Spike was lounging across his bed, reading the seventeenth volume of Clockmoon. It was lunch break, and Twilight had gone to Frappe's to eat with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, so Spike was free to do as he pleased. He had decided to spend his break playing Steam game books and reading manga, which is what he usually did when he was alone. It was relaxing, and it was fun; just the way that Spike liked it.
As he was reading, however, there was a knock on the library door. Spike promptly closed the volume in his hands, exited his room, scaled down the stairs, and made his way to the door. Upon opening it, he was surprised to see that it was Rainbow Dash, who was holding a rather large parcel under her arm.
"Hey, Man," Rainbow said cheerfully with a small wave.
Spike smiled. "Hey, Rainbow," he replied. "What can I do for you?"
"Somebody sent you a package," Rainbow said, holding the parcel out to him.
Spike nodded. "Thanks, Dash. I'll be sure to tell Twilight when she gets back-"
"It's not for Twilight; it's for you," Rainbow interrupted him. She pointed at the label on the top of the package, which read,
"To: Spike
Golden Oak Library, 7 East Cobble Av.
Avalon, Equestria"
Spike's eyes widened. "For me?" he said, taking it.
Rainbow nodded. "Yeah. Well, I've got more deliveries to make. See ya later, man!" she said, waving as she turned around and unfurled her wings.
As Rainbow took to the air, Spike gazed with puzzlement at the parcel for a few moments. He then took it to the library's kitchen table, where he retrieved a knife from the knife drawer, cut the parcel's binding twine away, and pulled its wrapping-paper off. Inside the paper he found a brown cardboard box; upon opening it, he looked inside and gasped.
It was his long-lost stuffed dragon, Spark.
After a moment of stunned stillness, Spike pulled the purple, green-spined plush toy out of the box and gently stroked its head. "Hey, Spark," he said, smiling gently. He'd lost this a few years ago, and was absolutely devastated when he did. He'd cried for several days, and spent every waking moment searching for it, but his search was ultimately in vain. The Olympus Orphanage's director had offered to get him a new one, but Spike had refused; he didn't want another one. Spark couldn't be replaced; he was all Spike had left of his sister, Sunset.
Tears began to well in Spike's eyes as he began to tremble. He was filled with intense, simultaneous joy and sorrow at seeing his favorite toy again. Before he could begin weeping, however, he heard another knock on the door.
As Spike looked up, the door creaked open, and Twilight stepped through, crying, "I'm back, Spike!"
Twilight saw that Spike was standing in the kitchen, holding his dragon, and she said surprisedly, "Oh- hey, Spike! What do you have there?"
Spike hurriedly wiped his eyes and said, "Um- I just got a package. Someone sent me a stuffed dragon I lost when I was younger."
"Ah," Twilight said. She walked to the kitchen table and looked inside the box, where she found a small handwritten note.
"It's from my parents," Twilight said, pulling it out. She gave it to Spike, who read what was inscribed:
"Spike,
The director of the Olympus Orphanage sent this to us. He said that he found it in a corner of the attic. He said that he thinks that someone probably hid it to be mean to you. At any rate, he asked us to get it to you.
Thanks,
Twilight Velvet and Night Light."
Spike scoffed. "So, Mr. Limestone thinks someone stole it, huh?" he said. "I bet it was Roaring Falls. He was always an asshole."
"How'd you get it?" Twilight asked curiously.
"It's a birthday present from... from Sunset...." Spike replied, his voice breaking slightly at the end of his sentence.
Twilight's eyes widened. "Oh- ... oh." She said, deeply flustered.
Both sat silent for a few moments, then Spike said, "I'm gonna... go put this in our room. On my bed."
Twilight nodded. "Alright," she said.
Spike blinked, continuing to will himself not to cry. He carefully held Spark to his side as he made his way to his bedroom. He then set Spark on his bed, gently smoothed out his wings, then knelt down and folded his arms across his mattress, gazing at it.
