Spike's having a......ruff time

by DeltaXeno1138

Chapter 5 (incomplete)

Spike's eyes lightly clenched shut after opening slightly, a light glare from the sun having irritated them. He slowly opened them again after the irritation subsided. He beheld the scenery of the pond, brightly lit by Celestia's morning sun, which made it slightly more beautiful than before, almost the polar opposite of it's appearance at night.

He admired the view for a few seconds before lifting his head up slightly and releasing a yawn, which was laced with a light whine like noise, much like the yawns of other dogs. He looked to his side upon feeling something shift against him. He saw Winona cuddled up next to him, still asleep. Memories of the day before resurfaced, causing him to give a small laugh, recalling how fun it had all been.

Wow Spike thought to himself as he continued to look at Winona's sleeping form She's never looked this pretty before. She looks so peaceful, and the sunlight makes her fur look all shiny, and soft.

"[Mm, Spike]" Winona moaned in her sleep as her tail wagged slightly "[Thanks for staying with me.]"

Spike smiled before lowering his head, nuzzling back into Winona and closing his eyes, feeling a great amount of comfort against her. "[No problem.]" Twenty minutes passed as Spike rested with Winona asleep at his side. Unfortunately, their peace was interrupted when they heard somepony calling to them.

"Winona! Spike! Are you two out here?!" The dog's ears stood up upon hearing Applejack's voice. Spike and Winona grumbled as they began to shift, the latter waking up slowly.

"[Good morning, Spike.]"

"Good morning, Winona." Spike's eyes were barely open for a few seconds before they went completely wide. "
Oh no. [Winona wake up. Wake up!] Spike barked as he nudged Winona anxiously.

"[Grr, what? I'm up. I'm up] Winona groaned in annoyance as she sat up and used her body to shove Spike away, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with a paw.

"[We didn't get back last night! We stayed out here the whole time! They're looking for us!]"

Spike's statements were like a splash of cold water, making Winona shoot her head up in alarm, now fully aware and alert. "[Oh no, you're right! Master must be worried! And she might even be angry. She's almost never angry with me. Come on! We gotta go!]" Winona quickly sped off in the direction Applejack's voice was coming from, Spike clumsily rushing to get on his own paws to follow.

"[Winona, wait up!]"

"Winona?! Spike?! That you?!" The two dogs barked as they got closer and closer to Applejack, who started running towards them once she saw them. All three stopped in time to prevent a collision. "There ya'll are. Where in tarnation have you two been?!"

"[I'm so sorry Master!]" Winona wined as she lowered her head while looking up at Applejack, her ears lowered in sadness "[We didn't mean to worry or upset you!]"

"Yeah, we're sorry Applejack. Time kind of got away from us. We stopped somewhere to rest and we kind of dozed off. We were just having so much fun."

"Yeah, so Ah've heard" Appplejack muttered a little crossly.

"Huh?"

"Well, as long as yer okay, Ah suppose there ain't no harm done. Come on, we gotta get back to the barn. Twilight wants to see ya about somethin Spike. Best not keep her waiting." Applejack broke into a light run, allowing the dogs to keep up with her as they made their way back.

"Applejack. What does Twilight wanna talk to me about?"

"Ah'm afraid that business is between the two of you. Fer now" she said as she briefly looked at Winona. The two dogs exchanged confused glances, unsure of what she meant.

Five minutes later, the trio were reaching the house, and as they got closer, they saw Twilight waiting for them outside. Spike's run decreased in speed as he soon noticed her expression wasn't particularly happy. She was also tapping a hoof somewhat impatiently. Spike's run soon became a hesitant walk, as he got closer and closer to his caregiver, Winona and Applejack already reaching her.

"Um, hey Twilight" Spike nervously said after finally coming up to her, doing his best to avoid eye contact "I uh....I wasn't expecting you. We didn't exactly say when you'd come pick me up." Twilight merely continued to look at him while she tapped her hoof, her eyes squinted, her lips pursed, and an eyebrow raised.

"You....have something to answer for, mister."

Spike winced at the tone in her voice, though he was still oblivious to why she seemed so mad. "Uh....is this about me staying out all night with Winona?"

"Partly. But that's not the main reason I'm not too happy."

"Then....what is?"

"Why don't we step inside? AJ, Winona" she said as she turned to the dog and Earth Pony that had been watching nervously "this kind of concerns you as well, I'd like you to join us."

"Yeah, sure thing Twi" Applejack replied somewhat nervously, never having seen her friend like this, though being quite familiar with it. It was how Granny got with her or her siblings when they did something wrong. She was in angry mother mode.

Twilight and Applejack walked into the house with the dogs following behind them, Winona having stuck back. She walked next to a very nervous Spike before nudging him slightly to get his attention. She gave him a reassuring look before giving his snout a quick, gentle bite. Spike smiled before giving her an appreciative nuzzle, slightly less nervous now.

