As Spike blinked his eyes open, he couldn't shake the feeling of lingering unease from the dream. The vividness of it, the sensation of jumping through different realities—it all felt so real, as if these actually happened. Spike was also thinking about other things. Today was Hearths Warming Eve and tonight was the night that he would leave Ponyville and Twilight along with her friends for good.
He swung his legs out of bed, shivering as his feet made contact with the cold hard, crystal floor of the castle. He could hear the wind rattling the windows, and he could hear the snow falling on the castle as it endured the onslaught of the winter storm. Rubbing his eyes, he went out of his room and into the kitchen where he filled up a kettle full of water to boil. He set it on the stove and left it to boil while he get a red ruby from the cabinet and he ate it. He walked back to the table to wait for the the tea to boil.
As Spike waited for the kettle to boil, he couldn't help but let his thoughts drift to the impending departure. It weighed heavily on his heart, knowing that he would soon bid farewell to the place he had called home for the last few years, but he also knew staying here would make him more depressed and unhappy. He believed Twilight and her friends didn't care for him anymore so he should move on from them.
As he was thinking, he heard a crash at the front door. Spike got up to investigate it, and when he got there, he opened the doors to a giant burst of wind and snow. After recovering from that, he looked around and he saw a mailmare he knew as Derpy standing there.
"C-Can I-I C-c-come i-in?" She asked, clearly shivering and freezing. Spike instantly nodded his head and lead her in. He got her to the couch, wrapped her in a blanket and sat beside her.
"Would you like some tea Derpy? I'm currently boiling water right now so it should be ready in due time." Spike asked the grey mailmare.
"Yes please Spike. I could use some, and I'll explain what I was doing out there in the snow." She said. Just as she said this, they both heard a loud whistling noise coming from the kitchen.
"Tea must be ready. I'll go get us a cup." Spike said as he walked to the kitchen where he saw a plume of steam arising from the kettle. He picked up 2 cups, 1 for him and 1 for Derpy, and set them down. He then picked up the kettle and poured the contents into the cups. He then went into one of the bottom cabinets and grabbed some bay leaves and he put them in the tea. After waiting for a few seconds, he brought both cups to the living room where Derpy was. "Here's your tea Derpy. Just be careful as it is a little hot."
Derpy nodded. "Thanks for the tea Spike." She said as she took a sip. Her eyes widened at the taste. "Wow Spike, you can make some really good tea, you know that?"
Spike's face turned red at the compliment as he isn't used to those. "Oh it was nothing. You can just say that I'm a good chef." he said with his face still red, but he quickly shook it away "We should get to the point though. Why were you outside in that blizzard?"
"You may not believe me when I say this, but it's the truth. This blizzard isn't supposed to happen."
Spike was surprised by this. "Why would you say that Derpy? The weather is pretty predictable here as the pegasi in the weather factory make it. Twilight told me all about it."
"That may be true, but all pegasi working there have the day off from work so they could celebrate Hearths Warming with their families, so it shouldn't even be snowing this much. On top of that, The Doctor did some studies of the snow and saw that these weren't made in the weather factory."
Spike's eyes turned to concern. "That sounds bad. Do you believe some powerful magic by some pony could be behind this Derpy?"
Derpy sighed. "I don't really know much about magic since I'm not a unicorn, so I don't use it. However, I do think you may be right and that some powerful being is using magic to create this blizzard." As she said this however, they heard the blowing of the wind stop.
The sudden cessation of the wind left an eerie silence in its wake, punctuating the seriousness of their conversation. Spike and Derpy both exchanged worried glances at each other, both sensing that something significant was about to happen.
"I think the blizzard stopped." Spike whispered worriedly.
"Then that must mean something bad is about to happen." Just as Derpy said this, they heard an ear piercing scream coming from outside, scaring the 2 to their very core. They got up from the couch and sprinted to and opened the doors and what they saw, would have made Rarity super faint
Black goo was rising from the ground in large quantities. It was moving toward the ponies in Ponyville. Spike and Derpy went out the doors just as the mounds of black ooze grew and multiplied. Spike and Derpy stood frozen for a moment, their minds racing to comprehend the surreal scene unfolding before them. The black ooze seemed to have a life of its own, undulating and spreading with an ominous intent.
"What is this stuff?" Derpy asked.
"I don't know, but I do know that this stuff is not friendly at all." They then saw ponies all around them be engulfed by the ooze, which made Spike and Derpy even more terrified. They then heard a faint voice calling for Derpy's name. They turned around and saw the Doctor calling out for Derpy.
"DOCTOR!" Derpy yelled out and they both ran to get to him. However, they stopped in their tracks when they saw a mound of black ooze right behind him. Just then, Derpy bolted to her husband to get him away from from the ooze mound, but it was too late. The mound engulfed the Doctor before she could get to him. All he could say before being completely engulfed was, "Derpy, get out of here. Get yourself to safety."
Spike caught up to Derpy only to find her tearing up and hyperventilating as she was filled with panic, fear and despair. "Whatdowedo? Whatdowedo? Whatdowedo? I can't lose my husband like this?" She said while hyperventilating.
Spike just wrapped his arms around her, hugging her. "Derpy. Derpy, listen to me." She turned her head to face him. "Just take some deep breaths. Breathe with me. Breathe in," Spike breathed in deep while Derpy did the same. "And breathe out." Spike breathed out and so did her. They did this a couple of more times before Derpy was calmed down.
