Being Bait Is Not So Great
It’s been a few days since Hearths Warming Eve, and it was quite an eventful one, especially with the Winterzilla and mutated pudding chaos which Twilight made notes to Shining Armor and Cadence about, reminding them to never let Flurry Heart into a kitchen should she be around, until she’s at least seven.
Though somehow; the strangest thing occurring this winter break was Spike’s sudden behavior.
Ever since the whole Hearths Warming Helper debacle, Spike had been acting more distant towards Twilight which the alicorn noticed since Spike was almost always comfortable around her, so the sudden distancing was confusing to her.
Currently Twilight was sitting on her throne at the map table, she had asked Starlight to meet with her there to talk about the Spike situation. While she’d like to ask her other friends about the whole thing as well, she knew they had other business to do, and Starlight was practically always free and lived with her and Spike so she felt it’d be better to ask the unicorn if she had any ideas on why Spike was acting this way.
Suddenly a teal flash of light appeared and soon Starlight was there with a good natured grin.
“You really couldn’t walk here on your own?” Twilight asked with a teasing smile.
“Give me a break. You said to meet you here immediately.” Starlight rolled her eyes playfully, knowing that Twilight was just fooling around.
“Fair enough.” Twilight shrugged before getting a more neutral look, “Okay. The reason I wanted to talk to you was because I’m concerned about Spike.”
“What about him?” Starlight asked curiously.
“Well, ever since the Hearths Warming Helper incident, he’s been more distant than usual. I mean sure he accompanies me when I need him, but all he does is make awkward small talk.” Twilight explained to her former pupil.
Starlight had to be honest, the few times she did see Spike and Twilight together, Spike barely said a word to Twilight. She wasn’t sure if that was an issue or not but according to Twilight, he’s been acting like that for a while.
“Okay, so this clearly happened after Hearths Warming Eve.” Starlight noted with her hoof under her chin, Did anything notable happen between you two before he started going distant?”
“Well I had Spike carry my large To Do list, but after that we didn’t interact much.” Twilight admitted before continuing, “Except for that time where I had to use him as bait to get the WinterZilla out of the castle due to him having glitter all over him.”
Starlight’s eyes widened in shock before she sputtered, “You did what?”
“Okay that might have came out wrong, no I was not going to feed Spike to the WinterZilla. I was just trying to lure it out of the castle.” Twilight clarified.
“Yeah but it’s no wonder he’s upset Twilight, you used him as bait for Scorpan’s sake.” Starlight argued with a level tone, she wasn’t happy with Twilight’s actions but she was not going to yell at her if she didn’t need to.
“What do you mean? I’m sure Spike would understand that I didn’t want the WinterZilla to eat him or anything.” Twilight raised an eyebrow, though it was clear from Starlight’s reaction, she had done something wrong.
“Twilight, I get that and he probably does too, but the point still stands that you put his life at risk. You didn’t need to use Spike as bait, you could’ve just used any of your decorations to lure the WinterZilla away.” Starlight explained in an annoyed yet understanding tone.
Twilight thought back to the moment where she used Spike as bait during the WinterZilla invasion, she remembered how scared Spike was, how he protested against the plan, yet still tried to use him as bait when she could have used ornaments.
“Oh wow.” Twilight shuddered in realization, “I really did screw up didn’t I?”
Starlight’s gaze softened up once she knew Twilight realized her mistakes, to show any further anger towards her would no longer be necessary, she knew that much, she walked over to Twilight’s throne so she could comfort her.
“Twilight, I’m not mad at you, I’m upset with what you did and it was wrong, but I understand you were in the heat of the moment, though you still need to apologize to Spike about this.” Starlight said softly while placing a hoof around her back.
“But how will I do that if he keeps avoiding me?” Twilight asked sadly.
“I’ll talk to him for you, I’ll bring him over here so you can talk about this issue.” Starlight explained her plan before advising, “Although don’t expect him to forgive you so easily, he’ll do it at his own pace. Remember, even though Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash accepted my apology after I cast a spell on them, it took a while for them to be fully comfortable around me again, a similar thing will likely happen with Spike.”
Twilight sighed in discomfort before speaking, “I guess you have a point. I just hope Spike will be willing to hear me out.”
“If he was willing to give me and Discord a chance, he’ll most definitely give you one eventually.” Starlight reassured Twilight before she began to walk towards Spike’s room.
Before she went any further, Twilight called out, “Starlight!”
