//------------------------------// // Chapter 29- Bad dreams // Story: My immortal phoenix. // by Lieral //------------------------------// Nightmares always existed, since the very beginning of times, and no creature is safe from having one every now and them. Some people dreams about old memories like Sunset Shimmer, some dreams with their big fears like Fluttershy that hates basically everything in Nightmare Night. And some dreams about their biggest fears… Which is Spike’s case. But even someone’s biggest fear can change. He slowly woke up with a yawn and stretched himself. He usually is not one to wake up when the sun have yet to appear on the sky, but something seems weird in the room. It is really early and the cold air of the morning is really gradable for his body. Twilight is peacefully sleeping on her bed bellow her blankets. Without her glasses she seems almost like a different person even for someone that had been with her for so long as Spike. But when he turned his gaze toward the right a little he did not saw the other half of the picture he is used to seeing. “Where’s Sunset?” He wondered. Sunset is many things, but ever since she came to this world she proved many times she is not a morning person, and waking up before six o’clock? That is very new. He left Twilight’s bed silently as he jumped toward the still cold floor with great agility, which for some reason put a thoughtful expression in his features. A sound came from not far away. He opened the door and went to the kitchen while observing his surroundings. Nothing had changed much ever since Twilight and he had first moved, the only exception, of course, is the magical portal that Sunset hides with her magic every time someone comes here. The light inside the kitchen is on and the origin of the sounds is definitely there. He entered the kitchen expecting almost everything, except what he saw. “Sunset? What you’re doing?” Sunset Shimmer turned her gaze toward the dog. She was putting her hair in a high ponytail while holding the slide with her mouth and wearing Twilight’s pink apron. “Hey, Spike,” She said between her teeth and finally locked her hair. “Nothing, really, I just thought it would be nice to make breakfast for us for a change,” “Let me put this straight: You’re trying to cook?” He sat down. “Yes,” Sunset shrugged. “And I am going well so far! Coffee’s ready,” “You have to be kidding me,” Spike said sarcastically and yawned. “I am not,” Sunset went to the fridge while keeping an eye on the dog. He seems tired, and not just because he woke up earlier than normal. “Now I was thinking about doing some pancakes, but I am not finding the recipe… Oh, wait, found it,” “I think it’s a better idea for you to make some toasts,” Safer too, he thought. “Do you think I cannot make a pancake without exploding the building?” She smiled playfully. “Is it that obvious?” Spike put a paw above his chest pretending to be taken back. The two of them stared each other for a few seconds before bursting in a controlled laughter. It always had been something they shared: A stupid sense of humor. She took the materials for the pancake and put all of them on the kitchen. “Worry not, I may look useless but I have a really good memory, and I have seen Twilight baking those so many times I can definitely make the same,” “Said the girl that have no idea of her own age, huh,” Spike said that looking down. Sunset turned to face him with a sigh. “That is true,” She smiled softly. “Now, tell me, what is wrong?” “Huh? What you’re talking about?” He looked at her with doubt. Sunset’s hand shone with a deep green light for a second and suddenly the door to Twilight’s room closed followed by the kitchen’s, locking them together. The only living being besides them in the kitchens is the apparently sleeping Owloscious. “I know there is something bothering you, now tell me, what is in your head?” “In my head I am wondering why you had been changing the way you speaks so often,” He scratched the back of his head trying to look normal. “Answering your question is a matter of getting used to. I am still trying to learn how to talk like a normal person for a change, and I am not going to fall for something like that, so you have to try something better,” She waved her hand in the air while saying. “Don’t you have breakfast to do?” He asked. “Spike,” Her answer was a warning tone of voice. “Okay, fine,” He said out loud. “I had a bad dream, that’s all,” She lifted one eyebrow. “How many?” She asked. He did not look into her eyes as he sighed. “You are smarter than you look, huh,” “I will take that as a compliment,” She put a hand on her waist. “Now, can we have a decent conversation or I will have to take it all from you in the hard way?” He stared her for a few seconds. “Okay, then. Sunset, how old do you think I am?” “That’s a captious question,” She answered with a grin and even Spike showed the shadow of