//------------------------------// // Up All Night // Story: Blonde Moments // by FamousLastWords //------------------------------// As Spike snaked up the stairs to his room, he had only one thing and one thing only occupying his thoughts. “Grr, stupid Starlight and her superior Risk strategy.” The dragon grimaced as he took the last step up to the second floor of the castle. “Since when is Yak Yakistan a surprise attack safehold anyway? She must’ve been cheating. I just know it.” The distraught dragon continued mumbling under his breath whilst making the ever lengthy walk of defeat toward his bedroom door. He wouldn’t be able to save his pride for the night, but he could at least get a good night’s sleep. That would most definitely make up for the night’s failure, if not provide him a way to escape from any residual snark from Starlight, herself. As he made his way down the hall, stumbling and mumbling, he couldn’t help but take a second glance at Twilight’s firmly closed door at the end. He had his room coming up first, then Starlight’s across the hall, but Twilight’s was always there within a short distance. He had been kept up many a night by the sound of Twilight’s various late-night research projects gone out of hoof. However, this time, there was no such noise coming from the room. Not necessarily an out of the ordinary kind of thing, but given the excessively upset state in which she entered said room earlier during the day, he couldn’t help but feel worried as he looked at the door. Spike had two choices. One, he could continue with his plans of divulging his frustrations into his blankets and sheets and just call it a night. Or two, he could go check up on Twilight, risk getting caught up in a tirade of stress, emotion and copious amount of unnecessary knowledge. Twilight was worth any tirade the world could throw at him. Spike sneakily slipped down the hallway until he came to the door. He hesitated for a moment as he raised his claw, before quietly and carefully rapping on it a few times. He waited a moment for a response, but there was none. He knocked again. ...Still no response. As he raised a claw to knock a final time before heading to bed for the night, he heard a raspy voice from within call out. “Hmm, who is it?” “Oh boy…” Spike thought to himself. As he began to open the door, he steeled his nerves, attempting to prepare himself for anything and everything he might find behind that door. “It’s Spike. I’m coming in.” As the door fully opened, he preparations suddenly meant diddly-squat as he came face to face with the sight beyond. As per the usual, there were papers, books and the like strewn across the floor. But, as not per the usual, there was a Twilight sitting on the floor amidst the dimly lit chaos, mane still disheveled and clearly visible tear stains that had matted the fur down on her cheeks. “Twilight?” Spike asked, shutting the door behind him. “Twilight, what’s wrong?” Twilight sniffled and wiped some budding tears away before they could drip. “Oh, nothing. Just doing some paperwork and.. and...“ She did her best to hold back the whimpering in her voice but it was to no avail. “Just doing paperwork, yep.” And then the floodgates were opened. The mare let out an intense wail followed by a raging river of teardrops cascading out of her eyes. She fell to the ground and buried her face into her hooves, attempting to muffle the sobs breaking forth from her mouth. Spike had been a resident of this land long enough to know that there was a time to make snarky comments and there was a time to be a caring friend. Despite every remaining instinct within his male psyche telling him to make a joke or pretend he saw nothing and move on, he knew that he had a job to do. He dashed across the room, stumbling over a few books in the process, and wrapped his claws around Twilight, pulling her into his chest the best he could given his frame. “Shh, Twilight. It’s okay.” “Hmph, but, I… I just…” Twilight couldn’t finish her thought as she was held even tighter by Spike. “Shh, it’s okay. I promise it’s okay.” Spike slowly stroked her mane as a father would do to comfort a distressed foal. “Just let it all out, alright?” A few more minutes passed of Twilight balling her eyes out into Spike’s warmth before the sniffles finally started to die down and the tears began to dry up. Spike slowly began to release his claws from her but was stopped as Twilight snuggled more closely into him. “Alright, then, I guess this is still a happening thing,” Spike said with a snicker. “Can’t say I’m complaining though. Getting to hold a beautiful Princess has gotta be on the bucket list of at least, I don’t know, every stallion in the Kingdom.” Twilight let out a small chuckle of her own. “I’m sorry, Spike. I just, I really needed this.” “It’s okay, Twi,” Spike replied. “We’ve all had these days. I have ‘em at least once a week. You’re no different.” Twilight wiped her hoof across her snout before finally pulling away into a seated position in front of the dragon. “But that’s the thing, Spike. I’m not just any pony. I’m the Princess. I’m not supposed to have days like this!” Twilight whimpered and dropped her eyes to the floor. “I’m not supposed to let stuff like this get to me. I’m supposed to be able to handle everything. What’s wrong with me?” Spike shook his head. “That’s the thing though, Twilight. You are just a pony. One who happens to be a Princess, sure, but you’re just a pony at the end of the day… like everyone else in town. You can’t just pile all of this on top of yourself and not