Author's Note
So this is another attempt at a one-shot I was working on for a little while.
If you ask me, I feel as if the other girls should have been involved rather than just Twilight. I mean sure she and Spike are closer than everypony else. but it would have been nice for the other girls to be there for him went they found out about Sludge.
anyway, I hope you all enjoy this :)
Apologies
Castle of Friendship
"It must be pretty hard growing up, not knowing who you are." Smolder said to Spike, but the young dragon didn't hear her and looked out the window.
Recently, a dragon by the name of Sludge came to the castle and claimed to be Spike's father, who had to give up his egg. But it turns out that Sludge was lying to him so he could steal the young dragon's life from him.
After he left, Spike…well…he often tried to figure out just who he was. All his life he was trying to figure out his family, like where he was from and why his egg was abandoned. Of course, he was raised by Twilight Sparkle…but he said something to her.
"Maybe you just don't like that I have a real parent now."
Those words he said to her made him feel bad…why did he say those words to her? The mare who raised and hatched him.
Smolder could see Spike tense up a bit and look concerningly. "You ok?" She asked him, but he sighed.
"Sorry, Smolder…but I just want to be alone for a while." He said softly.
The orange dragon sighed again. "Well, ok," She said as her wings flapped. "You know where to reach me if you wish to talk." She said as she then flew right out of the room.
When she left, Spike still had those thoughts in his head, what he said to Twilight and it made him tear up. How could he say such things to her? He then curled up in a ball on the floor and wept. “I’m sorry Twilight…I’m so sorry!” He wept, as his tears were leaking out of his eyes and his crying became much heavier.
As he was still crying, he had thought all the time of what Twilight and he had done together. She was the one who hatched him and he did almost everything together. And even though there were times when he was often left behind by her and the other girls...Twilight was still there for him whenever he needed it. Spike then stood up and wiped away his tears as he looked at the door
“I have to apologize to Twilight…” He thought as he made his way towards it. But as soon as his claws made contact with the doorknob, a part of him felt worried. What if Twilight wouldn't forgive him? What if she decided to send him away? Something that Spike had feared for a long time. All he could do was close his eyes, and hope for the best…
30 minutes later….
Twilight had taken a break from her book organizing and she had the girls over for some tea. While the others were talking amongst themselves, Twilight still thought about what Spike said to her…about him having a real parent. The quote itself made her heartbreak, of course, she was happy for him, but Sludge…he didn't seem to be-
Twilight," She looked up to see Fluttershy looking at her with concern. "Are you ok?"
Twilight looked at her and sighed. "I don't know…" she said, making the girls look at her with worry. "Girls, it's about Sludge-"
"You mean Spike's dad?" Pinkie asked with a big smile. "O, I still need to throw him a welcome party! Not just for welcoming him, but for also reuniting with Spiky. Oh, it will be so much fun!" She said,
Applejack took a bite from an apple as she nodded. "I'm happy for Spike, I bet he and his father are going to have the time in the world."
Fluttershy nodded. "I'm happy for Spike." She said with a smile.
But Twilight was frowning a bit, she had remembered the words that Spike said to her earlier that day and a part of her was heartbroken, the little dragon she hatched and raised…it almost sounded as if he was disowning her. The very sentence made her tear up a bit.
The girls all noticed that as well and looked at her. “Sugarcube,” Applejack said to her. “Are you alright?” She asked.
Twilight looked at the girls and nodded as she wiped a tear away. “Yea, sorry girls….just something on my mind, that's all.” She said as she then went back to her tea, but Rarity frowned.
“Darling, are you positive?” She asked, and Twilight nodded. “Because you know you can tell us, right girls.” She asked, with the others nodding their heads.
Twilight sighed. “Well…it's about this Sludge.” She said to them. “I feel like…I don't know, like he may be taking advantage of Spike.” she said.
The girls were confused. “What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.
“Well, I mean at first I was happy that Spike had found his father ... .but something just doesn't seem right.” The others raised eyebrows. “You see, I have been noticing that Sludge is teaching Spike what it means to be a dragon…or at least he thinks he is. I have been seeing that Sludge has been hoarding some of Spike's stuff to himself, his comics, snacks…everything. And the other night, I noticed that Sludge was sleeping in Spike's bed and Spike himself was outdoors overnight.”
This made the others realize what she meant and got a bit concerned, of course, they don't want to dissuade Spike from his father ...but something just didn’t feel right.
“You know,” Starlight Glimmer said. “Now that you mentioned it, I recently saw Spike bring in a whole bunch of food for Sludge on a tray.” She said with some suspicion. “Something doesn't seem right.”
Twilight nodded. “I agree.” She said,
*Sniff Sniff*
Everypony in the room turned towards Spike, his head down and his body trembling a lot. The sight made the girls look at him with concern and run over to him.
“Spike? Are you ok?” Twilight asked as he got close to him.
Spike looked up, tears running down his face. “You were right…about Sludge!” He said as he sniffled once again and looked down, making everypony in the room look confused as well as concerned.
“Spike, what do you mean?” Twilight asked gently as she used her left hoof to gently raise his head. “What about Sludge?” She was fearing for the worst, of course, she did have her suspicions...and with how Spike was acting…she was right.
“He wasn’t really my father…” Spike said as he looked down again, his body trembling. “Sludge was just taking advantage of me…just so he could get a nice place to sleep inside the castle.”
This brought shock to everypony in the room. That dragon they rescued, the dragon who claimed to have been Spike's father...Was it nothing more than a fake? And to top it off, he took advantage of the reign they cared for? How could he?
