

“They will reveal themselves in time, but they will be there to help and protect you and the general populus.” Celestia said. “I’m trusting you with this information Spike. I know it will be hard to keep this a secret from the girls, but I will tell them in time. We just need them to get adjusted to the fact that we aren’t the only species in the universe.”

“Alright.”

“I also have a gift for you.” Celestia smiled and her horn lit up and in a flash of golden light there was a package wrapped in brown wrapping paper. “I tried my best to make the clothes, popping? Is that what the foals call it these days?”

“Please don’t say that mom.” I said as I opened the package gently to not rip open the contents inside. They were a pair of green cargo shorts and a white and black t-shirt. I smiled and looked at Celestia. “Thanks mom.”

“Please send a picture of you in your new clothes.” Celestia smiled.

“Bye mom.” I smiled.

“Bye sweetie.” Celestia said and turned off the mirror.

Upon the bridge of the Chimerian Hammer, Vilgax heard could barely pick up some of the conversation between the two beings. But there was one word that stood out amongst the rest. “Plumbers. The bane of my existence.” Vilgax paced back and forth. “This will be much more complicated than I anticipated. It’s not important anyways, no matter how many plumbers stand in my way I will take the omnitrix from that puny brat’s clutches, even if I have to destroy the entire planet.”

Meanwhile in Canterlot Celestia was dealing with a different problem. She was busy relaxing in her bed with her wings splayed out, until an exact duplicate of herself walked right in. “Seriously Tia I don’t know how you stand those bickering nobles.” The duplicate eyes turned yellow with red irises and suddenly with a flash of light the draconequus named Discord replaced the duplicate.

“Why do you think I drink?” Celestia muttered.

“We all have our vices.” Discord said.

“We have bigger problems than just nobles now Discord.” Celestia said. “I’m more than positive you sensed what went down in Ponyville a few hours ago.”

“I did, it was kind of hard not to miss the chaotic nature of a Pyronite and an Appoplexian.” Discord twirled his goatee in his eagle talon. “Why Spike of all creatures?”

“Because he has shown the spirit of a hero.” Celestia said. “You can’t deny that, he embodies all that ponies set out to be, in fact all species should set out to be more like Spike.”

“To defy their nature and to go against their natural impulses?” Discord questioned.

“You’re forgetting about when Spike overcame his natural impulses.” Celestia pointed out.

“True. But, I kept up my part of the bargain this week.” Discord said.

“You can go see Fluttershy.” Celestia sighed.

“Thank you…….before I depart, there’s something you need to know.” Discord looked down. “I’m scared.”

“What? Why?” Celestia asked.

“I know Azmuth, he put the DNA of an Ectonurite in the omnitrix. But more importantly, he has locked away the DNA of a Celestialsapien in the omnitrix as well.”

“A Celestialsapien?! Is he mad?!” Celestia shouted.

“Like I said, it’s not accessible without the permission of Azmuth.” Discord said. “Still, to have that power entrusted to a child.”

Celestia took a deep breath and sighed. “Azmuth is the most intelligent being in 5 galaxies, I have faith in his judgement.”

Discord gave a weak smile and then departed in a flash of light.

Fluttershy’s cottage on the edge of Ponyville and was winding down. All the animals have eaten…….well almost all the animals. “Angel bunny, I know that you’re upset. Mamma has had a rough day and would really appreciate it if you ate your dinner.” Fluttershy pleaded with the stubborn bunny. I shouldn’t have spoiled him so much when he was younger. Fluttershy thought to herself. Angel still wouldn’t have any of it, he crossed his paws across his chest and turned his head. “Fine then, I’m not putting up with your attitude tonight. Deal with Discord.”

The bunny then gulped and started to eat. It was at that moment that Discord appeared when Fluttershy was making supper. “Good evening my dear.” Discord kissed Fluttershy’s cheek.

Fluttershy smiled and looked to Discord. “How was court?”

“How could you tell?”

“The bags under your eyes. You’re usually more worn out after days where you take over for Celestia.” Fluttershy said and served the food.

Discord smiled. Not all the chaos in the world could replace her grace and kindness. “Thank you.” Discord floated them over to the couch and wrapped his body gently around the yellow pony. The yellow pony had a surprise for the draconequus later tonight.

Fluttershy smiled and ate her salad while Discord added his own twists on his salad. He ate his salad contently. “Dissy?”

“Yes my dear?” Discord asked.

“I have a surprise for you later.” Fluttershy giggled.

“You know I can’t handle surprises well, unless it’s me.” Discord said. Fluttershy rolled her eyes and whispered in his ear. Discord then stopped eating.

Steel Gear

The next morning rolled around and the girls, Discord, and I were standing at the train station. “So Fluttershy what’s your cousin like?” I asked her.

“Well if I had to say, he’s a little bit like Pinkie but more like Twilight.” Fluttershy said.

“He’s excitable when it comes to learning and making new things?” Twilight guessed.

“Yes.” Fluttershy nodded and the train pulled in. “He’s here!”

The train’s doors opened and ponies stepped out. To make sure there weren’t any hold ups Twilight used a spell to make it seem like she was a regular unicorn. There was a clatter and a light gray pegasus with a prosthetic limb and one wing stepped out, he had a rusty brown mane and tail, and a pair of gears for a cutie mark. “Flutter!” He said in a rugged voice and hugged the yellow pegasus.

“Gear!” Fluttershy hugged the pegasus back. The pair of pegasai smiled. “You’re looking better.” Fluttershy said as she separated from the hug.

“Thank yah.” Steel Gear pointed out his new metal leg. “I crafted this little bauble meself. With the help of some unicorn doctors, but with this I can rally help with any that has lost a limb.” Gear smiled.

“That’s impressive.” Twilight said.

“Thank yah. So what, can I do ta help?” I looked at gear and he looked at me, I showed him the face of the omnitrix. He looked up at the sun and squinted but winked at me. He’s a plumber. “It’s pretty sunny out here. The weather captain must be on the up and up.”

“Thanks.” Rainbow said.

“I hate to cut this conversation short but we need to get going.” Twilight apologized. The group headed to the castle.

“Excuse me but I thought Flutter said you were an alicorn?” Steel Gear asked Twilight as they were walking.

“Oh right.” Twilight let the illusion spell down. “I do that so ponies won’t bow to me while getting off the train. Last time it caused a delay, I had to write an apology to Railroad Commission.” Twilight said. “Either that or I just wear a jacket.”

“I gots yah.” Gear said and continued to walk.

“If you don’t mind that I ask, but what happened to your leg and wing?” Rarity asked.

“Oh yeah, about that. I was busy helping fixing some train parts and a steam engine fell on me pinning me right leg and wing. It tooks months of recovery and years to even get a prosthetic to even walk right, but I picked up me tools and made this bad boy.” Steel smiled. “As much as I miss flying around, I found a calling in making better prosthetics for those in need and seeing the smiles on their faces brings a tear to me eye.” He smiled as they got to the castle and went into the basement. Gear whistled as he stared at the parts. “Where did you get these things from again?”

“They fell out of the sky.” Pinkie said.

“Welp, stranger things have happened in equestria.” Gear said.

The girls all left to get back to work leaving Discord, Gear, and I in the basement. I heard the door close. “So we can drop the facade now?” I asked.

Gear’s brow furrowed, “Yeah we’re in the clear.”

“So who did actually make your prosthetic limb?” Discord asked. “Because last time I checked an alien DNA tracker was much more advanced than what we have on here.”

“One of my Galvan buddies, helped me out. Also gave me a an implant that allows me to scan and determine where something is from.”

“Is a Galvan a little gray frog-like creature?” I guessed.

“Yeah, they’re really good with tech. Highly intelligent.” Discord said.

“I have one in the omnitrix.” I mentioned. “But right now we have bigger things to deal with. Who wants the omnitrix?”

Steel Gear looked through and scanned the scraps of metal. “There’s only one person in the universe that uses these.” Gear looked to Discord.

“Vilgax.” Discord grimaced.

“Who is Vilgax?” I asked them both.

“A warlord that is number one on the plumber’s wanted list.” Discord explained he then looked at me. “Spike, I know we’ve had our differences in the past but Vilgax will stop at nothing to get the omnitrix. He cares about no life but his very own. I’m willing to put all of that aside in order to protect the planet.” Discord held his lion paw out.

I looked him in the eye then I reached my hand out and shook his paw. “As am I.”

Steel Gear looked at the two of us. “As much as I appreciate the little powwow, would you mind taking it somewhere else? I got work to do and having the two of yah talk ain’t helping me get anywhere.”

“Let’s head to the Everfree castle. That should be the perfect place to establish a base of operations.” I said.

“The plumbers of equestria do need a more permanent base.” Discord stroked his goatee.

“Celestia said we could use it. It’s deep enough into the everfree to keep away from the public eye.” I said. “The only person we would have to worry about is Zecora.”

“The Zebra?” Discord asked, and Gear cleared his throat. “Fine.” Discord sighed and snapped his eagle talon and He and I were transported to the Everfree castle.

I shook my head out and felt a bit a nausea. “Warn me next time you do that.” Discord was ignoring me as he looked around. “I also forgot about Twilight and the girls coming by.”

“That won’t be a problem.” Discord said. “I can teleport the books into Twilight’s library and take care of anything else the girls are interested in with the castle.” He teleported around a few times. “The place still has good structure.” He was now wearing a construction outfit. “But with a little effort this could become a fully fledged base. Good work Spike.”

“Yea- wait what did you say?” I asked him.

“Hmm?”

“You called me Spike, you usually just call me dragon or whelp.”

“That was before you had the omnitrix.” Discord said.

“Oh…”

“Also I respect you for your responsibility with the power it comes with.” Discord said.

“But you’re the lord of chaos.” I pointed out.

“True, but while I may cause chaos I abide by the rules set by the plumbers and intergalactic council. I may be a lord of chaos, but there are much more powerful creatures out in the universe, so powerful they can rewrite time, even create entire universes.” Discord said.

“Wow, I wouldn’t want to cross those guys.” I said.

“They’re generally hermits, they rarely ever interfere with anything.” Discord said. “Is there anything else you would like to know?”

“Yeah, I’d like to know more about the omnitrix.” I pointed to the device on my arm.

“Well I don’t know a lot about it, but from what I heard the omnitrix you have is a prototype, what it’s mean for is for other species to experience what another species’ life is like. It’s meant more for a device of peace.” Discord said. “From what I know, there are a lot of types of alien DNA within there other than just 10, but they’re locked away.”

“How do I unlock them?”

“Now that’s something I don’t know.” Discord admitted. “I swear to the element of honesty.”

“Alright, where do we start?” I grinned.

“With your fighting skills, there are going to be times that you don’t have the omnitrix to help you. Now I know you haven’t been in a fight for your life but never say never.” Discord stated.

“Okay then.” I said and we went to the training yard and Discord started to teach me how to fight. The afternoon turned into evening and I was laying on the dirt, sweating, and taking shallow breaths. “This would be much easier if I was older.” I said.

“You’re telling me.” Discord said while floating a cloud made of cotton candy. “You couldn’t even get past the first training dummy.” Discord pointed out an enchanted training dummy with some tears and burn marks on it. “I’ll give you one thing, you’re very ambitious for a ten-year old.”

I sat up. “I’m not ten.”

“I’m sorry, ten and a half.” Discord sarcastically said.

“Discord, I’m 19.” I told him and he looked at me.

“You’re shitting me.” Discord was shocked.

“You’re part dragon, you should know that dragons biologically age at 5,000 times slower than regular ponies.” I pointed out.

“So when do you start to look older?” Discord asked.

I shrugged. “I dunno, could be a year from now, could be a thousand years from now.” I wiped my forehead. “But I need to head home.”

Discord snapped his paw and sent me home. But while he did that he also teleported to the palace to tell Celestia about his plans.

When I got back home Twilight and Steel Gear were talking about the tech in the basement, and just talking in general. “So how long will you be staying in Ponyville?” Twilight asked Gear.

“As long as you’ll have me.” Gear answered. “With my occupation I’m always moving around, so I’m never in one place for very long.”

“Oh I’m sorry.” Twilight apologized.

“It’s fine, I got used to it. Basically me home is whatever is underneath me feet.” Gear said.

I walked into the sitting room. Twilight looked at me, “Oh hey Spike, how was your day?”

“Tiring, I’m trying to learn how to fight without using the omnitrix.” I spoke. “If you’ll excuse me I’m going to take a bath.” I took off my shirt and cargo pants. The clothes were surrounded in a periwinkle glow.

“I’ll wash these for you.” Twilight smiled.

“Thank you.” I went up to the bathroom and started up a bath.

When Spike went into the bath Twilight took the clothes into the laundry room. Then she came back and sat down in front of Gear again. “My apologies.”

“Nah you’re fine.” Gear said.

“I have a more personal question to ask you.” Twilight said.

“Yes?”

“What’s with all the secrecy?” Twilight asked. “I’m not stupid, I know when something is up, Spike and Discord just don’t all of a sudden get along. Something is up, and I want to know.”

“Yeah I figured.” Gear said, dropping the accent. “Look, I just want to say that I’m not your enemy here. It’s just that if this becomes public knowledge then we’re pretty much screwed.”

“What makes you think that I’ll tell anyone?” Twilight asked.

“It’s not you that we’re worried about, it’s your friends. They aren’t the best for keeping things quiet.” Gear said. “You know I don’t like this, especially when I’m keeping a secret from my own family. I’ll just say this, you’ll learn in time. I can’t say anything else or else I would be reassigned.”

“I understand, just blink once for yes and twice for no. Does Princess Celestia know?” Twilight asked and Gear blinked once. “Thank you Gear, would you like to stay in castle while you’re here?”

“Yes I would, thank you.” Gear thanked Twilight. “Goodnight Twilight.”

“Goodnight.” Twilight said and walked to her room, she noticed that Spike was out of the bath and asleep, she went into his room and kissed his forehead. “My little hero.”

