The Rocks And Water

by KingReptarAlmighty

Ch. 16: The Dream of Rocks and Water

Thorax watched with blurred vision as the static clone raised a claw, and snapped, the sound sharp and rigging as it carried much farther than it should’ve through the nighttime air. His vision stabilized as the noxious fumes he'd been breathing in dissipated, replaced with the sweet scent of cinnamon that accompanied liquid rainbows (A terrible, terrible trap that he’d fallen for more than once). He looked down, expecting to see the Katoblepones shrunken, or turned into bunnies, or maybe just baby Katoblepones, anything really. Instead his eyes went wide, and he flew upwards to avoid what were once Katoblepones, but were now mere piles of ash lying on the ground. He glanced at the static, watching as it stared at the fallen Spike, before swooping down next to it and tapping it on the shoulder.

“Is he alright?”

”He will be fine. The danger is gone.” He really didn’t like this version of Spike’s voice. It sounded like it was being broadcast through a very old radio, faraway and staticy, muffled by a layer of white noise and skipping tape.

“Uh, yeah, about that, are you going to fix the Katoblepones, or..?”

”They are fixed, they are no longer dangerous.”

“...I guess that’s true? I just don’t think that Spike will be particularly happy that they’re- y’know…”

”They are fixed, they are no longer dangerous.” The clone said it with a certain finality, like it was an absolute truth. Technically, it was, but the Katoblepones were no longer dangerous much in the same way that a diamond is still a rock. It’s a factual statement, and most would not disagree with you on it, but it’s still a very broad form of description.

“...When do you think Spike is going to wake up?”

“Apparently, right now.” The real Spike’s voice was tinged with pain, and he rubbed at the section of his head that had hit the ground first. “Sometimes I forget that hitting the ground hurts a lot in most places. Ponyville has some absurdly soft soil.”

“I know, I crashed into it before.” Thorax grimaced at the memory, it was one of the most embarrassing things he’d ever done, besides staring at a fire for ten minutes straight. “How do you feel?”

“How do I feel? How do you feel? You were the one getting smoked out by those Katoblepones.” Thorax winced, glancing quickly at where he’d been standing.

“About those…”

---

“And that’s how that happened.” Thorax huffed, feeling like all the energy had drained right out of his body. He felt absurdly tired, and judging by the way his boyfriend was falling into his shoulder, Spike felt the same, dark circles forming around his eyes at rapid pace. “So, what do we do?”

“That’s the problem. We can’t do much.” Discord spoke around a mouthful of coffee that seemed much too hot for consumption. He swallowed, before pouring a small bit on a napkin that he’d placed down beforehand. “See, if this coffee is the Static, then this napkin is Spike’s pool of influence. As you can see, the Static spreads. Spike would have to quote-on-quote, “ring out” the napkin, and remove the Static, which becomes much harder the longer it takes. Just as the coffee settles into the towel, staining it, the Static will leave a visible mark on Spike’s magical influence the longer it is allowed to fester.”

“So should I-” Spike was cut off by a yawn, rubbing at his eyes, which Thorax realized with a mild internal panic, were growing considerably paler, “Should I try and go to sleep? Last time I actually got to talk with it was in a dream, so…” Discord chewed slightly on his lip.

“I will be one hundred percent honest with you Spike. I do not know what to do here. This is unfamiliar territory for me. I dealt with the Static with minimal issue because my powers hinge on chaos. Instinct is all I need. You have so much more to worry about…” As Discord tapped his talons on the table, Thorax’s internal panic was beginning to reach its peak. Discord knew everything, it’s why he was Discord. For him to not know what to do meant they were in absurdly far over their heads. Spike stood up from the table stretching.

“I’ll figure sm’thing out.” Spike said it simply, like it wasn’t a major issue. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from working with Twilight, it’s that fuck around and find out is a valid research model. Sometimes you just gotta muddle through and hope.” He grabbed vaguely at the air for Thorax’s hoof, and once Thorax offered it to him, the changeling was dragged straight up to his room, leaving a still worried Draconequus silently sipping away at still much too hot coffee.

---

Spike stood on a lone rock, in the middle of an ocean.

The water around him glowed like it was full of that one kind of algae that Twilight had tried to propagate for a school project. Dinofla-something? Either way, the glowing water seemed to slowly spread outward from his lone rock, the luminescent blue slowly spreading into the rest of the water, like dish soap feathering out into a water-filled sink. With the flow of the waves came a quiet humming, and feeling the grip of a long day and high magical usage even in his dream, Spike curled up on his lone rock, and he let the dream play as a background. Watching as the light spread outward, far beyond his vision, yet still very aware of its presence and continuous spread, growing and growing. He watched as in the corner of his vision, land rose from his water, from his waves, forming rocks, grass, and trees. The land glowed all the same as the water did, bright with life and magic and love. And in that land there was one mountain that grew taller than any other, shrouded by something similar, yet other, that his light could not reach. Another light. This one twisted and confused, lashing out against itself in fear.

Just as the light had done for him, the light calmed the other’s fears, bathing it in otherworldly kindness, before enshrouding it. Assimilating it. Adopting it as its own. A part of itself. Not something other, merely another piece of a larger puzzle, like the last ingredients of a cake.

Spike turned his head and closed his eyes, letting the world of his dream continue to form and grow and spread and glow under the light. Hugged by kindness and magic, the remaining static dissipated.

When he woke up, he remembered the dream.

The dream where the seas crashed on beaches and the skies were filled with clouds and life.

The dream where the earth cared for and raised all that inhabited it, and when the night came the stars were the guiding lights for all those who saw the night as their playground.

The dream where phoenixes were reborn in great bursts of flames, and where dragon eggs hatched in volcanoes and lava pits. The dream where snakes burrowed and birds nested.

A dream of the power to create.

The dream of rocks and water.

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed this story. A story of Rocks and Water.

There will be one more chapter that actually finishes the story, and one more after that that is the epilogue.

Leave a comment, if you'd like.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

10907553
Before I read this, I must know: What's a Katoblepony?

[KingReptarAlmighty]

10924463
They were mentioned in the previous chapter. Katoblepones are a creature from greek myth, a sort of bull-buffalo that ate a root that gave them extremely toxic breath. In the actual myths, it was deadly, but this is FiM. Most things are non lethal here.

[yonalkaru]

I wonder what Spike's gonna do now

[The Sandwich Guardian]

Good stuff man.