Spike woke up with a start, blinking. He sighed, rolling out of his bed and stretching. The castle was quiet and colder than average, even for a autumn day, and Spike grabbed his blanket, wrapping it around himself as he hopped out of bed. The sound of his claws against the crystal floors echoed, little tapping noises that reverberated briefly before eventually being swallowed by one of the tapestries, curtains, or rugs that Twilight had installed in the castle. Spike sort of liked how cave-like the castle was sometimes. It appealed to his inner dragon, living in such a structure, but Twilight hadn't cared for the hollow appearance of her castle, and she and her friends had filled it with all manner of amenities and decor to make it less like a cavern and more like a home.
For all his appreciation of their home's cavernous appeal, Spike liked carpets, too. Cold feet in the morning was the worst; it made him feel sluggish and slow. He shuffled his feet on one of the many rugs in the hallway, appreciating the carpeting, and he trotted down to the kitchen to rustle up some breakfast. He had a few fire rubies saved for a cold morning like this one, and it seemed like the perfect way to stoke his fires, so to speak. He smiled, feet pattering down the hall a bit quicker at the thought of the breakfast that awaited him.
He arrived at the kitchen and nearly bumped into Starlight Glimmer. Starlight stumbled back, blinking blearily at him. Her mane was a mess, and her eyes were bloodshot. "Woah! Hey, Starlight. Good morning!" he said, smiling at the exhausted looking unicorn.
Starlight blinked down at him and rubbed her eyes with one hoof. "Spike. Hey. Sorry, I slept awful. How are you holding up?"
Spike shrugged. "Eh. Cold. But I'll be okay! I have some fire rubies. Did you have breakfast?"
"Y-yeah. I, uh, just finished," Starlight yawned, rubbing at her eyes again and letting out a long sigh. "Are you gonna be ready for later today?"
Spike blinked as he tried to remember what he was supposed to be ready for. Not wanting to look forgetful, he just grinned sheepishly. "Uh, yeah! Of course!"
Starlight smiled at him and gave him a gentle pat on the head. "Okay. I've got some stuff to take care of. You can take care of yourself until then?"
Spike puffed his chest out. "Of course!"
Starlight's smile faltered briefly, and she reached out with her magic, bundling Spike's blanket around his shoulders a bit tighter. "Blanket helping you?"
"Yeah! It's too cold without it." Spike said, nodding.
Starlight nodded. "Sure. If you need anything, go and find Fluttershy, okay? She said she'll be out at her house until later, so..."
Spike squinted at her. "Uh, sure! You don't have to worry about me!"
Starlight smiled hesitantly, and then unexpectedly leaned down and gave Spike a kiss on the top of his head. "You're a good kid, Spike."
Spike blushed and squirmed under the attention. "Aw, c'mon, Starlight! You go and do what you need to do. I'm fine!"
Starlight started to laugh, but it turned into a sort of hiccup, and she turned away and trotted off quickly. Spike shook his head. "Mares," he mumbled to himself. He didn't even pretend to understand them.
He tottered into the kitchen, still bundled in his blanket, and pulled out his little step ladder so he could get at the counter. He climbed onto the counter and grabbed the packet of fire rubies and a box of Honey Oat cereal off the shelf. Twilight's favorite cereal, and his as well. He grinned as he pulled milk out of the ice box and a bowl from the cabinet, and poured a helping of the sweet oat cereal and a handful of the glittering red rubies. The cereal smoldered slightly where the hot gems came into contact with the oats, and when Spike poured the milk over the top of everything the milk hissed and bubbled. Spike inhaled the aroma of warm oats, milk, and gemstones, and he licked his lips. Awesome!
He carried his bowl over to the table and hopped up into his chair, and scooped out a big bite with his spoon. As he was about to take a bite, he noticed that Starlight had left her own bowl on the table instead of clearing it. He frowned, eyeing the mess. There was a cup of orange juice, mostly full, and the bowl of oats. It was almost pristine, and looked like only a single bite had been taken out of it. But, despite this, there were about six balled-up napkins on the table next to the uneaten food. Spike rolled his eyes. "Great, I guess I'll take care of it. I swear, she's worse than Twilight used to be, leaving food everywhere when she got distracted with studying!"
He sighed, and dug into his breakfast.
After breakfast and a bit of clean-up, Spike headed for the library, intent on grabbing the next Daring Do novel in the series. He was still working on catching up after Rainbow Dash got him into them, so he was super excited. When he arrived, though, the library was a mess. Books were off their shelves and stacked everywhere around the room, even on the floor and table. In the middle of it all lay Rarity, who was asleep. She snored softly as her head rested on the open pages of a book. Spike blinked, startled to see her. "What's she doing here? Research for some fashion line?"