Training and Equipment

The next morning I rubbed my eyes and stretched. I hopped out of bed and walked into the kitchen to find that breakfast had already been made.

Twilight was smiling while eating. “Good morning Spike.”

“Good morning, did you cook?”

“No Gear did, he cooked for us and I saved you a plate. He said it was his way of thanking us for letting him stay here while he worked. Now I want to start on something.” She said as she finished her breakfast.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Well since you volunteered yourself to be my student, I had my schedule cleared and have decided to start teaching you.” She smiled.

“You aren’t going to try to teach me magic again are you?”

Twilight shuddered. “No I won’t, but I do think it would be beneficial for you to know how magic works.”

“Twilight…” I trailed off.

“We’ll cover just the basics, and no not the advanced basics the basic basics.” Twilight gave me a reassuring smile.

“Can I eat while you teach?” I asked.

“Sure! Just make sure that we get it down.” Twilight hovered a plate over to me, which I grasped in my hands. Twilight trotted into the library as I followed her and on the table were some books, which were covered in dust. “I asked Celestia to send some of my books from my old room at the castle to here.” She picked one up and blew the dust off.

I finished with my breakfast pretty easily, though it was very good. I sat down next to Twilight. “So how are we going to do this?”

“Let’s read together.” Twilight shook the dust out of the pages. “Would you mind reading out loud at your own pace?”

“Sure.” Twilight gave me the book and I opened it. “Magic 101, understanding the basics of magic and how it’s used.” Twilight smiled as I continued to read. “In order to understand magic you must first understand where it comes from. Magic surrounds all of us and is summoned from the planet. Magic can be used by any living being, yet it manifests in different ways.”

“The most well known type of magic is the one used by unicorns.” Twilight said. “But you already knew that.”

“Magic used by ponies usually is innate or applied.” I continued to read until it was around lunch time.

“That’s chapter three done. I’m proud of you Spike.” Twilight said and I grinned.

“I’ll go make lunch for us.” I said and Twilight picked up a book while I walked off into the kitchen. When I went in I saw Steel Gear, he had helped himself to the contents in our fridge and was eating a sandwich. “Hey Steel.”

“Oh hey Spike.” He said with half a mouthful of food, he swallowed and asked. “Is Twilight available? I want to show her the prototypes I made from the alien tech.”

“She should be available in a few minutes or so.” I said as I got the sandwich stuff back out and made a few sandwiches for Twilight and myself. I took them back into the library and put them down on the table in front of Twilight. Who, as usual was too engrossed in her book to even pay attention. “Twilight.”

“Hmm?” Twilight looked up from her book. “Oh thank you Spike.”

“Before I forget, Steel wanted to talk to you and show you the prototypes that he made when you have the chance.” I mentioned and sat back down next to her.

“Sure, so we started on chapter 4.” Twilight said.

“Before we go on, what was the book you were reading?” I asked.

“It was about high level offensive and defensive spells.” Twilight said. “With the threat of those things attacking again, the girls and I agreed to train and learn how to defend ourselves, sans Fluttershy. She’d rather brush up on her medical history in case any of us get hurt.”

“Thanks Twilight.” I said.

“Well what did you expect?” Twilight said. “I care for my baby.” She then hugged me and I hugged back. Twilight gave me a kiss on the forehead and we continued to read.

Meanwhile at a gym on the far side of Ponyville stood the other five on the outside. Fluttershy was reading up on her old nursing books. While the other four girls were talking. “I’m sorry girls but this still seems a little, uncouth to me.” Rarity voiced her opinion.

“Look Rarity, I like you being my friend an’ all but even you understand that even the most famous model in the world had to get down and dirty some time.” AJ said and Pinkie giggled. “Not like that Pinkie, I mean having to put up their hooves and throw some punches.”

Rarity sighed. “Well, to be fair. I do know some self defense techniques. So I understand your point.”

“Well the pony with the most knowledge of fighting is Rainbow. You are a black belt right Dashie?” Pinkie asked.

“Yeah, I’m a fourth degree black belt in karate.” Dash said. “I never really had to use it until the wedding and a few days ago. I’m not really qualified to teach anypony though.”

“Well who taught you then?” Rarity asked.

“My Dad, he’s a qualified martial arts instructor in Judo, Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Kung-Fu, and Jiu-jitsu.” Rainbow said.

“Wow.” Applejack was shocked.

“But if I was to hazard to guess what you girls would be good at, AJ you would do good in boxing or wrestling, Rarity you would be good with Jiu-jitsu or Kung-Fu, and Pinkie, I don’t really know.” Dash mentioned.

“I grew up on a rock farm. Remember what Maud did during that rockslide?” Pinkie said and the girls nodded. “I can do the same, there’s no need to worry about me.”

“Alright then, but first thing’s first. We need to start exercising.” Applejack said.

“Good thing I brought my gym bag.” Rarity said and the other girls looked at her. “What?”

“It’s kind of hard to believe that you of all ponies go to the gym.” Rainbow said.

“As much as I hate getting dirty and sweaty, I hate being out of shape even more. It’s a necessary evil for me.” Rarity said while grabbing her gym bag with her hoof.

“Why do you have a gym bag anyways?” Pinkie asked.

“I do yoga as well and some of the positions are more than a little suggestive. I put the clothes on so I won’t have to worry about exposing myself.” Rarity said.

The girls said. “Ahh.” Well except Fluttershy, who was too engrossed in her books.

Rainbow got an evil grin on her face and snuck next to Fluttershy. “HEY SHYLIGHT!”

Fluttershy jumped a good few feet before using her wings and landing on the grass. “Dashie you startled me.”

“You were kinda too into your book. We’re going to be working out in the gym. You in?” Rainbow asked.

“Sure.” Fluttershy entered the gym with her friends, meanwhile back at Twilight’s castle.

“Twilight, I’m unsure about this. I don’t want to hurt you.” I said to my mother.

“Spike it’s fine.” Twilight said, as it turns out the palace actually had a training room. Both Twilight and I were standing in the training room. Twilight had just asked me to transform into an alien so she could test the strength of her shields and her attack power and how she could improve.

I took a deep breath and sighed. “Alright, but if you feel like you’re going to be hurt just say so, and loudly too.” I popped out the display and selected Diamond Head. Then I transformed into the giant alien made of crystals. “You ready?”

Twilight nodded and readied her periwinkle shield. “Ready.” I stood about 20 feet away from her and charged her, transforming my forearm into a long blade extending beyond my fist and sliced at her shield. Twilight jumped back while her shield was sliced almost perfectly in half. She used her wings to brake mid-jump and fall back to the ground without injury. She then made another shield but this time it was brighter and I sliced at it again. The blade went through some of the way but got stuck.

I pulled the blade out. “You’re going to have to do better than that.”

Twilight started to tap into a bit of her alicorn magic and made another shield. “Alright, now try it.” I swung the blade a final time and the shield was effective in stopping the blade. The impact of it caused some small cracks but most of all, it worked. Twilight forced the shield back causing me to stumble back but I quickly regained my balance.

“Now you gotta hit back.” I smirked and Twilight struck with a magic beam. Thinking on my feet I put my forearms in front of my face and the crystals formed together to make a shield for me. Twilight pushed the intensity of her beam up and started to cause me to slide back. Twilight was now walking forward while I was being pushed back, the crystals then started to form cracks and those cracks spider-webbed then my shield shattered and Twilight stopped.

“Spike!” She ran up to me. “Spike are you alright?”

“I’m fine Twilight.” I said.

“But your arms!” She said and I looked at them, then my arms started to grow back. I looked over the new arms, they were an exact duplicate of the ones I just recently lost. Twilight was amazed, “You must have regenerative abilities as Diamond Head.”

“Nice.” I looked over at the crystals. “Hmm.”

“What is it?” Twilight asked. I slowly raised my arms and concentrated then the crystals on the ground which slowly started to raise off the ground and float in the air. Twilight gasped, as she looked at the crystals floated. Then they started to spin and form back together into a staff. I then took it out of the air and gave it to her.

“For you.” I said.

“Spike, how did you know how to do that?” Twilight asked.

“I really don’t know.” I admitted. “Whenever I transform into an alien, it’s almost like instinct takes over and I know what to do.”

“Well I still have that shard from the day at the farm and I did some experiments on it, these crystals can absorb, reflect, and refract energy very well.”

“Um…”

“It means that this would be perfect for a staff, it can help me store extra magic if I need to. Thank you Spike.”

“It’s no problem.” I pressed the omnitrix symbol on my chest. “Want to go see what Steel is up to?”

“Sure.” Twilight smiled and levitated the staff with her magic while we went to go check on Steel.

When we started to walk down the stairs we could hear his voice from the top of the staircase. “Ah buggar.”

“Steel?” Twilight asked to get his attention and he looked up at us. “Spike said you wanted to show me a few things?”

“Ah yeah, I do.” Steel motioned for us to join him in the lab that was the basement. “With the scraps you gals got I had more than enough time to reverse engineer some of the weapons. I made a few prototypes that could really help in getting an edge over these alien pests.” Steel showed off a few things. “This is a hoof mounted blaster I made from the broken rifles. They’re compact and shaped to fit around your hoof and fire with a simple motion of using the back of your hoof to pull it forward and shoot it.”

“That’s good, but I have a question.” Twilight said. “Why are there seven of them?”

“Six of them for you girls and one to produce for the guard.” Steel said. Then he showed off a disk of some sort with a harness attached to it, “This is for the pegasai, and you if you want one. This extends along the bones of the wing and produces wing blades for them. Would you like to try it out?”

“Sure.” Twilight said and Steel put the disk on her back.

“Make sure it’s settled just above the center of the wings. If you don’t then it will be much harder for you to fly.” Steel strapped the harness on. “The harness is how you activate the wing blades.”

Twilight pressed the button in the center and two thin long tubes aligned themselves with Twilight’s wings and then what looked to be a see through green energy enveloped the back of her wings. “I’m sure Rainbow would love this.” She gave a couple of test flaps and took off the ground slightly then gently landed.

“It can also act as a shield for Fluttershy. I made four of them, if you want to keep one.”

“I think I will, but I want to get some more flying experience before I strap some on.”

“Also the blasters have a shield mode as well.” Steel mentioned. “The last thing is this.” He held up a headset. “All great teams need to be able to communicate if they want to be effective.”

“This looks like the symbol on the omnitrix.” Twilight observed.

“That’s because it can sync up with the omnitrix and act as a communication between the two.” Steel said. “But it’s only exclusive to these six, I’m sure Spike doesn’t want to overhear what the guards up in Canterlot are doing.” Steel smiled and I chuckled. “Then there’s some armor I made to help protect the more vital areas.”

“I can’t thank you enough Steel.” Twilight hugged him.

Steel blushed a little and scratched the back of his head. “It’s not a problem.”

“So now that you’ve taken care of what we requested, what’s going to happen with you now?” Twilight asked separating from the hug.

“I’ll spend some time catching up with Flutter, take a few weeks to relax.” Steel said.

“I can send the prototypes to Celestia.” I said and Steel selected the items and I sent them via my magic flame.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Steel shouted.

“Steel calm down, that’s how he sends things to Celestia.” Twilight explained. “It’s a magic flame.”

Steel then visibly calmed. “Sorry.”

“I should have explained before.” I said and Steel packed up his stuff. “Do you mind if I stay here while I visit?”

“Not at all.” Twilight smiled, then she took of the wing blades then she examined the blaster and strapped it to her hoof using her magic. “So how does this work if we’re walking and don’t want to set anything off?” She asked Steel.

“That’s easy.” Steel showed her. “You can rotate the trigger mechanism to make sure it’s on the front by sliding this plate here and locking it in place with this latch.”

“Thank you Steel, for everything.” Twilight thanked her.

Steel bowed his head. “It’s my pleasure.” Steel walked back upstairs. “Now I’m going to go out and enjoy the town for a bit.”

Twilight and I looked at each other. “Send a message to the girls?” I asked.

Twilight grinned. “They’ll be happy to have a hoof up in a fight.”

Back at the gym Rarity was trotting on the treadmill, Pinkie was on a cycling machine. Applejack was bench pressing around 350 pounds. Fluttershy was lifting weights appropriate for her, they were small 10 pound weights. Rainbow Dash was in a flight machine designed to make pegasai fly harder. Then Rarity felt her horn buzz. “Hmm?” She turned off the treadmill and wiped her head then a scroll landed in her lap. She read the scroll, then got the girls and they showered then left the gym.

“So what did the scroll say?” Pinkie asked as she walked, she wasn’t bouncing like she usually did, not even Pinkie can work out for a few hours and still have that amount of energy.

“Twilight said that Steel was done with what we had asked and has some surprises for us. She also said that Steel would be out in town for a bit and stay for a few weeks.” Rarity explained as they entered the castle. “Also as it turns out the castle has a training room. Twilight thinks that it’s supposed to be for a guard regiment but since she doesn’t have any of those that we’ll be using it for now.”

“Cool, we got our own personal gym!” Rainbow pumped her hoof.

The 5 ponies entered the training room to see Twilight in some new gear. “Hey girls.”

“Whoa.” Rainbow said. “Twilight… you look…….cool.”

Applejack whistled. “Dang, Fluttershy’s cousin must know her stuff then. If he can make a bookworm like you look intimadatin’. No offense.”

“None taken.” Twilight then stepped aside. “Would you girls like to try your gear on?”

The girls were excited as they approached the new items. Twilight helped her friends put them on and gave the same explanations that Gear did. Fluttershy gulped. “Wing blades? I don’t know Twilight.”

“Don’t worry, they can be used as a shield instead if you move your wings in front of you.” Twilight said.

“Twilight, may I ask about the staff on your back?” Rarity questioned.

“Oh, that. I was testing the strength of my shield and my attack against Spike as Diamond head and well, his arms kinda exploded.”

“WHAAAAAAT?” Rarity gasped.

“Don’t worry, he’s fine. In fact it helped us find out that Spike can regenerate at a fast pace and he can manipulate the crystals he produces. He made the staff for me.” Twilight calmed down Rarity.

