It had only been a day or so since a dragon named Sludge had shown up in Ponyville, claiming to be Spike’s father. It soon turned out that he wasn’t, he’d just been making it up. And while Spike was happy that he wasn’t related to a dragon as greedy and lazy as Sludge, a part of him was still saddened at the fact that he was once again left with no leads to his past. He still had no idea where exactly he’d come from, or why his egg had been given to Twilight as a filly.
Well, there was only one thing to do! Spike was certain there was one pony who could provide him with the answers he was seeking. Hastily writing a note and leaving it next to his basket, he slipped out of the castle. He was going to leave Ponyville and head to Canterlot, determined to get some answers! Thank goodness he had wings now, because he wasn’t sure he would’ve been able to take the train without Twilight or somepony else finding out and catching him.
Twilight thought nothing out of the ordinary the next morning when she didn’t see Spike almost immediately after waking up. Even so, after strolling around her castle for a bit and not seeing or finding him anywhere, she began to worry. “Spike? Spike?” She called, hoping for an answer. But there was no reply.
Now Twilight was really starting to grow worried. Where could Spike be?! It wasn’t like him to just up and disappear without notice.
Just then, who should quite literally bump into Twilight but Starlight Glimmer? “What’s going on, Twilight?” She questioned the alicorn. “Is something wrong?”
Twilight nodded. “I can’t find Spike anywhere. I’ve already searched almost the entire castle for him. He’s usually up by now.”
“Well, maybe he’s still sleeping in?” Starlight proposed. “It sounded like he had a hard time falling asleep last night after what happened with Sludge,” She frowned. “Still can’t believe he had the nerve to do all that to Spike and take advantage of him the way he did.”
Twilight slowly nodded back. “I know. But Spike insisted he was fine after I talked to him yesterday. And he didn’t come to see me like I thought he would,” She bit her hoof. “Just where could he be?” She hastily rushed to his bedroom, gasping upon discovering the note in his bed! “Oh no!” She then hastily teleported back to Starlight’s location! “Quick, round up our friends! We need to get to Canterlot on the double!”
“Canterlot?” Starlight blinked? “Why would he…” Then it dawned on her. “Of course, he’s gone to see her!”
The alicorn agreed. “Exactly. But we can’t let him do this alone!” She raced to the castle’s front doors. “Come on, we’ve got to tell everypony!”
Meanwhile in Canterlot, the sun had just risen on another new day in Equestria. Everything was right on schedule and just the way it should be. And that’s exactly what Kibitz, the royal schedule keeper was thinking to himself as he took his morning stroll through the castle.
Suddenly, almost from out of nowhere, Spike quite literally came flying in through the castle doors! He forgot to pay attention to where he was going, however, and ended up crashing into Kibitz, knocking the stallion to the ground!
“My word, Spike!” Kibitz remarked as he slowly got back to his hooves. “Whatever has gotten into you?”
“No time to talk!” Spike panted as he struggled to catch his breath. “I need to speak to Princess Celestia, now! Is she around?”
Kibitz happily nodded. “She is indeed. Whatever do you need to see her for?”
The little dragon explained. “I’m looking for answers for my parents. It occurred to me that Princess Celestia would know about them, because my egg ended up at her school. She has to know something.”
The old stallion blinked in surprise, adjusting his monocle as Spike flew around the hall. “You know, Spike, I was certain Princess Celestia would wait until you were a little older to tell you about her.” He muttered.
Spike’s ears perked up upon hearing that last word. “What do you mean? Do you know about my mother? About what happened to her?”
Yet before Kibitz could explain what he meant, the throne room doors burst open again as a pair of seven familiar voices all yelled in unison! “Spike!”
Twilight was the first to wrap her hooves around Spike, greatly relieved. “Oh, thank goodness you’re okay, Spike! You really had me worried there!”
Fluttershy spoke up next. “Why didn’t you just wait and tell Twilight this morning you were going to go to Canterlot? I’m sure she would’ve gone with you.”
The little dragon quickly apologized. “I’m sorry. I just had to find out the answers, and I couldn’t wait any longer,” Then he pointed to Kibitz. “But Kibitz knows my mother.”
“WHAT?!” The seven mares exclaimed all at once.
“H-hold on,” Kibitz tried to correct. “I never said I knew Spike’s mother.”
Pinkie slumped. “Oh. False alarm.”
“I just thought Princess Celestia would wait.” Kibitz concluded.
“Never mind!” Pinkie hopped in the air.
“Well why can’t she tell him now, huh?!” Rainbow Dash demanded! “Why’s she been keeping it a secret for so long?!”
And it wasn’t long before all the ponies (Kibitz included), along with Spike, all began talking and ranting all at once.
Suddenly, a loud cry of “SILENCE!” split the air! All fell silent, especially when they saw that it was none other than Princess Celestia who had just uttered the cry, dipping into her royal Canterlot voice to do so. “Sorry,” She quickly apologized.
“Princess Celestia!” Twilight spoke, running up to her. “We’re so sorry we came on short notice. It was just-”
Celestia gently put her hoof up for Twilight to stop. “Now, will everypony please let Spike explain.”
Spike nodded and did so, turning to the sun princess in the process. “Princess Celestia, a dragon named Sludge showed up a while ago and said he was my dad,” He unhappily sighed, looking at the ground.
Princess Celestia was surprised by this. “Your…your father?”
“He wasn’t, he was just lying to try to take advantage of me and my friends.” Spike continued. “He didn’t even know who my parents were or even what happened to them. But it got me thinking. You had my egg once, it ended up at your school. So if anypony knows where I came from and what happened to my parents, it must be you.”
Celestia turned her head away, trying to fight back a tear. “...Spike, I-”
“Please,” The alicorn turned back to see Spike now on the verge of fat tears. “I felt so happy when I thought Sludge was my dad. I thought I finally knew…where I came from. Now I… I feel so lost. Am I just too dragon for a pony or just too pony for a dragon? I feel like I’m gonna lose my mind!...Please…Is there anything you know?”
