The Diamond's Shadow

As it turned out, no; he did not have to do that. Rarity’s compact mirror was more than enough.

Spike wasn’t sure what exactly went into the ritual of swapping personas for Rarity and Vanity or what to expect. His arrival that evening had him greeted by Rarity, who had him wait in the Boutique lobby while she claimed to be helping prep Vanity. He gave her her space and let his mind wander until Rarity emerged from the back room. Spike could admit to expecting something elegant or showy. Instead, she appeared with a fashionable pair of jeans, white snow boots, and a fluffy pink sweater that looked like it almost fit her but was a size too large. He thought to comment on it but let it go for the moment.

“Alright, so...any suggestions on this?” Spike asked her.

“Whatever do you mean, Spike?”

“Like, making sure she’s comfortable. And that I don’t scare her. Stuff like that.”

Rarity gave a light laugh into the back of her hand before answering him. “Oh, darling. Just be yourself; that’s all you needed to charm me.” She held up her compact mirror and nodded at it. “Ready when you are, Vanity!”

Spike covered his eyes as there was a brief but bright flash of light and magic that emanated from the mirror and encompassed Rarity. When the light had died down enough for him to see, he was left to appreciate the vision of Vanity now standing where Rarity stood. The odd attire Rarity had chosen made sense now, with Vanity filling in her stead. The mare’s physique brought out the clothing well, or rather, the clothing brought out her figure very well; it was hard to ignore how much the sweater tried to cling to her bosom or how the jeans seemed to fit her like a second skin. Experience with Rarity had taught him to appreciate a good-looking mare; Vanity was a vision in the casual attire. It made him wonder just what could be done if she attempted to dress up. Realizing he was staring, he shook his head and focused, realizing Vanity was waiting. One look at her eyes dispelled the thoughts swimming around in the back of his mind: she looked...nervous. Afraid.

He realized there and then he never wanted her to look at him that way again.

He took a step forward and held out a hand to her, palm upwards. “I know we’ve said it already before. But just for formality’s sake: Hello, Vanity. I’m Spike.” He said, offering what he hoped would be a confident smile.

It pushed Vanity to move, and she reached out to take his hand. Whereas most ponies would treat a handshake or greeting as any commonplace thing, for Vanity, it seemed like an experience akin to testing a new limb. Her fingers were slow, tensed as she rested her hand on his before gripping it gently. “...you’re warm. Are all living beings like this?” she questioned aloud. Her voice was soft on his ears, compared to Rarity’s more energetic tones. Yet it was pleasant.

“It sometimes comes with being a dragon. I...realize that there might be a lot of firsts for you in this tonight. I want to make something clear for you.” When she looked up at him again, it took him a second to not be lost in how her eyes gleamed. “I’m not here to hurt you, or cause harm, or force you in any shape or way. I’m your friend. And if at any point tonight you feel uncomfortable or ready to go home, it’s ok to say so. Ok?”

Vanity seemed to consider this before a smile crossed her lips. It was more genuine than the previous ones, and she relaxed her grip on his hand to bring her other up with it, holding it between the two. “Already, you show me kindness more than I expected to earn. Are all beings like you and Lady Rarity?”

“I can assure you there’s no one else like Rarity. Well, except for maybe you, but that’s a bit cheating.” He joked before seeing Vanity look a little confused. “It’s a joke because you and her are kinda similar. Different, but similar.”

“I see. Perhaps that can work in my favor; I too would like you to be at ease with me,” she noted, “Has Rarity informed you of a plan for tonight’s outing?”

“I’m afraid not. But I’m fairly flexible. So wherever you’d like to go, I’m happy to be right there with you.” Spike replied.

“I...would like to walk through the town. At least where we are allowed to go. If that is alright, Sir Spike?”

He held out his arm for her to take, giving her a moment to understand before she accepted and wrapped her arm around his. He kept his grip gentle for her, finding there was still some nervousness in her. Spike could guess that she was still wary of making a mistake and sought to keep the air light between them.

“Remind me to get a knight’s helm if I’m going to be a Sir. Think I’d look alright in one?”

Vanity looked up at him and gave a light giggle as Spike twitched the small spines along his cheeks with a practiced flex. “I believe Rarity would use the phrase ‘dashing’ would she not? I can recall a memory when you and she were younger, of you wanting to be her knight in shining armor.”

“You know, the phrase really does take a different spin when you know a guy with that very name.” He replied. The idle chatter carried them forwards and into the town. Being nighttime as it was, very few ponies were out and about, save for the occasional patrolling guard or another fellow civilian. Spike kept an eye on Vanity when some of them would come close by and noticed how she would seem to try and reduce her presence a little. Her nervousness would come and go in fleeting spurts, leading him to try and take routes he could reckon to be less crowded.

They came upon the park, and here it seemed Vanity could relax better. The open space was more freeing to her, and he let her go as she pulled away to wander among the snow. Their footsteps were in tandem with one another, Spike easily keeping pace with her while glancing at the night sky above, stars shimmering in the open sky.

“This is a good night out. Twilight was telling me all about her schedule for the night the other week. She’s very insistent on schedules; throw her off of a plan, and you witness chaos enough to make Discord applaud.” He told her.

