Three whole minutes.
It was absolutely unprecedented, something the likes of which a baby dragon like him had never wanted to experience. To others (and typically to himself), three minutes might have seemed like a minuscule span of time, but to Spike in this specific situation, three minutes was an eternity, a stretch of temporal torment with no end in sight.
Spike had tried everything to escape the crib. Climbing hadn't worked. Trying to topple the thing over had proved impossible. He'd even tried his fire breath as a last resort, but the entire thing seemed to be fireproof. Given that it was furniture for dragons, this shouldn't have come as a surprise to Spike, but it managed to anyway, the wily devil that it was. For now, it seemed that the crib was his prison. He sighed and flumped onto his back as he came to this conclusion. At least it was a comfortable prison.
"Are you ready for your meal, Small Scale?"
Celia's voice rang in Spike's ears as she walked into the room, carrying a tray of something that he couldn't see. Spike glared at her, resenting her greatly for the things she'd already said and done to him. Surely she had some manner of terribly embarrassing baby food that she would force upon him.
"My name isn't Small Scale," Spike said, arms crossed. "It's Spike." He might have been taken against his will and trapped, but he wasn't about to have his identity taken away without a fight. Although considering the size differences, he certainly wasn't hoping for that option to come up.
"Hm," Celia said, staring at Spike for a good few moments. The pause was long enough to make Spike worry that he had angered her. Much to his relief, a small smile crossed her face. "I guess you can still call yourself that if you must. But to me, you're my darling Small Scale."
Spike rolled his eyes. At least it was progress.
"Now then," Celia said, giving Spike a warm smile. "I believe I asked you a question. Are you ready for your meal?"
Spike tensed up as he looked up at the tray in Celia's talons, the contents of which were still a mystery to him. Based on everything that he'd seen from her so far, he had a feeling he knew exactly what was on that tray. Some vile concoction of baby food and a warm bottle of milk awaited him in his immediate future, and she was going to force him to finish every bit of both of them. He started to back away as she lowered the tray, but the bars of the crib stopped him from moving any further.
"Please no..." Spike pleaded. Then he caught sight of the tray's contents. A small plate of tiny gemstones sat in the center of the tray, and next to it was a cup of apple juice. The cup had a sippy cup lid on it, but it wasn't a rubber nipple, and that was all that mattered to him at the moment.
"No?" Celia asked. "Are you not hungry? I guess food can wait a little while if you really don't want it."
Spike's mouth watered as he stared at the bounty in front of him. He hadn't eaten since just before Twilight left for the Crystal Empire. He still wasn't sure how much time had passed since then, but if the rumbling of his stomach was any indication, it had likely been a while.
"Your belly seems to disagree with you," Celia said, giggling softly. "Come on, let's get you out of that crib and over to the table."
Spike's eyes went wide at the thought of freedom from this makeshift prison. Combined with the hunger pangs and the promise of delicious gemstones, he decided to tolerate Celia's whims for the moment. Not that he had much of a choice, as the larger dragon picked him up with ease once more.
"I can walk there myself..." Spike grumbled.
"Well of course you can," Celia responded. "I just like having my little whelp close to me. You have your whole rest of your life to walk around on your own accord. Won't you let Mommy carry you for now?"
"I'd rather walk," Spike insisted. He might have been hungry, but that didn't mean he was going to sell himself out just for a meal.
"Oh..." Celia said. "Well...alright then."
Spike marveled at how easy that was as he felt himself being lowered towards the ground. A sense of self-satisfaction came over him, but at the same time he couldn't help but notice the hint of sadness in Celia's tone. He put it out of his mind for now. She was holding him here against his will and seemed to have no intentions of ever letting him go home. It was a bit hard to have much compassion for her.
Spike felt a sense of real freedom as his feet touched the ground and Celia's talon released him. This was his chance to escape! ...If he had any idea how to do so. Even if he was able to somehow find his way out of the house, he had no idea at all where he had been taken. The sense of freedom faded as fast as it came; until he had any earthly clue of just where he was, running was not an option. Even if it was, Celia's clear size advantage ensured that she would catch up with him.
