Spike remained in his bed for the entirety of that morning, his head hidden underneath that purple and gold blanket. He made no sound whatsoever, not a peep nor a huff or a puff. Contrary to what he had informed Smolder of, he wasn't asleep, hadn't been to sleep at all, his mind was too concerned, too afraid of what might happen next. At first, it was subtle, a simple loss of all color in the world. Then it was threatening, his friends contorted into beings of strange blackness, with the power only the deadliest of demons might possess. Then, last night, it was pure evil. The closest dragon in his life shifted into something he can now only describe as evil incarnate, latching onto his face and sucking the life out of him. He shivered at even the subtle thought of it, his eyes closing and his breaths heavy as it came back to his mind each time. After a few hours of sitting in his bed, overheated by the blanket and nervous to no end, he sat up, appearing from under his blanket and closing and reopening his eyes to adjust them to the now blinding light. "It wasn't real...it wasn't real." A phrase he constantly repeated to himself throughout the long sleepless morning. He wanted to believe it wasn't real, he wanted to believe that that near-death experience, the sight of his two closest friends rushing him like a scene straight out of a horror movie wasn't real. And he had every reason to do just that, believe it wasn't real, because if it truly wasn't, it was too damn near realistic to be normal.

"Spike hon? You up yet?" Smolder's voice trailed through the closed door, her light taps breaking Spike out of his slight trance. "Come on hon, you sleep like a ton of charcoal."

"S-sorry sorry, I'm up now, just needed a minute."

"A minute turned into how many hours might I ask?"

"Uh...one?"

"Nope."

"T-two, that number?"

"Closer but no spark."

"Maybe 3--"

"You've been asleep all morning. There are literally 12 hours in a morning and you slept through all 12 of them."

"I slept through the entire morning?"

"Like a boulder."

"Oh man, I need to get up and--wait, 12 hours?"

"That's what I said hon."

Spike's eyes darted to the alarm clock, his body rushing to snatch the thing up and bring it up to eyes. "12:55?!"

Without a second thought, Spike rocketed to his closet, throwing open the doors and hooking his claws onto the first nice looking shirt he could find, a white short sleeve polo. He tossed it on the bed and sped through the door with reckless abandon, almost crashing muzzle first into Smolder who was more than confused. "What the--Watch where you're going would ya?!"

"Sorry sorry, I'm just really late right now."

"Late?" she said with a curious tone as she followed him to the bathroom.

Spike piled a glob of dragonpaste onto of his toothbrush and began brush with one hand as he simultaneously applied deodorant to his underarms with the other. "Well see," he said before he spit the paste into the sink. "Me and Ms. Peg kinda have plans to hang out in about 5 minutes that I forgot about."

With that, he put the toothbrush back in his mouth and put the deodorant away. "Wait what do you mean, you have plans with Ms. Peg?"

"Well, I can't get too much into detail," He muttered through bubbles before spitting the paste out. "But she may have jumped me with a kiss and I may have promised her to hang out today."

"What?!"

"Wait wait wait, you need context, my bad my bad. She was feeling lonely and still had issues with her husband, so she kinda jumped me in her apartment with a kiss."

Smolder began to visibly turn red with anger, smoke pouring from his nostrils and growl shaking what little confidence Spike had left. "And did you do anything else, hon?"

"No no no, nothing at all. I told her sternly that I am with you and you alone. But still, I couldn't just leave her to deal with that alone you know."

"This isn't some type of date is it?" Smolder asked, slowly calming down.

"Knowing pretty well that you'd probably kill her, I made sure this was just a friendly hang out between two friends. Now that I think about it, she never goes anywhere, never really gets out of the house."

"Kinda like you, ya video game nerd."

"Hey, maybe I just enjoy indoors, you ever think about that. Bottom line is, she needs a friend, I offered, can't be late."

"Well, then you might want to keep up that pace you had a second ago."

"Oh damn, you're right." Spike quickly said upon washing off his brush and dashing back to his room. He slipped the polo on and made sure to quickly perform any other hygiene-related acts before he forgot. "Well, do I look presentable?"

"Presentable enough, although you could without the big glob of scale gel on your ear there."

"Are you kid--" he uttered wiping the gel off. "Better?"

"Better. Have fun and at least bring me something back."

"No problem."

"But not too much fun," she said letting out a snort of smoke. "Anything other than a hug and I will personally hand you your butt understand."

"Ok ok geez, I'm not that bad a drakefriend."