expect anything to happen because you have a fancy title attached to your name.” Twilight grunted and looked back up at the dragon. “But, this is what you don’t understand, Spike. All this stuff I pile on myself, it’s part of my responsibility. I don’t have a choice but to do it. I can’t just abandon my duty because things are hard.” Spike rolled his eyes as he cast his eyes around the room. “I hardly think studying and working yourself half to death was listed in the job description. Cadance, Celestia, Luna… They all do their jobs well, wouldn’t you agree?” Twilight slowly nodded. “But guess what?” Spike continued. “They all have help from time to time and they all know that it’s okay to take a break, sometimes!” Spike huffed and rose to his feet to pace back and forth. “Celestia and Luna work together and have an entire staff at the castle to help them. Cadance has Shining Armor to lean on and even a baby of her own now. But, Twilight, what do you have?” Twilight bit her lower lip but was cut off before responding. “You’ve got me. You’ve got Starlight. You’ve got an entire village of friends and family willing to help you, but you insist on keeping everything to yourself and holding it all in until it explodes out like this.” Spike placed a claw on her shoulder and put his face mere inches from hers. “Please, start using the help that you have. If not, I’m afraid that one day, I’m not even going to recognize the pony that’s my best friend. I know that we’ve had this conversation before, but please, listen to me this time. Take a vacation. Take even just a day off. Let Starlight and I handle things for just a day.” “Oh, Spike, I just don’t know…” Spike shook his head. “Well, you don’t have to, because I do know. I’ve got your back, and I always will. Alright? I’m many things, but a liar isn’t one of them. So when I say something, I mean it.” Spike moved away from her and started walking towards the door, lest he start crying himself. He paused, however, at the sound of the smallest chuckle emanating from the pony behind him. He turned around and saw Twilight, head still bowed, shaking her head in a quiet fit of a laughter. “Twilight?” Spike asked. Had she finally lost it? Did she finally punch her ticket to the crazy train? “You alright?” Twilight looked up with a faint smile. “The pony. One of the representatives visiting earlier today.” Spike blinked a few times. “Yes?” “He had the silliest name,” Twilight said, letting out a few more chuckles. “Butterball Gobbler.” Twilight snorted before erupting into laughter once more, this time with much more volume. Spike couldn’t help but start laughing himself. ‘Hehe, Butterball? How much do you think his parents hated him?” “Quite a bit, apparently,” Twilight said through a series of snorts and laughs. “Pfft, Butterball!” The two shared a strong hearty laugh together that lasted all of the next half-hour before finally parting ways to finish off the night. Spike didn’t expect change overnight, but he did feel as if he made some progress with his best friend and closest family member. And, as the old adage goes, something is better than nothing. Spike slipped into his room and flopped onto his bed. He had a long eventful day, that was for sure. And, on that note, he had earned a good night’s sleep. He snuggled under his covers and let his head rest on the downy pillow. If perfection existed in this land, it could easily be found within his mattress and bed set. Spike closed his eyes and began to let his mind wander and slowly drift off… before his eyes popped open. “Ugh.” With all the benefits that growing up had bestowed upon Spike throughout the years, the one thing he could never accept was the simple fact that sleep was harder and harder to come by as the days went by. His mind raced over all the events of the day as he stared up at the ceiling. Cheering up foals and colts, having a date that went from good to great to failure incarnate, getting the business from Starlight and comforting Twilight. He had a full day. And tomorrow could be even more full if his to-do list held any weight. Spike let out a sigh as the image of a certain blonde pegasus ran through his head. That image was quickly followed by said pegasus running out of the restaurant with tears in her eyes. “I have to apologize. I just have to.” Spike was at war with himself about the whole situation. He was battling between the idea of the embarrassment he was going to face by approaching her again and the idea of not being able to ever see her again. At the thought of the second option, he could feel his stomach clench up. How this mare he had only really gotten to know remotely a short time ago had found her way to such a position of importance was beyond him. But, for whatever reason, she had and he really wanted to make things right. The hard part, however, was figuring out the right way to do it. If his past experiences with females were any indication, there was a strong chance of messing things up beyond repair. That was the last thing he wanted with her. Spike rolled onto his side with a huff before his mouth widened into a smile as a genius thought entered his mind. “I got it! I know just who to ask in the morning.” Spike smiled and curled up under his blankets. If anyone could help him with this predicament, Rarity could. Hopefully, she wasn’t too busy tomorrow, because Spike was gonna be there bright and early. He was finally able to close his eyes again and slowly drift off into the land of slumber. Tomorrow wouldn’t be easy, but he was gonna have help on his side.