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"Hey big brother."

Spike turned around in response to the young princess's droopy, sad little voice — his heart softening to the older sibling role he was born to play. He raised his head and eyed the filly as she walked slowly across the room towards him, both wings drooping at each of her side lazily. For a moment, he didn't say anything. There was no other sound than Astra's hooves silently clapping on the crystal floor and the fire crackling in its place. It was a normal habit for the teenage dragon to take one of his well-deserved naps in the most peaceful part of the castle — where he knew most ponies wouldn't be able to find him.

"Tough day?"

"You wouldn't hear the end of it." Astra moaned, taking a place next to the wingless dragon.

"Well, you know as well as I do that I'm a good listener." For a moment, Spike appeared to consider the truth in his words, before nodding it off with a small smile of self-pride.

"Magic is hard." Astra blurted out inconsiderately.

"Is it?"

"Yeah. I have to keep practicing and practice and practice… It's all so tiring!" She whined, giving Spike a sad, tired look out of her big blue eyes.

"Don't you want to be as talented as your mother?"

"I- I'm.. I wouldn't mind that but it's… just so much work.."

Spike nuzzled her purple mane and laughed. "Too much work? For real?" He sighed. "You know, as your mom's Number One Assistant I must say, even though you two appear to have so many similarities, you do have some strange and unexpected differences that sets both of you apart."

"What was your first clue?"

"Alright, listen here." Spike curled his tail and caught hold of the little pony. He pulled her closer toward him until she was leaning on his back. For a second, Astra thought she saw a little twinkle in the dragon's eye, but it disappeared before she could be sure of its existence. Spike put on a blank, serious look — one that has the ability to hypnotize ponies and make them listen to whatever he has to say, no matter how ridiculous. Basically, it was the face that screams for attention and gets it. Secretly, he wished he'd had gotten that ability years ago — especially when he was a little baby dragon that prepares baked goods and could never be taken seriously.

"One day, you'll look back to your past and be thankful for all the things you had to go through to achieve success. You will be proud of it, as you know that it was all worth it. Maybe there will be a few challenges — and believe me, the greatest success had to go through the greatest challenges."

Upvotes at import: 66 | Stars at import: 50
Posted previously at: 2015-05-16T09:37:28 | Posted previously by: Swashbucklist