Travel to Equestria 2 Part 14

     [Part 14 begins with a recapitulation of previous episodes. Eddie returns to his uncle’s cabin and opens a portal that brings him back to Equestria.  Once he returns to Ponyville, he reencounters the Mane Six. Several montages show him having adventures that portray him bonding again with each mare. He and Fluttershy train a minotaur for a wrestling match, he is being prepared a birthday party by Pinkie Pie, he and Rainbow Dash convince a veteran member of the Wonderbolts to retire, he goes with Rarity to participate in a charity fashion contest in Manehattan, he saves a store with Applejack from the Flim Flam Brothers, and is assisted by  Twilight in taking down his dark side. He also meets and befriends Starlight Glimmer during a home alone period. Opening credits roll. Twilight is packing things up as Starlight and Spike are watching them go. Eddie enters into the castle and is shocked at Twilight packing.]

Eddie: [curiously] Did I miss anything?

Spike: [smiles at Eddie] Twilight’s just going to visit Shining Armor and Cadence at the Crystal Empire. She wants to spend more time with them since she’s going to be an aunt soon.

Eddie: [happily] Oh, yeah. I nearly forgot that they’re having a baby. I should start making something for them for the baby shower.

Twilight Sparkle: [humming baby song] Diapers, toys, dolls…

Eddie: [with a raised eyebrow] She does realize that the baby is not gonna be born now, right?

Spike: [chuckles] You know how Twilight is. She wants to be prepared for everything even if it’s months ahead.

Eddie: [looks at Spike] Aren’t you coming with her?

Spike: [shakes his head] No. I’d rather not talk about baby stuff.

Eddie: [confused] Aren’t you a baby dragon?

Spike: [snorts] Only in name. I’m more like a kid with how I act. I’m not looking forward to speaking of babies.

Twilight Sparkle: [confidently] I’m all done. Now I can finally go to the Crystal Empire!

Eddie: [smiles at Twilight] You’re really bringing you’re best game this time.

Twilight Sparkle: [sighs] I can’t help it. Shining Armor will have a baby soon so I won’t get to spend as much time with him as before. This may be the last time I may have his completely undivided attention and I’m gonna make every second count.

Eddie: [approvingly] That’s the spirit.

Twilight Sparkle: [looks at Spike worryingly] Are you sure about not going, Spike? Shining Armor will miss you.

Spike: [sighs] I’m fine. Besides, I got Eddie and Starlight over here.

Twilight Sparkle: [hugs Spike] Okay. I’ll be back in a few days. Take care of yourself in the meantime.

[Twilight leaves the castle. Spike smiles at first, only to look  downcast in the next scene. He’s at Sugarcube Corner and sees Pinkie Pie babysitting the Cake Twins. He goes to Sweet Apple Acres and sees Applejack playing with Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh after a long day of work. He goes to Carousel Boutique and sees Rarity dressing Sweetie Belle with a beautiful dress. He goes to Fluttershy’s cottage and sees her having a picnic with all of her animals. He sighs as the next scene has him perpetually bored. Eddie finds the purple dragon all alone and goes to talk to him.]

Eddie: [concerned] Are you okay, Spike?

Spike: [sighs] I’m just bored.

Eddie: [frowns] That sigh sounded more sad than bored. What’s wrong? You can tell me all about it.

Spike: [defeated] I guess I am a little sad.

Eddie: [sympathetically] You feel as if you should have gone with Twilight to the Crystal Empire, don’t you?

Spike: [a little frustrated] Yeah. It’s just that…I didn’t feel that it was my place to do that.

Eddie: [confused] Why not? You’re part of her family too.

Spike: [rubs the back of his head] Yeah, but only for a little while. I only got to meet Shining for a while before he went to the Royal Guard Academy. I just felt that it wasn’t my place to get in between him and Twilight. She got really sad the last time they were apart for so long.

Eddie: [shocked] Didn’t you feel sad when you were apart from him?

Spike: [wincing] Not exactly. Shining Armor was kinda grown up when I was born, so I didn’t get to know him that well before he went to the Royal Guard Academy and we eventually moved to Ponyville. He was a nice guy, but I didn’t get to spend much time with him as I did with Twilight or as she did with him. As such, I didn’t take my separation with him as badly as Twilight did when she went to live to Ponyville.

Eddie: [confused] Wait a second, if that’s the case, then why are you feeling so sad about it? Is there something else?

Spike: [sighs] I guess I got some case of sibling envy. Twilight has Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. Applejack has Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom. Rarity has Sweetie Belle. Rainbow Dash took Scootaloo under her wing. Pinkie Pie has the Cake twins and three sisters in a rock farm. Fluttershy has her animals and probably some hidden brother that I know nothing about. Even you have your brother back on Earth and Starlight has the ponies from her hometown.

