I can see it in the slight furrowing of his brow, the way the corners of his mouth turn down just a bit. Naturally, I tell Spike that I'm not hiding anything—not that I can think of at any rate. He watches me intently, searching my face and evidently not liking what he sees. In a way I can't blame him; his accusation catches me completely off guard and for a long moment I'm speechless. I have no deep secrets I've kept from Spike or anypony else, but the look on my face probably conveys otherwise.
Judging by Spike's expression, he's no doubt mistaken my bewildered look for guilty surprise—shock that I'd been found out. This is far from the truth, and I try to assuage his suspicions, but he waves my words away with a dismissive claw. He tells me not to worry about it, that it really was just a stupid dream and that he's probably just paranoid. He even apologizes for bringing it up in the first place so early in the morning. He pushes himself away from the table and hops off his seat, intending to get breakfast started, but I remain where I am, troubled, confused and admittedly a bit hurt.
I know he still doesn't believe me, just like I know that his dream is more than he's making it out to be. What I don't understand is why he seemingly chooses to trust some creepy dream creature over me. I haven't always been completely truthful with Spike in the past, but few and very far between are the times that I've actually lied to him; even then, they've never been anything more than white lies. The only times I've really kept any big secrets from him are when birthday and Hearth's Warming presents are involved. I trust Spike and I know he trusts me, so why the sudden distrust? Why listen to this 'cat' when he has no idea of what it really is or of its intentions—if it indeed is an actual sapient creature that's somehow managed to invade his dreams and isn't just a figment of his imagination.
No, something is very wrong with this picture, and I aim to find out what it is. I ask Spike if he wants me to talk to Luna about the dream, but again, he tells me not to worry about it. He tells me once more that it's just a really weird dream and that he'll stop having it eventually. It's clear that he doesn't even believe what he's saying, but I still find myself struck by how guarded he's suddenly become. Still, I try to ignore the hurt and focus on helping Spike with his problem, whatever it may be. I leave the matter be for the moment as I join Spike in making breakfast, but his accusation continues to sit like a heavy stone in the back of my mind. The rest of the morning goes by without any more problems, but I silently dwell on Spike's words for the rest of the day and well into the following night.
As I lay awake, gazing up at Luna's moon through the closed window above my bed, I wrack my brain in an attempt to remember whether or not I'd hidden anything from anypony lately. A few minutes turn to half an hour, then a full hour, and in the end, nothing comes to mind. It takes another few moments to pull my thoughts away from the subject, but eventually I decide to get some sleep. I shift around slightly in an effort to get more comfortable, but something catches my eye and makes my heart leap into my throat.
In my peripheral vision, I notice twin flashes of jade shining in the dark. I quickly turn to face the source of the light—my eyes wide and a sharp, startled gasp escaping my lips, but I'm only met with the gently snoring form of Spike, deeply asleep in his small bed just across the room. I watch him for a short while as I wait for my heartbeat to slow back down to a normal pace. His eyes are closed, his breathing is slow and even, and his features are slack and peaceful. After a time, I manage to convince myself that Spike is fast asleep and take a moment to wonder if he's having the same dream again tonight. Given how serene he looks, I'm not sure, but I give the matter no more thought and finally turn away.
As I close my own eyes and pull my blanket closer around me, I try to ignore the sudden and unsettling sensation of another set of eyes bearing down on me from behind.
A few days pass by and things settle back into a normal rhythm for the most part, but there are times when I catch Spike acting oddly. The day after we'd talked, I had asked Spike if he was still having that dream, and though he'd told with as much enthusiasm as he could muster that he hadn't, I knew better. Still, I chose to give him the benefit of the doubt and didn't pursue the issue. We didn't talk about the dream anymore after that, but I did keep an eye on him from that point on. Now, after having observed him for the last few days, I start to see changes in the drakeling—minor changes all things considered, but concerning all the same.
He gives me strange looks when he thinks I'm not looking, and there are times where I find him mumbling to himself whenever he thinks he's alone. What I find strange is that I can never quite understand what he's saying no matter how hard I listen, and he always seems to stop just as I get within earshot, even when I know he can't see me. I've heard him talk to himself in the past, but he's never been this secretive about what he says. Other than that, I haven't seen him do anything else out of the ordinary, but what I do see and hear is enough to cause me some apprehension.
A part of me believes I'm overthinking things—reacting poorly to something that may end up being nothing at all. There are countless reasons why Spike might be acting the way he is, but I don't know what they could possibly be, nor do I ask my assistant directly. I want to trust that he'll tell me what's wrong, but I know he won't. Though he tries to hide it, I can still see the wariness and suspicion whenever our eyes meet, and before I know it—and as much as I want to deny it—I've grown just as wary and suspicious of my faithful assistant as he has of me.
Another week or so goes by and the tension between Spike and I grow. Conversation between the two of us has become awkward, curt and stilted. He still remains my faithful assistant, helping me when I need him, but it's clear things aren't how they were before our talk. I can feel that tension in the air, but try to block it out and focus on my research into Spike's recurring dreams. I don't have many books on the subject in the library, but I pull all the knowledge I can from the resources I do have available to me and find several different interpretations of what may be wrong with Spike. The interpretations range from the baby dragon being uncertain about his future to repressed emotions or feelings of loneliness, and many different issues in between.
The more I read, the more I'm convinced that none of these interpretations fit the scenario. I cast aside the books regarding dream symbolism and turn instead to a book on demons and other magic-based creatures. One of my guesses is that this 'cat' might be some kind of malevolent being that somehow invaded Spike's subconscious, and is trying to turn him against me for some unknown purpose. If that is the case, then I'd have to get Luna involved, as I had no way of fighting against something like that. I planned to seek Princess Luna's aid regardless of what I found out, but I wanted to have a firmer grasp on the situation before I spoke with her so she'd have more to work with than a vague description and some suspicions.
Unfortunately, while there are some monsters and demons that have the ability to enter and even devour dreams, I find nothing matching the specific entity that Spike described. I entertain the idea of a shapeshifter, but nothing I read indicates any kind of shapeshifting creature that can also enter dreams. I don't rule out that they exist, as I only have the one book in my library to refer to and I'm certain it doesn't contain everything I need to know. Unsatisfied with the results, I give up on my search and resign myself to asking Luna for help with barely anything to go on. I'm hoping her experience will be enough to compensate for my lack of knowledge, and that she'll be able to do something for Spike.
I don't like the tension, I don't like the rift that's slowly forming between Spike and I. I want it to stop; I want things to go back to how they were before Spike told me about his recurring dreams and I pray that Luna can help me make that happen. I try my best to keep it from Spike, but the stress and anxiety is beginning to get to me. It's late at night, almost morning by my guess, and even now as I rise from the small desk in my room and snuff out the candle I'd been using to read by, I can still feel the weight of those eyes on my back.
My ears twitch as I listen to the sound of Spike's slow and steady breathing, and I try to find solace in that, but I can no longer ignore that hideous unseen gaze. It seeps into every pore and makes my skin crawl.
I get very little sleep that night, just like the last few nights before.