//------------------------------// // To Play Hide and Seek With Jealousy // Story: Crystal Affair // by FamousLastWords //------------------------------// Spike and Cadance were lounging in the food cart of the train on the way back to the Crystal Empire. It was a long ride, unfortunately, as the two of them needed to address Rarity and Shining about their findings.   “Okay, Spike, when we get b—” Cadance was halted mid-sentence by the dragon stuffing his face with the speed of an unladen swallow across from her. “Spike, could you please stop that and listen? This is kinda important.”   Spike paused his brazen debauchery for a moment. “Sorry, Cadance, but these biscuits and gravy are to die for! I thought my honeymoon with Rarity was heaven, but this… this is something special.”   Cadance rolled her eyes and shot a blast of magic at the plate, causing it to burst into flames. “You’re full, now listen.”   Spike grimaced and licked his chops. “I wasn’t full…”   “So, here’s my plan,” Cadance continued. “We go back to the Crystal Empire and track down our respective spouses.”   “Okay, good start.”   “Then, we muster our respective self-control and explain the situation that we learned from Discord.”   “Pause, we might have a problem there,” Spike said, holding up a timeout symbol. “Don’t you remember? Shining and Rarity still think we cheated on them. There’s no way in Tartarus they’ll hear us out, especially if we’re trying to explain why we did what we did… if we did it.”   “Spike, once again, I refuse to believe we just walked to the Saphirum in our sleep and swapped spit,” Cadance said with an eye roll. “I do have some standards in regards to my actions.”   “Heh, sure, Miss ‘Ima go kill Rarity’.” Spike chuckled but halted his foolish behavior upon the Medusa stare he was receiving. “Ahem, yeah, well, I’m sure it didn’t happen. But it doesn’t matter what we think. It’s a matter of what they think. And, if you think you’re stubborn, try convincing Rarity of anything once she gets her mind set on it.”   “I can only imagine. She ran her mouth so much when we hung in I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.” Her face began heating up just thinking about it.   “Easy there, cowgirl,” Spike said, waving a claw at her. “There’ll be time for violence later, after we get this sorted out. Because, if everything seems to be as it would seem, it would seem to be as it is.”   Cadance blinked. “Can I have a map to that sentence, please?’”   “Okay, I’ll dumb it down for you,” Spike said with a smirk. “What I’m saying is, right now, it’s more than likely that this whole shindig is just a fabrication being created by an evil entity that’s manifesting itself through you, somehow.”   “Oh, I get it, so we just walk in all hunky-dory and say ‘Hey there guys, we didn’t actually cheat on you. I’m just a demon goddess from a billion years ago.’ Yeah, that’ll work wonders.”   “That’s my point!” Spike exclaimed. “Your idea is gonna take a lot care of and attention to detail. Which is something we haven’t done a whole lot of until recently.”   “Spike,” Cadance said. “Why is all this happening? Do you remember when things used to be simple? Because I sure don’t.”   “To be fair,” Spike said, “things are never simple in Equestria. We can hardly go a year without a supervillain hopping in and trying to destroy everything. If you ask me, I’d say we were due one.”   “Not helping,” she replied with a salty stare. “But I’m talking about that, in particular. Even before this whole nonsense went down, things weren’t perfect. What Shining mentioned to you before… he’s right. My work keeps me busy, his is always a huge stress. We would go days without seeing each other at times. Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder if this is all happening for a reason.”   “What do you mean?’   “I’m the Princess of Love, Spike! But I can’t even keep my own marriage steady. Maybe, in some twisted way, the powers that be are trying to send a message. A message that things need to change. For the better, even. I’m just so confused.”   “Look,” Spike said, reaching across the table and holding onto her hoof. “I don’t know what’s really going on. Neither do you. But what I do know is how much you love Shining, and obviously how much he loves you. The same thing with Rarity and I. Things get hard, but that’s no reason to give up. In fact, that’s what makes couples grow closer together in the long run. If everything was easy, there’d be no reason you’d have to lean on each other.”   Cadance looked up at him, a few tears trickling down her cheeks. “But, Spike, this is really really hard.”   “And that’s exactly why you and Shining need each other more than ever. You’re definitely in a weak state, and who knows? Maybe that’s why that Saphirum thing is preying on you. Because you’re an easy target. But, if you let her break you, the whole of the Crystal Empire could be in danger. I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to let that happen.”   Cadance wiped a few tears away. “Thanks, Spike. I’ve been ready to kick the butt of anything that moved these past few days, but I guess I needed my butt kicked.”   “Not a problem,” Spike said, leaning back in his seat. “I’m an equal opportunity cheery-uppy dragon, thing… Anyway, we’re gonna get back and we’re gonna figure out what’s going on once and for all. And you know what else? We’re gonna have our loved ones with us, because we’re just that awesome. Understood?”   “Understood.”   “Oh that was weak! Understood?”   ‘Understood!”   “Louder! Let me hear you!”   “We got this!”   “Yeah!”   “YEAH!”   The Princess and dragon, now standing on top of the table sharing a high-hoof, had all eyes in the lunch cart locked onto them.   “Hey, some of us are trying to eat!” And older stallion said from the corner. “I suggest you take your dope and go somewhere else! Mm, crazy kids…”   Spike and Cadance blushed and sat back down.   “So, on a separate note,” Spike said in a much more hushed tone. “Why are we taking  a train back?”   “What do you mean?’   “Well, if Discord can teleport us to edge of the universe and Celestia knows where else, why didn’t we ask him to send us back to your castle? You know, given the severity of the circumstances.”   “I did ask,” she replied. “He said it’d be irresponsible use of his magic.”   “And throwing a gaggle of pony plush toys wasn’t? That makes no sense.” Spike let out a groan.   “True, but when was the last time Discord made sense? It’s kinda his thing.”   “Well, his thing sucks.”   The train continued its ride down the tracks, taking the two to hopefully find a way to reconcile with their lovers. Hopefully.      Rarity was sitting on a sofa in her guest room, where Shining was pacing in front of her. This would normally be a time where the dramatic unicorn would be working herself into a tizzy, but stuffing endless scoops of her favorite ice cream into her mouth was a nice substitute for anxiousness.   “Mmm, thish is sthooo good!” Rarity said, bits and pieces of her dessert flying out of her mouth, before swallowing it down. “Do you need some?”   Shining grimaced, his eyes falling upon the array of ice cream blanketing his once clean piece of furniture. “Uh, no thanks. Not super hungry.”   Rarity shrugged and shoved another spoonful into her mouth.   “I’m sorry, Rarity,” Shining said. “I’m just anxious about all this. I can’t even think about eating, sleeping or even my job. I had to put one of my Generals in charge until it works itself out.”   “I know how you feel, darling,” Rarity said, setting aside her ice cream for the first time in hours. “I feel the same way. But, I don’t have even the faintest idea of what’s really going on, and neither do you.”   “Yeah, but that being said, I have no idea what to feel about this whole thing. On one end, I know what I saw. You can’t tell me I didn’t see it, because I did. But on the other, what you said about that room. The visions… something isn’t adding up. I feel like we’re missing a piece of the puzzle.”   “That is definitely true,” Rarity stated, trotting over to him. “But, listen dear, there’s only one thing we can do as the mature, responsible adults I like to think we are.”   “Ignore everything and hope it goes away?”   “No! Shining, I’m going to give you some advice that Spike gives me sometimes.” Rarity looked him in the eye with a soft gaze.   “Advice from Spike? He’s usually the one on the receiving end.” Shining scratched the back of his neck. “Then again, I am too from Cadance. Must just be a guy thing.”   “It usually is,“ Rarity said with a giggle. “But, in all seriousness, Spike has worked miracles in keeping me sane throughout our time together. Any time a situation seemed too big for me, he’d always say this: ‘Control what you can, don’t try what you can’t.;. Of course, when he usually says that I’m so flustered I haven’t the time to hear a word he says, but it still has truth to it. We don’t know the whole of the story, here. With any luck, Twilight will help us in this regard. But, what we can do, is stay calm the best we can and find out what’s going on.”   “But, with all due respect, Rarity, what if the truth is as ugly as we fear?”  Shining put his hoof to his forehead.   “Well, if that comes to be,” she said, wincing at the thought, “we’ll cross that bridge when it comes to us. But, for now, I’d like to not believe that our spouses are engaging in lewd infidelity behind our backs.”   “I can definitely agree with that,” Shining said.   “Now, I think we could both use a distraction from all this,” Rarity said. “When will Twilight be arriving?”   “Not until tomorrow at least, I would imagine.”   “Perfect. In the meantime, we need to focus on other things. Let’s say you and I head down to the spa room together for a deep tissue massage. That sounds utterly fantastic right now.”   Shining Armour flexed his shoulders and felt a bulge of tightness. “Yeah, that does sound nice. And I guess a distraction would be good. Let’s do it. Besides, it’s not like Spike or Cadance are here. They might get the wrong idea if they saw us in the spa together.”   “Oh, one could only imagine, darling. One could only imagine.”     A large train slowly came to a stop and pulled into the Crystal Empire train station. Ponies got on and off as it did, but two of those were Cadance and Spike, who both had grins on their face. The first legitimate time they’ve felt any kind of hope in days.   “You think they’re doing okay?” Spike asked as the two of them strolled from the train through the station. “I hope Rarity isn't’ too broken up, still.”   “Yeah, I’m a bit worried about Shining, too,” she replied. “He puts on a tough exterior, but he’s pretty much got a huge ball of emotion where his heart should be. Then again, maybe it's fair for them to have a bit of a rough time after all we’ve been through.”   “Yeah, but I really don’t want them to be too hurt,” Spike said. “And I’m sure you feel the same.”   “Yeah, i guess you’re right,” Cadance said, feeling a bit of heaviness in her stomach. “But, you know, there’s always the chance they were just putting on a show and used our absence as an excuse to party and do who knows what else with each other.”   “Hey, we promised to think positive, remember?” Spike chastised her. “Besides, it’s not like they’ll just be hanging out at the spa getting a massage together in the midst of all this.”   “Yeah, I guess you’re right, Spike. Thanks for helping.”