Cat and Mouse

by Zephyr Spark

Chapter 1 The Letter

Spike’s day was already crummy before he got the letter. He woke up with a yawn feeling well rested as he stretched his arms and rolled out of bed. He glanced at the clock on the wall, blinking the sleep from his eyes, and realized he was ten minutes late. By now, Twilight would be starting her strict routine, where every second was fully utilized. Jumping out of bed, he scampered across the floor and raced to the kitchen. Hands trembling, Spike retrieved a large bowl and frying pan from a drawer beneath the stove. After placing the pan on the grill, he grabbed a bag of flour, baking soda, packets of salt and sugar from the pantry and dumped them into the bowl. He hoped he could sift through these with a beater before Twilight woke up and realized he was behind schedule.

“Morning, Spike.” He was out of time. Twilight’s hooves resounded with clip-clop as she moved to her assistant. “Did you sleep well?” Her voice trailed off as she noticed the white powders, shredded paper wrappers, and gooey substances littering the countertop. His heart plummeted at her perplexed expression. In moments, Twilight understood his predicament. He waited for her scolding but instead she picked up a rag and started washing off the white soot.

“I’m sorry,” Spike mumbled. “I didn’t mean to sleep in.” Twilight simply looked at him with a kind smile.

“It’s fine,” she responded. “We all mess up every once in a while.” She bit her lip, regretting her choice of words. “Just finish making breakfast and we can get started afterwards.”

Spike nodded with a frown and returned to his work, scolding himself. His carelessness threw off her daily routine and created a mess. She could say it’s fine, but that didn’t keep him from blaming himself. Wasn’t he her number one assistant? He wasn’t supposed to do this. Even if she would not admit it, Spike knew this was his fault for neglecting his duties. Feeling diminished, he slumped to the fridge, pulled out milk, eggs, and butter, and added them to the bowl. Within twenty minutes, he had two stacks of pancakes.

“These look good,” Twilight smiled. Spike said his thanks and watched her dig in, finding his appetite defunct. He prodded the fluffy pancakes with his fork. “Come on, eat. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.” The alicorn said before returning to her breakfast. At Twilight’s insistence, he forced down five bites, each lump plummeting down his throat pained him with guilt. Still, he ate every last crumb before rinsing their plates in the sink. Determined to show his dedication, Spike vowed to serve Twilight today with utmost obedience. That meant spending an entire day performing mind-numbing, tedious tasks without rest or escape.

Somehow, today happened to be the day when all his friends were busy doing something, forcing Spike to change his daily schedule. His crush Rarity left for the week to check on her store in Canterlot which meant no helping her at the Carousel Boutique, the Apple Family was in the middle of harvest season so his hoofball buddy Big Mac couldn’t hang out, Starlight Glimmer went to the Crystal Empire, and every pony else had work or some pressing task. To top it all off, Twilight planned to spend the day conducting magic experiments for a research paper. He’d helped her on these papers plenty of times but could barely endure the countless hours of observation, trial and error, and getting an extremely sore hand from criminal levels of writing. His prospects looked grim.

It didn’t help that he disrupted Twilight’s schedule. Now, they’d have to work double time. Twilight went upstairs to collect her books and he released a sigh. He jerked at a sudden thump-thump on the castle door.

“That’s probably the mail,” Twilight called from upstairs. “Could you get it, Spike?” He was halfway to the door before she finished talking. Spike opened the door to find a familiar gray mare with a yellow mane. She gave her usual cheerful greeting and handed Spike a mound of letters rising so high they obscured his vision. It wasn’t unusual for them to receive so much mail, especially since Twilight became a princess. He’d probably be spending the evening burning proposal letters from half-wits, spam, and junk mail. Spike didn’t see the mail mare leave but heard her upbeat bye. Staggering inside, Spike couldn’t figure out where the table was. Then he stubbed his toe and dropped the letters all over the floor. Rubbing his toe, Spike looked at the sea of fallen letters. Seemed all he was good for was making messes. He sorted the letters one by one on the table in four categories: family and friends, royal duties, fan mail, and future firewood.

Spike sorted all but three letters when he noticed an envelope addressed to him. He wasn’t too surprised. Even if he wasn’t as famous as Twilight, he received his own fair share of fan mail, especially from the Crystal Empire. He knelt down and retrieved the letter turning it over. He was surprised to find no return address but reasoned the writer may have forgotten or been too afraid to give out personal information. Sometimes the post office wouldn’t object to anonymity. It was still inconvenient. How was he supposed to write a response? Using his clawed index finger, he opened the envelope and reached his fingers inside. He pulled out the letter folded in thirds and opened it. His heart skipped a beat when he unfolded the lower half of the letter to find a lock of purple hair softer than smoke tucked underneath and skipped again when he read the letter.

Come to Dragon’s Lair inside the volcano labyrinth. Tell anyone or try any tricks and you’ll never see her again. You have three days to show up.

A thousand unanswered questions arose in his mind. Who did this? What did they want? He recognized Rarity’s lock of hair and felt his blood boil. He had no idea who would dare harm his friend but they weren’t going to get away with this. Spike glanced around and finding no sign of Twilight, opened his mouth to call her name. Then, he remembered the threat if he told anyone. Maybe he could leave the letter where Twilight might find it. Unless whoever sent this message was watching right now. He couldn’t take that chance. Emerald flames reduced the letter to ash. His worries about Twilight’s research project felt like a distant memory.

