The Beginning of the End
Ever since Twilight's last life threatening encounter in the Crystal Empire, Princess Celestia felt the need to lighten her workload and duties overall. She had told her that she deserved to take it easier since she had done so much with her life, especially in the last three years, than most did in a lifetime. Celestia even went so far as to tell her that, as a young woman in the prime of her life, she shouldn't be locked away in a stuffy room full of stuffier books and delving into the great mysteries of the universe when she had a life to live apart from her scholarly pursuits. She wasn't outright forcing Twilight to give up her passion, she was only reducing the number of her projects and extending the amount of time she had to work on them.
With this sudden boon of free time, Twilight honestly didn't know what to do with herself. So she took it upon herself to try to integrate herself into the social fiber of the town as someone more than the eccentric town librarian who had a penchant for blowing up her basement on occasion. Despite her awkward attempts at social mingling, which was actually closer to floundering, Twilight's friend's knew exactly what to do. They took her out for lunches and introduced her to their own acquaintances, had quiet talks in kitchens with her over tea about everyday life and showed her the various activities she could do around town. None of her friends was more involved than Pinkie Pie, always there to give her a little nudge or extra support when she needed it the most. Most days, she even showed up before she started work at Sugar Cube Corner with a steaming basket of delicious breakfast pastries. Normally she didn't do much except talk with Twilight and spare Spike the chore of making breakfast, but she hadn't been by this morning when she normally showed up like clock work.
Unsurprisingly, Twilight hadn't noticed Pinkie's absence yet as she had been up all night reading a new novel and was still working on finishing it before twenty four hours had passed when Spike had checked up on her. Spike noticed as he normally woke up a short while before Pinkie Pie would arrive and was wondering where the vibrant girl was. He was lounging around the main room in the library, reading a comic as he waited for her to show up but she never did when eight rolled around and went by. Spike was slightly worried by her absence, but not overly so as he was sure something had just come up and she couldn't make it today.
So with a slightly disappointed sigh at not seeing the lively woman, he got up and made his way to the kitchen around a quarter after eight so he could make some scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. He was just about finished with it when a slightly punch drunk Twilight tromped in from her literary bender and flopped into a chair, wearing her usual night time attire of short lilac sleeping shorts and a tee shirt two sizes too big. “Morning, sunshine,” Spike said with a smirk. “You finish your book?”
“Yeah,” she mumbled. “Why are you making breakfast? Didn't Pinkie stop by this morning?”
“Nope.” Spike pulled out two plates and scraped half of the skillets contents onto each one, adding two slices of almost burnt toast to Twilight's plate and three slices of golden brown perfection to his own. “She must have had something come up.”
“Probably,” she replied as she leaned her cheek against her hand and closed her eyes, only to open them as Spike put her plate in front of her. He went back to the counter and opened a drawer, fetching a fork for each of them and returned to his seat after handing Twilight hers. “So, you got anything going on today?”
“Not really,” he replied after swallowing his mouthful of eggy delight. “Rarity's busy today with a custom order from some Canterlot noble, so I was just thinking about going over to Applejack's and see if they needed an extra pair of hands around the farm today.” It was still a little strange for Spike to not be exceptionally put out by Rarity being too busy for him to stop by. Then again, he had finally managed to successfully ask her out almost a year ago on his 16th birthday and had taken her out on several dates since then. Things seemed to be going well between the two, but it was slow going with her often being quite busy with her work.
“Ah,” she said as she lifted her plate up and began shoveling scrambled eggs into her mouth with a piece of toast, taking bites out of it to compliment the eggs.
“You know,” Spike began with an easy grin. “Ever since you've left Canterlot, your table manners have gotten absolutely horrible. I don't even see the point in bringing you silverware anymore if you're going to eat like that.” Twilight shot him a mock glare and stuck out her egg and toast covered tongue at him as she opened her mouth a little. Spike grimaced and averted his eyes. “Real mature, Twilight, real mature.”
She cackled with her half full mouth and swallowed before replying, “This coming from you?”