The princess felt her heart break upon seeing Spike in such a sad state as she lifted his chin up. “My dear Spike. You’re growing up so fast…and I’m…truly sorry I’ve been keeping the truth of your past hidden for a long time.” She held Spike in her hooves. “What worried me most is how you would take it.”
Spike hugged Celestia’s neck and spoke softly. “Please…I need the truth.”
Celestia nodded and used her magic to put Spike on her back. She cleared her throat, motioning to the ponies. “Come with me.”
The seven mares and Kibitz all obeyed, following Celestia and Spike as they were led from the throne room to Celestia’s bedchambers. Once they were all inside, the door was shut behind them. Princess Celestia then took the liberty to unveil a large painted picture of her and a dragon. It appeared to be a female dragon: One with purple scales and emerald green spines. The dragon’s eyes were also a lovely shade of green.
The ponies and Spike were in awe of the picture. “Who…is that?” Starlight asked.
“This dragon in the painting,” Celestia informed the group in a somber tone of voice. “Is Spike’s mother.”
Spike’s eyes were wide upon this discovery. The ponies were in equal surprise.
“Wow…” Twilight whispered.
“Well, Ah’ll be…” Applejack took her hat off at the sight.
“Check out that awesome wingspan!” Rainbow added.
“One thing is for sure, she took good care of her scales!” Rarity nodded.
Spike wiped a tear from his eye. “She’s…beautiful.”
“About a year before Twilight became my student, I met her. And from there, a series of events unfolded that caused her egg to end up in my care.” She then began to recall memories long since passed, the events playing in her mind as if they had happened just yesterday.
With the moon having been raised right on schedule, all that Princess Celestia had left to do for the evening was to perform a nightly flight over the city of Canterlot and the surrounding mountains. As of lately, there had been rumors about possible dragon sights in the mountains, some ponies even speculating that it might be an army intent on invading the city.
Celestia doubted there was much to the sightings. Since that fateful day almost a thousand years ago when she’d had to banish her own sister, Equestria had been enjoying a prolonged period of peace. No creatures from other kingdoms or nations had ever come near Equestria, let alone showed any sign of hostile intent. Aside from when dragons made their yearly migration, nopony usually saw them. So why would dragons suddenly start showing up in the mountains? It didn’t make sense.
Still, she was a princess, and as princess it was up to Celestia to investigate the rumors and reassure her subjects that all was well. Besides, it was a lovely night for a flight. No clouds in sight, the stars were shining bright and the moon was full and nearer to Equestria tonight than it would be for months to come.
Suddenly, Princess Celestia’s grayish-magenta eyes spotted something in the distance. She couldn’t quite make out what it was from so high up. So, reluctantly, she flew lower and closer towards the mountains to get a better look. What she saw when she did so was enough to make her gasp! Perched atop a small cliff was a dragon almost the same size as the alicorn, perhaps slightly smaller. Said dragon had purple scales and emerald green spines, but their color appeared dim and faded, covered with black bruise marks and cuts. Even the dragon’s blue eyes appeared to have lost their sparkle.
Out of concern (and curiosity), the alicorn swooped down and landed next to the dragon. “Excuse me,” She tried to greet the dragon in as polite and friendly a tone as possible. “Are you okay? You look to be very hurt to me.”
The dragon snarled and hissed, bearing its fangs at Celestia! “Stay away, you monster!” Its voice was feminine, raspy, and strained, every word that came out of her mouth was a struggle to deliver. “You’ve just come to finish me off! But you don’t realize that even a wounded dragon is still dangerous!” She opened her mouth further and took a deep breath, only to cough and sputter as a faint puff of smoke escaped her nostrils. She seemed to just barely have the strength to stand.
Princess Celestia was not deterred in the least by the dragon’s defiance. She instead trotted closer slowly but surely, lowering her head a bit so as to be eye to eye with the wounded dragon. When she got close, she reached a hoof and started gently patting the dragon on the forehead. “Oh, you poor creature,” Her tone of voice sounding motherly, affectionate, and most of all compassionate. “I mean you no harm. I’d be more than happy to heal your wounds for you. Whoever did this to you, I assure you I’m not with them.”
The dragon remained hesitant at first. Yet as she felt Celestia’s pats and gentle petting, her will to resist began to drain away. It wasn’t long before she found herself taken in by the sun princess’ hospitality, especially when said princess helped her to stand. “T-thank you, whoever you are.” She forced out.
“My name is Princess Celestia,” Princess Celestia said to the dragon as she took one of its claws into her own hoof. “The ruler of Equestria. And who might you be?”
“Mindy.” The dragon replied as she and the princess set off back to Canterlot together.
Upon returning to Canterlot, Princess Celestia immediately brought Mindy into her private bedroom and motioned for the dragon to lay down. “Just relax. I’ll treat your wounds as best I am able. And you’re welcome to stay with me until you’re better, Mindy.”
Mindy was surprised by the sun princess’ hospitality. “You’d do all of this just for me?” When she saw the alicorn nod in reply, Mindy was further taken aback. “But… nopony’s ever done anything nice for dragons, especially not for me.” A small tear came into her eyes as she spoke.
Celestia smiled back at the dragon. “Well, I’d like to be the first to show that ponies and dragons can get along, Mindy,” Then she trotted to her bedroom door. “However, if you are going to be staying with me, I’m going to have to check with somepony first to make sure it’s okay,” She left, and returned shortly with an old unicorn stallion with a mustache and a monocle. “Mindy, meet Kibitz, my royal schedule advisor and right hoof stallion.”
Kibitz took one look at Mindy and immediately gasped, jumping back as his monocle nearly fell off his face! “My word! Princess Celestia! A dragon, in your bedroom no less!” He tried to pluck up courage! “D-don’t worry, your highness! I’ll deal with this intruder!”