This stuffed dragon was far and away Spike's most treasured possession. It was what had given him his intense love for dragons in the first place. He loved it nearly as much as he loved Sunset herself.
Tears welled in Spike's eyes again, causing him to sniff and wipe at them. He stood up, went to his nightstand, and pulled open its top drawer. He reached inside, pulled out a small, thin, red plastic rectangle, then slid it into his hoodie pocket.
After closing his drawer again, Spike slipped his hands into his pant pockets and went back downstairs. He found Twilight taking inventory of the books on the library shelves. "Hey, Twi," he said softly.
Twilight turned to him. "Yes, Spike?"
"I'm... I'm going out for a while," Spike said. "I'm gonna have a walk."
Twilight nodded. "Okay," she replied, without inquiring further.
Spike nodded, then pulled open the library's front door.
It was a pleasantly cool late-summer day. Lots of kids were playing outside, and the sky was a little cloudy but otherwise quite blue. It was a very lovely day for a walk.
Spike idly kicked a small stone beneath his feet as he walked down Avalon's streets. He walked a long time; he was determined to get outside of the town's borders.
The sun was about midway through its downward descent as Spike walked. There would be a sunset in only a few hours, he observed.
Sunset. Spike swallowed. He didn't like thinking about Sunset very often. It was so painful. Spike missed his sister so much, and had spent more than a few nights crying as he pined for her since her dissapearance. He was a bit embarrassed over it; after all, he was twelve years old. Nonetheless, Sunset had been his only family. But not just that; she had also been, for a significant time, his only friend as well.
He was now walking down a dirt path towards the Avalon lake. Spike sniffed. He and Sunset had been closer than most other siblings when they'd been together. In many ways, Sunset had acted as Spike's mother in the absence of their real one; she sang him to sleep, told him stories, took him to the park, read to him, took care of him when he was sick, and let him sleep with her whenever he was scared.
Spike arrived at the lake. He sat on a tree stump under the shade of a large tree standing beside it, then pulled the plastic rectangle out of his pocket.
This rectangle, which was about the size of a trading card, was a picture frame; behind its clear sleeve was a photograph of Spike and Sunset, sitting on a park bench and grinning while flashing "peace" signs at the camera.
Spike gently stroked the image of Sunset's face with his fingertips. Tears again welled in his eyes. He stared tremblingly at his sister's lightly tanned, confident face; her long, flame-like locks of golden and red hair; her playful, cocky smirk; and her large, brilliant turquoise eyes.
Tears rolled down Spike's cheeks and off of his chin. He whimpered and quietly sobbed as several of his tears hit the clear cover of his photo's frame. He missed Sunset more than he could bear. The worst part of her absence was that Spike knew absolutely nothing about what had happened to her; for a while after she had been kidnapped, Spike had held out hope that she was still alive and well, but that hope had largely died out by now. A ransom hadn't been offered for her, and no one had seen her since, so Spike was left to assume that she'd been abducted to be used as a sex slave. Spike's beautiful and spirited sister had likely been forced into prostitution in an illegal brothel, or imprisoned in some sexual predator's makeshift dungeon. Either way, she was almost certainly dead; either from a disease some pervert had given her, or as a result of murder at the hands of her captor to destroy the evidence of the crimes committed against her. Sunset had probably died a slow, agonizing, and terrified death somewhere dark and joyless where no one would ever find her.
But as painful as that fact was, Spike couldn't keep himself from remembering Sunset. He just couldn't let her go; after all, if he forgot her, what would be left of her? As much as it hurt, Spike didn't want to let her go; she was the most amazing girl that Spike had ever known, and the majority of his most treasured memories were of her.
In fact, the first memory Spike could ever clearly recall was of Sunset. It was of his fifth birthday; the day that Sunset had given Spark to him.
On Spike's fifth birthday, he had eaten a quarter of a chocolate cake that Sunset had baked for him. Just the two of them and their orphanage director, Mr. Limestone, were celebrating it, but Spike didn't care; they were all he needed.