“Hey, I've done some growing up while it seems like you've done the exact opposite,” he snarked. “It is good to see you really unwinding though. I think having Pinkie around has been good for you.”
Twilight blushed faintly for reasons she wasn't quite sure of, “You think so?”
“Yeah,” he replied after swallowing another bite of his food. “You never would have acted like this a year ago. It's nice to finally have 'Twilight the Sister' around most of the time compared to 'Twilight the Scholar.'” Twilight gave a sheepish smile and returned to eating her meal. “Definitely a lot fewer messes to clean up.”
She choked a little on her food and coughed to clear her airway before shooting a glare at Spike and growled, “You little snot.”
Spike laughed at that and finished off his eggs, leaving a piece of toast that he nibbled on leisurely, “So, what about you? Any big plans?”
“Sleep,” she replied after she polished off the last of her own food. “Sleep and more sleep.”
“Good to see your priorities are in order,” he joked. “I'll come back home after lunch and open up the library so you can get some sleep.”
“Alright,” she replied as she stretched and yawned in her seat. “I'll see you later.” With that, Twilight got up and meandered her way out of the kitchen and back upstairs where she carelessly flung herself on her bed and promptly fell asleep with her limbs akimbo.
Spike took their plates and his fork to the sink and opened the hot water tap as he put Twilight's unused fork back with its brethren in storage. He brought the skillet and spatula over as well and cleaned them all in good order before drying them and putting them back in their proper places. With the last of his chores done for the moment, he went to his room and changed into a pair of well used jeans and an old pair of shoes before heading out a little after nine. The morning sun peeked through the modest cloud cover as Spike briskly made his way through town, soon reaching the shaded path to Sweet Apple Acres.
As he rounded the last bend in the road, he saw Applejack crossing the yard and waved to her with an easy smile. She saw him and veered off from her trek to the barn to wait by its corner. “Mornin', Spike,” she said with a pleasantly surprised smile. “What brings you out here today?”
“Rarity was busy with a project and I had nothing else going on, so I figured I'd drop by and see if you needed an extra pair of hands around the place,” he replied with a shrug.
“Oh, Ah see how it is,” she replied with a smirk. “Only offering ta help out when you're not busy tryin' ta woo Rarity, huh?”
Spike snorted at that. “You try finding time to help out on a farm for a few spare hours when you have two demanding woman in your life and work part time at a library.”
“Ah wouldn't know anything about that, but Ah'd keep that kinda talk on the down low unless you want people thinking you're a ladies man,” she said in a slightly sultry voice as she teased him. “Might start expectin' things from ya that you're not willing ta make good on.”
He blushed a bit at that and laughed, Applejack joining him as he just rolled with her teasing. “So, you need some help?” he asked after the moment had passed.
“Sure,” she replied with a tilt of her head towards the back of the house. “Big Mac's gonna be dropping that dying tree out in the north field and Ah'm sure he'd appreciate the help.”
“Alright,” he replied.
“He's over at the shed getting things together,” she said as she started to move off and he began making his way to the back of the house. “You come by more often and you'll put on enough muscle ta make Rarity weak in the knees when ya take your shirt off.”
He blushed and snorted in amusement at that but didn't say anything in the negative. He wouldn't mind putting on a bit more muscle after all. As he rounded the house, he spotted the enormous Apple coming out of the shed with a ax propped against one shoulder and a canvas sack filled with various tools in his other hand. He noticed Spike walking over and stopped as he watched Spike come closer. “Applejack said you were cutting down a tree and figured you could use a little help,” he said as he closed the gap. Big Mac just nodded and smiled to show his appreciation for Spike's assistance before he passed him the ax he was holding and went back in for the other one.
Spike waited and hefted the tool, testing its weight before propping it on a shoulder like the older man had. He took a deep breath and smiled as he looked forward to the work ahead. There was something about hard labor that was always satisfying deep down. Big Mac came back out and kicked the door closed with the heel of a boot before he nodded at Spike and strode off with measured steps so that he wouldn't leave him behind. They walked through the orchard, weaving between the massive trees for an easy twenty minutes before climbing a hill to their target at the top. It was almost ten feet in diameter and clearly dying as it had been struck repeatedly by lightning, silvery streaks of flash dried wood were revealed from the twisted and warped wood that had peeled away from the heat of the lightning.
