"A New Day in Equestria" had ended with a standing ovation and lots of flowers, and the crowd had long since dispersed. With the play now over, there wasn't much of a reason for them to stay and hang around.
Even Princess Celestia had already flown back to Canterlot to rest. She'd wanted to stay and help clean up, but Twilight and the rest of the ponies responsible for organizing the play had assured her that they could manage on their own.
However, two ponies (and friends) hadn't left the theater grounds yet. Princess Luna and Fleur were taking the opportunity to socialize, something they seldom had time for in their busy lives. And there was also something that Luna herself wanted to tend to. Namely, a certain little dragon that she wanted to check on.
Spike was too busy sweeping the stage floor and gathering the flowers to take any notice of ponies approaching him. He wasn't even aware of Luna's presence until the night princess cleared her throat. Out of surprise, Spike jumped a bit and quickly turned around! "Oh, Luna!" He quickly realized, and giggled sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm just not used to having you appear in front of me."
Luna smiled, she always felt better for seeing Spike. While she wasn't as involved in his daily life compared to her sister or Twilight, she still felt a personal attachment to the dragon. She was one of the few ponies who knew of the insecurities he tended to keep hidden. "Well, I just thought I'd stop by and see how my favorite dragon youngling was doing tonight," She informed, patting Spike on the top of his head. She then used her magic to present a blue rose to him, as she kissed him on the cheek. "I wanted to tell you, that you were very brave to go out there and face down those hecklers like that. It's a shame you had to get pelted with tomatoes, just to stall for time."
Spike accepted the rose without question, but he kept a straight face as he looked at Luna and told her. "Eh, it was nothing, really. After all I've been through, facing down evils big and small, going on adventures to the dragon lands, and even dealing with changelings, a crowd of angry ponies doesn't phase me," Then he chortled as he added. "Besides, I got free food out of it. I never knew tomatoes tasted so good."
Luna shook her head and lightly scolded. "Spike, you know you don't have to put on a brave face for me. I can see right through it. You forget, I can sense fear."
"Okay, okay," Spike confessed. "So maybe I'm a little upset about what went down this evening. I'm sure I'll be fine, Luna."
"Spike, it's okay to be scared and upset sometimes," Luna spoke to the dragon in a soft, motherly tone. "As I have often said to many a pony in their dreams, we must face our fears if we wish to overcome them. If we continue to deny them, they'll continue to dwell and haunt us."
Spike found himself unable to keep from embracing Luna in a hug, a few light whimpers escaping his mouth. "I know someone had to stall for time, so that the play would be a success. But why did it have to be me?" He commented. "And those hecklers... I know ponies were expecting a lot from a play that was about Princess Celestia, but..."
Luna lightly shushed Spike, stroking his scales with a delicate hoof. "It's okay, dragon youngling. For what it's worth, I wasn't one of those ponies," She reassured him. "And I know at least one other pony who was also not part of it. A good friend of mine to be precise."
Spike wiped his eyes, his curiosity aroused. "Really? Who's your friend?" He asked Luna.
Luna smiled, turning to a tall unicorn mare with a gorgeous white coat. She sported a magentaish-gray mane and tail with white streaks, eyes a pale, light grayish violet in color, and a cutie mark that depicted three symbols Spike didn't recognize, two of which were small and lavender in color, and one that was large and gold in color. "Ah, you must be the handsome dragon the princess told me about." The mare spoke in an elegant, yet soothing tone of voice, looking in Spike's eyes.
Spike began to blush as his face turned red as an apple. "I...well, I...I...uh...Eeyup."
This caused the mare to chuckle.
Spike then cleared his throat. "So, uh... Who are you? You look strangely familiar, but I can't put my claw on it." He pondered.
"My name is Fleur de Lis," The mare spoke to Spike. "You may have heard of me through my husband, Fancy Pants."
Spike gasped, as realization struck him! "Wasn't he one of those delegates at the royal summit? The one with the monocle and the black suit?" He asked Fleur.
Fleur nodded. "That's my Fancy for you, the trotting definition of dressed for success. In fact, it was through him that I had the good fortune of obtaining a ticket to this wonderful performance," And she then added. "Since I had a spare ticket, I thought I'd do something nice and invite a friend."
"How do you and Luna know each other? This is the first time I've ever seen you two together," Spike asked. "And whenever Luna's dragonsat me, she's never brought you up."
"We met at a party during the time when Luna was filling in for her sister," Fleur explained to Spike. "She was at a loss as to what she was supposed to do, I couldn't help but find it funny that Kibitz, the royal adviser, had to explain everything to her. Afterwards, I found her walking by herself in the royal gardens, and struck up a conversation," Then she pondered. "But what's all this about Luna dragonsitting you?"
Luna smiled, adopting an almost mother like tone as she told Fleur. "Oh, it's just a little something I do from time to time. In fact, I used to do it a lot more often when Spike was just a bit younger. Basically, whenever Twilight is away or busy, and can't find anyone to watch Spike, I take up that responsibility."
Spike grinned brightly. "Don't forget the times I come to Canterlot and hang out with you. You give the best rides in the sky."
Fleur giggled at the mental image. "Goodness, it's like the two of you are mother and child," She teased. "It makes me wish I had little ones of my own to care for. The closest I ever get, are the rare occasions where Fancy brings his younger cousins by for a visit. And Celestia knows, they run me ragged."
Luna blushed, and changed the subject. "Dragon youngling, I really want to make sure you're okay, because there's something bothering me that I really want to discuss."
"Really, what is it?" Spike asked (though part of him could already guess).
"Why don't we go for a walk, and I'll tell you?" Luna suggested.