“Alright, as long as Spikey-Wikey is alright. But I’m disappointed that I missed seeing Diamond Head. Shiny Spikey-Wikey.”

“Yes, but the experiments I ran on the crystal from the farm determined that the Crystal that Diamond Head’s species is can absorb, reflect, and refract energy very well.” Twilight said. “Which means it’s great for a staff for spell casting.”

“Here’s what I don’t get, why use a staff if you already have a horn?” Rainbow asked.

“That’s quite simple. My horn is my source of magic, though a staff, can amplify that. It’s like using a microphone and speaker, sure I could use my normal voice and shout but this helps things.” Twilight explained.

“I got you.” Rainbow said. “Now let’s test these new bad boys out.”

“Before we go any further.” Rarity approached her friends with her horn glowing. “A small adjustment.” She then cast a spell which made the color of the armor on the equipment change from black and dark red to something that fit the girls more. Cyan and white for Rainbow, pink and blue for Pinkie, bright green and bright red for Applejack. Yellow and soft pink for Fluttershy, navy and lavender for Twilight and for Rarity herself she changed it to white and baby blue. “How’s that?”

“Now it feels more adjusted to my personal style.” Rainbow said. “Thanks Rarity, you’re awesome.”

“I always do my best.” Rarity smiled. “Now let’s see what these beauties can do.”

Author's Note

I really wish I had some concept art for the weapons. If anyone is willing to draw them for me I will be very thankful.

Tests and Truths

The girls and I teleported to the training grounds at the everfree castle. The girls said I could explore the castle as they tried out their new gear. I explored and noticed Discord and Steel, Discord looked at me. “Spike? What are you doing here?”

“The girls are trying out the gear that Steel made for them.” I said.

“So they’re in the training yard?” Steel asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded.

Discord snapped his talon. “There, they shouldn’t be able to see what’s going on here.”

The girls in the yard were adjusting to the new gear. Rainbow was flapping her wings with the new wing blades on them. “How do they feel Dash?” Twilight asked.

“It’s weird, it feels like there’s something on my wings but it’s so light I can barely notice.” She said.

“Well let’s see how well you fly with them, though take it easy. We don’t know how well these things perform at high speeds.” Twilight suggested.

“You got it egghead.” Rainbow started to fly around at a regular pegasai pace, as she flew the blades adjusted with her flight pattern. She started to go at a faster pace, and soon her regular rainbow streak was following behind her as she flew through the air. “THIS IS AWESOME!” Rainbow slowed down and met with the other girls, she looked at Twilight. “It can keep up with my speeds.”

“Now let’s test the self defense capabilities.” Twilight launched a rock into the air at Rainbow’s direction and she sliced at it with her blades. The rock was sliced clean in half and then she sliced it into more pieces. The pebbles landed on the gravel and seemingly disappeared into the ocean of rocks below.

“That was so cool.” Rainbow said as she landed.

The girls continued to test out their new gear and their new defenses. But on the Chimerian Hammer Vilgax was observing the pony’s new acquisitions. “Damn them. Turning my own technology against me!” Vilgax crushed the head of a drone. “If they want a fight, then I’ll give them a fight.” Vilgax brought up a data pad. “Get me Sixsix. I have a bounty for him.”

The ponies were trying out their new blasters and testing the range on it. I was busy messing with the omnitrix and looking through the aliens I had. Then a blaster shot next to my head and I looked up. To see Rainbow was the one who shot at me. “Watch where you aim those things!”

“Are you just going to sit around or do you want to spar?” Rainbow asked.

My eyebrows grew into a v shape and activated the omnitrix and turned into Heatblast. “You’re going to regret doing that.” I shot fire at her and she used her wing blades as a shield and planted herself into the ground. I rushed and swung at her and she responded using her blaster and shot at me, it didn’t hurt as much I thought it would and then I looked around. “Where are the other-”

The some of the other girls jumped out of hiding places and shot at me as well. “Sorry Spike!” Rarity shouted. I rolled out of the way and blasted fire at her. “EEEK!” She shouted and dodged. “IT. IS. ON!”

I chuckled and twisted the omnitrix symbol and hit it, transforming into Four Arms. Pinkie tried to attack me from behind and I grabbed her her and tossed her over my shoulder. She laughed and twisted in the air, landing on her hooves. “This is unfair!” I said.

“Sorry Spike but we have to test both ourselves and yourself.” Twilight said out loud and I reached into a bush and pulled the pesky purple pony out.

“Then I hope you’re ready to fly.” I smirked and her eyes widened.

“Spike you’re in so much TROUBLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEE!” She shouted as I launched her into the air. She spread her wings and extended her wing blades and dived after me. I looked to see Rainbow was doing the same thing. I waited until they were almost upon me and then rolled out of the way causing the both of them to crash into each other.

I smirked. “You’re going to have to do harder than that to get me.” I ran into the forest, transformed into Ghostfreak and went invisible.

The girls grouped up and walked around the forest. “Come on out sugarcube.” Applejack said. “It will make it much easier on you.”

“Are you sure about that?” I said, my voice causing chills down their spines.

“Gosh darn it. He’s Ghostfreak.” AJ said.

“Great, now he can hit us from anywhere.” Rainbow looked all around.

The girls were all back to back so I tied all their tails together. Then I made myself visible in front of Fluttershy. “Boo.” Fluttershy shrieked and that caused all the girls to jump and try to run but their tails pulled them back and made them hit each other and land in a pile.

Twilight looked at their tails. “Real mature Spike.” Twilight untied their tails using her magic.

“The omnitrix is almost out anyways. Let’s head back.” I appeared in front of them and let it timeout.

The girls sighed and we all head back to the training ground. “How did you figure out how to change aliens while you are one?” Twilight asked.

“I thought that if I could change into aliens then why not apply the same principle while I am an alien.” I said to her.

She wrapped me in a hug. “I’m proud of you Spike, you’re becoming a real genius.”

“Well, it’s kind of hard not to when you live with one.” I said and Twilight smiled.

“You’re such a charmer.” Twilight said as we got back to the training grounds, but when we did get there. The princesses, Discord, and Steel Gear were standing there. “Princesses? What are you doing here?”

“We are here to inform you of the threat we face.” Luna declared.

I walked up and joined the others, “Twilight, it’s no coincidence that you received these prototypes.” Celestia said. “In fact I ordered it.”

“What are you saying?” Fluttershy asked.

“That we have known much more than we let on.” Discord said. “We have kept this knowledge hidden from the public for their safety.”

“We know who created the omnitrix.” Steel said. “We know who wants it.”

“And now we can no longer keep it hidden from you.” Celestia said.

“Spike did you know about this?” Twilight asked me and I nodded.

“Not much, but I did know some.” I said.

“Please don’t be angry with Spike, Twilight I was the one who asked him to keep it a secret.” Celestia said.

“Can somepony please explain what’s going on?” Rainbow asked.

Steel stepped forward. “Like Celestia said it’s not a coincidence that I made you these prototypes. I’m actually a part of an intergalactic police force called the Plumbers. We monitor the planet’s activity and keep the peace. We have been hidden from the public and scattered throughout the planet keeping the citizens safe from alien attack.”

“But now we face an even bigger threat than we could ever imagine.” Luna said. “Which is why we are telling you six.”

“What about us?” AJ asked.

“Time and time again you girls have shown courage in the face of adversity and were the victors.” Celestia explained. “Now, we need your help.”

“R-Really?” Rarity asked.

“Yes.” Discord said. “As much as I hate to admit it, but we cannot face Vilgax with the forces we have now. I may be the lord of chaos, but Vilgax doesn’t want chaos. He wants destruction, by any means necessary.”

“Which is why the Plumbers need you.” Steel said. “We will formally train and prepare you for any alien threat, that includes you Spike.”

“I know.” I nodded.

“Why keep it a secret?” Twilight questioned her former mentor.

“Because we were not ready for the truth.” Celestia said. “But now it may be too late. Secrets or not, we need to be prepared. I know you’re more than upset with us Twilight but think of all the things that happened here that you six have struggled with.” Celestia pointed out.

Twilight looked down at the gravel. “You could have trusted us.”

“Young Sparkle, trust is not something that is easily come by. Whether you are a friend, or a sibling.” Luna looked to her sister. “It can take years before you can fully trust somepony, with everything.”

The girls looked down, Celestia spoke up again. “Like it or not, we can and will make mistakes. No one in this entire universe is ever perfect. But if keeping a secret means protecting my subjects, then I’m willing to make that sacrifice. But now, are you girls willing to keep that secret?”

The girls looked at each other. Then Pinkie stepped forward. “I am.”

“Pinkie?” Twilight asked.

“Girls, not everything is going to be all smiles and a party. If keeping this secret means that the cake foals can grow up to be the best bakers ever, then I’m willing to make a sacrifice.” Pinkie said. “I’m not thinking of myself, but I’m thinking of those who will make this land their own. The next generation.” Soon Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow joined them. Fluttershy gulped and stepped forward as well.

Twilight was the only one who hadn’t stepped forward and the girls looked at her and so did I. “Twilight?” I asked and she said nothing. “Mom?” She looked up at me.

“I just, don’t know how to feel.” She admitted. “This is all so much.”

“Twilight, if you feel any anger at all it should be towards me.” Celestia said. “It was my decision not to tell you.”

“I am a bit angry, but at the same time I understand. Then I think back to a lesson you taught me. I hold it close to myself every day.” Twilight wiped a tear from her eye. “The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. I don’t think I’ll truly understand why you decided to do what you did princess, but I guess I’ll just have to deal with it.” Twilight stepped forward.

“Twilight, words cannot express how proud I am of you, of all of you.” Celestia said. “Twilight you have been a natural born leader, it’s part of the reason why I made you a princess. But now I think it’s time for somepony else to take the position of leadership. Or should I say, somedrake?” Celestia looked at me.

“M-Me?” I pointed to myself.

“Yes, Spike. You.” Celestia said. “There are a few things I’d wish to address before continuing.” Celestia turned back to the girls. “There has been a drastic change in the attitude in the six of you since after Spike had received the omnitrix.”

“How do you mean?” Applejack asked.

“Your respect towards him or lack thereof.” Celestia noted. “Previously you have left Spike in the wind and treated him like a pet.” Her eyes narrowed. “I must say I am ashamed of you girls for treating him so. Just because he isn’t a pony doesn’t mean he’s a lesser creature.” The girls all took a sudden interest in the ground below them. “Do you have any explanation to as why you would treat him like this?”

“No ma’am.” Twilight barely squeaked out in front of the solar diarch menacing gaze.

“Twilight I must say I’m ashamed of you most of all.” Celestia’s gaze turned softer. “You took an innocent child and turned him into a tool of convenience. You were the one who brought Spike into this world, and you saw him as nothing more than an assistant. How do you think that would make him feel?”

Twilight was crying now. “It would make him feel like that I didn’t really care for him, like I didn’t see him as a part of my family.”

“And you girls didn’t treat him with much respect until he got the omnitrix. Ignoring him.” Fluttershy winced. “Teasing and making fun of him for not being a REAL dragon.” Rainbow sighed. “Treating him like he was insane for trying to help.” Applejack looked down. “Not listening to him when he needed a friend.” Pinkie’s mane deflated. “But most of all, using his feelings to your advantage.” Celestia stopped at Rarity, who had tears in her eyes. “For every friendship report I got from Twilight and you girls, I also got a letter from Spike.” Celestia stopped. “You girls all hold the paragon of harmony and friendship within yourselves. But friendship is not just limited to you six. You all should know that.”

The girls all nodded then slowly approached me and held me tight in a group hug, repeating the words I’m sorry. For the first time in a few years, I felt like I was one of them.

“As heartwarming as this moment is, we have work to do and I don’t think that copy of you will hold for much longer Tia.” Discord said.

“You’re right Discord.” Celestia looked back at the six girls. “You all need to do some deep soul searching before you return here.” Celestia and Luna lit up their horns and teleported back to Canterlot.

“While you seven talk, Discord and I will contact the other Plumbers and help with restoring the castle to a proper defendable position.” Steel said.

The girls nodded and Discord teleported them back into Twilight’s castle. When the girls got back to the castle I separated from the hug. “I need to do some thinking.” I walked out and went into my room.

The girls looked at each other then they departed as well. Twilight walked slowly to her room. She thought back to when she was fighting Tirek and when he shot that energy beam towards the library. She saved her owl and the journal for her and the girls. She never even thought about Spike. “He could have died, and it would have been all my fault.” She then thought back to their room, and how he slept in a basket. Like a dog, “I had a comfortable bed that I could have shared, but I didn’t.” When she got into her room she found a picture book, on the cover was Memories. It was a gift for her parents after she lost Golden Oaks.

She opened the book and leafed through the pages. She saw herself as a baby, then a filly, then she had Spike, the little baby dragon that was too busy sucking the tip of his tail to pay attention to anything else. Except when it came time to eat, still she was so happy she felt like she had the chance to be the bigger sibling for once. It was clear that as a baby he thought Twilight was his mother, but being a clueless filly she didn’t know any better. Twilight sighed and noticed how Spike appeared less and less as she moved to Ponyville. “I treated my baby like a slave…” She cried to herself. Though her crying was interrupted by the opening of a door. When she looked up she saw the little baby dragon.

I saw Twilight was crying, it was obvious her eyes were red and I could hear her crying. I walked into her room and sat next to her. She wrapped her hooves around me and held me tight. “I’m so sorry Spike.” I hugged her back, not saying anything. She pet my head gently with her hoof.

I can’t say that I agree with what Celestia said, but it needed to be said. Because deep down I felt that I wasn’t accepted by the girls. We soon both fell asleep in the other’s arms.

Apologies

The next morning was bittersweet to say the least. I got up and Twilight was already awake but yet she was still hugging me close. “Good morning.” I said.

Twilight kissed my head, “Good morning baby.” Twilight still had red, bloodshot eyes.

“That feels a little weird hearing you say that so suddenly.” I admitted.

“Sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize for that.” I said to her. “Let’s just take it slowly.”

“Alright.” Twilight nodded, and we slowly separated. “So Celestia put you in charge. How does it feel?”

“I’m scared.” I admitted. “I’ve never been a leader before.”

“I think you have.” Twilight said and she rubbed my back. “Remember when we were sucked into your comic book?”

“Yeah but that was something I knew about. This, I’m completely clueless.”

“Oh right…” Twilight trailed off, then she scratched her chin. “What about hoofball?”

“What about it?” I asked.

“Well none of those hoofball players would be very effective without a coach. This time instead of being put on the side you’re the one in charge.”

“I still don’t know.” I looked down.

“I believe in you Spike.” Twilight hugged me again and I hugged back. While we were sharing that moment together there was a knock on the doors. Twilight looked up, “I wasn’t expecting anypony today.” She looked out over the balcony and then we went down to the front lobby and opened the doors to see the other girls. “Girls what are you doing here?”

“We came for something long overdue.” Rarity said. Twilight realized that it wasn’t a book she was talking about.

Twilight nodded and let her friends into the castle. They all sat around the cutie map and I sat in my seat. Applejack was the first one to speak. “Spike yesterday after the princess said what she did, we all sat down together and thought about what we had done in the past. Before you got the watch.” Applejack took her hat off. “It’s a tough pill to swallow but the sad part is that it’s true. We didn’t treat you with a lot of respect and that’s something that makes us very ashamed.” AJ wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry Spike, I treated you like you were insane when all you were trying to do was help me out.”

“I’m sorry too Spike.” Rainbow Dash said. “I was very disrespectful, I should have treated you better. I was more like a bully than a friend. It wasn’t cool.”

“I’m sorry too Spike.” Fluttershy said. “I may not have done a lot but even ignoring a friend still hurts them.”

“I’m sorry as well Spike.” Pinkie sniffed. “For not inviting you to parties, for not inviting you to see Maud, and not listening to you.”

Then it came to Rarity. “May I please speak to Spike alone?” Rarity requested and the other girls nodded and left. Then the doors closed and it was just her and I. “Spike, if there is anypony that begs the most forgiveness from you is I. The way I have treated you is not becoming of a lady, it’s hardly becoming of a friend. I have known of your feelings of me for quite a while, and no nopony told me.” Rarity sighed. “There is a line that you do not cross and I did. I mistreated you and used your feelings to my own advantage, I abused your friendship and your feelings. That is appalling to even think about, and then I thought back to when I used you as a pincushion.” Tears fell from her eyes. “Looking back, I saw that I was a greedy, abusive monster.” Rarity sat next to me. “I think you’ve earned this.” She planted her lips on mine.

My eyes widened in shock then I kissed back. I was waiting for this for the longest time and then she separated from it. “Wow.” I muttered.

“I’m sorry Spike, but I don’t think I can date you though. You’re just too young.” Rarity said.

Then I paused. “Rarity, how old do you think I am?”

“12?” She answered.

“Rarity, I’m 19 years old.” I said. “Twilight hatched me when she was 5, she’s 24 now. I’m only a baby by dragon standards, if I were a pony, I’d be old enough to drink.” Needless to say Rarity’s jaw dropped.

“But, I-I don’t understand.” Rarity stuttered.

“Dragon’s grow based off two things, greed or age.” I said. “You’ve seen the greed, but a dragon living a greed free life usually becomes an adult around a thousand years old. If I guessed, Ember is at least 300.”

“So you’re saying?”

“By pony law, I am a legal adult.” I said.

“I-I, I need time to think about this. I’m not saying no, just understand that this is a lot of information to process all at once.” Rarity said.

“I get it.” I told her. “But first I need to talk to Twilight.” I hugged Rarity. “I forgive you.”

“Why would you forgive me?” She asked.

“Because that’s what friends do.” I replied, and she hugged me back. I then looked at the door, “You girls can stop eavesdropping on us.”

The door opened and the other five girls were blushing. “It was Pinkie’s idea!” Fluttershy blurted. Pinkie just nervously laughed.

“I don’t think I need to tell you the details then.” I said while sitting back down. The other girls sat down in their seats.

“So you’re 19?” Pinkie asked. “I messed up big time on your birthday file.”

“You should all know how old I am, I was born when you all got your cutie marks.” I said a little angry. “Last year, you didn’t even celebrate my birthday, you just celebrated the fact that you all got your cutie marks at the same time.”

“Okay, we really dropped the ball on that one.” Twilight looked down. “That’s not only rude but very disrespectful.”

“Girls if we sat here and talked about every little disrespectful thing you did to me we’d be here all day.” I activated the watch. “Instead I got a better plan.”

The girls all gulped. “Wh-What would that be?” Fluttershy asked.

I turned the watch and then transformed into Stinkfly. “Some payback.” I then sprayed them all with my stink slime.

Twilight gagged and nearly threw up. “Spike!”

“Twilight, let him go.” Rarity said while being covered in the slime. “It’s the least we deserve after the way we treated him.”

“Rarity aren’t you upset because you’re dirty?” Applejack asked.

“It’s tough love Applejack darling.” Rarity sighed. “Now do you have a bathhouse in this castle?” She turned her attention to Twilight.

“No, if you’re going to take a shower. You’re going to have to do it at home.” Twilight said while using her magic to wipe the gunk out of her eyes. “But I do have a hose out back, so you won’t have to go home all dirty.”

The girls agreed and worked their way out of their gunk and went outside and around the back to see me with the hose running. I sprayed them down with the hose. “Spike, why are you spraying us down?” Rainbow asked.

“I may want some payback, but that doesn’t mean I’m a bully. You girls are still my friends.” I said. “Now hold still.” I sprayed their coats, manes, and tails. “There now go take a shower. I’ll be at Plumber’s HQ.” I turned into XLR8 and sped off into the everfree.”

I got to the HQ within the span of a few minutes. I changed back into my regular self and entered the castle. When I entered I saw a face that I didn’t expect to see. “Trixie?”

The power blue mare looked at me. “Hello Spike.”

“Let me guess, the whole showmare gig is just a cover so that you can travel around and fight aliens?”

“Yes, but remember Plumbers are a police force, we don’t go around just fighting aliens. There’s a process.” Trixie said.

“You aren’t talking in third pony.” I noted.

“That’s just to sell the role as a showmare.” Trixie said. “I’m really not like that at all.”

“So is there anypony else that I know that are plumbers?”

“You know Bon Bon?” Trixie asked.

“The cream colored mare with the pink and navy mane?” I asked.

“Yeah, she’s a plumber too. She’s a field agent and is in charge of clean up detail.” Trixie said as we walked together. “Time Turner is an alien, we don’t usually bother him. He’s in a field that we don’t want to cover. Though he’s been helpful before, he usually doesn’t interfere.”

“Alright, but how does he look like a pony?” I asked.

“It’s complicated.” Trixie said. “I didn’t even pay attention when he was explaining because it confused me too much.”

I shrugged and continued to walk with her looking at the new technology that was built into the castle. “Are there any aliens working here?”

“Not yet we need to deal with the alien threat right now.” Trixie explained as the other girls walked up.

“Trixie?” Twilight asked. “You’re a plumber?”

“Yes I am.” Trixie said. “I’m going to be training you six.”

“A braggart like you?” Rarity asked while wringing out some of her mane.

“That’s just a cover so nopony will catch on to my real job. The showmare stuff is so I can travel around.” Trixie explained. “I’m really a nice girl.”

“But what about coming back and fighting Twilight?” Rainbow asked.

“I was just following orders.” Trixie said. “It was an order from Princess Celestia to test you.”

“Why didn’t the princess tell us?” Twilight asked.

“The same reason she didn’t tell you about us. Secret can kill if left in the wrong company. Loose lips sink ships.” Trixie said. “But let’s move on. If you would please follow me I’ll show you to your classroom.”

“Classroom!” Twilight said excitedly.

“Yes, if you girls are going to be plumbers then you have to go through the training classes, though it’s not an official training class. It’s more of a crash course.” Trixie explained. “Spike however is needed in the science department.” She handed me something. “This data pad will show you where to go.” I took the data pad and it showed an arrow pointing forward. “Just follow the arrow and you should be fine.” Trixie ushered the other girls into the room and I started to walk.

I continued to the stairs and walked down them, the activity in the room was like Manehattan. There were ponies, griffins, zebras, minotaurs, diamond dogs, and even a few dragons. When I entered the room Discord appeared next to me. “Spike, I sensed that you and the others had arrived. Did you meet the welcome wagon?”

“You mean Trixie?” I asked.

Discord nodded. “It was my idea, I felt that you all would feel better if there was a somewhat familiar face instead of just my own, also Steel was busy.”

“What’s he doing?” I asked.

“Trying to set up the communications array to communicate with the Plumber intergalactic base.” Discord said.

“So what am I doing here?” I asked.

“Crash course. You need to be able to lead, and with effective leadership you need to understand the full capabilities of the aliens at your disposal.” Discord said. “So get your reading glasses on, because you’re going to be doing a lot of reading.” Discord smirked.

“.........Crap.”

Learning Sucks.

In the classroom the girls were looking through textbooks. “This is boring.” Rainbow said. “When do we get to fight aliens?”

“The plumbers aren’t all about fighting aliens. There are processes, and procedure.” Trixie said. “We aren’t just a brute force, we’re the police of the universe.” Fluttershy nervously raised her hoof. “Yes Fluttershy?”

“What if I don’t want to fight the aliens? Is there like a field medic or something where I can at least help but avoid danger?” Fluttershy asked.

“There are a few positions that I could look into but we will train you how to defend yourself because you won’t always have those options, but I’m sure you understand.” Trixie said and Fluttershy nodded.

“Now these textbooks are a bit low tech by plumber’s standards but we don’t need anything broken because we don’t have a supply line coming in from Headquarters yet.” Trixie explained “Now if you all will turn to page 278, we’ll start on procedure and processing.”

Down in the science lab I was doing some of my own reading and Discord was filling me in on some of the abilities that the aliens I had at my disposal had. “Let’s start with the Segmentasapien, or Bloxx as you like to call him.”

“What about him?”

“You see as Bloxx you can shapeshift your body into anything you want, such as a catapult, or a shield, a dome, wall, etcetera, etcetera.” Discord said. “But there are some noticeable things that I see that most ponies lack.”

“What’s that?” I asked him.

“Creativity.” Discord said while perched on a cotton candy cloud. “You think I just create some of these things on a whim? Sometimes it takes planning, even planning on the fly.”

“Hmm, I think I understand what you’re saying.” I nodded. “But I have a question to ask you before we go on.”

“Sure thing my dear boy.” Discord nodded.

“Are you an alien Discord?” I asked.

“Yes I am, I’m not the only one of my kind. But my home planet was destroyed long ago and my species have been nomadic since then.” Discord admitted.

“Do you know who did it?” I asked without thinking.

“Let’s just say that there’s a distinct reason why I hate Vilgax, he wasn’t the only one responsible though but good things come to those who wait.” Discord said.

“I’m sorry.” I said.

“Not your fault, let’s move on.” Discord said and we continued with the lesson.

Back in the classroom with the main 6 and Trixie they were busy learning about the equipment a plumber is usually given, and Rainbow was bored as usual. She didn’t like learning, that was Twilight’s department, she dropped out of flight school because she didn’t want to learn. She had to go back eventually to get her weather degree and license to handle the weather but she still didn’t like it. She sighed for the eighth time and Trixie turned to her. “Is there a problem Rainbow Dash?” Trixie asked.

“Yeah, I didn’t come here to learn about processing and standards. I’m more of a hooves on type of girl. I want a challenge, I want a fight!” Rainbow stood upright.

“Hmm, I tell you what. I’ll cut you a deal, let’s head into the training room and have a sparring match. If you win, you don’t have to sit in here anymore I’ll even let you pick a partner to help you out. But if I win, you have to sit and learn. Without complaining.” Trixie stated.

“Deal.” Rainbow said. “Get ready to be the training room’s mop, cause I’m about to wipe the floor with you.”

“Tell you what, just for that. The loser has to clean the entire base for a month.” Trixie said.

“Hehehe, be prepared to lose then.” Rainbow looked at Applejack. “Hey AJ you want in on this?”

“Eenope.” AJ said imitating her brother.

“Why not?” Rainbow asked.

“Because I don’t want to go cleaning the castle for an entire month.” Applejack said. “I got a business to run.”

Rainbow looked around and Pinkie bounced up to her. “I’ll help you Dashie!”

“Then let us move to the training room.” Trixie said and then looked at Twilight. “Are you coming Twilight?”

“I’d rather stay here and take notes.” Twilight said. “I already went over the gear and processing, I’m just interested in the alien species.”

“If you want you can join Spike.” Trixie put a data pad on Twilight’s desk and the others left. Twilight got up and followed the pad to where Spike and Discord were talking.

“Oh hello Twilight.” Discord said as he noticed the alicorn.

“Hey Discord, how’s it going Spike?” Twilight asked as I looked at her.

“We’ve been going over the aliens that I have and their abilities.” I said to my mother. “How is the classwork going?” I asked.

“I wish I had more time and took the actual classes, but Trixie said that it takes years to do so. She started when she was a teenager.” Twilight said. “So what have you figured out?”

“Not a lot tech-wise but I learned the abilities of Bloxx, XLR8, Diamond Head, Heatblast, and Four Arms.” I told her. “What have you learned?”

“That’s great!” Twilight smiled. “I learned the process and procedure. The other girls are doing a stupid bet.”

“Rainbow?” I asked and she nodded. “Want to go see it?”

“Yeah.” Twilight nodded.

I got up but before I left I looked at Discord. “Are we done for today?”

“We got more covered than expected. So yes.” Discord nodded. “I need to sign off on a few things anyways, no job is without it’s paperwork.” Twilight and I chuckled at his sullen tone.

