Spike opens the door to the kitchen to see Starlight washing the dishes with soap and water, it wasn’t much but what made him smile was seeing how Starlight was using her magic to get the job done so well.
“How’s it going in there Starlight?” Spike asked with a proud smirk.
“Well given I finished the task you just gave me. I say it went pretty well.” Starlight smiled brightly at the dragon, she yawned a bit but kept her smile, “I gotta say, it was kinda hard but no lesson is easy.” She spoke positively.
“That’s the spirit.” Spike gave a thumbs up, “Now that that’s done, your next task is to mop the floors.”
“Oh okay. Which sections?” Starlight asked happily.
“Read the list.” Spike told Starlight who immediately did so before she was agape in shock, “The ENTIRE floor! Are you sure Spike? It might be a good idea to take a bit of a break.” She said, feeling a bit uneasy.
Spike’s eyes widened in fear, if Starlight stopped now, all the chores won’t be finished when Twilight came back. Then he wouldn’t be able to tell Twilight about how much he taught Starlight and was able to get the chores done in one go.
“We can’t take a break. It would be like abandoning an important friendship thing with our friends.” Spike protested quickly, “We can’t just give up on something so important. Aren’t you here because you need to learn about friendship?” He asked with a raised eyebrow, causing Starlight to relent with a sigh.
“You’re right. I am here to learn about friendship. I’m sorry.” Starlight sighed sadly.
Spike smiled, he was glad to get Starlight back on track, “Don’t worry Starlight. You’re new to this, of course you’re gonna be rusty. Just start mopping, once you can see yourself in the crystal reflection on the floor, you’ll be able to reflect on how far you’ve come and the effort you put into it.” He spoke in a poetic tone which made Starlight smile.
“Huh? When you put it like that, it seems like a good lesson.” Starlight smiled appreciatively, “Thanks Spike.”
Starlight soon walked off to likely mop the castle, and soon Discord rose from the bubbling sink and in a shower cap and smirked at Spike.
“Interesting lesson you came up with Spike. What air particles did you pull that from?” He smirked.
“Shut up Discord.” Spike said angrily, “I’m helping Starlight first and foremost, yes I am pulling these metaphors out of thin air but it’s for Starlight’s benefit. Starlight DOES seem to be taking these lessons to heart.” He smiled proudly at himself.
“Aw. How sweet, you think you’re actually being a good friend.” Discord spoke mockingly.
“I AM!” Spike shouted furiously.
“Denial is like a river dear Spike.” Discord still smirked, “Now if you’ll excuse me; I need to take a rinse.”
Discord then pulled out a drain as he sunk into the sink drain.
“Weirdo.” Spike muttered in annoyance as he started to walk to his room to potentially read his comics when he noticed the floors were so shiny he could see his reflection.
“Whoa. She cleaned it already?” Spike gasped in shock.
“Yep. I did.” Starlight smiled as she walked over, her mane looked a bit frazzled however.
“Starlight? How’d you clean the floors so fast?” Spike asked curiously.
“Oh. I used the Accelero spell to make me go faster.” Starlight smiled proudly, “We do have a list to go through and I thought it would be good idea to use.”
“Alright. Well done Starlight.” Spike smiled before he noticed the loose strands in her mane, “What happened to your mane?”
Starlight looked over her shoulder and realized what Spike was talking about, “Oh that. I guess the spell and the task itself took a bit out of me.” Starlight said with a thoughtful frown before shrugging it off, “I’m probably fine though.”
“That’s good. We only have a few more tasks left.” Spike smiled, “You’re next job is to rake the leaves.”
“Huh? That doesn’t sound too bad.” Starlight admitted, a bit relieved to be doing something easy, “What’s the lesson in this?” She asked the dragon.
“The lesson in this is a metaphor as in to get your act together from your past mistakes.” Spike said happily before nervously grinning, “After all, leaves are scattered like your past was when you stole cutie marks, so once you pile them up, it references your now clean present.”
Starlight looked a bit upset at the mention of her past when she began to speak nervously, “Are you sure this is the lesson? Twilight’s not really on the nose about stuff like my past.”
Spike began to bite his lip before smiling, “Well, maybe she decided it was a good lesson so she decided to be a bit more blunt about it.”
“I don’t know…” Starlight trailed off before Spike put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly, “Come on Starlight. Don’t you trust me?” He smiled kindly.
“Yeah… I guess you don’t have much of a reason to lie.” Starlight smiled sheepishly, “I guess I’ll go take care of the leaves.”
Starlight began to walk towards the castle exit and as soon as she was gone, Spike soon felt a shadow looming behind him, and heard a slow clapping noise.
“Clap, clap, clap.” Discord smirked mischievously, “Well done little Spike. You did it again. Even pulled the ‘Don’t you trust me’ card too. I’m so impressed.”
“Okay, so I had to lie a little for Starlight to do this. That doesn’t mean I’m not helping her.” Spike said in annoyance but you could tell he was starting to have second thoughts about this, he was starting to question if he was really doing the right thing?
“Oh really? I’m sure it helped that you mentioned her dark and dreary past.” Discord raised an eyebrow, showing a bit more annoyance.
“Huh?” Spike asked curiously.
Discord soon snapped his claws and a digital camera began to play, showing Spike what he was talking about.
“The lesson in this is a metaphor as in to get your act together from your past mistakes.” Past Spike said happily before nervously grinning, “After all, leaves are scattered like your past was when you stole cutie marks, so once you pile them up, it references your now clean present.”
“Hmmm, Yes. I see you had to be a bit specific there.” Discord began stroking his goatee, “I’m not sure if you needed to though. But I guess it does fit with how you’ve been constantly reminding her of her past lately.”
“What?” Spike asked incredulously.
“Pinkie can be quite the gossip. She told me about your not so subtle reminders you give to Starlight about how evil she used to be.” Discord told the dragon.
“I only do that when I feel it’s warranted. Besides, I think it’s good to remind Starlight of how badly she screwed up at times.” Spike scoffed as he flashed an annoyed yet nervous frown.
“Ah yes. Because only the best of friends constantly hold stuff over their heads when they’re already struggling to move on from it.” Discord spoke mockingly to the dragon who’s eyes widened when he heard that.
Am I… hurting Starlight by doing that? Spike asked himself before shaking it off, No, Discord’s just trying to tick me off… isn’t he?
“You’re just trying to make me look bad Discord but you forget I can see through your tricks.” Spike smirked, although not much confidence was in it, “Nice try, but your pranks aren’t working.”
Discord groaned in annoyance, “Fine Spike. Believe what you want. I guess you’ll just have to find out yourself.”
Discord shrugged before disappearing with a flash.
“He’ll be back.” Spike rolled his eyes to himself.
Now that Spike was alone with his thoughts, he looked a bit nervously at the hallway Starlight just walked through.
“Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to check on her. Well… in a way to make sure she’s doing well of course.” Spike smiled sheepishly to himself.
As Spike began to walk towards the exit to the castle, he couldn’t help but wonder if Discord was right.