Spike yawned and stretched as he woke up one morning.
"Well," The purple dragon thought aloud. "Another day as the princess's assistant. What's first on today's agenda, Twi?" He turned to look at his mistress. Twilight's bed was made, and the little purple alicorn was nowhere in sight. "Twilight?"
Spike got out of his bed, and found that Twilight had left a note on her pillow. He opened it, and it read:
"Dear Spike,
Sorry that I left in a hurry this morning- Cadence requested my presence in the Crystal Empire as soon as possible, and requested that I go alone. I should be home soon. In the meantime, some time off, my number one assistant!
-Twilight"
"Huh. Weird. Oh, well. I'll just see what everypony else is up to." Spike left the library, and headed off to find some of his other pony friends.
Before long, Spike encountered Rainbow Dash.
"Hey, Spike!" She greeted with a smile. "What's up? Where's Twilight?"
"Off on some business in the Crystal Empire." He shrugged. " Some secret princess thing, I guess- Cadence specifically asked Twilight not to let me come."
"Weird. Well, since you have some time off, why don't you come watch some new stunts I've been working on?" The blue pegasus did a quick loop in the air. "I'm using some techniques I learned at the Wonderbolts Academy."
"Sure!"
"Then come on!" Spike was barely able to keep up as Rainbow Dash led Spike to a clearing in the park. Spike hadn't really seen Rainbow perform in a while, but it was obvious that she was even better after her training at the academy. At this rate, the Wonderbolts would be asking to join a group of hers! A small crowd appeared, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy being in the front row. After her last stunt, Rainbow landed and walked over to her friends.
"Hey Fluttershy, Pinkie." She greeted, a bit out of breath. "What's up?"
"We heard you were practicing over here," Fluttershy replied. "And-"
"Of course we wanted to watch the best flyer in Equestria," Pinkie Pie interrupted. "Not to mention one of our best friends in action!"
"That was awesome, Rainbow Dash!" Spike whooped. "First you were like woosh and then like whoo!" He illustrated with his hands.
Rainbow chuckled. "Thanks, Spike."
"Say," Pinkie Pie cut in again. "Where's Twilight? It's not often we see you without her."
"She's in the Crystal Empire, helping Princess Cadence with something." Spike explained. To himself he thought, Do ponies see me mostly as Twilight's assistant? I need more Spike time.
"Oh." Pinkie deflated a little bit. "'Cause I was hoping to ask her about this year's Cake Day celebration." Cake Day was the holiday that Twilight had established soon after being crowned, per Pinkie Pie's suggestion.
"She should be back soon." Spike consoled. "In the meantime, I could help you out. Especially if you need someone to screen flavors for the cakes!"
"Okay!" Pinkie bounced off, leading Spike to Sugar Cube Corner. This is where he stayed for most of the remainder of the day. After the Cakes closed the shop, he went home to the library.
"Twilight? You home yet?" Spike called as he opened the door. He got no answer. At that moment, he burped up a scroll. It read:
"Spike,
I'm going to need to stay here in the Crystal Empire for a few days. Sorry for not letting you know sooner. Hope you had a nice day!
-Twilight"
"This is even shorter than the letter from this morning!" Spike cried in frustration. "If Twi's staying because whatever she's doing is taking longer than she expected, why isn't she asking for help? I hope that this doesn't mean she's not asking for help because she thinks since she's a princess she can do it all by herself." He pondered what he should do, then shrugged. "Eh, I'm probably worrying too much. She probably just wanted an excuse to spend some more time with her sister-in-law. She'll be back tomorrow, I know it."
The next day, when Twilight failed again to show up, Spike decided to see if Rarity needed his help at the Carousel Boutique. He'd take any chance he got to spend time with the most beautiful unicorn in Equestria! He walked to the store, which wasn't far from Golden Oaks, and walked in. A little bell rang as the door opened.
"Welcome to Carousel Boutique," Rarity greeted, her back turned towards a mannequin at the moment. She turned. "Where every garment is chic, unique, and- Oh, hello, Spike! What brings you here today?"
