//------------------------------// // The Realization // Story: Being Bait Is Not So Great // by Starlight Fan //------------------------------// 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.