No Two Flakes

By Mist

Chapter XIII

Out of desperation, Spike finally turned to the only option he believed he had. His encounter with Rarity at the party only made him feel more that he wasn’t worthy of the beauty. She was always making excuses to leave him behind, so he knew he hadn’t truly impressed her any just yet. It was all in, go big or go home. He really needed to wow her with a Christmas present that showed he was more than some pathetic kid crushing on the impossible. He needed to make his gift idea into a reality somehow, and at this point, paying for it was not really an option.

There was only one choice at this point, one clear option that he had and he knew the risks. He couldn’t risk Applebloom’s involvement this time; he’d have to do this solo.

He had scoped out the jewelry store the entire day, making himself familiar with the layout, the cameras, and any possible opening after the store closed. The front metal cage gate proposed a solution. It didn’t go down quite all the way and so long as he could slide his small hand underneath the small crack it created from its imperfect design, he could unlock it and get inside. For once he was going to feel fortunate for not having very masculine hands.

From there, he had a tough second step. The security alarm would sound within 40 seconds if he didn’t disarm it. He had no way of getting the passcode as they kept the terminal for it in the back out of his sight. This meant he would need to execute his entire plan within that 40 second allotted time and be on his way out after the alarm went off.

Memorizing where a spare key to the glass cabinet was kept, he could run in, get the key, retrieve the bracelet and run before he was caught. It sounded so easy in theory.

When night came, Spike returned at least a good hour after the manager closed the store and went home. It was time to make his move.

Throwing his hood up to conceal his face, he moved to the gate as fast as he could. Tugging it up as much as he could, he tried to squeeze his hand under. The gap was tighter than he thought and it definitely hurt his wrist to contort it in such a way, but after a good minute or so of struggling, he could feel the lock on the other side. With a bit more effort, he managed to pull it and unleash the hook holding the door down. Success, the gate opened and he hurried inside.

Wasting no time, Spike made his way for the spare key and sure enough it was right where he knew it to be, under the register tucked into a spot under the counter.

Fumbling with the key a bit, he managed to unlock the cabinet of the bracelet. He was making good time, he had a good twenty seconds before the alarm would go off.

The moment his hand touched the chain though, he could see a red and blue light flashing outside the window and a siren whirring. He dropped the chain and froze in his tracks.

“Fuck…” He cursed to himself.

Rainbow was wrapped up in her winter scarf that she got from CJ years back as she held her hands tightly in her jacket pockets. The temperature had dropped significantly in the past day, and it seemed even colder back in her old neighborhood. Maybe it was the feeling of emptiness she got when she came here that made it seem that way though.

Her mind was still heavily focused on the events of last night. She thought she’d feel better knowing that Ice was dead, but instead it just made her anxious. After all of that and an entire night to think about it, she knew it had to be the lack of closure. It all happened so quickly, she didn’t even get time to process what had happened.

As she walked down the sidewalk leaving deep impressions in the snow, she heard a car pull up to her side and slow to a stop. She paused and turned to observe the rather expensive looking vehicle. It wasn’t the kind of car you’d see parked in a place like this, and probably a good five years newer than anyone there could possibly afford.

When the car parked, a familiar chemistry student stepped out of the driver’s side and came around to the sidewalk. Rainbow took note of how cute she looked decked out in thick winter garb. Her hands were covered with pink mittens that looked like they were handmade. Rainbow figured they were probably some gift from a grandmother or a random aunt.

Approaching Rainbow, she kept a serious expression.

“How’d you find me?” Rainbow asked plainly, looking up to meet the tall girl’s eyes.

“I asked around. I’m resourceful.” The girl replied.

Nodding, Rainbow kept a similar stern look about her face. “I’ll give you that.”

“I wanted to talk to you…” She said as she adjusted her glasses.

Rainbow nodded again and gestured for her to follow. “Come on, we can chat on the way, Twilight.”

Twilight smiled and took the offer as she got next to Rainbow and matched her pace as best she could. “So I take it this is your old neighborhood?”

