Spike’s Bizarre Adventure

It pained her to see him like this, Rarity always hated seeing Spike look so down, so utterly defeated.

The white Mare could only watch as Spike sat down across from his Roommate, Scamp he had called him, she wasn’t aware there were any Diamond Dogs in the school, the group of four had taken refuge in the cafe just off campus to talk, each of them had ordered a simple coffee and sat near the back to talk in private.

“So that whole BlueBlood fiasco from a few days ago, that involved you and these Stands?” Scamp asked calmly as he sat across from Spike.

“I was surprised not many people recognized me, my face was in the paper.” Spike muttered as he glanced down at his coffee.

“The trial hasn’t happened yet, plus not many actual read newspapers these days.” Fluttershy pointed out which seemed to surprise Scamp.

“What? Really? I thought they had him locked up already.” The Diamond dog frowned as Spike sighed.

“They do, they have him at most for assault and attempted murder, but until the trial they can only hold him until then, it be a more open and shut case if they could tie him to that girls-“ Spike began to explain only to stop himself and shake his head “It doesn’t really matter, ideally it should be an open and shut case.”

“Is it? BlueBlood is a noble, and one related to Celestia herself no less, not to speak ill of your monarch but…it wouldn’t surprise me if she baled him out.” Scamp crossed his arms frowning before shaking his head “We are getting off track, after you dealt with BlueBlood, you held onto the arrow and then you arrived at C.U a few days later.” He briefly recapped.

“And had a brief battle with an unknown Stand and another stand even later who’s user I thought had attacked my Sister…and later said user did just that…” Spike explained further as his expression became more downtrodden as he remembered Celtis only grew more aggressive after his accusation “Another mess I made-“ he began to say before flinching as Fluttershy frowned at him.

“After that you became my roommate, you crashed out on the couch while I was in my room after we met.” Scamp leaned back and took a sip of his drink before he thought back “I tried to wake you up…but my hand got stabbed by that arrow and I ran into some psychopath who basically admitted to starting the fire at the library.”

“Which you still haven’t told us much about.” Spike frowned.

“In all fairness, the situation was really bizarre, didn’t have a lot of time to note down to many specifics other then she seemed to be named Skulk Shadow, I think she also had whisker tattoos on her face, pretty weird right?” Scamp asked as Rarity frowned.

“Anything else? Was she a Pegasus or an Earth Pony or Unicorn?” Rarity asked while Scamp bit his lower lip in thought.

The Diamond Dog put his hand to his chin as he thought about it, the Mare he had run into before he finally recalled.

“Unicorn.” Scamp said calmly “A unicorn with whisker tattoos on her face.” He sighed “That is pretty much all I could recall, I was to panicked at the situation to really take in any other features.” He admitted before taking another drink from his coffee, a look of annoyance crossing his features as something came to mind “her aura was also out of wack.” He frowned.

“Her…aura?” Fluttershy asked gently, before Spike finally spoke up.

“Scamp has some kinda Diamond Dog magic, lets him see auras apparently.” The Dragon revealed as he motioned for Rarity to let him out of the booth.

With a small amount of hesitancy she did so “Where are you going?” She asked as she watched him stand up from the booth.

“Bathroom, I need to splash some cold water on my face or something…” Spike muttered as he walked away from the booth towards the direction of the facilities, leaving the trio alone for the time being.

“Is he gonna be ok?” Scamp asked as he glanced back to watch the Dragon go.

“No…I mean he is going to handle this situation like he normally does but that’s not a healthy way to handle it.” Fluttershy muttered as she stared down at the table.

“How he normally does?” Scamp asked before Rarity spoke up.

“Spike has a habit of…bottling up his emotions and blaming himself when things go bad, living in a city where you are virtually the only Dragon didn’t help much to stop that habit either.” Rarity frowned as she set her drink down, a look of frustration crossed her features for a moment before she calmed herself “People can be so cruel…” she muttered.

“Yeah, I know that feeling.” Scamp sighed as he glanced back “Look I’m…sorry about attacking him.” He said as Fluttershy spoke up.

“The situation you had found yourself in would have caused anyone to lash out, so I understand, but you should really apologize to him when he comes back…sorry.” She meekly said as Scamp glanced her way.

“Nah I get it and I will but, I have to ask, what’s up with you guys, like I’m not trying to be one of those Pony blaming dickheads but…how come you guys are friends with him or even talking to someone like me?” He asked with a frown.

