“Honey, are you sure you don't want to come? Maybe a little fresh air will do you good” With one last spark of hope, Velvet tried to persuade her daughter for the sixth time.

“Hmmm” But her response was the same, said in the same way and with her nose pressed to the table.

Her daughter had been extremely depressed since she returned to Canterlot or as Twilight preferred to say 'Her failed test of her'.

“… I understand, I'll be back in a few hours.” Before closing the door, she gave an intuitive look at the dragon working hard in the kitchen, who with a nod made it clear that Twilight would be in good hands while she went out shopping.

“Click”

With the departure of her mother, only an uncomfortable silence remained between the dragon and the mare, only interrupted by the frying pan and other instruments used for their culinary tasks.

It didn't take Spike long to complete what he was making, not only because of his unusual talent in the kitchen, but because of how rehearsed he was with this particular dish.

“Two hay burgers with ketchup”

Twilight looked at the two large king size burgers in bewilderment as she looked around the plate. “Why so little?” She looked like a kid who had been given a PS5 only to be disappointed the moment she opened the box and discovered it was a horrible Xbox One.

That traumatizes childhoods!

“Twilight, it's still very early, and you know that these things are not healthy for breakfast, especially when it's the only thing you eat for days” The dragon emphasized.

The mare grunted in protest, and her perceptive mind formulated a dozen arguments for debate, both reasonable and those supported by scientific studies.

But she didn't

Instead, she just let out a small sigh and settled for devouring her food.

Spike couldn't help but let out a tired sigh. Winning arguments against Twilight has never been so easy and so frustrating at the same time

As the minutes passed, silence took over the house again, with the girls back in Ponyville, Velvet out shopping, Night working, and Shining being exploited by Celestia. There weren't many the dragon could turn to

The truth was that he needed help, he was in no way qualified to help the depressed mare, in all their years together Twilight had suffered more than one anxiety attack, but he had never given a reason to validate these attacks, he always complied with the orders. Ridiculous standards that came with being a student of the princess

Except this time

Fortunately, help was not far away.

"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK"

"One moment!" Spike didn't know who was playing, but he internally thanked her for ending the awkward moment.

“Hi Spike, it's been a while” They greeted him warmly and immediately, Spike wished he could go back to that awkward moment from ten seconds ago, this was definitely worse “Is something wrong with you?”

“Of course not, no,” Spike denied, feeling his face heat up. Crying on the shoulder of a stranger was already a source of great shame for him, but for that same mare to comfort him like a baby and insist on pampering him whenever she can? That was something that would haunt him until the end of his days. “Please come in Spirit.”

“Thank you” The dragon stepped aside and let in the mare who seemed delighted with the shape of the house, as if the design and structure were something totally new to her.

“Spirit, not that I'm upset or anything, but how did you get here?” From what Spike remembered, she was a friend of Princess Luna, so they met at the castle and chatted, but that was it.

He had no further relationship with her and as far as he knew no one in his family

“Oh right, I asked Cadance where you lived… what a coincidence that they knew each other” Spirit said that last part more to herself, but not noticing, Spike replied

"Actually it's not so much, I live with Twilight, and she is Princess Celestia's student, we had to spend so much time in the castle that it was not unusual for them to spend time together, in fact, Cadance was her babysitter" Clarify the dragon

“And I guess that's how she met Shining, how far-fetched.”

“Yeah,” Spike admitted “… wait, do you know him?”

“Just in passing, Cadance tells me about him, but I think I've only met him twice, and he never lasted more than a simple greeting.”

“I see… and tell me, can I help you with something?” Spike asked, but inwardly prayed that it wasn't him she was looking for.

“Actually, yes” If the dragon knew any rudeness, he would have said it right then and there “You see that I have recently been given a… business opportunity and I wanted to ask your opinion on some of our products.”

"I?" Spike was surprised, they had never asked him for something like that, they usually preferred an intellectual like Twilight or, well... a pony.

“Yes, this is an imitation of the toys we have in my homeland” Spirit's horn flashed, and an object flew out of his saddlebags

Spike took it in his hands somewhat excitedly and looked at it up and down. It was of good quality and well detailed, but he couldn't help but show a small grimace of disappointment. “It's a locomotive.” He moved the wheels, hoping that the momentum would be enough for it to continue. Rotation on its own, but nothing “Twilight once made a similar miniature model and spelled it to move on its own, in fact, I think there are already many of those sold” I try to say it as gently as possible

“You could have told me it was a bad idea and that's it, there was no need to humiliate me.” Unfortunately, his attempts were misinterpreted.

“No, no, it's terrible, I mean, it's not that bad, just… you're laughing.” The Kirin girl made it clear that she had not been offended and was just amused to see her reaction.

