//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Fear and Loathing in Equestria // Story: Light The Candles // by Salohcin-Silverwing //------------------------------// Chapter 8 - Fear and Loathing in Equestria Dear Princess Celestia, It is with little regret or remorse that I announce that, effective immediately, I have chosen to resign my post as the assistant to your student, Twilight Sparkle. Due to reasons of neglect, abuse, and frequent stress, all originating upon today's daily activities, I have decided that Twilight no longer needs…or deserves…to have her own assistant. I would also like to request that I could live out the rest of my life in the mountains, away from any interference from any species of equines, so I may spend the remainder of my years hoarding gems in solitude for the many millennia to come. Your faithful student's ex-assistant, Spike. (PS: Wish me luck…I think I'm going to need it.) In the dark corner of the mail sorting room, Spike rolled up an important-looking parchment he had just finished writing and prepared to take a deep breath, about to blow magic fire onto the scroll that would send it directly to Celestia. However, before the green flame could leave his mouth, Spike changed his mind at the last second and swallowed the fire. "A letter this important should be delivered in person." Spike placed the scroll in his back pocket and took one last look around the mail room. Even if it looked dull, he was most likely never going to see it again…or any other part of Ponyville, for that matter. Although he tried to keep a straight and serious face as he opened the door and walked out into the afternoon sun, his eyes were reddened from crying. The parchment itself was sprinkled with fat drops of dragon's tears. Spike's adolescent mind fought over the idea of handing in his resignation to Princess Celestia. He thought long and hard over the idea of leaving. One part of his mind tried to tell him how selfish he was being, about how Twilight needed him, and not thinking about how the others would react to this stunt would be plain cruel. It also reminded him of Rarity, and the high hopes of a future together. Do you really want to leave them behind? pleaded his subconscious. Just look at what they did to me! replied the hotter-tempered side of his feelings. Did what, exactly? Run you on a few errands? Newsflash, that's your job! It's not just the jobs! You saw how they treated me like trash! What about the others? What about Rarity? I thought you loved h- SHUT UP! Spike shot a frustrated jet of flame straight into the air. His mind began swirling in hormones, anger and rage overriding logic and reasoning. His vision became clouded with anger. In the young dragon's fierce tirade, everything boiled down to one pony. "Twilight…" ***** Back at the now-prepped library, everypony took a well-deserved break. Most sat around the buffet table, helping themselves to a glass of punch. Twilight sat at the table with Pinkie Pie, filling her in on the latest details. "Oh no no no no no, Twilight," corrected Pinkie in her usual rapid-fire corrections. "you NEVER mix berry punch with chartreuse green streamers. No wonder you had such a disaster. And purple balloons with white tablecloths are just asking for trouble. Good thing ya had me and Old Reliable," she patted the party cannon she was sitting on, reverberating with a thick thump. "to help out. After all, party planning is a serious business. Don't try this at home without a trained professional." Twilight simply nodded away and smiled. Although she couldn't understand a lick of Pinkie's party planning logic, she couldn't deny the results…as well as the disastrous consequences of her attempts. "I'm just glad we got everything straightened out before Spike got back." "Ya got that right," snapped Rainbow Dash with a face full of h'orderves. The rest of the ponies nodded in agreement. "Say, Ditzy Doo. Can you go check on Spike and tell him to come back to the library? Tell him I have a special assignment for him," she winked at the mailmare. "Can do." replied Ditzy with a quick salute before zipping outside towards the post office. Twilight took another look around the library: the decorations were set up with perfect symmetry, there was still plenty of food left, the cake was untouched, the banner hung with exact tautness, and nothing had spontaneously burst into flames so far. She cracked a confident smile. "Everything's going to be fine." ***** If I'm going to run away, I might as well give Twilight what she deserves. Spike marched angrily down the street, taking his time on reaching the library as he tried to collect the thoughts swimming in his head. So far, the thought of confronting Twilight and yelling at her until his faced turned red seemed like a perfectly acceptable and recommended idea for his rage-clouded mind. Once I give her a piece of my mind, I never wanna see another pony again! Somewhere, deep in the logical side of his mind, Spike's voice of reason tried to remind him of his friends…of his affections towards Rarity…but it all got lost in the storm of his mind. Spike pressed on, leaving a bitter trail of thin smoke from his nostrils as he marched onward towards the library. ***** "He's gone!" came the cry of Ditzy Doo as she burst through the open window and alerted everypony. "I can't find Spike anywhere in the post office! The mail was all sorted, but he wasn't there." A few tears started to well up in the wall-eyed malemare's eyes. "And….and…." Suddenly, Ditzy began crying, each eye acting like a water fountain as she slumped down on the ground. Fluttershy approached her, gently patting her back. "Oh, it's ok," calmed the kind Pegasus. "I'm sure Spike will turn up soon. He probably just went for a walk for so-" "That's not it!" squeaked Ditzy. "He…he ATE ALL MY MUFFINS!" The sound of six ponies feverishly facehooving themselves echoed through the room. "Wait a sec!" shouted Rainbow Dash from the balcony. "I think I see him!" Sure enough, Rainbow Dash could see a tiny purple dot on the horizon, heading straight for the library. "Spike's coming over here." "Quick!" commanded Twilight. "Everypony hide!" She quickly turned off the lights, shrouding the library in darkness. As the other ponies found their hiding spots, Twilight stood in the front of the room, ready to greet Spike. The purple unicorn