Spike, Winona and Applejack took a seat on the couch as Twilight stood before them, her face now calm, yet her demeanor still gave off an aura of peeved. "So Spike, would you like to tell me what exactly you and Winona got up to last night?" she asked as she began to pace.

"Well....." Spike hesitated remembering the pack was meant to be secret from owners "we chased some fireflies, hung out at a small pond a bit, ran around in the grass. We just played around a bit."

"Sounds like a fun time" Twilight noted, still unnervingly calm "Did you by chance run into anyone?"

Does she know about the pack somehow? Spike wondered, alarmed at her question. "Um...not that I can remember, really."

"Really? Are you sure you didn't run into say....Opalescence?" she said as she came to a stop and looked at Spike questioningly.

Both Spike and Winona sat up straight in alarm, briefly shifting their eyes to each other. Applejack looked on confused, unsure as to why or how they would run into Rarity's cat out here.

"Uh....w-w-well, we uh.....we might've GAH!" Spike exclaimed as his ear was suddenly enveloped in magic and lightly tugged outward.

"[Hey!]" Winona barked in protest, standing up, ready to jump. She was held back by Applejack, who was looking on a little unsurely.

"I can see the red on your ears mister. Tell me the truth."

"Okay okay! Yes! We did! Let go of my ear!"

"And did you cause any kind of trouble?" she continued, ignoring his request and Winona's growling.

"Maybe....ow! Fine! Yes! But it wasn't even that bad! Definitely not enough to warrant this!"

"Attacking Opalescence in the middle of the night with a pack of wild dogs is considered 'not bad' to you?"

"What?!" Spike exclaimed, along with Winona and Applejack.

"According to Fluttershy, that's what Opalescence is claiming" Twilight explained as she finally released Spike's ear.

"[That lying little...!]"

"We didn't attack her!" Spike exclaimed as he rubbed his ear to alleviate the light pain "All we did was crash her stupid little cat party! And they're not wild! They have their own masters."

"Cat party?" Applejack repeated.

"But you were with a pack of dogs? Complete strangers?"

"They're not strangers, they're this pack Winona hangs out with."

"[Spike!]"

"Ya mean Winona's friends?" Applejack interjected.

"You know?!" Spike and Winona asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, Ah know their owners and Ah've seen Winona come back from spendin time with em late at night. They definitely ain't wild."

"Maybe not" Twilight acknowledged "But I'd still like to know about this party crashing."

"All we did was bust in and bark at them, chase them out. That's it" Spike stated firmly.

"[Yeah, that's it!]" Winona barked in affirmation.

"Hmm" Twilight hummed as she narrowed her eyes "Well I suppose there was no real harm in it. But I can't say I approve of such troublemaking. I would expect this kind of thing from an ordinary dog like Winona, but you're supposed to be smarter than ordinary dogs."

"[Hey]" Winona said in an annoyed groan while Applejack raised a brow, looking at Twilight crossly.

"No offense Winona, Applejack."

"I got caught up in the moment, Twilight. I got accepted into a pack of really nice dogs, new friends, and they invited me to do something fun, and at the expense of a bunch of cats. Thinking they're better than us, that they could go up against us, insult us and get away with it. I wasn't gonna pass that up."

"[That's right!]" Winona barked in approval while Twilight and Applejack looked at each other unsurely, curious about Spike's words.

"Well....I guess I can't be mad at you for just wanting to have some fun, and you didn't mean any serious ill intent. Regardless, I'm still disappointed in you, which is why we're going to go to Rarity's to sort this out. You're going to apologize to Opalescence. Even if you don't like it, at least do it for Rarity. You don't want her upset with you, do you?"

Spike wanted to protest having to apologize to Opalescence, but Twilight made a good point. He didn't want Rarity mad at him. This was a time for pride swallowing. "Okay...I'll apologize to the ca- to Opal. For Rarity."

"Then let's go. Fluttershy is with them tending to Opalescence. She'll act as a translator and mediator." Spike and Winona rolled their eyes at the mention of Opal being "tended to" before jumping off the couch to follow Twilight.

"She hasn't apologized to me yet" Spike grumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Twilight stopped when she saw Winona and Applejack following. "Actually, I think Winona and Applejack should stay here."

"Huh?"

"Why shouldn't we come too, Twi? Ya said this concerns us too."

"Yes, but I think Winona's presence might make Opalescence more agitated and yield some less than stellar results. Plus, I'm sure you have to give Winona a talking to of her own." Spike looked up at Twilight and back to Winona worriedly.

"Ya do have a point there. And Ah do need to talk to Winona about this." Winona shrank back slightly under Applejack's look of disapproval.

Spike approached Winona, catching her attention. "She does have a point. It would probably be better if Opal didn't have a reason to be more annoying." He then nuzzled the side of her head reassuringly, alleviating her worry. "[I'll be fine. I can handle that drama queen. And you'll be fine too.]"

"[Thanks]" Winona said after breaking the nuzzle. She then gave Spike a quick lick on the face, surprising him and the mares present. "[Good luck.]"