"Don't worry, Spike, I wouldn't show you off about the things in my home if they didn't do something worthy." With a swipe of his paw on the chimney, the wheels uncoupled and Spike was surprised.

Curious, he pulled on the wheels and discovered that they could unfold, revealing a limb with five fingers. Now Spike was impressed

“Now pull out of the cabin without fear”

Spike obeyed the instruction, discovering that more parts of the toy were hidden inside. "Now separate them." That's what he did and when he did so he realized that these were the feet and if that was so then...

Without needing another clue, Spike searched the front of the toy where the head should be. If he hadn't known what he was looking for, he would never have noticed the irregular lines and hinges on the bottom. Upon noticing them, he immediately folded the toy into What seemed like an attempt to break it, but instead a peculiar head was released with a strange face with a nose and small blue eyes that Spike had never seen.

The locomotive, if you could call it that, was a brand new toy! Its length was now tall, the front part was now the torso, the rest of the pieces were its arms and legs, although... it looked somewhat irregular.

“You needed to turn it” With a flash of magic, the upper part of the combat robot turned 180° and was ready

The baby dragon's eyes shone with adoration at the genius

"How does this work?!" The scream did not come from Spike as Spirit expected but from the middle of the room

Where the lavender mare had been all this time, but Spirit never saw her because she had ended up right in her blind spot, plus the dull colors of her coat didn't stand out too much.

“AAAH” Spirit screamed, he even jumped in fright.

Spike slapped his face and shook his head. “Twilight, please don't forget to greet the guests.”

“Oh… hello,” Twilight greeted, returning to her previous mood.

“Hello” Spirit returned the greeting even with his hair standing on end.

Spike tried to contain his laughter. “Haha, your hair,” he said, covering his mouth.

Spirit looked at himself and had to admit that he seemed a little funny. His fake mane had gone from elegant and dignified like a lion's to a giant cotton candy.

“Laugh while you can little one, I'll give it back to you”

“But I didn't do anything!”

“And you think that will save you?” The kirin gave him a smile, making sure to show him all her fangs.

“I don't think it's fair, it was my mistake, I'm sorry.” As expected, Twilight was unable to discern a simple joke, which soured the atmosphere, or at least for the Kirin.

“Okay, in that case, I'll show you the plans for our new toys, and you tell me what you think. Having the expert opinion of Celestia's disciple would help me a lot to perfect my merchandise."

For a second the ghost of a smile seemed to appear on Twilight's face, and then she nodded, if there was something that put Twilight in a good mood it was new knowledge and from what she had heard Spirit seemed to have a bit

If Twilight had had the slightest idea how true that idea was, her depression would have been instantly cured and her body would have suffered an effect similar to what she would have had after consuming 8 kilos of the whitest and whitest white powder pure… sugar

“Spike, how about, while Twilight and I talk, you go to your room and try out my other models? They're called Transformers, by the way."

“Transformers” Spike repeated, eager to have the bag with figures that were being given to him, he wanted to use them right now and discover what shapes they had, in addition to the endless things he could do with them, but he controlled his impulse and looked at Twilight, the dragon didn't dare move until the pony gave him permission

Twilight nodded. “Don't worry, go have fun.”

That was all Spike needed. He ran down the stairs and entered the room. What neither of them noticed was the Kirin's furrowed eyebrow when he read that the door he entered through said TWILIGHT in large, purple letters.

“So, do you want my opinion?” Twilight tried to give a warm expression to her guest as best she could, but… the way she looked back at her was not what she expected.

“No, actually” Spirit said with all the sympathy she had shown moments before vanished.

At a neutral pace, he sat at the same table as Twilight, purposely choosing her place in front of her.

“I… I don't understand.” She certainly didn't, the mare's demeanor had taken a 180° turn the moment Spike left the room.

“We need to talk, in private.” As soon as he finished speaking, Spirit's curved horn glowed, releasing a small FLASH of light, more by reflex than by its own will, Twilight's analytical mind immediately recognized the spell used and its function and even some defects and how to correct them

A silencing bubble, rather old-fashioned, she had to add, as it not only prevented sound from leaving the bubble, but also from entering.

Still, she was surprised that her guest knew a spell like that, but that wasn't important at the moment.

“I have spoken with Luna, Cadance and most recently with Celestia.” At the mention of her teacher, Twilight abandoned any feeling of bewilderment about the situation and offered her total concentration. “It's not because of what you think, it's because of him.” Spirt pointed to the room. That Spike had entered

Which only baffled the mare even more. “What do you mean? What about Spike?”

