Spike Has Three Mommies

Chapter Eighteen

A whole week had passed since the day they received Shining Armor’s letter. Twilight hardly got any sleep, being so focused on preparing everything. Spike, however, tried to nap when he could—and when he could slip away from Twilight’s notice, he was able to change his diaper.

His control was slowly returning, but not fast enough. He would just have to make it through the whole visit without drawing attention to himself.

At the end of that first week, everything was in place. It was a very cloudy evening when Spike was abruptly teleported out of the living room. He regretted not being able to finish eating his cupcake, but when he reappeared, he was outside Fluttershy’s cottage on the edge of town.

Twilight and the others were already waiting outside. Spike hurried over to them.

“Should be here any second now,” Twilight was saying.

To her right, Applejack was giving Rarity an odd look. “I thought we was supposed to be quiet about this get-together. You call that quiet?”

Rarity laughed and tilted her feathered hat coquettishly. “Do you not? As far as my headwear goes, this is positively pedestrian!”

From out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie bounced up between them. “Pedestrians? Oh, no! What if they end up crossing traffic when the Prince and Princess get here and there’s a huge commotion and we all end up in a traffic jam?!” Then she stopped bouncing and gasped. “You guys! We should brought some homemade jam! Just give two seconds and I’ll get some from the—”

Twilight lifted a finger. “Pinkie Pie? No.”

“But Twilight—!”

“Pinkie!” She took out a piece of wrapped candy from her pocket. “Stay!”

The excitable girl stopped jumping around and fell quiet. Twilight smiled and tossed her the candy—which Pinkie Pie caught in her mouth. And chewed. And then spit out the wrapper, much to Spike’s amazement.

Behind them, the cottage door swung open and Fluttershy came dashing out. A pair of white butterflies hovered over her shoulders as she ran up to the group, gasping with excitement.

“Oh, they’re here! They’re here!”

Everyone turned to the road ahead. In the distance, they got a glimpse of Rainbow Dash steering a small raincloud with her hands and feet. Riding under the cover of that cloud was a horse-drawn carriage with a pair of familiar travelers in it.

Twilight immediately started bouncing in excitement as they approached. “Oh my gosh, they’re here!” She giggled and waved, but Applejack quickly pulled her hand down.

“Whoa there!” she warned. The wind picked up speed as Rainbow Dash’s cloud drew closer. Applejack clutched at her hat. “Everyone inside!”

Spike followed them into the cottage. As he looked back, he saw the carriage stop and the two hooded riders jump off. One of them threw a gold coin up at the driver, who nodded and drove off without a word.

By the time Rainbow Dash had kicked the cloud apart and rejoined the group, there was a great commotion in the cottage. Spike was high-fiving Shining Armor while Twilight and Cadance went through their usual greeting.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hands and do a little shake!”

It was good to see Twilight so carefree after a whole week of stressing out. Spike watched as Shining Armor greeted the rest of their friends. He felt only a sharp stab of envy when Rarity started blushing and giggling around him. But he knew Shining Armor had room for only one girl in his heart and that was enough for Spike.

“I can’t begin to tell you how grateful we are to be here,” said Shining Armor. “It’s been nothing but royal events and guard duties since we last saw you guys.”

“Sounds delightful!” Rarity exclaimed.

“And what’s wrong with guard duty?” Rainbow Dash added. She nudged Shining Armor with her elbow. “I’d love to spend all day chasing off monsters and being awesome like you!”

The Captain of the Guard frowned. “It’s not awesome. Trust me.”

Twilight quickly placed herself in between them. “Ha ha, I’m sure we’re all very excited. But we should really be going. We need to reach the library before nightfall, don’t we, Fluttershy?”

“Oh, yes!” Fluttershy flapped her wings to propel herself up toward the ceiling and beckoned for a pair of butterflies from out the corner. She whispered something to them and watched as they flew out the open window.

Spike smiled. He couldn’t wait to see this.