"[You too]" Spike said with a light blush on his cheeks before turning around and walking outside. Twilight and Applejack's eyes followed him while Winona stared after him. The two mares looked at each other with the same expression of "Huh."

"Twilight, you coming?"

"Oh, right" Twilight said after shaking her head slightly. Before getting out of earshot, she turned to Applejack and whispered "I think we should talk about....that, later."

---

Twilight opted to have her and Spike walk to Rarity's so they could talk, partly to alleviate any uneasiness he still had and to find out more about his connection to Winona. She simply asked if he had been having fun with her and what she was like.

His praising response made it clear that he held Winona in high regard, and that he had become quite attached to her. What she saw at the Apple residence made her think that attachment was deeper than seemed from his words. This made her happy and worried for him. I'm glad that he's found a companion, but what'll happen when it's time for him to change back? She put aside her concern for the moment as they arrived at the boutique.

"Rarity" Twilight called through the door after knocking "I'm back.....with Spike." The door opened, Rarity standing in the doorway with a somewhat hasty expression.

"Hello Twilight. Hello Spike." Spike had been expecting Rarity to sound upset, but instead she sounded a bit worried. "Please, come in. Fluttershy is waiting inside."

As the pair entered, Spike's ears perked up at the low sound of agitated growling. "Rarity?" Spike said, ignoring the growls for the moment "You know I would never intentionally do something to upset you, right?"

"Of course I do, Spike."

"Then you don't think I actually attacked Opalescence?" Rarity hesitated. "Right?"

"Well we're all here to get this cleared up and resolved. And the sooner, the better." Her avoidance of answering the question worried him.

His worry would be replaced with annoyance upon coming into the living room, where Fluttershy was waiting with Opalescence, who was stretched out on a pillow on her side as if recovering, her agitated growling now louder. He rolled his eyes as he got closer, making her retreat slightly. "[Relax you overgrown cotton ball], I'm here to make peace.”

"Spike, that wasn't very nice!" Fluttershy chastised, making Spike wince, cursing himself for forgetting she could understand him when he spoke in dog.

"[And he insults me after attacking me]" Opal whined in outrage "[How can you bare to allow this rude, wild beast into our home Mistress?]"

"Opal!"

"What did they say to each other?" Rarity asked. Fluttershy told them the traded insults.

"Spike!" Twilight exclaimed in an objecting tone.

"I can't help it! Whenever I'm near her I'm just off put, on edge. I can't get over it!"

"Most dogs and cats I know are usually like that around each other" Fluttershy explained "I just didn't consider that Spike would be the same way."

"See?" Spike said before turning his attention to Rarity "Why aren't you saying anything to Opal?"

"Well....I don't exactly know if she's justified in calling you that or not."

"What?!"

"[How would I not be justified?!]"

"Well like I said, we're here to clear this up. I'll determine if she's justified once I hear the story from both sides."

"[Oh, I am more than happy to tell you exactly what happened, Mistress. Then you'll see I am entirely justified.]"

Spike rolled his eyes as he thought This oughta be good. He then sat down with a deadpan expression, waiting to hear Opal's story as Fluttershy translated.

"[So there I was, on the windowsill of your bedroom, minding my own business, when I heard some clattering from the trash cans.]" Spike cocked a brow at her claim of being at home rather than at a party. "[Like any good cat, I jumped down to investigate, so that I may warn you if there were any criminals or pests about.

"[Then, from the darkness of the trash can shade, I saw a pair of glowing green eyes and heard viscous growling. I was absolutely paralyzed with fear, so much that I couldn't even call out to you. Then that]" Opal jutted her head in Spike's direction "[mangy beast leapt and attacked me!]"

Spike reared his head back as he squinted his eyes, his mouth partially open in disbelief, silently asking "Are you serious?"

"[I held him back with all my strength! He barked right in my face, getting his putrid dog slobber all over me. Left my fur a disgustung mess, you almost wouldn't believe it Mistress. He almost bit my head off, but I was able to wrangle free. Unfortunately, he was able to harm me the slightest bit. He clamped his teeth around my leg and almost shredded it, exactly as you saw Mistress. If the Caregiver didn't live up to her name so excellently, I might've lost my leg!]"

Spike had an upturned paw pointed at Opal while his now more intense look of disbelief switched from Opal to Twilight, the latter being silently asked You're not actually believing this, right?

"The injury wasn't actually that bad-"

"[Then I swatted at his muzzle]" Opal continued, cutting off Fluttershy's interjection "[He wasn't expecting me to fight back, so he ran off like the coward he is. But don't let me forget, to literally add insult to injury, that bitch mate of his was there, cheering him on the whole time!]" Fluttershy replaced Opal's description with Winona, who she assumed she meant. But Spike had heard her loud and clear.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL HER?!" He leapt forward as he stood and began to growl.

Author's Note:

And THAT’S where I stopped writing this fic for years! Believe me, I hate it too. That’s why I wrote the next “chapter.”

I honestly forgot I even wrote this chapter, let alone got this far into it.