We walked over to the elevator and I typed into the data pad for directions for the training room and pressed the button for the platform to rise. Twilight was smiling as we walked to the room and opened the door to see Rainbow and Pinkie in the middle of fighting Trixie, who was easily evading their attempts at offense. Twilight and I joined the other three girls standing on the side. I looked to Rarity, “Who’s winning?”

“Trixie.” Rarity said while looking at a magazine. “But Rainbow being Rainbow, she won’t admit defeat until she’s knocked out.”

Applejack was busy studying the textbook and talking with Twilight, and Fluttershy was knitting while Rarity read from a magazine and giving tips to Fluttershy. I looked at Trixie in the middle of the fight. “Hey Trixie, can I fight you next?”

“Sure!” Trixie yelled while evading a laser from Pinkie. “Alright I’m getting tired of this.” Trixie conjured a weapon and shot it, it turned into a net and captured Pinkie while Trixie jumped up and landed onto Rainbow’s back and hit a spot in between her shoulders causing her wings to lock up mid-flap and she crashed to the ground while Trixie dismounted.

Rainbow moaned and got back up on her hooves. She then looked at Trixie. “What did you do?!”

“I just temporarily disabled your wings. You should be fine in 15 to 20 minutes.” Trixie said.

“You were holding back on us weren’t you?” Pinkie asked while she was trying to untangle herself from the net she was in.

“Yes, I wanted to test your ability to work together in a fight. While I don’t deny that you girls work well together, there’s a difference between friendship and a fight.” Trixie said then turned to me. “You want to spar Spike?”

I walked up while Rainbow got Pinkie out and joined the other four mares on the sidelines. “Yep. I can use the omnitrix, right?”

“I don’t mind.” Trixie said.

I activated the watch and searched through some, I couldn’t decide so I kept switching back and forth between Diamond Head and Rath until the watch beeped and then I saw a new silhouette. Curiously I pressed it down and my body started to bloat and grow I got these yellow plates that aligned themselves on my arms and back and I grew several feet taller. I finished transforming and looked at myself. “Well this is new!” I said with a deep voice and the girls looked up.

“I haven’t seen that one before.” Twilight said.

“An Arburian Pelarota?” Trixie asked. “I haven’t seen one of those in years!”

I was completely lost so I decided to just start running at Trixie, that turned out to be a mistake. This guy isn’t that fast, then like a clumsy foal I tripped over my feet. I decided to tuck and roll but then I transformed into a ball and the yellow things enveloped me. I then figured out what this alien can do, it’s like a roly-poly. I then started to accelerate in place and then rushed towards Trixie.

Trixie shrieked and dodged out of the way while I unrolled and slid to a halt. “Looks like I got a new ace up my sleeve.” I smirked and rolled back into a ball and shot towards her again Trixie made a wall of magic and I spun right into it, Trixie strained and then launched me back to where I started. I uncurled again and stared found the omnitrix symbol on my forehead. “As much as I like this new alien. I’d rather stick to what I know.” I turned the symbol and slammed it transforming into Rath. “AND I KNOW THAT YOU’RE GOING DOWN!” I got down to all fours and bolted after her as fast as I could.

Trixie crouched down. Think, it’s an Appoplexian. They’re easy to anger, cat-like tendencies, a certain sonic frequency can disable them, and a fear of water! She lit up her horn and summoned a fire hose and started to spray Rath down with water.

“AHHHHGGGGGGGGGH! I HATE WATER!!!” I yelled as I was sprayed down. I tried to dodge to the side but Trixie was there before I could try to escape. I got even more angry and roared. The soundwave from my roar was enough to interrupt Trixie’s spell and the water stopped. I growled and cracked my knuckles, the blades from my forearms extended. I walked towards Trixie until something caught my eye, it was a ball of yarn that Fluttershy had dropped. Fluttershy walked over to go pick it up but I rushed over and grabbed the yarn. “MINE!”

Fluttershy was startled when she first met Rath it wasn’t the best of meetings, but then she looked at me, then she smiled. “You’re just a big kitty aren’t you?” I was too busy pawing the yarn around to pay any attention. Fluttershy then started to pet me and I started purring, that is until the watch timed out. It was just a wet baby dragon with yarn in my mouth.

I spit the yarn out. “Ew.” I looked to Fluttershy. “Sorry Fluttershy.” I apologized for the yarn. “I’ll pay you back if you want me to.”

“There’s no need to do that, knowing that Rath isn’t all that bad actually helps me feel better.”

Trixie wiped her forehead from the sweat. “Wow Spike, it’s been a while since I’ve been pressured to think on my hooves like that.”

“I’m still shocked that I found a new alien.” I said.

“From what we understand, there are certain combinations that unlock certain aliens, it seems like you found one of those combinations.” Trixie said.

“I felt like a cannon ball. But fast as a bolt of lightning. I think I have a name for the new alien. Cannonbolt.” I smirked.

“I like it.” Pinkie said. “I need to rest my owies though, can we go back to the class?” The other girls helped Rainbow and Pinkie back to the classroom while Twilight and I followed behind laughing.

Screw Destiny

Down in the science lab Steel was busy making modifications to the current communications array. Discord popped into existence behind him, “How goes it Steel?”

“Tough, but I managed to keep the Chimerian Hammer from spying on us.”

“That’s good.” Discord said. “Now I can stop wasting magic to keep him from doing so.” Discord snapped his lion paw and suddenly looked invigorated. “Ah, much better.”

“I had no idea it was draining you that much.” Steel commented.

“Magic and Technology like to fight against each other with counterspells and countermeasures, and all that stuff.” Discord said. “It takes a lot more out of a person than you would like to think.”

“Sorry, born with wings. Not a horn.” Steel said. “There are a few questions I’d like to ask you though.”

“Go right ahead.” Discord said while drinking a glass of chocolate milk that he conjured.

“What was that whole deal with conquering Equestria?” Steel asked.

“Oh that. It was actually part of a deal that The King, Queen, and I worked out. I’d test the fortitude of their daughters and how effective they would be in leading a country. Their parents and I were very good friends, they helped me in a time of need so I helped them. I also promised to look over their daughters.” Discord said.

“So what would have happened if the princesses failed?” Steel asked stopping what he was doing.

“I’d continue to rule chaotically but I wouldn’t directly harm the ponies. Sure my chaos may be a nuisance but I never really hurt anyone.” Discord said. “After a certain amount of time their parents would step in and ‘defeat’ me.” Discord put air quotes around defeat.

“You’re not really a bad guy are you Discord?” Steel asked.

“Chaotic, definitely. Evil? Not a single evil bone in my body.” Discord said.

Back in the classroom I was reading about aliens on the data pad and sat next to Twilight while Trixie taught the girls. Rainbow was moved from the back of the classroom to the front and I couldn’t help but snicker at her situation. I was reading when Trixie walked by my seat. “How’s the studying going Spike?”

“It’s going well. Just learning about more about Cannonbolt.” I said.

“The Arburian Pelarota is a very distinct species. They are actually invulnerable when in their spherical form.” Trixie said. “But one of their main weaknesses is the laws of reflection and conservation of momentum.”

“Huh?” I asked.

“It means that they can be redirected easily and once they start spinning they can’t stop.” Twilight explained.

“Oh okay.” I said and looked back at the data pad. The girls started to talk about different things. Twilight was mostly silent. “What’s wrong Twilight?” I asked.

“I was just thinking of the past. About you.” Twilight sighed.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I was the one that hatched you, I was supposed to be the one that was your mother. I failed.”

“What do you mean?”

Twilight looked around and then exited the class and I followed her all the way outside. Then she cast a spell and we were surrounded by a periwinkle dome. “That should keep sound out. I wanted to speak to you in private.”

“Why?”

“Lately, I feel like Celestia shouldn’t have made me a princess.” Twilight said.

“But you earned it.” I argued.

“Did I? Spike you were my oldest and closest friend, you were my son and I took you for granted. What does that make the princess of friendship if I can’t be a friend? Especially to my son! I’m going to talk to the princess, see if I can get this reversed.” She raised her wings.

“What about your destiny?” I asked.

“Destiny?” Twilight questioned. “I’ve been thinking about that. Was it truly my destiny? Or was it the destiny that Princess Celestia wanted for me?” Twilight looked down. “My own teacher didn’t trust me, she’s been sending me off and she doesn’t even do anything herself. The next time an alien attack, the next time ANYTHING happens let her deal with it.” Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “I’m done with it. Screw Destiny."

“Twilight, remember when I got you that new telescope?”

“Yes, the one that the princess helped you with?” Twilight sneered.

“She told me that she doesn’t mean to seem like she’s not doing anything, she just wants you to learn.” I said.

“Spike, I don’t care about that anymore.” Twilight said and I looked at her like she was replaced with another pony. “Princesses should lead by example. The only example she’s setting is that she’d rather send out other ponies to protect her own fat flank.”

“Twilight, this isn’t like you.” I said. “What happened?”

“Ditzy Doo.” Twilight said.

“Huh?” I asked.

“It was a few weeks back, I was walking around town and came across a mare, she was gray with a blonde mane. She was crying.” Twilight sniffled. “She lost everything, and you want to know who she kept blaming?” I nodded, Twilight continued. “Celestia. I went over to talk to her and I hugged her. She started to talk and I listened, she has esotropia. She has tried everything to fix her eyes. She even got an appointment with the princess and she told her no.” Twilight said. “That made me rethink what the princesses keep ‘planning’ for ponies. It’s wrong. In fact, I’m going up there to give her a piece of my mind.” Twilight said and deactivated the bubble and walked back inside and straight to Discord, while I followed behind her. “Discord, I need to get to Canterlot. Now!”

“Somepony is very pissed.” Discord noted.

“I need to give my ‘mentor’ a piece of my mind.” Twilight said.

Discord smirked and snapped his talon and Twilight disappeared in a pop.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” I said.

A new era

Twilight appeared in Canterlot in front of the castle the guards moved aside and Twilight walked right in. She slammed open the day court doors and looked at Celestia.

“Twilight my dear, what is the matter?” Celestia calmly said, though she could tell that something was amiss.

“We. Need. To. Talk.” Twilight said sternly. “Not later, not an hour from now, not a week from now. We need to talk now.”

Celestia mentally gulped and excused herself and teleported both her and Twilight into her personal chambers and informed her guards to leave. Then she closed the doors and looked back at Twilight. “What did you want to talk abou-” Celestia was cut off when a crown hit her in the muzzle. It was Twilight’s ceremonial crown. “Twilight?”

“No more lies, no more plans, no more deception, no more running around. No. More. Destiny!” Twilight approached Celestia. “Tell me everything.”

“Twilight I assure you I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Celestia gulped and Twilight pulled on her collar and brought her down to her level.

“I am not your puppet.” Twilight said through gritted teeth. “Now tell me everything.” Twilight let go and Celestia looked down at the ceremonial crown made of gold with pink gems running along the top.

“I-I’m sorry. It shouldn’t have come to this.” Celestia said, she picked up the crown and placed it on her dresser, she then sat at a table. “Please, if you need to say anything. Do anything, you may. I will not hold it against you.”

“How many times? HOW MANY TIMES BEFORE YOU FOUND ME!?” Twilight shouted.

“For the past 1000 years.” Celestia admitted.

“What about my family? Why did you take me away from them when I was just a foal!?” Twilight yelled again.

“There’s no excuse for that.” Celestia said. “I thought you would have been delighted. But now I see that, it caused more harm than good.”

“Now for the final question. WHY DID YOU MAKE ME A PRINCESS!?” Twilight yelled and blasted the crown off Celestia’s head.

“It was your destiny.” Celestia said meekly.

“BULLSHIT!” Twilight yelled. “IT WAS THE DESTINY THAT YOU DECIDED FOR ME!” Twilight stopped yelling with her rant spent. Celestia was crying. Twilight’s gaze softened.

“You’re right.” Celestia weeped. “I-I couldn’t lose you. I couldn’t lose another student.”

“You know something princess. You can cry all you want, but something I learned is this, you shouldn’t interfere with a pony’s destiny. You play all these intricate games but you should learn how to get up off your ass and learn their names. There’s a difference between harmony, and blissful ignorance. I can tell that these ponies aren’t living in harmony.” Twilight went to leave until something stopped her.

“Dear Twilight,

There are a million things that I’ve learned by watching you grow up, but the one thing that I should have known from the beginning is to let you grow up to be your own mare.” Celestia stood up and wiped her tears. “In this world, there is no such thing as perfection. I should have told you that from the start, I am by no means perfect. I have my flaws as much as the next pony, I made a mistake. For that I am sorry, I should have told you the truth and let you come to your own decision. Instead I had you become dependent upon me.

That is a transgression that I could never forgive myself for, when I look at you I see the daughter I never had. But as I look into your eyes, I see… regret… pain… I see that you wanted to forge your own destiny, and I stopped you and held you back. Those years are things that I could never give back, I wanted to steer you in the right direction. But, I was wrong. I swear to tell you and all ponies the truth, as much as it pains me to do. I will unravel the secrets I have kept for many years. If it means to have a friend back, I will give up my position as princess. I am sorry.” Celestia’s ears drooped and she took off her shoes and collar. “Your friend, Celestia.”

“Why?” Twilight asked.

Celestia’s mane stopped flowing and turned into a light pink color. “1000 years I have seen ponies born and seen them pass on, when I saw you. I couldn’t let that happen again, but I see the pain I have caused. I should stop interfering in the destiny of ponies. I should be a ruler, but I should also be a pony.” Celestia looked at Twilight with tears running down her face. “I’m so so sorry Twilight, all this time you’ve been the teacher. I’m just the student.”

Twilight looked down. “I-I don’t know what to say.”

“There is nothing to say, because nothing can excuse my actions. I was being a selfish bitch.” Celestia cursed herself.

Twilight took a step back. She’d never heard the princess address herself like that before. “I-I don’t want to be a princess anymore.” Twilight said. “I don’t want to be an alicorn.”

Celestia wiped her eyes. “Alright. It’s the least I could do.” Celestia lit up her horn and Twilight started to glow and then when she faded back into her usual self she was a unicorn again.

