The Dragon of Coltonville.

Chapters

The Calm before the Storm
A Crashed Slumber Party
Spike's Big Reveal
Spike's First Day of School
Living with Bon Bon
Living with Melody

The Calm before the Storm

If somepony were to be told that Princess Twilight Sparkle would succeed Princess Celestia and Luna as ruler of Equestria, nopony would likely be too shock to hear it. But if anypony were told that Princess Twilight Sparkle had gone through the first day of her reign, entirely without succumbing to any stress, most ponies would wonder if they had stumbled into an alternate reality. As far as anypony who even knew Twilight Sparkle personally would know, she had made a somewhat jocose reputation of overreacting upon the slightest hint of disorder, which even led to her very name becoming the inspiration for a new verb; but much like the scant tumult that nearly ruined the Summer Sun Celebration, Twilight Sparkle had handled all her royal duties in a calm and collected manner that one could argue was completely out of character for her.

Nonetheless, Princess Twilight had managed each responsibility in the placid demeanor that Celestia and Luna would've pulled off; from receiving reports from the royal guards, to diplomatic meetings with delegates from the Dragon Lands, Griffonstone, Yakyakistan, Saddle Arabia, the Hippogriff Kingdom, the Changeling Kingdom, and the Crystal Empire, to settling disputes with subjects, and all the way to signing mountains of paperwork.

Of course, most of the success mainly stemmed from the assistance of Twilight's royal advisor, Spike. Ever since the day she hatched him on her entrance exam, the little dragon has always been by her side, providing her with a helping claw whenever she needed a letter to be sent or a mess cleaned up, serving as a voice of reason whenever Twilight falls under one of her episodes of hysteria (even if most of the advice he offered would fall on deaf ears), and also being the first real friend she would make before she'd fully appreciate friendship when she and him moved to Ponyville.

After being her loyal assistant up to when she was prepared to take Celestia's and Luna's mantle, one of Twilight's first decision was appointing him as her royal advisor (a moment that filled Spike with a profound sense of pride that he hadn't felt since the day Twilight and Shining Armor finally acknowledged him as their little brother). Upon having that gold medal placed around his neck, the ardent dragon has yet to give his sister any reason to regret her decision; telling her things she needs to hear when others would've told her what she wanted to hear, carefully scrutinizing every paragraph on every document when others would've let her sign her signature right away, and taking the role of royal advisor with doing what's right as its only reward whereas others would only take it for their own self-interest, one could easily say that this job was practically tailor-made for Spike.

With the trials of today coming to a close, Equestria's new ruler was filling the halls of her new place of residence with the echoes of hoof steps, while her royal advisor was flapping his wings beside her and donning his gold medal like a badge of honor.

"I'd say that you aced todays' royal duties with flying colors." Spike commended his big sister.

"Only because I have you helping me." Twilight, in turn, rewarded her little brother with praise of her own.

"I wouldn't be much of an advisor if I'm no help to you," that's when the little dragon's stomach let out a growl that one would thought was coming from a timberwolf. "You know, I think we've earned ourselves a victory meal."

"You've read my mind." As if on cue, one of the many servants had entered Princess Twilight's field of vision. "Have a daffodil sandwich and a bowl of gems be brought to my chambers, please."

"Would you like anything to drink, Your Highness?" The maid asked.

"Water will do." With the maid pony on her way, Twilight--with Spike alongside her--continued her walk through Canterlot Castle, sometimes waving to the occasional passing guard, until they both finally made it to the upmost top of one of the ivory towers, and opened the door that led to her chambers. It was surreal for Twilight to even think that she would one day be sleeping in the room that once belonged to her mentor (or that she would even find herself becoming a princess, for that matter). But nonetheless, Twilight would have to quickly come to grips with the reality that the castle that she would only make intermittent visits to shall now become hers and Spike's permanent home, until the day she acquires a worthy student who will ascend to the rank of alicorn and pass on the mantle of ruler of Equestria just as Celestia and Luna did to her.

Allowing his wings a must needed rest from all of that flapping, the little dragon let his body plummet straight to the soft mattress of his big sister's new bed. The force of that fall--despite how small--was enough to make his body sink into the foam as if it were consuming him, until the mattress slowly pushed him up and was back in its original form. In addition to being the new ruler's royal advisor, Spike also received the bonus of Princess Luna's room, which meant that he'll finally get to spend the rest of his nights sleeping in an actual bed as opposed to a basket. As he was in the middle of laying his scaly head on the long neckroll pillow, Spike turned his body to the side where he caught a glimpse of Twilight standing upon a balcony, staring off into a direction that left a very noticeable melancholy expression on her face.

His concern finally kicking in made the dragon fly off from the bed to see what's made his sister lose her previous smile, and found that the source was none other than the sight of their former home, Ponyville. A bulk of the memories that the two of them have made occurred at that small town where the magic of friendship really happened; but much like the loss of the Golden Oak Library, leaving Ponyville behind was something that both the new ruler and her advisor would have to get use to. But something told Spike that this change was gonna be much harder on Twilight than for him.

"Missing them already?" The dragon placed a comforting claw on his big sister's shoulder.

"Yes," Twilight confirmed while wiping away a single tear with her hoof, "I know that we'll get to see each other once every moon, but it already feels like it's been an eternity since I last saw them. To think, I was worried on how it was going to be to rule Equestria, but after everything we did today, I now realize that it's easy compared to having to leave my friends behind."

"Hey, I miss them just as much as you, and I'd be lying if I told you that waiting for our reunion is going to be a cinch. But at least we'll always have each other until that day finally arrives."

Appreciating his reassuring words, Twilight had enveloped the little dragon into a tender hug that only a Big Sister Best Friend Forever could give. "You're the best little brother a sister could have."

This warm moment that they were sharing had to be cut short when the sound of knocking was heard. Freeing himself from Twilight's caress, Spike flew toward the door and opened it to be greeted by the same maid pony who brought up a tray carrying their victory meal, which the dragon gladly took from her hooves.

"Thank you, Red Ribbons."

"You're welcome, Spike."

Shutting the door behind him, Spike laid the tray down on a nearby bedside table and showed no hesitation at picking up the bowl of gems that was making his mouth water. Putting himself into a comfortable position, the hungry dragon picked out the first green gem he could find and flicked it into the air so that he could catch it with his tongue. Munching on that first morsel, Spike noticed that Twilight had yet to move from the balcony.

"Aren't you gonna eat your sandwich?" He asked while eating another gem.

"In a moment," Twilight responded, "there's just one last thing I need to take care of."

At the end of the day, Twilight knew the responsibility of lowering the sun and raising the moon now rest in her hooves. Her first two attempts at this feat were shaky to say the least, but with Celestia and Luna bequeathing most of their magic to her, she was going to find that this next attempt shall be fairly simple. Encasing her horn with the pink aura of her magic, Twilight had completely shrouded the sun with said aura and quickly discovered that lowering the sun felt as light as a feather (even the moon didn't seem to carry too much weight). Alas, much like any accident, they always emerge when everything seems to be going according to plan; and this accident came in the form of the Secretariat Comet.

The last time the Secretariat Comet ever appeared in Equestria was when Twilight had battled Queen Chrysalis for the second time in her life. But while that instance was convenient, this unexpected arrival was going to prove to be a hindrance. Just when Twilight had positioned the moon in its proper place, she suddenly found herself being assaulted by a surge of magic so powerful that it brought her to the ground and was leaving her in agonizing pain.

Startled by this sudden turn of events, Spike put the bowl down as he leapt from the bed to check on his sister. "What's happening, Twilight?!"

"I don't know!" Twilight winced as the pain of holding back this magical surge was becoming too much to handle, even in her current state. "There's so much building up inside me, I don't think I can maintain it much longer!"

"Then aim to the sky and let it all out! Hurry!"

Given the circumstance she was in, Twilight really had little to no intention of declining Spike's suggestion. It can't be said that Princess Twilight didn't try to get up, but every effort of standing up was being hindered by her struggle of keeping the magical surge a little longer, as if an invisible weight had been dropped on her back. The princess had barely gotten up to where her legs would be straight when the magical surge was finally beyond her containment; with little to no strength left in her, Twilight had caved into the power of the surge as she let all the magic out in a burst so powerful that it pushed her against the railing of the balcony.

She felt weak for a minute or two, but she soon mustered enough energy to hang her head back as she tried to catch her breath. "Phew, I hope that never happens again. Tell me that there isn't too much damage, Spike. I could use some good news, right now." Rather than receiving a reply, the exhausted princess was instead greeted by an uncomfortable silence. "Spike?" Raising her head up, Twilight couldn't find her brother to be anywhere in sight. The only thing that stood out was a ring of soot where the little dragon last stood. Suddenly regaining enough vigor to move her legs, she frantically looked over every possible area in her room, from behind curtains, to under her bed, to inside her closet, hoping beyond all hope that Spike was merely pulling a prank. "Spike, you're scaring me! If you don't come out this instant, I'll donate your comics to charity! Do you hear me?! Spike?!" But again, not a single response was heard. When she stopped panicking long enough to look back at that ring of soot, any of the least worst possibilities had begun to scatter away, while the one conclusion that she was dreading the most slowly crept into her conscious. "Oh no, I...I...I..."

The traumatized princess was quickly startled by the immediate entrance of one of her guards. "Princess Twilight, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Twilight tried her best to maintain her stability, "but Spike, he...he..."

"Your Highness, what happened?"

"I was raising the moon, and the Secretariat Comet appeared out of nowhere, then I felt this surge of magic that I just had to get out, and...it hit Spike." What followed next was a painful silence that hovered over them like rain clouds, until Twilight spoke up again. "I killed him."

Not being one to bear the sight of his princess chiding herself, the guard tried to assure her just as Spike would. "Your Highness, I'm sure everypony will understand that what happened was a complete accident."

"Right, an accident that I could've prevented," the morose princess couldn't hold back her tears any longer than she could've restrained the magical surge that cost her Spike. "If only I had been stronger, I could've diverted the blast to the sky and Spike would still be here! The worst part is that I'm the one who brought him into this world, and now I ended up taking him out of it and there's nopony to blame but myself!"

Lowering her head, Twilight let off a stream of tears while the guard could do nothing but accept that not a single comforting word from him or anypony could rid the guilt out of his princess. "What will you do next, Princess?"

Ceasing her waterworks for the moment, Twilight raised up her head to show a stoic expression that Celestia or Luna would likely put on during a situation such as this and said, "There's no use in trying to keep this a secret. I'll have to announce this tragedy to everypony tomorrow, then after that...I'll have to prepare funeral arrangements. It's the least I could do for him."

"Understood, Princess."

Once the guard finally took his leave, the forlorn princess had to practically drag herself to her bed. After settling herself in and closing her eyes, she could already feel a fresh batch of tears leaking out and soaking up her pillow and sheets. For not only has she lost a royal advisor or a little brother, but also the one companion who could've made having to wait a moon to be reunited with her friends all the more bearable. It hasn't even been tomorrow yet, and she's already shuddering at the time when she'll have to announce to all of Equestria how she accidently took the life of the little dragon she had hatched. She knew that there would be ponies who would sympathize with her loss, and ponies who would say that this was her own fault, but not a single one of them could blame her more than herself; for this whole experience would most likely become a nightmare that not even Princess Luna could get her out of.

A Crashed Slumber Party

Nothing could ever spoil a time like this. Even in the midst of a thunderstorm, these seven friends wouldn't allow it to ruin their slumber party. From playing a game of charades, to gorging themselves on a giant bowl of ice cream, to watching Bright Eyes act out a sock puppet performance of their teacher, and partaking in a brief pillow fight that lasted until Sweetheart's mom made them go to bed, the only thing that could possibly make this night even better would be a ghost story. After fashioning enough blankets to create a passable tent, the peach coated filly named Patch was the first to start things off.

"Once upon a time, a long time ago, a very long time ago, there lived a little pony named Squire, who lived in a big castle on a hill, not too far from here."

"Here?" The white coated filly named Sweetheart wondered.

"Just beyond Paradise Lake," Patch clarified. "Now Squire wasn't too much older than we are, and he wanted to be a knight. His father took him aside one rainy evening, and told him, 'Squire, if it is a knight you desire to be, then you must tame a dragon.' 'A dragon?' 'Not just any dragon, but the dragon named Basil.'"

"Basil?" The dark pink filly named Melody interrupted.

"Shh," Patch silenced her. "Now, the father told squire that Basil lived in a cave, deep in the darkest part of the forest. The next morning, Squire ventured into the Misty Forest; his father had given him his own sword--in case of trouble. And trouble was exactly what he found. A serpent dropped from a tree and round himself around Squire's neck! The serpent hissed at Squire, but Squire bravely stuck out his tongue and hissed right back! Afraid, the serpent slithered away, and Squire didn't have to use his sword--which he didn't really want to use anyway. Later that morning, Squire found Basil's cave; somewhere, inside, was the dragon."

Upon saying this, Sweetheart found herself becoming spooked by what sounded like a dragon growling. "Was that you, Patch?"

"Quiet, Sweetheart." The light pink filly named Starlight hushed her.

"Then, Squire, sucked up his courage," Patch continued, "and went into the cave. He knew the dragon was inside, but he didn't know where. Suddenly, flames shot out of the darkness! In the light from the flames he found a torch, probably left there by another knight who would never again see the light of day. Using the dragon's own fire, Squire, lit the torch, then moved deeper into the cave. Dark shadows, and strange shapes danced on the rocky walls, when all of a sudden, the dragon appeared! 'Basil!' Said Squire, staring up at the giant monster. 'I shall tame you! I shall be a knight!' But Squire never got the chance, Basil, burned a hole in the ground, and Squire fell into it!"

"What happened to Squire?" An intrigued Sweetheart desired to know his fate.

"By the time he crawled out of the hole, Basil, was gone. Squire never saw him again." Patch concluded her tale.

"He should've taken me along for good luck," the pale lavender filly named Clover said jokingly, which got her--and her friends--laughing.

"Go ahead, make fun." Patch added a last-minute twist to her story. "But Squire is still somewhere in Ponyland, searching for his dragon."

It was at this moment that the seven friends were startled by a loud creaking from the attic. "It's Squire!" The yellow filly named Bon Bon allowed her imagination to dictate her judgment.

"Yeah right, he's probably in the attic, looking for Basil." Melody said sarcastically.

"You heard Sweetheart's dad, there aren't any ghost." Clover reminded them.

"I'll go get my parents," Sweetheart rose up in preparation.

"No!" Patch stopped her. "Squire will run away if you do." After a three second pause, the curly pink maned pony made her next decision. "I'm going up there." With that said, Patch, unraveled their makeshift tent as she walked out the guest room with Starlight and Bright Eyes close behind, with the remaining four following in pursuit--only because their curiosity outweighed their fear.

With a flashlight gripped in her hoof, Patch, led her friends on their little ghost hunt up to the dark attic. Not wanting to have to walk around in pitch black, Sweetheart wasted no time in pulling the pull chain of the only lamp in the attic, only to find to her dismay that the light bulb had gone out at the most inconvenient of times.

"Squire?" Patch called out, but only received the clashing of thunderbolts as a response.

"OK, he's not here, let's go!" Already succumbed to her nerves, Clover was more than inclined to head back to the sanctuary that is the guest room, only to be halted by Starlight.

"Maybe he's hiding," Patch suggested.

Not wanting to have to wait any further, Patch was the first to take the initiative to continue their search, only to have a now frightened Bon Bon slightly delay them. "Wait, what if the dragon is in here?"

No sooner had she said that did a loud crash caught all seven of the ponies' ears, which in turn made them look directly at a tall figure near an opened window, hidden in the darkness but still fearsome enough to leave the fillies on edge. That is until Starlight mustered up an ample amount of courage to walk up close enough to lay her hooves upon the figure, and discovered that it was nothing more than an empty birdcage with a tablecloth over it.

"Nothing to be afraid of."

Before any of them could even let out a sigh of relief, something had suddenly made a pile of nearby boxes tumble down, which sent the seven friends into a panicked frenzy that they quickly had to subdue in order to not awaken Sweetheart's parents. All of them kept their petrified gazes upon the clutter of cardboard boxes in stark silence, until the pink maned filly felt something wet drip on her muzzle, which in turn led to her tilting her head up to see that it came from her pet cat who was soaked with rainwater. Shaking all the water off, the gray cat immediately leapt onto Sweetheart's back where it wasted no time in making itself comfortable.

"Was that you causing all of that ruckus, Springfield?" The white filly said to her now purring cat.

"At least it wasn't a ghost," the superstitious rose-pink maned filly said with relief.

"Then how do you explain that?!" A now trembling Bon Bon pointed at a moving box.

Much like their purple maned friend, the rest of the girls were still with unease as they all stared upon the box as it bumped into other boxes while it was shuffling through the floor.

"Do you suppose that it could be another cat?" Melody whispered.

"Only one way to find out." Like before, it was up to Starlight to uncover this aberration that stood before her. Just as her hoof was nearly inches away from touching it, the top of the box burst open by what appeared to be a purple claw.

"Ahh, it's a monster!" Bon Bon let out a holler that was immediately blocked by the combined hooves of Patch and Bright Eyes. When the yellow filly's overreaction finally subsided, it was at this moment that all the ponies saw with their very eyes a purple, winged, lizard-like creature crawl out of the opened box and stood upright as it made eye contact with them.

"Phew, it's only a bipedal reptile," Bright Eyes wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"That's a fine way of greeting somecreature," the creature replied with a hint of offense in his tone.

Hearing those few words escape his mouth was enough to make the pupils of the seven ponies' eyes shrink to the point of being nothing else but miniscule dots. "Girls, please tell me I'm not the only one who heard him speak." Starlight whispered to her equally shocked friends.

The purple scaled creature could practically feel the aghast stares from the fillies standing before him poking him like a plethora of needles; that, along with the awkward silence, was all it took to agitate him. "Quit staring at me like that! Haven't you ponies ever seen a dragon before?"

"You're a dragon?" Melody said incredulously.

"Yeah! Isn't it obvious?" The irate dragon crossed his arms.

Shaking the shock out of her system, Patch took the opportunity to ask their unexpected visitor, "Your name wouldn't happen to be, Basil, by any chance?"

"No, it's Spike." This revelation gave the ponies cause to drop their heads and groan in disappointment. "Were you expecting another dragon?"

"No, we were all just listening to a ghost story when we heard a noise coming from the attic, and that's when we found you." Starlight clarified before following with a question of her own. "What are you even doing in Sweetheart's attic anyway?"

"It's not like I came here intentionally. I was watching a friend of mine hold back a powerful surge of magic, when all of sudden I find myself being engulfed by a blinding light that sent me to this dark attic."

"So all of that noise we heard was just you walking around," Clover deduced.

"Exactly. By the time you all got up, I wasn't too sure if I should reveal myself, so I opened a nearby window to escape, but the storm outside daunted me, so I merely flew up to one of the support beams and sat there until that cat jumped up and spooked me, which caused me to fall into the boxes."

"It was nice of you to give Springfield a way to get inside at least," the pink maned filly gave Spike her thanks before proceeding to proper introductions. "I'm really truly sorry, you told us your name and we never bothered to give you ours; I'm Sweetheart, and these are my friends, Starlight, Clover, Melody, Patch, Bon Bon, and Bright Eyes. Bright Eyes?"

To the dragon's utter surprise, he found himself being grabbed and examined by the minty green filly who Sweetheart was referring to. "Hmm, scales with a hue of lilac that contrast with the green scales of the underbelly and chin, approximately eleven green spikes that span from the tail all the way to the head, a V-shaped caudal tip, two yellow-green wing like structures on both opposite sides of the face (possibly ears), slitted pupils (common trait in most reptiles) with a green iris, two upper fangs protruding from the snout (with approximately sixty in total), two bat like wings with a wingspan of approximately fifteen inches, the inclusion of which excludes the possibility of you being a wurm, whereas the inclusion of arms rules out the possibility of you being a wyvern, which could only conclude that you're a standard wyrm. And judging by your height, weight, and tone of voice, I would have to estimate that you're at least eight years old."

"I'm thirteen, actually."

"Really? You're a year younger than us?" Melody raised one of her eyebrows in doubt. "Why do I find that hard to believe?"

"Other than because you clearly know nothing about dragons," Spike shot back with a retort that made five of the six girls giggle, much to the curly blue maned filly's chagrin.

"She may not know much," Patch spoke up as she stepped forward and looked down upon the lost dragon with eyes full of skepticism, "but I know that dragons are these gigantic, ferocious beasts, and yet you're tiny and adorable. Are you supposed to be a runt or some kind of dwarf?"

"No, I'm actually what you would call a kid." Spike said in response to her ignorance of dragons. "I know that ponies and dragons living together isn't exactly a natural occurrence, but surely you all must at least have some sort of viable sources of information concerning dragons?"

"We do," Starlight said in a somewhat sheepish manner, "if you consider fairy tales to be a 'viable source of information'."

This revelation left the perplexed dragon with a question that he feels must be answered. "Are you trying to tell me that dragons don't exist in your world?"

"As of this moment, you're the first dragon to be discovered by anybody," Bright Eyes quenched his curiosity.

"Don't you mean 'anypony'?"

"No, that's not even a word."

Just as Spike was preparing to press this vocabulary debate even further, his concentration was immediately interrupted by the growling of his unsatisfied stomach.

"I take it that you're hungry?" Bon Bon stifled a light giggle.

"Well, I did only have a few bites before my friend's magical mishap," Spike rubbed the back of his head.

Being the ever-altruistic pony that she is, Sweetheart obeyed her first impulse and said, "Would you like to spend the night here? We have food."

"You think your parents will be OK with him staying here?" Clover asked her friend.

"I'll explain this to them in the morning," Sweetheart assured her. "Besides, we can't just let him go out in this weather, and he's away from his home." With that said, the kindhearted filly turned back to the lost dragon. "So what do you say?"

Fully aware that he has little to no option, Spike flapped his wings just enough to float at least four feet above the ponies and said, "Lead the way."

...

Finally out of the confines of the attic, Spike settled himself upon a pillow in the center of the guest room, while also receiving some warm looks from the fillies (aside from the two skeptical looks that Patch and Melody were giving him). As a matter of fact, the only pony whose eyes weren't glued to the dragon was Bright Eyes, who was currently directing all of her attention to a notepad, either sketching some drawings or jotting down notes (though since Spike has noticed some stark similarities between the amber maned filly and Twilight Sparkle, the dragon could only conclude that it must be the latter). It didn't take too long for Bon Bon to return from her brisk trip to the kitchen.

"OK, I'm not entirely certain what dragons eat, so I just brought a bag of chips and a glass of milk to wash it down."

Thanking the yellow coated filly for her troubles, Spike dug into the plastic bag and took out a mouthful of chips which went straight into his gullet, appeasing his hunger at last. Just when the salty contents of said chips began to leave its parched effect on the dragon, he washed it away with a small sip of milk.

"So Spike," Bright Eyes spoke up with notepad and pencil in hoof, "seeing as how you're the first dragon to be discovered, you must contain a far greater range of knowledge on your species than anything that's been written about dragons in our folktales. My first question to you is do you acquire your wings upon birth, or do they sprout from your body in a much later state of your life?"

"It's the latter." Spike responded while licking a few crumbs off the tip of his claws. "My wings came around the time I experienced the molt."

"The molt?" Bright Eyes' interest peaked further. "Could you elaborate on its stages?"

"First I had these stone scales all over my body that made me itch, then I would have big fire burps pop out of nowhere, then my voice would go back and forth between too quiet and too loud, then my body would start producing this disgusting odor which attracts giant monsters, then I was completely enveloped in stone for a few seconds and then I got my wings. And would you believe that the whole process happened in the span of a day?"

"I see. So essentially the molt is merely a twenty-four-hour metamorphosis period which consists of hives, spontaneous fire belches, inconsistent shifts in volume, a pheromone secretion that draws nearby predators, and a brief pupal stage."

"If you want to be technical about it, then yes."

It was during this conversation that Melody had let her eyes perform a full body search all over the dragon which led to her to take notice of the gold medal hanging around his neck. "Say Spike, that medal on your neck, did you steal it from someone?"

"I'll have you know that this was given to me by the Princess of Equestria herself," Spike crossed his arms in response of the dark pink filly's accusation.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, did you say a princess gave that to you?" The curly blue maned filly asked.

"Yeah, she wouldn't let anycreature be her royal advisor."

"Oh my gosh, that's so awesome! Does this mean you get special perks?! Does everyone give you and her free food?! Do everybody bow down whenever she appears?! Do you and her get to do whatever you want?! Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

After Patch and Starlight calmed down their overly thrilled friend, Spike gave her questions an answer. "We both just finished the first day of her reign by the time I got teleported here, so I can't really clarify all of your questions, Starlight."

"I'm Starlight!" The light pink filly corrected him.

"Oops, sorry! It's just that Melody sounds just like a friend of mine whose name also happens to be Starlight."

"Is that so? How much do I sound like her?"

"To be honest, your voice sounds like an exact copy of hers; in fact, I'm almost expecting to see your face morph into hers any moment."

"I noticed that the word 'Equestria' was mentioned when you brought up the princess," Bright Eyes changed the subject. "I presume it's the name of your place of origin?"

"Uh-huh. It's been my home ever since the day I was hatched; and I have so many great memories of all the places I've ever been in Equestria, such as Ponyville, Canterlot, the Crystal Empire, Manehattan, Fillydelphia, just to name a few. By the way, what's this place called?"

"That would be Ponyland."

"No really, what's the name of this place?"

Seeing as how their unexpected guest was under the impression that Bright Eyes was telling him a joke, Starlight had to be the one to let him know that this isn't the case. "That is what this place is called."

"Really, you call this place Ponyland? Sounds a little unimaginative if you ask me."

"Well it's not like we were the ones who discovered it," Melody retorted.

"Good point," Spike conceded. "Though I suppose Ponyland is the name of the country and not the town?"

"Mm-hmm, the town that we live in is referred to as Coltonville." Bright Eyes confirmed.

"I suppose that name sounds a little more creative," the dragon commented.

"But isn't Equestria essentially just the same as Ponyland?" A confused Clover inquired.

"Yeah, but Equestria is more inventive than Ponyland."

"It just seems a little odd to me that dragons would name their towns and country after ponies."

"That's because Equestria is a pony nation."

All the fillies suddenly found themselves experiencing an impact of such perplexity that each of them felt as if all of the common knowledge that they've attained through the remainder of their lives was replaced with insanity. "You live with ponies?" A flummoxed Starlight asked.

"Ever since I was hatched."

"But don't dragons live with other dragons?" A baffled Clover asked the most obvious of questions.

"Well, fate had different plans for me when my parents sent my egg away."

This realization caused each of the fillies to collectively gasp as if some invisible force had sucked the breath right out of their lungs, including a now anxious Patch. "You're an orphan?" The trepidatious filly inquired.

"Yeah," the orphaned dragon confirmed, "I was just a dormant egg being kept in the storage of Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, until Twilight had hatched me with her magic and took me in as her assistant. No one that I know could ever explain to me how I got to Equestria, who my real parents are, and why they didn't want to keep me. But Twilight, Shining, Velvet, and Night Light, have always treated me like I'm part of their family, so I've never been in too much of a hurry to uncover my roots; but I still wonder at times if my real parents ever worried about me, or if they'd be happy if they saw me, or if they would be proud of the kind of dragon that I've become."

Hearing the little dragon's woes was enough to make all seven of the ponies to feel their heartstrings being tugged to the point that it was becoming impossible for either one of them to hold back any tears that were building up. But none of them could rival the amount of sympathy that was overtaking Patch; especially since she of all ponies can know perfectly well what it's like to be abandoned by those who are supposed to love her most, which made her feel all the more ashamed for her curt demeanor that she displayed towards the foundling dragon. Much to everyone's--including Patch's--surprise, the peach coated filly found herself under the control of a newfound compassion which bade her to envelop Spike with her forelegs in a tender embrace as if she were cuddling a teddy bear.

"What made you want to be friendly all of a sudden?"

"I never knew my parents too," the curly pink maned filly confided to her fellow orphan. Having no reason to complain at this impromptu change of heart, Spike soaked up the affection being given to him with a hug of his own and was instantaneously sandwiched by the rest of the girls in a manner akin to what his friends back at Equestria would do to him.

"I really truly hope you'll reunite with your parents someday," Sweetheart offered her guest with some much-needed consolation.

"Well, there was this one time a dragon claiming to be my father lived with us for a while, but it turned out he was just pretending to be my dad in order to trick me into living outside while claiming my room for himself."

Hearing that had filled Patch with the kind of rage that she'd normally would have whenever Teddy was around. "Why that dirty, crooked, jerk! I'd give anything to have him magically appear in this room just so I could give his face a pounding!"

"Don't worry, Jeffrie made it more than clear to Sludge that he was no longer welcome in Ponyville."

"Ooh, another pony friend of yours?" Bright Eyes inquired.

"No, Jeffrie's what you call a human."

"I don't believe I'm familiar with that species. Could you provide us with a meticulous description on his appearance?"

"Simply imagine a five-foot-tall ape without its fur."

Following the dragon's instructions, the seven friends closed their eyes until an image of what Spike described materialized into their subconscious, which in turn made all of them shudder. "So Spike, do you ever think about how different your life could be if your real parents didn't leave you?" Starlight changed the subject in the hope of getting that mental image of a furless ape out of her head.

"Sometimes." The dragon admitted. "But then I'd quickly remember the fact that I would never have met any of my friends in Equestria; even when I had the opportunity to become the next Dragon Lord, I still couldn't bring myself to part with the friends and family that I got."

"They all must be really truly lucky to have such a loyal friend as you," Sweetheart commended his devotion.

"And I'm lucky to have known so many great ponies, especially Rarity."

Melody took notice of the doting tone he was utilizing when he brought up the name Rarity, and the curly blue manned filly saw this as a perfect opportunity for some light teasing. "What's so special about this 'Rarity'? Is she your girlfriend?"

Spike proceeded to rub the back of his head as the dragon tried to concoct a passable response. "Well...not officially."

"Officially? Do couples in your world have to sign contracts before entering relationships?" Patch japed which earned her some chuckles.

"No, it's mainly that the idea of the two of us being in a relationship is considered taboo."

"Oh, I understand," Starlight spoke up. "It's because she's a pony and you're a dragon, isn't it?"

"No, it's because I'm eight years younger than her, so I would have to wait at least five years just to be allowed to ask her out (assuming she doesn't already find herself a special somepony that is)."

"So your love is forbidden," Bon Bon came to her own conclusion. "That is so romantic!"

"Really, you're OK with it?" Spike felt puzzled by that response.

"Why wouldn't I? Forbidden romances are the best!" After a brief swoon, the yellow filly got closer to Spike as she laid herself flat on her belly and propped her chin with both of her hooves. "You've gotta tell us what it was like when you first laid eyes on her! Was it love at first sight?"

"Who wouldn't fall for Rarity after seeing her once? She has these eyes that sparkle like sapphires, and this elegant purple mane that makes my heart sing when it's blown by the wind, and this pristine white coat that puts diamonds to shame, and this voice that just completely mesmerizes me whenever I hear it. I would do anything she'd ask me; carry her luggage, help mine gems, and be her bodyguard, all just so I can get to be around the most beautiful pony in Equestria."

Five of the fillies were letting out a symphony of "awws" over the dragons' sentiment that he holds for this pony of his dreams, whereas Patch was making a gag face due to how mushy this sounded, and Melody merely rolled her eyes at how much of a hopeless romantic he's being.

"Yeah, that all sounds sweet," the dark pink filly spoke up. "But does she love you back?"

"Without a doubt," Spike affirmed. "There was this one time I was saving this fire ruby for myself, and I saw that Rarity really wanted it, so I decided to give it to her and she in turn gave me the best gift ever."

"Was it a radio?" Melody guessed.

"No."

"A telescope?" Bright Eyes offered her hypothesis.

"Uh-uh."

"A puppy?" Sweetheart guesstimated as well.

"Not even close."

"Then what was it?" Starlight chose to not even hazard a guess by this point.

"My first kiss on the cheek." Saying that had earned the romantic dragon a sigh from Bon Bon, who proceeded to place both her hooves over her heart. "Getting kissed by her felt so great that I didn't even want to wash the cheek that she planted it on; I was able to keep it for a solid week, until Twilight had to go and wipe it off (sure there was a little dirt around it, but it was nothing that really warranted wiping off a kiss from Rarity)."

"Aww, how cute, and gross." Melody commented.

"Then there was this time when I had fallen under the influence of this condition that another friend of mine referred to as greed-induced bigness which transformed me into a gigantic monster that wanted to claim anything I wanted--including Rarity; but after I had a glimpse of a memory of when I was generous, it made me regress back to my normal self. However, because I was small again--and since this was before I ever got wings--Rarity and I ended up plummeting to the ground. Seeing as how our lives could be over, I took the chance to confess my feelings to her, only to have her place a hoof on my lips and gave me a look that said that she knew. By the time Rainbow and Fluttershy set us back on the ground, Rarity confided how I was her hero for changing back to normal and she gave me another kiss; and for that kiss, I tried to have it framed for safe keeping, but much like the last one it didn't get to last long."

"Did she ever kiss you again?" Sweetheart let her query be heard.

"Mm-hmm. It happened on the last Hearth's Warming Eve I celebrated before I got here; I wanted to get Rarity a perfect gift to show how much she means to me, but nothing seemed good enough, so I simply constructed a makeshift guitar out of cardboard and sang a song to her, and that's how I got my third and last kiss from her."

"How romantic," Bon Bon doted over Spike's sentiment.

"Well as sweet as all of those sounds, it doesn't really prove much," Melody still held onto her doubts. "I mean, a kiss on the cheek doesn't really mean a great deal compared to a kiss on the lips, so how do you not know that she's merely friend zoning you?"

"Would she only think of me as a friend if she felt jealous when she saw me hanging around another girl?" That question had brought all the fillies to the edge of wanting to hear more. "A while back, I started to spend some time with this griffon named Gabby, and Rarity got jealous since she was always used to having me spend time with her. When she finally admitted her envious feelings to the both of us, I realized that she must truly love me if she missed being around me that much."

"More like she was missing all the free service you were providing," Melody's little bon mot earned her a jab from Starlight's hoof.

"Were you able to split your time with them evenly?" Sweetheart wondered.

"I let Rarity know that even when I'm hanging around Gabby and any new friends I might make, I'll still want my Rarity time."

"Gosh, you treat her better than how most boys treat us," Clover declared.

"What're they like?" The dragon boy wished to know.

"Most of them are jerks," Patch explained, "if you're lucky you'll probably never run into any of them."

It was at this moment that a yawn had escaped from Spike's mouth and the lids of his eyes began to lower slightly. "I take it that you're prostrated and require some rejuvenation by means of slumber?" Bright Eyes hypothesized.

"It is nighttime," Spike stretched out his arms while letting off another yawn, "so some sleep would do me good."

"You can sleep with me for the night," Sweetheart offered a side of her bed to the lethargic dragon.

With everyone now reposing in either a bed or sleeping bag, Spike could--at the moment--give himself some much-needed rest and hopefully a chance to contact Princess Luna through the dream realm. Though as the dragon was getting close to even snore, his train of thought was being derailed by the sound of Patch speaking. Groggily opening his eyes, the dragon made out what appeared to be the peach coated filly looking up at the ceiling and conversing with nothing.

"Who're you talking to?" Spike asked.

"I was talking to...nobody, it was just a dream. Or maybe it wasn't."

Not at all feeling like investing any of his time into delving this discussion further, the tired dragon practically commanded his eyes to stay shut until the sweet embrace of sleep enfolded him.

Spike's Big Reveal

The luster of the sun's rays slid through the panes of the windows and held no shame in disrupting the fillies' slumber. Grudgingly rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, each of the ponies slid out of their respective sleeping bags or beds and commenced the morning ritual of stretching out their legs and disposing of any remaining drowsiness with heavy yawns that could put a lion to shame; all except Sweetheart that is, who upon attempting to stretch out her left foreleg felt it being constricted and quickly found that it was the result of a still sleeping Spike wrapping his scaly arms around the white coated filly and nuzzling his head to her side as if she were a giant teddy bear.

"That's so adorable!" Bon Bon gushed before the cute display she was observing.

Wanting to regain control of her foreleg, Sweetheart used the only one that was free of Spike's grasp to smoothly rub the top of his head, which proved to be enough to make the dragon stir from his torpor state.

"Twilight?" The awaking dragon hoped that he was merely dreaming of his current predicament, only to be greeted by a grim reminder that he was no longer in Equestria.

Before anyone could even utter a sound, a loud series of knocks from the door made everyone jump up and was quickly followed by the voice of the white coated filly's mother. "Sweetheart, breakfast will be ready in five minutes, make sure your friends have packed up their things before heading home."

As soon as the clopping of Sweetheart's mother's hooves became more distant, Clover was the first to start talking. "Oh dear, how are we going to explain Spike to your parents?" Knowing fully well that keeping a dragon a secret from her parents would only prove to be a fruitless endeavor, the pink maned filly had to quickly discuss with her friends a straightforward but still cautious way to introduce their newly arrived guest to the two grownups.

...

Five minutes was all Sweetheart's mother needed to prepare breakfast. Slipping some toast onto a plate next to scrambled eggs with a spatula (and adding the finishing touch of spreading butter over it), the white coated mare delivered the meal to her loving husband--who in turn gave her a kiss on the muzzle as a gesture of gratitude. Aside from sharing the same coat color as his wife, Sweetheart's father possessed a moderately long periwinkle mane and thick eyebrows, in contrast to his spouse's long coral red mane that's braided into a ponytail. Of course, there is not a single pony in all of Ponyland who could deny that the two were meant for each other; after all, they both have known one another ever since they were foals, they were practically inseparable during their years at school, and each of them have a level of compassion that anypony could see whether it be Sweetheart's mother providing medicine to a sick pony in her family pharmacy or Sweetheart's father constructing a house for his fellow pony. (And it's the same compassion that the two of them passed onto their first child, in addition to the three newborns they had brought into this world a year ago.)

It was by the time that the motherly mare placed hers' and Sweethearts' breakfast on the table when her daughter and her six friends finally made their entrance. "Good morning little ponies. Did you all sleep well?"

"Mom, Dad," Sweetheart took her seat, "there's something I gotta tell you."

"What is it, dear?" Her father took his eyes off his paper.

"Last night, the girls and I heard a noise coming from the attic and we found a lost boy taking shelter from the storm."

"Oh dear, I can't imagine how scared the poor thing must be." The red maned mare's sympathy started to kick in.

"I didn't want him to go out in the rain, so I let him sleep in the guest room with the rest of us."

"That was an amiable thing you did, Sweetheart," her father commended her good deed. "Though I wish you had told your mother and I first; we'd never shut our doors to a pony in need."

"Yeah, well here's the funny thing, Mr. Tender, this lost boy isn't exactly a pony," Patch let out a nervous chuckle while rubbing the back of her head.

"If he's not a pony what else could he possibly be?" Mrs. Tender wondered.

"It would make more sense if you both saw him for yourselves." Bright Eyes cut to the chase. With that said, Bon Bon received a nod from her white coated friend which pretty much told her that now is the time to reveal their unexpected guest. Once the yellow coated filly was out of sight, the two grownups watched as she slowly made her return, only to immediately feel their jaws drop, pupils shrink, and breath held back when their eyes caught view of the purple scaled dragon walking beside her.

"Mom, Dad, this is Spike; he's a dragon." Their daughter made the introductions.

"Hello," the dragon gave a little wave, which in turn made the still agape ponies wave back. "This may sound a little hard to believe, but I'm from an alternate world that's also ruled by ponies, and I was sent here through a little magical mishap."

"Of course, that makes perfect sense," Mrs. Tender attempted to regain some bit of her sanity.

"Mom, Dad, this may seem sudden, but is it OK if Spike stayed with us for awhile? He has nowhere else to go."

Her father managed to shake all the shock out of himself in order to give a response. "Sweetheart, your mother and I have always been cordial ponies, and we'd never deny any guest our hospitality--even if said guest happens to be a dragon."

This proclamation gave the seven fillies cause to let out sighs of relief, until Mrs. Tender brought up, "How do you all plan on letting the whole town know?"

It was at this moment that the girls realized that neither of them had thought further than this. "Gee Mrs. Tender, I figured that we would just keep Spike hidden until he miraculously returns to his home world." Clover offered a passable, albeit flimsy, suggestion.

"Now girls, concealing Spike from the rest of the world would only delay the inevitable," Mrs. Tender gave them a reality check. "Besides, if you had no problem introducing him to us, why would the whole town be different?"

"Well what if they freak out the moment they see him?" Patch's paranoia went into play. "And what if some secret organization decides to kidnap him and perform all kinds of experiments?"

"Now Patch, it seems to me that you've been watching too many movies." Mr. Tender spoke up. "Besides, if Spike were to let everyone know his predicament and let them see him for who he truly is, they'll have no reason to be afraid of him."

Little did anyone know, Starlight had been pondering to herself on a perfect approach for introducing the very first live dragon to all of Coltonville, and a solution had sparked inside her head like a lightbulb.

...

Words spoken by a mayor tend to spread faster than wildfire; and when all of Coltonville received word that the mayor was throwing a welcoming ceremony for an unknown visitor, everypony just couldn't resist a wonderful distraction from their monotonous routines. All the ponies of Coltonville--young and old--were mesmerized by the wonderous display of balloons floating in the air which conveyed a kaleidoscopic effect to the eyes, their ears enthralled by the symphony of trumpets, trombones, flutes, bass drums, snare drums, and cymbals, which complimented the pink banner that stretched across town hall and containing a message inscribed with bold red letters for everypony to see: WELCOME TO PONYLAND!

Just about the entire population of Coltonville was gathered around by the time their honorable mayor finally stepped up to the podium. The pale lavender stallion has been serving the ponies of Coltonville for thirty years since he was twenty five. His once black mane had slowly turned gray as a result of being mayor for so long; many ponies never wear too much articles of clothing, but that doesn't stop anypony from accessorizing and the mayor is no different, as the only threads that he'd ever don were a red ascot and a blue sash.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming together for this extraordinary occasion," the honorable mayor announced in front of the ponies and three cameras that're televising this event throughout all the corners of Ponyland. "Many of you must be wondering who this esteemed guest of ours--on which this celebration has been made in honor of--is. I can't answer that since I myself have yet to be acquainted with said guest, which is why I'm allowing Miss Starlight to enlighten us about him."

Stepping aside from the podium, the mayor gave the light pink filly permission to address in front of her fellow ponies. "Hello everyone, I know all of this seems confusing at the moment, which is why I'll try my best to elaborate everything. Last night, my friends and I were having a sleepover at Sweetheart's home, when we all found a lost boy named Spike hiding in her attic." As expected, many of the ponies started to let out sympathetic sighs and gasps. "Since we couldn't let him go out in the storm, we opted to let him spend the night with us, and after we introduced him to Sweetheart's parents, they both advised us to present him to all of you--hence why we asked the mayor to help arrange this welcoming ceremony for us. To be honest, we were all a little reluctant to expose Spike out of fear that none of you would like him, mainly because he's not from this world." Her statement was followed by a series of confused murmurs amongst the crowd of ponies. "There's really no easy way of saying this, so I'll just be blunt with all of you...Spike's a dragon."

Everypony in attendance paused in silence; none of them even knew how to react to what Starlight just said. But much like the lifespan of a mayfly, even the briefest of lulls can only last for so long, as it was soon shattered by the guffawing of a certain blue coated colt with an orange mohawk with sunglasses situated atop it.

"A dragon! Ooh that's rich! Did he bring a pixie with him as well?!" The brash colt continued his outpour of laughter while a gold coated colt wrapped his foreleg around his comrade and joined in on his mirth.

"This is no laughing matter!" The curly blonde maned pony stomped her hoof upon the wooden surface of the podium in a gesture of pseudo authority. "My friends and I really did see a dragon with our own eyes, and he's as real as Teddy or Ace!"

"Come on, Starlight," the light blonde maned colt known as Ace wiped a single tear after his fit of chortling, "I could hear this kind of hooey from Patch, but not from you."

"Besides, if this dragon's so real, why doesn't he show his face?" The blue colt known as Teddy brought up a point that caused many ponies in the crowd to fill the entire town with an outpour of vocalism. Just as Starlight was starting to fear that the inquisitive group would turn into an unruly mob, the mayor quickly came to the rescue by quelling the consternation that was close to erupting. With the clamor of the audience finally subdued, the mayor permitted Starlight to resume her addressing of their anonymous visitor.

"Before I pass the mic to our mystery guest, I just want to make it clear that Spike is just as hesitant about showing himself to all of you as we are. As natural as it is to be alarmed by something so bizarre, we would all appreciate it if you would hear him out before making any kind of reaction. With that said, I shall now bring my speech to an end and present to all of you, Spike the Dragon."

Shifting her gaze away from the crowd, the normally firm filly pointed her hoof towards the entrance of town hall expecting to show the eventual debut of the first living dragon to set foot in Ponyland, only to have her eyes looking upon an exposed doorway with nobody stepping out. Silence loomed over the area as everypony patiently awaited to witness the dragon Starlight hyped up so much, some of the more anxious ponies were even using those closest to them as boosts in the hopes of gaining a better view. Teddy and Ace, however, were in preparation of letting loose a flurry of laughter upon the light pink filly who is about to be given a brand of eternal embarrassment should this dragon not appear before the audience as promised. The only thing to even be seen near the entrance was the peeping head of Sweetheart, who saw Starlight and the rest of her friends deliver her a series of nonverbal gestures which implied that time is running short. Receding herself from everyone's sight, the white coated filly switched her attention to a more than hesitant Spike who has become numb with the same stage fright that plagued him at the Equestria Games.

"Come on, Spike," the tender pony snapped the nervous dragon out of his paralysis, "everyone's waiting for you."

"What if everypony freaks out like Patch said? I just don't know what I'm going to do if they all decide I'm some kind of threat."

"You just show them the kind and loveable dragon that you are, and they'll have no reason to be afraid of you."

Letting her encouraging words sink in, the formerly nervous dragon felt all of his trepidation completely subside and received a swell of diligence. After all, this is the same dragon who saved the Crystal Empire on numerous occasions, put his own reputation within said empire on the line in order to vouch for a changeling, spared Equestria from a war by hindering a pony hating dragon from becoming the next Dragon Lord, saved Applejack from being devoured by a giant timberwolf, prevented a mass conflict between dragons and yaks, saved his friends from being eaten by a Roc, and even fought alongside the Elements of Harmony against three of the most nefarious villain's in all of Equestria; so speaking in front of a crowd of strangers ought to be child's play compared to all of the past ordeal's he had to face before.

And so, after taking in a deep breath, Spike reinforced himself with a newfound sense of fortitude as he flapped his wings and fluttered himself towards the podium for all of Coltonville to see. To absolutely no surprise from any of the seven friends the entire town predictably found themselves becoming completely dumbstruck by the sight of the purple dragon standing before them. Everypony was muttering amongst each other in response to this new phenomenon staring back at them, even Ace whispered into Teddy's ear, "Looks like Starlight wasn't pulling our legs after all." Their hushed discourse had lasted until the entire surrounding had become muted to a point where even the sounds of a cricket chirping or a pin dropping couldn't be heard; but their eyes were still fixated upon the dragon as if he were a two in a half ton diamond gleaming in the sunlight, and Spike could feel the sting of those stares bleeding out the determination that had urged him to reveal himself. It seemed that the dragon was about to experience a repeat of his stage fright during the Equestria Games, but a brief look at the seven ponies who would be the closest things to friends within this world--who all returned his gaze with smiles and encouraging gestures--was all he needed to regain his composure. After counting to ten in his head, Spike commenced his orientation that would show the ponies of Coltonville just what kind of dragon he is.

"Hello everypony, I'm the aforementioned Spike that Starlight told you all about; and no, you are not imagining anything, I am a real dragon. I come from a land called Equestria, where I serve as the royal advisor to its newly appointed ruler, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and we had just finished the first day of her reign yesterday until a little magical mishap had teleported me to your world. I know that all of you have just met me and what I just told you might be hard to believe, but all of my friends have no idea how to find me and I don't exactly have anywhere else to go. So if it's not too much to ask, would it be OK if I stay in your town for the time being?"

Once the speech was finished, none of the towns ponies knew how they should respond; all of them just witnessed a living dragon convey his woes, but not a single pony even had the slightest idea on what to say or do. That is until a little pale orange filly with a pale green mane and wearing an orange ribbon stepped through the crowd and trotted up to the stage. Taking notice of the little filly's approach, the purple dragon opted to land himself to the ground in order to be at eye level with the pony. The filly had an unsure expression on her face as she scrutinized the dragon for a moment that felt more like an eternity in Spike's mind, but like any child the orange filly could only get a grasp on something if she touches it, hence why she slowly extended one of her hooves anent the dragon's face. Spike had almost expected the filly to pull back her hoof in revulsion upon making contact with his scales; but not only did her hoof remained on his temple, she also let her other hoof touch the other side of his head and used both hooves to pull the dragon's face towards her own and nuzzled him in a loving embrace. She then grabbed his claw and led him into the crowd of ponies, who all started to look upon the little dragon with welcoming smiles and each took turns patting him.

Eventually, the prominent dragon found himself being paraded around the entire town. One minute he would be in a restaurant where he would be treated to free samples of everything on the menu, then the crowd would carry him to a clothes store where he was permitted to try on any article of clothing that caught his eye, and then the masses of Coltonville would take him to jewelry stores where many of the proprietors would quickly learn that gems are a dragons' favorite delicacy.

"How did you know that dragons love to eat gems?" The dragon sampled a few sapphires.

"Uh...lucky guess?" One of the jewelry owners surmised to the best of her ability.

Naturally, it didn't take too long for the press ponies--who had all observed Spike's speech via their television sets--to track him down and commence their overflowing of flashing cameras and a million questions per second. In addition to a story hungry press, there soon came some certain ponies who sought to exploit the now famous dragon; such as a zoo owner who wished to turn Spike into a new exhibit, a ringmaster who wanted to acquire the dragon to be an attraction for his circus, and a scientist who planned to subjugate the dragon to a series of rather questionable experiments. Having absolutely no interest in relinquishing his free will, Spike respectfully declined all the offers, and fortunately for him none of the ponies tried to press the matter further and went off their separate ways.

Coltonville's latest celebrity was being treated to free ice cream at a local parlor by the time six of the seven ponies who discovered him had finally reunited with the dragon (after they all struggled through the mob of press ponies, of course).

"Looks like someone's enjoying their fame," Patch nudged the dragon's shoulder.

"I normally don't get this kind of reception unless I visit the Crystal Empire," Spike sprinkled a few gems over the strawberry scoop atop of the cone he was gripping.

"I gotta say, Spike, that hat really suits you." Melody complimented the white fedora adorned with a red feather that the purple dragon was donning.

"Thanks. A friend of mine back at Equestria actually gave me a hat just like this one on my birthday." The dragon took at least three licks from his ice cream before he took notice to the fact that a certain minty green pony was absent. "Where's Bright Eyes?"

It would seem that Bright Eyes had possessed a sense of clairvoyance, seeing as how she was pushing through the mob of photographers with a stallion in tow. "Spike, I'd like to introduce you to my father, Bartleby Page. He's a reporter for the Coltonville Newspaper and is wondering if you could spare a few minutes of your time for a private interview?"

"Gladly." Taking his claw out of the bag of gems, Spike shook the hoof of Bright Eye's dad. "How you do, sir?"

"No need to be so formal, Spike; I'm only a reporter, after all. Let's conduct the interview somewhere more private."

...

Night had blanketed the entirety of Coltonville by the time Spike had approached the abode of Bright Eyes and her family. It's a humble dwelling--aside from the colossal observatory protruding from the side of it--that rested upon a lofty hill, overlooking the small town that could provide anyone with a view that one would normally get to see from the top of a castle. Although the mass of photographers would never dare to step hoof inside of the jade house without permission, it didn't stop them from swarming around the place like vultures. While the shutterbugs were desperately searching for any kind of opening from the windows or even the keyholes of the doors to obtain more shots of Spike, the aforementioned dragon settled himself upon a cushioned wooden chair with Bright Eye's father sitting across from him with his pencil and notepad in hoof, and a tape recorder placed upon the dining table.

"How are you liking your stay in Coltonville, Spike?" The reporter initiated his first of many questions.

"It's been a real pleasure so far, Mr. Page." Spike licked the last bits of ice cream that remained in the bottom of the cone before munching the whole thing with his jaws.

"You can just call me Bart, everybody in Coltonville calls me that."

"Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"How come nopony ever says 'everypony' or 'anypony'?"

"I presume that inserting 'pony' in lieu of 'body' within certain words is a normal occurrence in that world called Equestria that you mentioned during your introduction?"

"Pretty much." Digging through the bag, the little dragon helped himself to some more gems before following up with another inquiry. "Do you always conduct interviews at home?"

"Normally I would prefer not to bring interviewees into my home, but circumstances do tend to force ponies to adapt to certain situations." After jotting down a few notes into his notepad, Bartleby continued his interview. "Bright Eyes informed me that you have been living amongst ponies your entire life."

"Ever since I was born."

"Then living in Ponyland ought to be a cinch for you, I suppose."

"To be honest, I was worried that everypony was going to be afraid of me; I never would've been able to even work up the nerve to speak in front of them had it not been for Sweetheart's and the others encouragement."

"That's what friends are for." Starlight recited one of the most overused of cliched phrases.

"Care for some orange juice?" The teal coated mare who was Bright Eyes' mother offered the dragon guest a refreshing glass of orange juice to wash his mouth down from the gems he had consumed, which the gracious dragon gladly gulped down. It was apparent to everypony that Bright Eyes inherited her brains from her mother, whereas her phenotype was taken straight from her father. In addition to being married to one of the most meticulous journalists in Coltonville, the brown maned mare also happens to be the proud wife to science. Every day is never a dull moment for her as she devotes all of her time observing the cosmos of space, analyzing the fossils of extinct species, creating new inventions that could better the lives of her fellow ponies, or even peer reviewing her daughter's science projects; and seeing a living dragon inside her home was enough to ignite every scholarly fiber in her body. "You know, Spike, your presence could serve as living proof of my Multiverse Theory."

"Constance believes that there exists infinite numbers of universes similar to our own with minute variations," Bart elaborated to his guest.

"There's some truth to that," Spike confirmed. "I remember this one time where Twilight and I walked through a mirror that sent us to an alternate dimension where everypony were these bipedal creatures called humans."

"I suppose that you and her were both transformed into these 'human' organisms as well?" The reporter inquired.

On the one hand, Spike could have easily just be upfront with the fact that entering the Human World changed him into a dog, but then again, the now celebratory dragon was practically being treated as royalty within this world and he wasn't entirely too keen on making the ponies view him any less by giving them the impression that he was seen as a pet where he was from. "Of course. What else could I have been?"

Scribbling a few more notes into his pad, Bart opted to move onto the next topic. "During your introduction speech, you mentioned that you were transported here due to a 'magical mishap'. Could you go into more detail on how that transpired?"

"Twilight and I were just finishing the first day of her reign when all that was left for her to do was to use her magic to lower the sun and raise the moon."

"You mean your planet doesn't merely orbit around the sun?" Constance interrupted.

"Nope, it's all done with magic. Just as Twilight was in the middle of raising the moon, the Secretariat Comet suddenly appeared out of nowhere and overwhelmed her with a magical surge that she had to quickly let out, which happened to be directed at me, hence why I'm now here."

"Incredible." Bart marveled over the dragon's account. "I can't even begin to imagine how more convenient our everyday lives would be if we were all capable of using magic."

The minty green stallions' remark left the dragon rather puzzled. "Aren't there unicorns in Ponyland?"

"Nothing but ordinary ponies as far as anyone is concerned."

The girls took notice of the way their dragon friend's mouth droop and the look in his eyes that seemed to have all joy completely sapped out. Patch was watching all of this play out from the living room; the peach coated filly positioned her head onto one of the arms of the couch which provided her with a fairly decent view of her friends sitting around the kitchen with Spike and Bright Eye's parents. She was getting close to dozing a bit, but she could have sworn that she picked up a glance of what appeared to be tears building up in the dragon's eyes, and her ears could even make out the sounds of rapid exhaling. If the curly pink maned filly was hoping for a brief respite, she was going to have to wait a little longer as she--and everypony else--were suddenly disrupted by a swift force that caught them all by surprise (and even made Clover lose her footing on a chair she leaned on which led to a domino effect of her falling backwards from the chair, spinning her whole body towards a nearby pedestal holding a vase with flowers in it, and having her head collide into said pedestal causing the vase to fall off and land on her cushioned belly). It didn't take too long for anyone to come to the deduction that a certain dragon is no longer in sight. Feeling an impulse to rush to the door, Patch galloped in all haste to find a wide opened door with swarms of photographers shouting to the sky, which only confirmed the peach coated filly's suspicion that Spike flew away.

...

Reports of a missing dragon got everypony in Coltonville to form search parties in a unity of community. The second word reached out that somepony had spotted what appeared to be a purple dragon flying to the Old Woods, everypony hurried onward. It was pitch black by the time all of the search parties arrived to the Old Woods, but fortunately for everypony there was plenty of flashlights to spare. The seven friends got to join in on the hunt for the runaway dragon (albeit through some convincing on the parts of their parents); Patch led the girls with flashlight in hoof, while the others trotted behind with Clover leading the rear. Nopony has ever fully explored the Old Woods enough to make a map of it, so there was a slim chance that a single pony could get lost within this dark forest; but those worries were nominal for the seven friends, seeing as how each of them had the advantages of other flashlights being shone in the distance along with the echoes of ponies crying out Spike's name to prevent themselves from going adrift. They managed to leave behind a thousand yard trail of hoofprints before the party was brought to a halt by the moaning voice of the pale lavender filly.

"Wait girls, I think we oughta rest for a bit."

"How could you possibly rest when there's a lost dragon alone in these woods?" Patch stood upright upon her hind legs while pressing her hooves to her hips in a chiding gesture.

"Like this." Seating her flank upon the surface root of a nearby tree with a loud plop, Clover huffed for breath while rubbing the soreness out of her aching hooves. Seeing no point in proceeding their search without her, the other ponies opted to take a breather as well, much to the irritation of their peach coated friend.

"I don't believe this!" Patch cried out in disgust. "Spike is somewhere in these woods, probably scared out of his mind, and you all want to just slack off?!"

"The whole town is looking for him too, Patch," Melody brushed off her friend's mild outrage. "Anyone of them is bound to find him before we do."

"But he's so little," Bon Bon voiced her concerns, "I don't know if I could sleep again should we find out Spike got eaten by a big animal and we failed to save him in time!"

"Highly unlikely, Bon Bon," Bright Eye's countered the yellow filly's claim. "Given the fact that Spike is equipped with wings, he's most likely spending the majority of his time in the air away from any land predators (and I highly doubt that any birds of prey would ever consider him to be much of a sufficient meal). Even if he did decide to return to the ground, his teeth, claws, and fire breathing capabilities ought to prove to be more than efficient defense mechanisms."

"One thing's for sure, we won't find him if we linger here any longer." Starlight got up on her hooves.

Right as Clover was going to raise up her haunches, something wet had tickled her muzzle. "Oh no, it's starting to rain."

Observing the droplets perpetually pelting her friend had provided Starlight with an inkling. Swiping the flashlight from Patch, the light pink filly directed the glow to the source of the "rain" and discovered what appeared to be some sort of purple figure hunched atop a branch. "It's Spike!"

Feeling their maternal instincts kicking in, the rest of Starlight's friends joined alongside her as they all called out to Spike and pleaded for him to come down from the tree. Hearing their voices made the runaway dragon turn to look down on them, which led to the seven ponies being given a clear view of the forlorn expression that was practically glued to his face. Granting the fillies their request, Spike hovered to the ground with short flaps of his wings while still holding his head down in a glum manner. Upon letting his scaly feet make contact with the earth beneath him, Spike was promptly enveloped into the caressing and motherly embrace of Sweetheart.

"You gave us quite a scare back there, little guy," Patch wiped off the sweat from her brow. "What got over you to bolt out like that?"

"I'm never going home." Spike sniffled faintly.

Hearing that declaration made everypony look back in disbelief. "What made you come to that conclusion?" Bright Eyes inquired.

"There aren't any unicorns in Ponyland." Spike responded.

"Yeah, but neither did dragons until you showed up," Melody spoke up. "So what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that magic is what sent me to this world in the first place!" The dragon's melancholy quickly changed into outrage. "If there aren't any creatures who are capable of casting magic, then I'm never going to return to Equestria!"

None of them could fathom what it would be like if they all found themselves going through the same predicament that Spike is experiencing right now. But the seven friends knew deep down that the rage that the despondent dragon is exhibiting would be the same reaction that either of the ponies would have if they were stranded in a foreign world and having to face the possibility that they may never see their loved ones again, although that didn't deter a certain minty green filly from attempting to calm the dragon's fury.

"I realize that the dilemma that you're currently experiencing may seem to be hopeless at the moment, but you mustn't permit yourself to perpetually plummet into this pit of despair if you ever expect to return to your dimension."

"Easy for you to say!" Spike smacked Bright Eye's hoof away from his shoulder. "You're not the one who's trapped in a strange world and separated from those who you care about; so you'll excuse me if I'm not brimming with optimism at the moment!" Letting all of his frustration pour out, the dragon's pique was instantly followed by profound shame for lashing out at the well-intentioned filly; he was so much ashamed that he couldn't bring himself to look any of the ponies in the eye as he continued to relate the rest of his distress. "Sometimes I wonder how different my life could have been if I got to live in the Dragon Lands with my real parents; not knowing my true origins may have been nerve racking but having so many friends got my mind off of it. Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Jeffrie, Big Mac, Discord, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, Zecora, Shining Armor, Cadance, Gabby, Smolder, Ember, Thorax, Starlight, Sunburst, Mina, Celestia, Luna, Cheerilee, Moon Dancer, Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, and Minuette, everypony and everycreature who mean the most to me are now in a distant world that I can't get to, and it seems I'm never gonna get to see any of them again."

"Gosh, that's a lot of friends to lose in a single day." Clover's unintentionally insensitive comment garnered her some collective glares from her friends.

Taking her gaze away from her scatterbrain of a friend, Sweetheart felt a jolt in her heart once her eyes made sight with the pitiful state Spike's now in. Completely drained of any iota of anger or frustration, the now empty dragon could only muster enough energy in himself to bow his head down with fresh tears falling upon the dirt beneath his feet, while hugging his arms together by the elbows as if all of the warmth in his body has been dissipated. The white coated filly must've thought that the dragon's depression is contagious, as she was getting close to letting out a downpour of tears of her own just by looking at him. Given her devotion to wanting to help those who are in any form of pain, her parents have often told her that she'd make a great doctor when she grows up. Despite not having any of the same amount of knowledge her friend, Bright Eyes, has, the kindhearted pony's intuition told her that the prescription that Spike was in desperate need of was the motherly warmth of a loving hug.

Scooping up the sniffling dragon with her hooves, Sweetheart nestled her chin atop of his scaly head while permitting Spike to bury his tear-soaked face into her chest. The warmhearted filly who could only tolerate seeing anybody weeping for more than three seconds permitted the sobbing dragon to drench her pristine coat with tears for a solid minute before lifting up his face by his chin and saying, "Spike, we can't promise that you'll return to your world anytime soon, but we'll really truly make sure you feel right at home for the time being."

Wiping off a stray tear from his cheek, the once grieving dragon felt enough of the sadness that overtaken him seep away in order to respond to Sweetheart. "Why are you so concerned about me? It's not like you're responsible for me."

"We became responsible for you the moment we found you in the attic." Starlight spoke up.

Upon turning his gaze to the light pink pony, Spike felt his scaly head being rubbed by the hoof of his fellow orphan. "Besides, we never would've met you if your princess hadn't sent you here."

It wasn't too long for Bright Eyes--and the others--to follow suit as well. "Neither of us could ever take the place of any of the plethora of friends back at your dimension, but we guarantee to be just as devoted as they are."

"I'm sure your princess would want us to watch over you for her." Bon Bon chimed in.

"And you can bet that we won't let anyone hurt you." Clover assured him.

Melody felt obliged to orate something inspirational to the dragon as well but given that all of her friends had more or less taken all of the good motivational phrases before her, the dark pink filly decided that Spike would have to settle with hearing her say, "What they said."

Listening to all of their friendly encouragements provided the lost dragon with a sense that Twilight and the others were still with him. Despite being light years away from Equestria, Spike could still feel the sisterly warmth of Twilight Sparkle, the unimpeachable honesty of Applejack, the staunch loyalty of Rainbow Dash, the selfless generosity of Rarity, the tender kindness of Fluttershy, the mirthful laughter of Pinkie Pie, and even some of the caring sympathy of Starlight Glimmer resonating in each of these seven fillies who might be the only friends he has in Ponyland.

After soaking in enough of their affection, Spike took the opportunity to bring up a crucial issue. "So who will I be living with?"

This little conundrum gave the fillies cause to stand still in contemplation, until Starlight decided to share her idea, "We could each take turns letting Spike live at our homes for a week."

"But who does he get to live with first?" Bon Bon brought up.

Before anypony could even take a breath, Bright Eyes was already in the process of picking up a nearby twig and snapping it into seven pieces, which she later bunched up into her hoof. "We shall determine the disposition in which Spike will reside within each of our respective dwellings by drawing out the sticks that I hold, and whomever draws the shortest one shall have Spike as a houseguest for a week. Agreed?"

Since nopony had any particularly exceptional alternatives, they all opted to go along with their gifted friends' suggestion and wasted no time in drawing sticks from her green hoof. Upon displaying their collective twigs, it became apparent to everypony that the shortest stick is laying upon the white hoof of Sweetheart.

"Looks like you'll be living with me first." The kindhearted filly rubbed the dragon's head.

With their arrangement well established, the fillies decided that now's the time to let all of the search parties know that the runaway dragon has finally been found. With the entire town swarming to them, it didn't take too long for the seven friends to seek out their parents amongst the gathering crowd. Feeling his energy being exhausted, Spike chose to stay right where he stood and observe his seven new friends prepare themselves for the challenge of convincing their parents to go along with their little plan.

Spike's First Day of School

The first day of school has always been sort of a sacred tradition for kids. A day which signifies both the end of blithesome fun and the dawning of the arduous twelve-year grind. When being made to depart the confines of their secure abodes and spending six and a half hours of every Monday through Friday within the imprisoning walls of school, children of all ages get to experience the process of simultaneously acquiring knowledge that may--or may not--serve them well after graduation and seeking out those who will become their friends from amongst their classmates.

Much like a transaction in a market, making friends is never a one-sided deal. Both kids must like one another, share some common interest, and generally enjoy each other's company. If at least one of those prerequisites isn't partially met, then neither kid will consider themselves to be friends. But with such a vast array of students within each class, each kid is practically bound to find themselves a companion or two (and some could even discover their soul mates).

Spike has always considered himself a self-proclaimed expert on friendship, but even he could never profess that he received the full school experience. Excluding his involvement in the School of Friendship, the foundling dragon never knew what it's like to be in a classroom with kids his age, to work on class projects, to ask a girl to a school dance, or even have to contend with bullies who would want to take his lunch money from him. Being Twilight's assistant provided him with a quality homeschool education that made it unnecessary for him to attend public school, even if it ultimately meant denying him a chance to be around kids his age. In addition to having to live in a strange new world for who knows how long, Spike is about to find himself partaking in a great deal of many things he'd never imagine himself doing.

And it all commenced when Sweetheart's mom had poked her head from the door and said to the waking dragon, "Time to get up, Spike. Don't want to be late on your first day."

The newly appointed royal advisor always imagined that the dawning of every morning would involve having to aid Twilight during her reign over Equestria, he never anticipated that there would be a day where he'd have to get up for school. When the girls presented their proposal of having their new dragon friend take turns living at each of their homes to their parents, they all couldn't decide on which was more shocking to them; the fact that their parents weren't at all hesitant to agree to their plan, or that the only stipulation they demanded was that Spike had to attend school.

Stretching out the torpor from his scaly arms, Spike let his body slide out of the cozy bed which was provided for him by his gracious hosts and trudged out of the now barren guest room. Despite his lethargic pace, the half-awoken dragon didn't require any amount of effort to make his way to the kitchen just as Mrs. Tender had finished placing his plate on his side of the table. Situating himself upon the chair, Spike took the opportunity to let his eyes scan over the ponies of whom he will be spending his first of many weeks in Ponyland.

Watching this scene of Mr. Tender sipping his morning coffee while reading his newspaper, Sweetheart's three baby sisters happily munching on their bowls of oatmeal while their mother wipes each of their faces, and Sweetheart herself finishing the last bits of buttered toast on her plate reminded Spike of the times he'd watch Twilight eating breakfast with her family back when he was still a baby. Even though the jaunty atmosphere felt a tad jaded by the dragon's sullen expression that was being surrounded by perpetual smiles, and it didn't take long for Sweetheart to take note of his current condition.

"Had a hard time sleeping?" The gentle filly offered her friend a glass of orange juice.

"Nah, I'm always like this when I wake up." After sipping some of the orange juice from his glass, Spike wasted no time in picking up his knife and fork to eat the warm waffle which had two blueberries for eyes, a large, pointed strawberry for a nose, and a curved line of syrup in the form of a smile. He had already cleaned his plate by the time Mrs. Tender was handing out his and Sweetheart's respective bookbags.

"I still don't see why I need to go to school," Spike took the opportunity to broach the subject on his enrollment. "I'm a royal advisor, so I'm practically already educated."

"That might be the case back on your world," Mrs. Tender brought the discussion to a swift end, "but as long as you're here, you gotta be in school."

Yes Mom, Spike kept his snide remark to himself. Before he could make his departure, he became halted by the sound of Sweethearts' baby sisters demanding his full attention. It was truly a miracle that Mrs. Tender had managed to bring forth three newborn foals into the world on the same day and still live, but it was even more surprising that she and her husband could maintain their household with three hyperactive babies that would break the weakest of parents. The triplets, Sugar, Peaches, and Cream Puff inherited the family genes of white coats along with the pink mane color of their big sister. All three of them were so identical in appearance that the only way anypony could distinguish each one is from the various fashion in how they wore their green bows. When the baby ponies got to finally meet their dragon guest for the first-time last night, they had taken an immediate liking to him which he himself returned to them; so it was abundantly clear to the dragon that he wasn't going to be permitted to exit this house until he paid the triplets' toll. After flying across from where the toddlers sat and allowing his scaly cheek to be planted with goodbye kisses, the little dragon joined with Sweetheart as they both commenced their trek to school.

...

The journey to school was not an arduous one for either Spike or Sweetheart, especially since one of them happens to be blessed with wing power. It might've been due to being around Pinkie Pie for so long, but Spike couldn't tolerate the silence any further and was practically starving for a conversation.

"Do you and the others always walk to school?" The dragon asked Sweetheart.

"Well, we did use to ride a school bus until the school stopped using it due to budget cuts," she recollected. "I even remember how we would all do the exact same thing on that bus: Teddy would fire a stone with his slingshot at Patch, then she would shoot spitballs at him, and we would all laugh our heads off."

"Do you miss riding the bus?"

"Not really. At first I assumed that having to actually walk to school would make things harder, but it really truly is a great way to give us exercise and arriving to school never even feels like an eternity. See, we've already made it." Right before his own eyes, Spike gazed upon Coltonville Middle School. The bricks that erected this school were as pink as Pinkie Pie, and the overall architectural design can be best described as a three if the middle point was sticking out of the back as opposed to the front. The entrance consisted of two stone steps and a small, rectangular, green door that only covered the lower section of the doorway, whereas the upper section was entirely exposed enough for Spike to simply fly through without having to open the door at all.

With Sweetheart guiding the way, Spike entered the classroom that the others are attending. Despite it being a middle school, Spike found the surroundings to be more reminiscent of the Ponyville Schoolhouse; what with the pink walls and student desks which were held up by golden letters of the alphabet for legs. The one thing the Ponyville Schoolhouse didn't have was a slide that served as an exit to the playground.

"Hey Spike, I saved ya a seat up front!" Patched hollered while removing her bookbag from said seat.

Upon situating himself on his reserved seat, Spike silently observed the other fillies and colts settling themselves into their proper places just before their teacher, Miss Hackney, made her entrance. The bespectacled proctor with her periwinkle coat and lavender mane fashioned in a style that's reminiscent of a powdered wig worn by a judge stood on her hind legs and clapped her hooves as a way of telling her students to cease their chattering.

"Good morning students," Miss Hackney made her announcement, "we'll be having a very busy schedule for today. But first, we shall take the opportunity to welcome our new student, Spike." After everypony properly greeted the exchange student, Miss Hackney said to the dragon, "Now Spike, I hope you have been enjoying your stay in Ponyland."

"I am," Spike assured, "of course I've been living amongst ponies throughout my entire life, so this place is really no different from Equestria."

"Since you've brought up the subject," said Miss Hackney, "could you tell us what ponies where you're from are like?"

"For starters, earth ponies are not the only ponies in Equestria; there are also unicorns who can perform magic and pegasi who can fly, walk on clouds, and control the weather." This description had elicited intrigued murmurs from the other students. "Also, ponies where I come from can't stand on their hind legs the way I see some of you do (in fact, a friend of mine, Lyra, would give anything to figure out how you ponies can pull it off), and they also have to grip pencils with their mouths rather than their hooves. Furthermore, ponies where I'm from look so much different compared to ponies here."

"How so?" Miss Hackney asked.

"For one thing, a mare or filly would have a round muzzle while a stallion or colt would have a squared muzzle, and each pony could either look thin, plump, scrawny, or muscular. Whereas ponies around here seem to have the same type of muzzle and the exact same body figure. Sometimes I have a hard time discerning between boy or girl ponies that I see."

"Well I'm certain that things will get easier for you the longer you stay." Miss Hackney reassured the lost dragon. "Now students, get out your notebooks as I go over the fundamentals of space travel."

With his notebook out and his pencil in his clutches, Spike took to jotting down notes as if Twilight was the one teaching him. The rest of the classes he attended were treated with the same diligence; whether it be math, history, science, art, theatre, music, literature, or P.E., Spike treated every subject exactly how Twilight would. By the time lunch had finally arrived, Spike was more than ready to treat himself to a well-deserved meal with his new friends, but he didn't count on other ponies getting out of their respective tables to surround him (mostly fillies who delighted in dotting over him as if he were a puppy). There were only two ponies who remained seated, and neither of them were all too pleased over the attention this dragon has been getting.

"Would you look at that, Teddy?" Ace shared his observation with the blue colt. "That dragon appears from out of nowhere and all the girls act like he's a superstar."

"I don't even see what's so special about him." Teddy shared his own opinion after sipping out of his milk carton. "He's not even that big for a dragon."

"Maybe, but the girls think he's special, and we can't have him taking the girls away from us."

...

Just about every student runs with the speed of light when it's time for recess. Allowing his body to be propelled by the force of the slide, Spike soared through the sky with the help of his wings which drew various oohs and aahs from the ponies. Landing back on the ground, Spike made his approach to the seven girls who were the first friends he has in Ponyland only to be stopped by a royal blue colt with a red mane who looked upon the dragon with a friendly smile.

"Hello, I'm Lancer. Would you like to play tether ball with me?"

"I've never really played that game before, but sure."

Accepting the nice colt's invitation, Spike followed Lancer to a pole which held a ball that was about the size of the little dragon attached to a long tether. "In this game, we simply hit this ball to one another, and whomever is the one to hit the ball until it's completely tied up is the winner." Lancer summed up the rules for the dragon's convenience. "You may fly a bit if it helps you."

Once Lancer delivered the first blow to the tether ball, he and Spike partook in a truly captivating match which drew the other students in to spectate. While half of the ponies cheered for Spike and the other half rooted for Lancer (with Bright Eyes being the only who couldn't decide whether to side with her friend or crush), the gentle colt smacked the ball with enough force to send it careening towards Spike in a way that it would've most definitely have harmed him had the dragon not flown out of the way, only for said ball to collide into Clover's head.

As everypony stopped to check on the injured filly, who was currently seeing stars fly above her head, everypony were drawn to the collective laughter of Teddy and Ace, who took ignominious glee over seeing Clover get hurt.

"Oh man, I guess you should've brought a helmet with you today! Ha ha ha!" Teddy insensitively made a wise crack at Clover's expense.

"This isn't funny Teddy!" Starlight chastised the colt for his lack of civility. "Clover could be seriously injured!"

"Don't sweat it Starlight," Ace shrugged off the pink filly's concern, "Clover's been through worse and always recovers afterwards. See look, she's already regaining her senses." Just as the gold coated colt said, Clover stood back on her hooves in a wobblily manner. "Besides, Teddy and I just came over to finally meet this new friend of yours." Ace and Teddy proceeded to turn their attention to the new student. "So you're the dragon everyone's making a big fuss over. I gotta say, you're even shorter up close than you are from a distance."

"And you are?" Spike inquired.

"Ace is my name, and the one with the shades is Teddy."

Lifting up his sunglasses, Teddy took a good gander at the medal that hung around Spike's neck. "That's quite a shiny medal you have on. You must think you're better than us when you're wearing that thing."

"This was given to me by the newly appointed Princess of Equestria when she made me her royal advisor." Spike explained. "And I wear it with great pride."

"Then I imagine you'd probably be ticked off if someone were to take it!"

Without warning, Teddy swiped the medal off of Spike's neck and proceeded to run off with it in glee while tossing it from one hoof to the other. "Give that medal back to him, Teddy!" Patch shouted.

"If he wants it back, then he should come and take it from me!"

Extending the medal out with his hoof as if he were dangling a worm on a hook, Teddy patiently waited for Spike to take the bait. Using the full power of his wings, Spike flew towards the teasing colt only for him to immediately toss it to Ace, who proceeded to toss it back to Teddy the moment Spike got too close to him. The two punks kept up this game of keep away until Spike became so irked that he spit out a ball of green fire at Ace's pristinely yellow mane.

Screaming in utter panic, Ace let the medal slip from his grasp as he proceeded to roughly rub his mane against the grass until the fire was put out, only to let out a shriek as he saw his once flowing mane be burned down to a black mess in the reflection of a nearby window. "My mane is ruined!"

"That's what you get for taking something that isn't yours." Spike retorted as he returned his medal to its rightful place.

"Why you lousy lizard!" Ace yelled back. "If I had a magic notebook, I'd totally write your name in it!"

"Whatever Goldilocks." Spike dismissed Ace's threat.

In spite of what transpired, Teddy couldn't stop himself from laughing at Spike's insult. "He called you Goldilocks! I bet you probably wish you still had some of your gold locks right now! Ha ha ha!"

"Shut up Teddy!" Ace could do nothing but sulkily return to the school along with his classmates, while Teddy continued to guffaw at his expense.

...

Upon returning from school, Spike went about the rest of the day getting to have dinner with Sweetheart's family, play games with Sweetheart's sisters, and even discover Sweetheart's hidden talent for drawing. When night had finally arrived, Spike gazed forlornly upon the moon just thinking about how much he still misses Twilight. With nothing better to do, Spike took out a sheet of paper and pencil hidden inside a drawer as he began to write a letter to her.

Dear Twilight,

I hope this letter reaches you when I encase it with my fire breath. I just want you to know that I am OK; I have been sent to another world that's ruled by ponies, and everypony has been extremely friendly towards me, and I even met seven ponies who remind me a lot of you and the girls. These ponies are unlike any pony in Equestria; they walk on their hind legs and don't move as smoothly as we do. Furthermore, they are all earth ponies without a single unicorn or pegasus in sight, so there's a fair chance that I won't be able to find any magic to help send me back to Equestria. I hope you can find a way to bring me back, but I understand if you'll have too much time ruling over Equestria to focus on rescuing me, and I won't hold you a grudge if you have to get a new royal advisor. But if there's anypony who could find a way to bring me back, it's you.

Love, Spike.

Opening the window, Spike positioned his letter up to the sky and let it go ablaze with his dragon fire, hoping beyond all hope that its magic can deliver it to Equestria. Upon closing the window, Sweetheart's mom had entered the guest room. "Spike, it's time for bed." Doing as she said, the obedient dragon crawled into the covers of the guest bed as Sweetheart's mom went about tucking him in and planting a motherly kiss upon his forehead. "Sleep tight, Spike." Once he was left alone, Spike could do nothing but drift off into sleep, while hoping that the time that he has to spend in Ponyland won't be for too long.

Living with Bon Bon

The week spent at Sweetheart's home had ended as quickly as it began. Upon gathering the bookbag which carried his schoolbooks and biding Sweetheart and her family farewell, Spike made his way to the door, where he found Bon Bon waiting to take him to her place. The trek from Sweetheart's to Bon Bon's home would have felt like a mile had the filly and dragon not been so engrossed in their conversation; but as soon as they both finished whatever it was they were discussing, the two immediately found themselves standing before a two-story purple house with a yellow roof which was surrounded by four apple trees.

"Your family grows apples?" Spike strung up a new topic of discussion.

"Mm-hmm," Bon Bon nodded, "and we also have a field plot in the back where we grow other fruits and vegetables. I'll gladly give you a tour around here, but first I want to introduce you to my family." Holding Spike's claw as if she were bringing home a date, Bon Bon led him inside while announcing, "Mother, Father, where are you?"

"We're in the kitchen dear." The voice of Bon Bon's mother rang out.

Letting himself be directed to the kitchen by Bon Bon, Spike was greeted by the sight of the yellow filly's family sitting together near a round table. Both her parents share the same mustard yellow coat, with their main differences being that her dad's mane is teal while her mom's mane is light brown. As for Bon Bon's five siblings, each of them possess their own unique attributes; her oldest sister is beige with a long pale pink mane tied in a ponytail, her freckled brother is light yellow with a pale orange mane which is covered by a blue baseball cap, her younger sister is white with a curly pale blue mane (whose only accessory was a single green bow tied to her tail), her even younger brother is beige with a frazzled azure white mane, and her baby brother is maize with a cornflower blue mane.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you all to our guest, Spike." The second Bon Bon's family greeted the dragon, the yellow filly turned to him and said, "And Spike, allow me to introduce you to my family; this is my big sister Misty, my brother Rusty (who's a year younger than me), my little sister Amber, my little brother Twink, my father, my mother, and my baby brother Baby Pony."

"His name is actually 'Baby Pony'?" Spike questioned the logistics behind such a literal name.

"Well it's really a temporary name until we can think of an actual one to give him." Bon Bon's mother explained.

As Spike took the opportunity to let his eyes scan his surroundings, he had spotted a photograph of the baby that shown him having a cutie mark. "Oh, Baby Pony earned his cutie mark right away, that's quite impressive."

"Cutie mark?" Bon Bon's dad was puzzled until he eventually figured out what his guest was referring to in the photo. "Oh, you must be referring about his hip mark; it confused me a little when you said it's impressive, considering that all ponies are born with hip marks."

"You mean everypony gets a cutie mark the second they're born?!" Spike exclaimed. "Because where I come from, ponies would be born with blank flanks and will have to earn their cutie marks by discovering their hidden talents."

"Really?" Rusty asked with great interest. "It must be fun trying to figure out what kind of mark you get."

"Not for most ponies," Spike answered, "I have three friends who used to be bullied constantly just for not having cutie marks of their own."

"How mean!" Amber commented.

"It's OK," Spike continued, "the three of them would later earn their cutie marks by helping their bully understand her own special talent, and now those three ponies help other ponies find their cutie marks."

"That's very noble of those three." Bon Bon's mom commended the Cutie Mark Crusaders' purpose.

With that story finished, the dragon moved onto another topic. "So I notice you have four apple trees and a garden out back, do you supply fruits and vegetables to this town?"

"That we do." Bon Bon's dad asserted. "Our apple trees and fruit and vegetable gardens have been part of the Planter family for generations. We all do our parts to maintain and harvest our resources whenever we sell them to the market or prepare them for a family feast."

"I was just thinking about a friend of mine whose whole family lives on an apple farm that holds millions of apple trees; Applejack and her family would definitely love doing business with you."

"If this Applejack you speak of appreciates planting and gardening as much as I do, then I think you might be right."

Just as Spike and Mr. Planter were about to converse further, Mrs. Planter walked up to her husband and said, "Could you please hold Baby Pony while I lead Spike to the guest room?" Handing the baby over to her husband, Mrs. Planter led Spike up the stairs and towards the guest room that stood at the end of the hallway. "This'll be where you'll sleep for the week, it's right next to mine and Mr. Planter's room should you need our help with anything. Bath time is arranged in order, with guests being granted the first bath throughout any day--of course, if you don't have time for a bath, you're welcome to let someone else take your place. Also, we may need your assistance in maintaining our garden or taking care of the baby since you'll be staying with us for the week."

"I've been assisting ponies since I was old enough to write a letter," said Spike, "so I'm always happy to help anyway I can."

"I'm pleased to hear you say that Spike. Anyway, I'll let you get settled into your quarters and I'll let you know when dinner is ready. I hope you like salad."

...

The next day wasn't nearly as eventful. Aside from helping Mr. Planter carry groceries into the house, Spike would have spent the rest of today lying upon the guest bed, until he felt a rather strong force shake the entire house! Peeping his head out from the door, Spike saw what appeared to be white feathers falling all over the place like snowflakes which were coming from Baby Pony's room. Entering the room alongside Bon Bon, Amber, and Twink, the dragon and three ponies observed Mr. Planter sweeping up feathers with a broom and dustpan, while Mrs. Planter rocked herself on a rocking chair while cradling Baby Pony, who immediately let loose a powerful sneeze that sent a pillow flying towards a wall and exploding into a flurry of feathers!

"What's going on?" Bon Bon shook some feathers off of her while asking the same question her younger siblings and guest were wondering.

"Uh-oh, looks like he got you too, Bon Bon." Her dad commented.

"Why is he exploding?" Amber asked.

"He's not exploding Amber, he's sneezing." Her dad explained. "Poor Baby Pony is sick."

"Is he gonna be OK?" Bon Bon let her concern for her baby brother be known.

"He'll be fine, it's just a bad cold." Her dad put her worries to rest. "But I'm not so sure about his room."

"Phew, good! Then we can still go to the cinema?" Bon Bon changed the subject.

After Mr. Planter blew off a single feather that remained on his daughter's head, he gave her the bad news. "I'm afraid not, I have to get Baby Pony some medicine."

"But, but you promised."

"Bon Bon, I have to make sure he gets well."

"Would you like me to get the medicine for you?" Spike offered his assistance.

"I would definitely appreciate you saving me a trip to the kitchen." Mr. Planter gladly accepted the dragon's offer. "It's a purple bottle of cold medicine in the upper left cupboard at the corner, and please bring a spoon as well."

With the directions lingering in his head, Spike flew down to the kitchen and opened the upper left cupboard as he rummaged through until he spotted the purple bottle of cold medicine, along with a spoon that he found in a drawer that he surmised to hold silverware with his instincts, which he promptly delivered to Mrs. Planter, who in turn dipped a spoonful of the purple liquid which she gently thrusted into Baby Pony's opened mouth.

...

Going to school on a Monday would typically feel like the longest day for most kids, but Spike and Bon Bon got through it as if their lives were briefly put on fast forward mode until they both arrived home. While Bon Bon went to ask her mother to braid her mane for her, Spike went into the kitchen to help himself to a snack. After removing a bowl of green grapes from the refrigerator, Spike took notice of Misty measuring milk and Rusty sorting a pile of laundry.

"I take it this involves your baby brother still being sick?" Spike hazard a guess while eating a grape.

"Mm-hmm, our mom's busy cradling Baby Pony." Misty confirmed. "So I'm helping with putting the right amount of milk in his bottles."

"And I'm helping with the laundry." Rusty stated just before he dove into the pile of clothes and towels.

It was at this moment that Bon Bon trotted into the kitchen and called out for Misty. When Misty didn't turn to acknowledge her little sister the second her name was called out three times, Bon Bon took it upon herself to tug her big sister's tail, which immediately displeased the teenage filly. "Ow! Bon Bon, look what you made me do! Now I'll have to start all over!"

"I'm sorry, but I..."

"Shh, I have to concentrate."

"I have to have someone do my hair."

"I have to help with Baby Pony, he is sick you know."

"Ok, maybe Rusty will play a game with me. Have you seen him?"

"Over here." Following the sound of his voice, Bon Bon stood next to the pile of laundry in utter perplexity of where he could be, only to quickly be mildly startled when her brother poked his head out of the bundle. Thinking it was a game, Bon Bon leapt into the pile as if it were a large bundle of leaves, only to be scolded by Rusty for unknowingly messing up the work he did in organizing the laundry while also reminding her of Baby Pony's ailment.

Seeing the yellow filly feel dejected over feeling like nopony is interested in her, Spike did what any good friend would do in this situation. "I could help braid your mane for you, Bon Bon."

Not one to look a gift horse--or dragon in this case--in the mouth, Bon Bon graciously accepted Spike's kind offer and led him to her room. Relaxing on her bed, the yellow filly permitted Spike to brush her mane and then meticulously braid strands of her purple mane into a single ponytail. Walking up to her mirror for a better look, Bon Bon was awed by the dragon's handiwork.

"Wow Spike, I didn't know you could be so deft when it comes to hairstyling."

"I've had years of practice from all of the times I brushed Rarity's and Sweetie Belle's manes, I just like to make girls happy." Despite feeling proud of himself, the dragon managed to catch a glimpse of a frown on the yellow filly's face. "What's wrong? Do you not like it?"

"No, it's not that. I just can't get over on how just one sick baby pony can get so much attention; I'm sick of Baby Pony being sick."

"It's not like your brother chose to get sick, and he's only a baby for that matter, you can't expect a baby to take care of himself."

"I know, I know." Picking up a can of mane spray, Bon Bon covered herself in a cloud of spray that elicited a few coughs out of her until the spray fully dissipated. "Say, I just got an idea. What if I pretended to be sick? That'll make everyone want to give me attention."

"I don't think that would be such a good idea."

"Why not? Baby Pony is being pampered and cared for because he's sick, and I want to be pampered and cared for too, ergo I pretend to be sick like him. What's the worst that could happen?"

"For starters, if your family were to think that you're sick too, they would have to balance out taking care of you and your brother, which would just make things all the more hectic for everypony. Lastly, if your parents ever found out that you were just faking your illness, I'd imagine they'd probably ground you for a long time."

Taking the dragon's points into consideration, Bon Bon let out an irritated huff when she realized that everything he said is perfectly true. "Oh fine, I guess I'll just lay around my room and have no one to keep me company."

"Excuse me, but I'm someone who's keeping you company. Am I not good enough for you?"

"No, no! I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry for making you feel unappreciated, Spike; I couldn't ask for a better friend than you. I just wish there was something to help take my mind off my family not paying attention to me." No sooner had Bon Bon made her request did she and Spike hear a distant ringing sound. "It sounds like the phone in the living room, could you please answer it for me."

Being the helpful dragon that he is, Spike followed the ringing to the living room to find the source of said ringing originating from a rather bizarrely designed contraption. Utilizing his memory of the way humans would talk on cell phones in the alternate Equestria, Spike picked up the handset, that was attached to a cord connecting it to what appeared to be a red box with a white wheel of numbers in the center, and held it to his ear while saying, "Hello, who is this?"

"Hi Spike, it's Starlight. I was calling to see if Bon Bon would like to go to the cinema and see a movie with me."

"She was just talking about wanting something to do, she'll be more than happy to see a movie with you. Also, would it be OK if I tagged along?"

"Absolutely, the more the merrier."

Hearing Starlight's voice be cut off by a long drone, Spike simply returned the handset to its proper place just as Misty and Rusty came in to see what was happening. "Wow Spike, I didn't know you knew how to handle a phone." Misty let her astonishment be known.

"This is a phone?" Spike asked with legit confusion.

"Of course." Said Misty. "Is this the first phone you've ever seen?"

"No, it's just that the phones I've seen were small enough to be carried into pockets, were rectangular, and could let you take photos, watch videos, play games, and listen to music."

"Wow, you must be from the future." Rusty stood impressed by Spike's description.

"I would definitely love to see a phone that can do all of that." Misty declared.

With the conversation over, Spike wasted no time in returning to Bon Bon's room to relay Starlight's invitation to hang out at the cinema, which the yellow filly accepted with great enthusiasm. Putting on her best hairpiece, Bon Bon and Spike made their way down the stairs and stopped near the kitchen where her parents were.

"Mother, Father, Spike and I are going to meet Starlight at the cinema."

"All right dear, just don't be late coming home." Her father responded while reading a newspaper.

...

It wasn't too long before the dragon and yellow filly arrived at the cinema where Starlight had patiently waited for them. "I'm glad you two could make it. I brought us three tickets for a romantic period piece that'll start in five minutes, but we still have time to buy some snacks before we go."

"Good, because having to run all the way from my house made me hungry."

Fortunately for the party of three, there was no line at the concession stand. Starlight bought herself a milkshake and bag of gummi bears, Spike opted for a soda and a box of chocolate BBs, while ordered herself a large bucket of popcorn. And when Bon Bon began to devour hooffuls of popcorn when they took their seats, it occurred to Spike that this filly possesses both Rarity's fashion sense and care for her appearance as well as Pinkie Pie's appetite for food. When the movie finally started, Spike saw that it was an historical drama of a pony settler allied with two warriors of a dying tribe who are protecting the daughters of a general from a vengeful native warrior, all while the eldest daughter falls in love with the settler. When the movie eventually came to an end, the two ponies and dragon shared their final thoughts.

"I absolutely adored the locations that they shot for this film." Starlight praised the cinematography.

"And it was so romantic when Hawkeye tells Cora 'I will find you'." Bon Bon gushed over the love story.

"And the fighting scenes were pretty cool." Spike admired the action.

"Thanks for inviting us, Starlight," Bon Bon gave her gratitude, "I appreciate you wanting to spend time with us."

"I'm always happy to hang out with my friends." Starlight replied. "See you at school."

No sooner had Starlight made her departure did the dragon and yellow filly found themselves being approached by Patch. "Hey there, funny getting to bump into you two. I was on my way the Rolling Rink to work on my rolling blade skills, wanna join me?"

"Do we?!"

As if getting to see a movie with one of her friends wasn't fun enough, Bon Bon now got to go roller blading with another friend. As if this couldn't be her lucky day anymore, the Rolling Rink was right across from the cinema. Patch and Bon Bon proved to be having a good time skating together, but not as much as Spike, who was eliciting cheers from ponies who watched him perform various tricks as if he were a professional skater.

"Wow Spike, it's like you've been doing this your whole life!" Patch commended the dragon's skating prowess.

"I like to ice skate back at Equestria during the winter, so this came easy for me."

"I'll say, you could probably be a great addition to our hockey team." Said Patch. "Well, it's been fun getting to hang out with you two, but I gotta split."

Upon leaving the Rolling Rink, Bon Bon was feeling as if she were on cloud nine. "Could this day possibly get any better Spike?"

"Hey Bon Bon, hey Spike!" Melody appeared to answer Bon Bon's question. "I got extra tickets to the Cleveland Bays concert and backstage passes! Wanna come along?"

...

It was nighttime when Spike and Bon Bon departed from the concert to return home. Even though it would appear the two of them would be late, Bon Bon was too enamored by the autographed photograph of her, Melody, and Spike, along with the Cleveland Bays to even be concerned about getting scolded for her tardiness.

"This has been the greatest day of my life!" Bon Bon celebrated everything she got to do. "And to think that I never would've gotten to do any of these fun things had I pretended to be sick. Thank you so much for talking me out of it Spike, I can see why your princess made you her royal advisor."

"It was nothing Bon Bon," Spike modestly shrugged off her praise before requesting, "but could you compliment me some more?"

Rolling her eyes with a smile on her face, Bon Bon rewarded Spike with a friendly pat on his head as the two finally reached home. "Mother, Father, I'm sorry for not coming home in time, but I can..." She stopped right in the middle of her explanation when she found her family sitting on the couch and chair in the living room while looking under the weather. "My goodness, what's happened to all of you?!"

"I'm afraid we all caught Baby Pony's cold." Her mother elaborated. "We just don't have the strength to move or take care of ourselves."

"Well don't you all worry, because Spike and I will take care of all of you. Spike, you go get some blankets and medicine for everyone, while I go check on the baby."

And throughout the rest of Spike's stay at Bon Bon's abode, he and the yellow filly worked together tirelessly to tend and care for Bon Bon's sick family exactly how they were all doing for her baby brother, and Bon Bon couldn't have been happier to give her family the attention that she wanted from them.

Living with Melody

It was truly fortuitous that Bon Bon's family made a full recovery right on the day Spike will have to depart for Melody's home, what wasn't serendipitous was the fact that the hot pink filly was already two hours late and should've been on Bon Bon's doorstep by now. Sensing that Melody won't be arriving anytime soon, Mr. Planter offered to drive Spike to her place in the family van that is always stored in the garage for such an occasion.

It wasn't too long before Mr. Planter slowed the van down to a complete stop at a blue bricked two-story house that could almost be considered a mansion. Upon exiting the van and thanking Mr. Planter for dropping him off, Spike's ears were entranced by the sound of music being played in the nearby garage. Following said music, Spike found Melody and four additional ponies performing various instruments in the garage.

The instruments were all being played in perfect harmony until Melody's voice disrupted everything. "Wait, wait, wait, hold it! It's too slow."

"Gee Melody, it sounded good to me." An orange filly with a pink mane braided into a long ponytail holding a green electric guitar commented.

"Yeah, it was good Half Note," Melody continued, "but we need to be great if we want to win the battle of the bands."

"You're competing in a band contest?" Spike let his presence be known.

Upon looking at the purple dragon standing on the driveway, Melody felt the memory of today being her turn to let Spike live with her for the week hit her like a brick. "Oh shoot, I was supposed to pick you up at Bon Bon's! Sorry Spike, I was so focused on the battle of the bands that it slipped my mind that you'll be spending the week with me."

"Woah, is that the dragon who was on television?" The red filly with a long blue mane with a single red streak who sat behind a drum set recognized Spike.

Thinking this might save her flank from being chewed out by an irate dragon, Melody opted to change the subject. "Right, none of you have met before. Spike, I like to introduce you to the members of my band, The Rocking Beats; this is first guitarist Sweet Notes, my pianist Tuneful, my second guitarist Half Note, and my drummer Pretty Beat. And girls, this is Spike."

"Wow, I didn't think I'd get to see a real dragon up close!" Pretty Beat excitedly stated.

"I bet it must be cool to fly in the air." Half Note complimented Spike's wings.

"It's nice to finally meet you." The hot pink filly with a wavy blonde mane called Sweet Notes greeted him.

"You're even cuter in person." The dark green filly with an orange mane with a single pale lavender streak called Tuneful looked upon the dragon with bedroom eyes.

Feeling a bit flustered by Tuneful's flirtatious comment, Spike shook it off before speaking to Melody. "So you and your band are going to compete in a contest?"

"We're not just competing in a contest," Melody corrected the dragon, "we're going to win a contest! If we can get our song down perfectly, we're sure to win the grand prize. Would you like to listen to us and let us know what you think?"

"Sure, go-ahead Starlight. Oops! I meant Melody." Spike lightly chuckled at his own gaffe.

"Why did he call you Starlight?" Sweet Notes lightly demanded context from Melody.

"He has a friend where he's from named Starlight who supposedly sounds exactly like me. But enough chitchat, let's get back to practice." With rhythmic stomps from her hoof, Melody got her band to resume playing their instruments in a faster beat as they all began to sing their signature song that'll certainly make them the victors in the battle of the bands. The lyrics for said song went something like this:

The Rocking Beats:

Sweet music, ooh sweet music!

That's what I hear when you appear.

Sweet music, ooh sweet music!

Life is in tune when you are near.

When you are gone, the song just isn't there.

But then I see your face again, and music fills the air (fills the air)!

Sweet music, ooh sweet music!

I love the sound when you're around.

Sweet music, ooh sweet music!

Beautiful harmonies abound.

I know our song will never die (never die), yeah!

We make sweet music, you and I (you and I), yeah!

We make sweet music, you and I!

With that final note literally bringing down the garage door, Meldoy had to go through the trouble of pushing it back up before speaking to Spike. "Sorry about that, our garage door will tumble down whenever we sing loud enough. So what did you think?"

Convinced that he was going to spend the entire time envisioning Starlight Glimmer as a rockstar, Spike was pleasantly surprised to find himself enjoying the song and he attends to let the Rocking Beats know that for a fact. "If you're all going to play that song in the contest, then you'll absolutely take home the prize!"

After the Rocking Beats got to let out cheers thanks to the confidence boost given to them by Spike, Melody said to him, "We're glad to hear you say that. We'll going to be practicing until Thursday night, you can go in through the back door and acquaint yourself with my mom and sisters."

Following Melody's advice, Spike did indeed make his way through the back door and directed himself to head towards the kitchen where he found a slate blue coated mare with an electric blue mane in the same style as Melody and two four-year-old fillies who share the same periwinkle coat, peach-orange mane, gold bell cutie mark. Upon stepping into the light, the mare was the first to take notice of the dragon.

"Oh hello, you must be Spike. I'm Melody's mother, and these are her sisters, Jing-A-Ling and Ting-A-Ling."

"Dragon!" Jing-A-Ling happily shouted.

"So I take it that Melody's dad is at work?" Spike inquired.

"He's certainly at work," Melody's mom confirmed with a noticeable decrease in her cheer, "but you won't get to meet him, on account that he doesn't live with us anymore."

"How come?"

"He and I divorced a long time ago; he's always so focused on his career at the firm that he hardly spends anytime with us, so I decided to cut ties with him when he had missed Melody's thirteenth birthday party. I don't even go by his last name anymore, so most ponies simply refer to me as Miss Fondly."

"If he's a lawyer, what do you do for a living?"

"I work as a nurse, mostly on night shifts. It ain't easy to care for three ponies by yourself, but I still manage to get by with what I earn, and the child support my ex-husband provides me with. But enough about me, let's get you settled into your guest room. Our house is just as spacious inside as it looks from the outside, so you won't have to worry about being cramped."

...

It wasn't too long until Thursday finally arrived. Throughout the days leading up to now, Spike continued to do well at school and occasionally play with Jing-A-Ling and Ting-A-Ling whenever he finished his homework. He and Miss Fondly--who was prepared to work her shift at the hospital--entered Melody's room to find the pink filly accessorizing herself with two gold bracelets, an orange scarf, and an orange bow which made her sparkle like a gem.

"You think the fringe scarf with green bracelets would look better?" Melody sought her mother's professional opinion on her wardrobe.

"You look wonderful dear." Miss Fondly gave her seal of approval before remembering a vital piece of information. "Oh, by the way, who did you get to babysit?"

Melody looked as if she just realized she has an exam due today and neglected to study for it. "Oh no, I forgot! We've been so busy practicing! What if it's too late? What if I can't get anybody? Maybe you can call in sick?"

"I can't do that, everyone at the hospital depends on me to be there."

"But the Rocking Beats are depending on me, I have to go!"

"Ahem," Spike cleared his throat loud enough for the mother and daughter to remember his presence. "I could look after the twins."

"Can he mom? He is still living with us."

Seeing the pleading look in Melody's eyes was all Miss Fondly needed to grant her daughter's request. "I suppose he could be counted on to look after your sisters. But first, I'll need to go over some ground rules with him. Spike, follow me please." Leading the dragon into the kitchen, Miss Fondly pointed out a sheet of paper held to the refrigerator door by magnets. "Here's a schedule for you to follow; make sure the twins eat their dinner by six, there's leftover spaghetti in the fridge that you can warm up. And most importantly, make sure the twins are in bed by nine and no later. Now if you're having any problems, just use our telephone to call me while I'm at the hospital. And thank you for offering to watch over them."

With Melody's mom off to work, Spike looked upon the clock and saw that it was approaching six. Wasting no time, the volunteer babysitter went to work on reheating bowls of spaghetti for the hungry fillies. Placing the two bowls upon the highchairs, Spike flew to the twins' bedroom and swooped both of them into the air and placed each into their respective seats.

"Me want fly again!" Ting-A-Ling happily requested some extra time in the air.

"Finish your dinner first, then I'll let the two of you fly again."

No sooner had he made that promise did he hear the doorbell ring, eliciting an ecstatic Melody to gallop to the front door at top speed and be greeted by her band mates. "Let's go Melody, time to shine." Tuneful declared.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Melody excitedly replied before turning to Spike. "Spike, my band and I are off to the battle of the bands, thanks again for offering to babysit my sisters for me!"

"Anytime Melody, and good luck to all of you!" After Spike extended his well wishes to the Rocking Beats, he stood by and watched as Melody closed the door behind her, thus leaving him and her sisters to this house by themselves.

...

It was eight by the time the battle of the bands began to air on PTV, as Spike laid back on the couch to watch the first of only three bands compete, while the twins sat on the floor working on a jigsaw puzzle made for toddlers, until the two fillies began to fight over a piece.

"Hey now you two, don't be fighting over one piece." Spike calmly deescalated the conflict. "You'd have a better chance at solving this puzzle if you work together." Taking their babysitter's wisdom into consideration, the twins did exactly that and completed their puzzle just in time for the next band to compete. "All right, your sister's band won't be performing until after this band. Who wants to fly?"

"Me!" Both fillies let their eagerness be known to the dragon.

Wrapping his scaly arms around Ting-A-Ling, Spike lifted her high to the air and flew her through every room in the vast house while the filly extended her forelegs out to really relish this sense of flight. Not wanting Jing-A-Ling to be left out, Spike promptly placed Ting-A-Ling back on the couch and made sure her twin sister got to receive the exact amount of time in the air. As if his timing couldn't have been more perfect, Spike had returned Jing-A-Ling to the couch just as their big sister finally got to perform with her band. Watching her perform the same song she and her band practiced throughout the week, Spike and the twins cheered for her as loudly as the live audience did, which signified that the Rocking Beats were the definite winners.

Spike then watch the host of this event, who was a light orange mare with a frizzy green mane known to everypony as Dazzle, cart off a large silver trophy in the shape of an electric guitar to the Rocking Beats while saying, "I've heard about blowing the competition, but you Rocking Beats really did it! Do you have anything you like to tell the ponies at home?"

Melody started. "I just want to say hello to my mom, who's working at the hospital right now. And also say hello to my sisters Jing-A-Ling and Ting-A-Ling who are being watched over by the best babysitter in Ponyland."

Followed by Half Note. "I'd like to give a shout out to all of my friends and family who encouraged me to perform in a band."

Then Sweet Notes. "I want to dedicate our win to the memory of my grandfather who taught me to play a guitar when I was little."

Followed by Pretty Beat. "Here's hoping that we'll get to perform again someday."

And ended by Tuneful. "Spike, if you're still watching this, I'd like to you a little present." The dark green filly then proceeded to blow a kiss to the camera and give a flirtatious wink, which caused Spike to blush with a crimson red which amused the twins.

"Ha, ha, Spike loves Tuneful!" Jing-A-Ling teased her babysitter.

"No, I'm not in love with her!" Spike immediately denied the filly's shipping of him with Melody's amorous band mate. "She's pretty and all, but I'm already in love with an even prettier pony. Oh, look at the time, you two need to be in bed."

Once again lifting the twins into the air, Spike delivered them to their bed. Despite placing the cover over the two fillies, none of them were in any hurry to doze.

"We not tired." Said Ting-A-Ling.

"Tell us story." Jing-A-Ling requested.

Thinking up something on the fly, Spike began to weave his bedtime story with his words. "Once upon a time, there lived a powerful dragon wizard named Garbuncle who was in love with a beautiful unicorn princess named Shmarity. One day, Princess Shmarity was abducted by the evil Squizard, and it was up to Garbuncle to rescue her..."

...

"...So with the dreaded Squizard defeated, Garbuncle rescued his beloved Princess Shmarity, they both got married, and they lived happily ever after. The end."

Bringing his impromptu bedtime story to an end, Spike was so emotionally touched by the wholesome sight of two sisters peacefully sleeping together that it took him by surprise when Melody had walked in. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you, I was going to place this framed photo on their nightstand."

Doing exactly what she said she intended to do, Melody carefully placed a photo commemorating her bands' victory on the nightstand without disturbing her sisters' slumber. It was at this moment that her mother finally stepped in. "Hey you two, I came home as quickly as I could. Thank you again for babysitting the twins Spike, you're a very reliable dragon. And Melody, congrats on winning the battle of the bands. Anyway, it's time for you two to get some shuteye; you don't want to be late for school after all."

Not wanting to risk oversleeping the next morning, Spike and Melody quietly departed from the twins' room. Before Spike could start heading to the guest room, he was briefly stopped by Melody. "Wait Spike, I just want to tell you how sorry I am for not being that friendly to you back when we first met. You really saved my neck by offering to babysit my sisters, I don't even want to imagine how much hectic things would've been if I had to babysit and compete in a contest all at once. You're a good friend, and I'll my best to be a good friend to you."

"You're welcome, Melody," Spike returned the favor, "and you can bet that I'll always be a good friend to you and the others."

With the dragon and pink filly making peace, they both went to their respective rooms and slept in their cozy beds in preparation for whatever new happenings life has in store for them.