“Yes?” Starlight asked curiously.
“Thanks for the help. I’m not sure if any of our other friends could have helped me with this as much as you are right now.” Twilight said gratefully.
Starlight smiled at Twilight warmly before speaking, “I just want don’t want to see two of my closest friends fighting is all, and I do believe that you truly feel bad for what you did.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow at that statement, “Even after how long it took me to realize what it was I did?” She asked in shock and confusion.
“Sometimes it takes a bit longer to realize what it was we did until we hear it for ourselves.” Starlight explained, “Trust me, I can relate.”
Starlight soon teleported away from where Twilight was, she had a dragon to help heal.
Author's Note
Originally this was gonna be a one-shot but I figured it was already going on for a while so I decided to have Spike talk to Starlight and Twilight next chapter.
Being Bait Is Not So Great
With a flash of turquoise light, Starlight soon found herself right outside of Spike’s room. She was aware she could have easily teleported there herself if she wanted to, but she didn’t want to invade her friends’ personal space.
She soon knocked on the door, to see if Spike was actually in there, and after that, the door slowly opened with Spike peaking his head out as if to see who was out there, as soon as he noticed it was Starlight, he opened it quicker.
“Oh hey Starlight. How come you knocked?” Spike asked with a smile.
“Well, I kinda wanted to talk to you about something Spike.” Starlight admitted sheepishly, “Twilight told me you were acting distant around her, and we both know that’s not something you normally do.”
Spike’s eyes widened a bit when he heard Starlight say that but he attempted to brush it off, “Me? Distancing from Twilight? That’s just crazy. Twilight’s been my friend since I was a baby.” He said with a nervous laugh.
Starlight gave him a knowing look, which Spike hated because he knew she wasn’t buying his excuse.
“I thought nopony would notice.” Spike sighed before confessing, “Yes, I’ve been distancing from Twilight on purpose. Twilight… did something that hurt me and I distanced myself from her because it felt awkward to be around her. I was hoping I’d eventually get over it and I would be back to normal in no time, but you two caught me.”
“I have a good idea of why you’re avoiding her, but I think it’d be best if you told me yourself.” Starlight advised before giving Spike a chance to speak.
“I’m not sure how much you know, but when the WinterZilla was attacking, I was covered in glitter and it seemed to like me, I was of course scared for my life and hid behind Twilight.” Spike began confessing before he grew a more sour look, “Though she had other plans and used me as bait to get the WinterZilla out of the castle, I protested against this, but she still did it anyway. Even when the WinterZilla started paying attention to the decorations, she still tried to use me as bait!”
Spike ended his rant and breathed through his nose, a bit of smoke coming out of them. Starlight was shocked to hear this much anger come out from the dragon. While it wasn’t explosive for sure, it felt so unlike Spike to get this mad, and especially at Twilight.
“Whoa. She really hurt you didn’t she?” Starlight asked sympathetically.
“No. I’m just upset with her. That’s all.” Spike rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
“Are you sure? You wouldn’t be this mad at her if what she did wasn’t hurtful.” Starlight spoke up.
“And how would you know that?” Spike asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Because I experienced it.” Starlight answered before speaking, “Remember when I was bottling my anger to spare Trixie’s feelings and not hurt her?”
“Sorta, I wasn’t exactly there with you the whole time but what does that have to do with this?” Spike said with a questioning look.
“Well, my anger wasn’t just plain annoyance. It was also me being hurt by her actions, I felt she didn’t care about my concerns and how she was screwing me over. Even though I talked it out with her, I realized I was wrong, I still felt it.”
“Oh…” Spike realized before sighing, “Yeah, I am hurt by Twilight’s actions and also infuriated. I don’t want to feel that way and I feel like I shouldn’t feel that way but I do.”
“You’re allowed to feel that way. Twilight may be very close to you, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be very angry with her whenever she does something to upset you, it’s natural to feel that way.” Starlight told the upset dragon, “Though I feel like you aren’t gonna get over this if you don’t talk with her.”
Spike sighed and rolled his eyes, “She’ll probably just brush it off or something. She didn’t even bother to talk about with me so clearly it didn’t affect her.”
“Actually you’re wrong about that Spike.” Starlight said with a smile, “I talked to Twilight, and while she was definitely ignorant about what she did to you, she definitely was upset about how she might have hurt you once I made it clear.”
Spike looked confused about that since he just told Starlight about what happened, “Wait how did you-“
“Remember how I said I had an idea of why you were upset?” Starlight asked with a grin.
