//------------------------------// // Denial, Denial, Denial. // Story: His Vector Grey // by Darkryt Orbinautz //------------------------------// By Darkryt Orbinautz His Vector Grey Chapter 2 Denial, Denial, Denial. Twilight, Pinkie, and Spike all ate their food in a medium pace between nervously slow and not nervously slow. Each one knew they there was something wrong- an elephant in the room- but nopony wanted to address it. No pony was sure how to address it. After they finished eating, Spike got out of his seat and began gathering up dishes. It was his job, being the assistant, after all. "Spike?" Twilight asked uncertainly. "Would you mind letting Pinkie help with the dishes?" Spike was confused. Pinkie wasn't living with them anymore. In fact, that arrangement had been entirely temporary as far he knew, so she shouldn't be doing chores. On top of that, Twilight never made his job that easy. Sometimes she would give him a break, sure, and maybe give up a small luxury to make his life easier, but never something to the extent of having a helper. Deciding to take advantage, Spike agreed. "Sure!" He handed the stack of bowls and plates and silverware to Pinkie and began to trot off towards the door, getting slightly ahead of himself. "Uh, there's not that many, so can I go out?" Twilight nodded. "Yes." Spike pumped his fist. "Yes! I'm gonna go see Rarity!" "Have fun." Twilight wished him. Spike had a 'secret' crush on Rarity that everypony knew about, so of course his first priority would be to see her, maybe help her collect gems, and possibly woo her, sweeping her off her hooves. (That last one was not quite as likely as he himself liked to believe) And . .. maybe he could ask her about what he had seen Pinkie and Twilight doing. He was almost out of the room when he heard a clatter he recognized as a dish being dropped. Rather than immediately go back in and ask if everypony was okay, he stuck the corner of the door and started to eavesdrop. "Pinkie, are you okay!?" He heard Twilight yell. "I'm fine!" Pinkie quickly answered with urgency in her voice. "I just realized something!" "What?" Spike tried to listen in, but Pinkie's voice turned into a quiet whisper that he could barely make out, even with his dragon hearing. When the whispering stopped, he heard Twilight say his name. "Spike! Are you still here?" Spike sighed and nervously rounded the corner to see the two mares looking at him. He was so looking forward to seeing Rarity. "Have you seen me and Pinkie do anything . . . unusual together?" Twilight asked. Spike's heart skipped a beat. Did she know he had seen them!? If she did, how!? It was that owl, certainly. Owloyicous. Curse him! "No." Spike fibbed, barely able to hide that his knees were buckling from anxiety and fear. "Uh-huh . . ." Twilight gave a drawn-out nod, a small smile on her face like an icy cold, seductive baroness. "And since you didn't see me and Pinkie do anything unusual together, you couldn't tell Rarity about it, Right? Since, you didn't see it, after all." Spike's eyes widened. The question was a brilliant one. Spike had seen them, Twilight knew he had seen them, and her words were so expertly crafted as to be a denial of his acknowledging this, an acknowledging of his denial, and a denial of acknowledging his denial . . . or something. It was like Twilight was one step ahead of him. "N-no." Spike stuttered. "I couldn't . . ." "Good dragon." Twilight said briskly, turning to Pinkie. "Oh, and I'll be coming over to Rarity's later. I need to ask her about something . . ." Spike fidgeted. He knew full well that really, Twilight was just going to come over and ask Rarity if Spike had told her anything. Or at least he thought he did. She did have something she wanted to ask Rarity about . . . but she was going to do that, too. One out of two isn't that bad. Shaken, Spike turned and stumbled his way out of the library. He very slowly closed the outside door with a creak, and was about to turn and run to Rarity's as fast he could when he heard Twilight and Pinkie talking. He decided to eavesdrop again. Some ponies just never learn. "Are you sure that was the right thing to say to Spike?" Pinkie questioned. "No." Twilight answered. "But I don't know what to say, and I'm not ready for anypony -especially Rarity- to find out about us yet. You know how much she loves to gossip . . ." "Okay . . ." That made Spike's head spin. Us? Us who? Us how? His mind latched on to the nearest thing he could make sense, and that was defending Rarity, but let's face it; she really did love her some good gossip, and nothing Spike could say could change that. He heard a disturbing, pleased moan from the other side of the door, followed by an exasperated sigh. He had no idea it was from Pinkie hugging Twilight, Twilight's reaction, and Pinkie reacting to Twilight's reaction. Being so in love with Pinkie as she was, Twilight always enjoyed Pinkie's touch, but after a certain point, Pinkie had to wonder why Twilight liked it so much. Was she just made out of pleasure, or something? Pinkie would wonder to herself . . . Spike rushed all the way from one end of Ponyville to another, his little dragon feet working double-time to get to Rarity's in a hurry. Not that there was any need for rushing; Twilight hadn't demanded he be back at a certain time or anything. But try telling him that. Once he arrived to the Carousel Boutique, the resting place, nay, castle, of the 'most beautiful pony in the