Big Mac dropped his tools a few paces away as he walked over and circled the tree to inspect where they should start. He paused at one spot briefly before returning to his bag and rifled through it, pulling out a medium sized saw with viciously serrated teeth and returned to the tree where he began sawing through the larger limbs. Spike settled down to wait, knowing that Big Mac would call for him when they were ready to start the real work.
The thick limbs of the tree fell quickly under the combined onslaught of saw and might. When he was satisfied, he grabbed a few nearby limbs in his free hand and dragged them over to his things and returned the saw to the bag before returning to the tree and gathered up the rest, putting them with the others in a decently sized pile. He looked over to Spike and nodded as he picked up his own ax before returning to the tree at a spot opposite of where the bag was with Spike right behind him. Mac leaned his ax against the tree and began stretching his back and shoulders. Spike imitated the older man as he clearly knew what he was about. Spike was feeling pleasantly warm by the time he felt he had stretched out enough and picked up his ax, Big Mac grabbing his own and tapped a spot on the tree where the bark seemed to be choppier than in other spots. He took a step to the side and motioned for Spike to start.
Spike took the ax in both hands and wound up for a swing, twisting his hips into the swing as the ax whistled through the air and slammed into the slightly rotten wood most of the way up the head. He wrenched and pulled the ax free with a jerk. As he started to reset his position, Big Mac brought his ax in a mock swing as he looked at Spike. He interpreted his intentions and nodded, preparing to take another swing but waiting for Big Mac. Mac reset and slammed his ax into the tree at a slightly different angle and a wedge of wood blasted away from the blow. When he pulled out and the way was clear, Spike swung in again, Big Mac repeating the process again once Spike had pulled clear.
They worked at a good pace for nearly an hour before Big Mac signaled for a break that Spike was unbelievably grateful for. He was fairly soaked with sweat, his shirt clinging to him wetly and covered with the odd chip of wood while Big Mac only appeared mildly sweaty. Spike ran his hand up and over his eyes, wiping away his sweat and running it through his hair, plastering it back.
Big Mac walked over to his bag and sat down before rummaging through it again as Spike sat down on the other side. He pulled out a canteen and offered it to Spike first who took it gratefully and took a few greedy swallows before passing it back to Mac. They sat there for a few minutes as they cooled down but got back up before they cooled off too much. When they started up again, they worked on opposite sides of the wedge at Mac's directions to wrap it around the outside of the tree for most of its circumference and left a central area for support that would be cut away when they were ready for the tree to topple.
They worked on this for another half hour before Big Mac called Spike off so that he could work on the central section and topple the tree. Spike walked off to the side so that he could watch the man at work and work he did, finding another tree to sit down against. With free reign to unleash his strength, Mac took chunk after chunk out of that central support, thundering reports sounding on each impact that seemed to echo in Spike's ears. As he sat there, he could only compare the man in front of him to one of the titans of legend, unquestioned in his strength. He scoffed at his own comparison the second he thought of it but still couldn't help a small surge of envy at Mac's hard earned build.
He had sat there for just over ten minutes when the first deep crack sounded from the tree. Mac didn't stop, he just changed his position a bit and continued at his work. Another few moments of heavy swings and an ominous cracking filled the air. Mac swung one last time before pulling out and skipping back a couple steps and watched the tree warily as it slowly began to lean more and more. The tree started to bend obviously before a sudden snap and groan sounded as it finally broke under its own weight, falling with increasing speed until it finally came crashing down with a dull roar. The sudden silence was almost startling. With a satisfied huff, Mac turned around and sat down a couple paces away from Spike.
“So that wasn't too bad,” Spike idly commented as they sat there cooling down.
Mac shook his head in agreement with a slight smile.