“Are you seriously asking me?” The question was asked with obvious hostility, to which Twilight didn't know how to respond. Spirit sighed and responded, “He's depressed, you insist on taking him into high-risk situations, and frankly it seems to me like you're abusing him.”

Twilight's jaw hit the surface of the table, but she was quick to respond, “What are you saying? I would never do anything to hurt Spike, he's family!” Suddenly it became clear why the silencing bubble

"Oh really? It doesn't seem like it” Spirit stated “Did you know that a few days ago the poor guy cried in my arms until he was tired? Where were you? Did you know he's been having nightmares?”

"That?" Twilight had no idea, and that's why she had a hard time believing it. If Spike had any problem, he wouldn't hesitate to talk to her, right?

“Yeah, it seems like you were too busy feeling sorry for yourself to notice.” Twilight cringed, but didn't know how to respond to such a scathing comment, so Spirit was able to continue. “It's interesting what you discover in one's subconscious.” and apparently Spike has had the same nightmare over and over again since Discord freed himself, if it weren't for Luna giving him priority every night that the boy would have already started hallucinating due to insomnia”

Certainly, Spirit thought that it was not very ethical to delve into the mind of an individual and share that information even among more trusted people, but knowing that she was the one who this suited her, she wisely preferred to keep her opinions to herself.

“W-what nightmares?” Spirit had to give Twilight a point, at least if she seemed to care about the little “Is it Discord?”

“No” She replied “It's you.”

“It's not possible” Twilight denied vehemently, that was something she simply couldn't accept, there was no way Spike would be afraid of her.

Spirit was not affected by her refusal, he only slowly explained “Every night he dreams that you get tired of him and blame him for your failure right before kicking him out onto the street.”

Twilight's chest tightened at that, she felt her strength diminish, and even she could see how her front paws and strands of fur that were peeking out from the edge of her vision lost what little color they had remained

“Oh no, of course not!” Spirit slammed both legs on the table as she stood up in his seat. “You've had enough self-hatred, there's a child up there who doesn't feel safe, he's afraid, and it's your duty as his mother to give him that security!”

"That?!" Twilight's brain was officially on overload. Spike was many important things to her, but a son?! "You are insane? “He’s not my son, he’s… he’s!” Twilight desperately searched for a way to define her relationship with Spike, but that had always been a controversial topic in her family. “Like a brother” She chose to say, even though her parents never called him their son.

Spirit rolled his eyes at her and replied sarcastically “Like a brother, I'm sure they are almost brothers, after all you are just the first thing he saw when he hatched from the egg, you are the one he lived with most of his short life.” "If he is not your son, I assure you that at least he sees you as his mother figure."

“T-that… that's not…” Twilight searched for the words to express herself, but for the first time in her life she didn't have them.

"Possible?" Spirit mocked his persistent state of denial. “All children without exception look for a figure to look up to, someone to see as a role model from whom they can learn and try to imitate, and unfortunately he seems to have chosen you and not.” You have done a good job, or am I wrong?”

“I've taken good care of him,” she stated, but she looked like she was clutching a broken branch.

"Test it"

"As?"

“Easy enough” Spirit said “Just tell me where his room is” With those words Twilight's muzzle closed and Spirit didn't stop “He's already a big boy and constantly growing, the right thing to do would be to give him his own space, and it's not either if it costs you or your family so much, Celestia gave you a full scholarship at no cost and is even in charge of sending you money so you can live in Ponyville”

Twilight quickly tried to excuse her negligence "I was given a public library as accommodation, nothing too elaborate, it only has a bed, besides that it only gives me what I need to buy basic necessities" Of course that was the case, the scrolls, ink and pens were essential and were consumed quickly

“Yes, but that's not why you'd make him sleep on the floor, right?” The silence that followed said more than was needed

Twilight tried to move a certain object out of the room using her telekinesis, but unfortunately Spirit noticed its glow and quickly searched the room for anything that glowed, and when she saw it she was in disbelief.

“Please tell me it's a bad joke.” Spirit had a face of total repulsion as she looked at the basket with a pillow in the bottom that served as a mattress and another smaller pillow along with some blankets that looked like a toy.

"Spike doesn't mind him, he's never complained, and he's the same size as him." Twilight justified herself, but she fell silent the moment a flame formed on Spirit's head, reminding him of a candle.

A very large candle

Spirit soon pulled a canteen from his saddlebags and took a deep gulp before asking a single, devastating question, “Would you do the same thing to a colt?”

Whatever Twilight was planning to say was cut short, for a second she had the illusion of having a colt as an assistant and living with her, she imagined him being crushed by a mountain of books, being thrown due to excessive use of books. His telekinesis, preparing food in the kitchen near dangerous utensils and working late organizing the library

But as expected of his ruthless guest, he did not stop there.