“Tell me more about this Twilight. I see her in Rarity’s memories, and you two are often together. Is she significant?” Vanity asked.

“Twilight? Yeah, she’s been my sorta...step-mom/sister/friend ever since I was a hatchling. Gosh, that seems forever ago by now.” Spike replied. “You’d never think one day you’d go from minding a library to running a whole country. But here we are. It’s been a crazy journey to this point. And to think it all began with an old prophecy everypony forgot.”

“Ah, yes. She who became Nightmare Moon.” Vanity said. “The name comes up in Rarity’s memories. And in mine apart from hers. We knew of her, even after her defeat.”

“You did?”

“The Nightmare that filled Princess Luna is the same Nightmare who took hold of Rarity years ago. And is the same being whom I come from. In a way, that Nightmare is a...parent, so to speak. Yet not. It is...confusing.” Vanity’s expression looked as puzzled as she sounded. Spike could guess the concept was admittedly different than what most would call normal.

“Well, most parents don’t go out on power-hungry rampages.”

“Indeed. That facet of existence with it was most perplexing. To conquer for conquering’s sake. Where once we saw alignment with it, we now feel a disconnect. It is like...like…” Vanity trailed off, trying to muster the words. Spike gave her time to think and watched as she looked at him. “May I ask a question?” She asked as she looked at him.

“Ask away.”

“I swore to Lady Rarity that I would not use my magic while in control unless our lives were threatened. But I feel the only way to describe what it was like must be demonstrated rather than explained through words. With you here to supervise, do you believe I can?”

“Tell you what; if she asks you about it, you can say it was my idea. I mean...she’s not listening right now, right?” Spike asked.

“No. Rarity promised she would behave and let me have this time to myself. Something of the lines… ‘I cannot let you thrive if I suffocate you, darling!’ or to the extent of it.”

“Then have at it.” He encouraged, gesturing with an open hand.

Vanity seemed to concentrate for a few moments, then lifted her hand up. Her horn took on an ethereal violet glow, darker than her mane color. But she surprised Spike as her entire being was encompassed in the magical aura before extending out to the snow surrounding them. With a gentle and precise scooping motion, she brought the gathered snow together, pressing it into a large ball that floated above the ground in front of them. It seemed entirely effortless on her part while Spike felt his jaw slacken.

“Imagine the Nightmare as an ever-shifting, changing element. Conscious. Thinking. Feeling. But no form to express itself. It seeks out means of doing this in ponies like Luna and Rarity, those who experienced a...fracture, in their emotions. It seeps in and finds a way to fill the void with itself and takes hold. I remember it’s anger, it’s pride. Like one loud voice, it commanded all of us within it to act in concert. As one we obeyed, and followed.”

Spike listened, watching Vanity as she spoke before looking to the floating ball of snow before them. It spun and turned while she continued, and small fractures began to crack along the ball of snow’s alleged solid surface.

“When the Nightmare was made to face against the magic you and your friends brought forward, it was like striking a match to the driest of forests. It burned across us all, and I, too, still remember its sting. The shouting grew quieter, fading until I could hear nothing.” The massive snowball fractured and fell to pieces, some falling to the ground in clumps. Others began to coalesce together and take shape, a few moments of magical snow crafting creating a snowy duplicate of Vanity as she was. Her expression in the snow was neutral, neither happy nor sad in Spike’s view. “When next I could think and hear, it was Rarity’s voice. Frantic. Desperate to solve how to revive her work. Instinct guided me to help, as I was instructed. A new connection was made, and thus, I came to become...this.” She gestured at the snow duplicate, and then herself.

“Wow,” Spike said finally after she finished. He gave a closer inspection of the snow mannequin, surprised to see she got the details down to even her eyelashes and the intricate spiral of her horn. “So it really is, in a way, like a new start for you. When you and Rarity connected.”

“Yes. It is certainly not the most glamorous of starts, but it was a start no less. When she and I realized we could speak to one another, I was afraid of more retribution. The Nightmare had hurt plenty of ponies and creatures, and I was one of its kin. Had she lashed out at me, I would not have stopped her.” Vanity looked aside, sadness crossing her expression. “There are times I do still wonder.”

“You don’t deserve that,” Spike replied immediately, making the dark-furred mare look up at him in confusion. “You don’t. That’s not fair to you.”

“But...I was the Nightmare. A part of it. Am I not guilty of its crimes? The harm it rendered upon others? Upon your friends? Upon...you?”

Spike shook his head. “No, you’re not. And I’ll tell you why in the easiest way I know how.” He looked about where they were and nodded to himself. “Can’t see it from this level. Vanity, may I have the honor of carrying you?”

This bewildered the mare for a moment before she thought about it and nodded. “Lady Rarity has trusted you to carry her before. I remember. And so shall I.”

Spike chuckled and approached her. However, when he reached out towards her, there was again her instinctive shudder and shift to reduce herself. The drake waited and placed a gentle hand upon her shoulder. She looked up to him, and he offered a smile down to her as he met her stare.