"No you're not, but you have a tendency to throw a lot of mixed signals and that makes me concerned for all those girls safety."

"Please don't hurt anyone while I'm gone."

"No promises."

"Man, Ember really is rubbing off on you."

"What was that?"

"Nothing gotta go, bye!"

Spike smashed through the door and down the steps faster than he thought he could ever do, his resolve to beat the clock stronger than ever as he made his way down and finally stopped at Ms. Peg's door. He took a second to catch his breath before knocking on the door. "Coming." her voice uttered back, the sound of her soft hoofsteps getting closer as the latch on the door began to unlock. "Oh Spike, you're...exactly on time. A little odd if you ask me."

"A good friend is always on time right?"

"Well, I wouldn't say you needed to be here exactly on time, I'm actually not even ready myself."

"R-really, well maybe I should just go back up to--"

"No need to waste your time going back upstairs, come in come in."

Spike could almost immediately feel the power of Smolder's threat, imagining her storming down those stairs and ripping Ms. Peg's door and-- He shivered. "Um...you sure about that, I mean, I can just stand out here it's fine really."

"Nonsense dear, what kind of pony would I be if let you stand out in the hallway like a bum, get in here."

Spike was hesitant at first, but within a few seconds, obliged and entered the apartment. He nervously took a seat on the couch, the same couch he was on when Ms. Peg laid one right on his lips. "Take a load off Mr. Dragon, I'll only be another few minutes."

As Ms. Peg returned back to her room, Spike couldn't help but eye her plump rump swaying side to side. Once again, he shivered at the thought of Smolder tearing down that door only to see Spike partaking in her worst nightmare. He sighed letting his body sink into the soft fabric of the couch. "I'm thinking too much about this. You are faithful Spike, I am faithful, simple as that. Smolder won't kill me and this will be a good day."

"What was that Spike?"

"N-nothing, just um...thinking out loud you know."

"Oh, sorry again for the wait dear, this dress just won't fit over my--"

"It's quite ok Ms. Peg, take your time!" Spike quickly said with a hot blush on his face.

"Um...ok then." As the silence faded in once again, Spike opted to stand up, his body apparently not used to the idea of playing it cool as he was still undoubtedly nervous. His eyes floated around the apartment, once more to the walls colored in Ms. Peg's beautiful coat, to the interior design that represented her sense of taste, and eventually, to the picture frame sitting on the shelf just beside the couch. It was a picture of her and her filly, presumably the only one she owned of them without her husband in it. He couldn't help but picture his future, him and Smolder, elders of the dragon kingdom, possibly even Dragon King and Queen, with at least 2 children, both as mischevious as they are right now. Twilight would have probably used some aging spell on everyone so that they could at least see the wedding He thought with an audible chuckle. Returning the frame back to its shelf, his attention was drawn to another, a casual photo of the daughter in a sundress. "She looks just like her mother."

"Cute as a button isn't she?"

"Dear Celestia!" Spike jumped back, fumbling the picture a bit before gripping it with two claws and sighing. "What are you, some kind of secret ninja?"

"You have a mischevious little filly who loves to sneak the cookies out of the jar at night combined with a two-timing husband, you learn to just a tiny bit quieter than normal."

"Well, it works." He said taking a deep breath. "Maybe a bit too we--" His voice began to trail off as he finally opened his eyes to view Peg in full. She wore a stunning light blue dress that perfectly complemented her tan coat and dark brown mane. "Um..."

"What's the matter Spike, you look unwell? I didn't mess up my mane did I?"

"N-no no, not at all. You look good, like really good."

"Oh you smooth talker you, don't make an older gal blush like that, people might get the wrong idea." She said back with a rather confident chuckle which made Spike tug at his collar in embarrassment, an imaginary puff of smoke escaping the confine of his shirt. "Now, we only have an hour until the movie starts correct?"

"Y-yea, and even then, like 20 minutes of commercials. I think maybe we should grab some food before then, you know how expensive the theater food can get."

"Great idea. Ooh ooh, and maybe," She uttered, her tone heightening like a teenager begging for her parent's permission. "We could, maybe, sort of...go to Emily's diner."

Spike's expression turned that of disgust. "Ugh, Emily's diner..."

"What's wrong with Emily's diner?"

"It's...well...it's...kinda...isn't that for like you know...couples?"

"Well yea but--"

"And not even normal couples either, lovey-dovey first date couples."

"Don't be a square, at least come try it."

"Square?"

"Yep, S, Q, uare."