“Thanks for letting me help out, by the way,” he continued. “I wish I could come by and help out more often, but it's hard to find the time. I really do like helping out around the farm. It's hard, but satisfying.” He paused, suddenly struck by a philosophical streak. “Just like anything worth doing, right? If it's too easy, then it doesn't have much value. I think that's the reason I never gave up on Rarity after all these years. I think she's worth the effort.”
Big Mac just looked over at Spike, a smirk plastered on his face, eyebrow raised.
“What?” Spike said with a laugh. “It's not like I can talk about this stuff with Twilight. You understand what I'm talking about, right?”
Mac's expression turned pensive and he gave a little nod that said he understood.
“So, anyway, thanks for putting up with me,” Spike said as he stood up and stretched out stiffening muscles. “But I should be getting back soon. I told Twilight that I'd be back by lunch to open up the library.”
“You're not leaving without lunch,” Big Mac rumbled as he got up and gathered his things.
Spike gave a little laugh at that. “I guess I can't argue with you on this, can I?”
Mac gave a smirk and glanced at Spike with an expression that said he'd like to see him try. Spike chuckled and gather his ax before following Mac back to the farm. Once back, it only took Mac a couple minutes to replace his things and led Spike inside. Granny was napping in the living room, Applejack was likely in town with their stall and Apple Bloom was in school still. Opting for simplicity, Big Mac brought out a large ceramic dish from the fridge filled with leftover green bean casserole and divvied out half of the remainder into a pair of smaller bowls as Spike's stomach growled in anticipation.
Mac set both bowls on the table and fetched a fork for each before returning to the fridge and rifled in a lower compartment for a couple beers. Spike sat down and looked up in surprise when Mac popped the cap off of one and placed it beside his own bowl with a little smile and a mischievous wink at their shared indulgence. Spike grinned and scooped a mouthful of casserole into his mouth, eating it quickly before eagerly grabbing the bottle and took a swallow of the slightly bitter brew. He thoughtfully smacked his lips at the taste, but quickly found that the bite wasn't that sharp. Mac gave him a little grin as he watched his reaction before he started destroying his own meal. Spike snorted in amusement before he got back to eating himself.
It didn't take long before they had both finished their food and were casually sipping at their beers, the alcohol slightly easing the ache that had begun permeating Spike's body and making him only slightly lightheaded with a full stomach as a buffer. When they finished their drinks, Mac took their dishes and put them in the sink while Spike stood up and stretched again, reveling in his ache before letting out an explosive breath. “Thanks for lunch,” he said as he started making his way out of the kitchen. “If you need help with cutting up that tree, just send word and I'll make some time to come by.”
Mac nodded and followed Spike out. With a final goodbye, Spike crossed the yard and was on the road back into town. The return trip seemed to fly by as he opened up the front door and found Twilight grumpily sprawled out on the couch, still in her pajamas. “Up already?” he asked in surprise.
“I never got to sleep,” she half mumbled in her fatigue. “I kept tossing and turning after I tried to sleep earlier, so I came down here.”
“You gotta stop pulling those all night reading binges,” he chided as he crossed the room on the way to the bathroom. “Especially if you're not gonna sleep afterward.”
“Buh...” she incoherently disagreed as she squirmed on the couch, trying to find a comfortable position.
He just smiled to himself as he entered the bathroom and stripped down quickly for a shower that lasted a bit longer than usual as he used the time to ease away the soreness in his muscles. He dried off and wrapped a towel around his waist before exiting the steamy room and made his way to his room for a fresh change of clothes. When he finally came back out, Twilight was half dozing on the couch and he sighed as he still had to open the library for the day and wasn't particularly keen on his sister being seen in her current state by the general public. He shook his head in a self pitying manner as he flipped the closed sign to open before going to the couch and gently picked her up to carry her back upstairs to her bed. Despite his sore muscles, he lifted her with relative ease since she was barely over a hundred pounds with her slight frame. He carried her upstairs in a matter of moments and had deposited her back in her bed without a single mumble from her.