"I was hoping you might have a job for me to do today." He replied.
"Doesn't Twilight need you?" She arched her eyebrow.
"Nah, she's out of town. So, need a pin cushion? Or a fabric carrier?" He eagerly awaited whatever task Rarity had for him.
"There's always a job to be done around here, but I'm surprised." She tied one more ribbon on her new ensemble, then turned back to Spike. "Fluttershy had told me about Twilight's run to the Crystal Empire, but I had thought she'd be back by now. Something big must be going on."
"If there is, I don't know what. Twilight's been pretty vague in the notes she's left for me." Spike shrugged non-chalantly.
"Do you suppose she's in trouble?" Rarity suddenly got a concerned look on her face.
"What are you talking about?" He asked incredulously. "She's just doing an errand for Cadence."
"That's what she says, but she's usually not vague in her letters." She gasped. "What if she's been kidnapped by some ruffian and she's being forced to write letters so no one suspects?"
He put a claw on Rarity's shoulder. "Ok, you're being way over-dramatic here. She's probably just wrapped up in whatever project she's helping Cadence with. You know how she gets."
"I suppose you could be right. But I would demand details when you hear from her next, or even write her first."
"She'll probably write me again tonight. I'll ask her then. I don't want to interrupt anything she's doing by writing her now, okay?"
"Alright." He proceeded to help Rarity with her fashion projects, and chat with Sweetie Belle after school. When night fell, he headed back to the library. Tired from work, he fell asleep fairly soon, and slept through the night without getting a letter from Twilight.
Spike reported to Rarity that he hadn't heard from Twilight. This, of course, concerned her, but he again brushed it off as Twilight getting caught up in her royal duties and just forgetting to write. Though he said this, he, too, was beginning to worry about his princess mistress. Was something wrong? But he didn't want to feel silly by hearing from Twilight that he was being melodramatic if he tried to write. He got his mind off his worries by again helping Rarity in the dress shop.
The day passed by relatively uneventfully. At sunset, Spike returned to the library, again too tired to notice that Twilight neglected to write.
Now Spike was really getting concerned, but still not enough to bug Twilight in case she really was busy with princess stuff. Rarity closed the shop the next day because of her nerves. She and Spike gathered the rest of their gang up at the park to discuss the situation.
"What's all this talk about Twilight?" Apple Jack asked as she arrived.
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash, who came with AJ, agreed. "I thought she was just helping Cadence out with something."
"That's what I thought, too!" Pinkie stated as she and Fluttershy walked up.
"Is she hurt or something?" Fluttershy asked.
"We don't know." Rarity replied. "All we know is that this is the fourth day she's been gone, and in the past two nights there has been no word from her."
"Now that doesn't sound like Twilight at all!" AJ said. "She might forget to write one day if she was really busy, but two? That's suspicious."
"Yeah, but that's been for the majority of the time we've known her." Rainbow interjected. "But she's a princess now! This is probably royal business! As in, none of ours."
"She hasn't been that much busier since her coronation, Dash." Fluttershy said. "The only royal business she's been on that I can think of since we healed the Tree of Harmony is restoring Princesses Luna and Celestia's old castle. And even then, she still had time to answer her mail."
"True," RD agreed. "But I still think that two days without a letter isn't enough to warrant this much worry."
"While that may be, I still think that since she's royalty now, her absence is even more serious." Rarity argued.
"I'm with you, Rare," AJ conceded.
"Me, too." Fluttershy agreed.
"I, for one am with Dashie." Pinkie said. "I'd feel pretty silly if we barged in on royal business for no reason besides we were upset that we were being left out."
"What about you, Spike?" Rarity asked. "Surely you see sense."
"Well, I was getting worried there for a little bit," Spike admitted. "But Rainbow Dash has a point. We don't know what sort of business Twilight has now that she's royal."
"It may not even be royal business!" Rarity pleaded.
"Look, I know Twilight. We all do. If she were in trouble, she could handle herself, alright?"