"H-hey, I am not square, just...not into watching everyone make heart eyes for an hour straight..."

Spike could feel the pleading in Ms. Peg's eyes. "Come on Spike, Pleeeeeeease Mr. Dragon?" Peg cooed in a tone only worthy of a daughter pleading to her mother. "It won't even be that bad. We'll get in, eat, go to our movie, simple as that. Besides, they have some of the best food in the city, we can't pass this up."

"You really wanna go there, like really?

"You have no idea."

Spike could feel the determination in her eyes as she stared him down, trying her best to bend his will to her own. "Ugh...fine."

"Yay!" she said a little hop.

"You're like a filly with a sweet tooth problem."

"It's been forever since I've actually been out to enjoy myself so yes, I might be a little giddy."

Spike happily hummed to those words. "Well then, let's get going. But if anybody asks us to take any pictures, I'm flaming someone."

"Be nice Mr. Dragon, they won't steal your treasure or anything."

She giggled as Spike gave a playful pout to that. "...They better not."

Spike and Peg slowly made their way outside, Spike being the gentle dragon he is and helping Ms. Peg up to her seat before running around and taking his. "And off we go." he uttered as he flicked on the engine pulled out onto the road.

Within seconds, they were down the road, a few blocks here, a dozen turns there, the carriage sailed smoothly down the streets toward their destination as they made enjoyed the evening atmosphere, the wind, the air, and surprising absence of traffic. The carriage halted to a stop as Spike pulled into the parking area. "Oh my, I'm so excited, I've never been inside before."

"What? But made it seem like you'd been here before."

"Well in theory, and pictures. It's embarrassing but, I've haven't been out like this in a while. "

"Wait really? I was just kidding when I thought that earlier but you, a shut-in?"

Her gleeful attitude turned to sorrow for but a moment. "After I filed for divorce with my husband, I didn't really have a lot of reasons to get out of the house. Most of the time, it was to get away from him and now, to see pistol when I can. But no, that's the old me, I don't want to be the sad old lady who screams at anything that even remotely annoys her. No, tonight is the night I can have fun, really let loose."

"Let loose? What were you planning on doing, going to a club?"

"No no, nothing of that sort. Well maybe, it would be fun to do a little dancing."

Spike could only let out a nervous cough as the idea of Ms. Peg dancing passed through his head. "Maybe invite a few people, make it less Smolder lethal."

"Even without your warnings, everyone is quite aware of your drakefriend's...temper. She's almost as bad as--"

"Ember?" He shot out as if he already knew what she was going to say. "Yep, everyone tells me that exact thing. But as nice as it is to stand out here in this nice breeze, the faster we get in there, the faster we get out."

"As long as you promise not to flame the staff if something happens." Spike crossed his arms and looked away in disagreement. "Spike? Promise me?"

"...Fine. I promise not to flame all the staff."

"Spike," she said as if asking the question again.

"Ok ok, just one staff member then."

"You're a goof, Mr. Dragon."

The two of them made their way inside the restaurant, noting the elegance of the interior before a young mare clad in a frilly pink and red dress. "Greeting and salutations Sir and Madam, table for two I presume?"

"Yes, mam." Peg happily responded.

"Right this way." the young mare motioned as she made her way past the greeting pedestal and toward a booth. The two slid down into their seats on opposite sides of the booth, the young lady now looking at them with a confused expression before gasping in realization. "Oh my god, I can't believe I didn't notice you before Ms. Peg."

"Um...you'll have to remind me deary, I see so many faces every day, I practically forget to memorize them."

"Oh, it's fine, Violet meadow, Tulip garden's older sister."

"Oh little Tulip, how could I possibly forget that one. She practically begged to check out those gardening books without a library card, how is she by the way?"

"Hasn't put down those books since she got them hehe. Oh, terribly sorry for taking your time, I know this must be a personal night for you. But If I may," she said leaning with a hoof to her muzzle, as if to shield the sound from Spike. "Who's the hunk, looks mighty young?"

Ms. Peg could see the visible blush form on Spike's already nervous face as those words made their way over to him. "This is Spike, one of my co-workers."

The girl formed a smirk that of which only a way too curious teen would often do. "Wow, Ms. Peg, way to fight the system."

"I'm sorry, what do you mean?"

"You're lucky to have such a...enticing," she said with a quick glance over to Spike. "man to treat you this evening. And even though you're a little bit older than some of us, you still managed to get this under your paw. Meow girl, way to pounce on this one."