But Celestia raised up a hoof and motioned for Kibitz to stand down. “It’s okay, Kibitz. This is Mindy. She doesn’t mean us any harm. As you can clearly see, she’s in very bad shape. I found her like this while in the mountains. And I just couldn’t leave her there to suffer alone,” A blush formed on her cheeks as she profusely apologized to her guest. “I’m sorry about that, Mindy. Kibitz tends to be overly concerned for my safety sometimes. Plus, I’m afraid he startles quite easily. But I assure you, he’s very skilled. He helps keep my days organized.”
Kibitz tried to recover for his earlier rash behavior. “Y-yes, quite right,” He coughed into a hoof. “Well, if her majesty truly believes you do not pose a threat to us, Miss. Mindy, I…shall trust her judgment. She tends to be right about these things. May I ask how long you will be staying here in Canterlot? If it’s for more than a day, we will have to make arrangements.”
“I’m… not sure how long I’ll be here,” Mindy commented in uncertainty, coughing and straining a bit more. “I’ve been separated from my colony for a very long time now. I can only assume they’ve all moved on without me. Or worse…” She shuddered and gulped, shutting her eyes as she whimpered. “The scale hunters could’ve gotten to them.”
Princess Celestia listened carefully as she went out tending to Mindy’s wounds. “Scale hunters?”
Mindy nodded even as she refused to open her eyes. “They’re vicious, nasty creatures! They prey upon dragons like us who are not with a larger colony. They will stop at nothing to get our scales so they can sell them to other creatures for money,” She began to sniffle and sob. “My husband, Scales, was a victim of them too. He tried to fend them off so that I could escape but…” She trailed off, unable to bring herself to finish her sentence.
Celestia quickly deduced what must’ve happened. “Oh, Mindy,” She spoke in a sympathetic tone of voice. “I am so sorry.”
The wounded dragon continued. “In the end, it didn’t matter. They got him, and they nearly killed me too. It took everything I had to escape from them, and such was how you found me. That’s why I originally thought you were with them, that you’d come to finish the job,” A smile formed on her face. “I can see now that you’re nothing like them. I guess ponies can’t be all bad if they have a princess like you to rule over them.”
Princess Celestia nodded. “Indeed, Mindy. And you are welcome to stay in the castle with me until you get back on your… well… feet, I guess.”
“I don’t get it,” Starlight bluntly interrupted the flashback. “What does Mindy have to do with Spike and his egg? If Mindy’s husband was killed, how could she have been the one to lay Spike’s egg?”
“Patience, Starlight Glimmer,” Princess Celestia reassured the pegasus. “I assure you, I was just surprised as you were to learn that Mindy was able to lay an egg. There are still some things about dragons that even I don’t know. It could have something to do with their unique magic.”
“So, if Mindy is Spike’s mom and she laid his egg, how come she didn’t stick around until it hatched?” Rainbow pondered. “Did she just abandon the egg?”
“No!” Spike protested. “There’s no way Mom would ever do something like that!” Then he gasped! “Something must’ve happened to her! That’s why I don’t remember her at all!”
“But where did Spike’s egg even come from?” Fluttershy asked.
All eyes then turned back to Princess Celestia, who couldn’t help but smile at the memory. “Now that I remember, was truly a wonderful day.”
Time passed as Mindy remained a guest of Princess Celestia, confined to the castle so as to not give the citizens of Canterlot reason to become alarmed. Even Kibitz slowly but surely started warming up to the dragon, who began to open up more and more to Celestia and Kibitz as the days went by.
Then, one day, Princess Celestia was greeted with a most unexpected surprise. When she trotted into her bedroom to check on Mindy, she happened to witness the purple dragon huddled up in a corner of the room. Trotting over for a closer inspection, Celestia found that Mindy had formed something of a small nest made from spare twigs and leaves. Inside the nest was a light purple egg.
Mindy seemed to blush ever so faintly. “O-oh, Princess Celestia. I-it’s not what you think. I didn’t steal this egg if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Celestia chuckled and waved a hoof. “Mindy, I’m surprised you would think so lowly of me even after all this time. I know you wouldn’t steal from anyone. The egg obviously belongs to you,” She then asked. “When did this happen? I don’t recall seeing you with an egg the night I found you.”
Mindy’s blush deepened. “It must’ve been just before Scales and I were attacked by the scale traders. I guess I should’ve realized something was up when I couldn’t run or fly as fast as I normally could,” She then nuzzled close to the egg. “Oh, isn’t it great? I’m going to be a mother!”
The sun princess smiled. “Congratulations, Mindy,” She said to the dragon, sounding not unlike a proud parent. “I’m sure you’ll make for an excellent mother to your little one.”
“Sorry to interrupt-” A familiar, sweet sounding voice called, bringing Spike and everypony back to the present. In trotted Princess Cadence, who had an exceptionally bright smile on her face for some reason.
Twilight was overjoyed to see her sister-in-law, and happily ran over to her as they performed their usual greeting: Chanting and repeating the motions: “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” Then they giggled, delighting in the memories the chant invoked.
“Hi, Cadence!” Spike happily ran up to the candy colored alicorn as she in return shared a hug with him.
Cadence nuzzled the baby dragon. “It’s so nice seeing you too, Spike.”
But aside from Princess Celestia and Kibitz, everypony else seemed to be confused by the crystal princess’ sudden appearance.
“Why are you here, Cadence?” Applejack was the one to ask the question on her and her friends’ minds. “Princess Celestia was just tellin’ us about Spike’s egg and and about his mom, Mindy,” She immediately asked. “Did you ever know anythin’ about that?”
Spike blinked and turned his attention to Cadence. “Did you really? I remember you started foalsitting Twilight more often after she hatched me. But I was so young then, I don’t remember much else. Did you know about my mom?”