Spike looked down at the stage, and frowned as he turned back to Luna. "I'd really love to, Luna. But I told Twilight I'd have this stage spic and span, and I'd-"
But Fleur grabbed the broom Spike had been holding, and with a bright smile she informed the little dragon. "I'll take over for you, little dragon. A private audience with the princess is hardly an offer you can turn down." She leaned down and nuzzled the dragon.
Feeling Fleur’s warm fur up against his face and hearing her deep voice again made Spike blush once more as red filled his face like a thermometer.
"Well...I guess so." Spike rubbed his shoulder.
Fleur chuckled. "Now you run along."
Spike nodded and ran up to Luna, he then asked the alicorn. "So, where are we gonna go, exactly? It can't be anywhere really far, it's kind of getting close to my bedtime."
"I know that," Luna said with a wink. "I was thinking just a moonlight stroll through town would do. Maybe we could even stop at Sugarcube Corner for a bedtime snack." The night princess held out a hoof, a feeling of warmth spread through her when Spike grabbed it carefully with one of his claws. And the two trotted off together, while Fleur got to work on sweeping up the stage.
Soon, princess and dragon were walking side by side through Ponyville. Night time brought a whole new outlook to the town, one of relative peace and tranquility.
This tranquility was exactly what Luna wanted, for she was about to share something that she had thus far kept to herself. Not even Fleur was aware of it. Looking across to Spike, the alicorn told him. "You saw how my sister raised the sun in the middle of the play, right?"
Spike nodded. "Yeah, and everypony in the audience thought it was just special effects. That's Princess Celestia for you though, full of surprises. Though, I did find it a little odd she was willing to raise the sun up for a play, but wouldn't do it for that concert a while back."
Luna frowned. "That's exactly what my problem is."
"What? The concert?" Spike questioned.
"No, no, no," Luna shook her head. "My sister raising the sun in the middle of the night. When I did the same thing with the moon during the day, I was banished for a thousand years. Yet in the blink of an eye, my sister completely upstaged and overshadowed my own work, even if it was for a good cause."
"Well, it was only for a few seconds, and then she made it set again," Spike reassured Luna. "I'm sure everypony will soon forget about it."
But Luna only sighed, the sigh sounding like one of longing. "It's not that my sister raised the sun for the sake of your play that bothers me," She confessed. "It's that everypony was in awe because of it, completely ignoring my beautiful night. I thought when I came back, that everypony had come to appreciate my night, and that ponies realized the hard work that went into bringing it about at the end of each day. Yet in the span of just a few minutes, they'd completely forgotten it again."
"Luna, it was only for a play! Nopony would ever forget how beautiful your night is!" Spike protested. "And I'm sure there are lots of ponies grateful to you for the work you do to ensure they have a good night's sleep."
"I'm sure that what you say is true, Spike," Luna nodded in reluctance. "But even little things like that give me room to worry. Worry that all my hard work will be for naught. My sister always reassures me that my night is appreciated. Yet there's always a part of me that wonders how true that really is."
"And why exactly are you telling me this?" Spike questioned to his dragonsitter. "I mean, I'm glad you are, but shouldn't you be disclosing this to your sister, so she knows how you feel?"
Luna responded to Spike by telling the little dragon. "The reason why I'm sharing this with you, is because I want you to understand and realize how important it is not to keep hidden the things that bother you most. Only if we share them, at least to those we can trust, can we work to overcome these fears."
"Okay, I'll admit it," Spike sighed and confessed. "Facing down those hecklers during the play, having to endure that kind of criticism, it made me scared and annoyed. It seems like I always get the short end of the stick when things go wrong, I'm either the one causing the problem, or the one who has to go out there and make a fool of myself so things can be made right. To say nothing of how many times I get left out or left behind. I know my friends don't mean to do any of these things to me, I know they don't intend to make me feel that way. But they do."
Luna stopped in her tracks, turning to Spike and wrapping him in a big wing hug. "I'm very glad you told me this, Spike. Rest assured, I will be having a talk with your friends in their dreams tonight, letting them know what you've just confided in me."
"You... really mean it?" Spike asked, hopefully. Of course, he knew that was a silly question to ask.
Luna firmly nodded. "But you must also try to talk to them on your own time, and speak up the next time something like this arises," Then, with a smile, she added. "Now come along, it's getting quite late for you, little dragon."
Spike let out a yawn, even as he protested. "Ah, but Luna, I'm not tired yet."
The night alicorn simply giggled, as she gave a wink. "We'll just see about that. For now though, let's get you home and into bed. You've had a busy day."
While all of this was going on, an unaware Quibble Pants exited from the strangest outhouse he'd ever been in. "I have no idea what the heck kind of outhouse that was, or what it's even doing out here," He remarked to himself. "It's like I stumbled right into some cliched set-up in a poorly written Daring Do crossover or something. Though, I suppose there would be worse kinds of Daring Do fanfiction out there. Either way, at least now I can finally watch that play. I just hope they've finally decided to start."
But when the stallion trotted up to the stage, he was shocked to find that the stands were empty, all the set pieces had been put away, and aside from a lone unicorn mare there was not a pony in sight. "Aw man, I must've missed the whole thing somehow," Quibble Pants moaned to himself. "I swear, it felt like I was only gone for a few minutes."
Author's Note
This little collab idea was something suggested by yodajax10, which is also where the headcanon of Luna being Spike's dragon sitter comes from.
The funny thing is, in a couple of weeks, I've got plans to do another Spike story: Though it'll have to wait until the official airing of "Molt Down", since apparently Spike will be getting wings in that episode.
There are some references to the IDW comics (namely, Luna's micro series issue).