"Come on then, sweetie," Celia cooed, back to her normal cheerful tone. Spike sighed lightly. He didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. When Celia exited the room, he reluctantly followed her. He paid careful attention to where he was going, noting each turn they made down the torchlit stone hallways. He wasn't anywhere near as detail-oriented as Twilight, but hopefully enough of it had rubbed off on him. He also took note of how Celia was looking back at him every few steps, likely to see if he was okay and still following. Spike couldn't help but admit to himself that she probably would make a good mother if she ever had a whelp of her own. Not for him, though.
The two soon entered a small dining room. Like the nursery before it, this room was also made entirely of stone, down to the rectangular table that jutted up from the floor itself.
"Is everything made of stone here?" Spike asked as he took in his surroundings.
"Not everything," Celia responded as she opened a clearly wooden closet door. "But pretty close. We don't have overly-extravagant houses like your captors. We dragons are quite happy with making our own homes out of caves."
"Making your own homes?" Spike asked, head tilted. "You mean you made this home yourself?"
"I did," Celia assured him. "You may not know this since you've spent your life with those ponies, but many dragons consider it a rite of passage to carve the insides of a cave into their own vision of their home." She set the tray down on a counter, freeing one talon up to reach down and scratch Spike's head. "And one day when you're big and strong, maybe you'll do the same."
"Wow," Spike replied, ignoring the scratching. "That's actually pretty cool." As little as he wanted to be in this position, it was kind of interesting learning a little factoid about dragons.
"Much cooler than those pony homes, huh?" Celia asked with a grin. "And nowhere near as much of an eyesore."
"Ponies do have to build their homes too," Spike said, rolling his eyes. "And a lot of them look really nice."
"Oh, you poor thing," Celia replied simply as she set something on one of the chairs. From his vantage point, Spike could tell that it was a booster seat. At least it wouldn't be as demeaning as a high chair.
"Up you go!" Celia said, both talons scooping under Spike's arms. He was lifted into the air, brought forward to receive another kiss on the forehead, then set down on the booster seat. The seat was a bit cold, but he wouldn't have been able to reach the table without it, so he supposed he could deal with it.
Spike watched with interest as the tray was set on the table. The light of the torches caused the gemstones to glitter, which only made them look more appealing. Spike reached eagerly for the spoon next to them, only to stop short as Celia picked it up instead. He groaned as he watched her scoop a few gemstones up.
"I can feed myself," Spike insisted. "Been doing it for a while."
"Oh, but I'd really like it if you let me," Celia said.
"And I'd really like it if you let me," Spike responded, glaring at her. Celia stared right back at him, but not with the same emotion that he did. Her eyes looked somewhat sad. Spike let out a long sigh, cursing himself for being such a sympathetic dragon. Besides, this was a rather tame thing to consent to, and there was the chance he could leverage this against her if she tried something worse. "Fine, but only this once. And if you make any train sounds..."
"Of course I won't," Celia said, beaming. "That's for hatchlings. You're a big boy." She brought the spoon to Spike's mouth, popping it in once he opened up for her. It was a little demeaning, but the delicious flavor of the gemstones managed to offset that somewhat. These had to be the most scrumptious gemstones he's ever had the pleasure of tasting; a fact which came as little surprise, considering that if anyone would know where to find the tastiest gems, it would be a town of dragons. The spoon slid out of his mouth with a little pop, leaving him blushing as Celia chuckled. He'd barely finished the gems in his mouth when another spoonful was presented, and he opened up with a bit less resistance than before. This wasn't so bad. He'd seen grown ponies spoonfeed each other here and there. One time wouldn't hurt, as long as he asserted himself about other things.