“Yup.” Rainbow responded, not even looking at Twilight.

“It’s… Ummm…” Twilight paused trying to think of a good adjective.

“A shithole, I know.” Rainbow sneered.

“I was going to say cozy…” Twilight gave a sheepish smile.

Rainbow shrugged. “Not even anyone who lives here would buy that.”

Twilight decided it was best to keep quiet for a bit, realizing she was only making conversation more awkward the more she tried to break the silence. Some distance would be traveled by the two before either of them would speak again.

“I grew up down that way.” Rainbow pointed off into the distance.

Twilight turned her head and tried to get as good a look as she could from how far away they stood. She nodded and smiled. “So do your parents still live around here?”

“Nope. My mother lives in jail.” Rainbow replied.

Twilight frowned. “And your father?”

“He bailed when I was really young.” She answered.

Instantly, Twilight regretted asking that question.

“Here we are.” Rainbow spoke as she guided Twilight through a large metal gate to a cemetery. “Come on.”

Deciding not to ask any further questions yet, she obeyed and kept silent as the two navigated the graveyard. Passing probably four dozen graves, Rainbow finally stopped at one and looked down at it. Twilight examined the name on the grave.

Light Dash

Rainbow spoke out loud as if she was talking to someone. Twilight just listened.

“Hey… Sorry I don’t come here that often… Just trying to keep my promise and stay away from this place…” She paused as she reached into her pocket and retrieved a necklace and placed it in front of the grave. “I wanted to give this back to you because… Well now that this is all over, I’m not coming back here. I’m finally going to let you rest and not bother you anymore. I can’t promise I’ll be able to do all the things you wanted me to do, but at least I know I’m not a total fuck up…” Rainbow sighed and smiled. “Ice is dead. He won’t hurt anyone anymore, and I didn’t have to break my promise to do it. I just wanted to say… Thanks… For setting me straight…”

Rainbow fell silent and Twilight took a step forward and looked down at the grave. “Who was he?” She asked.

Keeping her eyes locked onto the grave, Rainbow replied. “My brother…”

“What happened to him?” Twilight asked.

“There was a drive by shooting… He jumped on top of me to save me… We carried him inside and I held his hand as he bled to death on our kitchen table…” Rainbow replied quietly.

“Oh… I’m sorry…” Twilight frowned, not sure of what else to say.

“He had plans to get out of this place… We were going to make a new life for ourselves… One where we didn’t have to survive by selling drugs or stealing… And he never got that chance…” Rainbow said.

“Why did they kill him?” Twilight asked before she realized that might be a rude question.

Rude or not, Rainbow answered. “They had the wrong house…”

“What?” Twilight inquired, not quite certain she followed.

“They had the wrong house… Meaning my brother died for no fucking reason!” Rainbow hissed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

A knot formed in Twilight’s throat, she was unable to respond.

“Look around you… My whole family is here, in these holes… There’s nothing for me in this place… If I end up having to come back here… I’m just going to end up in one of these holes with them… I have nothing but myself…” Rainbow explained. “So when you say I don’t give a shit… You have no fucking idea how much I do. I’m not coming back to this place, I’m not going to be in one of these holes.”

Twilight couldn’t feel any more guilty than she already did. She had no idea Rainbow had been through so much.

Before she could even muster a response, Rainbow wiped her tears and grunted. “Anyways… Thanks for the chat… I gotta go…”

She wanted to stop her, she wanted to tell her how sorry she was, but she couldn’t find the words. Instead she just stood there frozen as ice while Rainbow took her leave and left her behind.

The police allowed Spike out of the holding cell they had brought him to for a brief moment to make a phone call. He only had one shot at figuring a way out of this without Twilight finding out; however he couldn’t really think of who could actually bail him out of this situation.

Approaching the phone with a guard standing next to him, he thought for a moment before realizing he really only had one friend whom he could trust not to tell anyone. Punching in the numbers, he could hear her cell phone ring on the other side.

