Though the residents of Ponyville had often found themselves intimidated or even frightened by the Lunar guards that were stationed outside their Embassy, there was no denying that those soldiers were the very model of efficiency and discipline. The way they moved, the way they changed their postings, even down to the manner in which they surveyed the surrounding area, it was all like a smoothly-operating machine. And today was no different, as close to a dozen of them were standing out at the front of the place, watching the borders of Ponyville carefully during their duties. But, while the ponies of that town might not have wanted to stray any closer to the Embassy than they usually did, there was one who seemed to have no issue whatsoever in going over there; Spike. The young dragon, to the amazement of those who saw him, simply walked up to the Embassy with an excited look upon his face. It wasn't long before he reached the gate of the fence that surrounded it, after which he looked up eagerly to the nearest guard.
"Hi! How's it going?"
Looking down to the youth, the imposing stallion, in a manner that most would not have expected of a Lunar guard, smiled to him.
"Ah, Master Spike. Welcome. Here to visit Sweetie, I assume?"
A nod from the small dragon was all the answer the guard needed, and as soon as he saw it, he turned, looking to one of his other colleagues on the other side of the fence.
"It's Spike! Open up!"
The other guard nodded back, opening the gate as requested. Spike's smile grew wider, and he gave an appreciative look to the guard he'd spoken to, before merrily walking through the gate, which the other stallion closed behind him. Afterwards, he went his usual way, entering the Embassy in earnest. He'd been here a few times now, and knew the way he needed to go. Several of the serving staff, like a young unicorn mare currently in the middle of arranging a vase of flowers, looked down to him with a smile, which Spike was sure to return. After a while of this, he turned one corner in particular, and saw his destination; a door on the side of one of the hallways. And he knew it was the right one because, at that very moment, Ambassador Rarity herself now began to exit through it. Picking up the pace, Spike rushed over to her.
"Good morning, Ambassador!"
Though a little surprised at this greeting, the alabaster unicorn nevertheless relaxed a little when she saw who it was, and broke out into a small smile herself.
"I see you're on time as usual, Spike."
Chuckling, Spike shrugged his shoulders.
"Comes with having Twilight Sparkle as a Mother."
A small laugh escaped the older mare at that, after which she glanced over her shoulder, to the door she'd just come from.
"Sweetie's inside. But, I should warn you, she's in the middle of one of her lessons right now."
Understanding, Spike gave a small salute.
"Understood. I won't cause any trouble."
Slightly amused at the professional behaviour the youth was displaying, Rarity nodded back to him, giving him a small pat on the head.
"Very good. Run along now. She's expecting you."
Taking the permission, Spike headed over to the door and, after turning the knob carefully, entered the room. It was very similar in appearance to Rarity's office, complete with a currently-roaring fireplace. The room was warm, and even somewhat cosy in its feel, but what truly drew Spike's attention was the very filly he'd come over to visit; Sweetie Belle. Sure enough, as her Mother had said, she was sitting quietly, smiling up to another mare, an earth pony, who bore cream-coloured fur and a short, blue mane. This was undoubtedly Sweetie's tutor, and right now, she was currently in the middle of looking at a sheet of paper, all while Sweetie watched.
"Yes...very good. Your writing has become much better in recent weeks, Sweetie."
The filly beamed at that.
"Thank you, Miss Coco!"
Spike watched, interested in what was going on, but, as he took a further step inside, he found, to his slight dismay, that the floorboard he'd just stepped on creaked somewhat. As one would expect, this immediately drew the attention of the two ponies, both of whom looked to him, with Sweetie seeming happy, while this Miss Coco regarded him with curiosity.
"I see we have a visitor."
Scratching the back of his head, Spike chuckled nervously.
"Yeah...um...hi?"
Standing up, Sweetie called over to him.
"Hi, Spike! Glad you could make it!"
Spike returned the smile, walking over to her, all while Coco watched, relaxing a little.
"I trust you'll not interrupt her lesson too much, Mr Spike?"
Sitting beside his friend, the young dragon shook his head in response, prompting a nod from Coco.
"Good. Now then..."
Turning, the mare then picked up a nearby book, flipping open its pages and looking through it to find a particular section. When she'd found it, she glanced back up to her charge.
"Sweetie, I hope you've been studying for this. I will ask you five questions, as per normal."
Sweetie nodded back, and Spike, just as he'd promised, kept utterly quiet as the older mare began to clear her throat, reading out from the book.
"Now then...what do BD and AD stand for in the Lunar kingdom calendar?"
It appeared as though this was a fairly easy question to begin with, as Sweetie immediately seemed eager to answer.
"Oh! Oh! It stands for Before the Divide and After the Divide!"
Coco nodded.
"Good. Next question..."
She flipped another page before continuing.
"...what name did our great Queen have prior to the founding of our nation?"
This one was apparently slightly harder, as Sweetie furrowed her brow a little. But, this moment was brief, as she soon resumed her smile.
"It was Princess...Luna?"