It wasn't long before the plate of gems was finished. Spike reached for the cup of juice, but Celia once again reached for it at the same time. This time, she offered no resistance to his attempt to do things for himself, smiling lightly and letting him take it. Spike nodded in silent appreciation before lifting the cup to his lips. The juice was crisp and delicious, although the frustration from only getting little drops thanks to the sippy cup lid was palpable. He glanced up at Celia once or twice as he drank, noticing the caring gaze that she kept on him the entire time. Despite not wanting to be in this position, he had to admit that she would probably be a good mom to an actual whelp of her own. She certainly had a tender side to her, albeit one he didn't want directed towards him.
"Is my little whelp's belly all full?" Celia asked, reaching forward to give Spike's belly a poke with a single talon. The surprise caused him to cough up a bit of juice.
"Spitting up?" Celia asked, a bemused grin on her face.
"It was out of surprise and nothing more!" Spike quickly insisted. Celia chuckled and reached out for him.
"Let's get you all nice and cozy in bed, hm?" the dragoness said as she lifted Spike up, then set him on the floor.
"Bed?" Spike asked. It was only then that he noticed the lack of windows in both the nursery and the dining room. With no access to the outside world, he had no idea what time it was, and the fact that his sleeping through the flight here left him not knowing how long it took to get here didn't help matters.
"Bed," Celia repeated, clearing the table as she spoke. "Growing whelps like you need their sleep, and all good whelps are in bed by 8:00."
Spike wasn't sure what upset him more: the fact that he was still being forced into an 8:00 bedtime, or the fact that Twilight's idea of an appropriate bedtime for him fell in line with those of a species who still regarded him as an infant. If he got home–when he got home–he would have to bring that up to Twilight.
Spike looked up as he felt Celia's claw take a hold of his. He had considered trying to bolt and find his way out even despite not knowing where he was, but Celia's protective grip on his hand was too strong for him to break. Given the choice between walking with her or being dragged or picked up and carried, Spike chose the least embarrassing of the bunch. At least it gave him some modicum of independence.
Spike was led by the hand back to the nursery. Once again, he committed as much of the path to memory as he could, although some of the paths seemed different from before, leaving him hoping that he'd been taken on a different path, rather than it being a case of him forgetting. He took a look around the room, sighing at all the childish decorations and deciding to take a shot.
"Are all the decorations here really necessary?" Spike asked, disappointed with himself as he accidentally let a yawn slip through.
"Do you not like them?" Celia asked. "They're some of my favorite characters from when I was your age."
"I mean I guess some of them look kinda cool and all," Spike conceded. "I kinda like that astronaut guy."
"Spaceman Spines!" Celia said, giggling happily. "Oh, he was my favorite! Would you like me to read you one of his stories?"
"You're probably going to do it no matter how I answer, aren't you?" Spike asked.
"Yes!" Celia said cheerfully. Spike found himself lifted up once again, kissed on the forehead another time, and then deposited back in the crib. Spike sighed and rolled his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time since he'd woken up here. He tried to wriggle away as Celia reached down to tuck him in, but she was able to corral his movements long enough to make sure he was nice and snug under the blanket.
"I promise you'll like this one," Celia said as she pulled a book from the nearby shelf. "It's called Spaceman Spines Versus the Great Galloping Gizmopony."
Spike reflected on everything he'd been through as he reluctantly listened to the story, carefully considering his course of action once he was able to make it home. Sure, Celia was a whackjob who had kidnapped him, hated ponies for some reason, and was trying to force him to be her child. But at the same time, she did seem like a very kind, caring dragon when it came to dealing with her own kind. Maybe he'd talk to Twilight about finding her a different baby dragon to adopt, one who didn't already have a family and friends to be taken away from. Sure, it would probably take a good amount of talking to convince Twilight not to go ape on her for kidnapping him, but he'd done more difficult things in the past.