"Thanks Spike, I needed that. We still need to find out what's going on and put a stop to it." She said while Spike nodded in agreement.
"How can we help stop this ooze though? I think we can only do so much." Spike exclaimed.
They pondered what to do to stop it when they heard laughing. Spike and Derpy turned their heads and saw a pegasus stallion sitting on a bench laughing at something in the newspaper. They also saw a mound of black ooze slither towards him. They tried to stop him, but when they did, he let out a bellow of laughter. This laughter somehow drove the ooze back underground.
Their eyes widened at what they saw. The stallion's laughter caused the ooze to repel and travel back underground. They ignored the questions about why he wasn't paying attention to anything around him because this was crucial information to what they could do to stop the ooze from destroying Ponyville.
"I know what we need to do. It's just like what Pinkie said a few years back. She said, 'If you're scared by your surroundings, all you need to do is laugh at the ghosties, or black ooze in this case." Spike told Derpy with newfound determination. Derpy listened to what he said before going over to the stallion with the newspaper.
"Hello Sir. Can I see that newspaper for a minute." She asked. The stallion looked up at her for a second and then smiled.
"Of course you can. You just have to see the headline here because it's the funniest thing you will read all day." He gave her the newspaper and she read it. After reading, she laughed a lot before coming back to Spike.
"This really can help us, that was so funny." she said while getting the last of her laughs out and giving the newspaper to Spike. The top headline was...
Griffon Farmer Accidentally Moves Equestrian Border & Sings A Song
After reading this, Spike laughed just as much as Derpy did when she first saw the headline. "Oh Celestia. Derpy, that really was the funniest thing I ever read." he said while getting the last of his laughs out. "We can use this to get rid of the ooze and save Ponyville for the second time in 2 days."
They looked at each other before nodding in determination. They ran to the nearest ooze mound before reading the headline again. Before the ooze could engulf them, they let out a bellowing laugh, which just as planned, repelled the ooze back underground. Once the ooze travelled back underground, it revealed a royal blue pony passed out and barely breathing.
"Derpy, go get the nurse while I continue using laughter to stop this ooze." Spike commanded. Derpy nodded and set out to find the nurse to check on the ponies covered in the ooze mounds. Spike meanwhile set out to go from ooze mound to ooze mound and laughing to get rid of the ooze and freeing all of the ponies that were trapped under the mounds. After about half an hour, he got rid of almost all of the mounds of black ooze.
Spike thought they were in the clear but he didn't see the mound of ooze behind him. When he realized what he forgot to see, it was too late. The mound started engulfing him and it felt like the ooze was literally sucking his soul right out of his body. Before he was fully engulfed in the ooze however, he heard laughter coming from somewhere around him and suddenly, the ooze just disappeared from around him and travelled back underground like what happened to the other ooze mounds. He laid there while looking up at the sky, panting heavily from the encounter. As his heartbeat slowed, he turned his head to see Derpy standing beside him, concern etched on her face.
Derpy knelt beside Spike, her expression filled with worry. "Spike, are you okay? That was too close."
Spike managed a weak smile, though he still felt drained from his encounter with the ooze. "Yeah, just a little shaken up. Thanks for getting rid of that last mound."
Derpy sighed in relief. "No problem Spike. Nurse Redheart is checking up on everypony in the town. I just saw the Doctor being wheeled into the hospital. I know' that he's gonna be ok, but I'm gonna go check up on him. See you tomorrow for the Hearths Warming party, maybe." She then trotted back to the hospital to check up on her husband.
"Wait Derpy." Spike tried to say, but it was too late. Derpy was out of his earshot, so he couldn't tell her about his plans to leave Ponyville. He sighed and decided to walk back to the castle. As he was walking, he saw all of the ponies that were trapped under the mounds of ooze being wheeled into the hospital as they were still passed out.
As Spike made his way back to the castle, the weight of his decision to leave Ponyville settled heavily on his shoulders. He couldn't shake off the feeling of guilt for not telling Derpy or the Doctor about his plans. they had been really good friends to him these past few days, and he hated the thought of leaving them without saying goodbye properly.
Entering the castle, Spike found himself lost in thought. He wandered aimlessly through the halls until he reached his room. Sitting down heavily on his bed, he contemplated his next move. Should he write a letter to Derpy and the Doctor explaining everything? Or should he just leave quietly and hope they understand?
Before he laid his head down however, he saw 2 pieces of paper on the nightstand next to his bed. One was the piece of paper he had since yesterday, only now, 1 of the circles is filled in with an LA. The letters he has now on the paper are a K, an M, a G, and now an LA. He now thinks that he's starting to get all the pieces to solve the riddle that this paper had, but he needed the 2 remaining letters for these remaining circles.
Spike put the piece of paper down and looked at the second sheet of paper. He never saw this paper before on his nightstand. He opened it up and saw what it said. While he was reading it, his pupils shrank and for some reason, he started trembling. The letter read...
Come see me in a cave 3 hours away from you're current location. This is just the calm before the final storm my friend. If you want to see all you care about again, you know to come back to me. -Spike
Spike looked at the paper with wide eyes and trembling body. This somepony was calling himself Spike too even though he was the real Spike. He then got out of bed and trudged to his closet to pack the things he needs when leaving.