Before he knew it, he could hear Applebloom’s familiar country accented voice. “Hey, Applebloom. I need you to not ask questions, but I’m sort of in jail and-“

He couldn’t even finish that sentence before he heard uncontrollable laughter. “NO WAY! Y’ALL ARE YANKING MY CHAIN RIGHT!? THIS IS RICH!”

“No, I’m fucking serious. Listen, I need you to get a way to get me out of here, and whatever you do, do not tell Twilight.” He instructed.

“Oh man… This is too funny!” Applebloom bellowed.

“Applebloom!” He yelled.

“Alright, alright. Ah’ll figure something out, jus’ sit tight.” She replied.

“Thank you…” Spike sighed.

“So… How’s life on the inside?” Applebloom teased.

“Good bye, Applebloom.” Spike spoke as he hung up the phone on her.

With another long sigh, Spike was guided back to his cell; he had hoped he didn’t just make a big mistake in telling Applebloom.

“I’m going to tell him everything.” Fluttershy said as she sipped some tea. She was sitting on a familiar couch in Rainbow Dash’s apartment across from Rainbow whom was going through an old photo album. “He deserves to know.”

“Then what?” Rainbow asked, not taking her eyes off of her precious pictures.

Fluttershy shrugged. “ I guess let him go back to his life…”

Rainbow scoffed and rolled her eyes. “You’re just going to let him off the hook like that? You’re not going to make him step up and take care of his own kid?”

“It’s just as much my fault as it is his. I don’t want to ruin his soccer career over this. It was my mistake as much as it was his...” Fluttershy meekly replied, trying to make herself smaller so that Rainbow didn’t yell again.

“That’s bullshit.” Rainbow growled.

“It’s called forgiveness…” Fluttershy protested.

Rainbow only rolled her eyes again. “Where I’m from we call that being someone’s bitch.”

“Well we’re not in your old neighborhood!” Fluttershy finally raised her voice and sat up to give the impression she was stern on this subject. Her entire body tensed up as she tried to deliver her message powerfully. “I want to do this my way. I like him, this was an accident and I am not going to blame him for something I agreed to do. I knew the risks and I still went for it. It’s my burden to carry.”

Rainbow sighed and nodded. “Yeah, yeah… You’re too forgiving, that’s your problem.”

“Maybe you’re not forgiving enough…” Fluttershy retorted.

Cocking a brow, Rainbow leaned towards her friend. “Really? My brother got killed because some asswipes had the wrong address. So excuse me if I am a little bitter at the world.”

“You act like you had nothing good happen to you after that.” Fluttershy responded.

Rainbow wanted to retort but she found herself pausing and letting Fluttershy finish.

Fluttershy stood up and gestured to the entire room. “You have your own apartment, friends all around you, you got a scholarship to go to school, and you don’t live in that terrible place anymore. You’re surrounded by people who care about you, maybe you should lighten up a bit.”

Looking down at the floor, Rainbow realized that Fluttershy may have had a point. She had been doing a lot of self pitying, but really things were actually starting to look up a little. She was letting the lack of closure from the incident with Ice get to her. “You’re right… I’m sorry…” She said as she finally lifted her head up with a smile. “You’re a good friend, Fluttershy…”

Her shy female friend giggled and looked away embarrassed before making her way to a counter with a photo on top of it. “Still, I am sorry about your brother… He sounds like he was a good person.”

Rainbow laughed. “Nah… The truth is… I never wanted to admit that what happened with Light was not entirely unwarranted… I mean sure they had the wrong house, but to make a better life for me… Light broke the law a lot. He stole from people, sold drugs and even killed people to get where we were… His heart may have been in the right place, but the truth is… He was a thug… All so he could stop me from becoming one.”

Fluttershy turned around and sat herself next to Rainbow, placing her hand on darker skinned girl’s shoulder. “You’re not a thug. Sometimes people have to make choices they don’t want to… Light was willing to do that for you.”

Rainbow smiled lightly and nodded. “Yeah… Thanks.”

