In Spike We Trust

In Spike We Trust

• Cornflak

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I can’t sleep. I’m just pacing around my room. I stop every now and then to glance at the chest containing the stolen Elements.

“Really, Spike, it isn’t healthy to work yourself up like this.” As usual, Discord’s acting like he actually cares about me. I can see through his sharp smile, though. He’s getting me caught in something big, and I don’t have the guts to fight back. I should have told Celestia everything when I was at the party.

“Don’t even talk to me.” I cross my arms and stare at a corner of the room.

“Why so glum? You did an excellent job!”

“Just shut up.”

“Actually, you really surprised me. I didn’t think you’d go through with the plan.”

“Well, you got what you wanted.”

“Very true!” he flies up behind me and pats my head, “I’m so proud of you, Spikey Wikey.” I throw my claw behind me and swat him away.

“Why do you keep calling me that?”

“I thought you liked it..” he actually looks a little hurt, but I have to remember that this is Discord.

“Well, cut it out. That’s Rarity’s thing. Just call me Spike.” he shrugs and throws himself on my bed.

“Have it your way.” it almost looks like he’s about to fall asleep when he curls up on the sheets.

“So, is that it?” I take a few steps in his direction. He opens one eye and grins.

“Ah, yes. My end of the deal was not forgotten.” he sits up and spawns a little figurine that looks like Rarity, and then he does the same thing for one that looks like me, “In seven hours’ time, the sun will rise. And as reward for your crime, shall you receive love’s surprise.” and he chooses this moment to have the two action figures hug each other while he makes sloppy kissing noises.

“Well...good. Just don’t play any jokes on me this time, okay?”

He doesn’t get a chance to answer because we both hear the front door burst open from downstairs, followed by the the trampling of hooves on hardwood floor.

“Spike!! Spike? Spike, are you here?”

It’s Twilight. She must have come straight from the party after word got out. Ugh, I can already see the headlines. I’ll have to remember to stay away from the papers for the next few weeks.

I look over at Discord and his eyes have gotten wide. I think he might really be worried.

“Spike...” he whispers, “If she sees any of this, you know I’ll have to become violent.” I’m already pushing the chest into my closet while he’s advising me. At first, I don’t really understand why Discord is so worried about being seen. I mean, the Elements of Harmony are his now. He can snap a finger and turn Ponyville into a world of chaos all over again.

So why all of this sneaking around?

Twilight busts the door open and finds me lying on my bed. There’s no Discord, and there are certainly no Elements of Harmony.

She looks like she just galloped a marathon.

“Spike, where have you been?”

I stretch and yawn.

“Oh. Hey, Twilight. How was the party?” I roll away and face the wall with my window.

“Why did you just leave all of a sudden?”

“Got bored, I guess.”

“Well, wake up!” she steps deeper inside, “Something terrible’s happened!”

I have to sit up and look confused or else she’ll suspect something.

“Really? Uh, w-what’s wrong?”

“It’s the Elements of Harmony. Somepony’s stolen them right under our noses!”

“Oh, no! Who would do such a thing?” I think I’m starting to overdo it.

“That’s exactly what we’re trying to figure out. You didn’t see anything suspicious, did you?”

“Huh?”

“At the party. Did anypony seem different to you?”

“Uhhh...I don’t think so.” I scratch my head and hope that she’ll leave, “Does Celestia know?”

“Of course she knows. She’s the one who made the announcement before anypony left.”

“Oh...well, uhh...maybe we’ll find em’.”

“I sure hope so, Spike.” she moves to my window and looks out, “We’re going to get the girls together and perform a search through Ponyville. We’ll go further than that if we have to.”

“Good luck with that.”

She turns and glares at me.

“Now’s not the time to be lazy. You’re coming with us.”

“Alright, alright!” I groan and lie back down.

“Get plenty of sleep for tomorrow.” Twilight says when she decides to finally head for my door, “I’ll be downstairs. I need to sort all of this out.”

And then my door shuts. That’s when I hear Discord snickering from somewhere in my room.

“She looked right at me. How did she not see?”

_________________________________________

Let me tell you what happened after Twilight left.