a smile. But this shadow died just as fast. “You know that time flows different for humans and animals, right,” He asked. “Yes, Fluttershy told me that in our last ‘date’.” She quotes with her fingers. “And how long do you think I’ve been with Twilight?” “She said she gained you as a present from her parents when she was a little…” She assumed a serious expression. “Now I get it,” “You do?” He asked. “You already lived longer than most dogs did,” Sunset suddenly wore a solemn expression. “You are worrying your time is coming,” He stared his own reflection on the floor. “I was,” He simply said. “A few months ago I was,” Sunset did not say a thing; instead, she waited for him to lead the conversation at his own pace. “A few months ago I was worried with that. Not because I was afraid of dying but…” “You were worried you are going to leave her behind,” Sunset sat down on the floor and leaned her back against the fridge. “Is that right?” A full minute of silence filled the air as Spike stared his own reflection on the clean floor. “I’ve been with her for longer than one might think. A few months ago I finally noticed I was getting out of time… That’s when the nightmares began.” “She raised me, Sunset. And I tried to help as much as possible. I stood by her side while she was getting into school; I pretend to be her teacher as she prepares to present her homework to class for the first time; I was there when she had her first crush on a guy; I was there when they finally started dating and when they broke up,” His voice was beginning to fail as his eyes start to get watery. “I was there when she had a fight with one of her friends; I was there when she finished high school and went to college without her friends; I stood by her side when her grandmother died; I always had been there for her… But suddenly I knew… It was not going to last long. “Who is going to be there when I go away?” He asked barely keeping himself from crying. Sunset had yet to say a word. She cannot say she understands him, and she cannot comfort him yet. She knows that there is something more, maybe, something even worse. “And then,” He turned his gaze toward Sunset slowly. “We met you,” “Me?” She could not help but ask. She stared him for a few seconds trying to predict what he is going to say. Quite frankly, she had not noticed he was that old. Ever since she came and they become friends he seemed so alive, so… “I see,” She closed her eyes. “The fountain of youth,” It took him a few seconds to gather his courage, but in the end he said: “With time I got used to the idea I was going to leave her behind… But I never thought that one day…” He did not manage to stop his tears this time. “She was going to leave me behind,” Sunset stared to ceiling with apparent interest. She took her apron away from her and gently put it aside. “You are stronger than you looks, Spike,” He cleaned his eyes with his paw. “What do you mean?” “You have been dreaming about this ever since I came here, did you not?” She gave him a respectful nod. “To endure this burden for so long, is really impressive,” “But you do not have to worry,” “What?” His eyes widened in surprise. “It is true that I also drank from the fountain of youth,” She adjusted her back to be more comfortable. “And it is clear that you are afraid of that because you know I am immortal and you have a very decent Idea about my past,” Spike looked away. “I did not hide it that well, huh?” “Knowledge is not a sin,” Sunset smiled. “But if you remember well, I was immortal more than a thousand years before I drank from that fountain,” “Did that means…” He walked toward her with hope in his eyes. “Yes, I do,” She nodded. “You may have magical powers, and if I have to be honest you are going to live around the same time as a standard human, which is a monstrous amount for a dog, but you are not going to live an eternity without her,” Spike sat down for a second. His mind was clearly running miles in a second. After having nightmares for so long… He is fine. He is going to live by her side; he is going to die by her side. This is more than he could have hoped for. A smile finally appeared in his small lips as a feeling of euphoria is born inside of his chest. And died just as fast. “Wait,” He looked at Sunset again. She wears a very sad smile. “What about you?” “Me?” She stared the ceiling. “I will stay the same. I will still live in the end,” Without a word Spike walked toward her slowly. He jumped onto her lap dragging her look down and hugged her with the maximum of his strength he could muster. “You’re stronger than you look,” That is all he managed to say. And all she did was to hug him back without noticing the Owl observing the duo with interest. A lonely demon observed the hell in front of her eyes. It is not a joke, and it is not some kind of metaphor either. She was literally watching from above as a sea of souls is burdened with their darnation