“Jet Stream… Jet Stream, wake up.”
“...Ugh… what? Tinker? ‘S that you?” Jet Stream fumbled for a match, and lit the candle on his bedside table. As soon as the light filled the room, he yelped. Tinker’s face was so close to his, he didn’t know how he hadn’t realised.
“Hon! You scared me, are you okay?” he asked frantically, “There’s leaves in your mane, Tin’ it’s dangerous to go out at this time!”
“I know, I know sweetheart,” she said, before enveloping him in a hug.
“What’s wrong Tin’?” Jet Stream asked, concerned about why she’d woken him up at this time.
Tinker smiled at him.
Maybe it was the low light of the candle, but her eyes looked a little different.
“There’s something I need to show you.”
XXX
“Twi’,” Spike asked, knocking gently on her door. As soon as his claw made contact, it opened with a low creak. It wasn’t like Twilight to leave her door open. He’d have to go and have a word with the security detail. There could be no slacking off where the princess of Equestria was concerned.
Twilight was stood by the window, staring out at the city below.
“Uhh, Equestria to Twi’,” Spike said with a chuckle.
She turned to look at him.
“We’ve got a pretty busy day today Twi’, I know you hate it but the nobles are going to make a petition for more tax relief at court today and I’ll be honest I’ve been able to sneak a peek at their proposals and it’s going to take hours to-”
“Spike,” Twilight interrupted, placing a hoof on his lips, “I need the steward to take care of that today. There’s something we need to do.”
“Aren’t you the one who’s always telling me not to goof off?” he deadpanned.
“Spike this is serious, it could be a threat to Equestria.”
“Oh, that’s the kind of ‘something’ you mean. Well, I should let Lusterre and all the girls know that-”
“No Spike, it needs to just be you and me,” she urged, staring deeply at him.
Being honest, it made Spike uncomfortable.
“Are you alright, Twilight? This isn’t very like you, and… did you sleep okay? Your eyes look weird.”
“Spike, I need you to trust me, okay? The fate of the world could depend on it.”
“B-but,” he spluttered, feeling anxiety rise in his chest, “But what am I supposed to do? I don’t even know what we’re dealing with here.”
“I can’t explain, but I can show you I need to take you somewhere, and show you something. And then it’ll all make sense.”
Spike fidgeted, looking down at his clipboard. He’d dreaded the day ahead, but now he would have given anything to simply deal with the nobles all day.
“Hey, relax Spike,” Twilight said, pulling him into a hug, “We’ll find a way to solve this, we always do. You just come with me, and let me show you what I need to show you, and then we can overcome this, like we always do.”
“Are you sure,” he asked, cursing the way his voice sounded adolescent again in fear.
“Would I ever lie to you?” she asked.
He fiddled with the clipboard for a moment, before shaking his head.
“Don’t worry Spike, no matter how bad it gets, I promise you, there’s always a way out.”