“Does he even have a friend?”

Finally, something Twilight wasn't afraid to respond to. “Of course he does, he has Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, even Princess Celestia is his friend.” She stated proudly, but felt a hole forming in his stomach as he saw Spirit raise an eyebrow, as if asking is he was serious.

“Twilight, ask for his friends, not yours.”

“Yes, they are my friends too, what's wrong with that?”

“Doesn't it seem strange to you that every friend or acquaintance he has is because of you? “More than him having friends, it seems like he is coexisted with your friends.”

“It's not like that, his friendship is true!” Now she sounded desperate, she even looked like some tears were escaping her.

“So tell me, when was the last time she went out to play with her friends?” Twilight remained silent again. “His last sleepover?” Birthday Party? Does he at least have any friends his age? Does he have anything that has nothing to do with you?

Some of Ponyville's younger fillies came to Twilight's mind, but that only hit her harder as she realized that Spike never had the time to get to know them, he didn't even try. Spike was never far from her in her life.

Upon suffering this revelation, Twilight visibly cried, totally regretting that she had never appreciated Spike as she should, calling him her number one assistant as if it were something important when he was much more.

But to her surprise, before she could sink even further into her misery, she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned to see Spirit, who, in her growing stupor, hugged her, gave her comfort and tenderly whispered in her ear, "What you did was wrong." bad, but I see how much it affects you, you wouldn't suffer like this if you didn't care, but you still have time, you can fix the damage." She broke the hug and looked into her eyes as she spoke sternly "But not if you wallow in your own It's a shame, you need to get up, if you don't find enough strength to do it yourself then look for it in the fact that he needs you more than ever."

An unusual sense of understanding came to Twilight as she understood Spitir's words. She was right, she may have failed her friends, Equestria, Celestia, but never her family!

A new strength that she didn't know she had come to her as she sat up and her tears stopped.

“Wow” Spirit took a step back quite surprised. Twilight didn't understand until she looked at her hooves and saw how they were slowly returning to their original color. “Well… I'll take that as a good sign… I guess.”

Twilight was also surprised by the change, but this only served to confirm what she had already discovered “Spirit.”

"Yeah?"

“Could you go? "I need to talk to Spike."

If Spirit was bothered by the sharp tone the mare used, she didn't show it. On the contrary, she seemed to respect her. "Of course, and tell her she can keep the toys, I have more."

Twilight smiled. “Of course.” Strangely, Twilight felt no ill will toward the kirin.

With everything said and done, the kirin prepared to leave "Wait" But a second after crossing the door, Twilight stopped her "Just... thank you"

Spirit nodded and said goodbye. “It was a pleasure.”

With a 'click' the front door closed and Twilight considered her options for a minute. Once her decision was made, she arranged herself so that it wouldn't be obvious that she had been crying and shouted “Spike!” She waited a few seconds and nothing. “Oh, right, the bubble.”

Canceling this spell was a simple matter for a mage like her, she just had to apply a little bit of her magic in the right spots, and it would collapse, but she had unconsciously developed the habit of completely scanning the arcane structure of the spells and the magic that held them. Composed due to the insane amount of practice and analysis

“Phew, what a rookie,” she felt a little bad for making fun of the one who had helped her, so she internally scolded herself and refocused as soon as the “Spike!” bubble disappeared.

"On the way!" This time she responded immediately, and it didn't take long for her to go down the stairs with a smile on her face and the bag of toys in her arm. “I was so close, I only had one left. Couldn’t you talk a little more?”

“I don't think that's necessary,” Twilight said as she smiled at him.

“Oh, well,” the dragon responded, already resigned and realizing that someone was missing. “And where is she?”

“She already left, but she said you could keep the toys.”

"Oh really?!" The dragon was so happy that he didn't realize the enormous change that Twilight had undergone in that short period, however, he did remember something else. “But what about the book?”

"What book?" Twilight asked, not knowing what he meant.

“There was a book inside the bag, look” Spike explained as he took out the book that he said in ‘Interstellar’ on the cover.

Twilight's interest was piqued, and she glanced at the book, immediately getting hooked as soon as she saw the first image.

What's that?!

She screamed in her mind as she saw what appeared to be a white donut-shaped building floating above all of Equus.

Her thirst for knowledge was crying out for her attention and she was crying out to be quenched, but she… for the first time in her life she put those feelings aside, and she focused on something more important.

“Spike tell me” The dragon was stunned as he watched Twilight put aside a book without reading “What do you think about going to school?”

Author's Note

I always thought that Spike didn't deserve to be a secondary character, I always thought that he and Luna were undervalued, their stories gave so much more.