for the crimes they had commit in their lifetime. But nothing more than boredom could be seen into her purple eyes. She watched for centuries souls of people being tortured; she watched for more centuries the souls of people being burned; she watched for centuries as the souls were burdened with impossible and cyclic tasks; and with time nothing else could amuse her. Hell is simply what people burdened themselves in their life. The very hell only exists because a person regrets something, and this regret feeds their own suffering. Another wave of souls is punished bellow her, but she had no interest in them. She was one of the strongest demons of all, why should she have the slightly interest? This simply makes no sense. What interest could she have in them? In their lives? In their meeting with other boring people? In their small pets? In the so called love? Why would she have interest in those stupid things? She did not know, and she also did not know WHY she actually has interest in that. It all started in a very specific day. A day where a demon for more fearsome than any other had killed every single human being from an entire world at once, and all because another demon was too coward to do something to stop her. From that day on everything changed. She looked into people’s memories and watched their lives; their so boring, monotonous, limited and stupid lives. She wants that. They are all weak; they are all boring; they are all stupid and yet… They are free. Free to live; free to die; free to love and to hate. All that was so stupidly intriguing that she simply wanted to feel that for herself. But sadly, she was not free to have this choice. Another demon decided to fly toward somewhere around east. She did not cared at first; but then another one; and another; and another; all of them flying toward the same place. This is definitely never a good sign. The demon sighed and slowly followed everyone else. At least there is a small chance that this bad sign is at least interesting. She was wrong. “A portal?” She wondered as she saw the very fabric between dimensions being shattered by magic and a lonely demon accidentally entered hell from the other side. It was someone she was never going to forget. Fiery red, yellow and black hair, a blood-red skin, black bat wings and claws capable to compete with her owns. On that day this lonely demon accidentally stepped into hell, and on that day hell fought its harder battle. Thousands and thousands of demons were slaughtered by those claws, and between all of those demons apparently only one of them could compete with the foreign demon, and this demon is no other than herself. Many portals are opening and closing just as fast as they fought. A naturally formed portal only appears in two occasions: One, by complete accident; and two: when someone with power enough to shatter the very fabric of reality is displaying their power. The two demons fought for a long time. Many human souls escaped to another world during it, and many demons went after them, and during a brief second an opportunity appeared in the demon’s mind. What if she escaped? Many demons had already died by now; a portal to a human world is open right in front of her eyes… The red demon used her claws to cut through the demon’s chest that screamed in pain, and from now on the demon finally understand what is like to be in hell. She suddenly could not compete against the fiery red demon and she suffered in her hands. She suffered the same kind of physical torture she had done to others for so long; she felt the same fear she gave the others for so long, and in the last second a portal opened just a little away from her, but before she could cross it she saw for the last time the red claws that were just reaching her heart. Octavia melody woke up covered in sweat and breathing hard and fast. She always hated when those memories suddenly interrupt her sleep. She stared the ceiling of her house with her eyes wide open as she tries to regain her composure. A small groan caught her attention. She turned her face to the left just to see her most beloved one in front of her eyes. Vinyl Scratch never slept with her clothes on, but luckily her blankets are hiding all of her white skin as she stares her fiancée without saying a word… Not that she could say one even if she wants, but her expression gave a very clear message: ‘Are you alright?’ “Yeah, I am fine,” Octavia answered with a tired smile. “Just a bad dream, that is all,” ‘Want to talk about it?’ Vinyl moved her body a little closer to her lover which makes the blanket slide a few inches. “No, but thank you for the view,” Octavia slowly leaned against Vinyl and kissed her lips. Vinyl smiled and closed her eyes again while embracing Octavia’s hand with her own, which brought a true smile to the purple-eyed girl. That memory is from a horrible day, but it was definitely worth the suffering.