Rarity let out a sigh as she stared down at her drink for a moment “Spike is our friend’s adopted little brother, we basically grew up with him.” She smiled fondly “Him being a dragon never really was an issue, to us he was always just…Spike.” She chuckled as Fluttershy also smiled warmly at her words.

“There was a time I was frightened by Dragons but…never Spike, he’s my friend.” Fluttershy said in a soft tone “So it really does hurt knowing he’s dealing with stuff like this and I can’t help…just because I don’t have a Stand.” She frowned as her eyes briefly flickered to Rarity, a mild feeling of jealousy briefly rose inside her but it quickly diminished as she calmed herself.

“So why not use that arrow thing then to give yourself one.” Scamp asked as he took a drink of his coffee.

“It’s not that simple, from what little we understand about that arrow not just anyone can get a Stand from it, if someone incapable of wielding one got pricked by it apparently they would die.” Rarity revealed as Scamp nearly chocked on his beverage at this revelation “At least that’s what I’m assuming from the death of that Pegasus girl from that run in with BlueBlood.” She frowned.

“I could have died?!” Scamp said in shock, unfortunately his shout attracted more attention than intended as a few other patrons of the place glanced his way.

“Inside voice.” Fluttershy told him gently before sighing “I’d love nothing more than to use the arrow, to help my friend but it is to big a risk since we only know the bare minimum of how it works.” She sighed “But I’m sure we will figure something out, I…I don’t want to stand on the sidelines while my friends are in trouble.” She firmly spoke.

“Neither do i, my Stand is not suited for combat but I won’t allow my friends to face any danger on their own, once Twilight is feeling better I plan to ask her to help us come up with a solution.” Rarity admitted as Scamp seemed to go silent for a moment.

The Diamond Dog thought to himself for a few moments, his mind going back to the events of this morning and what Spike had told him.

“The other people at this school with Stands…they are dangerous, Rarity seems ok…but just her and a small group of people taking on god knows how many enemies? Nah, that ain’t right.” Scamp thought to himself before finally he spoke up.

“I wanna help you, I might not have wanted this Stand thing in the first place but…in Diamond Dog culture we have a saying, you look out for your pack.” Scamp told them “Might have gotten off to a rocky start but…seeing as you guys are looking out for Spike, I can tell you’re good people so…you’ve got my support.” He finished as the two Mares smiled at his words.

“Woah!” A voice said as the trio turned and saw Spike stumble back towards their table with a shocked look, in his hand was a familiar arrowhead, he seemed to be struggling with some unseen force much to the trio’s alarm.

“S-spike?” Fluttershy stuttered in shock as he came to a stop at the table, his outstretched arm oddly pointed at her while Spike seemed equally confused at the situation.

“I…I think we need to go see Twilight…” Spike said after a moment.

-Moments earlier

A sigh escaped Spike’s lips as he splashed cold water from the sink onto his face, the adolescent Dragon slowly set his hands down to grip the porcelain sink as he gazed at himself in the mirror.

Spike looked…tired, above everything he looked exhausted the events of the last few days had truly done a number on him, despite his scaly appearance he could make out the sight of bags under his own eyes in his reflection, it wasn’t easy to notice at first glance due to his scale covered skin, his eyes also where slightly bloodshot.

“I’ve been getting plenty of sleep but…I look like hell…” Spike muttered to himself as his ear/fins drooped in exhaustion, his shoulders felt heavy “I…I can’t keep doing this alone.” He muttered.

“You Don’t have too.” DragonHeart spoke up as he materialized besides his user, for a moment Spike focused on the Stand’s voice, it sounded more clear, less synthetic than it had previously been, it now sounded more like the Stand had his own voice rather than a copy of Spike’s own “You can ask for help, that is what your friends are for, if you keep at it the way you’ve been going…you will burn yourself out.” The Stand firmly said.

“I can’t just drag them into this…I have to keep them-“ Spike began only for DragonHeart to hold up a hand to silence him.

“You are not some protagonist in an anime or action story, this is real life kid, and in real life no one is more important than any other person, you need help so stop pussyfooting around and do what you know you need to do.” DragonHeart firmly spoke “I don’t know where you got the idea that you have to be this all important shonen protagonist who has to carry the burden on his own or be at the center of everything, but you aren’t and it stops now, you are my user and I can tell you this…you are a normal person, no more important than Twilight or some random guy on the street, suck it up and ask for help.” The Stand finished before fading away, leaving Spike alone to contemplate his words.

