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Three creatures sat close in the half empty office, the tension so palpable somepony could take a bite out of it. The older mare looked uncomfortably down at the coffee cup in her hooves, while the pair across the desk from her gazed at one another in disbelief.
"Against the law?" Spike finally repeated Cheerilee's words, breaking the silence.
"Yes," said the earth pony, sadly, looking up to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry."
"How could my daughter's enrollment in your little school be against the law?" barked Silver Spoon, slamming a hoof down on the principal's desk.
"Mrs. Spoon I don't make the laws, and believe me if it were my choice this one would not be in place. But Greyscale is a hybrid, and… hybrids are not allowed in parts of the Equestrian school system, the same as full blooded non-ponies. I don't believe in it, but… in small towns like ours…"
"I-how dare—Spike, can you believe this?"
Spike bit his tongue, looking down at his claws. He silently curled and straightened his tail, thinking.
"Spike?" added Silver Spoon, concern creeping into her voice.
"I never thought to ask Twi why I didn't go to school," he said, quietly, pawing nervously at his chair.
"I'm truly sorry," said Cheerilee, emphatically, "If it were up to me, any citizen of Equestria would be allowed to seek an education anywhere. As it stands, if Canterlot schools aren't an option, I would suggest looking to enroll Greyscale in a dragon school."
"Hah, yeah, if dragon schools were a thing," Spike chuckled bitterly. He looked down at his wife, and after a moment of consideration said; "Maybe… I mean, maybe it's not a big deal. I didn't get a formal education and I did alright, maybe Grey doesn't need-"
"Grey needs to be treated like any other pony," Silver Spoon interrupted, putting her hooves over Spike's hands, pleadingly, "She's already so… different, Spike. Bipedal, the oldest of her friends, and her interests, I just…"
The dragon and the pony held each other's gaze for a long time. Spike eventually sighed.
"Sorry for taking up so much time, Principal Cheerilee," he said, awkwardly climbing off of his chair and gesturing for Silver Spoon to follow.
"It's no trouble at all, Spike," replied Cheerilee, with a sad but professional smile, "if I can be of help in some way, please feel free to set up another meeting."
"Spike-I—we can't just-" Silver Spoon sputtered, following after her husband and closing the office door behind them. "Spike we can't—we… what are we doing to do? Are we… are we going to have to move to Canterlot, just so Greyscale can go to school?"
"I mean… maybe," Spike admitted. "For now I guess we… I'm just not sure."

Greatly inspired by this work herehttp://silcy.deviantart.com/art/The-talk-656163058 but not referenced/stolen/anything :) Do go give Silcy a look if you haven't, they're a talented artist!
So it occurred to me recently that Spike hasn't received any formal education. I don't doubt that Twilight takes every opportunity to teach him about Starswirl the Bearded or the history of Equestria or whatever else (I assume she's the one who taught him how to read), but he's never gone to school like pony his age (or his mental capacity, since I'm not sure how old he's supposed to be). So I'd decided to make a sad headcanon about it, lol—in parts of Equestria, especially small, old fashion towns like Ponyville, non-ponies (aside from donkeys/zebras/close-enough-to-ponies) and half-ponies (of which there are very few, so the law doesn't really know how to handle them) aren't allowed to go to pony schools (in case you're wondering, Twilight and Thorax's son was immediately enrolled in the best Canterlot school bits can buy)
… I'm already working on a happy headcanon that remedies this sad idea, lol Look for that picture tomorrow XD

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Posted previously at: 2017-06-22T16:26:58 | Posted previously by: icey wicey 1517