As sweet as she was, though, and as much as Spike felt like trying to help her once he was free, that did not mean that he had any intentions of staying here with her any longer than he had to. He vowed to himself to continue trying his hardest to convince her to let him go. Allowing her to spoonfeed him and read him this story might have been missteps, but they would not be repeated. He had two more days until Twilight got home, and if he had anything to do with it, he would be home and enjoying his freedom by the time she arrived.
"The end," Celia finished. She smiled down at Spike expectantly. "What did you think?"
"Uh...it was good?" Spike offered. He didn't want to admit that he had tuned out most of it.
"It's okay," Celia said with a wink. "I know you're sleepy, and it's hard to focus on a story when your body wants its rest." She set the book back on the shelf before turning back to him. "Now, there's one more thing before you go to bed."
"What?" Spike asked.
"Well," Celia answered. "It's a dragon tradition to make a wish before one goes to bed. That way, if we're fortunate enough, hopefully Bahamut will hear it and grant it."
"Bahamut?" Spike asked. Celia looked shocked.
"...I have a lot to teach you about your kind," Celia said with a shake of her head. "But we'll save that for tomorrow. For now, let's concentrate on our wishes. I'll start!" She smiled sweetly down at Spike. "I wish for my sweet little Small Scale to grow up nice and strong for his Mommy. What do you wish for?" Her smile was so kind and genuine that Spike almost felt bad giving his answer.
"I wish I could go home."
Sure enough, he noticed the twinge of sadness in Celia's eyes. However guilty he felt about upsetting her, though, it was just the way it had to be. As quickly as the sorrow entered her eyes, it faded.
"You are home, sweetheart," Celia said, although some of the energy had left her tone. "See you in the morning. Sleep tight, little one." She gave him one final smile before turning around and blowing out the torches in the room.
Spike sighed as he was left alone in the dark. Thankfully, he wasn't afraid of the dark anymore–Celia would have had a field day with that. Left with nothing to do to fix his situation at the present, he closed his eyes, hoping for sleep to come.
More please. This is really great.
you know, one letter and hes out of there. Celestia would not stand for this kind of thing, and i think the spell itself that is for the messages would be able to tell where he is. that's not even counting what twilight would think of the situation.
All Spike needs is an oppurtunity to get some writing materials. One note to Celestia and he'll be rescued.
6925577
I hear you, and yeah, it's an old discussion I usually found people came at from a weird angle.
Pathfinder's my game now, by way of 3.5 and a few entries in the OGL. I've played 4e and get the point of it and 5, but not a fan. Never heard of Rolemaster, but I've been in my fair share of White Wolf games. I do understand, at least by and large.
6925631 6925638
If its Trollestia I could see her bringing baby pictures to show Celia
Poor Celia. She really can't keep Spike for her own, but I don't want to see her get her heart broken either.
dah
I hope Celestia or Twilight comes and kicks Celia's face in.
CONFESS YOUR CRIMES OF HERESY IN THE NAME OF THE POPE
Just a small request but can the next chapter be exactly 1,751 words?
I'm guessing/hoping his next wish is 'I want my real mom back.' Or some variation thereof. This dragoness is entirely in the wrong here, good intentions or no.
UGHHH...
I want to punch Celia's precious face. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's coddling someone who can take care of themselves.
I really hope this story doesn't go Stockholm Syndrome.
6925667 Why, cause she cares about Spike and wants to raise him like a dragon. Twilight has no idea about how to raise a young dragon and the other ponies are equally clueless. They didn't even know about hoarding behavior, let alone dietary needs and biological chages that he would have to know. Spike needs a dragon in his life and I hope everything turns out good for everyone. Expecially Celia and Spike.
Poor Spike. What he needs is a chance to send a letter and he'll be out of there in a jiffy. I really hope this doesn't go the route of Spike actually growing to like staying with her. Few and far between are stories where a character is captured and they stick to their guns about getting free and finding their way home. Please don't go down that road.
