My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Starlight Sparkle

Gobbledycook

"Hi, have you seen Spike around?" Twilight Sparkle enquired for about the third time today. Ditzy Doo struck a contemplative pose for a moment as she pondered the question, before shaking her head to indicate that she did not know. With a dejected sigh Twilight turned away. She perked up a little however when she spotted Rarity emerge from Carousel Boutique.

"Rarity!"

"Oh! Hello Twilight," the refined pony greeted her brightly, "I must say, Rainbow Dash did a simply superb job with the weather today, don't you think?"

"She sure did. Say, I don't suppose you know where I can find Spike? I need to send a report to Princess Celestia but I haven't seen him in hours."

"But of course," Rarity gently nudged Twilight around and pointed with a hoof, "He's at Sugarcube Corner with Pinkie Pie and Applejack. They're having some manner of contest I believe."

Twilight's ears stood up straight at this news, her eyes shining. "Oh! Thank you Rarity."

"Don't mention it. Well, I'm off gem hunting, take care now ..."

Sure enough Spike was at Sugarcube Corner just as Rarity said. As for what he was doing ...

"Ready, set ... go!"

Twilight gaped at the spectacle that presented itself as she entered the Ponyville bakery. Two long tables had been set up, both laden with food of all kinds. Cakes, pies, sweets and more besides, covering every available inch of table from one end to the other. At the head of one table was Spike, who was working his way down the line of food, shovelling it all into his mouth with alarming speed. At the next table over Pinkie Pie was doing the same, her tongue scooping food into her waiting maw as if she were a miniature pink tornado.

"What the ...?" Twilight blinked a few times until she noticed Applejack and Rainbow Dash bouncing up and down, cheering the feeding frenzy on. She sidled over to them and glanced back at pony and dragon wolfing down food like there was no tomorrow. "Dare I ask?"

"Twilight!" Dash exclaimed happily, "Check it out; Pinkie Pie and Spike are having a contest to see which of them is the biggest eater. My money is on Pinkie. Look at her go!"

"Hold your horses there," AJ cut in, stamping her hooves, "Don't go countin the lil feller out jus yet!"

Twilight rolled her eyes as both ponies resumed cheering the contestants on. An eating contest? Really? Oh well, she was just going to have to wait until they were finished. And from the look of it that wouldn't take very long. Good grief, they were both going at it like a pair of ravenous bottomless pits. Twilight stared in faint amazement as they finished clearing all of the food laid out for them without so much as slowing down towards the end. Just how they were able to fit so many edibles inside themselves without bursting was a mystery.

"Huh ... I guess it's a draw then?" Rainbow raised a hesitant hoof to her mouth as both contestants licked their frosting covered lips clean. Next to her, Applejack hopped up and down on the spot gleefully.

"Not quite! Heehee, I tole you not to count the little guy out!"

Twilight, Rainbow and Pinkie's eyes all grew wide as Spike, having devoured all food set out for him, proceeded to eat the table itself. His teeth - adept at breaking down gemstones for consumption - effortlessly reduced it to matchsticks. Everypony was dumbstruck as he swallowed the final table leg and let out a tremendous burp.

Applejack nudged Rainbow in the side and winked at her. "There's jus no toppin that. I reckon Spike is the winner here, am I right?" She chortled. Twilight blinked, almost at a loss for words after witnessing her tiny little baby dragon eat not only a table full of food, but the table the food had been laid upon as well.

"It sure looks like it."

Or so it seemed. They were all forgetting one very important thing, however. Spike was up against Pinkie Pie, and Pinkie Pie was ... well, Pinkie Pie.

If they thought they were shocked before, then a far stronger word was needed to describe their reaction upon witnessing what happened next. Not to be outdone in an all-you-can-eat no-holds-barred eating contest, Pinkie Pie one-upped Spike's accomplishment the only way she could.

She ate Spike.