Rainbow Dash and Applejack both had their teeth gritting and pawing the ground, Rarity and Fluttershy both had tears in their eyes, horrified by what Spike went through, and Pinkie’s hair deflated a bit out of sadness.
But the two who were the most affected were Twilight and Starlight. Starlight, the unicorn who had reformed and taken under Twilight's wing, had grown a strong friendship with Spike and saw him as a younger brother of sorts. And to hear about how he was manipulated like that ...made her very angry.
“I wonder if I can launch a kite at his head!” She thought with anger.
Twilight, the one who had hatched and raised Spike had her eyes fixated on the young dragon in front of her as she gritted her teeth in anger. This Sludge…how dare he? How dare he come into this town and take advantage of the little dragon she loved? For Sludge's sake…if he left…he better not show his face in Ponyville again.
But her anger had subsided for now as her attention was on Spike. “Spike, I’m so sorry.” She said.
Spike sniffed again and looked up. “No…I’m sorry.” He said to her. “I know you were just worried..and I said that I had a real parent now. You were the one who hatched me from my egg and raised me.” He then looked down and trembled again. “I was just so happy that I found a dragon who I thought was actually a parent…some dragon I could call family…that I lost sight of what really mattered to me in life.”
Spike then trembled as his fists clenched. “Twilight…I’m so sorry…I really am sorry for saying that to you.” He then turned his back on them all and began to walk away. “I understand if you no longer want me here..” He sniffed again. “I’ll go upstairs and pack my th-”
But he was soon stopped by a familiar lavender alicorn grabbing him and bringing him into a calming nurturing hug, his eyes widened in shock. “Wh-why are you hugging me? I thought you were mad at me for what I said…I thought you would send me away for-”
“Spike..” Twilight said as tears went down her eyes. “I can’t be mad at you. Sure what you said hurt my feelings…but I just don't wanna lose you either.” She said as she then let go of him and looked into his eyes. “When I saw Sluge lounging around with your stuff, I was just so worried about it, that I should've been more careful about it. I had my suspicions..and this right here confirmed it." Twilight said.
Spike sniffled again as Twilight spoke. “Spike, you say you don't have family…but you do.” she said as she extended her hoof to the rest of the girls, who were all smiling and having tears go down their faces, even Applejack and Rainbow Dash, one who cries on the insides and another one who doesn't do sappy stuff was teary-eyed. “And you're more than just an assistant to me…you're my best friend…and most of all…you're my son.” She said with a tearful smile. “Only if you want me to be of course.”
Spike looked at her to see how sincere she was, and he just couldn't hold back anymore as he then dived and hugged her tightly, bawling heavily. “Yes, please…don't ever leave me, Mom!” He cried.
Twilight herself began to bawl a bit as her hug wrapped around him. “I will never leave you…my little dragon.” She said to him.
The rest of the girls went to join in on the hug and had their own opinions. “Spike,” Rainbow said. “I know I tend to tease you alot, but I care about you as well, you and Scootaloo, you're like my younger siblings…and I don't want you to feel alone.”
Rarity sniffled. “Spike, you're the most generous, kind dragon in all of Equestria, you always help me with my designs, you often keep Sweetie Belle company when I am busy, a lot of things.” She had tears in her eyes. “Don’t ever be afraid that you're all alone, because I will be there for you, whenever you need me.”
Applejack was next. “Sugarcube, out of all the creatures I know, you are one of the greatest.” She said as he wiped a tear from her eye. “You're hardworking, you do whatever you can to help, and you're an overall nice dragon.” She then sniffed a bit. “You're an honorary Apple, just like the rest of the girls.”
Pinkie Pie got some of her poofs back in her mane. “Oh Spikey, you should never have to be afraid of being alone…I know I sometimes tend to go a bit overboard with my antics..mostly depending on who's writing the script. But you're the sweetest little dragon ever, and I have no problem calling you my baby brother.” she said with her usual Cheshire Cat-like grin.
Fluttershy smiled sadly. “Spike, I know I still have some fear of dragons, but you and Smolder are the only ones who I do not fear, especially you. Your kind, you care for other ponies…you're truly one of a kind." She said as she then nuzzled him. "If it's alright with Twilight...I wouldn't mind if I could be your mother also." She said.
As soon as she said that, Spike then looked at her, did she really ask that? He wasn't upset by it, but he was a bit shocked that she would ask such a question. Fluttershy looked at Twilight with a hopeful look, and Twilight smiled and nodded her head, leaving her and Spike to latch each other and hug.
Starlight was next. “Spike, you are one of the closest friends I have. You also taught me the meaning of friendship as well as the other girls. I would be so happy to be your family…maybe you wouldn't mind me being an older sister?” She asked.
Spike looked at them all with a tearful smile, while nodding his head at Starlight, who smiled with glee. “Everypony, through most of my life, I have been with Twilight. And while I enjoy every single minute of it. I always wondered about my true family, why I was found as an egg, and all of that stuff.” He sighed. “But today, I realized something. I might not know about my real parents…maybe I never will get a chance to. But I do know one thing, something that Twilight just said to me. I do have a family.”
Spike then got tears down his face as he expanded his arms out. “And it’s all of you. You all made my life much better. He said. And what he said made everypony in the room tear up as they all ran and brought the baby dragon into a tight embrace. “I love you girls.” Spike said.
“We love you too, Spike.” The seven mares said in unison as they all continued their embrace. “And we will never leave you, we Pinkie Promise.” They said as 8 creatures all hugged it out.
Sure Spike might not never know about his origins…but he did know one thing. With these seven mares at his side… especially Twilight, he will never have to worry about being alone..because as far as he knows…his family is right here with him.