6925661 yea i'm sure that Celestia would make sure hes in no real danger and even bring that photo album from when he was growing up, but twilight im not so sure of. in stuck between going full panic mode and freaking out or going into full research mode and moveing in with them.
6925631 Well that depends on the answer to one HUGE question. Where did Celestia get Spikes egg? Depending on the answer, we might instead have end up with a community of severely pissed off dragons.
I commend Celia for trying to be a good mother, but the fact is Spike doesn't need to be spoiled like that. I wonder what's next for him.
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6925667
great idea, lets vindicate the feelings of some dragons towards ponies.
nothing can ever go wrong!
6925681 This is a logical and proper thought line to ensure Spike's healthy future, because for all we know most of what Twilight had done was actually stunt his growth or affected him for decades to come. She could had even shortened his life span by the magical studies alone, if not by the stressful environment he's been living in.
6925688 from what is stated Celia's old, in the class of old enough for her o not be laying eggs anymore. so for all we know spike might be some relative of hers in the first place. who really knows though, might not go down that rout.
She has a nursery ready in her home, along with the stuff you need to take care of a child. So, either she has always desired to have a baby... or something happened. I may be wrong, but I have the impression that her negative opinion about ponies is based on a bad experience...
Prepare for the Feels when Spike asks Celia if she had any hatchlings of her own, Methinks some light doth be shed as to the nature of her hatred for pony kind.
I'm torn on how to feel for this dragon. On one hand, yeah, she thinks she's doing the right thing, and certainly comes off as sympathetic in the relative innocence of a MLP setting. On the other hand, IRL someone like this would probably be considered fairly dangerous in her delusions that she's in the right by taking a child from his home on a whim. Not to mention feeding him fairly vitriolic rhetoric about his adopted family and friends, and intending to have someone brainwash him to her way of thinking later(the shaman). Still though, the tone of the fic isn't as dark as it obviously would be IRL, so I'll give her a chance, and assume she's not a lunatic. Nice chapter.
6925700 Yah, for example do dragons eat meat? He's got canine teeth. This is an important question to address in a society of herbovors.
6925681
The only problem with Celia (well, except the kidnapping part) is that she doesn't understand how mature Spike is. Spoonfeeding, trying to carry him, diapers. She clearly has a mental problem. Hating ponies is one thing, but putting an almost teenager into a role of a 3 year old is just plain weird.
6925701 Maybe. I personally don't like the idea of Spike being related to Celia. That feels too unnessisarily contrived. I like the idea of Celia taking Spike as her own for no other reason than she thinks it's the right thing to do. That feels much stronger in my opinion.
As for where Celestia got the egg. I hope the reason is not the commonly used, "I randomly found Spike's mother who was dying and she gave me the egg". It's a little over done.
Should have named the wish dragon Shenron
6925661 This NEEDS to happen....
what?
don't you dare...
I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS EXACTLY THE TYPE OF STORY ABOUT SPIKE THAT I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you sir deserve a medal.
I'm still getting those "Misery" flashbacks, I think there maybe something wrong with me....still very interesting.
6925638
All he needs is to start sending random objects to Celestia. She's almost certain to send him a letter, which he could claw "HELP" into and send back. If he follows that up with some of the (signed!) drawings on the walls and some (dragon!) books it gives her a name and species as clues. Assuming Celestia doesn't send writing impliments back after the "help".
6925724 How do we know that Spike is a teenager biologically? He's not a pony so we can't use pony ages to determine his biological stage, and we all know that most of the ponies know little to nothing about dragons. Yah he acts somewhat mature, but that could be the result of living as an assistant to an OCD bookworm who use to have no social skills for years. As for Celia's behavior, I think it's appropriate for a new mother who is unsure about the child's condition. For all she knew, he lived in the wild and was never potty trained, taught manners or self feeding. And when he objected she did listen and ditched the diapers.
I think Celia may have some mothering issues. Like, seriously, one does not ignore the object of one's attention this much unless there's some kind of complex in play.