"I guess you're right." And at that moment, Spike got a scroll, and read it to himself.
"It's from Twilight. Says she's alright, but the business Cadence has her dealing with –which is confidential at the moment- might take another week. Oh, and she might not be able to write. See, Rare, nothing to worry about."
"Well, that's a relief." Everypony on Rarity's side let out a breath that they didn't know they had been holding. "Well, that's that. We'd better all be getting to work. Spike, would you be able to help me again?"
"Of course!"
Everything seemed to be normal. The six were confident that their princess friend was fine. Though, it didn't stay that way. A week turned into weeks. There was no letter this time. As it neared a month after Twilight first left, the Ponyville gang was getting worried again. Even Rainbow and Pinkie agreed that something wasn't right. They all decided to go on the first train they could to the Crystal Empire.
Once they arrived, they found several of the crystal ponies setting up tents. As they approached the castle, they noticed that the crystal heart didn't seem as bright as it usually did.
"Oh, I remember." Rarity explained. "It's almost time for the annual Crystal Fair. The crystal ponies are getting ready to recharge the heart. And it looks like it will need it."
"No kidding. I just hope they don't hear about their missing princess before then, or you know what might happen." Rainbow Dash said.
When the friends entered the castle, they began to head towards the throne room to talk to Princess Cadence, when they were knocked down by two fleeing figures. Deciding to figure out what was up, they followed.
"Give that back!" They heard a familiar voice call out.
"TWILIGHT!" The six ran into the room where they heard the voice from. They saw the purple alicorn playfully chasing a little pink alicorn foal who was levitating what Spike recognized as her prized fountain pen, which she had had made so she could save money on quills. Twilight used her magic to make a stuffed animal appear in front of the foal. Distracted, she dropped the pen, with Twilight picked up quickly.
"Gotcha!" She giggled.
"Aww…" The pink alicorn whined a little bit, but then went back to hugging her new bear. Twilight finally noticed her friends.
"Oh, hi everypony!" She exclaimed, startled. "W-what are you doing here?"
"Looking for you!" Rainbow Dash replied. "Because apparently you were too busy playing with your daughter to bother writing us. No wonder you were being so secretive!"
"My daughter, are you kidding?" Twilight scoffed. "This is Skyla, my neice.'
"Your neice?!" The six exclaimed.
"Yes. You see, when Cadence visited Ponyville, before she left, she told me that she was expecting a foal. She didn't want anything to get out about it until after it was born, since the stress would be the last thing a pregnant princess would need. She wanted all her family to know about it, though, and that's part of why she said yes to visiting me in the first place.
"Not too long ago, Skyla here was born. Only, at the same time, the Crystal Fair was coming up. Cadence couldn't handle both a new foal, and planning a big festival, even if Shining Armor could help, so she asked me to help juggle between foalsitting, and helping out with the planning."
"But why didn't you write us?" Fluttershy asked.
"Cadence still wanted Skyla to be a secret, at least until the plans for the fair were all arranged. I couldn't write you and risk the news getting to the wrong ponies. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I know you would be excited about the new royal addition. Anypony would. Forgive me?"
"Of course, Darling!" Rarity smiled, hugging her friend, leading the others to do the same.
"But you know what this means?" Pinkie Pie asked, after the group hug dispersed. She smiled at Skyla. "A royal birthday party!"
Skyla squealed with delight, even thought she didn't fully understand what her new pink friend was talking about.
And so it was. The Crystal Fair went off without a hitch, thanks to the others offering to pitch in with planning, and Pinkie Pie offering foalsitting as well. The new princess was introduced at the opening of the festivities, only exciting the Crystal Ponies to send enough love into the crystal heart to make it burst in all its radiance, the colors delighting the little pink filly. After everything, the Ponyville gang went home, and everything went back to normal. Well… except for now "Aunty Twiley" was required to visit at least one weekend out of every month.
She was also required to be sure to write her friends if she ended up extending her stay. Other than that, all's well that ends well.