Spike is here today.

Good.

I don't even care if he's supposed to be with Twilight.

She can find a cure.

I can find someone to

help me

find Chrysalis.

And he has something. He's rolling it up the hill, something covered halfway with a white cloth. I spot wheels under it. It's transportation, of a sort.

I trot down the hill to help him. "Hey, Spike! Lemme help you." When I approach him, he shrugs me off, despite the sweat dripping from his forehead. It's a sweaty-hot day today.

I ignore him and push it anyway. It's sort of heavy, definitely big for a little dragon.

As we are pushing it, I hear Spike's comforting voice. "Heh, thanks."

As he talks

I feel it

I feel safe

I feel stronger.

I feel like I could protect him.

I feel like, no matter his size, he would have my back.

"I thought you were...with Twilight," I say, remembering what Ember told me this morning.

"She...said...she could handle it...she found a spell...to send letters to Princess Celestia...and she said...it was dangerous...anyway." Spike begins to pant.

We finish rolling it up the hill. A slight breeze blows, lifts the cloth to reveal a flash of bright red.

"What is it?" I ask.

Spike grins. "Behold..."

He yanks off the cloth in one swift motion, revealing a blinding white-and-red wheeled contraption. There's a hole in the middle of it, with a black leather seat in that. In front of the seat is something else, resembling a wheel.

"What is it?" I ask again. The smile won't escape my face.

"It's a 'motorcar'," Spike explains. "Some ponies working at a factory in Manehattan came up with it."

"Recently?"

"Recently."

"How'd you get it?"

Spike taps his chin. "Well, we were checking it out, and they were testing the car with Rainbow Dash, and she let us have it."

I'm dumbfounded. "But why?"

"She said 'with rent'."

I laugh. Spike must have really begged her to get something like this. "Well, its on me. How much?"

"Who cares how much?" Spike remarks. "I just wanna ride this thing!"

I chuckle and watch as he jumps into the seat and straps something across him. He takes out a silver key.

Then he starts it up.

The noise invades my ears. It's like a deep, grounded, gravelly roar. A putrid smell infiltrates my nose. I shake my head and put my hooves to my ears. I catch Spike giggling at me, though I can't hear him.

The noise and smell almost overwhelms me

and for a moment

it reminds me of the Hive

of her.

But I have Spike. He has me. We can depend on each other.

Right?

I don't realize that my eyes are squinted until I can only make put a bunch of brown smoke. Dust. I try to widen my eyes, but they suddenly pang. "Stand back!" Spike screams over the deafening noise.

And then-zip-he's gone.

I watch the motorcar speed down the hill, Spike whooping just loud enough for me to hear him. The noise and smell fades as he gets farther.

I begin to worry

that he won't

be coming back.

I worry as he fades into a little speck.

The speck gets bigger, and my shoulders sag in relief.

Spike vrooms up the hill, and I think I can hear his laugh. He pulls up right beside me, turns the key, and the sound cuts off. The oily smell evaporates.

"What'd you think?" Spike asks.

I shake my head. "You're crazy."

"Indeed I am." Spike sits tall and proud. "Wanna have a try?"

I don't think I can fit in that. "No..."

Spike groans. "C'mon. Is it too fast? Too small, I bet. Well, you'll have to watch me ride it then."

_____

It's after a long day of watching Spike go around the yard in his motorcar when I think I'm due for bed. The sun is beginning to set, and the sky has turned purple and indigo. It won't

be long

before it's black

and then

and then her.

I shake my head. I can't let myself think about this. Spike is here. He's my anchor to reality.

He should be.

Someone should be.

But what if

what if

no one can save me?

What if I'm being selfish?

What if I'm using Spike as a shield?

And what if...what if...

"What's wrong?"

Spike's very welcome voice wrenches me out of my thoughts.

"What do you mean?" I can't let him know I'm worried. I'll make him worried. And why, even in his presence, am I anxious? Whys and what ifs clog my mind every single day. It might drive me crazy.

Spike frowns. "You were staring off into the distance."

"Just...thinking. I'm tired. Are you going home?" Please don't. Please do. What's wrong with me?

Spike nods. "Yeah. I suppose it's dark enough out."

I watch him get back in the motorcar. I watch him wave to me. I hear the earsplitting sound. I watch as he rumbles down the hill. I

watch him go.

I don't know how long I stand there. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't.

Not

at

all.

I don't understand me.

I imagine myself exploding right here and now. I can't move.

I...

Author's Note

This is the LAST of the original twelve chapters I have already written on Wattpad. So expect updates to be slower.

Thanks,
L.L.