Also, Spike, just firemail random objects, already. Celestia should at least get alarmed if random oversized baby paraphernalia starts appearing.
This is like... a far needier Toriel. Someone who has reached a much deeper point of despair. Wow, she may need some help.
Yeah... No... See, here's the real weird thing.
Celia is being a bad person even by dragon standards.
Let us assume for the sake of argument that ponies are evil and lost hatchlings are totally a thing. Fair enough.
However, she has made ZERO ATTEMPTS TO FIND THE PARENTS THAT LOST HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Like, obviously dragons value and care for their offspring so I think she should be a little concerned about the fact that his actual parents could totally be out there looking for him and absolutely worried sick!
6925688 I've wondered about that myself. Hopefully we'll see this matter addressed before the story is done.
It would have been great to have Celia read a story about bad ponies and Spike pointing all the clichés and the biased ideas about the ponies.
Good chapter though, can't wait to see where this is going
6925740
That could work but most likely all the objects in the house are fireproof.
6925736 Yes, yes it does.
6925749
Except she doesn't have Toriel's excuse of trying to protect someone from being killed. Toriel physically couldn't go out and look for Frisk's parents. Even if she assumes his parents are other dragons instead of Twilight she's acting like he is instantly and automatically hers when she has no idea who lost him!
I mean. I realize that Celia's intentions are just, but her execution leaves something to be desired.
Aww man, Celia is breaking my heart now. At some point Celestia and/or Twilight are going to show up and demand Spike back. And Celia is going to insist that Spike should stay with her, since he deserves to be brought up by a mother. I would be very interested in hearing Twilight's response to this assertion.
I hope this ends with Spike at least having ongoing contact with Celia and continuing his lessons in dragon culture with her.
6925784
Depending on how you view it. Her unfavourable disposition toward ponies must be for a reason. And this is a mental issue.
I'm starting to think Celia is a bit... off... damaged somehow. Possibly some old trauma dealing with her own hatchlings or something like that, but she's definitely not all there. Her mothering instinct seems to be overriding everything, I'm just hoping other dragons in whatever passes for their colony aren't quite as parental, or at least more understanding and accepting of a pony-raised dragon who's by and large, a young teen mentally.
Oh a letter from Spike. Spaceman spines. . . .Gizmopony. . .? ? ?
Spike dragon napped by specimens ?????
wut?
specimens ??? like wee wee samples?
Really Pinkameana Dian Pie really. . .
cosmo-nuts?
coco nuts?
6925752 In theory, if she believes pony magic has brainwashed Small Scale, then she'll need to wait for the magic to be removed so he can remember who his parents are. The rest is really, really wishful feelings that she can keep him as her own; kinda desperately sad, really...
...That having been said, he may be a child, but usually the point one can hold full conversations is the point you should stop treating them as a helpless infant. The ability to protest a crib and diapers in a rational fashion is a good sign they aren't needed...
6925756 I have to admit, my favorite theory is from a fic about Twilight's exam. The examiners had run out of practical tests to give her, so they came up with an impossible test; hatch the egg. Of course, they didn't tell her the egg was found in an archaeological dig and used as a souvenir, since they thought it was dead/fossilized. Forget the name of the story, though...
What if she really is his mom?
6925742
He acts like a teenager, and yes, he is still a kid, but he still acts mature enough. It's not about the exact numbers, it's about how Spike acts. Celia doesn't even bother to ask, she just assumes whatever it is she assumes, while Spike can clearly walk, talk, eat, all by himself. The crib and the diapers were really something, that should not have been brought up by her.
In this chapter the author toned down the "oh you poor baby I just have to help you" theme, also drops more hints about why Celia's acting all motherly (although the crib was plenty to imagine something heartbreaking already), so I'm happy with that. But the second chapter was really, really out of place and felt illogical in a bad way, not in the "this is this character's flaw/outlook/weakness and they just can't do otherwise" way.
Celia is....not well. I think she lost her own whelp?