Spike tip-toed over to the sleeping unicorn. She was perfect, as always, except for the line of drool that spilled from the corner of her mouth, nearly touching the pages of the book her head was resting on. Spike hopped up on the table and, thinking quickly, swapped the book with his blanket in an expert move that he had perfected after years of time spent with Twilight. He'd gotten really good at rescuing her textbooks and notes from post-study session crashes. Rarity nuzzled her nose into Spike's blanket and reached up, curling her forelegs around the fluffy article. Spike giggled, and turned to survey the damage Rarity had done to the library. It was a massive mess, to be sure. He started gathering up the books and returning them to their shelves. He frowned slightly as he started working, realizing that most of the books were from the same section. "Advanced magic theory? Arcane secrets? Huh."
This wasn't exactly what he'd expected Rarity to be studying, but far be it from him to complain about something that gave him an excuse to be near her! It took some work, but he got everything re-shelved except the book Rarity had been sleeping on, leaving it out for her to finish whenever she woke up. He scrambled away to find the Daring Do book, but discovered that it was missing from the shelf, with a card indicating it had been checked out in its place. He sighed. "Great. Who has it?"
He grabbed the index card from the spot on the shelf and checked the latest name. "Rainbow Dash. Why'd I even bother checking?"
He sighed and checked in on Rarity to see if she was awake. She wasn't, and she still clung to his blanket. He was briefly annoyed that he wouldn't be getting his blanket back anytime soon, but shrugged. Rarity obviously needed a nap, if she'd been up late studying something. She always said she needed her 'beauty rest', something Spike had taken to heart in his own life. After all, it obviously worked for her! He smiled as Rarity buried her face in his blanket, mumbling something incoherent, and he headed out of the library. He needed to get that book, and maybe Rainbow Dash was finished with it already. She was awful about returning books.
Spike was greeted by a deluge of rain as he stepped outside. All over the sky, clouds were being maneuvered into place by teams of pegasai, and the rain was flowing down as they worked. The streets were already slick as Spike trotted out into the mess, frowning slightly. He didn't see why they needed to move the clouds in so quickly all of a sudden. As he looked up, he spotted Starlight out on a balcony of the Castle of Friendship, speaking with Thunderlane. Thunderlane gave her a salute, and then winged his way into the clouds, directing the pegasus weather team. Spike frowned and waved up at Thunderlane, trying to get his attention. Thunderlane spotted him and flew close. "Hey, Spike. Can I do anything for you?"
"Just wondering what's up with all the rain? I thought we weren't scheduled for rain for a bit. And where's Rainbow Dash?"
"Oh, uh, she... called out. She's probably at home, but I doubt she'd want to be bothered," Thunderlane said.
Spike sighed. "Darn it. I really need to see her. Can I, uh, hitch a ride up to her house with you?"
Thunderlane hesitated, glancing up towards the weather team above him. Blossomforth gave him a little 'go on' gesture, and Thunderlane turned back to Spike. "Yeah, sure, little dude. I'll help ya out, today. Least I can do."
Spike grinned. "Thanks, Thunderlane!"
Thunderlane chuckled. "Yeah, of course."
Thunderlane landed on the ground, and Spike leapt up onto his back, sitting behind his wings. Thunderlane got a running start and leapt up into the sky, carrying Spike up, up, up above the clouds and on a quick course towards the lone cloud house in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash's cloud house was a dark grey today, like the sky around it, and lightning discharged occasionally from the bottom of the cloud. Thunderlane got Spike to the front door, peering at the floor of the cloud home carefully. He put one hoof on the front step, testing it, and then nodded. "Hey, this is safe to stand on. Just get Rainbow Dash to fly you down, yeah? Unless you want me to wait here?"
Spike shrugged, "I'm sure Rainbow won't mind giving me a lift! Thanks again!"
Thunderlane nodded. "Yeah. Hang in there, little guy!"
Spike blinked incredulously as Thunderlane did a quick leap into the sky and flew to rejoin his weather team. "Little guy? Jeeze." With a sigh, Spike turned and knocked on the front door of the house. There was only a rumble of thunder in reply, but the door opened under the repeated knocks. Spike peered into the house. "Hello? Rainbow Dash?"
The house was a mess, which Spike definitely expected. Rainbow had always been a bit of a slob when it came to certain things, but the state that the house was in went beyond even his expectations. There were broken bits of furniture lying around, torn posters, and other detritus cluttering the floors. It looked like somepony had rampaged through the house. He swallowed, stepping inside. "Rainbow Dash? Are you okay?"