Cadence shook her head from side to side. “No, I never knew about your mother, or your egg. I was just as surprised as everypony else when Twilight hatched you and started taking care of you.”
“Then, if you only knew about me after I hatched, why are you here now?” Spike inquired. “Did Celestia tell you about what happened?”
“Sort of, I only found out for myself a few years ago,” Cadence explained. “And that was long after I’d stopped foalsitting Twilight,” The smile from earlier returned to her face as she recalled. “I still remember right after she passed her entrance exam into my aunt’s school. She was so excited, I wasn’t sure if she’d ever calm down. But she did, eventually. And that’s how I met you.” Just like that, her mind began to flash back to memories of her past, from when she’d just started living in Canterlot as a teenager and then a young adult.
Twilight was still very ecstatic upon returning home from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns after her entrance exam. Not only had she passed with flying colors, but she was going to be Princess Celestia’s personal student. Oh, and she’d gotten her cutie mark too, that was a nice little bonus.
To top it all off, the now cutie marked filly had learned that she was being entrusted with an important responsibility: Caring for the baby dragon she’d hatched during her entrance exam. She’d only just started thinking of what to call him just now, having only recently settled on the name of Spike.
A little later, who should stop by but Twilight’s favorite foalsitter Princess Cadence? “Hey, Twily,” She greeted with a smile. And after performing her usual greeting with her charge, she happily said. “I heard right, you’re going to be my Aunt Celestia’s student?”
The filly nodded with a bright smile. “Uh-huh! Mom and Dad are gonna help me pack tomorrow. I’ll still come home on the weekends, but aside from that I’m gonna study with the princess herself! Isn’t that great?!”
Cadence’s smile grew wider and brighter, she even hugged Twilight as she declared. “Oh Twilight, I’m so proud of you! I always knew you were a talented filly!” Then she noticed a detail that had escaped her sight until now. “And it seems you got your cutie mark too! You’re growing up so fast! At this rate, you won’t need me to foalsit for you for much longer.”
But Twilight shook her head. “Nu-uh, I’m still going to need you for a long time, Cadence. You’re the best foalsitter ever! And I can’t wait until I can start telling you about my studies with Princess Celestia. I know they’re gonna be amazing!”
Just then, there came the sound of soft, rattled purring that made both ponies turn their attention to its source. Much to Princess Cadence’s surprise, a light purple scaled and green spined baby dragon suddenly emerged from behind Twilight. Apparently, the baby dragon had been hiding behind the filly all this time, and had only just now worked up the courage to show his face in Cadence’s presence.
Cadence’s foalsitter instincts immediately kicked in. She lowered herself down to the baby dragon’s level and cooed. “Oh, hello there, little one. Haven’t seen you before, I don’t think. What are you doing here? Are you lost?”
The baby dragon blinked, apparently not understanding a word the alicorn had just said.
Twilight trotted over with a proud feeling projected on her face. “Cadence, allow me to introduce Spike. He’s my baby dragon. I hatched him all by myself. Princess Celestia was so amazed, she’d never seen anything like it.”
“Spike, is it?” Cadence said with a smile. “I take it he doesn’t have any parents if you’re raising him?”
At that, the unicorn filly sheepishly blushed. “Well, I’m not taking care of him all by myself. Mom and Dad said they’re gonna help too, at least for right now since he’s just a baby. Princess Celestia said that when he’s a little older, he’ll be able to be by my side more often. Still, I’m gonna care for him as best I can when I get older.”
Cadence adopted a goofy grin. “Actually, why don’t you let me help you too? As a foalsitter, I’ve cared for more than a few babies. And babies are a very big responsibility, Twilight,” She couldn’t help but comment with concern. “Shouldn’t he be in diapers right now?”
“I tried to put one on him earlier,” Twilight explained. “He didn’t like wearing it. He ripped it apart with his claws. And when I tried to put another one on him, he just melted it with his flame breath.”
Spike giggled, belching up a small flame to demonstrate that fact.
“I see,” The young alicorn princess hesitantly replied. She put a hoof to her chin, contemplating. “Maybe Aunt Celestia will know how to fix that. She’ll probably know how to make diapers that Spike won’t be able to destroy, at least until he’s old enough not to need them,” She then asked. “Do you know what baby dragons like to eat?”
Twilight frowned. “No I don’t, actually. I don’t know a thing about dragons. I thought they were just made up creatures from my mommy’s stories. Every book I’d ever read said they don’t usually come to Equestria, and hardly anypony knows anything about them,” Yet she proudly insisted. “But I have to care for him, Cadence! Princess Celestia insisted on it! He’s really attached to me, I can’t just keep passing him off to others!”
“I know, Twilight,” Cadence commented as she patted the filly on the head. “But you’re still a young child yourself. And as bright and talented as you are, I’m not sure you can handle raising a baby all on your own,” She proceeded to comment. “Still, Spike is a nice name,” She turned back to the baby dragon, cooing again. “Hello, Spike. I’m Princess Cadence. But you can just call me Cadence like Twilight does.”
Spike cooed back, apparently quite delighted by the warm and friendly aura this alicorn was currently emitting. He then yawned, shut his eyes, and fell fast asleep. Before he could fall over, Cadance caught him with her fore leg and cradled him.
“Wow!” Twilight exclaimed in amazement! “You really are good with babies, Cadence! No wonder you’re the best foalsitter ever.”
Cadence simply replied in a whisper while making a shushing motion, telling the filly. “First thing you have to know about babies, Twilight. You don’t want to wake them up when they’re napping. So speak softly.”
“So you never knew about Mindy or about Spike’s egg, you were just as in the dark as we were,” Rainbow Dash realized as Cadence’s flashback ended. “But if you found out later, why didn’t you tell us? Or at least tell Twilight?”