“Yes.” Spike nodded.
“Once Twilight mentioned the whole bait incident, it became super obvious.” Starlight explained.
“Oh. That makes sense.” Spike giggled sheepishly before giving a nervous frown, “Are you sure she’s ready to listen to me about this whole thing though?”
“If I know Twilight. Then yes she is.” Starlight said reassuringly, “So, do you wanna take the short way or the long way.”
Spike knows Starlight well enough to know she means if he wanted to teleport there immediately or taking the scenic route and walk.
“Teleport. I think me and Twilight are ready to talk as soon as possible.” Spike decided with a smile, which Starlight beamed at, so as such, she lit up her horn and with a flash, she and Spike found themselves at the map table where Twilight was pacing.
“Gah!” Twilight fell backwards, causing Starlight to blush in embarrassment, “Oops, we probably should have just walked.” She said sheepishly as she helped Twilight back up.
“No, I think this is for the best.” Twilight brushed the dust off her wings after getting up.
“H…Hey Twilight.” Spike smiled nervously who also looked a bit nervous as well.
“I’ll give you two some time alone.” Starlight told her roommates before walking out of the room, leaving Twilight and Spike alone.
The two stood in silence for a bit before Twilight sighed and spoke up, “I’m guessing you’ve been upset about me using you as bait right?”
“Yeah… I never really got over that.” Spike rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
“Spike. I’m so sorry, I never meant to hurt you. I was in a panicked state when I saw the WinterZilla attacking our home, and what with the pudding fiasco, I must not have been thinking straight, so when I saw the WinterZilla take a shine to you, I did the easiest thing and used you as bait. I should have used a random decoration that would lure it away, but I used you. I can’t excuse what I did, but I hope you can understand why I did what I did.” Twilight apologized in full remorse.
Spike took in everything Twilight said, and seemed to understand her point a bit more but he figured it would be best to let Twilight know how he was feeling.
“Well Twilight, I have to say. Yes your actions hurt me, but not just that. I was really angry by what you did. I figured we were close enough for you to not use me as bait against a gigantic monster, if I didn’t let off some steam when I was talking to Starlight about this, I’d probably be more mad than I am now.” Spike said in an annoyed tone which made Twilight sigh sadly.
“But, I won’t lie. I kinda understand why you did what you did, but please don’t do it again, not just to me but to any creature.” Spike said softly, “I’m gonna forgive you at some point and probably even sooner now that we had this talk, but for now that’s all I ask.”
Twilight gave Spike a reassuring grin, “Trust me. I learned my lesson. I don’t want this type of thing to happen again.”
“Okay, I’m gonna go make some lunch in the kitchen. I’m glad we had this talk Twilight.” Spike smiled as he began flying off.
“Me too Spike. Me too.” Twilight smiled back at him as he left.
Soon Starlight walked back in immediately after Spike left and smiled at Twilight, “I take it your talk went well?”
Twilight raised an eyebrow at Starlight appearing so quickly, “Were you eavesdropping?” She asked suspiciously.
“Twilight. Would you seriously think I’d do such a thing?” Starlight asked with a feigned gasp which made Twilight raise an eyebrow unamused.
“Fine. I totally would.” Starlight rolled her eyes with a grin before explaining, “But only to make sure things were going well. Spike was a bit steamed when I first talked to him, he did calm down but I had to make sure.”
“Fair enough I guess. He hasn’t fully forgiven me yet but he seems to be on the path to doing so, I say it went well enough.” Twilight answered happily.
“I’m glad. You two did not deserve to have your friendship be fractured over this.” Starlight smiled proudly.
“We probably would’ve patched things up eventually but I think it would’ve been harder had you not interfered. Thanks again Starlight.” Twilight said softly as she embraced her friend.
“You’re welcome Twilight. You’re welcome.” Starlight smiled as she hugged Twilight back.
Author's Note
Welp. That’s the story. Hope you enjoyed it, I know it’s not anywhere close to Christmas time but given this isn’t really giving a Christmas theme, I figured I could justify it.
I chose to have Starlight help Twilight and Spike patch things up because she lives with them and will likely be a bit more familiar with their dynamic than Twilight’s other friends(except maybe Rarity).
Also, she wasn’t in the episode and she has voiced qualms about using Spike as a test subject in All Bottled Up so I think this is in character to have her show disdain towards what Twilight did.