My Little Pony: Spike to the Rescue

Chapter 1

Yet another beautiful morning was beginning in the land of Equestria. As Celestia's sun rose over the hillside and shined its light over the town of Ponyville, the sunlight also reflected off the crystal structure that made up the Castle of Friendship, giving it a brilliant glow that lived up to its name.

Inside the castle, sleeping in his own personal bedroom, which he had never had since he first hatched, was one of the castle's residents; Spike the Dragon, number one assistant to the Princess of Friendship and her best and first friend ever. At the moment, Spike was currently enjoying a blissful dream playing out inside his head whilst the sun slowly began to rise up outside the windows nearby.

He turned around his bed and yawned before the sudden sound of a loud alarm clock was heard, startling him awake.

Spike turned to the alarm clock next to him and picked it up, sighing in annoyance. "Why did I ever let Twilight talk me into getting one of these in the first place?" he asked himself, dismayed. He soon tossed it away, listlessly. "Oh well."

He pulled back the covers as he hopped out of bed and began to make his way to the door. Before leaving, he picked up the schedule that Twilight made for him, the one he had been following ever since he learned to read, walk, write and cook. The first thing he usually did was make breakfast for the two of them, then do chores and help Twilight out with whatever she needed help with at the time. He did have breaks, short as they were.

Spike sighed again. "And it begins… anew," he muttered before opening the door and stepping into one of the long and empty hallways that made up the new castle.

Upon reaching the kitchen, he got to work on making breakfast for himself and Twilight; this time, it was pancakes. He sprinkled gemstone dust on his while simultaneously adding blueberries and strawberries to Twilight's. It pretty much took all his willpower to not eat any of the gem-enhanced flapjacks until both his and Twilight's pancakes were finally done cooking. The masterful chef stacked them high on two plates, then made his way to the dining room and set them both down just as Princess Twilight herself entered with a yawn.

"Morning, Spike," she said, still a bit sleepy but with a smile on her face.

"Morning." Spike responded with a smile of his own. "Sleep well?"

"Oh yeah, splendidly." Twilight nodded as she sat down at the table. "You?"

"Eh, ok." Spike replied with a shrug as he also took a seat. "Hungry?"

Twilight nodded again. "Yep! Starved!" she expressed before she began to chow down on her pancakes similar to how she usually ate hayburgers.

Spike was slightly surprised at first, then scowled slightly. "You're welcome by the way…" he muttered under his breath.

The Princess of Friendship stopped eating. "What was that?" she asked, confused.

"Uh… nothing!" Spike said quickly. "So, um… got any plans for today? Like a friendship problem or something maybe I could help you out with? Did the map call you again?"

"Nope, just another boring day…" Twilight exhaled sadly.

"Ouch…" Spike remarked in sympathy.

"I know, right? We haven't heard a peep from the map in weeks and there's hardly anything to do anymore…" The alicorn muttered, a bit frustrated.

"Guess that's the price for harmony." Spike shrugged.

"Looks like it…" Twilight muttered, sinking deeper into depression.

Spike saw that Twilight was upset, and if she was upset like this, it didn't take him very long to follow suit. Swiftly getting up and walking over to her, he said, "Aw, cheer up! So what if the map didn't call you? You can still hang out with your friends, and knowing your luck, you'll probably run into trouble anyway."

Twilight chuckled in amusement. "Yeah, you're probably right about that one."

"Of course I am. I should be, I've been there a few times myself." Spike pointed out. "Course, some I tried to back out on, like when Discord showed up, or I got dragged into it… kinda wish I was more willing though…"

Twilight put a hoof on his chest. "Well, don't. You're safe because you weren't there those times. I couldn't forgive myself if something were to happen to you, Spike," she told him, sincerely. "Like it or not, you're still a baby dragon…but you don't have to worry, 'cause I'll always be here to protect you…"

Spike was comforted by this and smiled. "Thanks, Twilight…" he said, before a thought crossed his mind. "But…"

"But what?"

"But what if you're in the one in trouble? Then I'd have to help you!"

"That's never gonna happen, Spike." Twilight stated firmly. "And even if it did, I trust you to keep yourself safe and find help."

"But I don't want to find help, I want to be the help!" Spike told her, visibly upset.

"I know, but sometimes the best way to help somepony you love… is to keep yourself safe." Twilight repeated, her voice still firm, but softer. "Like I said; I could never forgive myself if something happened to you and I would never forgive you if you got yourself seriously hurt trying to help me…"

Spike looked down at the reflective floor below them. His reflection didn't look any better than he felt, if the angry beginnings of tears were anything to go by. Twilight put another hoof on his chest, causing him to look up again.

"I promise Spike, it won't come to that; not if I have anything to say about it, understand?"