There was a clatter from somewhere deeper inside the house, and a muffled groan. Spike gingerly walked deeper into the house, being careful about the floor, but it seemed that the floor of the cloud house was solid, here. Probably a convenience Rainbow Dash had installed for her friends. He shuffled around the mess and called out, "Hey, I'm coming in!"
Spike moved through the house, passing by a upended living room and kitchen and ending up at the door to Rainbow Dash's bedroom. The door was open, and through the dim light he could see a hoof reaching unsteadily from beneath the blankets on the bed for a lamp that had been knocked off a dresser. He walked in, standing at the foot of the bed. Rainbow Dash was buried beneath blankets atop her bed, only the tip of her colorful tail and one hoof visible. A few bottles that smelled strongly of cider lay haphazardly around the bed, and the room stank of sweat. Spike called quietly, "Rainbow Dash?"
"Nngh. Spike?" came Rainbow Dash's raspy reply.
"Yeah, it's me. What's going on?" Spike asked, looking around the messy room with concern.
Rainbow Dash was silent, her hoof still, and her tail flicked once and pulled itself beneath the blankets. "Havin'... a rough time."
"What happened?" Spike asked, feeling deep concern for his friend.
"Everything." Rainbow's hoof slapped the side of the wall weakly, and then withdrew beneath the covers as well. A whimper echoed from the pile of blankets.
Spike walked around and jumped up onto the bed next to Rainbow Dash's covered form. "Hey, it's okay. Do you need me to get somepony? I can go, and, uh... I guess I'll figure out a way down, and then I can get Fluttershy, and—"
Rainbow sat up and threw half the blankets off of herself, both hooves reaching out to grab Spike around his middle and pull him close, suddenly. She buried her muzzle in Spike's chest, and he could feel snot and tears stick to his scales. "N-no! Don't go, please!"
"Rainbow Dash?" Spike said, frozen in place as the normally tough mare clung to him like a frightened foal. "What the heck happened?"
"Just, today! Today happened, and I-... I couldn't deal. Putting out the sad clouds? Getting dressed up? I can't, Spike!" Rainbow Dash said, her voice cracking as she whimpered.
"What's happening today, Rainbow Dash?" Spike said quietly, but he suddenly knew it wasn't something he wanted answered. Dread filled him, and he placed shaking hands on Rainbow Dash's shoulders, pulling her away from him so he could look her in the eye. Her mane was a mess, unkempt and matted, and her coat was in similar shape. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and she looked... fragile. "What's happening today?" He asked again, nearly whispering.
"We're... we're... burying her." Rainbow Dash gasped, nearly choking as she broke down in sobs.
Spike knew, then, that Twilight was dead. He knew with a certainty that was impossible, because he hadn't known, not until that moment. He knew who was dead, how, everything. "That's... no. That's impossible."
"I-it's true!" Rainbow Dash gasped, reaching out and pulling Spike to her once more. "We gotta do it, but I can't. I just can't!"
"No, I mean, that's... no. This isn't real. Please, Rainbow Dash, tell me that it's okay. Tell me it isn't real!" Spike begged, shaking the mare, but all she did was sob wordlessly. Spike pulled away from her, pushing her as she tried to cling to him, stumbled back off of the bed to the floor.
"It's true. She's gone," said Rarity, who was standing behind Spike, suddenly. He hadn't heard her enter the house, but there she was. She wore a black dress, with a black veil and a black hat. She smiled. "Twilight's dead. We failed her, and she's dead."
"No!" Spike cried, running into the other room. Fluttershy was there, sprawled on the messy floor, weeping.
"S-spike, please! She's gone! You have to know she's gone!" Fluttershy cried, reaching for him. "You poor thing, it's okay."
Spike shook his head, running from her, flinging open the door to Rainbow Dash's house. There was a graveyard there, in the clouds. Impossible, but there, grey headstones stretching towards the black sky, mocking Spike as he ran onto the clouds and fell towards the ground, falling through the bed of clouds and—
Thrashing in place, Spike gasped and shuddered, feeling tears sting his eyes and roll down his cheeks as he threw his blanket off of himself. His head swam as he felt the sensation of falling, and all he remembered was that Twilight was dead. The thought shot fear into his gut and made him curl up physically, clutching at his bed desperately, trying to make sense of the moment. Trying to make sense of a world without Twilight.
