Scootaloo Fights Celestia, Then Takes Her Throne

"En garde!" Scootaloo shouted, pointing her weapon at her opponent. "You shall not defeat me this day, beast!"

Scootaloo tensed her body and placed a forehoof on her loyal steed, signifying it was about time for a charge. Her beastial opponent stared back at her with slitted eyes, and licked his lips maliciously.

"Charge!" Scootaloo yelled, letting out a war cry and racing toward the beast. Barely able to hold her heavy lance, Scootaloo threw her whole body into the impact. The weapon met its mark somewhere in the beast's torso, and the beast was lifted up, then promptly slammed down by the impact. Scootaloo dropped her weapon and let out a mighty cheer.

"Spike, are you okay?" Twilight asked Spike, who had been firmly jousted off of her back by the padded lance Scootaloo had been gifted. Spike's own lance lay in the dirt next to him. Both lances had been padded with tennis balls at the end to prevent accidental injury, but Twilight still wasn't on board with the idea considering the fact that a tennis ball to the eye would still hurt a ton, and pony heads were like... half eye.

It had taken the combined efforts of Scootaloo, Spike, and Rainbow Dash to convince her that the four of them playing "Jousting Knight" would be safe and fun, but judging by the smiles adorning every else's faces, it was worth it to them.

Scootaloo hopped off Rainbow Dash and placed her helmet into the dirt, going to lend Spike a hoof.

"You alright Spike?" Scootaloo questioned. "I know you don't have armor like I do."

Spike accepted Scootaloo's offer of help and dusted himself off. "I'm great! I don't need any Crystal Empire armor, I have dragon skin!" Spike pounded his chest. "It's basically built in armor!"

Scootaloo let out a relieved sigh and plopped next to Spike in the dirt. "Well I don't know about you, but I'm pooped. Wanna clean up and maybe you can show me that one mac and cheese recipe you were talking about?"

"Yeah" Spike chirped. "Sounds great! You should try it when it's been roasted by dragon fire! Doesn't affect the meal much but it does give it this really cool aftertaste! If you put the gear away I'll race you to the kitchen!"

"You're on, dragon boy!" Scootaloo smiled, grabbing one of the lances in her mouth and attempting to run with it.

Twilight chuckled and lifted up both lances and Scootaloo's armor in her magical field, before teleporting them to their proper locations. "Don't worry about that Scootaloo, just clean yourself up and go have fun."

"Thanks Twilight!" Scootaloo ran over to her and gave her a quick hug, before running back over to catch up with Spike.

Twilight smiled at the retreating forms and sat next to Rainbow. She let out a happy sigh as she and Rainbow exchanged happy glances.

"I'm so happy she and Spike get along so well." Rainbow said. "It must be nice having a sibling her age."

"Technically Spike has a good few years on Scootaloo, considering I hatched him when I was six." Twilight explained. "Spike is technically 16, but due to the fact that dragons live for millennia, they mature much slower. So they're only mentally the same age. But yes, it is nice seeing Spike finally hanging out with ponies his age too. I know he must have gotten really bored just hanging out with me and the girls."

Rainbow Dash nodded silently.

"Well, what do you say we go check in on those troublemakers before the destroy the kitchen?" Rainbow smiled.

Twilight laughed. "After you, Rainbow."

"The real art is in the spices and the flavorings. You can cook the perfect macaroni, do everything else right, but if you don't add the right accents, then it's not gonna be a great dish. It'll just be bland." Spike explained. "Now if you want to get the garlic and onion powder, I'm gonna get to work preparing this broccoli."

Scootaloo trotted over to the spice cabinet and flew up to the spice rack, grabbing two bottles with her mouth.

"Heuy Thike" Scootaloo mumbled around the spices idly, before flying back down and dropping them on the counter so she could be understood. "Hey Spike, aren't dragons supposed to have wings?"

Spike shrugged. "Every dragon I've seen so far has had wings, not sure why I don't. Ponies don't really know much about about dragons. They're a bit too hostile for interviews."

Scootaloo studied the dragon's nonchalant expression for a moment. "So you don't even know your family? You know nothing of your own kind? That kinda... lonely sounding."

Spike shrugged again as she started chopping up the broccoli. "As far as I'm concerned, Twilight is my mom. Although I'm not sure if she sees it that way... And the one time I did get curious about my native species, I found out that dragons are jerks anyway, so I'm perfectly happy like this. Besides, I'm not lonely, I have Twilight and the rest of the... I have Twilight."

Scootaloo hummed softly, lost in thought for the moment.

"Not true."

Spike looked up from the cookbook, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well you now have me. I appreciate spending time with you. You're pretty fun. The only reason the Crusaders and I didn't really seek you out before is because... well you're a dragon who lives with a princess, there's a bit of a disconnect there. Besides I..." Scootaloo cleared her throat and looked around awkwardly. "I've always kind of wanted a brother."

Spike lowered his stirring spoon. To be honest, he had never considered a sibling dynamic with Scootaloo. Thus far, the most interaction he'd really had with her aside from a few games here and there was her living in the same building while she waited for Rainbow Dash to get out of the hospital. And it's not like he hadn't enjoyed those games. It was just more... he figured he was distracting the filly while her guardian couldn't be with her. But now that he thought about it for a moment, Spike couldn't help but crack a smile at the thought of actually having a bond with a peer.

"You know Scootaloo, I like that idea too." Spike said simply. "It would be nice to be able to be something other than Twilight's assistant for once."

Scootaloo broke out into a smile. "Great! And I can get the Crusaders to come hang out with us too! Oh! OH! We can make you a Crusader as well! Well, even though dragons don't get cutie marks... But it'd be great anyway! So what do you want to do first, bro?"

Spike chuckled, pouring the sauce onto the noodles and stirring it a couple of times. "I want you to try this, sis." He held out the spoon for Scootaloo to try. With a grin, Scootaloo reached over and tasted the finished meal.

"Hey, this is great!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Couldn't have done it without you." Spike smiled in kind.

Meanwhile, watching from the cracked door outside the kitchen, two mares watched the scene unfold with sappy smiles on their face.

It was about time.