Once they'd eaten the cake and some ice cream, Mr. Limestone gave him a birthday present: a wooden pachisi set. Spike had wanted to play the game immediately, but Sunset had laughingly said to him, "Hold on- not so fast, kiddo."
Spike had groaned and said, "Come on, Sunset! It's my birthday!"
"That's right," Sunset replied, smirking as she bopped the tip of his nose with her forefinger. "And I got you a present, too."
Spike's eyes widened. "You did?" he said.
"Yep," Sunset replied, turning around. They were sitting around a circular table, and Spike had seen that there was a blanket covering something boxy at Sunset's side, but he had never given thought to it until now. Sunset removed the blanket, then picked up what had been hidden beneath it: a large, colorfully-wrapped parcel.
"Here's my present," Sunset said. "Happy birthday, Spike."
With an excited gasp, Spike eagerly took the parcel and tore through its wrapping. He opened the box, and gasped again upon peering at what rested inside.
Spike pulled Spark out of the box, and said, "Whooooa!" while holding him above his head.
"His name is Spark," Sunset said. "He's the meanest, most terrifying dragon to ever live!"
"Awesome!" Spike cried. "He's so cool!"
"He'll also protect you from harm," Sunset added. "So if you're ever scared, hold him close, and no one will dare come anywhere near you."
Spike threw his arms around Sunset, crying, "Thanks, Sunset! I love him!"
"You're welcome, Spike," Sunset replied, hugging him back.
Spike had played with Spark for the rest of the day, and had taken him to bed that night. However, he had a nightmare that night- one that he often had, in which a bunch of scary-looking men were fighting in a house that was blazing with fire. Spike was in the house, as well, and though he cried for help, his cries were lost in the roar of the flames. He couldn't move, either, and so he was left feeling utterly helpless and doomed as he motionlessly waited for death as the building began to collapse around him.
Spike had just reached the point in which his dream always ended: the moment where he was startled by someone grabbing him around the waist, when he awoke and bolted up, panting with bulging eyes and cold sweat rolling down his face.
As far as Spike could guess, this recurring nightmare was a memory of the Royal Guard's assault on his family house. Sunset had told him that guards had attacked their home, and tried to capture their father. Sunset had no idea why the guards were after their father, but she did know that he had several friends in the house with them when the guards attacked, and that they'd held the guards off so he could escape. Their father, who was (according to Sunset) a handsome, tall man with long, flame-red hair named Prometheus, had gotten in a short skirmish with the Captain of the Guard, which was what started the fire that burned their house down.
Ultimately, Prometheus had escaped. Sunset wanted to go with him; however, she refused to leave without Spike, and so she stayed behind to try to retrieve her brother, as well. Before she could reach him, however, a guard had picked her up and carried her out of the house. Sunset had struggled and screamed for him to let her go, but she was forcefully dragged into a carriage, where another guard restrained her while a third guard ran out of the collapsing house with an infant Spike in his arms.
Once all of them were in the carriage, Sunset saw that her baby brother was screaming and weeping with terror, and so she angrily and tearfully demanded that Spike be given to her, to which the guard holding Spike relented and handed him to her. Spike continued screamingly weeping while Sunset patiently rocked him, whispering, "Shh... shh.... It's okay, Spike.... Don't be scared.... We're gonna be okay...."
Spike had slowly stopped crying, gasped and hiccuped for a moment, then promptly fell asleep, succumbing to his enormous exhaustion.
Once Spike was asleep, however, Sunset tremblingly gazed at the guards sitting around them as fearful tears streamed down her own cheeks. Though she had successfully comforted Spike, she was still only a small child herself, and she silently whispered, "... Daddy... Daddy...." and wished desperately that Prometheus were there to comfort her.
Once the carriage stopped outside the Royal Guard's barracks, the carriage's door was opened, and at that instant Sunset tried to run out and make a getaway with Spike. However, the guards in the carriage grabbed her and pulled her back in, causing her to struggle against them and scream, "LET US GO!! LET! US! GOOOOO!!"