“Where is that alicorn magic going to go?” Twilight asked.

“Back into Equestria.” Celestia pointed her horn and the glowing white magic shot into the sky and separated, then it faded.

Twilight stepped next to Celestia. “I don’t think our relationship could ever be repaired to where it once was.”

“I think this is for the best though.” Celestia looked down. “I should have never forced anything on you. I was wrong.”

“I’m sorry for making you cry.” Twilight looked down.

“There is nothing you have to apologize for.” Celestia sighed.

“There is one thing that I do want to ask.” Twilight said. “There’s a mare, named Ditzy Doo. She has a gray coat and blonde mane and tail, she has esotropia and she asked for you to help her and you said no. She has nothing left.”

“Her?” Celestia thought back and looked down, “Oh, her. Twilight you must understand that I’m not a genie that can grant wishes.”

“She needed you, one of your ponies needed you and instead of helping them in any way, shape, or form you did nothing.” Twilight was annoyed. “She has a daughter, and now both of them are homeless.”

“I-I had no idea.” Celestia said.

“You may be a good ruler Princess, but you are horrible at helping. So I’m telling you this, for once. Get off your fat ass and do something, you are the ruler and you need to lead by example. Your example so far is the reason why those nobles give you such headaches is because for the past 1000 years you’ve been the one that’s been teaching them to do that.” Twilight said coldly.

Celestia’s thoughts were shattered. Then her face steeled. “You’re right.” Celestia put on all her royal garments. Her hair got back the multiple colors and she walked out of her room. “Twilight, you’re going to want to see this.”

Twilight followed after her, “What are you going to do?”

Celestia burst through the courtroom doors. “ALL THE NOBLES HERE GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!” The court started to go into an uproar then Celestia stomped her hoof. “Excuse me, but for the last 1000 years I’ve been hearing all your bitching, moaning, complaining, and whining.” Celestia took a seat on her throne. “Quite frankly I’m sick of it. It’s time for all of you to grow up! I’m the princess, and you with your positions that are abusing those privileges are fired. I’m not your mommy, I’m not the one you complain to, you are grown adults and you need to grow up. The ones that do deserve the positions that you have received and have been considerate. You may keep your positions, there’s only one pony that deserves that.” Celestia looked at Fancy Pants. “Fancy, you have been a saint among demons, so you can keep your position. Everypony else.” She looked around. “Leave.”

The ponies all rushed out faster than they could complain. When they all left Raven, Celestia’s assistant came up to her. “Princess, if you don’t mind me asking. What was that about?”

“My stu- no, my friend gave me a cold, hard dose of reality. Something I needed for a long time.” Celestia took off her crown. “This crown bears the weight of an entire nation upon my head and I have been sitting here and complaining about the complaining. I have set bad examples for my ponies and it’s time for that to change. No longer will the nobles dictate what I can and cannot do. The crown stands up for the common pony, starting now. The age of nobles is over, now a new age is about to begin, and it starts with common pony.”

Fancy Pants walked over to the princess. “I’m stunned.” Fancy said. “I never thought that you would stand up to them.”

“Fancy, you have been a very good friend. I appreciate everything you’ve ever done for me. Could you do me another favor?”

“Anything my princess.” Fancy bowed and the crown, collar, and shoes fell into his vision.

“Melt those for me.” Celestia said. “I no longer need them.” Celestia conjured a robe and walked out the throne room. “A princess must represent her subjects, not differ from them.” Celestia walked over to Twilight. “I think I need to meet this Ditzy Doo once more. She is the start.”

Twilight smiled. “There’s the mare I look up to.”

“It’s been a long time coming.” Another voice spoke up and the two turned to see Celestia’s sister, Luna.

“You saw all of that?” Celestia asked.

“Yes.” Luna took off her crown and all other royal garments. “It’s about damn time you stopped being a pushover.”

“So you agree with me?” Celestia asked.

“Sister, I see the sister I had before I went on a extended vacation.” Luna said. “I’m 100 percent behind your decisions.”

“The media is going to go into a frenzy.” Celestia said while the three ponies walked to the outside doors.

“I’ll handle the press.” Luna said. “You handle everything else.”

Celestia used her magic and tied her mane into a ponytail. “Thank you sister. Now I have to go to Ponyville, there’s a certain mare that needs the assistance of the crown.” Celestia and Twilight teleported to Ponyville.

Ditzy Doo was having a better day than most, she found some food in a dumpster behind sugarcube corner and she found some wooden boxes for Dinky’s bed. It was incredibly hard to tell her daughter that they were homeless, so she said that it’s like camping without the tents. Dinky was very imaginative so she didn’t mind. They just had to be extremely careful because, they can’t afford to get hurt. Ditzy was carrying some scraps of food when two shadows appeared behind her. Ditzy gulped and nervously turned around to see… Princess Celestia and Twilight?! “P-P-Princess Celestia?” Ditzy asked. “T-T-Twilight? What are you two doing here?”

“I came to see you Ditzy.” Celestia said.

“M-M-Me?” Ditzy asked. “Why me?”

Celestia slowly approached the pegasus. “Because I have failed you my little pony.” Celestia took off the robe she had and wrapped it around the shivering gray pegasus. “I should have done more than just turn you away, and now you are without a home.” Celestia hugged Ditzy. “No more failing my ponies.”

Ditzy snuggled into the great white alicorn. “What about my eyes?”

“The crown will gladly compensate you for housing, food, and your disability.” Celestia said.

“I don’t want to be a burden…” Ditzy trailed off.

“My little pony, you will be the beginning of a new era.” Celestia said. “If you want to be.”

“Does this mean I get a job?” Ditzy asked. “Because, I could really use one.”

“Your job is to take care of your little filly and make sure she gets the best education under your roof.” Celestia said. “I will gladly pay you for that.”

“But I don’t have a house.” Ditzy said.

Celestia wrapped her wing around the gray wall-eyed pegasus and walked her to a big house. “You see this house?”

“Oh, I know that one. It’s empty, I know because I used to deliver the mail.” Ditzy said.

“Well, that’s your house. I bought it for you.” Celestia said.

“For me?” Ditzy started to cry and a crowd started to gather.

“Yes I bought this house for you.” Celestia turned to the ponies. “Let it be known that any debts that ponies that do not make 250,000 bits a year have been erased. If anypony needs financial aid, do not be afraid to write to the crown. Background checks will be run to see if ponies are trying to get money without having to do anything. Only those that truly need the aid will receive it.” Celestia declared. “A new era has begun.”

Ditzy was shocked. “Princess I-I don’t know what to say.”

“My little pony, these are things that should have been done years ago. I am sorry for not addressing it earlier.” Celestia gave Ditzy a key. “Now let’s see your new house.”

Ditzy smiled and opened the house and looked around. Celestia and Twilight looked at the dancing pegasus. “It needs some furniture.” Twilight noted.

“I think some ex-nobles will be happy to donate some furniture if they want a few tax breaks.” Celestia said. “Their taxes are going to be going up.”

Ditzy ran up to Celestia and hugged her tight. “THANK YOU!”

Celestia hugged back while Discord, Trixie, the girls and I walked up. “Mom?” I asked.

Twilight turned to me and the girls gasped. “Twilight, where’s your wings?” Rainbow asked.

“I’m not a princess anymore.” Twilight said. “I’m going to be my own pony.” Twilight walked up and hugged me. I hugged back. “I’m sorry for scaring you Spike.”

“It’s fine.” I snuggled into her. I separated then walked up to Celestia I tugged on her hair.

She looked at me. “Yes dear?”

“Are you and Twilight going to be alright?”

“I don’t know.” Celestia admitted. “I’m proud of her for finally standing up for herself, though part of me wish that I wasn’t the one she stood up to, but I understand why. She opened my eyes to the truth, and it’s time I did something about it. I can’t stop when a pony passes on to the next life. I should have learned that a long time ago.”

“It’s better to make up for lost time than to not make it up at all.” I said.

“When did you get smarter than me?” Celestia asked.

“I lived with both you and Twi-mom. It was bound to happen eventually.” I smiled and she laughed.

“Thank you Spike. I needed that.” Celestia stopped giggling.

“What happened to your royal garments?” I asked.

“I got rid of them. It me cut off from other ponies, I need to show them that I am approachable, I am not a perfect diamond. Even I have flaws, this is just the beginning.”

“What’s next?” I asked.

“The school for gifted unicorns.” Celestia said. “I need to give that school a much needed update. It’s not going to just be for unicorns anymore.” Celestia smiled. “After that, I don’t know. But one thing I’ve seen is that ponies can be very cruel, and that’s something I don’t tolerate. So I’m putting my hoof down. The ponies that have been whining like babies will get what’s coming to them.” Celestia approached Rarity. “Rarity, may I ask you for a favor?”

Rarity nodded. “Anything.”

“You see, Ditzy is going to need some clothes for herself and for her daughter. Any expenses will be paid for by me.” Celestia smiled and Rarity nodded.

Trixie walked up to Celestia. “Do you want me to continue with their training?” She asked the princess.

“Yes, but if they have any questions. Tell them the entire truth.” Celestia nodded.

“Princess, may I talk to ya for a moment please?” Applejack asked. “In private?”

“Of course.” Celestia looked at the other ponies and Discord and they all stepped out of range from hearing. “What is it Applejack?”

“I kinda overheard what you said about those debts and I was wonderin’ if you could help us out. Not financially but, to be blunt. Filthy Rich has been robbin’ us blind.” Applejack said. “Is there any way you could help out?”

“I’d need to see any documentation but take him to court and I’ll see what I can do about it.” Celestia said. Applejack went off to join her friends. Celestia stood there and spoke to herself. “A new era.”

Author's Note

Two chapters in one day. I went to my brother's wedding this past weekend and I didn't bring my computer because it would seem rude. Plus if anyone has a problem with Twilight being a unicorn again, shut it. It's my story I write it the way I want.

Celestia's day off.

Needless to say the media was in a frenzy, Luna was doing her best to handle all the questions. “As I said earlier, I’m not responsible for the actions of my sister. I cannot answer these questions for her and request that you wait at your homes or businesses until she returns.” The news ponies slowly backed and walked away.

Luna sighed and wiped her brow when she got back to her room. She looked over her balcony and spotted the town of Ponyville. “I hope you know what you’re doing sister.”

Down in Ponyville, Celestia was in Sugarcube corner. Trying to decide between the lemon pastry or the chocolate tart. She decided on the tart and bought it, walking around casually had the ponies relax around her and they soon dropped the formalities and stopped bowing before her and just casually said hello and went along their way. Ditzy Doo was accompanying her eating a muffin and humming. “So Ditzy, what did you used to do?”

Ditzy almost choked but swallowed the part of the muffin that was in her mouth. “Me?”

“Is there another Ditzy around here?” Celestia asked.

“Oh. I used to deliver the mail.” Ditzy said.

“Used to?” Celestia questioned.

“I got fired.” Ditzy looked down, or at least one of her eyes did. “I delivered a broken package. Plus my disability checks stopped coming in the mail.”

“Well now the only job you have to worry about is being a mother.” Celestia said while eating her tart.

“I know and I really appreciate that you’re doing this.” Ditzy smiled. “I just wish I could repay you somehow.”

“How about this. When you get all your furniture and appliances in you can invite my sister and I over for dinner.” Celestia suggested.

“Okay.” Ditzy agreed. Then she gasped. “Oh no, it’s almost time for school to let out. I’m sorry princess I need to go pick up my daughter!” Ditzy ran off, stumbled a bit and then continued with her run.

Celestia chuckled, being connected to the sun meant that she knew what time it was at all times. The same with her sister, they never knew why they got that ability when they took on the responsibility of raising the sun and moon but they didn’t mind all that much. Celestia had another problem that needed addressing. It stuck out like a sore hoof, or sore castle. “Since Twilight isn’t a princess she probably would want a less of a castle and more of a house.” Celestia walked over to the castle and easily opened the doors with her magic. “Twilight are you in here?”

“Yes princess?” Twilight answered from the library with her head poking out of the doorway.

“Up to your old habits I assume?” Celestia raised an eyebrow.

“Nope. I’m studying battle magic, you know for the aliens?”

“Yes it does strike me as quite odd that there hasn’t been any recent attack in attempt to retrieve the omnitrix.” Celestia mused then joined her friend in the library.

“Yeah that is pretty odd.” Twilight agreed and levitated a book into her vision. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Actually I think it’s more of the other way around. I would have thought that you would like to alter the castle so it’s more like a house than a palace.”

“I’m converting it into a library, at least the lower half. The upstairs area will be my home.” Twilight said. “Like the setup I had a Golden Oaks, but just a bit bigger.”

“So you don’t mind it?” Celestia asked.

“A few alterations here and there and it will be more homey for me.” Twilight said.

“What about adjusting to your former magic? Now that the alicorn magic is gone?” Celestia asked while sitting down.

“If I were to be honest. I felt more out of place as an alicorn, being an introvert I don’t really like the spotlight to be on me that much. I do just as much as my friends do. That’s sort of why I got so upset.” Twilight said while putting her book down. “You remember when I told you about Starlight’s Village?”

“The one about equality?” Celestia said. “I do.”

“While there, the people brought up some good points. Not as in everypony should try to be the same but everypony deserves a fair share. My accomplishments are my own yes, but I would have never achieved that without my friends, and for me to be the only one who gets rewarded? That’s unfair.” Twilight said. “I’d rather share the spotlight than to be the only one in it.”

“I think I understand where you are coming from.” Celestia nodded.

“Besides, I do better as a librarian than a princess anyways.” Twilight said. “I’m willing to help other ponies with friendship problems but if I don’t address my own problems how am I supposed to be an effective advisor?”

“You are wiser beyond your years Twilight.” Celestia compliments.

“Well I had a good teacher.” Twilight smiled. “Not the best one, but still pretty damn good.”

“We all have faults.” Celestia admitted.

“So, what are you going to do about this new era?” Twilight asked.