Which is to say she wrapped her tongue around the little purple dragon and stuffed him into her mouth, which promptly stretched out into a vaguely Spike-ish shape. Pinkie then extended her front legs in a gesture of triumph, whilst Rainbow Dash fell over laughing. She sprang back up and nudged Applejack so hard that AJ almost fell over.

"You were saying?" Dash taunted.

Twilight shook her head until she regained her senses, then strode forwards. "Yes, well done Pinkie, I think we can safely say that you won. If it's not too much trouble could you please spit Spike out? I need him to send a letter to Princess Celestia for me."

The little dragon landed in a sticky heap in front of Twilight, covered in saliva and wearing a vaguely stunned expression upon his bewildered face. Pinkie Pie grinned widely.

"That was fun! We should do that again sometime!"

Spike groaned. "Ugh ... if it's all the same, I'd rather not ..." His cheeks puffed out for a moment and it looked as if he was about to throw up. Everyone reared back, ready to dive for cover if it became necessary to dodge any projectile dragon vomit. As it turned out there was no need - what issued from Spike's mouth was not regurgitated food, but a jet of green flames that materialised into a scroll.

A message from the Princess.

Twilight levitated the scroll with her magic and unfurled it, her eyes darting across the page as she read the contents within.

My dear student Twilight Sparkle, I am deeply impressed with your progress so far. So much so in fact that I have a new assignment for you which I believe is well suited to your talents and experience. You have learned so much about magic that I would like you to teach what you have learned to my niece, Astra. Astra is a talented unicorn who holds a tremendous fascination for magic. Unfortunately I do not have the time to teach her myself. I am therefore sending her to Ponyville to study under your tutelage. I am certain that with your guidance and first hand knowledge, Astra can learn much from you.

"Your faithful teacher, Princess Celestia," Twilight finished reading the message aloud. The scroll hit the ground like a rock after she released her magical hold over it and stared off into space.

"Oh wow!" Pinkie jumped up and down excitedly, "Princess Celestia's niece coming to Ponyville? We should so throw her a welcoming party! Do you think she likes chocolate cake?"

Applejack wrinkled her muzzle at the prospect. "Not if she's anything like that uppity nephew Prince Blueblood. Some ponies are jus too full of 'emself to hang around with us common folk."

Rainbow Dash was more concerned with Twilight, who had not moved even a smidgeon since she had finished reading the letter. The pegasus pony strolled over and waved a hoof in front of Twilight's face, which resulted in no discernable change.

"Uhh, Twilight? You okay? You look a little ..."

"Horrified?" AJ offered.

"I was gonna go with 'stunned', but yeah, horrified works too."

Spike got to his feet and tried to flick some of the saliva coating his scales off, which went about as well as mopping your face with a handkerchief whilst standing in the middle of a thunderstorm. He grumbled profusely at this, and Pinkie attempted to remedy the situation by licking him clean. This only resulted in him dripping with even more of her saliva. Eventually Rainbow Dash poked Twilight between the eyes and the unicorn blinked and shook her head.

"Me? Teach? Me?" She chewed at her lip, "I can't teach the Princess's niece! I mean ... what do I know about magic?"

Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged looks that said 'I'm not gonna state the obvious answer to that'. Twilight remained oblivious to this and promptly laid down on the floor, her front legs covering her head as if she were afraid something might explode. After several seconds of staring into space again with fearful eyes, she let out a low whimper. Finally Spike marched up to her face and extended his claws in a gesture intended to emphasise his point.

"Twilight, what are you worrying about? You'd make an awesome teacher! What you don't know about magic could probably fit on the head of a pin!"

"He's right sugarcube," Applejack nuzzled Twilight, "Don't ye go fretting yourself none. If anypony can teach somepony about magic, it's you."

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "And just remember we're behind you 120% of the way!"

Twilight lowered her legs and lifted her head up a little, her previous anxiety slipping away in the face of her friends overwhelming confidence in her. It was a comfort to know that they had such faith in her. And they were right! She could do this. She would do this. After all, how hard could it be to teach one unicorn a thing or two about magic?

Right?