world', Spike pressed his face up against the glass doors, eyes scanning left and right in search of his crush. She wasn't there. Not sewing a cloth, not fussing over a tiny detail on a dress, no suspicious glossy magazine she would always fold and put away whenever he came into the room, for whatever reason... Not seeing any note that said she was out, or a closed sign, Spike entered the building, uninvited. "Rarity?" All he got to answer him was an empty silence. Spike was beginning to get really freaked out, right now. First, Rarity is nowhere to be seen, then, she doesn't answer when he calls. "Rarity!" He shouted, raising his voice. He whimpered when he didn't reply again. Getting an idea- and with it, hope that the worst hadn't happened- he made his way up the stairs and pushed open the door to Rarity's bedroom. Thankfully, and much to the ease of his queasy mind, Rarity was there, sleeping in late under her covers, a night mask over her eyes. Spike heaved a heavy sigh of relief. And then he promptly swooned. Rarity looked beautiful, even in her sleep! "Oh, Big Macintosh..." Rarity murmured, off in dream land. Spike got to his feet, infuriated. What was so great about Big Macintosh!? What did he have that Spike didn't have!? Well, aside from his muscles, quietness, and understanding . . . ignoring all that. Jealousy overriding his manners, Spike decided to wake her up. He had come to spend time with her, after all. He tiptoed on his talons and approached the bed, snickering quietly to himself as he was about to get back at Rarity for dreaming of Big Macintosh instead of him . . . or, something like that. It made sense in his head! "What are you doing?" Spike turned around with eyes as big as dinner plates to see Sweetie Belle, Rarity's younger sister, in the doorway, observing him with curiosity, wondering what he could possibly doing in her older sister's room... Poised over her bed. With his claw just about to rip off the cover. In the dark. (He hadn't turned the light switch on. What little light the room did have was seeping from the hallway.) Spike quickly got over and chuckled nervously. "Ahaha! Yeah, this . . . must look really creepy to you, doesn't it?" He said, balancing on his tip toes. "Yeah. Creepy." Sweetie Belle answered. "Well, I came over to see Rarity, and she was asleep, so . . . I was gonna wake her up." Spike scratched his head, now realizing how rude that would've been after admitting it out loud. Sweetie Belle guffawed. "GUH-HA! You thought you were going to wake up Rarity by taking her covers off her? No. No, no no no. Come with me." Sweetie Belle gestured with her hoof for Spike to follow him. Spike was hesitant, but obeyed, hopping downstairs and following Sweetie Belle into the area where most of Rarity's dresses were kept. "Uh, Sweetie Belle? I don't understand how this is going to wake Rarity up." "Watch . . . and learn." Sweetie Belle told him, carrying a stool over to a cabinet. Placing the stool down, she climbed it and began to rummage through the drawer, eventually pulling out a ridiculously colored sombrero of even more ludicrous proportions. She hopped off the stool and ran towards one of the mannequins, which was wearing a very pretty black night dress. She placed the sombrero on the mannequin's head. Spike was just as confused as before. "Uh, Sweetie B-" "Wait for it . . ." "I really don't think-" "Three . . . two . . . one." Sweetie counted off. Spike was startled to hear a very loud clatter, and a brutal galloping like the march of a ten-thousand pony strong army, and was even more surprised to feel hot, steaming breath on his neck. He turned around to a terrifying sight. Rarity was standing before him, huffing and puffing, eyes rolling around the room like a malfunctioning cyborg programmed for absolute termination of her target and teeth bared like a shark. "Fashion sense . . . tingling . . ." Rarity rasped. "Where . . . is the emergency?" She noticed the sombrero and before Spike could say anything, bolted over to it, took a stance, breathed in deeply, raised her hoof . . . and then calmly and gently whisked the hat off. "There." Rarity said, doing a total 180, smiling brightly. "That's better. You two have fun." She haughtily trotted into the other room. "Works every time." Sweetie Belle whispered to Spike. "Hey, Rarity! Spike came over to see you!" "Well, isn't that nice of him." Rarity said like she didn't think much of it- something which was absolutely crushing to the young dragon. He composed himself and soldiered on, however. Rarity had said many a thing before that he found heartbreaking, but it wasn't like she knew about his feelings. He crossed his arm his over chest and beat it proudly like a bestial ape preparing to challenge others for authority and went into the next room. Rarity was eating a bowl of cereal, having only just been woken for breakfast. (Almost lunch at this time, but semantics, shmantics.) He was about to deliver a greeting that would cleverly segue into a subtle flirt when the door to the Boutique rang. "Oh! A customer!" Rarity zoomed out of her chair . . . then zoomed back to eat one more scoop of cereal, before zooming -for real this time- to the door. Spike snapped his fingers at being denied. "Stupid customer... who do they even think are, anyway, showing up just as I was about to put my moves on Rari-ty!" He had walked towards the door as he spoke, and his heart practically froze in his chest when he saw who the 