As soon as that last line hit both of their ears, Spike was quick to jump in to correct the situation. "Oh no no, this isn't what you think it is."

"Don't be nervous Spike, it's not a crime to want a bit of a more mature relationship."

"Trust me, it's not like that, this is just a friendly night out among co-workers."

"H-he's right." Ms. Peg quickly cut in. "This is just a friendly outing among co-workers, that's all it is."

The girl took that into thought for a moment, looking back and forth between the duo for a moment before sighing. "Darn, would've been a really cute couple too. If anything, I'm just glad you ended up here instead of a bar or something."

Ms. Peg gave that overexaggerated chuckle, the one that tried to seem accepting of the situation but was really a signal to cease anything on the current subject. "As am I, although the idea doesn't disgust me."

"Oh Ms. Peg, you bad girl you. I'll be along momentarily with your menus." Violet said with a smirk as she left.

"The idea doesn't disgust you?" Spike asked with a questioning eyebrow raised.

"Well you know, sometimes its fun to do something a little...risky."

"I don't know about that."

"Any average pony likes a little excitement in their lives, but in your situation, Smolder and Ember for sure deter any risk in your life."

"No kidding, I'm surprised Smolder even let me come out here tonight."

"Well I'm glad you were able to, all things considered."

"I am t--" Spike was stopped the sight of a faint light in the window of the booth they were sitting at. The light had an ominous green glow too as it stood still in the pitch black night. Wait. "Hey, Ms. Peg?"

"Just call me Peg dear?"

"O-oh right. Ms. pe...I mean Peg, it's still like 1:30 right?"

"I believe so."

"Well then why is it so dark outside?"

"What do you mean, the sun is still high the sky dear."

Spike had to do a double take at that comment. He removed himself from his seat and looked out another window. It was clear as day, weirdly enough, that is wasn't day time anymore. The streets were lit up with street lights all down the road which argued night time, but the sky absent of any light whatsoever made Spike question other possibilities. "Did Luna perform an unscheduled eclipse?"

"Spike honey, what are you talking about? It's clear as day out there, the sun won't be down for another 4 or 5 hours."

He looked away for only a second to question back, that's when a ray of light from the same window he was standing by shone through and he was forced to re-evaluate his argument. Spike could only chuckle at his assumption, taking his seat once more. "I must still be tired after last night, I'm seeing things."

"What do you mean last night?" she said, a concerned look on her face. "You're not secretly doing dr--"

"No no no, I wouldn't even dare, Twilight would kill me, then bring me back to life so Smolder and Ember could kill me."

"Oh thank goodness."

"Actually, I think it was a nightmare."

"A nightmare?"

Spike's ears twitched ever so slightly, the sound of something rickety making its way down the street. He continued and paid it no mind. "Well see, after I went home yesterday, I had opted to sleep in a little more." Once again, that rickety sound began to catch his attention, the sound of heavily rusted wheels clicking in the silent streets, and once again, he continued. "Smolder thought she would keep me company and I needed the comfort anyway, so we slept--"

Peg gasped before putting on a curious smile. "Oh my Spike, did you make her night?"

This made Spike harshly blush but he did sort of expect this with the way he worded it. "H-hey, we didn't do anything like that. We just slept together, literally."

"Darn...I wanted to hear that juicy tale."

Spike raised one eyebrow in a questioning gaze. "I'm beginning to realize a lot of things about you Ms. Peg."

Peg giggled at that comment, rubbing her head in embarrassment."I am sorry dear, I guess I've been trying to live vicariously through others lately, please continue." Before Spike could even get a word out, the sound of that rusted clicking made his ears twitch once more, this time so close and audible, that he turned his head slightly to the direction it was coming from. The street was relatively empty save for the carriages parked outside, not a moving vehicle in sight. But that was distinctly the sound of rusted wheels, he couldn't mistake it after he bought his first carriage, which was more than 10 years old and hadn't been used since then. But where was it coming from, it sounded close yet there's nothing out there. "Spike?"

"Hmm? Oh sorry."

"Are you seriously ok, you seem out of it all of a sudden."

"Oh no, I'm fine re--" The clicking resumed, this time spike immediately spun his head toward the window and realized the sky was pitch black again, no, everything was pitch black this time, he couldn't see out of the window even a foot. "What in the..."

"Spike, you're scaring me, what's wrong?"

Spike focused his eyes, an ominous green light shining in the distance once again. He began to put two and two together when the clicking began to seemingly cooperate with the light's motion. It would cease upon the light's stop and continue upon its movement. "What in the hell is going on?"