I never went to sleep. I would just sit on my bed and listen to Discord sing songs about times before I was born. It reminded me of how wise he actually was. I mean, under all the chaos and pranking, he actually knew a lot about Equestria. I guess he should, seeing how he’s been here for centuries.

He would sing about love for one minute, and then he would sing about friendship. I wanted to ask him how he knew about those things, but I guess it actually calmed me down to listen to him. I hate to say it, but he really had a nice voice. The sound of the rain hitting our roof made me tense, though. I figured that I would be fine as long as it didn't start thundering.

FLASH

I jumped when I saw the lightning outside my window. I threw the bed sheets over my face and waited for the rumbling of the storm. Discord stopped singing when the thunder started shaking the house a little. I think he only stopped because he saw me hiding, though. Before the lightning and the thunder, he would kind of look over at me and keep singing. But now he can probably see how scared I get when there’s all this noise outside.

I can still remember feeling the bed shift around when Discord crawled next to me. At first, I yelled out and tried to push him away, but he just got closer and wrapped his body around me. I wanted to scream, but his tail was in the way of my mouth. I thought maybe he was about to kill me.

“Shhh, you don’t want Twilight to hear, do you?” he whispered close to my ear so that I could feel how hot and wet his breath was. I was panting at that point, still wriggling around to get free, “Really, Spike, you become so flustered during these storms.”

He chuckled and snapped his finger. I didn’t know what to expect when I heard that. When Discord snaps his fingers, anything can happen.

But nothing bad happened to me. I was still in my bed. Discord was still wrapped around me. The rain stopped, though, so I guess that’s all he did. Some droplets were still dripping from outside my window, but no more rain fell down from the sky that night. When I sighed with relief, I guess Discord felt like it was safe to uncover my mouth. That was when he started petting me.

Yeah, I thought it was really weird. This wasn’t like him at all. I felt like he should’ve had better things to do than cuddle with a little dragon nobody like me. I wasn’t stupid. I knew that he was up to something. It just took me a long time to figure out what it was.

But anyway, that’s what happened when Twilight left.

_________________________________________

Right now, the sun’s starting to rise. The birds are all chirping and waking everypony up for the big day. Yeah...the only thing big about today is that it’ll be a big waste of time. Twilight wants us to go around Ponyville and look for the Elements, but nopony’s gonna think about looking in my closet. It’s kind of scary to think about how easy it was to steal them so easily. At the same time, it’s kind of a rush. I still remember how excited I felt when I snatched them from Celestia’s castle. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that I’m starting to get greedy again.

“Good morning, Spikey Wikey.” I almost punch Discord right in the snout for calling me that, but then I remember that Twilight had sent me to Rarity’s house this morning. I guess I was too busy thinking about the stormy night that I forgot where I am. I’m supposed to tell her about the search party.

“Oh, good morning...” I step through her door and she closes it behind me. I have to shake my head a lot to try and wake up. I’m still groggy from last night.

“Are you alright? You seem a little...off.” she trots ahead of me and pushes a chair in my direction. I don’t have a choice, because I practically fall into it from exhaustion.

“I’m tired...” I say into the arm of the chair.

“Well, I can see that.”  she almost laughs.

“You don’t hate me, do you?” I slowly sit up and rub my eyes.

“Hate you? Why, what would prompt such a silly question?”

I can’t tell if she’s being snarky or if she really has gotten over it.

“You know...the hair thing.”

She sort of stares at me for a little longer before blowing up with laughter.

“Oh! No, no, no, Spike. I don’t hate you for that. I mean...” she stops herself and looks to the side, “I mean, yes, it was rather embarrassing, but...no. No, I could never hate you, darling.”

I smile a little and look at her mane. It’s back to normal, somehow.

“Hey, your hair looks better already!”

“Hehe, well...it’s a wig. But thank you, Spike.”

Then I just feel bad again.

“So, tell me all about the party!” she leans in and gets all giddy.

I’m not sure what to tell her. I know how bad she wanted to go, and I don’t wanna sit here and talk about how fancy it was. Plus, I can’t just tell her that I went and stole the Elements of Harmony.

“Eh, I dunno. I didn’t stay long at all.”

“Really?” she tilts her head, “Why is that?”

I shrug, “Just didn’t seem fair if you couldn’t be there.”