“he’s…He’s right, I can’t keep doing this…and I can’t do it alone…so I won’t…” Spike told himself before he reached into his pocket and retrieved the arrowhead “I…I won’t use it recklessly but I need to figure out how this thing determines who gets a Stand and who doesn’t.” He frowned to himself.

ゴゴゴゴ

Instantly a small glow seemed to come off the arrowhead before Spike’s arm jerked to the side much to his shock.

“Woah!” He yelped as he quickly pulled his arm back only to stumble forward towards the door, he attempted to let the arrowhead go out of shock but found that his fingers couldn’t budge, so Spike was forced to walk out of the bathroom and stumble back towards his table to the confusion of his friends and a few other patrons.

Spike attempted to say something on this but came to a stop as his own arm seemed to point itself at Fluttershy, the arrowhead’s glow traveling up and ending at the tip much to his shock as a few things seemed to click in his mind.

“S-spike?” Fluttershy asked nervously as her eyes went from him to the arrowhead, both Rarity and Scamp looked equally perturbed by his actions.

Spike swallowed nervously as he finally found his voice “I…I think we need to go see Twilight.” Spike spoke with a small crack in his voice before he finally managed to pull his arm back, his gaze landing on the arrowhead as whatever strange effect had occurred had finally subsided “And get the others, the sooner…the better.” He grimly said.

-

“Ugh…my fucking head…”

Celtis was not having a good day, the adolescent fawn had dealt with a bunch of annoying ponies accusing him of something he didn’t do, an ungrateful bastard of a dragon attacking him just before he-

Wait.

Wasn’t he jumped by a Stand just before he attacked Spike?

Stirring awake fully Celtis felt his mind clear up, his previous emotions of anger where no longer clouding his mind, however they quickly returned as he took notice of his situation, alone in a dimly lit room tied to a chair, he was anything but happy once he realized this.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Celtis demanded as he struggled to free himself from his bindings, he attempted t9 bring for his Stand however, to his shock it wouldn’t manifest, his aura had flared up only to rapidly fizzle out just as fast as it had appeared “What the hell?” He growled.

“My apologies, this is strictly for your own protection to make sure you don’t lash out and attack anyone.” A voice spoke up making Celtis stop as he heard the voice.

“Who’s there?” Celtis frowned as his eyes swept across the room but spotted no source of the voice, until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Hold on, I’ll let you out…but do not try anything ok? I am putting my faith in you being civilized enough for a small parley.” The voice spoke calmly, it was deep and smooth, for some odd reason it seemed to calm Celtis as he felt a clawed finger dig into the bindings around his wrists and cut them loose.

In a matter of seconds the robe that had been binding Celtis fell from his frame and he stood up.

“Who are you?” Celtis asked as he duly refused to turn to face his captor, not that he didn’t want to mind you, he just found himself unable to will his body to do so.

“My real name is not important, but you may call me Asterisk.” The voice calmly said as Celtis heard a series of foot steps echo around the room to signifying his captor was walking around him, he soon caught sight of a figure in his peripheral vision, he could just barely make out a tall muscular figure wearing all black but he couldn’t make out his face “And I wish to recruit you in my cause.” They said calmly.

“You’re…cause?” Celtis asked in an unsure tone as he began to turn his head, only to immediately turn it back and away from looking at the person in the room.

“Yes, to make equestria a place of true equality, but to do that…Celestia and Luna must die.” The man spoke, his words hitting Celtis like a ton of brick due to the sheer weight of what just came out of the man’s mouth.

“WHAT?!” Celtis said in panic as his pupils dilated, but his captor payed this no mind.

“I understand you have issues with trusting ponies, I will admit some people who work for me are Infact ponies, but they are loyal to my cause, granted certain loose ends need to be dealt with.” Asterisk said calmly as he walked forward so that he was now standing in front of Celtis, albeit with his back to the man.

“I-I Are you insane?! What makes you think I’d help you?! Forget working with ponies what you just suggested is fucking insane!” Celtis snapped as Asterisk chuckled.

“Is it? Think about it, a large portion of Pony kind bigotry stems from the nobles, who see themselves as untouchable or in the right because the ‘most powerful’ people in this country are themselves Ponies.” Asterisk pointed out “With Alicorns like Celestia and Luna around…nothing can change, they themselves are trying to change things but the process won’t work simply because there are Ponies in charge.” He explained.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Celtis asked.

“A country cannot change if its higher ups themselves won’t, I am not just suggesting the death of the twin princesses, but every single person of noble blood in canterlot.” Asterisk spoke “Or at least any one of them that have personally had a hand in suppressing us Non-ponies.” He corrected himself.