"Sp..ke."

Spike turned his head toward Ms. Peg, who had her head downward, muzzle first into the table. "Ms. Peg, are you ok."

"F...ne"

"Why are talking like th--The hell!" Spike was forced to hop out of his seat when she turned her head upward, those light blue eyes now replaced with a blank white stare, devoid of any pupils or irises. It was made worse when his gaze fell upon others in the restaurant, including violet. They all had the same symptoms, blank white eyes, but now, spreading from their white eyes was a black color, slowing spreading over their body until they nothing but a, "No no, not again not again!" Spike cried out as he began to run toward the entrance. Within seconds, a crowd of ponies, covered in black, eyes blinding white, and mouths now like a dragon's glowing with that same blinding white, covered his escape. He was forced to turn his attention toward another exit, only to see that blocked as well. In fact, the crowd seemed to surround him at this point. "No no no no no no..." As the sea of black ponies seemed to inch closer, he back up toward his table, immediately planting a foot on the table to dive out of the window. It was then he forgot of Ms. Peg, who was assumed to now be apart of the endless fear he felt right now. She latched onto his foot with unimaginable strength and pulled him to the ground, his struggle strong and fierce but immediately useless as the table toppled to the ground under him. "Sh--"

His words were cut off by Ms. Peg straddling his waist, her inky black muzzle coming ever so closer toward his own. "Whatsssss da matter Sssssspike?" She said with a hiss. "Not loving the atmossssspehere."

"G-get off of me!"

"Oh don't you worry Mr. Ssssssspike." she hissed while beginning to move her hips along his waist. "I'll be gentle."

With no hesitation, she latched her muzzle on onto his with a kiss. It was exactly the same, the same inky black substance spreading over him like a vacuum sealed box. He couldn't breathe and it once again because of someone he thought was his friend. He began to struggle, tried to fight back, kicking, punching, nothing, he could feel no progress being made whatsoever. Only made worse when the crowd began to join in, fusing like a liquid to Ms. Peg and beginning to form a black sea of whatever the hell they were around him. He could feel his limbs beginning to go numb, the lack of breath beginning to take a toll on his consciousness. As the blackness completely encased him, he forced his limbs through to move against the thick substance, desperately clawing at his mouth to get any morsel of air, but it was no use. He cried out in agony as he began to slow down, everything suddenly fading to black.

Si siht elttil pup tsol...

Spike felt his eyes twitch...He could hear the faint sound of the wind, but...it sounded off, almost distorted.

Ekaw pu pup...

His eyes twitched a bit more, but he was so tired, all he could muster was a yawn. He began to slowly stretch his two...no four legs? That's when he was forced to stand and open his eyes. the sight was unlike what he had expected. He was in a cell of unknown origin, light flooding from a nearby window and illuminating his situation. The bars were thick, but they looked rusty, easy enough to knock down. Unfortunately, there was something holding Spike to the ground, the sound of a chain gave him a good guess. The walls looked old and decrepit, and he could partially see through a hole in the wall to another cell. Upon getting close and trying to place his to the hole, he realized his muzzle was a bit longer than normal. As a matter of fact, why am I standing on four legs? "Woof!"

What in the...why did I just bark? Wait four legs, barking? I couldn't be a... He looked for any reflective surface he could, spotting a small piece of mirror on the floor and trying to pick it up. He could only fiddle with it and push it around as he flexed his paw around the edges with no success. No way... I'm a He desperately pushed the small piece of glass up toward a wall, angrily yipping as the glass knicked his paw. After a few dozen tries he finally succeeding in standing the piece of mirror on a wall. When his eyes finally met his own, given the clues, he shouldn't have been surprised, but he was. Staring back at him was a white wolf, it's eyes shining purple like crystals and symbol upon his forehead shining with the same radiance.

Krab krab elttil pup...

Author's Note

Tahw si eht thgil tuohtiw ssenkrad, woh od eht owt yltnatsnoc yortsed tey etaerc hcae rehto? Ti's yllautca ton a rettam fo woh...tub yhw, yhw od eht owt kees noinimod revo eht rehto? Si ti rewop? si ti emos leurc tca fo rehtom erutan, na tcnitsni. Ew llahs dnif tuo elttil pup...
(What is the light without darkness, how do the two constantly destroy yet create each other? It's actually not a matter of how...but why, why do the two seek dominion over the other? Is it power? is it some cruel act of mother nature, an instinct? We shall find out little pup...)