Princess Cadence confessed. “I felt it wasn’t my place to say. I wanted to wait for Spike to ask the question naturally. And once Flurry Heart came along, it just sort of slipped my mind unintentionally,” Turning to Spike, she apologized. “I know that’s not an excuse for keeping you in the dark for so long. Helping Twilight care for you as a baby gave me lots of experience that prepared me well for when I had Flurry Heart. You were like family to me even before I married Shining Armor. And I should’ve told you sooner, rather than wait for Aunt Celestia to tell you.”
Cadence suddenly felt something hug her chest. She looked down and saw it was Spike. “Well, I’m just glad I’m finding out now,” Spike replied. “I know you wouldn’t have kept the truth from me on purpose.”
Cadence smiled and let Spike lay in her lap. Spike then turned back to Princess Celestia, nervously asking her. “So, what happened to Mindy? You made it sound like she was really excited about laying my egg. Did that change? Did she have second thoughts and decide to abandon me? Maybe she was trying to protect me from something?”
All eyes turned back to Celestia as the alicorn adopted a noticeably sorrowful posture. Her tone of voice took on a mournful tone. “No, Spike,” She said slowly. “Mindy didn’t abandon you, and she didn’t leave you to try to protect you. The reason why she’s no longer around is because…” She paused in hesitation.
Horrified gasps filled the air! Spike began to be filled with a sense of dread as his eyes grew wide. “No… you can’t mean…” Cadence put her hooves around him tightly.
Alas, Princess Celestia replied. “I’m afraid I do,” And just like that, memories just as painful as when she had been forced to banish her own sister came flooding back to her in an instant.
“Mindy was indeed happy at the prospect of being a parent. And I was so happy for her. Little did we know that it was not to last. She wouldn’t be able to see you hatch. Soon, some delegates discovered Mindy in the castle, and they all began to panic and lose their senses. And soon afterward, the citizens of all Canterlot were whipped into a hysteric frenzy.”
Princess Celestia only became aware that something was wrong when she heard the sound of angry shouting and chanting echoing through the streets of Canterlot. To her horror, she looked out from the castle balcony and saw an angry mob carrying torches and pitchforks! Their destination was clear in mind: They were heading for the castle, intent on driving away the dragon they now knew was living inside its walls.
Desperately, the sun princess flew down to greet the angry mob, hoping to deter them. “Everypony, please, calm down!” From the way she was speaking, her attempts to project calm and tranquility were hard to believe. “There is no reason to be alarmed!”
“But princess, can’t you see you’re in danger?!” The delegate from earlier protested. “There’s a living, breathing dragon roaming around in the castle! Your life could be in danger!”
“No!” Celestia protested right back. “Mindy means no harm to anypony! I can’t ask her to leave, she’s just laid an egg for pony’s sake!”
The mentioning of the egg caused a chorus of gasps to fill the air! The mob became even more hysterical as one pony shouted! “If it’s laid an egg, it could be trying to hatch an army! Other dragons could be on the way! We have to get rid of her before that happens!”
Before Princess Celestia could say or do anything else, a deafening roar split the air! All eyes turned to the roar’s source, discovering that it was Mindy! Her egg was held firmly in her clutches, and her eyes were narrowed to the point where they could be said to be casting daggers. Fire was bursting out of her mouth, drawing everyone’s attention to her. “I won’t let you ponies do anything to my egg!” She vowed, unfolding her wings!
“Mindy, no!” Princess Celestia tried to plead.
But it was too late. With a flap of her wings, Mindy took to the skies as the angry mob turned its full attention towards her, chasing after her. They chased Mindy all the way out of Canterlot and into the surrounding mountains, their anger and fury not fading in the slightest.
Celestia followed as best she could, desperately trying to reason with the ponies and with Mindy. She feared the situation was fast spiraling out of control.
Suddenly, a large, flaming spear emerged from the crowd by a catapult! It soared through the air towards the mountains, impacting the side of one with a loud crack. Seconds later, a faint rumbling sound filled the air.
Mindy looked up, and was horrified to discover a massive rain of boulders, rocks, and dirt descending upon her location! The spear had caused an avalanche! Mindy tried as best she could to escape, but the avalanche closed in on her with frightening speed! In a matter of seconds, she disappeared from sight as the rocks and boulders kept on coming for several seconds more.
When the avalanche finally subsided and the mob dispersed, satisfied that they had ended the threat, Princess Celestia rushed to the scene of the disaster! “Mindy! Mindy!” She called again and again, digging as best she could with her hooves while occasionally using her horn to lift some of the heavier rocks.
Kibitz, having been alerted to the disaster, came racing over as soon as he could. “Princess Celestia, I heard what happened,” He told her. “Is Mindy…”
“I don’t know!” Celestia protested. “We have to find her before it’s too late! She has to be alive, she just has to be!”
Sensing that the sun princess was not going to be persuaded otherwise, Kibitz joined in the search as best he could. He and Celestia spent what felt like hours digging through the rubble in the mountains, desperately searching for any sign of Mindy. Alas, they failed to turn up anything.
Eventually, Kibitz made the reluctant decision as he put a hoof to his heart and bowed his head. “Your majesty, I’m afraid…It’s too late for Mindy.”
Celestia immediately broke down in tears upon hearing Kibitz’s statement. “No!” She sobbed, burying her head into her hooves. “This can’t be! How could this happen to me a second time?! First Luna, now Mindy! Why do the ones I love always have to suffer and go away?! Why can’t I save the ones I care about?! Why, Kibitz?! Tell me why!”
The old stallion didn’t answer, he couldn’t think of anything to say that would satisfy his employer. He figured the least he could do was let her grieve for a bit.
Slowly but surely, Celestia’s sobs began to ease. It seemed she was more or less coming to terms with the tragedy that had unfolded. Then, out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted something lying undisturbed amidst the rubble. “Could it be?!” She said aloud and carefully lifted the object for a closer inspection.
