The Dark Army Rises

Chapter 4: What They Need to Know

Spike was in the library organizing some books. “Twilight sure left a mess,” he muttered to himself. For one who was usually organized, she left in quite the hurry to get wherever she needed to go. There were books knocked off the shelves everywhere, and Spike had been working for hours. Spike grabbed a book and placed in on the shelf.

There was a knock on the door. He wondered who that could be. Twilight said that her friends wouldn’t be coming over, but he didn’t know what to do. Twilight hadn’t arranged for unexpected meetings because she never had them. Spike looked at the door. There was another knock. Spike continued cleaning. The knocking continued. He didn’t know what to do. The knocking became a persistent banging. Spike put his head in his claws and yelled, “Alright, I’m coming!” He walked to the door and opened it.

Two ponies stood there. He didn’t know their names, which meant they probably weren’t from here. “Do you need directions?” Spike asked. “No,” one of them said. “Twilight lives here, right?” “Yes, what of it?” Spike replied. “We need to speak to her on a book we’ve read. She could tell us what a certain section means, right?” “Twilight’s not here right now, but you could ask me. There’s a slight chance that I’ve read it. Come in.” Spike ushered them in. “Sit down.” The two ponies sat down. Spike sat down also. “What book do you need help with?” he asked.

The pony who had been talking before was silent. A mischievous smile began to slowly appear on his face. The other broke into a large grin. The one that had the big grin burst into laughter. Spike was confused. He saw a flicker of movement, and a blade was on his index claw. Spike jumped.

“You fell for our trick!” the laughing one said. The one that was mischievously smiling spoke, “You were an assistant to the smartest pony in Equestria, and you fell for our trick! Who cares about books anymore! We sure don't! We need something vital from you. Information on Twilight Sparkle. And since you are her assistant, we know you'd know. What is she weak at?" Spike was unsure on how to say something here. Everything was so unexpected.

He looked at the two ponies, and then at the knife on his index claw. "She's very down-to-earth," Spike said. "What?" one of the ponies asked. "She doesn't believe in stuff she can't scientifically prove!" The pony with the blade moved it to Spike's thumb. "Anything else?" he asked.

"Well," Spike began. "She, I, I can't say." The pony dug the blade into Spike's thumb. A trickle of blood came out. "Now, Spike," the smiling one said. "As Twilight's assistant, I am sure that you use your thumbs a lot. Now, tell us, or you won't be quite the assistant anymore." Spike gulped. This was a deep secret that only Twilight knew, and only told Spike. But if it saved his thumb, it would be worth it. "Twilight hasn't read  every book in her library!" he said. The two ponies looked shocked.

"That's it?!" one said. "That's all?! We can't do anything with that! Let's go." The two ponies left. Spike went to go dress the cut, which was now a stream of blood. "Stupid ponies," Spike muttered.

A few minutes later, he left to go tell the Ponyville Court of this incident. Spike was later shoved into a sewer and left to die. It was done by two unidentified ponies. Spike was saved, but he never trusted another pony as long as he lived.