It was impossible, though. He couldn't rationalize it. The mere idea made him feel sick, made his head swim and his eyes well with tears. No Twilight to make pancakes for. No Twilight to organize the library with. No Twilight to go talk with over a cup of tea in the morning. What was life without her? What would it feel like? Cold, Spike knew, and empty. As cold as his room, a shivering place with an empty space where somebody dear once lived and breathed and laughed. He felt, keenly, the sensation of loss, even as his head began to clear the cobwebs of sleep, and it made him clench his teeth and squeeze his eyes shut in denial of the moment. Twilight was dead. Her friends were devastated. He was shattered, even as he knew...
He was in his bed. Not at Rainbow Dash's house. The room was cold, and he was alone, and the windows told him that it was night time. He shook, chilled to the bone, and he stood up shakily, his head foggy and his mind still clinging to the upset of the dream. He knew it was a dream. He knew that Twilight was okay. He knew it. It was okay.
But he didn't feel okay. He felt like he needed to see Twilight. So he stumbled out of bed, panting as he rushed out of his room, down the halls, and up into Twilight's room. He pushed open the door carefully, and peeked in.
Twilight was there. She was sitting up in bed, her horn alight in the comforting, lively glow of her violet magic, with a book held before her and two pillows propped up behind herself. The room was quiet, and Twilight was fine. She was smiling the small smile she always had when she read a book for pleasure, not the intense look of studiousness she wore while working, which meant Twilight was more than fine; she was great. Alive. Definitely not dead and cold.
Spike still felt a gasp of relief escape his mouth. Twilight's ears flicked towards him, and her eyes slowly turned away from the pages to gaze at him, violet and gentle. "Spike?" she called, her words like a comforting blanket to Spike's ears, "What are you doing up?"
"N-nothing! Just, uh, wanted to tell you good night!" Spike said, trying to cover the anxiety he knew made his words shaky.
Twilight's eyes narrowed, and Spike knew that he hadn't covered it well enough. "Come here," Twilight said, motioning him with one hoof and patting the bed next to her.
Spike dutifully walked into the room and stood before Twilight, rubbing at his eyes in the hope that he could clear the redness from them. "Sorry, I didn't want to bother you."
"You never bother me. You know that!" Twilight chided gently, smirking at him a bit before she noticed how red his eyes were. "What's the matter?" she asked, all levity gone from her voice, gentle concern replacing it.
"Nothing!" Spike said, too quickly, and he drooped. "Uh, that is... I just had a bad dream."
Twilight frowned. "Oh? I'm sorry to hear that, Spike. C'mere," she patted the bed next to her again, scooting over slightly.
Spike gratefully hopped up into the bed beside her and sat down, letting his legs dangle over the side, not wanting to look at Twilight. "I'm okay, I promise! I just, uh... wanted to check on you, that's all."
"Did something happen to me in your dream?" Twilight asked gently.
Spike nodded, unable to voice the awful thought. It was far away and fuzzy, now. A mess of tangled thoughts and emotions and ideas that sat at the front of his mind. Twilight reached over and gently stroked a hoof along the side of his face, turning him to look at her. "I'm okay. See?"
"I know," Spike huffed, even as he was grateful to see. "It was a dumb dream. I... I just..." he swallowed, unable to articulate his fear.
"Shhh," Twilight shushed him, pulling him into her side with one foreleg and one wing, bringing him close and keeping him there. It was immensely comforting.
Spike hadn't ever known a mother, excepting perhaps Twilight's mother, Velvet, but there were moments like this, little gestures, that made him feel like he had never missed that piece of his life. He felt his anxiety drain away as he pressed the side of his head against Twilight's chest, her coat soft against his scales, and listened to her heart beat a reassuring rhythm, telling him everything was okay.
Spike let out a slow sigh, relaxing slightly as Twilight simply held him there against her, and her horn sparkled as she pulled the blankets up around both of them. Spike leaned against her side as she pulled the book back up into place, and she started reading to him softly. It was an ancient ritual for them, born out of Spike's youngest days. They hadn't done this in ages, Spike felt. It would have, maybe, been embarrassing if anypony else had been there to see him curled up with Twilight. Maybe, on another night, he would have reminded himself that he was a mature young dragon, and that he didn't need to be cuddled to sleep, or listen to Twilight's soft voice read him a story. It didn't matter in that moment, though, because he didn't feel immature or embarrassed.
Spike clung to Twilight's coat, his breathing evening out as her voice spoke beautiful words to him, reading her book aloud for the both of them as they'd done many times before together, and slowly, slowly... he fell asleep.
Twilight continued to read, voice growing quiet, barely a whisper, but she knew it soothed him; knew that her voice would find him in his dreams. She stopped, only for a moment, and only long enough to bend down and kiss Spike gently on the top of his head, before her voice resumed its gentle cadence and rhythm.
Spike dreamed again, but his dreams were good.