Eddie: [sympathetically] But you have Twilight. Why didn’t you go with her?  

Spike: [frustrated] I didn’t want to take away her one chance of spending time with Shining Armor. He won’t have as much time now that he’s gonna be a father…and that’s not taking into account the fact that he’s the Prince of the Crystal Empire and the Captain of the Royal Guard. They never got to spend quality time since Twilight was a filly…so this may be her final shot to have him all for herself. I don’t want to take that from her because I’m selfish.

Eddie: [wincing] There’s nothing selfish in wanting to spend time with Twilight, Spike. You’re just a kid. It’s natural to want to be in the company of those you love.

Spike: [sighs] But that’s the case. All of my life revolves around Twilight, Eddie. I don’t have anypony else to admire besides her. She’s the one who hatched me. She raised me like my own mother. She taught me right from wrong. Everything I am is because of her.

Eddie: [thoughtfully] You’re right. You’re the dragon you are today because of her.

Spike: [slightly less sad] Anyway, thanks for the conversation, Eddie. I needed to take that load off my shoulders.

Eddie: [disappointed] You’re still sad.

Spike: [with a melancholic smile] At least this time it’s bearable.

[Eddie looks downcast. The next scene has him travel around an inhospitable territory. He’s looking for ore by using the magic of his wand.]

Eddie: [talking to himself] If only I could find someone who could help Spike with his problems. It can’t be just anypony. It has to feel like a brother. It has to be someone with whom Spike can form a connection.  Something like a…

[Eddie reaches a cave that is filled with many flowers inside. He sees a teen sky blue dragon with black underbelly. He recognizes his identity.]

Eddie: [shocked] Coal?

Coal: [groggily] Five minutes more…Mom.

Eddie: [loudly] Coal…it’s me…Eddie.

[Coal yawns and wakes up.  His vision is blurry for a few seconds until it becomes clearers. Coal gasps in shock.]

Coal: [stunned] Eddie…is  that you?

Eddie: [nods his head] It’s me.

Coal: [looks at himself] How long was I asleep?

Eddie: [surprised] About a year. I thought  that you were gonna be asleep longer. I didn’t think that you were gonna be such a light sleeper that my voice was gonna be more than enough to wake you up.

Coal: [chuckles as he rubs the back of his head] Well…teen dragons have difficult achieving the puberty hibernation. It takes several tries before we finally get it right.

Eddie: [smiles] Well…at least I’ll get to see you a few more times. Anyway, I have a favor to ask you.

Coal: [happily] Sure. I’ll do anything for the friend who stood up to those bullies for me. What do you want me to do?

[The next scene has Spike entering the cave with Eddie. He looks confused over why he’s going into it until he’s surprised to see an awakened Coal waiting for him.]

Spike: [delighted] Coal!

Coal: [happily] It’s so nice to see you, Spike!

[Both dragons hug each other.]

Spike: [looks at him in wonder] I thought that you were hibernating.

Coal: [chuckles] I had a wake up call. Since my nap was interrupted, I decided to do something until I fall asleep.

Spike: [curiously] What are you gonna do?

Coal: [kindly] Eddie told me about your problems.

Spike: [annoyed] Eddie!

Coal: [speaking with a pacifying tone] Listen to me, Spike. I think that you’re seeing this from the wrong angle. I want to help you feel better.

Spike: [deadpan] How’s that?

Coal: [closely] Would you like to feel a brotherly bond with a dragon?

Spike: [stunned] A brotherly bond?

Coal: [nods his head] Yes. I’m talking about having a dragon that treats you like a brother and prepares you for life.

Spike: [nervous] I’m not sure I can do this. I’m familiar with this with Twilight, except that she does it the pony way. I’m not sure how different the dragon way is.

Coal: [speaking with intrigue] Then let me show you the dragon way.

[The camera focuses on Spike. He looks awed for a second. He then looks bored as the next scene shows him, Eddie, and Coal doing gardening on the cave. Eddie notices Spike’s expression and winces at how badly the session is going. Coal is blissfully unaware of how much he’s boring Spike.]

Coal: [with a relaxing tone] Gardening is a skill of botany. We take care of the plants to fully appreciate the vegetable life. Not many dragons appreciate such treasures, don’t you think?

Spike: [deadpan] I know what gardening is, Coal.

Coal: [praising the purple dragon] I can see that by the way you’re handling those tools. I’d rather use my claws, but there’s something elegant on the way you’re using those artifacts to deal with the soil.

Spike: [shrugs his shoulders] It’s just one of a bunch of skills I had to pick up for Twilight. You have to know this stuff if you wanna be her number one assistant. I even had to take small botany course too.

Coal: [sadly] Well, you’re lucky…everything I learned about botany and soil I had to learn when bullies literally fed me soil three times a day.