I really deserve some credit for not letting Twilight get pudgy, he thought to himself with a smirk as he went back downstairs. If it were anyone else who made her meals, she'd probably be as pudgy as some of those professors at her old school.
With Twilight tucked away, he settled into his usual routine when left in charge of the library. He grabbed a stack of comics and made his way behind the small desk that served for a checkout counter to settle in for the inevitable wait. He was there for all of five minutes when Rainbow Dash sauntered in and looked around to see Spike lounging behind the counter.
“What's up?” she asked as she strolled over to stand in front of the desk.
“Not much,” Spike replied. “What's up with you today?”
“Not much either to be honest,” she said with a little sigh. “Pinkie's out for the count right now with a cold and we got the weather working like a well oiled machine, so I've got nothing to do and figured I'd drop by and see if you were free.”
“Nah,” he replied as he nodded upstairs. “Twilight was up all night reading a new book and only fell asleep a little bit ago. She couldn't get to sleep after breakfast and I found her sprawled out on the couch. So how'd Pinkie Pie catch a cold?”
“Beats me,” she said with a shrug and a little puff of air in annoyance. “But she's turning all her visitors away through Mrs. Cake. Says she doesn't want to get anyone else sick.”
“That's... strangely like her,” he thought aloud.
Rainbow nodded with a half smile. “So, you're taking care of the library I take it?”
“Yeah,” he replied.
“Oh well,” she said as she slowly started to walk off. “May as well grab a book and settle in I guess.”
Spike didn't reply as she left to peruse the adventure section. That sucks about Pinkie, he thought with a little pang of sympathy. He let the feeling run its course before returning to his comics. Pinkie wouldn't want any of her friends moping or feeling sorry for her anyway. The next few hours went by without much fuss as a few people came in to use the library and checked out some books with a few returns tossed into the mix. When six o'clock rolled around, Spike looked up to see that everyone except for Rainbow Dash had left as she was absorbed in a book and flipped the sign to closed before heading over to the kitchen. Opting for a protein rich meal for himself, he pulled out four eggs from their rapidly dwindling supply for a nice sized supper omelet. For Twilight and Rainbow, he decided on rotini pasta with vodka sauce.
He lost himself in the work and didn't notice Rainbow wander into the kitchen ten minutes later to take a seat with her nose still in a book all the while. Twilight came down a couple minutes later in a groggy state and schlepped herself into a seat next to Rainbow who made no indication that she had noticed her arrival in the slightest. About twenty minutes after he had started cooking, he was finally finished and walked to the door before shouting, “Twilight! Rainbow! Supper's ready!” He turned around and he finally noticed the two women already sitting at the table. Twilight still appeared to be half asleep as she lay back in her chair while Rainbow slowly closed the book and looked at Spike while she raised an eyebrow. “Eheh...” he chuckled nervously at his pointless shouting and lack of attention.
“Smooth,” she said with a chuckle.
“Shut it,” he replied with a raised eyebrow of his own. “If you want to eat, that is.”
“Ah!” she protested with a look of incredulity. “That's just plain dirty, you little derp!”
“Don't care,” he replied with a grin. She opened and closed her mouth a couple times before huffing and crossed her arms in a surprisingly cute, if angry, pout. “I'll serve you first,” he said with laughter in his voice.
Her pout disappeared as though it had never been. “Sweet...” she replied with a grin. Spike smirked and dished out two healthy portions of pasta for the ladies and sat himself down with his omelet. “Oh man...” Rainbow half moaned through her mouthful. “This is so freakin' good...”
Twilight finally stirred out of her sleepy stupor and blinked around owlishly before looking at her bowl of food and began eating it silently without much expression. Spike looked at her as did Rainbow and traded a look. “You okay, Twilight?” Spike asked after she swallowed her recent mouthful of food. “You seem a little... off today.”
“Yeah,” she replied in an even tone without looking up from her food. “Just a little sleepy. That's all.”
Spike gave Rainbow a slightly worried look before she took a shot at it. “You seem a little down. Anything wrong?”
Twilight looked up at Rainbow with a puzzled expression. “Down? Why would I be feeling down?”
