Okay, so this is my first MLP: FiM fic, but I became a brony (brony can be used for girls, right?) in ten seconds flat and just had to write a fanfic about it since I loved it so much! This is just the first chapter and I'm thinking it'll be pretty long, but we'll see. If you're reading this, then thank you! :))

Disclaimer: I sadly do not own these characters.

Standing atop the highest mountain peak of all Equestria, Celestia arched her long, graceful neck, tilting her head so as to face the star strewn sky. She slowly blinked her luminescent eyes and took in the last lingering chill of the night, then dramatically extended her feathered wings to welcome the coming of dawn. She breathed in before releasing a powerful pulse of magic from her pearly white horn, coaxing the sun to rise from its state of slumber and take its allotted place in the heavens. Her head wreathed in beaming rays, droplets of night dew glistening on her opened wings, and the sun rising behind her silhouetting her majestic frame, Princess Celestia was surely the epitome of pulchritude. She smiled slightly at the shining result of her reiterative duty, and entertained airy thoughts in her mind. She briskly tossed her mane to clear her head and to fill it with royal obligations and concerns. Letting out a noble neigh and rearing on her hind legs, allowing her front ones to paw at the air, Celestia alighted into the sky with a single beat of her wings, and made her way to her palace in Canterlot.

And so began another day in Equestria.

"Twilight! Wake up! Ha, it's not like you to sleep in!" Spike teased as he tugged on Twilight Sparkle's pillow.

"Ungh," Twilight muttered groggily. But upon realizing that it was morning, she became startlingly alert. "Wh-What time is it, Spike?" she panicked.

"Uh, I dunno, no watch, remember?" Spike replied, pointing to his noticeably bare wrist.

"Agh! Princess Celestia has already risen the sun halfway to its zenith!" Twilight exclaimed, glancing out her window. " I way overslept! This is not good! Not good at all!" And with that, she desperately bounded out from under her covers and galloped down the staircase, but not without tripping over a loose board and tumbling the rest of the way down.

Landing in a disgruntled heap, Twilight picked herself up and brushed herself off, clearly irritated, but not letting the situation get the better of her. She turned around to look coolly at Spike, to prove to him that what just happened was nothing. But the loose board had become dislodged, and before Twilight knew what had hit her (literally), the board came crashing down on her head, knocking her to the floor.

Meanwhile, Spike rolled on the floor laughing his tail off. "Hahahaha! Oh, Twilight," he said, gasping for breath and wiping his eyes, "you-you should have seen your face when you-you-hahaha! And then the board- the board- hahaha! And it broke over your head! Haha! Boy, Twilight, you must have one hard head!"

Twilight was not amused. Glaring at the board that caused her so much trouble, she saw that sure enough, it was snapped in two. Lifting a hoof delicately to her head, she gingerly rubbed the spot where the board hit her, and was met with a throbbing pain.

Twilight breathed in sharply to suppress a cry, and substituted it with an "ouch." Spike's guffaws were cut short when Twilight gave him a piercing stare that could almost rival one of Fluttershy's.

"Spike, would you mind postponing your giggle-fest to a later date and make time for showing concern for my well- being?" Twilight asked through gritted teeth.

"Sure, whatever you say, boss," Spike responded while snorting back a final chortle. "Uh, I'll go get you…some ice! Yeah, that should do the trick!" He made his way down the stairs with a refined composure, but once he passed Twilight on his way to the kitchen, he started to snicker silently to himself.

"Twilight 'Fall-kle?' No no, Twilight 'Tumble!' Yup, still got it," Spike murmured under his breath while giving a satisfied nod of his head. He fumbled around in the freezer putting together a make-shift icebag for Twilight. Upon completion, he rushed back to Twilight, and without looking grabbed the breakfast on the counter that he had made her hours before.

"Here you go! Ice for your injury and toast with honey-oat butter for your breakfast," Spike exclaimed proudly, holding both of them out to her.

"Uh, Spike? Why does the toast have whipped cream and sprinkles?" Twilight asked with a cocked brow.

"What?" Spike looked at the plate in his hands to see what Twilight could possibly be talking about. But there it was, toast with a mountain of whipped cream completely covered in rainbow sprinkles.

"I-I didn't do that!"

"Hee hee! I did!" Pinkie Pie shouted happily as she came out from behind Twilight.

Both Spike and Twilight started out of shock and were so startled they practically jumped ten feet in the air. When in Equestria did Pinkie Pie come in?

Pinkie Pie gave a giddy laugh to see Spike and Twilight so "excited" to see her.

"Pinkie Pie! Why did- how did- when did you get here?" Spike questioned, gasping and clutching at his chest as it rapidly rose and fell. Twilight, looking pretty out of breath herself, nodded wildly as if to agree with Spike's question.

"Oh, a few hours ago," Pinkie Pie said casually, waving the question away with a flick of her hoof. "I was here to pick up Twilight when I saw the plate of toast through the kitchen window, and I just thought that it looked so sad, being all brown-ish and plain-y, and I remembered that I had my whipped cream and sprinkles with me and I thought how absolutely positutely happy the toast would be if I decorated it with whipped cream and sprinkles, so I came inside and cheered it up!" she finished with a big smile.

"But wasn't the door locked?" Twilight asked, still recovering from shock.