Sunset's screaming woke Spike back up, and he started screaming as well. One of the guards took him away from Sunset, causing her to shriek, "GIVE HIM BACK!!"
Spike was not returned to her until the two of them were brought into the barracks. Sunset kicked and screamed as a guard carried her into a small, bare room that was furnished with only a bed. He set her on the bed, then held her down to prevent her from running as another guard entered carrying Spike.
Sunset again stopped struggling as her baby brother was gently handed back to her. One of the guards then sat on a wooden stool next to the door as the others exited through it and closed it behind them.
Sunset gently rocked Spike until he again stopped crying and went back to sleep, glaring at the guard sitting sentinel at the door all the while. Eventually, however, her exhaustion overcame her, as well, and so she too fell asleep while holding Spike to her chest.
Sunset and Spike were kept in that room until the early afternoon of the next day, when a guard came in and told them that they were to be taken to an orphanage. Knowing at that point that resisting would inevitably prove futile, Sunset resentfully went with the guard back into a carriage and allowed it to drive her and her brother to the Olympus Orphanage.
Once they had reached the orphanage, they were immediately warmly greeted by Mr. Limestone, the director of the place. He was a kind, grandfatherly old man who treated all of the children under his care as though they were his own. Sunset grew to love him over the next few months, and Spike too came to see him as a father as they grew.
However, the other children weren't so kind to them. When they heard the story of how the Royal Guard had attempted to arrest Prometheus, they began to mercilessly mock the young siblings for having a dangerous criminal for a father. A common taunt thrown their way, often sung like a nursery rhyme, was, "An apple doesn't fall far from the tree; like father, like daughter, you see; like father, like son, hee hee hee!"
Spike and Sunset thus grew up in an environment where they were told nearly constantly that they would grow up to be criminals just like their father. Sunset was convinced that her father was innocent of whatever the Royal Guard had accused him of; after all, she deeply loathed and distrusted the guards, who would always lie that they didn't know what she was talking about when she asked them about their father.
"They're liars...." Sunset had once muttered to Spike. "And they took our dad away from us. Daddy never did anything wrong; the guards just hate him. I hate them. I hate them...."
The recurring nightmare of his house being set ablaze was so traumatic that Spike loudly cried every time he'd had it for his first five years at the orphanage. The other boys in his dorm always got angry, and sometimes hit him and screamed at him to shut up. He desperately wanted to go to Sunset at times like these, but was so terrified to leave his bed that he motionlessly, lucidly sat up and stared in terrified silence into the darkness surrounding him until the sun began to rise.
On the night of his fifth birthday, however, Spike felt safer; after all, he had Spark at his side. He held Spark close, tremblingly crawled out of bed, and tiptoed into the girls' dorm.
He had never been in here before, and so he searched the top and bottom bunks of every bed until he found Sunset sleeping in one of the bottom bunks near the back of the room.
Spike shook his sister, tearfully whispering, "Sunset...."
Sunset grunted, then she slowly turned to Spike as her eyes fluttered open. "What're you doing up, Spike?" she asked, yawning.
"I... I had a nightmare...." Spike replied. He hugged Spark closer to his chest as tears welled in his eyes. "I'm scared...." he whispered.
Sunset let out a small sigh. "You have Spark with you, though," she said. "He'll protect you, remember?"
"I'm still scared," Spike replied. He nervously looked down, was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "Can... can I sleep with you...?"
After thinking about it for a few moments, Sunset sighed and softly smiled at Spike. "Of course," she said.
She scooted to the side, making room for her brother, then patted the edge of her bed. "Come in, kiddo," she said.
Grinning, Spike slowly crawled in beside Sunset.
Once Spike was under the covers with his sister, Sunset wrapped her arms around him and whispered to him, "Don't worry, Spike... don't be scared... everything's gonna be alright...."