It was a light purple egg. Mindy’s egg! Somehow, it had survived the avalanche.
Princess Celestia was overjoyed, immediately pulling the egg close as if it were hers. “You gave your life to protect this egg, Mindy,” She said to herself as she slowly stood up. “I promise, I’ll do everything I can to protect it and the dragon inside.”
A month soon passed, Celestia taking great care to guard the egg and keep it in her sight as best she could. The fact that Mindy did not return to reclaim it only confirmed that which the sun princess had most feared, the avalanche had claimed Mindy’s life. The egg was the only thing left to remind Princess Celestia of the dragon.
But one day, Princess Celestia was called away from Canterlot. Some sort of “emergency” had come up in another city, one that specifically required her presence. As she left, she couldn’t help but get the nagging feeling she was forgetting something. It would only be later that she would realize what that something was. By then, events would set themselves into motion that would change her life forever.
Kibitz was the first to notice something was wrong. When he did his usual inspection of the castle from top to bottom, a search of Princess Celestia’s bedroom showed that the egg she’d gone to great lengths to protect had somehow gone missing! “Oh no!” Kibitz exclaimed upon discovering this, and frantically searched every inch of the castle from top to bottom! He even interrogated the various castle staff, including the guards and the maids. But they all reported the same thing, none of them had ever seen the egg or heard anything about it.
Kibitz began hyperventilating as he searched the surrounding royal garden and royal guard barracks for any trace of the missing egg. “Oh, Princess Celestia will lose her mind if she finds out it’s missing! And then…I’LL lose MY mind!” He said to himself, beside himself with grief. “How could this happen?!”
Unknown to either Kibitz or Princess Celestia, the egg had already been removed from the castle. Not knowing it was a real dragon egg instead of a finely decorated fake egg, one of the judges responsible for overseeing the entrance exams for Princess Celestia’s school had taken the egg for use by the school.
As it turned out, today was to be the day when a particularly promising young filly by the name of Twilight Sparkle was to take her entrance exam. If she passed, she would be admitted into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, a very high honor that only a select few ponies ever earned.
Yet the judge who had taken the egg was now talking with the other judges about Twilight, about what they had been told and what little they knew about this supposedly talented filly.
“According to the file her parents submitted,” A female judge remarked as she looked over the long, winding document. “She got interested in magic after witnessing Princess Celestia herself raise the sun during the Summer Sun Celebration. It also says that she has an older brother who serves in the royal guard, though what rank it does not say. And get this,” She snooted with her snout turned up. “She’s apparently been foalsat by none other than Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.”
The judge who had taken the egg scoffed. “The princess’ niece? Really? Her services are in high demand. Not just anypony can get her approval. Why would some lowly filly we’ve never heard of be considered good enough for the adopted niece of Princess Celestia? After all, wasn’t there previously a pony Princess Celestia took under her wing that was supposed to be special? And didn’t that student turn out to be a disappointment who ultimately disappeared unannounced?”
A third judge nodded. “Indeed. I can’t possibly imagine anypony being more talented than that former student of Princess Celestia’s, whoever it was. This Twilight Sparkle is hardly any different from the many ponies who’ve thought they were hot to trot and deserved admission into Princess Celestia’s school just because of that,” Then he commented. “But we can’t simply deny her application out of hoof. There is a protocol that must be followed.”
Looking to what he believed to be a fake egg, the judge who had obtained it got an idea. “I’ll tell you what. Seeing as this random egg ended up in my possession, I say we make it part of the test. Don’t forget, anypony who wants to get into the school has to pass a very specific test: They’re to demonstrate a unique magical accomplishment that nopony else could duplicate. So why not give her the egg without telling her it’s a fake? Let her believe whatever she wants to believe about it. And when she fails to do anything with it, we’ll have the perfect justification to reject her application.”
“But what will the princess say if she finds out?” The female judge nervously asked.
“Not to worry, the egg will be returned to wherever it belongs after the test is over,” The first judge replied. “Princess Celestia will never know about this. And after all, we’re doing her a favor by ensuring that some filly whose parents just want to kiss up to the princess doesn’t get the opportunity. In time, she’ll move on and forget all about her silly worship of Princess Celestia. The princess has far better things to do with her time than to tutor some filly who thinks she’s better than everypony else.”
With that, the judges set to work on preparing the egg to be part of the entrance exam. Their little “test” would be just the sort of thing that would ensure Twilight Sparkle’s ambitions would fizzle out.
And thus the test was administered, the judges watching carefully to see how little Twilight would react to finding out that even she couldn’t do the impossible. So what if she claimed to be magically talented? Everypony who tried out for the school thought they were hot to trot. Twilight seemed no different from the dozen or so other applicants.
Sure enough, no amount of coaxing or spell casting from Twilight Sparkle could get the egg to do anything. And the judges were already writing down their remarks, prepared to render a very harsh verdict on the child.
Admitting defeat at last, Twilight sank to the floor of the school building and apologized to the judges. “I’m sorry I wasted your time.”
Yet only a second or so after the filly had spoken those words, there came a tremendous boom that shook the ground! Ponies looking out the window thought they caught a brief glance of a rainbow colored shockwave, but it happened so fast that they couldn’t be sure.
What was sure was that the loud noise apparently awakened something deep inside of Twilight! Her eyes glowed a bright white as her magic seemed to take on a mind of its own, going absolutely crazy! A beam of light purple energy hit the egg, which cracked open as a tiny little dragon with light purple scales and green spines popped out! And that was just the beginning!
The incredible magic display went on for quite some time, until Princess Celestia came trotting in. She had happened to spot the flashes of magical lightning and the abnormally large dragon poking its head up through a tower. Realizing at once what had probably happened, she canceled her planned trip out of Canterlot and raced through the city streets to reach her school!