“Oh, Spike...you’re too sweet.” she smiles and just keeps looking at me like she wants to tell me something really important, “I suppose I did overreact about my hair that night. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s okay.” I wave a claw at her.

“No, really. It was wrong; it was absolutely atrocious behavior.”

I can’t think of anything to say, so I just keep listening. She’s getting really into it.

“Nopony says it often enough, Spike, but...” Rarity looks down like she’s about to start crying, but then she looks up again, “...you really are a good dragon. Please don’t let anypony tell you anything different. Promise me that.”

My cheeks feel really warm right now and I can’t help but smile really big.

“Y-You’re not just saying that?”

“Of course not! You’re one of the most considerate ponies...err...” she laughs and hides her face. That makes me laugh too, “No, really...” she catches her breath gets serious again, “What I’m trying to say is that you’re absolutely divine, Spike. I don’t know why I never realized it.”

I sit here and try to let that soak in. She’s dishing out more compliments than usual. Everything she’s saying is borderline romantic. Does this mean that Discord was telling the truth for once? Is...Rarity falling in love with me?

Everything stops for a second. I fall through my chair like a ghost. I fall through the floor like a ghost. I fall through the ground. Through the earth. Through Equestria. I black out. My heartbeat is the only sound, and it starts beating faster. I can feel my scales warming up. It’s like I’ve hopped into a bath that’s too hot. But it doesn’t sting or burn. It wraps around me like a blanket, like I’m being held by the mother I never had. That feeling of belonging somewhere. I’ve never felt it before. It’s Rarity. It’s always been Rarity. It doesn’t matter where life takes me. When I’m with Rarity, I feel like this.

And maybe she’s finally understanding that.

That’s when Discord ruins the moment and taps my shoulder.

As soon as I feel his presence, I skyrocket to the ceiling and cling to a chandelier.

“You?!” I scream with my eyes tightly shut, “W-What are you doing here?! Um...uh...Rarity, go get help! I don’t know anything about this, I swear!”

“Spike, do calm yourself.” I open my eyes and I’m floating back down to my seat, “Your precious Rarity left the room to fetch some tea. I waited for the right moment to step in.”

When my butt hits the soft chair, I start to relax. Discord isn’t lying, because Rarity is obviously not in the room anymore. Plus, it looks like he stole her seat. He’s reclining and sipping from a cup of his own tea that he probably just now spawned.

“Enjoying yourself?” he gives me this drunk smile that looks all-knowing at the same time, like this is just a game to him.

“What do you mean?” I ask him, but I feel like I’ve asked it a hundred times with no real answer.

“Spike?” I hear Rarity’s voice echoing from the kitchen, “Why were you yelling? Who’re you talking to?”

“Uh...um, nopony! Just...I was just...” my heart feels like it can’t beat any faster without coming loose and bouncing around my insides.

“Psst.” When I hear that, I look over at Discord and I can see that he’s about to whisper something, “You saw a spider.”

“Oh! I...I saw a spider!”

“A spider? Is that all?” she sounds like she doesn’t believe me.

Discord nods and sips from his cup again.

“Yeah, yeah! A big one!” there’s a pause before I can hear her laughing.

“Well, I do hope you didn’t make a mess.”

I sigh and try to let the conversation between me and Rarity die. I don’t want her trotting through here with the spirit of chaos making himself home in her living room.

“Sounds like she’s taken quite a hefty liking to you.” Discord says this while resting his chin on his lion paw and his elbow sitting on the arm of the chair. From top to bottom, he just really looks like he’s up to something.

“Yeah, I guess.” I sound a little more bored than I mean to. It makes him wave his talon at me.

“Oh, don’t downplay what’s going on here. You know what’s going on here.”

I take a second before answering. I’m crossing my arms and I’m not looking at him. Yeah, I know what’s happening. It’s just hard to admit it. I’d like to believe that everything happened naturally. It makes me nauseous to think that Rarity is reading from a script, that Discord’s strings are guiding her hooves around the house.

“Yeah, so?” I huff and keep glaring at the carpet.

“So let’s see a glimmer of gratitude, shall we?” he actually sounds a little upset.