The kid in question curled one clawed hand into a fist and squeezed tighter and tighter as if trying to choke somepony into a coma...and then dropped his head.

"Yeah, Twilight. I understand," he said, defeated.

"Thank you." Twilight spoke cheerfully before she continued eating while Spike just played with his food. Inside, he still felt miserable about what she'd said, but he didn't let those feelings show. He began to think back to when he ended up getting himself and his friends sucked into his enchanted comic where they were captured by the Mane-iac. Spike thought he was useless to them until Twilight said something that cheered him right up.

"Maybe in your world, he is. But in our world, Spike— uh, Hum Drum always comes through when we need him! Always!"

That's when he had learned that just because his friends didn't always need his help, it didn't mean that they thought he wasn't helpful at all. He sighed to himself, wondering what happened to that statement, for it seemed like the opposite recently. Before he could dwell longer on the sad truth, he heard Twilight give a satisfied huff and noticed that she had just finished her breakfast.

"Now that was good…" she remarked. "Well, I'd better get going, wanna come along?"

Spike really, really wanted to say 'yes' then and there, but he quickly remembered something that put a damper on his plans.

"Uh… sorry. I, uh…got a lot of…chores to do around here…" Spike grumbled in dejection.

"Oh...right." There was a pause. "Well, don't do too much; it is a big castle after all and I don't want you to overwork yourself, okay?" Twilight told him as she got out of her seat and began to walk away.

"Okay…" Spike bobbed his head.

"Great. Be back soon, my number one assistant!" The alicorn called happily as she gave him a wink and left the dining room. Once she was gone, Spike's features took a visible dive.

"Well… better get started now," he declared before leaving as well.

Later that day, Spike was walking around cleaning, dusting and making sure everything was in its proper place all throughout the castle. He even made his bed (which he often forgot to do) as well as Twilight's. His companion throughout this process of routine maintenance was not fatigue, but frustration.

Spike let out an angry groan as he dusted one of the many, many, MANY rows of bookshelves. "Everyday it's always the same thing: Twilight and her friends go out, have fun and save Equestria. Me? I'm stuck here doing chores, being nopony's helper, nopony's hero, nopony's anything." His dusting became faster as his griping grew louder. "Now I know how Big Mac feels…and when I'm with the girls, I'm always stuck on the sidelines, cheering for them like some kind of dork…Ugh! It's so unfair!"

Spike's temper peaked and he hurled the duster, nearly hitting Twilight's pet owl Owlowiscious in the process. He 'hooted' at him in response.

"Oh, sorry Owlowiscious. I'm just… frustrated," the dragon sighed.

"Hoo." The owl responded.

"That I'm unappreciated, that's why!" Spike stated. "You know Twilight didn't even thank me for making those pancakes? She barely thanks me at all! Well, aside from a few times… but that's beside the point!"

"Hoo." Owlowiscious repeated.

"Yeah, I know they appreciate me back at the Crystal Empire and I got a statue and a stained glass picture in the castle, but still…" Spike sighed as he went to retrieve a broom from a nearby closet. "These days… I barely get to do anything, let alone save the day. And when I try to help… I just end up messing things up, like when I began to speak on Twilight's behalf…"

"Hoo." The owl said for the umpteenth time.

The dragon nodded sadly in response, his tiny arms moving back and forth to sweep the hallway in which he now stood. "You're right…I guess my time to shine will come soon…I hope…" he muttered. "But until then… I'm just stuck being Twilight's maid…"

Spike continued to work, dismally aware of how empty the castle seemed at the moment. He soon heard multiple hooting sounds, and, looking up, saw that Owlowiscious has picked up his discarded duster and was using it to reach the higher spots of the hallway that were too high for Spike. A small smile made its way onto his lips.

"Aw… thanks, buddy." He said, grateful that he didn't have to play 'Little Miss Maid' alone anymore.

Meanwhile…

In a bleak, barren, desert-like part of Equestria, thunderstorms raged wildly in the blackened sky above while the winds howled their defiance. Forked lightning slithered like snake tongues across the vast darkness, each being chased by a monstrous explosion of thunder that could be mistaken for armies of vast numbers issuing their battle cries to each other from above the clouds.

Below all this chaos, a lone figure walked. A figure wearing a hooded cloak, with the hood covering most of his face. The strangest part about this creature was that he walked on two legs instead of four, had five appendages on his forearms known as 'hands', and with each step he took, a 'clopping' sound went unheard amidst the whirlwind that scoured the landscape.

As the storm surged around him, something that appeared to be a gem glowed in his hand. The figure cared nothing for the demonstration of nature's power, only for his destination that lay beyond the lifeless waste. A pair of sinister eyes shone from beneath the hood, burning like two great coal fires stoked high in the dead of winter, though they contained no such warmth.

His way was clear, his path was sure,

But his intentions of heart were anything but pure...