Eddie: [grimacing] That sounds awful.

Coal: [shuddering] Totally.

Spike: [annoyed] Can we try to do something I like?

Coal: [happily] Of course, Spike. I believe that  I should indulge in your likings as you indulged in mine. What do you have in mind?

[The next scene has the trio sitting in Spike’s book reading comic books. Spike is happily reading a new issue of the Power Ponies. Eddie is immersed in the series. Coal looks fairly terrified of the material.]

Spike: [excited]  Oh, man! This new issue is terrific! I did not see that plot twist coming!

Eddie: [chuckles] These Power Ponies remind me of  the Power Rangers in my world.

Spike: [curiously] Really? How are they like?

Eddie: [unsurely] Well, they are always a team of five warriors dressed in red, blue, yellow, and pink.  A sixth warrior will occasionally join the team but his color and that of the fifth warrior will vary depending on the generation. It’s usually black, green, or white though. But I’m digressing. What do you think of the comics, Coal?

Coal: [trembling and sweating] They’re quite lovely. The art is sublime, especially in all the violence as they punch…and kick…and stomp…and blast.

[Coal is starting to hyperventilate. Spike quickly gives him a paper bag that he uses to regulate his breathing.]

Eddie: [surprised] Where did you get that?

Spike: [relieved] I keep them here in case Twilight relapses into one of her episodes.

Coal: [apologetically] I’m sorry about that. I’m not very fond of violence. It brings me back bad memories.

Spike: [regretfully] I’m sorry.

Coal: [pets Spike’s head] It’s okay, Spike. It wasn’t that bad.

Spike: [chuckles] Yeah. You’re right. At least it wasn’t as bad as that time when I was absorbed into a comic and was forced to fight against the Mane-iac.

[He laughs in good nature but stops when he sees Coal panicking again. Spike rushes to get another paper bag. The next scene has the trio in the park. Eddie gives Spike a baseball and two mittens.]

Eddie: [in a friendly tone] Okay.  Let’s try a classic brotherly activity. We’ll play a game of catch. You toss a ball to each other. You catch it with the mitten. You pick it with the other hand and throw it to your brother. We then repeat until you’re done. Leon and I used to do this all the time.

Spike: [excitedly] Sounds fair to me.

[Both dragons stand a close distance to each other. Spike tosses the ball to Coal. He yelps but catches the ball in his mitten.]

Eddie: [praising] Excellent. Now you do the same.

[Coal reluctantly does the same with Spike. The purple dragon catches it. They repeat the activity a couple of times. At this point, Coal starts picking confidence and no longer yelps.]

Eddie: [feeling more secure] Good! Now take a few steps back to increase the distance between the two of you.

[Spike throws the ball a little too low form Coal. The blue dragon catches it. Coal throws it slightly above Spike. The baby dragon jumps and catches it. They occasionally fail catch the ball and yet they still continue trying.]

Eddie: [encouragingly] That’s it. This is a game where the purpose is to try instead of win.

[The dragons start to get some throwing and catching skills after an hour. They start increasing the distance between them as the game progresses.]

Spike: [laughing] I think I’m getting the hang of it, Eddie!

Coal: [smiling] Yes. I can’t believe I found a non-competitive sport for once. I wish I had this game back home!

[He enthusiastically throws the ball a little too high. It flies into the sky in slow motion. The trio follows its arc with their eyes until it reaches Town Hall. It breaks into a window.]

Mayor Mare: [furiously and offscreen] WHO BROKE MY WINDOW?

Eddie: [panicking] RUN!

[The trio runs away from the park and back to the mountains on which they found Coal again. They are all panting and on the ground.  Eddie looks regretfully at the two dragons and stands up.]

Eddie: [ashamed] I’m so sorry, you guys. I wanted to give you two a great day. Instead of that, I gave you a bad one. Spike, I’m sorry if I couldn’t give you the brother experience that you wanted to have. Coal, I want to apologize for dragging you into a mess that wasn’t even your problem in the first place. You guys must think that I’m a bad friend for this.

[Spike and Coal stare at each other in spite of their exhaustion. Both dragons burst into laughter. Eddie stares at them in surprise.]

Spike: [still laughing] Bad…day? It was a good day! It had its flaws, but I had worse days than this.

Coal: [giggling] I’ve been bullied all of my life by my peers, Eddie. Even if this were a bad day, I’d say that this fits second place in the best three days of my life.

Eddie: [taken aghast] But why? You were bored with gardening, Spike!

Spike: [snorts] So? You speak as if I’ve never been bored before! Have you ever stood in front of Twilight while she has to rehearse her speeches twelve times in a row in spite of already knowing them by heart? Now that’s boredom!

Eddie: [stares at Coal] You had a traumatic event that got you to hyperventilate, Coal. You needed help twice just because you watched comic violence!

