All was quiet in the tiny village of Ponyville, as night had fallen many hours ago. Not a sound could be heard, save for the occasional hooting of owls or perhaps some other night-time creature. The winds were calm and cool, and with a clear sky, a beautifully bright moon could be seen, illuminating the way for all in the dark. Its light shone especially well off one place in particular; the Friendship Palace. This grand castle, the home of Twilight Sparkle, stood tall and impressive, as it always did. But, here, like everywhere else, all was still and silent, with the exception of one person; Spike. The young drake, safe within the confines of his bed, was tossing and turning, his eyes scrunched tightly for a while before finally snapping open. After a few moments of looking around, he let out a sigh.

“Ugh! Awake?”

Turning, he reached over for a clock beside his bed, and as he brought it close to his face, he squinted his eyes to get a better look at it. There, in bright red, was a very clear “3 AM”. Needless to say, Spike was rather annoyed by this, putting the clock back before turning over and burying his face in his pillow. He stayed there for a while, a good ten minutes in fact, before finally turning around and staring at the ceiling.

“Yeah…I’m not getting back to sleep.”

Letting out a deep exhale, he looked around his room, still dark, save for the light of the moon peering through his window. After letting out a sigh, he took on a thoughtful look for a moment before finally grunting to himself.

“Well, staying here would just bore me. Might as well do something.”

Pulling off his blanket, he stretched out his limbs before hopping out of his bed. Giving his chin a quick scratch, he began to walk over to the door of his room. Reaching out with a single claw, he turned the knob, but when the door started creaking as it opened, he winced.

“Yeesh. I’ve got to get some oil on this thing.”

With his door now fully open, he walked out, checking both left and right in the hallway. Naturally, there was nobody there, and so the dragon walked in out earnest, heading straight for the room of the only other occupant of the castle; Twilight. It didn’t take him long to get there, and when he had, he carefully tip-toed his way to her door, leaning forward and pressing his non-existent ear against it. Within, he heard a steady and peaceful breathing, causing him to step back.

“Hmmm…still asleep.”

Placing his hands upon his hips, he looked around for a while before shrugging his shoulders. With that done, he began to head on down to the ground floor, which took longer than usual given how slow he was walking in an effort to avoid making noise. Once there, he walked over to the kitchen, to the nearby sink, wherein he poured himself a small glass of water. After taking a few sips of it, he smiled down at the glass in his claws.

“Ah! Nice.”

But, as he looked up to the wall, and the clock hanging from it, he realised that only a quarter of an hour had passed, leading to a sigh on his part.

“Ugh. This is gonna take a while.”

Again, he began to walk slowly, this time to one of Twilight’s favourite spots in the castle; the library. There, he reached for a small candle on one of the many tables there, bringing it to his mouth before breathing a small spark of fire onto it. With the candle now lit, he walked along the many bookcases found here, until he eventually reached the end of them. Smiling, he reached forward, pulling out a small collection of comics from in-between two larger history books.

“Well…might as well catch up with my reading.”

Looking around, he found a small soft chair, and after sitting upon it, he carefully placed the candle to one side, after which he looked over his comics before selecting one in particular.

“Let’s see…the Power Ponies and the return of Lord Zudd. Sounds as good a place as any to start.”

Placing the comic in his lap, the young dragon opened its pages, and got down to the business of reading them. Every once in a while, he’d squint his eyes to see it, as even the light of the candle wasn’t really enough for him. However, as he got through comic after comic, he became so utterly engrossed in his readings that he eventually lost track of time. Second after second, minute after minute passed for him, and still, no trace of tiredness crept up to cause him to fall asleep once more. And so time went on, moving on into outright hours, until, finally, the first lights of dawn could be seen out of the nearby window. When this happened, Spike finally looked up from his book, cracking a smile.

“Now that’s a real morning.”

Closing his comics, he hopped off his chair, gathering all of the books in his hand before walking back over to the bookcase he found them from. Once he’d tucked them back in, he looked around, judging the light levels around him before looking to his candle. Taking a deep breath, he blew it out, before then starting to walk back in the direction of the kitchen. As he did so, his stomach started to grumble, leading to a small chuckle on his part. Heading for a small cupboard, he opened it, pulling out a box of his favourite cereal, before walking over to the kitchen table. But, before he sat beside it, he heard the distinct sound of hoofsteps. Stopping, he turned, smiling to himself as he saw his friend, Twilight, now enter the kitchen as well.

“Morning, Twilight.”

The young alicorn had looked quite tired, letting out a loud yawn as she entered, and yet, she nevertheless had enough energy to look surprised when she caught sight of Spike there.

“Spike?”

Turning, she looked up to the clock on the window, before eventually looking back down to her young assistant, raising an eyebrow as she did so.

“Wow. You're up early.”

To that, Spike simply chuckled.

“You have no idea.”