Chapter 2: The Quiet Game
I opened my eyes to a bright, gorgeous morning. The suns rays were shining in through my window, allowing me to bask in its beauty. I sat up in bed and stretched. I let out a nice, big yawn as I prepared for another great day. I smiled as I heard the birds chirping as I moved my legs off the side of the bed. Oddly enough, I had quite a bit of energy this morning and I seemed to sleep like a baby last night despite my peculiar dream. I smiled at how silly Spike would find my dream when I tell him about it. I glanced over to see the sleeping face of my baby dragon, Spike. A huge smile grew on my face. He looked so cute. I pondered over what he was dreaming about for several minutes before I saw him start tossing about slightly in his sleep. After he stopped moving, I pushed the rustled blanket over his shoulder to keep him warm. I let another soft, caring smile escape my lips as I headed downstairs to make breakfast for the two of us. I got the flour, eggs, and milk out to make some delicious pancakes. For a moment I frowned at the fact that I didn’t have any gems for Spike. But, the fact that he loves pancakes regardless cheered me up again. I couldn’t wait to see the excitement on his face when he sees I prepared breakfast for him this morning. I cooked the pancakes in the pan and flipped them over onto two different plates. When I picked up the plates and turned around to set them at the table, I found Spike already sitting down.
“Oh my Celestia!” I jumped in surprise. “Don’t do that to me Spike! You scared me! I didn’t hear you come down the stairs. You were as quiet as Owlowiscious.” Silence hung in the air as he sat there in his chair staring blankly at the wall. “Well, that’s alright Spike…No need to apologize or anything,” I let out an awkward laugh. “Well, I made us some pancakes for breakfast. Oh! You wouldn’t believe the strange dream I had! I had the craziest dream that I tried performing a transformation spell on you and you exploded and died! I was so heartbroken but that’s crazy, right? Obviously…I mean….You are sitting in front of me,” I let out a few more chuckles before his lack of responses really dug into me. “Well…Okay then…”
I couldn’t help but wonder why Spike was so silent. He wouldn’t even eat his food; he just stared straight at the wall. I pushed his plate of food closer to him several times throughout the course of the meal as the silence encompassed the room. I couldn’t bring myself to break the silence, yet after my dream last night it didn’t matter because I was far too happy to have him in my life.
After I finished eating my breakfast, I gave up on waiting for Spike to eat and took his plate and threw out his food. I was terribly concerned at the fact that he had no appetite, the exact opposite of how he always was. I went upstairs into my massive library and began scanning books one by one looking for a cause. After several hours of intense research, thousands of books scanned, and no information found, I was out of options except for taking Spike to see Zecora. Spike! Oh my gosh! I hadn’t heard from him this whole time I hope he’s okay! I ran quickly down the stairs to find him following behind me.
“Oh, Spike you did it again! Were you behind me the whole time? You silly dragon,” My whole face smiled at seeing him. “Anyway, Spike we’re going outside are you ready?”
I didn’t wait for his response before leading him out the door and through the city of Ponyville, on the way to Zecora’s house. The door to my beautiful tree-shaped house shut behind me just as an orange pony came galloping within my view.
Applejack stopped short when she saw me and in a very awkward yet caring voice said, “Hey Twi…How ya’ feeling?”
I cocked my head to the side, “Me? I’m fine. Better than fine actually it’s a beautiful day! Spike here, on the other hand, isn’t feeling so hot. He’s not eating or speaking…I’m headed over to Zecora’s right now actually to see if she knows what’s wrong. You wanna come?”
“Spike? What? Twilight what in heaven’s name are you talking about? Don’t you remember what happened yesterday?” Her face cringed and she seemed horrified to ask.
“Yesterday? Of course I do! Why wouldn’t I? I had a great day hanging out with my best friend Spike like always!” I said matter-of-factly while pointing at Spike. How could she be so rude? I thought Applejack was nicer than that. She really started to infuriate me.
“Twilight! Spike DIED yesterday! You want proof? We’re having a funeral for him tomorrow at noon. We knew you wouldn’t be feeling up to plannin’ one so we did it for ya’. He needs a proper burial to be put to rest. Twi…I know it’s hard to accept what happened, but you can’t go around pretending he’s still here.”
“Applejack! How could you say something like that!” I gasped loudly. “Especially with Spike standing right here. That’s a cruel joke! Rainbow Dash wouldn’t even play a prank like that…I can’t believe you would do something like that…”
I looked her dead in the eyes for a moment so she could see how serious I was. When she saw my eyes she gasped and had a horrific expression on her face as if she’d just seen a ghost, “Twi…Did you sleep okay last night?”
“Ye-yeah…Of course I did? Um…What does that have to do with anything?”
“Your eyes…Twi…I think you need to lie down for a while. You need rest. You seem sick…Just…Go home and come to the funeral tomorrow…It’ll help ease the pain,” Applejack backed up and turned away as if terrified of me.
“My eyes? What is she talking about my eyes?” I started making an array of interesting faces at the air in a frantic tone. “Do you see anything wrong with my eyes?”
Yet again, Spike ceased to answer so I decided to walked back into my house and look in a mirror all the while ranting to Spike, “The nerve of some ponies! How could she say such cruel things about you Spike?” Tears welled up in my eyes.
I walked into the bathroom and found the cute, little, purple-rimmed mirror hanging above the sink. I leaned my face closer to the mirror to better examine my face. My face had turned a pale purple as if I were very ill. My eyes were pried open wide and no matter how hard I tried to squeeze them shut, it wouldn’t happen. My dark, endless pupils encompassed half my eyes and staring in them made me feel like I was going to fall in and never come back. The white sclera in my eyes were now a bright, bloodshot color. Red veins were popped all throughout my eyes as if I hadn’t slept in weeks.
“See Spike! I’m just fine! I don’t see anything wrong with my eyes!” The tears began welling up in my eyes again, this time heavily burning my eyes. “How could she say such cruel things to me Spike? You’re here and you’re alive.”
I looked in the mirror to see my pupils twitch slightly larger in size. It made me feel as if they’d encompass me like this terrible feeling in my chest. My heart ached and throbbed. You’re not dead Spike…You’re right here. I knelt down to be eye level with Spike. You’re right here…Right here in my arms. I threw my arms around him yet my arms went right through him as he turned into a puff of smoke. No! Spike! You’re still here! I promise! This didn’t just happen! I collapsed on the floor in tears. I began sobbing profusely. My cries grew louder with each gasp for breath. I felt a tap on my shoulder.
“Huh?” I whipped my head, which was now moist from my tears, around to see Spike with his arms wide open. His eyes were no longer so rigid as he closed them to smile wide.
“SPIKE!” I screamed and tackled him with a hug onto the floor. “See…I knew you were here…I knew you were still alive. I knew it all along…”
"Don't worry Twilight...I would never leave you," Spike gave a spine chilling laugh as he put his arms around me.
I began rocking him back and forth in the fetal position on the floor until the world around me grew fuzzy for a while and I rocked us into my peaceful, blissful, darkness.