Smiling contentedly, Spike snuggled against Sunset and promptly fell asleep.
From that night, Sunset always allowed Spike to share her bed whenever his nights grew too difficult to bear. Gradually, however, he slowly grew out of it, though his bond with Sunset never became any less powerful.
They were almost inseparable; Spike would wait patiently for Sunset to return home every day when she began going to school, and when Spike started going to school, they would spend each of their lunch breaks and recesses together.
Spike and Sunset were eventually able to get other friends at school, but they still spent more time with each other than anyone else. Sunset was the one who taught Spike how to be such an excellent Rock-Paper-Scissors player (Spike had never met anyone who could beat her), introduced him to manga, and was even responsible for his obsession with Steam.
When Sunset was a preteen, she began going to Steam sessions with some of her friends. Spike intensely missed her whenever she went to these, and eventually asked her if he could come to them with her. Sunset told him that he could, but only if he promised to be quiet and non-disruptive. Spike did, and so Sunset took him to one of her games.
Sunset's friends were surprised to see that Sunset had brought her little brother with her, but accepted it without objection and tolerated him after Sunset promised them that Spike wouldn't be a bother. Spike sat with Sunset while she played, and watched her roll her dice, move her figurines around, write in her character sheets, and listen to the descriptions of the Game Master. The first time he went to one of these roleplaying sessions, he quickly fell asleep; he continued to do so for several months, until one day he asked Sunset how to play. Sunset explained the rules to him, which he learned quickly. He then made a character of his own and began playing with the group, as well. He continued playing with Sunset until she disappeared.
Sunset was quite popular in school, but was also rather widely disliked. She was the best athlete in the Olympus Magic Academy, had dated many of the school's most popular boys (and girls), received the awards for all of the major art competitions and game tournaments, was the Homecoming Queen for every year except her first, and was in her academic achievements second only to Twilight Sparkle. Most of her fellow students greatly liked and admired her, but a few were obviously jealous of her for all of her apparent perfection and the enormous adoration she constantly received, and would viciously (and often anonymously) taunt her over her poverty, her orphanhood, and her active love life.
Spike remembered being with Sunset when another (also-popular) girl had shouted at Sunset in one of the halls, "Hey there, slut! Which footballer did you ride last night? Was it Puck? Or maybe Flash? Or did you eat out that tramp Molly?"
Sunset pretended to ignore her, but Spike could tell that she was deeply infuriated and hurt by this.
"Hey, everyone!" the girl shouted to passers-by. "You want your cock sucked by miss Orphan Girl, it'll cost ya five silver pieces! If you want anal, it'll be seven! But if you want to knock her up, it'll cost only a gold piece! Yeah, Whore-Girl's cheap and easy, just like her mom was!"
Sunset clenched her fists, and Spike gazed worriedly at her.
"She'll even do another girl for free!" the girl laughed. "But watch your wallet; if you're not careful, Sunset'll take it from your pocket while she's drinking your cum!"
Spike watched as angry tears welled in Sunset's eyes. When they returned to the orphanage that night, Sunset went out for half an hour, and returned with a black eye, a cut lip, and some scratches across her arms and face. When Spike saw the girl that had been taunting her the next day, he saw that she was riddled with injuries herself; most prominently, her nose was broken and she had a black eye even more pronounced than Sunset's.
Sunset got in trouble several times for attacking the other children who smeared her, Spike, or their parents, which only added to her reputation as a delinquent. Perhaps because of this, she only grew more promiscuous. Spike hated more than anything that his sister was widely known as "the Whore of the Olympus Magic Academy," and that people would define her for being "easy," often seeming to forget that she was also brilliant, talented, and an affectionate, loving sister.
In addition, Spike knew that Sunset didn't wish to be the way she did. She confided in him that her casual one-night stands were largely to numb her pain and loneliness, and that she really wanted to have a romantic partner.
"I really, really want to ask someone out...." Sunset had muttered to Spike as they were lounging across the orphanage's sofa together.