Coal: [bashfully] Yeah, but at least this time around the violence was not done to me for a change. And frankly, at least you and Spike bothered to comfort me when I was at my darkest place. Not many dragons at home gave me a second look when that happened to me other than to reproach me for my weakness.

Eddie: [stammering] B-but what about the park? You just broke Mayor Mare’s window. Aren’t you worried by that?

Coal & Spike: [at the same time] I’ll pay for it!

Eddie: [surprised] What?

Coal: [nonchalantly] I got some gems in my hoard.  I don’t mind giving one or two of them to pay for the window. It was my throw that broke it in the first place.

Spike: [nods his head] Yeah. And Twilight taught me to take responsibilities for my actions. I did let the game get a little out of control. I still have some gem allowance in my room that I can give to Mayor Mare…provided you stop me from eating it on the way to Town Hall.

Eddie: [chuckles] Deal.

[The three friends laugh together. The next scene has Coal back on his cave. He gives Eddie a beautiful diamond, which he stores in his pocket.]

Coal: [sheepishly] This shall cover for the broken window.

Eddie: [chuckles] It sure will. Thanks for agreeing to do this.

Coal: [nods his head] You’re welcome. I loved having a little brother.

Spike: [hugs Coal] Thanks for the time, brother.

[Coal returns the hug.]

Eddie: [stares at Coal] Goodbye.

Coal: [warmly] Don’t you mean see you later?

Eddie: [with a hopeful look] You’re right. Maybe we can have a few more meetings before your big nap.

Coal: [turns around to enter his cave] Until then…see you later.

Spike & Eddie: [at the same time] See you later…Coal.

[Spike and Eddie leave the mountain. Spike looks thoughtful for a second until he gets a smile. Eddie picks up on the smile.]

Eddie: [curiously] Is there something wrong, Spike?

Spike: [shakes his head] To be honest, there’s something right. I just learned a lesson out of this whole mess. That means I gotta write a letter.

[The scene shifts to the Crystal Empire at nighttime. Twilight and Shining Armor are walking around and laughing together.]

Twilight Sparkle: [joyfully] That was so much fun!

Shining Armor: [hugs Twilight with his foreleg] Anything for you, little sister!

Twilight Sparkle: [excitedly jumps in place] If this day is an indication, you’re gonna be a great dad.

Shining Armor: [snorts smugly as he gives her a noogie] I’m married to the Princess of Love and am the older brother of the Princess of Friendship. Of course I’m gonna be a great dad!

Twilight Sparkle: [shrieks playfully]Stop! That hurts!

[Their playful roughhousing is stopped when green fire materializes in front of them. A letter appears in front of them. Twilight levitates it to read its contents.]

Twilight Sparkle: [curiously] It’s a letter.

Shining Armor: [smiles softly at Twilight] Must be a friendship lesson from your new student.

Twilight Sparkle: [smiles warmly] It’s a friendship lesson. But it’s not from Starlight Glimmer.

Shining Armor: [interested] Then who’s the author. Come on! Read it! I wanna know what it says!

[The show’s theme song is heard as Spike’s voice is heard narrating. It shows Spike in his room getting a diamond to pay the window. He contemplates eating it until Eddie confiscates it with his magic, much to his annoyance. The next shot shows Mayor Mare scolding the pair until they sheepishly pay her with the diamonds, at which point she starts speaking sweetly to them. He is then shown happily writing the letter and then delivering it with his green fire magic. A montage shows Spike talking with Starlight and playing catch with Eddie.]

Spike: [narrating] Dear Twilight Sparkle, I hope that you’re having fun with Shining Armor back at the Crystal Empire. You deserve to have fun with your BBBFF after so much time apart. I know that once the baby is born, you won’t have the opportunity to hang out with him as much as you used to do so when you were born, which is why I chose to remain in Ponyville. At first, I felt lonely because I did not have a special bond like you and Shining Armor have. Then I had a very…interesting day with Eddie and a friend. In spite of how weird it was, I had a lot of fun today and I learned that you will never get lonely as long as you have a friend that is willing to try and make you happy. I am looking forward to your return so that I can tell you all about my day in detail. Your friend and brother, Spike.

Twilight Sparkle: [shedding happy tears] Oh, Spike.

Shining Armor: [proudly] He’s growing up. He may not look like it, but he’s grown up inside.

Twilight Sparkle: [wiping her tears] He’s always been a mature little dragon.

Shining Armor: [hugs his sister] Well…he was raised by a mature little filly after he was hatched. Come on, Twily. Let’s go eat dinner.

[The siblings go around the castle and continue talking to each other about Spike, the baby, and parenthood. The conversation loses volume as the screen fades to black. Closing credits roll. End of part 14.]