“And…and what makes you think I’d help you with that?” Celtis asked before Asterisk finally began to turn around, but only enough to show a peak of his eyes, glowing in the dark with an ominous green glow.

“Because you want things to change my boy, you want people like you, people like us to truly live happily, but that can’t happen without drastic action, be the one to make the change…help me…help us…make equestria…truly equal.” He said as he slowly reached out and extended his hand, showing it was covered in dark purple scales.

Celtis just stared at the hand for a moment, his mind flashing back to his battle with Spike, to their interactions.

“In another life…if things had gone differently…we could have been friends…we still can…I just need to show him the way.” Celtis thought as he slowly extended out his hand and grasped Asterisk’s hand.

“Deal.” Celtis said calmly, unaware his own eyes briefly gained a similar green glow to them.

“Good.” Asterisk chuckled as his eyes flashed brighter “Then it be best we start you off with a way to prove your loyalty.” He said before reaching into his pocket and pulled out a photo “I take it you are familiar with the man in this photo?” He asked.

Celtis squinted his eyes at the photo and he blinked in shock, it was a photo of a blonde white furred unicorn male, one who had become very infamous in the last few days “That’s Prince BlueBlood…” he said in shock.

“One of ours that sadly went rouge when his delusions of grandeur went to his head, your first mission is to infiltrate where he’s being held, and kill him before his trial.” Asterisk said calmly.

“You want…me to kill the nephew of Princess Celestia?” Celtis asked in shock.

“No one would miss him, and it would send a message that change is coming.” Asterisk said as he calmly took a step back “You have a unique and powerful Stand, not like BlueBlood, all that build up for him and his Stand, Hurdy Gurdy Man, only had the power to simulate sensations and feelings, ideal for interrogation but completely useless in a one on one fight with a more experienced combatant.” He explained.

Celtis said nothing for a moment, he was processing the information given to him as he contemplated his situation.

“When do I start? Will I be given any help or is this all on my own?” Celtis asked.

“You will be given a partner to ensure you don’t go rouge, she is a master of disguise, we call her Sunny Masquerade.” Asterisk calmly explained, and then as if on Que, the door to the room opened up.

“You flatter me sir.” A female voice chuckled as a hooded figure stepped into view, before pulling said hood back and revealing her face.

“A Pony? Are you kidding me?” Celtis glared as he took in the Mare’s features, a pale Pegasus woman with a vibrant golden mane with light blue accents, part of her hair was braided to the side, she also had the end of her own tail braided, her clothing consisted of a dark hoody and baggy pants.

“I am aware of your biased, but as I said some ponies do agree with our cause.” Asterisk said as Sunny walked up to Celtis who just narrowed his eyes at her.

“So…you’re a master of disguise? Wouldn’t a changeling be better suited for that?” Celtis quipped as Sunny chuckled.

“Changelings WISH they had my level of skill.” Sunny said as walked past Celtis “Lord knows if you had my skillset back when you fought that dragon kid, you wouldn’t have been beaten so easily~” She teased as Celtis narrowed his eyes.

“Listen here you-“ Celtis whirled around to glare at her only to stop in his tracks at what he saw.

Spike…he saw Spike in place of Sunny who was casually smirking at him while examining ‘his’ claws without a care in the world.

“It can be so jarring can’t it?” ‘Spike’ spoke in the voice of the Mare before clearing their throat “But has a lot of fun potential.” The imposter grinned their voice now changing to be identical to that of the Dragon’s.

Celtis shook his head In disbelief at this “Are…you sure you aren’t a Changeling?” He asked only to step back in surprise when Spike/Sunny blew out a small puff of smoke.

“A Changeling can only disguise so much~ when I do it I’m just as good as the real McCoy~” The imposter spoke and stepped towards Celtis with a rather sultry sway in their hips before stoping just short of Celtis before her ‘disguise’ melted away “I won’t reveal how it’s done just yet…but when I turn into someone, I am them, right down to the DNA~” she smirked as Celtis frowned in thought.

“Alright then…when do we start?” Celtis asked as he glanced back only to see Asterisk was no longer in the room.

“Get used to that, the boss only makes a personal appearance to new recruits or when something important comes up.” Sunny said before clearing her throat “And the mission starts tonight, so I suggest you get ready.” She said as she walked past him while motioning for him to follow her.

Without any other option, Celtis followed, he had made his decision and he would fall in line…for now.

…To Be Continued