'customer' was. It was Twilight. He had just called Twilight stupid, but that thought was quickly ignored in favor of a new one; namely, that he could see the look in Twilight's eyes as she engaged Rarity in small talk. It was one he recognized, having spent so much of his life with her. Not icy so much as iced over with a thin sheet of alleged 'control'. He knew it meant "I'm calm now, but I'm expecting something that will infuriate me so I'm tensing up prematurely." "Whatever are you doing here, darling?" Rarity started conversation. "Oh, I told Spike he could go see you, and decided to check on him." "Well, I only woke up just now, darling. He's fine. Why do you ask?" Twilight looked away. It was like Rarity had caught on to her. It wasn't like her to worry . . . well, not this much, about his safety. "No reason . . . although, has he mentioned anything to you?" "No. We've hardly talked at all." Rarity rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Now that I think about, that really must be remedied. He comes all the way out to see me, and I snub him! How rude of me." Spike was elevated to a point of bliss hearing Rarity's recognize she owed him something. Anything. "But he hasn't . . . asked you about any strange behaviors I may have exhibited?" "No." Rarity answered, starting to get really confused now. "Twilight, is there an ulterior motive to this check-in?" "N-Yes." Twilight answered truthfully, unable to lie. "Have a nice day!" She left, like absolutely nothing about this was strange at all. "All . . . right then." Rarity drawled, the bizarreness of the conversation she just had preventing her from knowing what to say. She turned away from the door and noticed Spike. "Oh! There you are, Spike. We should talk." Spike puffed his chest out proudly and smoothly walked into the room, arms taut with ego. "Yes. Yes, we should." He was startled back into the other room when Twilight suddenly burst through the door. "I almost forgot!" Twilight exclaimed, stepping in place to show her anxiety. "I needed to ask you something!" "You already did." "Something else!" Twilight stopped and took in a deep breath. "I, uh . . ." She scraped a hoof and turned her head. "You, uh?" Rarity asked. "I . . . got into a relationship with somepony recently." Rarity let out an ear-piercing, heart-stopping, blood-curdling, alarm sounding, glass shattering excited "SQUEEEEEEEE!" She started stepping in place herself in excitement. "Oh, darling, I'm so happy for you!" She pinched Twilight's cheeks with her hooves. "Who is he? What is he? Is he tall? Is he attractive? Is it Ace? I'll bet it's Ace, isn't it?" Twilight blinked. "Why would you think it's Ace?" "Because Big Macintosh is mine!" Rarity snarled the last word with meaning that made it clear that if Twilight told her Big Macintosh was her beau, she'd ripped the librarian's heart out with her bare hooves. Silent and unseen, Spike crossed his arms and huffed. He was just a good choice of male as Big Macintosh! "Right." Twilight said, unconvinced that Rarity had any shot with Applejack's brother for reasons that had nothing to do with Applejack herself. "Well, he's not Ace, and he's not Big Macintosh, but we are in a relationship." "And?" Rarity begged, stars twinkling in her eyes. "I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO IN A RELATIONSHIP!" "Oh." Rarity's excitement dissipated. "Then why do you get into one?" "Because I thought I did, and I was wrong! I don't! I need your help." Wow. Spike thought to himself. He could really the defeat in Twilight's voice at the last sentence. "Well, are you having trouble? Do you think he's cheating on you, or that you're not hot enough?" Rarity had Twilight's attention a in a vice grip. "Cheat? I . . . never even thought about that." Twilight put a hoof on her mouth, looking sobered up. Spike nervously tiptoed out of his hiding place. "Hey, Twilight!" Spike greeted. "Hey, Spike." Twilight responded, still clearly shell-shocked by the idea of cheating. "Are . . . you . . . okay?" She made sure to ask in her daze, remembering to keep up appearances. Spike, however thought she needed asking that more than him. "Are you okay?" "I'm . . . not sure." Twilight answered uncertainly, turning back to the door. "Have fun with Rarity . . . " As Twilight began walking from the Boutique, Rarity and Spike exchanged worried glances. "Uh . . . hey!" Spike yelled, walking towards the door and able to catch Twilight before she was out eyesight. "You sure you don't want me to come home with you?" "No. I wouldn't want to interrupt your time with Rarity." Twilight said. Rarity walked over and put her hoof on the door, she and Spike sharing another glance before looking back to Twilight. With one last uncertain look, Rarity closed the door. Spike walked over the window to keep an eye on his employer, who had her head tilted up to the sky in deep thought. "She wouldn't do that to me, would she?" He heard Twilight wonder through the window. Twilight suddenly shook her head. "No, no she wouldn't. She wouldn't cheat on me, but she might break up with me if we let that happen." But the next thing he heard . . . Spike found absolutely terrifying, even without any context or indication (at least, a sufficient indication to him) to know what she was even talking about. It was simply from her tone, and the angry, determined way she stomped off into the distance towards the library. "I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen."