The Dragon of Coltonville.

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.