let out a tiny sigh of nostalgia: a little over a year ago, she and Spike stood at this very spot, in the same dark room when they entered their home for the first time. She would never forget her first surprise party that day, and she was determined to make sure Spike didn't forget this one. Any second now, he's going to walk in that door, we'll all yell SURPRISE, and everything will be fine… ***** Spike slammed the door open with more force than Twilight expected, causing her to flinch a bit in the dark. The young dragon slowly marched toward the center of the room. He was too mad to notice or care about the fact that the room was dark. He simply walked towards Twilight without any distractions. "Twilight…" his voice was angry and resonated deeply through the walls. "Oh, hi Spike," replied Twilight cheerfully, unaware of the anger in his voice. "Thank you so much for helping out Ditzy Doo with the mail." Spike paused for a moment, smoke escaping his nostrils as he answered slowly. "Yeah…glad I could be of service…master." he spat out the last word like it was poison. "Master?" Twilight arched her brow in confusion. "Um…is something wrong, Spike?" "YOU BET THERE IS!" replied Spike, his voice thundering loud, exploding with rage. He pointed a sharp claw at Twilight. "You've been treating me like garbage, tossing me around town to do your busywork without a word in edgewise!" Twilight took a step back. She was shocked at how Spike was yelling at her. This morning, he was bright and cheerful, happy to help out in any way he could. But now…something didn't feel right with the young dragon. "Spike, what's gotten into you?" "Oooooh, so NOW you care about me," snapped the dragon, his reply oozing with sarcasm. "What happened to when you were running me all over town to do chores on my birthday, of all days!" what the? Twilight shook her head in disbelief. What happened to the sweet baby dragon that left a few hours ago? "And how did YOU know that I was at the post office? Ditzy whisked me away before I got back here!" "Oh, that's simple…" the unicorn began to sweat nervously. "She…uh…told me you were there so I wouldn't worry." Deep beneath their hiding places, the other six ponies exchanged nervous glances at each other. Even in the dark, they could faintly see the evidence of a surprise party once their eyes adjusted: the silhouette of balloons and streamers, brightly-colored presents in the corner, Pinkie Pie's tail protruding from under the punchbowl table; why didn't Spike ask about these suspicious shapes, or for that matter, why the room was so dark? It seemed like all he could see was Twilight, and he was yelling pretty loud. "Ain't we supposed ta jump out and yell 'surprise'?" whispered Applejack to Fluttershy. "Twilight said to wait for the signal. I think she's trying to calm Spike down. He looks really upset." Applejack turned her attention back to Twilight and Spike, becoming more and more worried with each reply. "I can take all the jobs, Twilight. I've done whatever you said for years now without complaining. But this just isn't right!" "What are you talking about, Spike?" Twilight felt a twinge of worry in her stomach. "I know you don't care about me, that's what I'm talking about!" Spike's voice began to crack, both from the fatigue of his anger and the fact that he was starting to tear up. "Spike, that's ridiculous…" Twilight tried to step closer to touch Spike, but he swatted the mare's hoof away. "Get away from me! You…you're not my mom! You can't tell me what to do!" Spike snapped back in a frenzy of hoarse yelled and emotional outburst. Twilight stepped back fearfully, holding back her stinging hoof. what's going on with you, Spike? She could feel tears welling in her own eyes. A dark realization struck her that she may have gone overboard and given Spike the wrong impression all day. Maybe to him, the excuses she made to keep him away while she decorated could have been misinterpreted as neglect. She instantly regretted lying to him all day. "Oh Spike…I'm so sorr-" "I don't want your apology!" Spike shot back. Although his anger had yet to recede, Twilight could tell that it was taking a toll on the young dragon's body: he began to shiver from the pure emotional trauma, his words becoming mixed with tears. She could only imagine what was going on in his poor little head. How much had he misunderstood? What had she done to him? Spike reached behind him and pulled out a piece of parchment, dangling it infront of Twilight's eyes in the dim light. "I'm resigning," he replied in a shockingly quiet voice. He had spent the last of his anger yelling at twilight. The young dragon felt emotionally drained, his words hollow and tired. "I wanted you to know that I'm leaving…for good. And you better not try to follow me." Twilight felt as if her heart was going to break. Spike…resigning? She wanted to call out, to stop and explain the reason behind everything she was doing, but all that came out was a frightened squeak. From the back of the room, everypony in hiding exchanged worried glances at one another. Fluttershy was on the verge of tears; Rarity was biting on her hoof to keep from jumping out and hugging Spike; Applejack looked down at the floor, confused about what to do. None of them jumped out from their hiding places, however. Some were too scared at what might happen, others were confused, but all of them silently agreed that they were going to trust Twilight to tell them what to do. After locking his eyes on Twilight during his whole speech, Spike finally broke eye contact, staring down at the floor as he hoped that she couldn't see him crying. "I'm not sorry…I won't be coming back." Spike turned around to open the door and walk out the library for the last time. Twilight, frozen in place from the shock, could only holler out one word from her dry mouth: "WAIT!" Spike stopped, his arm inches from the doorknob, and turned around to face the mare. Even in the dark, he could see that she was on the verge of crying. "Just let me say one thing, Spike…please. Before you leave, let me say one thing." Spike sighed, letting out a small flame from his mouth. "Ok…what is it?" Twilight took a deep breath and gave the signal, raising on of her hooves in the air. The lights instantly came to life and six ponies jumped out and surrounded Spike, yelling into his ear: "SURPSISE!"