The biting cold was getting to be too much, even for a day as terrible as this.
The Mayor twitched as another raindrop was swept into her eyes by the howling wind. She turned, eyes lingering in the direction of her abode, and a warm, cozy bed.
The storm was a terrible one, the worst in years. She clutched her coat as the wind buffeted and battered her; the rain streaked through the air like bullets, drenching everything in sight. She wiped her face of the rain.
“Maybe I should have just stayed in my office. Damn it, Quill, curiosity is not a virtue.”The Mayor finally made her way through the stinging rain and unbridled wind to her destination - the enormous manor Ponyville used as a hospital.
She stumbled through the double doors, soaking wet and exhausted. The Mayor shook the water off herself and lifted her head to the nurse at the front desk, who had been startled awake by the slam of the door.
“I was told that the Princess was—”
The nurse’s eyes lit up with realization as she nodded. She pointed a hoof to the corridor on the left. The Mayor nodded briefly in thanks and went to trot down the hallway when the nurse blurts out.
“Her butler is waiting down there as well.”
~~~
The Mayor arrived at the waiting room door and paused for a moment. She took a deep breath and opened the door. The room was chilly, the air flow pushing the frigid air past the Mayor, causing her to shiver. The walls were a cool blue, with a floor as cold and white as snow. On the opposite side of the room, the door to the hospital room stood forebodingly, reminding people of the separation between them and their loved ones. Chairs lined the walls, all empty.
All empty for one.
In the chair closest to the hospital room was a bipedal male dragon. The drake was high in stature - taller than even Celestia - and covered in violet scales. He was well dressed, wearing a black tailcoat and green tie with white gloves covering his claws. Adorning his head were long green spines going down his back, holes being cut into his clothes to accommodate them. Wrapped around him is his tail. Unlike the thin, bushy ones that the Mayor’s kind had, his was long and stocky. The dragon was hunched over, his face scrunched in despair. As the dragon heard the Mayor quietly walk over, he lifted his head and looked to her, his deep emerald eyes misty. He lips parted and his usually smooth voice came out hoarse and whispered.
“Hello, Mrs. Quill. I see you’re doing well.”
The Mayor/Quill swallowed and croaked out a response. “G-good afternoon, Spike. I-I heard that Twili- tha-” —Quill took a breath before continuing— “Is she okay?”
Spike turned his head away from Quill, to the hospital room door.
“The doctor’s said that she’s in critical condition. They don’t know if she’ll make it. They won’t let me see her.”
“Oh.” Her eyes fell to the floor, the next few words feeling rough in her throat. “I’m sorry.”
The two sat there in silence until the dragon turned to her, staring straight into her eyes. A tiny desperate light flickered within them, threatened to be snuffed out by despair; Quill’s heart sank.
Quill has known Spike as long as she’d lived and whenever their paths crossed, she could see a fire in those eyes—not a raging, destructive inferno—but a kind, warming fire that spread cheerfulness to everything around it. This was a fire kindled by love and devotion to the joy of the Princess, his princess.
But as she looked into those emerald eyes, she felt the fire, dim and flickering, barely keeping itself together. She wrapped her hooves around herself as she shivered.
“It was my fault.”
Spike took on a pained expression. Quill’s head snapped up, confused.
“How? You couldn’t have known-”
“I should have sent one of the staff to get the groceries. If I had been there, I could have done something!”
“Do you even know what happened?”
Spike paused. He lowered his head slightly, then snapped it back up. “Have the guard found anything? Have they figured out what happened?”
“That’s why I’m here.”
Quill reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a photo. The photo showed the corpse of a rabbit. However, the rabbit was twisted. Its legs are stretched, hooves having grown through its feet, and if one looked closely, they would notice that it didn’t have eyes. Not that it had lost its eyes, but that it never had eyes.
“This animal was found crushed under some of the rubble. I was wondering if you had ever seen anything like it.”
Quill held it out to Spike and he took it. He scanned it, a look of pondering on his face. Serious contemplation transformed into a expression of realization, and a moment later, hatred. One thing entered his mind. One name.
Discord.
The drake started to tremble with rage, his breaths ragged and sharp. His eyes were alight with fury and the photo in his claws burst into crimson flame. Quill started to back away, becoming fearful knowing the legendary temper of his kind. The dragon lifted a flexed claw to his face, seemingly about to let loose a tremendous roar. Quill thought she saw a flash of gold between his claws.
And as suddenly as his anger took hold, his arm dropped down to his side, limp and unmoving.
“Excuse me,” Spike said, his face, clenched with rage just a moment earlier, was a now mask of cold indifference and a fixed smile. “I have someplace to be.” He calmly walked past the mayor.
“Wait Spike, what about Twilight?”
Spike waved her off. “Seeing me right now is the last thing Twilight needs.” A heavy stomp echoed out into the room.. “Tell the guard to dismiss the investigation, they’ll just get in the way. At least when he’s involved.”
The mayor’s eyes widened. “You can’t just end the investiga—”
Spike’s head quickly turned to the mare, staring straight into her eyes. The mayor felt her blood go cold.
The fire was dead. The freezing void left in its place seemed to be dragging her in.
“I am the crown prince of Equestria and well as the hero of the Crystal Empire, and the right claw dragon of the Princess of Magic. I may do whatever the hell I like. Your rules don’t apply to me. End the case before I end it for you.”
His voice was empty. No anger. No arrogance. No tone. Just a hollow voice explaining what he could do. Even so, she felt she heard something akin to an echo in his voice. Maybe the room was reflecting it?
Quill felt both sickened and shocked. This wasn’t Spike. In all the years she had known Spike, he had never brought up his titles, believing that he should be able to accomplish what he wants without the need to use his authority. This… thing posing as Spike was going full out on abusing his power. She felt herself sinking into the abyss that now made up the drake’s cold, emerald eyes.
The dragon turned back to the hallway door and started to walk. Green flames burst from the nothing between the door frames, and Spike sauntered through them. Quill,thinking the flames were made to entrap her in the room, called out to Spike. Incredibly, the fire —instead of simply ignoring him as they are used to do— leapt up his coattails and legs, consuming the usually inflammable butler. The mayor stood in shock as Spike, without a flicker of discomfort or panic, was completely consumed by the emerald inferno. Then, as if done with their duty, the flames winked out of existence, not a trace of a burn mark or a speck of ash was left on the floor.
The mayor stood frozen, bewildered by what just occurred before her. She shakily walked over to one of the chairs and sat down, wondering what she just unleashed upon Equestria.
She didn’t move from that spot for a long time.