“I promise you. On a Dragon’s honor. I won’t hurt you or let you fall.”

Hearing him speak and the oath he gave seemed to ease the mare a little, and she allowed him to scoop her up into his arms. Spike’s sweater ruffled in the wind as he lifted them both up a fair distance into the air, enough to see the tops of the roofs of Ponyville and some of the weaving streets that ran through the town. Vanity clung to him with an arm around the back of his neck and a hand to his chest.

Spike was a little surprised. Vanity was no problem to lift up, yet it felt right to carry her like this. To try and offer her himself for support, her chest pressed up against his firm own. He focused as the mare looked around with the new perspective they had. “Look over there, the area where Town Hall is and Sugarcube Corner. You see how some of the buildings look newer than the homes around them do?”

Vanity nodded, and he continued, wings flapping to keep them steady and aloft. “They’re like that because of me. I once lost control of myself and went from a tiny dragon to a rampaging monster. I can’t remember it all. But I know I did it. It took weeks to clean things up, and I had to work extra hard to make up for it all. It was a lot less bad than it could’ve been, thanks to Rarity and my friends. They stopped me from becoming a true monster.”

He looked back at her and smiled. “I expected to be hated. Disregarded. But my friends didn’t hold it against me. They forgave me because Spike the Dragon is not Spike the Rampaging Beast. I could’ve stayed that way if I really chose to, in that big state. But I chose not to. And in a way, you chose your way as well, just the same.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, think about it. When you first heard Rarity, that was when the choice was offered. Do you listen and hear her and help? Or keep to the dark like the Nightmare would’ve done and try to exploit her later? You chose to help. You did. Even if you think you didn’t, for one iota of a moment, you had the fork in the road in front of you. And you chose to help.” Spike explained. “You can’t be the monster you worry you might be if you choose to not be it. You chose to be you, Vanity. And that means you don’t bear the burden of the past on your shoulders. You made the change. And now, you get to live a life that you get to define however you want.”

Vanity listened, and for a few moments, after he spoke, Spike was left in the quiet as his words hung in the air. He was about to ask if he said something wrong before Vanity spoke again.

“Is it...can it really be so simple?” She questioned.

“Sometimes, the best things in life are kept simple because being simple’s the best. Favorite foods. Favorite pastimes. The stars keep things simple too.” Spike said, looking up at the sky. Vanity craned her head up, mindful to not poke his neck with her horn. Her mane tickled against his skin, but he never felt her lessen her grip, and neither did he. “And we all enjoy them, right?”

“Simplicity. If one is happy in simplicity, then in simplicity, they can remain. Perhaps...I can be simple. Sometimes.”

“You can be simple. And you can be complicated. You can do both,” Spike told her, peering down at her. Vanity’s features were much closer now, allowing him to appreciate that she was as much a beauty as Rarity was. Her full lips were pressed into a thoughtful pout, and closer inspection of her face revealed not a single blemish along the darkened skin. “...you just gotta be you.”

Vanity looked up at him, and he blinked before giving a quiet laugh. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be all philosophical. But yeah. Let Vanity be Vanity. That’s all you gotta do.” He lowered them down from the air and effortlessly floated to the ground with his wings out. As they came down, however, he heard Vanity murmur loud enough for him to hear.

“I think...that is something I can do. With you.” She replied, smiling. He landed and sat her down, noticing how reluctant Vanity was to let go. He found himself holding onto her hand for a few seconds longer, and their eyes met. Spike was about to speak when a sudden burst of magic came from beside them, giving him a face full of snow as was Vanity. He glanced at where the snow mannequin she’d constructed had been standing, only now it seemed to have worn off and consequently came undone.

“M-my apologies! I am still getting used to using magic appropriately. I have extensive knowledge of the spells, but using Rarity’s magic makes things trickier to master.” Vanity exclaimed. She was quick to try and pat off the snow that had gotten on his shoulders and the sweater, but Spike just laughed.

“I’m alright! I’ve had my fair share of snow fights before, you know. You should see when AJ and Dash try to compete, or worse, they’re on the same team!” he joked before returning the favor to Vanity. He was cautious as he brushed at her mane and then her shoulders, taking a moment to admire the way the snow brought out her dark features moreso. “You know...you look really nice in the snow.”

“I-I do?” She stammered in surprise. Spike realized what he said and caught himself.

“I-I mean, you look pretty! Uh. Pretty good! Yeah! Very pretty mare!” He paused and then slapped his own forehead. “Crap, no, I meant...huh?” He stopped mid apology as he heard Vanity laughing. Not just a polite one like she’d been doing, but a genuine, from the heart laugh. He felt his face warm but ended up laughing with her before she trailed off.

“We can hardly object to a compliment. It is...pleasant to know we...I, look well to you.” She said. “Thank you, Spike.”

“You’re welcome. C’mon; I don’t want you or me to catch a cold out here.” He insisted, and she took up his arm again as they walked together through the rest of the park. Spike told himself that he did not want either of them to get cold, but something said to him that neither of them had to worry about that. For his sake, he was a dragon. Freezing a dragon was a lot harder than expected. And Vanity...well.

Vanity had him.