“Thanks.” I make it as dry as I can. I think it struck a nerve, because this makes him growl and throw his arms up in the air, along with his cup of tea. It crashes against the wall and bits of debris fly out in all directions. I almost cover my face from all the flying pieces, but then everything starts happening in reverse. All of the wreckage regroups back to the wall, the moment of impact. From there, the pieces reassemble themselves until there’s a cup zipping back to Discord’s talon, which snatches the cup in midair like the whole thing was choreographed. It was like nothing had happened.

“I see you’ve been doubling your dose of Twilight’s books. Your vocabulary has vastly improved, Spike.” Discord says this while sipping his tea again.

“Huh?” It takes me a minute to think about what he means by that. He’s either being sarcastic or...was he reading my thoughts?

“On the contrary, I still am.” he can’t say this without chuckling first, but right now I’m starting to feel like I’m losing all of my privacy, “I wouldn’t worry yourself, Spikey Wikey. I don’t plan on being here for very long. Well...not physically, anyway.”

“Look!!” I hop out of my chair and clench my fists, “Stop calling me that! I want you to just get out of here! I’m trying to have some quality time with Rarity! Can you just go away for ten minutes or something?!”

Discord’s eyes get really big, and then he just relaxes. His eyebrows drop really low so that he’s narrowing his eyes. It’s like he finally knows how things are, but he doesn’t look very happy about it.

“I think I’ll give you a day or two to think about your attitude.” he says this like a teacher would say to a trouble-making student, and then he just snaps his finger and flashes out of the room. I don’t even have time to blink.

“Spike, are you still talking to that awful creature?” Rarity comes in from behind me. I turn around and I can see that she’s levitating two cups of tea on either side of her. I’m not sure if she’s talking about the spider or if she knows that Discord was just here. I decide to play it safe.

“Heh, yeah...that darn spider.” I scratch the back of my head and look down. I can feel myself turning red in the cheeks. Rarity just smiles. Maybe she really doesn’t suspect anything.

“Well, I hope that’s the last time we see him.” she says this while heading over to her chair, the one that Discord was sitting in just seconds ago, “There you go, darling.” she levitates one of her teacups my way. I don’t waste any time and I grab a hold of it as soon as I can. I really just think I’m afraid that it’ll fly away and crash into something if I don’t hold it close.

I don’t even like tea all that much, but I slurp the surface just to be polite.

“So, tell me.” she pauses and adjusts her wig with a hoof. Her tone sounds a lot more dark and serious, “Do they have any leads on that vile thief?”

“Hm? Thief?” I get a little too defensive, “I don’t know anything! Wait, what are you talking about?”

Rarity tilts her head and squints, “You mean...you haven’t...?” she laughs and shakes her head while looking down at the floor, “I’m sorry, I just thought you knew. I suppose it does make sense. You did say that you didn’t stay very long, is that right?”

I can feel the teacup trembling in my claw. I’ve never tried so hard to take even breaths of air. Luckily, all of this adrenaline keeps me talking.

“Oh! The Elements of Harmony!” I fake a chuckle and wave at her, “I didn’t know what you were talking about for a second. Yeah, yeah, uhh...yeah, Twilight actually wants to snoop around town for any clues and stuff. She wants you to come with us.”

Rarity nods very slowly and her eyes wander to one side of the room.

“I suppose that’s why you’re here, then?”

“Yup!” I slurp some more of her mop water tea. I feel like I said something wrong, but I’m really just trying to stop talking about the recent theft, “So, you wanna help us out?”

I can tell that she forces a smile, “Oh, of course! I just need to...clean the kitchen, but...yes, of course. I’ll head straight to the library after I freshen up.” she takes our cups and heads to the kitchen, “You can stay and wait if you like.” she adds before leaving the room.

I just sit in my chair and look up at the chandelier. I look over at the corners of the ceilings. All four of them. My eyes crawl down the walls. I suddenly look over my shoulder, and then I look over my other shoulder. I’m still being watched. I wipe my mouth with my arm and try to ignore the aftertaste of the tea. I try to ignore the elephant in the room, the eyes that I can feel through the back of my neck. It’s like an itch that I can’t reach.

But I try to think about other stuff.

In just a few minutes, I’ll be with the other girls.

We’ll be on the hunt for the Elements that are in my closet.

If I could, I would just stay right here and tell Rarity to stay with me.

It’s the only thing I ever wanted out of this.