Pinkie Pie gave her a confused look. "Door? Locked?"

Twilight sighed and shook her head. "Never mind, Pinkie."

"Okey dokey lokey!" Pinkie Pie grinned. "Ready to go now?"

"Now? Is it time to go to the meadows already? Oh, but I haven't even gotten in a morning read! And I need to fix the stairs, and I have to organize my recent research, and-"

"It's okay, Twilight," Spike interrupted, "I can take care of it all, no problem!"

"Really, Spike? That would be great!" Twilight gave him a relieved smile. "Thanks, Number One Assistant," she added with a wink.

Spike puffed up at this. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, it's just something I do."

"Come on, Twilight! Let's go! Let's go let's go let's go!" Pinkie Pie sang as she pranced towards the door.

"Haha, alright, I'm coming," Twilight followed. "Oh, wait just a second," she said. She then used her horn to magically retrieve the ice-bag and hovered it over to land on her head. "Ah, much better," she sighed.

"Hee hee, by the way, I saw you trip. It was hil-ar-i-ous!" Pinkie Pie affirmed.

"I know, right?" Spike joined, but stopped himself short once he saw Twilight's disapproving expression. "I mean…it was dangerous and she could have gotten really hurt," he spoke steadily as he waved his hands in front of him in a defensive manner.

Twilight smirked and raised a brow at Spike's sudden change of view. "I should be back late this evening. You sure you'll be fine?"

"Oh yeah, a-okay!" Spike assured with the universal "ok" hand signal.

"Well, alright. Bye!"

"Yeah, buh-bye!" Pinkie Pie hollered from outside, looking in from a window.

Spike and Twilight looked at each other. Baffled at how she got there.

"When did she- how did she-"

Spike shrugged in response, "It's Pinkie Pie."

Twilight laughed. "Yeah, you're right. Hey, wait up, Pinkie pie!" And with that, Twilight cantered out the door and it closed fast behind her…

leaving Spike alone.

Spike has been left alone more often than he ever has before, mainly because Twilight doesn't stay cooped up inside all day anymore. Her only company used to be musty old books, but now she has found new company, outside with her new friends that taught her how to "let loose" and have fun. Don't get him wrong, Spike was happy for Twilight, and was glad that she wouldn't die alone and socially inept, but he couldn't help but feel a twinge of resentment whenever she went out to enjoy herself while he stayed behind to take care of his, and occasionally her, duties. The first time he was on his own, it was an adventure, and he got to do things he would have never thought of doing with anyone around. The mirror was his to pose for, the fridge was his to raid, the bookshelves were his to climb on. But after the first few times, it got old, and being alone lost its appeal. And it grew boring. But now he's gotten used to the solitude. The quiet. And now he doesn't mind. As much.

"Well," Spike rubbed his hands together, "guess I'd better get started on that staircase then."

He tossed Pinkie Pie's "decorated breakfast creation" into the nearest wastebasket, not at all tempted by the alluring whipped cream; he was more of a sparkly diamond kind of guy. He then sauntered his way up the stairs, handiwork not being his favorite thing to do, when something in the hollowed floorboard of the broken stair caught his eye.

He rushed up to it, excited to see what kind of treasure awaited him. It looked square-ish, maybe it was some sort of chest. Maybe he'd get his sparkly diamonds after all! But his heart dropped upon realizing that it was just an old, fat book. And it looked really old. It was covered in what used to be extravagant black leather binding that was now threadbare due to years of neglect. The only thing holding it together was dull, gold thread, embroidered in fancy patterns all around the edges of the book covers and spine. You could tell that the book used to be beautiful, but Spike only saw its current raggedness.

He picked it up, disinterested, but he wanted to read the title since he knew Twilight would want to add this to her "collection." He rubbed off the layer of dust that caked the entire book, coughing a little whenever some flew up to his nose. The title of the book was carefully sewn into the cover in the same gold thread that held the book together. It was very ornately done, and Spike had difficulty reading it, but after a bit of squinting and turning, he could make it out.

"Enchanting Elixirs, Powerful Potions, and Dangerous Draughts: Magical Mixtures throughout the Ages. Ooooh, a magic book!" Spike stated with interest after mumbling the title under his breath.

He hefted the weighty book in his arms and carefully carried it to Twilight's reading desk so he could take a closer look at it. He lifted the cover and cautiously flipped the yellowed, crusty pages, glancing at the different potions that each one detailed. Ingredients were listed along with directions for how to brew them, reminding Spike of Pinkie Pie's cook books. Spike found some of them intriguing. Lots of the potions were ones that could heal any ailment, or inflict any malady, but as he went on, they became more useless and harder for him to determine their effects. One of them only had the use of turning socks different colors, and many were in different languages that Spike had never seen before.

"Let's see, Polyjuice Potion? Liquid Light from the Sacred Star of Eärendil? Dr. Hyde's Draft? What is this stuff?" Spike pondered, using a claw to scratch at a scale on his head.

His indifference toward the book was starting to match his confusion, and he was about to close it for good when the next page caught his attention. His eyes darted over it excitedly. The page was titled "Potion of Love and Passion," and he leaned in closer, anxious to find out more about it, as his mind flooded with thoughts of Rarity.