Chapter 10
Not anymore
--Spark--
Spark had planned on only staying for five to ten minutes, then be on his way home. That plan fell apart when he saw the books that were stacked all around Twilight's home. The small grey unicorn had always loved to read, and he couldn't remember the last time he had just sat down to read. Maybe Shine was right about pairing Twilight and I. He shook the thought from his head, You can't start thinking things like that! Pushing the inner debate to the back of his mind, he turned to his hostess, "Quite a collection you have here... I'll have to check out a book sometime." he said in an awkward attempt to make conversation.
Twilight sighed, "There used to be so many m-"
BANG! A huge thunderclap made her jump in a way not very dissimilar to a cat. Spark just chuckled, earning him quite a glare from the unicorn. "I'm sorry, but I just never understood the common fear of thunder. After all, it's just sound." he said.
Twilight's glare lightened as she chuckled to herself, "I guess it is a little unfounded."
Spark looked around the room and one particular book caught his eye. The book was organized under the "E" section of the shelves, bearing an aged leather binding, the title was that of a book he had planned on reading someday but had never gottend the chance. "The Elements of Harmony, A Reference Guide," he said, "I noticed that book in the library at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, but it was checked out once I had turned in my earlier book. I never did find it."
"Oh my gosh!" Twilight gasped, "That's where I got this copy from!" She levitated the book to the floor, "I didn't know you went to CSGU."
Spark blushed a little, "Yeah, that place was my life; I even got my cutie mark there." He leaned over to show her the electrical arc proudly displayed on his flank. "I got it by fixing the old tesla coil in the Canterlot Museum."
"That thing had been broken for centuries, nopony even knew how it worked. How long did you spend working on it?" Twilight asked in an impressed tone.
"Two years of research, four months of experimentation on replica's I'd made, and two months on the actual device."
"Wait, how old are you?" she asked, before blushing, "I-I mean-well-"
"You mean I look 14?" he finished
"Yeah, sorry."
"It's alright, I've always been small for my age. As a matter of fact, I'm 19 years old."
There was a long awkward silence. Relaxed by the constant rythmic taping of the raindrops against the tree's outer bark, Spark thought about reading the book he'd never gotten the chance to read but desided to, instead, read one of the library's very limited selection of Electrical Physics books. The Secrets of Lightning he read the title silently as, almost on cue, thunder sounded in the distance.
Before he could begin to read, he was interrupted by the voice of his hostess "How did you survive out there?" she asked.
Spark was slightly taken back at the question. Nopony had ever asked, Shine was the only one who would've cared enough to ask before she died. "I did what I always do: avoid other ponies as much as possible."
"Why? They could've helped you they-"
"They could just as easily have killed me and taken my supplies." he said
"Why would they do that?"
"Why wouldn't they? I'd be nothing but a drain on already scarce resources."
"Because they just met you!" Twilight was beginning to shout.
"So?" Spark calmy responded, masking his shock at how familiar this conversation was becoming. He had argued the same things with shine the day before Shine's death.
"Killing another pony for no reason... that's-that's just evil!"
"Welcome to the real world!" he shouted back, "I hate to burst your bubble, but not everypony is warm and nice! There are EVIL PONIES out there that will NOT hesitate to kill you for whatever supplies you have! You can't afford to just trust every stranger you meet, Shine!"
Another thunder clap seemed to punctuate his statement. Twilight just looked at him questioningly "Shine?"
Spark's expression changed from one of rage to one of pain. He remembered yelling that at Golden Shine the first time. It was his greatest regret, he had apologised the next morning. While she accepted his apology, she was still visibly hurt by what he had said. What could you have possibly seen in me, Shine? he wondered to himself as he collapsed on the floor in silence.
Spark sat for a while, numb to the world. There were no tears, just silence. Appearently, the mare before him had understood... perhaps not all of it... no, there was no way she knew all of it... but she had put enough together.
Slowly, Twilight walked over and embraced Spark. It was a warm, comforting embrace.
After a few seconds the embrace was broken.
Twilight turned to a small basket that was displayed on a shelf and sighed. "I'm so sorry, I know what it's like to lose a loved one."
Judging from the size of the basket, Spark decided that it was probably for her dragon. Every student at CGSU had one, but most of them had died when Canterlot was destroyed and the rest had left shortly after. He remembered his dragon, Ember. He was the only being that Spark knew to be less social than himself, therefore, there wasn't as much attachment in their relationship than the others. When he thought about it, Spark realized there handn't been any attachment at all. Regardless of that fact, Spark knew how close many students became with their dragons over the years. "What was your dragon's name?" he asked.
Twilight looked surprised for a moment, but then answered, "Spike... his name was Spike."
The mere act of talking about him brought tears to her eyes. She tried to fight them back, but a huge clap of thunder made her jump towards Spark. She had clearly held this back for a while. Well of course she had, she's the Mayor! How can you expect the general public to be calm if their leader isn't? he scolded himself. He embraced her with the same comfirting jesture thet she had a few minutes ago. Twilight apologized as she wept into his shoulder, "Sorry, I've just been so alone... Spike's dead, my friends can't stand to be together, everypony else see's me as the mayor rather than a friend. I'm... I'm just so alone."
Despite all of his prior misgivings, Spark found that he truly cared about this mare. "Not anymore." he whispered in her ear, knowing that he would probably regret it later.