“I dunno,” she replied. “I mean, you're normally not this... blah, even when you're tired.”
“I'm fine,” she said with a halfhearted smile. “Really. You guys are just imagining things.”
“Alright,” Rainbow replied, though her slightly troubled expression said she wasn't going to take her at face value. Spike just decided to let her be. If she was feeling down about something, then she deserved a bit of privacy to work it out. Then again, she could be totally oblivious to how she was acting and appearing. She was odd like that sometimes.
Spike caught Rainbow's attention and covertly mimed for her to let it be and drop the subject. She looked slightly troubled but agreed to his request after a little more prompting from Spike. They ate the rest of their meal in relative silence, Rainbow and Spike casting slightly worried glances at Twilight despite their knowledge that she'd probably be okay tomorrow. When they finished, Twilight immediately spaced out again, leaning back in her seat, head tilted back and proceeded to stare at the ceiling with a blank expression. Rainbow tilted her head at Twilight and raised an eyebrow at Spike who just shrugged with a look that said he was utterly perplexed by her behavior.
“Well...” Rainbow began with an uncomfortable drawl. “I guess I should get going.”
“Alright,” Spike replied. Twilight made no acknowledgment that they were talking. Rainbow got up and Spike followed suit. “I'll see you out.”
“Sure,” she replied as she made her way to the kitchen door. When they were outside, Rainbow turned on Spike with a frown. “So, what's going on with Twilight?”
“I have no idea,” Spike replied immediately. “She was up all night reading a new book about arcane artifacts and seemed fine this morning during breakfast. I got home and found her sprawled out on the couch, still trying to get to sleep around lunch. Now she's just... I don't know. Off? I think something may be bothering her, but I have no idea what.”
“Huh...” she replied with a worried glance back through the window of the door. Twilight was still staring up at the ceiling. “Anything happen today that was out of the ordinary?”
“Not that I can think of,” he said as he rubbed a hand through his hair. “I'm sure that she'll work through whatever it is. If she really wants to talk about it, she has all of us, but I say we leave her be for now.”
“Alright,” she said with a little huff. “You know her the best, so I'm gonna trust you on this. It's weird seeing her kinda depressed.”
“I know what you mean,” he replied. “Give me a day or two and I might have her on the upswing.”
“Okay.” Rainbow turned a bit and stretched with a groan. “Supper was great, by the way. Thanks, Spike.”
“Not a problem,” he replied with a smile. “You could always drop by more often too. I'm sure Twilight could use a workout coach. Celestia knows that Pinkie Pie's really helped her unwind from her life in Canterlot.”
“I'm not a miracle worker,” she said with a snort. “But I'm sure I can whip her into shape.”
Spike chuckled a bit at that. “So I'll see you around?”
“Yeah,” she said as she started walking. “Catch ya later, Spike.”
“Later,” he called after her before going back inside. He looked at Twilight who hadn't budged in the slightest from earlier. “Are you just gonna sit there for the rest of the night?” She blinked and smacked her lips a little but said nothing. He sighed and went about cleaning up their dishes and putting the rest of the pasta in a bowl for lunch tomorrow. When finished, he looked over to Twilight who appeared to have fallen asleep again. He sighed silently, worried and confused by his sister's behavior. What's going on with her? he thought to himself. It's like this came completely out of the blue. He knew he'd get to the bottom this eventually, but for right now, he had to take care of his sister and put her to bed.
He walked over to her and gently coaxed her from the chair without her waking up. She was unsteady on her feet, so he picked her up and carried her back upstairs like he did before. She didn't make a single sound of protest as he hefted her and gently placed her on her bed, pulling her blanket and comforter up. She snuggled into the warm covers and a little smile crept up on her face, leaving Spike in a state of befuddlement at his sister. He just shook his head and left her to sleep, wondering what he was going to do with her as he went down the stairs. Maybe Pinkie Pie could cheer her up, he thought to himself. Well, she was sick right now and he was tired, so he would just have to wait and see if Twilight would improve by tomorrow.