Just then, the sound of hooves announced Twilight approaching with a pile of books. She noticed the organized letters and said her thanks. Spike put on a false smile as he thought of someway to leave for Dragon’s Lair without arousing her suspicion. His face must have betrayed his thoughts because Twilight now stared at him.

“Spike is something wrong?” His heart pounded as he shook his head. He blinked as he thought of a solution.

“I just got a letter from Princess Ember,” he lied. “She’s invited me to her kingdom for the weekend. Is it alright if I skip the research paper and go for a visit?”

She seemed startled by this development, but soon her eyes were brimming with excitement. “Sure.” Twilight grinned, “I’d love to visit Princess Ember.” Spike cringed. If Twilight came, they’d go to straight to Ember and they would find out his lie. He couldn’t risk them finding out the truth.

“This is kind of a dragon-dragon thing, you know? Not really for ponies.” He blurted.

“Oh,” Twilight looked disappointed. “Well, I’ll just drop you off then.”

“No, it’s alright.” Spike said, “I was gonna take the long route and walk there. You know much more scenic and healthy than just zapping wherever we want to go.”

“You can’t walk across the Celestial Sea.”

“I know that. I’ll take the train to Baltimare and buy a ticket for a boat ride.”

“I could teleport you there in a second. Why do want to go the hard way?”

“I don’t know, I guess I just wanted to ride a boat?” Spike knew Twilight would never buy that lame excuse. “Besides, I know long distance teleportations can get exhausting even for you.”

“What’s really going on here, Spike?”

“What? Nothing! I just have to do some secret dragony stuff. That’s why I have to go there alone.”

“I’m not comfortable with you going so far away on your own.”

“I’ll be fine, Twilight.” Spike smiled, hating every second he was lying, “Princess Ember said she would meet me in Baltimare Train Station.”

“Oh, why didn’t you say so?” Twilight rolled her amused eyes. “I’ll just escort you to Ponyville Train Station and see you off. First things first, we better pack you a toiletry bag.” She was already crafting a mental list of things to pack as she vanished upstairs. Spike had a feeling this was the best deal he would get. He sighed.

Failing stank, lying to Twilight stank, but losing Rarity would be wretched. A wave of panic surged through his body at the thought. Before his stress worsened, Twilight reappeared with his knapsack. He stood upright and disguised his apprehension as she showed the location of the items from his toothpaste, toothbrush, soap bar, papers and quill, to gemstones, flashlight, comic book, and a pouch of bits. After double-checking, Twilight handed Spike the bag and led them outside.

They passed Sugar Cube Corner, mouthwatering scents danced in Spike’s nose. A few ponies stopped to say hello. Lyra Heartstrings gave them a how-do-you-do before heading off with her friend Bon Bon. Those two were never seen far apart. Speaking of never far apart, the Cutie Mark Crusaders stood outside the Clock Tower talking about their plans. Apple Bloom must have gotten some down time from the harvest. Good for her. Spike didn’t think any pony could do their best if they did nothing but work. Of course, that never stopped Twilight. He would have chuckled at the thought under different circumstances. Mayor Mare approached Twilight requesting her help with a charity fundraiser next week. Twilight promised to assist her and excused herself. Life went on in Ponyville, Spike realized, the same as it always has. He could only wonder how longer this would last until the next big threat rolled in. Then again, maybe it just did and he was about to face it alone.

“So what exactly does Princess Ember want to talk about?” Twilight asked, jolting Spike from his contemplation.

“Um, you know. Dragon stuff.” Spike stammered, hoping they’d reach the station soon.

“I see,” Twilight nodded. “Such as?”

“Secret stuff,” he replied abruptly.

“You won’t tell me?” Twilight asked. Suddenly, she stopped. “Or is it that you can’t?”

Spike’s eyes widened, which was all the confirmation she needed. Twilight’s horn shimmered with a spell, muffling her voice.

“Spike,” she addressed him. “I’m sure you have your reasons for keeping secrets, but you can tell me anything.” He wanted to pour everything out to her and work through this mess together, but Rarity’s life was on the line. If his enemies even suspected him for a second, they’d never see Rarity again. Gritting his teeth, he steeled his heart.

“Not this.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t,” he stuttered, “I can’t tell anyone. You’ve got to trust me.” She stared at him through narrowed eyes. Spike couldn’t imagine what thoughts were going through her head.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” she said at last. Her spell faded and they walked to the station without another word. They only spoke again to say farewells as he boarded the train.

Spike stared out the window until she faded from sight. Twilight suspected from the very beginning something was wrong but trusted him enough to let him go. He wouldn’t let her trust go to waste.

Opening his knapsack, Spike looked for anything that could solve his dilemma. Unless his foe was allergic to toothpaste or soap bars, nothing in his knapsack could defeat someone. If the train and boat had no delays, he could reach Dragon’s Lair in less than a day. A burning fire grew in his stomach. Whoever threatened Rarity was going to regret it. He would make sure of that.

Comments

[daniel90751]

I love the story so far I wish I had more time to read but so far I love the story