Upon entering the exam room, Princess Celestia bore witness to a truly incredible sight! Make that two incredible sights: Because not only had Mindy’s egg hatched, but a unicorn filly was displaying an incredible amount of magical power. It reminded the sun princess a lot of her previous student. She knew then and there that this filly was worthy. She would take the child under her wing and tutor her personally. Maybe she would be the one to wield the Elements of Harmony and free Princess Luna from her darker self: The evil Nightmare Moon.
Princess Celestia walked over to the filly and put her hoof on her shoulder, smiling. The filly finally stopped the surge of magic and the dragon’s size returned to normal. Celestia gazed upon the baby dragon as he happily started to suck on his tail. Celestia’s heart grew seeing the innocent offspring of her dearly departed friend. But she quickly turned her attention back to the filly who brought him into the world.
“Twilight Sparkle.” The princess spoke.
“I’m so sorry!” Twilight stammered. “I didn’t mean-”
“You have a very special gift!” Celestia smiled. “I don't think I've ever come across a unicorn with your raw abilities.”
“Huh?” Twilight asked.
“But you need to learn to tame these abilities through focused study.” Celestia continued.
Twilight grew more and more surprised. “Huh?!”
“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia spoke up. “I'd like to make you my own personal protégé here at the school.”
“Huh?!” Twilight couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
Celestia’s smile did not cease. “Well?”
Twilight turned to her parents who were both urging her, positively. The unicorn filly hopped in the air. “YES!”
“One other thing, Twilight.” Celestia added.
“MORE?” Twilight dropped to the ground and Celestia pointed to her flank. Twilight’s smile grew bigger than before.
“My cutie mark!!!” Twilight began leaping for joy. “Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes-”
As Twilight continued leaping for joy, Celestia quickly turned to the judges. Her happy mood had fully gone to sour fury.
The judges were all frazzled and beyond words. Their plan had inexplicably backfired. And now they had a very angry sun princess to deal with. None of them could find the courage to speak.
So Celestia took the liberty of speaking up first. “Do any of you wish to explain how and why it is that that dragon egg was being used for the test?” She questioned with narrowed eyes, even as her tone of voice remained calm.
Twilight meanwhile stopped leaping for joy once seeing the baby dragon. She leaned forward to get a closer look at him. The baby dragon stopped sucking his tail and stared at the filly. His vision at first blurry finally became clear once seeing Twilight.
“Hi, little spikey guy!” Twilight whispered. “Where did you come from?”
The dragon smiled seeing Twilight and got on his feet. He then began nuzzling Twilight like a kitten would. The filly though at first surprised, quickly warmed up at the act and began to nuzzle back.
The judges gulped and swallowed hard as the one who had obtained the egg nervously stammered. “S-sorry, y-your majesty. W-we had no idea. R-really. We all thought the egg was… was a fake! We didn’t know it could be hatched!”
Princess Celestia’s frown grew deeper. “So you decided to stage a completely unnecessary test behind my back, just because you doubted Twilight’s potential, is that what I’m getting? I can’t think of any other reason why you would use what you believed to be a fake egg, unless your goal was to make Twilight fail. If so, you should be ashamed of yourselves for deliberately trying to undermine a filly.”
“But… but your majesty,” One female judge tried to protest. “We just wanted to save you from a pony who was just being propped up so her parents could get to you and mooch off of your status. She seemed no different than many of the other students who tried out for your school, or even from your last student.”
“Do not worry, your majesty.” Another judge spoke up. “We shall all redeem ourselves in your eyes.” He walked over to where Twilight was with the dragon and used his magic to lift him in the air. The dragon started to squirm in fear. “We shall dispose of this creature post haste.” The judge continued.
“Um, excuse me?” Twilight tried to catch up with the judge. “You’re taking him back to his mom and dad, right?”
“Young lady,” The judge spoke, not making eye contact. “I don’t know how this egg got here and I don’t care to, either. What matters is that the dragon is disposed of.”
Twilight was no longer afraid of these judges and started to look rather angry. “Wait a minute, you can’t just throw him away! He’s just a little baby!”
The judge turned back to face Twilight. “You’ve interfered enough, peasant! Don’t make another mistake you’ll regret!”
Twilight was intimidated and stood back in alarm, but before her parents could step in-
BOOM!
The judges quickly jumped at Celestia slamming her hoof down.
By now, she found herself slipping into her royal Canterlot voice as her eyes began to glow a blinding shade of white. “If you ever pull another stunt like that again, I will not hesitate to have you all stripped of your ranks! I thought I taught all of my subjects to be better than such rash assumptions. This baby dragon is no longer your responsibility! So I’d better not hear about any of you treating this newly hatched dragon with the same hostility you showed my student! Do I make myself clear?!”
The one judge’s magic immediately disappeared in alarm as Spike fell to the ground and hid under the seats. The judges were all in stammers, possibly still trying to justify what they’ve done.
Kibitz however, cleared his throat and glared at the judges. “The exit is that way if you please.”
The judges looked offended by this gesture as they began harrumphing and muttering when taking their leave. As they were gone, Twilight was staring in awe. “Wow…” She whispered.
But Celestia quickly noticed the dragon hiding and ran to the chairs.
“Little one?” She whispered. “You don’t need to be afraid. Please come out.”
The dragon however was still shaking thanks to the judges’ harsh treatment of him earlier. Celestia looked saddened, not sure what to do.
“Hey!” Celestia noticed Twilight right next to her leaning down. “It’s okay, little spikey guy!” Twilight peeked out. “Don’t be scared.”
The dragon’s eyes widened when seeing Twilight and finally grinned. He ran out from under the chairs and into Twilight’s belly. The filly picked him up and gently hugged him. “There we go. You’re safe.”
Celestia stared at Twilight with the dragon in her arms. He looked so peaceful and content in her company as tears welled up in Celestia’s eyes. She knew what decision she had to make. “He really seems to like you, Twilight.” She spoke, lowering herself to her level. “Would you…would you like to take care of him?”