"Who is it?" Spike said curiously.
"One of my juniors. Her name is Twilight Sparkle," Sunset replied.
Sunset grinned, continuing, "She's really cute, and she might be the only kid at school who's as smart as we are. I had her for a lab partner once, and she's the only girl I've met who I can have a substantial conversation with for more than five minutes."
"Why don't you ask her out, then?" Spike asked.
Sunset shrugged. "She's too shy. I'm never able to talk to her," she said. "Whenever I try, she just blushes and walks away as quickly as she can."
They were silent for a moment. "I'm sorry," Spike said.
Sunset sighed. "Maybe I scare her..." she muttered. "She seems like a nice, well-behaved girl. I guess that it makes sense that she wouldn't want to have anything to do with me...."
"What do you mean?" Spike said.
Sunset shrugged again. "I'm a delinquent slut," she muttered. "The 'five silver pieces for a blowjob' girl, remember?"
Spike closed his manga volume and glared at her. "Are you really listening to those idiots?!" he shouted. "C'mon, Sunset! You know better! Those guys are full of shit!"
"Yep," Sunset agreed. "All anyone needs to do if they wanna fuck me is ask."
Sunset sniffed, and Spike watched as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Sunset...." he whispered.
"No one will ever love me...." Sunset muttered. "I'm a piece of trash...."
"That's not true!" Spike shouted, beginning to cry himself. "You're not trash, Sunset! You're the most amazing girl in the world! You're the best sister ever! And I love you!"
Sunset looked down, then softly smiled. She pulled Spike into a tight embrace, tearfully whispering, "Thanks, Spike. I love you, too. You're the best brother ever...."
Spike hugged Sunset back, and they cried until they fell asleep together.
Spike and Sunset even remained extremely close once Sunset turned eleven and became Shining Armor's apprentice. With every hour of free time she had, Sunset would visit Spike at the orphanage to exchange stories about their lives.
"Twilight is Shining's sister, isn't she?" Spike had asked her. "Have you been able to ask her out yet?"
"No," Sunset said, shrugging. "She still avoids me. Shining's really hot, too, but he already has Princess Cadance as his girlfriend...."
Sunset softly smiled. "Maybe it's not my fault, though. Flash is at the castle all the time, too, since his dad is the Captain of the Guard. I complained to him that Twilight would never talk to me, and he told me that he's been trying to ask her out, too."
Sunset grinned here. "And we talked some more, and now we're gonna go out. I guess I'm not some unlovable floozy, after all."
"I told you!" Spike said, grinning.
"Yeah," Sunset replied.
So Sunset began dating Flash Sentry, and they soon began a steady relationship. Spike heard Sunset tell him about their courtship for the next three years of her apprenticeship under Shining. Sunset continued to visit Spike at the orphanage every day.
One day, however, when Spike was ten and Sunset was just a year away from graduating, Sunset never came.
Spike began to worry as he sat on his and Sunset's favorite sofa, waiting for her arrival. He waited for hours, and gradually became deeply anxious and panicky.
Then, just a little after nine o' clock that night, there was a knock on the door. Mr. Limestone answered it. Spike never saw who was at the door, nor heard what they said to Mr. Limestone. The orphanage director spoke to whoever it was for what seemed an eternity. Then, he walked into Spike's dorm, wearing a deeply sorrowful and grave expression.
"What is it?" Spike said worriedly.
"It was the Royal Guard," Mr. Limestone replied.
Tears streamed down Mr. Limestone's wrinkled old cheeks as he waveringly said, "I'm so sorry, Spike. Your sister... Sunset... she's...."
Spike felt as though his heart had dropped into his stomach in the tense silence that sat between them. Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore. "What?!" he shouted.
The director took a deep breath. "She's been kidnapped," Mr. Limestone finished. "Someone kidnapped her last night. No one knows who has her or where she is. I'm so, so sorry, Spike. Sunset's gone."