Sitting alone on the bench in jail, Spike was sweating bullets. Part of him knew that the chances of Twilight not finding out were slim. Applebloom may be resourceful, but even she couldn’t come up with bail and find a way to make charges drop. He was already rehearsing the speech he’d give Twilight in his head, knowing full well that it wouldn’t do much damage control for himself.

The most annoying part was that he’d have to explain to her why he stole a bracelet in the first place. It was going to be an awkward conversation, so the sooner he braced himself for that, the sooner he could get through it.

His eyes wandered to the hallway as he tried to peek through the bars as he heard footsteps. A guard came from just around the corner, a key ring in his hand. With a swift motion, he unlocked the cell and gestured for Spike to step out. “You’re free to go.” He spoke.

Spike didn’t move an inch from his seat, instead he remained frozen in confusion. “W-what?” He blinked.

“Someone posted bail for you, you can leave.” The guard replied.

Still in disbelief, Spike raised a brow. “Who?”

The guard stepped aside and pointed behind himself to the hallway, another set of footsteps could be heard. The first thing he saw was high heels and light skinned legs. Moving his eyes upwards he could see a white dress and a matching white coat over it. Clenched in her hand was an expensive looking purse that he remembered.

“By her.” The guard said as Rarity came into full view.

Rarity nodded to him with a sweet smile and he nodded back before taking his leave. “I didn’t think I’d see you here.” Rarity commented as she looked to Spike.

If he was confused before, he was far more confused now. “Y-you posted my bail…?”

She nodded and stepped into the cell. She brushed the bench off with her hand before sitting next to him with a smile. “The police got the jewelry store to drop the charges as well. Since no damage was done to the store, they just want an apology and they’re willing to leave it at that.”

Spike blinked again and found himself trying to wrap his head around all of this. “How did you…”

She already knew what his question was and gave an answer. “Applebloom called me. She said you had gotten yourself into some trouble.”

“How’d you get them to drop the charges?” Spike asked.

“I did a favor for the police so they were willing to talk to the store for me and convinced them to let it go.” Rarity replied.

Spike couldn’t imagine what kind of favor Rarity did for the police, but he figured it was best not to ask questions. Instead he stayed quiet and stared at the ground.

“I have to ask though… Why did you try and steal a bracelet? I mean if you needed a recommendation of jewelry that would compliment you, you should have come to me. I can see you looking quite handsome with some earrings.” Rarity rambled.

“It wasn’t for me.” Spike answered.

Rarity was puzzled. “Then for who?”

“It’s stupid…” He responded.

Rarity placed her gentle soft hand atop of Spike’s and tried to get him to open up. “No it’s not, tell me.”

“It was for you…” Spike responded.

“Why would you steal a bracelet for me?” Rarity asked.

Spike sighed and shook his head. “Forget it…”

“No, tell me…” Rarity leaned in.

Finally giving in and realizing that his chances with her were virtually non-existent at this point, he decided to tell her the truth. “I was trying to impress you… It was a Christmas present.”

“But if you couldn’t afford it, why did you steal it?” She asked.

“I originally had the money saved up, but some shit came up… Long story short I felt like I needed it…” He answered.

Spike was only confusing her more with every answer he gave. “I don’t understand… Why did you feel you needed a bracelet to impress me?”

He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Look at you.” He gestured to her. Rarity looked herself up and down then back to him. “Look at me…” He said gesturing to himself. “You’re a gorgeous woman… You’re smart… Talented… Fuck… You’re on your way to becoming a fashion designer…” He sighed again. “I’m just… Some dumb kid who’s in way over his head…”

Spike stood up and shook his head. “Anyways… Thanks for bailing me out… I promise I’ll pay you back…” He said.

Rarity couldn’t think of a response before Spike walked out of the cell and made his way out. Rarity just sat there in the cell in thought.

Author's Note

Twilight had very little interaction in this story, and that was intentional. There was a lot going on behind the scenes with Twilight that I can't reveal.