“First thing I’m going to do is stop letting the ponies with the biggest bank accounts try to push me around. Like you said, everypony deserves a fair share and a fair shot.” Celestia pointed out. “The court positions will become elected positions and not passed down from generation to generation. That way ponies can decide who would be the best to represent them in court.”

“What about Ditzy?” Twilight asked.

“I can move some funds around and get her a paycheck that covers living expenses.” Celestia said. “I don’t need all the cake in the world, and those nobles don’t need all the money in the world either.”

“Isn’t that stealing?” Twilight asked.

“It’s called taxes.” Celestia said. “Ponies that make 50,000 bits a day should be pay their taxes.”

“You’re really cracking down aren’t you?” Twilight asked.

“Tax evasion is a crime, one that I have been too lenient on. I’m going to straighten out those things.” Celestia said. “Sorry I just need to blow off some steam.”

“You want to spar with Spike?” Twilight suggested. “It could help the both of you and Spike recently discovered a new alien.”

“Really?” Celestia questioned. “Which one?”

Twilight summoned a data pad and showed Celestia. “He calls him Cannonbolt.”

“An Arburian Pelarota, that’s rare.” Celestia mused to herself. “Where is Spike now?”

“Plumber HQ.” Twilight answered. “He’s been hanging out there helping with configuring the communications as Gray Matter.”

“I’ll see you around Twilight.” Celestia lit up her horn then stopped. “You know what. I think I’ll fly there.” Celestia stretched her wings. “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to stretch my wing muscles.” Celestia walked outside and started to flap.

“I’ll see you later princess.” Twilight said.

“Twilight, there’s no need to call me that. I’m your friend, call me Tia.” Celestia took off into the sky with a smile adorning her muzzle. Celestia did a few loops and twists in the sky. Then she was accompanied by a rainbow streak flying around with her. “Hello Rainbow Dash.”

“How did you know it was me?” The cyan pegasus asked.

“Seriously? You make a rainbow trail every time you fly and you’re one of the only ponies that has that type of mane.” Celestia answered.

“Well you got me there.” Rainbow said. “Heading to the HQ?”

“Yes, I need to let off some steam and I’m going to help Spike in the process.” Celestia said as she descended into the courtyard of her old home in the everfree forest. She landed gracefully and Rainbow was still in the air.

“Well I got some clouds to bust for weather team. I’ll see ya around.” Rainbow sped off in the direction of Ponyville and Celestia chuckled.

“If there’s one thing I know about Rainbow Dash is that she is hardly formal at all.” Celestia looked at the castle which had been rebuilt and stood proudly as it once was.

“Do you like it?” A similar chaotic voice asked.

“Yes Discord.” Celestia wiped a tear from her eye. “It’s almost the exact same before they left.”

“I figured you’d like it.” Discord said. “It brings back some fond memories.”

“Yes Uncle Dissy.” Celestia teased.

“I can still turn your mane into cotton candy.” Discord pointed out.

“You’re getting pretty stale, why not change it up?” Celestia said. “It could be mane-eating lollipops.”

“The same old thing does get pretty stale after a while doesn’t it?” Discord asked. “That was a rhetorical question.”

“I didn’t say anything.” Celestia grinned.

“You were thinking it.” Discord said. “I also know why you’re here. Spike is down in the lab.”

“Thank you Discord.” Celestia started to walk.

“A new era huh?” Discord asked.

“Yes.” Celestia answered without looking back.

“Such a disruption to the natural pecking order. It’s so delightfully chaotic, it’s almost like you’re doing my job for me.” Discord smiled.

“What’s next? Maybe tomorrow I’ll have a duck bill and beaver tails for wings?”

“Sarcasm is better left to your sister.” Discord noted and disappeared in a flash of bubbles. When the bubbles popped they all made different noises.

Celestia couldn’t help but chuckle. She went down into the lab and saw all types of devices and computers aligning the walls and columns. “I haven’t seen some of these since my childhood.” Celestia studied one of the computers when Steel Gear walked up.

“Anything I can help you with?” Steel asked.

“Just reminiscing.” Celestia said. “Do you know where Spike is?”

“Right here!” I said. “You’re kinda standing over me.”

Celestia looked down at my position and saw that I was myself. “Oh there you are. Sorry for standing over you, what are you doing?”

“Just connecting some wires.” I said. “Some of these ponies can handle being shot at by lasers but they can’t handle a simple hoof shock.”

“To be fair, dragons are more durable and have a higher resistance to the elements than ponies.” Steel pointed out.

“Whatever.” I said then looked to my adoptive mother. “What did you want?” I asked politely.

“I need to let off some steam and was wondering if you would like to spar with me.” Celestia said.

“Sure, let me just finish wiring this.” I said and went back under the computer.

“I’ll be waiting in the courtyard.” Celestia said as she spread her wings and flew up to the castle.

I finished wiring the computer and took the elevator to the castle and jogged into the courtyard where my mother was waiting with a giant mace with tally marks on it. “Umm……. what is that for?” I gulped.

“Oh, oops. I should have told you before you got up here. This is the weapon I prefer to use when in a fight. Now that I think about it, I should just stick to magic.” Celestia said.

“No you’re fine it’s just. Kinda scary when I look at it, I don’t think I want to know what the tally marks are for.”

“Let’s just say that every planet has a dark age.” Celestia said.

“Okay then.” I activated the omnitrix and chose an alien then transformed into XLR8. “Let’s see if you can keep up.”

Celestia readied her mace and her horn started to glow. “A Kineceleran, interesting choice.”

The helmet’s mask came down. “Not every fight is about brute strength.” I said as I readied myself.

“On Three?” Celestia asked and I nodded my head. “One… Two… THREE!” She shouted and rushed towards me while I sped around her attempt at offense and wrapped my tail around her leg and twisted to throw her back. She shouted and went through some rocks.

I sped up to where she landed. “Are you alright?” I asked her and then I was blasted back by a beam of magic.

Celestia rose from the rubble. “Spike, there is one thing you should know about me. I’m a lot tougher than I look.” She hefted her mace with her magic. “I can take the hits.”

I got back up and crouched. “Then I guess I need a heavier hitter.” I twisted the omnitrix symbol and changed into Heatblast.

“A Pyronite?” Celestia questioned. “You do know I’m immune to fire?”

“Yeah but you aren’t immune to this.” I caused the earth underneath me to rise and suddenly it became a floating platform and I launched the platform at her.

Celestia raised her shield and the rock crashed against the shield causing it to crack. There was another flash of light and I was Diamond Head. I turned my arm into a blade and slashed at the cracks in her shield causing it to shatter. Celestia swung her mace out of instinct and caused cracks and launched me into tree which caused more cracks. “A Petrosapien. That’s a good one.”

I slowly got up and the cracks disappeared quickly and I regained my previous form. I smirked, “I’ve had a lot more practice with the omnitrix.” I shot some shards around Celestia who back away slightly.

“Trying to intimidate me?” She asked.

“Nope. Just setting a trap.” I raised my arms and the shards grew into a crystalline prison surrounding her, it then sealed up.

Celestia smirked and swung her mace, shattering the prison easily. “You are way too smart for your own good. You know that?”

The omnitrix start to blink red and then it timed out. “I did have some pretty good teachers.” I said as I turned back into myself.

Celestia wiped some sweat off her brow. “Whew it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to spar like that before.”

I walked up to her and sat down next to her. “Why don’t you join in on the front lines more often?”

“You know, princess duties. That should be starting to change now. I got a few ideas for the new era that I will put into action.”

“Like what?”

“A royal documents board. I really don’t like going through all those proposed documents, so that should free up a lot more time for me and Luna.”

“That sounds really useful.” I said.

“Yes, but I have to employ trustful ponies. I know that one bad egg doesn’t spoil the bunch but my little ponies have very infectious personalities.”

“What about Blueblood?” I asked.

“Him? Oh, yes I’ll talk to him. I noticed that he has abused his position before but he does do some good work for me. I may have to revoke his status as an honorary prince until he can straighten up his act.” Celestia dispelled the mace and conjured a towel to wipe the sweat off herself.

“So his title is only honorary? Why does he call you Auntie then?”

“Because when he was just a little foal he was homeless and an orphan so I ‘adopted’ him as my nephew. Though I should have used the belt on his flank more.” Celestia sighed. “But enough about me and my problems. How have you been?” I started to talk and update her on the past few weeks, about what happened with the girls and how they apologized but I was still getting measures of payback. “Okay, you have to tell me how you messed with Applejack.” Celestia said.

“Oh that was easy, I just turned into XLR8 gathered all the apple harvesting baskets on the farm and then turned into Bloxx and conveyed all the baskets to the roof of the barn.”

Celestia laughed. “How did you get Fluttershy?”

“I didn’t go after her too hard, she didn’t really hurt me as much so I just turned into Ghostfreak and did a poltergeist thing.” I explained. “When she went out that afternoon and came back all her chairs were stacked on the table. She started to freak out but I turned back into myself and told her that I was messing with her then put everything back.”

“Not enough to scare her silly but enough for both to be satisfied.” Celestia nodded. “Now how did you get Twilight?”

“I rearranged all of her books as XLR8 throughout the day. She went to go put a book back and saw that there was another book in it’s place. If I went fast enough she would see a book change places before she could grab it.” I smirked. “It drove her bonkers.”

Celestia then started to laugh at that. “I wish I could have been there to see her face!”

“It was pretty funny until she figured out it was me.” I said. “I didn’t get any gems for the past week.”

Celestia looked at me. “Hmm.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“I could be mistaken but it seems like you’ve been doing some growing.” Celestia pointed out then poked my belly. “That shirt is barely covering your belly.”

I looked down and saw that my belly was slightly sticking out. “Huh.”

“Have you been hoarding again Heathspike?”

I gulped when she used my full first name. “No mommy.”

“Then I think that you’ve started to hit one of your many growth spurts.” She said.

“R-Really?” I asked.

“Well your belly isn’t as pudgy when you lived in the castle with me. In fact you’ve gotten a lot slimmer since you got the omnitrix.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“I don’t think it’s a side effect of your transformations, I think it’s because you’ve been more active since receiving the omnitrix.”

“Oh okay.” I stood up and Celestia did too.

“As much as I would like to stay and chat more, I feel that I’ve taken too many liberties today.” Celestia wrapped me in her wings and hugged me tight. “Though I will be visiting more often now. I promise.”

“I love you mommy.” I hugged her tight.

“I love you too my precious drake.” Celestia said back and broke the hug she kissed my forehead and then teleported back to Canterlot.

Author's Note

Spike's full name is Kenbroath Gilspotten Heathspike.

Bounties and Time

The next few days I read up on what happened in the newspaper, or newspapers I should say, all across the headlines were, Princess Celestia: New Era or Gone Insane? I rolled my eyes and threw the paper with the other stack of crumpled up newspapers. “Ponies are hard to accept change.” I said as I got up and walked outside. I had been spending most of my days at the HQ so they decided to make a room for me. I also had Rarity tailor my clothes so that they would fit better. I decided to take a walk around the everfree forest.

While Spike was taking a walk the bounty hunter known as SixSix was taking his time and observing his target. Unlike his siblings SixSix is patient, though he is much more inexperienced than his siblings.

While I walked through the forest I couldn’t shake this feeling that I was being watched. I just dismissed it at it being the everfree forest. However I kept looking over my shoulder and then I heard a twig snap and my heart leaped. I looked around and saw, timberwolves. They were growling and I smirked. “You may think I’m an easy target. I’ve got a little trick up my sleeve.” I activated the omnitrix and selected Heatblast and transformed. “I may not be a genius, but I do know that fire beats wood.”

I made my fire more intense but the timberwolves didn’t heed the warning, so they pounced. I punched the wolf out of the air and it slammed back down onto the ground with burn marks on it’s hide. Two other wolves surrounded me on both sides and the one I just punched was back up. “Alright. Let’s go.” I crouched and they all pounced at the same time. I twisted and kicked one and blasted the other with fire. The third wolf latched onto my shoulder and bit down, but soon regretted it as the wolf started to burn.

I made quick work of the wolves and soon they were nothing but a pile of ash and cinders. I hit the omnitrix symbol on my chest and transformed back into myself. My stomach then grumbled. “I’m hungry.” I took off to Ponyville down the path and met Zecora along the way. “Hey Zecora, how are you?”

“I’m doing very good, but what are you my drake friend doing out in these woods?” The shaman asked.

“Twilight gave me the day off, I must have gotten lost.”

“Trust me there is no need to fret, follow me and to Ponyville you will get.” Zecora nodded and I followed along with her. “There is no need to be afraid of me. I know your secret, your colleagues and I share the same eyes to see.”

“Is that your way of saying that you’re a Plumber?” I asked her and she nodded. “Can I ask why to speak in rhyme?”

“Ah, it is a nervous habit of mine, to compensate I speak in rhyme.” Zecora said then she sighed. “I really need to learn how to stop.”

“Baby steps. You can just talk to me normally to start off with.” I said to her.

“Thank you Spike.” She thanked me and soon we were back in Ponyville. “Now if you’ll excuse me there are supplies that I need.” Zecora went off and I went to go get something to eat at Sugarcube Corner.

The girls were all sitting in a booth with their heads on the table and I walked up to them. “Hey girls, how’s it going?”

“I’ve never been so tired.” Twilight moaned. “Trixie has been working us to the bone.”

I sat next to them. “How so?”

“We started doing daily exercises.” Rainbow said. “It’s not bad for those of us that are athletic but then there’s the written exams and tests.”

The girls all moaned and lay their heads down again. Even Pinkie was worn out, and that’s saying something. “So I’m guessing I can’t get a snack?” I asked.

“No, Mr. Cake is working the counter this week. Doctors said he pulled a muscle in his back and needs some leisurely paced work for a few weeks.” Pinkie explained.

Twilight gave me my bag of bits and I went up and got myself a sapphire cupcake. I walked back and shifted nervously. “Something on your mind Spike?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’ve just been getting a weird feeling lately.” I said.

“What is it darling?” Rarity asked.

“You girls ever get the feeling that you’re being watched?”