Again, Coco nodded.
"Indeed. Question three. How many ponies typically make up a single Legion in the Lunar army?"
As before, Sweetie considered that, poking her chin with her hoof, and during this time, Spike looked to her, and was himself getting worried she might miss this one. But, thankfully, she managed to work her way past this brief difficulty.
"It's...five thousand!"
Another nod from Coco.
"Question four...what is the name given to the type of economic structure the Lunar Kingdom currently operates on?"
Spike looked to the mare, clearly surprised that a question that sounded like that was being asked of a filly Sweetie's age. But, to Sweetie's credit, this didn't seem to bother her, as she maintained her confident smile.
"We call it a commander economy!"
In spite of herself, Coco let out a brief laugh.
"Technically it's a command economy...but I'll let you have that one."
Though slightly embarrassed, Sweetie remained silent as the final question was asked.
"Finally...what event directly preceded the divide between the ponies of Equestria and the ponies of the Lunar Kingdom?"
Much like she'd done several times now, Sweetie seemed more than willing to give an answer to this.
"It was the Time of Chaos, where the creature called Discord tried to ruin all the world for his own ends!"
Closing the book, Coco looked to her student gladly.
"Very good, Sweetie. You're coming along quite nicely."
Sweetie took on a look of youthful pride to this, as did Spike, who was clearly happy his friend had passed her short test. Coco, for her part, now stood upright herself, looking down to them both.
"I still have a few tasks to deal with, but by all means, carry on, you two. Sweetie's lesson is finished for today, and I'm sure she's eager to spend time with..."
A knowing smirk crossed the mare's face.
"...her friend."
Sweetie blushed slightly to this, while Spike looked on, oblivious. But, nodding to their elder in unison, the two children got up, walking over to a desk on one side of the room, all while miss Coco got down to looking at a pile of papers that had been laying beside her this whole time. Sweetie, lighting up her horn, levitated what appeared to be a checkers board, and started arranging the pieces, all while Spike climbed into a chair on the other side.
"Ready for this, Sweetie?" he asked.
The filly nodded back.
"Yep! Wanna take the first move?"
Spike did as suggested, taking his piece and making that first move in the game. But, as he watched his friend consider her move, he looked to her with curiosity.
"So...what do you know about that Discord guy?"
Sweetie looked up to him, seeming surprised.
"You've never heard of him?"
Spike shook his head.
"Not really. Mom mentioned him once, and that was only after Princess Celestia told her about him. All I know is that he was some scary guy from a long time ago."
Frowning, Sweetie nodded.
"He was really bad! He made ponies miserable everywhere! Because he thought it was fun! But it was just mean! If it hadn't been for the Queen, he might be around today, causing all sorts of bad stuff!"
Spike opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted when Miss Coco called out from across the room.
"Remember, Sweetie, she was still Princess Luna back then!"
Looking embarrassed again, Sweetie looked over to her teacher.
"Oops! Sorry, Miss Coco!"
The look the mare gave her made it clear that it was no real issue, and she got back to her work, while Sweetie looked back to her colleague.
"Anyway, she did what she had to. He was a monster, like the Tantalus, and monsters have to be..."
Her next words, all knew, would have been unpleasant to say, so instead, she looked down to the board.
"...Gone. Monsters have to be gone."
Spike slumped his shoulders slightly.
"I'm...I'm sorry if I upset you, Sweetie. I...I was just curious."
Looking back up to him, Sweetie smiled.
"It's okay, Spike. But..."
She regained her earlier look of curiosity.
"...I'd have thought everypony in Equestria would know about him too?"
Spike shook his head again.
"No. Well, it doesn't get taught in schools anyway."
Sweetie seemed confused by that.
"But...but it was so important! It was the reason our Kingdom was made in the first place!"
Spike considered that.
"Maybe...maybe Celestia didn't like thinking about it, so...so nopony talked about it afterwards?"
Thinking on that, Sweetie's eyes yet again drifted downwards.
"...Maybe."
Coco, having finally finished her work, looked up to the two youths, and could see immediately that their talk had taken a turn perhaps more serious than they would have wanted. Sighing, she got up from her own desk, her papers in-hoof, and walked over to them. She put a smile on for their sake, and as soon as she reached their table, they looked up to her as she spoke.
"Try not to dwell on things like this, children. Enjoy your game. Things can't be serious every day, now can it?"
The two smiled back to her, at which point, the mare looked as though she was suddenly struck with an idea.
"Ah! I know! How about I ask the chef to send you up some bowls of those special berries you like?"
Sweetie's eyes lit up at that.
"Oh yes! That would be wonderful, Miss Coco!"
Laughing, the mare turned, heading for the door.
"In that case, they'll be right up!"
The children watched as she left, but, as soon as she had closed the door behind her, they looked back to one another, with Sweetie taking on a more mischievous look to her.
"Now then...I think I was in the middle of beating you at this game, right?"
Chuckling, Spike matched her, look for look.
"Not if I have anything to say about it!"