Twilight looked surprised. “M-me? Take care of him? But what about his parents?”
Celestia struggled to keep her composure. “I’m afraid…they’re not around. You’re the first one he laid eyes on to feel loved.”
Twilight smiled happily and looked at the dragon. “You hear that, little guy? I’m gonna take care of you! It’s you and me from now on!” Twilight looked back up, but noticed Celestia start to sadly walk away. She ran back up and held the dragon in front of her. “And you have her to thank for it!”
Celestia looked surprised by this as the dragon looked nervous. “Aww, don’t be scared!” Twilight spoke. “It’s Princess Celestia! What else can I even say?”
The princess blushed and began to chuckle. She then bent down and covered her face with her wings. “Peekaboo!” She spoke, removing them. She covered her face again, chuckling as the dragon looked confused. Celestia removed her wings again. “Peekaboo!”
The dragon, once seeing Celestia’s happy look, started to giggle. Celestia sighed happily, seeing she hit it off with him. “So, Twilight. Have you thought of a name?”
“Hmm…” Twilight put the dragon down to think. “What to name you, little spikey guy?” An idea then came to her head. “Hey! How about Spike?” She looked back at the curious dragon. “You like the name, Spike?”
The dragon let out a squawk before falling against Twilight. Celestia couldn’t help but giggle at the adorable sight. “Then it’s settled, Spike it is!”
Twilight happily scooped up the now-named Spike. “Thank you so much, Princess Celestia.”
The princess smiled at Twilight hugging Spike as Kibitz walked up, concerned. “Are you sure this is a good idea, your highness?”
“Yes, Kibitz,” Celestia whispered. “Mindy’s child is in good hooves.”
“And that is the whole story,” Princess Celestia informed everyone as the flashback ended. She let out a deep sigh. “I hope you can at least understand why I was so hesitant to talk about it, why I held off telling Spike about it for so long.”
Everypony in the room (even Kibitz and Cadence who had already known all of this information) was at a loss for words. None knew what to say or what they should say.
Spike was silent too, still in Cadence’s lap and just staring off into the distance with a blank and unreadable look in his eyes as he appeared to be deep in thought. Throughout the rest of Celestia’s story, Cadence never stopped stroking his back.
Spike then sat up and walked out of the room without a single word to anypony.
Twilight felt sorely tempted to go after the little dragon. “Spike…” She began.
Cadence flew forward and blocked Twilight. “He needs time to process all of this, Twilight.”
“Cadence is right.” Fluttershy joined her. “Don’t try to force him. Give him some time.”
Reluctantly, Twilight took a deep breath and agreed. “Alright, I guess he can have a few hours. But I really want to make sure he’s okay.”
“I’m sure he’ll open up when he’s darn good and ready,” Applejack commented. “I remember how hard it was for me to handle the news of my parents’ deaths. It’s not somethin’ you just get over. Probably best if Spike has time to grieve. And when he’s ready to talk,” She adjusted her stetson. “We’ll all be there for him.”
At last, Rainbow Dash spoke up. “I…still can’t believe his mother was killed. And by ponies!”
Rarity nodded in agreement. “Such a barbaric act! How could they do that to a creature who never meant them any harm?!”
“So, what should we do then while we wait?” Pinkie Pie asked the others. “I can’t exactly throw a party for Spike after what we learned,” She unhappily sighed. “It just…wouldn’t be right. Imagine finding out the most super exciting news you’ve ever wanted to know, and it’s not a good kind of super excitement.”
“Probably best if we just go somewhere else, maybe walk around town.” Starlight proposed. And the seven mares went to do just that, hoping that it wouldn’t be too long before Spike would be ready to talk to them about his mother, and about what had happened to her.
A few hours passed in what seemed like agonizing slowness, yet Spike never indicated that he was in a talking mood. Nopony seemed to know what to say or what to do.
At last, Princess Celestia decided to take the lead. “I have a pretty good idea of where Spike is about now.” She said to the others, and brought them to a balcony whose view overlooked the mountains out in the distance.
Sure enough, Spike was there, staring off towards the mountains. His expression was hard to read, nopony seemed to know what he was thinking.
Cadence walked over to Spike. “Are you doing okay, sweetie?”
Spike slowly turned to Cadence. “...I think I will be.”
“Awww, Spike.” Cadence whispered as she nuzzled Spike’s cheek, which he didn’t protest. “I’m so sorry you had to hear this.”
Princess Celestia slowly stepped out onto the balcony. “Not a day goes by, Spike, where I don’t find myself missing my friend,” She said to him. “But it’s because I knew her so well for the brief amount of time she was with me that I feel comfortable in saying this: She wouldn’t want you to be sad and missing her for the rest of your life. I’m sure that if she were still here, she’d want you to appreciate what you have now.”
“What do you mean?” Spike asked.
The sun princess explained. “I mean, a pony who took you in and made you part of her family, the same way I did with Mindy. Somepony like Twilight.”
Twilight then trotted out onto the balcony, doing her best to maintain her composure. “I know I’m probably not your real mother, Spike, and maybe I never will be. But I’ll never stop trying my best to be the pony you need me to be.”
In that instant, Spike flew forward and tearfully embraced Twilight in a hug. “Well, I’m glad you are who you are, Twilight. The day you took me in and made you part of my family was the day my life changed!”
Twilight found herself unable to keep from crying, breaking down into tears as well. It was enough to touch even the toughest of hearts, everypony in the room found themselves on the verge of tears.
Rainbow Dash ended up crying the loudest of all, despite her best efforts to maintain her composure. Fluttershy just smiled, holding her fellow pegasus tightly.
Author's Note
Originally, yodajax10 was going to publish this on his account back when he first proposed the collab. But after we brainstormed and made some adjustments, he decided to let me publish it instead.