“Sometimes, but that’s probably just your noggin’ tellin’ yah to keep an eye out for danger.” Applejack offered her explanation.

“Makes sense.” I said. “Hey Twilight, I’m going to head to the outskirts of town to refill my gem stash.”

“Alright, don’t be out too late and watch out for danger.” Twilight warned me.

I went back to the castle and gathered my stuff to help me in the dig. I went into Diamond dog territory. They’ve been a lot less aggressive against ponies ever since changelings became allies with equestria. I walked around and started to dig. I got a few rubies, emeralds, and aquamarine but I couldn’t find anything more. “I wish Rarity was here so she could show me where the gems are.” I shrugged and kept digging.

SixSix had his eyes on the target. The runt with the omnitrix, SixSix waited until he had been far enough out of town to strike and now was the perfect opportunity. SixSix rushed forward and shoulder blocked the runt causing him to be knocked back and fly a few feet away. That’s what Vilgax was worried about? This is going to be the easiest million credits I’ve ever made. The bounty hunter thought to himself, then he heard a sound and saw a green flash of light. Then a Tetramand stood before him.

“Okay buddy, I don’t know who you are but you just messed with the wrong dragon.” I said as I cracked my knuckles. I ran at the mysterious alien and swung my fists as he jumped back and kicked my stomach, knocking the wind out of me and then he kicked my chin causing me to fly back again. I flew in an arc and landed in the dirt. “This is going to be harder than I thought.”

The alien rushed at me while I was on the ground and tried to kick me while I was down, literally. I crossed two of my arms and blocked his kick then grabbed his other leg with one of my other arms and threw him back. He then did a backflip in mid air and stopped in the air. He then drew a weapon and started to shoot at me, so I had to dive for cover. “Damn, this guy isn’t letting up.” I covered my head. “Maybe I should change up my strategy.”

I twisted the omnitrix symbol and transformed into Bloxx. I changed my arm into a cannon and decided to shoot back at the guy. I did remember that these blocks exploded. When I did so the guy was taken off guard and I got a few shots in causing him to fall to the ground. I ran at him and formed my gun arm into a hammer and my other arm into a shield and smashed his side with the hammer. The hammer didn’t affect him as much as I thought because he was back up in a few minutes. I swung at him again but this time he blocked it and smashed my arm into bits. Then he kicked me back again, my arm rebuilt itself but he was already approaching. Then the worst thing of all that could happen, happened. The omnitrix started to blink red. “No no no no no no no!” It was too late as I already transformed back.

The alien was approaching and took out a buzzsaw and turned it on. I gulped and waited for my inevitable fate. Then suddenly he was surrounded in a light blue magic aura and tossed away from me. “There you are!” A recognizable voice shouted. It was Trixie and Bon Bon, Bon Bon was decked out in some gear that I didn’t even recognize at the time but Trixie moved to confront the alien as Bon Bon helped me up.

“Are you alright Spike?” She asked me.

I got up and brushed myself off. “Nothing permanent, what are you girls doing here?”

“We got an alert from HQ, there was an alien that entered the atmosphere. I was trying to track them down but all I could find was the landing site. I couldn’t find him until he attacked you.” Bon Bon answered.

Trixie was trading blows with SixSix and keeping him on his toes. “What are you doing here bounty hunter?” Trixie asked as she dodged one of his strikes. The bounty hunter never gave an answer but Trixie’s deductive reasoning quickly narrowed things down. “Seems like Vilgax couldn’t get the job done himself so he hired a bounty hunter?” Trixie inquired as the Sotoraggian remained quiet. “Typical.” Trixie said as she unleashed another spell from her horn. Blasting the buzzsaw to make it malfunction.

SixSix knew that he was outmatched so he did what any smart person would do in this situation. Live to fight another day, he pressed something on his wrist and soon he was no longer visible and he quickly made a retreat back into the woods. Trixie huffed and blasted the ground, “Damn cloaking devices.” Trixie walked back over to where we were standing and I looked at her.

“Who was that?” I asked.

“His name is SixSix, and he’s a bounty hunter.” Bon Bon said. “Vilgax is stepping up his game.” The cream colored mare looked at her fellow plumber.

“Then we should do the same.” Trixie nodded. “We need the communications array up and running, Steel is working as fast as he can but that won’t be fast enough in time.”

“Oh no.” Bon Bon sighed.

“We have to, we’ve got no other options.” Trixie pointed out.

“You know how much we hate working with that guy.” Bon Bon said.

“Yes, but without him we wouldn’t even be here.” Trixie said.

“Girls, who are we talking about?” I asked them.

“You’ll see.” Bon Bon grimaced.

“It’s about bloody time you decided to tell me about this!” A brown earth pony with a brown mane, a tie, and an hourglass cutie mark yelled. “Do you know how much time I’ve been wasting trying to figure out this invasion! If you can even call it that!”

“Doctor, we know that you’re upset that we kept you out of the loop. But you know the reason why, you have your own problems to worry about right now.” Trixie said.

“You meddling plumbers are always trying to get into my business! Why would you show any concern over me now!?” The Doctor yelled.

I just sat in the living room while the three ponies argued and ate what the Doctor called jammie dodgers? They were pretty good, though not as good as Pinkie’s ruby sprinkled cookies. The hours went by and everypony calmed down and explained everything to me, about how the Doctor was really an alien from another galaxy with a time traveling spaceship in the shape of a blue police box. “I have a question Doctor, if you could travel through time, then why didn’t you stop me from getting the omnitrix?”

“Because I was in the same time as you the moment it happened and would have had to break my own timeline just to stop it. That would have potentially ripped the universe apart.”

“Time is much more complicated than ponies care to think Spike.” Trixie explained.

“What about the butterfly effect?” I asked.

“A load of hogwash.” The Doctor said. “Time can be altered, unless it’s a fixed point. Then, it cannot change.”

“I have another question, do you know anything about the omnitrix?” I showed him the device on my arm.

“Hmm? You mean that?” The Doctor pointed to the watch. He then pulled out a strange silver device. “Hold still for a moment.”

“Is it going to hurt?” I asked.

“No, but it helps if you hold still.” The Doctor then used his device. “This is called a sonic screwdriver. It’s basically a multipurpose tool that works on practically anything, except wood. Never could quite figure that out.” He started to scan the omnitrix with his screwdriver, it emitted a blue light and made a small whirring sound. “A DNA alterer? There’s only one place and one person I know that would make something like this. Azmuth.”

“Who is Azmuth?” I asked.

“A galvan who thinks himself to be the greatest mind in the galaxy. He still hasn’t figured out time travel and hasn’t risked his life to save the universe.” The Doctor finished scanning the omnitrix.

“I’m guessing you know him by more than just reputation.” Bon Bon said.

“Galvans and Time Lords have disputed about being the smartest race in the universe for millennia.” The Doctor said. “Azmuth and I tried to broker peace between the races but the Galvans left us high and dry when the Time Wars began.”

“Time Wars?” Trixie asked.

“It’s a very long story.” The Doctor said as he became quiet.

“Are you willing to help us Doctor?” Bon Bon asked.

“Pending alien invasion? When do I not help with that?” The Doctor said. “Of course.”

“Thank you.” Trixie said.

“One thing though.” The Doctor said before we left. “Whatever you do, do not mention this to the princesses.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“I promised not to meddle in their affairs after a certain event happened.” The Doctor said. “That’s why they can’t find out.”

“Fine.” Trixie nodded and so did Bon Bon and I.

“Shall we begin then?” The Doctor smiled and adjusted his tie.

The Doctor is in.

The Doctor was almost tearing the entire plumber HQ apart and repairing it with his sonic screwdriver. For some reason he insisted on bringing Derpy along as well. She already know about aliens by traveling with the doctor. She was sitting next to me while I looked on. I looked to the mailmare. “Is he always like this?” I asked.

“Sometimes.” Derpy said in her Manehattanite accent. “He usually isn’t as picky as this though. It might be more personal this time.” Derpy then nibbled on her muffin.

“How is he an alien but looks like a pony?” I asked her.

“It’s complicated and I got confused when he told me.” Derpy admitted.

“So why do you go along with him?” I asked her.

“He needs me, he’s been through a lot. His body may be young but when you look in his eyes, they tell the stories that his mouth refuses to.” Derpy said profoundly.

I scratched my neck because I was nervous about talking about eyesight with her. “Yeah…”

“It’s okay to talk about it Spike. I don’t mind.” Derpy said looking at me. “I’ve accepted it as a part of myself.”

“Alright, but I’m not going to point it out. I don’t want to be rude.” I was reassured. “How did you know, it happen?”

“I was born with it slightly, it got worse but after going to some therapy I learned how to focus it when I need to.” Derpy said then her eyes straightened out. “See?”

“Okay.” I smiled and nibbled on my muffin that she gave me earlier.

The Doctor was working vigorously and with rigor. Going over every detail with a careful eye and with his sonic screwdriver while Steel, Discord, Bon Bon, and Trixie looked on. “You know you never did tell us why you didn’t want Celestia to know about your involvement.” Discord stated.

“I’m not so trustful of those with a lot of power over others.” The Doctor said. “Either they have alternate motives, keep a lot of secrets, or something else. Also some personal experiences has kept me on the other side of authority.”

Discord thought about it then nodded. “Makes sense.”

The other ponies decided to go back to what they were doing previously while The Doctor worked, all except for Steel. Because The Doctor was doing his job. Steel decided to go the armory and work on his prototypes.

I got up and stretched. “I’m going to go to the training room.” I walked off.

The girls were enjoying a day off at the spa compliments of Trixie. Rainbow was relaxing in a hot tub with Applejack and Pinkie while the other girls were getting massages.

Twilight was humming in pleasure while a pony was massaging her tense muscles. “I haven’t used those muscles in a long time.”

“Darling, I don’t think you’ve ever used any muscles other than your eyes.” Rarity said.

Twilight rolled her eyes and looked at the girls relaxing in the hot tub. “How are you girls doing?”

“Just fine Twi.” Applejack said.

The girls relaxed and went through the works. Meanwhile The Doctor was setting up the communications in plumber HQ. Derpy was helping to the best of her ability by grabbing tools out of the TARDIS and bringing it to him. Discord was observing the both of them, The Doctor poked his head out underneath a console and looked at Discord. “Let me guess, you summoned all this tech here?” The Doctor asked Discord.

“Yes, why?” Discord asked.

“Because the remaining chaotic energy from the summoning is affecting the wiring.” The Doctor explained. “Basically all the chaotic energy needs to be either purged or re-absorbed.”

“You’re asking me to take all the remaining chaotic energy from the tech I teleported here so that everything will work properly?” Discord questioned.

“Exactly.” The Doctor nodded.

Discord put his talon out and reabsorbed his magic and he felt more invigorated than ever. “Huh, so that’s why I was feeling a bit sluggish.” Discord looked at his mismatched body parts.

“I know what it’s like to spread yourself too thin.” The Doctor said. “Remember, big bang 2.”

“Yes I’m aware.” Discord said. “One of the few beings that is.”

“Yes, because as long as there’s chaos. There’s you.” The Doctor said.

“What do you think of Spike having the omnitrix?” Discord asked The Doctor.

“He has a lot of potential, with the proper mentoring. He could become a proper hero.” The Doctor said.

Discord chuckled. “Takes some of the pressure off the rest of us.”

The Doctor looked up at Discord. “You? A hero?”

“Anti-hero. Happy?” Discord said.

While The Doctor and Discord continued to chat I was in the training room fighting with the holograms as Four-arms. I finished my session and the omnitrix timed out and I wiped the sweat off my forehead. “You’re very good.” A new but familiar voice spoke up. I looked to see that it was Luna. “Your form could use some work though.”

“Hey Aunt Luna.” I said out of breath.

“Greetings Spike.” Luna approached me and lit up her horn and I felt much better. “How have you been?”

“I’ve…….been nervous. Ever since I found out about this bounty hunter after me I’m always watching my back.” I told her and sat down. “I can’t rely on just instinct. I have to be properly trained.”

“Perhaps I could help you with that.” Luna stated.

"How?”

“Your dreams nephew of mine.” Luna said. “In the dreamscape I can extend time to as long as possible. I could make a minute seem like a year if needed.” She sat next to me. “Though I can sense there’s something else troubling you.”

“It’s about the girls. I-I didn’t want to drag them into this, they’re already dealing with enough down here.” I looked down.

“Spike, none of this is your fault. This wasn’t planned out, this was purely by fate. Besides, the girls have handled almost anything that has been thrown at them before.”

“But this is different, the magic of friendship can’t help this time.” I said to my aunt.

“Oh but it can dear nephew, in different ways though. Without friendship all of the things you see around you wouldn’t have been possible.” Luna said.

I looked around and smiled. “You’re right. So when do we start with the dream training?” I asked her.

“We can start tonight if you would like.” Luna said.

“But what about the other pony’s dreams?” I asked.

“There’s a division in my guard that specializes in dreamwalking. You think I do it all by myself? I would be exhausted.” Luna said. “It’s going to be fine Spike.” She nuzzled me. “There’s also a bonus, your mother and I were trained by some of the best warriors in Equestria’s history. By the time we’ve finished your training, you’ll tear Vilgax’s army of drones apart.”

I grinned. “Nice. But I have a question, why are you here?”

“Tia gave me some time off after I handled the storm of horseapples that was the media.” Luna got up and stretched. “I thought that it has been a long time since I’ve felt the heat of battle so I came here to spar with you.”

“Okay.” The omnitrix had already turned green while we were talking and I got up and stretched.

Luna flapped her wings and set a program to make the terrain very rocky with lots of walls and cover. “But remember this Spike, I’m not like my sister. I won’t go easy on you.” Luna grinned and summoned a pair of swords she held in her magic.

I gulped a bit then activated the omnitrix. “Then I can go all out.” I selected Diamond Head and slammed my hand over the display.

Author's Note

Happy Holidays, sorry this is so late. I had a lot to do these past few weeks, but the good news is that I can drive now.