Chapter 1: Dragon Daycare
"Twilight! You won't believe what came in the mail!" Spike shouted as he bolted into the library, knocking over a pile of books. Twilight grumbled and stood up from the toppled heap, a book on her head. The tiny dragon flushed with embarrassment and plucked the text off the angry alicorn's noggin. "Oh shoot, sorry. Here let me get that."
"Spike, I can't have you running around all crazy like this! You know Organization Day is a very important time for the library. If even a single book gets misplaced, it could set me back weeks! That pile was completely organized. The Pony Punctual System is integral to making sure the Golden Oak Library is an accurate source of reference material!"
"Well, lucky for you, I've got just the thing to keep me busy! I won an all-expenses paid vacation to Las Pegasus for a time share seminar!" Spike said matter-of-factually. The dragon tottered over to a chair, and knocked the books off of it so he could seat himself to read over the advertisement.
"Let me guess, by Iron Will? Spike, you know those things are scams for gullible ponies." Twilight sighed and rubbed her temple, picking up the novels on the floor.
"Hey, dragons can be gullible, too! And I'm telling you, I won't buy a thing! It's all expenses paid, I just have to sit still and listen to a couple hours of some salespony and I get a free weekend in Las Pegasus! You get a library to yourself, Iron Will gets publicity, and I get to relax in a hot tub surrounded by some cute show-ponies! It's a win-win-WIN!"
"Show-ponies? Spike, I don't think that's the right environment for someone your age. Are you sure you can handle being on vacation by yourself? Why not ask one of our friends to go with you to the seminar?" Twilight paced over to a column of color coded books and shook her head. Starswirl's Cookbook for Conjuring, Cloudsdale's Greatest Fliers, Foals Fillies and Fells, a book on gender discourse. These have been like this for months, Twilight thought to herself.
"Well, Rainbow Dash is at the Wonderbolts monthly meetup, and Fluttershy doesn't really like crowds. I'd ask Rarity, but I don't want to make it weird..." Spike fumbled with his claws, looking at the floor.
"It's only weird if YOU get weird." Twilight magically whisked a book over her shoulder, back turned. "Applejack and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are in Saddle Arabia for the next week. Maybe ask Pinkie Pie?"
"Well, Pinkie Pie would certainly help make the seminar more fun." Spike said as he dodged the flying novel. "But the train leaves in a couple of hours, I don't have time to go ask her and pack my bags."
"So it's settled. You go over to the Cakes' and ask if Pinkie Pie wants to go with you on vacation, and I'll stay here and get your bags packed."
"Oh Twilight, thank you! I'll make sure to bring you a souvenir from Las Pegasus."
Twilight rolled her eyes as Spike walked through the front door, slamming it behind him. Swaying, a towering stack of books danced back and forth, threatening to collapse. Her wings sprung from her sides as she rapidly flew to its rescue. "Phew," she breathed, and swiped a sweat droplet from her head. Twilight glided back to the floor with a delicate fluff of her wings.
"One more thing!" Spike burst through the library door, sending the stack of books, and Twilight's patience, plummeting.
Author's Note
Apologies for the dialogue-heavy writing! I have a background in musical theatre and script-writing so expect my style to reflect that. I'm writing in my free time, so expect chapters to come out maybe once or twice a week. This is a short story, so I'm not planning this to go for more than maybe 12 or 13 chapters of 500-2000 words each.
