I’d forgotten MLP had come to a close LONG time ago, so mulling over whether I should binge the series from start to finish (I had dropped off around the end of season....5? 6? idk), buuut we’ll see :)
Prompt #154: “The Cave of Knowledge and Occasional Mockery” by Donny's Boy
Through the haze of sleep and half-lucid dreams, the great dragon became aware of a presence. A presence that existed outside his dreams, and a presence that was … watching. Watching him. Groggily he cracked open one large, green eye. He saw a light gray sky beyond the entrance of his cave, the thick rock walls of the cave itself, and not much else.
Until he heard a gasp and happened to glance down.
Not twenty feet away stood a small, pink-maned earth pony mare, trembling like a leaf in a storm. She looked barely older than a filly and, for reasons that had yet to be determined, she was wearing a chicken costume.
With a sleepy yawn that let forth long tendrils of smoke, the dragon asked, “So, did I sleep through Nightmare Night?”
The mare simply gaped at him, her eyes wide and round in her head.
“The chicken costume,” he added helpfully, gesturing with a claw. “That’s your Nightmare Night costume, right?”
“The name’s Spike.” The dragon grinned down at her and shook his head in amusement. “You can forget all that fancy title stuff, okay? I’m just Spike.”
She blinked at that, then frowned. “But … but you deserve reverence and respect! You are the Holy Scribe, who wrote the words of the saints! You are … you are …”
As the pony rambled on, Spike leaned forward and stretched out his back. Each pop and crack drew forth a low groan of satisfaction. By the goddesses, that felt good. A hundred years was a long time to stay in the same position.
The mare was still rambling by the time he’d finished his post-nap stretching.
“I’m just Spike,” he repeated, interrupting. “But I don’t think I know your name yet.”
She bowed so fast that he was half afraid she’d smack her snout against the dirt floor of the cave. “I am not worthy to speak my name in your presence.”
He bit back a sigh. They were always like this. Perfectly and annoyingly reverent, submissive, worshipful. Each and every one was like looking back in time at a young Twilight Sparkle. As old as he was--and as long ago as it had been—he could still remember how the unicorn filly had sneaked around the corners of the palace, just in order to glimpse her mentor at work. He could still remember how wide and round her eyes always became, how they sparkled with the purest kind of awe.
It was strange, though, seeing that look directed at himself. Not altogether bad, but … strange.
“Okay, let’s forget introductions for the moment. We’ll do those later. You wanna tell me what’s up with the chicken costume?”
That brought the mare’s head back up. She frowned. “Costume? This isn’t a …” Her brows knit together in confusion. “Mother Sunbeam said that this is the ancient holy clothing that a pony should wear when visiting the Keeper of the Scrolls …”
It was right about then that Spike burst out laughing.
He didn’t mean to, but he couldn’t help it. There was a pony there in his cave, deadly earnest, and she was dressed like a chicken. She was dressed like a chicken because she thought it was a sign of respect. She was dressed like a chicken because she was trying to be serious. Because she was trying to be reverent. And it was the funniest thing Spike had ever seen in his life.
As his loud guffaws filled the dark cave, the expression on the mare’s face slowly changed. It morphed from surprise to embarrassment to, finally, anger. Her pale cheeks blazed bright pink, and she stomped a hoof against the cave floor.
“I did everything I was supposed to!” shouted the pony, her voice high and tight. “I … I walked for hundreds of miles, and I waited for you to wake up for weeks, and I put on the stupid chicken outfit! Because I was told you had answers about the saints! Because you had the truth! But you … you only ...”
She trailed off and gave a pathetic sniffle, which cut straight through Spike’s heart. He reached out and carefully, gently, wiped the tears from her ears with the very tip of his claw. After a moment, she leaned into his touch and buried her face against his skin.
“I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have laughed like that.”
She glanced up, and her light blue eyes were still watery. “Was it a prank? Was Mother Sunbeam just playing a joke on me?”
He smiled down at her. He smiled down at those blue eyes that were framed by a pink mane. He smiled down at this brave little mare who was dressed as a chicken, and he replied, “No. She wasn’t playing a joke on you. She … she was giving me a gift.”
“I don’t understand.”
---time limit---
“Well, that’s why you came to see me, isn’t it? ‘Cause there’s stuff you don’t understand?” It was why they all came to see him, of course—but she had no reason to know that. “I’ll make us some breakfast, and you can ask me all of your questions.”
After giving her a light chuck under the chin, he moved off toward the back of his cave. There was a large wooden chest nestled there, which he knew held a basic set of cooking supplies as well as non-perishable food and water. He heard the clop of hooves behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder as he grabbed a frying pan from the chest. The mare was staring out the entrance of the cave and scuffing a forehoof along the ground.
“I have so many questions, though,” she admitted quietly. “I don’t know where to begin.”
Spike nodded. “That’s okay. We’ll just start at the beginning. We’ll start with the day that a town named Ponyville got some new residents, one of them being the handsomest dragon in all of Equestria and the other being ...” His lips twitched, and it took some effort to refrain from laughing once again. “And the other being a pony I believe you might know best as St. Twilight the All-Wise …”
Krizak Comments!
The saga continues, with Spike awaking from his long nap to find that Celestia's trollish nature lives on. That poor student, subjected to the sight of a figure of legend (not to mention a large and powerful dragon) laughing at her! I really liked seeing things here from Spike's perspective, how he associates this latest student with his memories of Twilight. His attempts to keep things casual in the face of her worship are also quite amusing. Nicely done.
