Chapter Twenty-Four
“Secret of my Excess”
Despite what I’d hoped for, Twilight remained angry with me. I still made attempts to see her, but she would either leave the room immediately or ignore me, being very curt whenever she had to speak to me. After a few days of that, I eventually just started leaving her fresh lilacs, which I knew were her favorite. Oh, and Veronica wasn’t speaking to me either, so I’m pretty much on my own in this matter.
I was still training, but not as enthusiastically because of what was going on between me and Twilight. Seeri was genuinely remorseful and had gone to talk to Twilight, but she was turned away immediately. She decided to just help me with my training and leave it at that.
In regards to my training, it was going good; I had a better handle on most of my magical abilities, though my Equestrian magic was hurting without Twilight helping me. Seeri did what she could, since her own magic was nearly the same thing, but it was only so much.
After just over two weeks, I received a letter from Spike saying his birthday was the following day and that Terra, Seeri and I were invited, so the three of us went out to get Spike a present. We settled on a large sapphire in an oak case that was lined with black velvet and had gold silk cloth to cover the gem.
We showed up the next day and walked into the library to find a most unusual sight.
Spike was trying to run from Twilight while the librarian was holding a wash cloth and she kept teleporting him back to her as he was running. What was really odd was that after the third or fourth teleportation, Pinkie Pie appeared instead of Spike and she screamed out “Happy Birthday!” and threw confetti in Spike’s face. While he was distracted by it, Twilight used her magic to make the cloth clean off Spike’s cheek, which she deposited in a bin with a victorious look on her face.
During the exchange, the others showed up as well, each with a different gift.
“Party time, woo hoo!” Pinkie Pie squealed, and Twilight turned to her friends.
Our eyes met and several different emotions flashed across her eyes before she eventually settled on indifference. She shot a glare at Seeri, who had the grace to avert her eyes.
“Are those… for me?” Spike asked as he saw the various gifts we’d gotten him.
“A' course they are, Spike, who else would they be for?” Applejack said as she deposited her gift into Spike’s claws.
“Happy Birthday, Spike.” Fluttershy said as she also gave him a gift.
The rest of the girls proceeded to give him their gifts, though I gestured for Terra and Seeri to wait before giving him our gift just as Rainbow Dash placed her gift (a dumbbell with a bow, which I thought was typical Rainbow Dash) and Spike collapsed from the weight. Once that was done, I walked over and set my gift on his head.
“Heads up, Birthday Boy.” I said jokingly as I walked past. Terra removed it and set it next to him, then gave him a fierce hug.
“Happy Birthday, Spike.” She said before releasing him, and Seeri did the same.
He stared at all of his gifts in confusion, which prompted Rainbow Dash to speak.
“Don’t ya know you get presents on your birthday?” She asked, while Spike stood and dusted himself off.
“Well actually, this is my first birthday in Ponyville. I usually just get one present, from Twilight…” He said, and then shot a sideways glance at said mare, who was coming down from her room “And it's always a book.”
Twilight froze, looked at the book she was holding in her arms, and with a blush began to walk backwards back up the stairs.
“Speaking of presents.” Rarity said, levitating a cloak from the bag she’d brought with her (and I noticed she was proudly wearing a new necklace with a heart-shaped ruby set in it) “I've begun a new line of taffeta capes; I am making one for all of you!”
The girls all made appreciative sounds at the sight of the exquisite purple capes that floated over to them.
“I have been inspired by the generosity of my little Spikey-Wikey, who gave me this beautiful fire ruby!” She exclaimed, gesturing toward the gem in her necklace “One of the most generous acts anypony has ever shown me.”
Spike had an affectionate look on his face, though I couldn’t tell if it was directed at Rarity or the gem around her neck (probably both, if I had to guess… really missing your snark right about now, Nica).
After that, the party kind of… exploded. I’m still not entirely sure what happened but there was debris everywhere, including a kitchen sink. Anyway, Spike was digging around in the box that had held Applejack’s gift and poked his head out the other side, holding a very well-made quilt.
“Applejack, I can’t thank you enough for this great blanket. I really needed a new one!” He said, hurrying over to embrace the cowpony.
“C’mon, Spike.” She replied, pushing the dragon away gently “Ya already thanked me fifteen times. Ah’m startin’ ta get a touch embarrassed.”
“I know I keep thanking you guys, it's just that I’m so grateful!” He said excitedly “I kind of wish this party would last forever!”
At that, a balloon that Pinkie had been bouncing on popped and she turned her attention to him.
“Well, duh! The party can’t last forever ‘cause you have to go to Sugarcube Corner!” Pinkie said, gesturing excitedly “And it’s because the Cakes have a special surprise for you ‘cause it’s your birthday!”
“NO WAY!” He exclaimed excitedly and shot towards the front door.
“I said the party couldn’t last forever, but that doesn’t mean it has to end right now!” She called out to Spike just as he shut the door behind him.
We all stared at the door for a moment, before I removed my party hat and set it on the table as I walked over to the supply closet.
“Well, we can’t continue the party without the birthday boy.” I quipped as I opened the door and began to pull out some cleaning supplies “Might as well start cleaning up; it looks like a bomb went off in here.”
There was a general murmur of consensus, though I was stunned when the broom I was pulling out flew out of my hands and into Twilight’s, who was glaring at me.
“I can handle it, thanks.” She said, and then gestured to the door “You and Seeri can go home now.”
And just like that, I went from feeling guilty to being angry.
“Okay, sure.” I said bitterly “One question, though, if you don’t mind.”
“What is it?” She asked and I glared at her.
“Would you prefer that we just stop seeing each other?” I stated, and Twilight’s face fell immediately “Because you’ve spent the better part of two weeks being angry at me and avoiding me and frankly, I’m sick of it. If I can’t make you happy anymore, then I can just vanish off of the face of Equestria and make everyone’s life easier.”
Twilight’s mouth moved and she made sounds like she was trying to speak, but I held up my hand to stop her.
“You don’t have to answer me now.” I said coldly, though I felt like a griffon was attempting to claw my heart out “I’m going to head home; you have my number, call me if you need me.”
And just like that, I stormed out of the library with Seeri hot on my heels.
“Hey, do you mind telling me just what the hell happened in there?!” Seeri snapped as she tried to keep up with my brisk pace.
“I’m tired of her bitterness towards me, Seeri.” I replied, slowing down as my anger fled, leaving me empty “I’m tired of going to bed each night not knowing if tomorrow’s just gonna be more of her avoiding me or if she’ll actually want to be with me again… I miss her, Seeri…”
“Then why don’t you tell her, Leon?” Seeri replied, moving ahead of me and making me stop “Maybe if you told her how you feel, she’ll get over her anger and you two can be happy again.”
“Except I’ve been trying, Seeri, but she won’t see me.” I said, averting my eyes to the ground “I’m starting to think that maybe she never actually-”
I was interrupted by my face suddenly igniting in pain, and I stared at Seeri in shock as she lowered her hand. She slapped me!
‘About damn time someone did; you’ve been in need of a good bitch-slap since you let the crazy girl spend her vacation in your home.’
“Don’t think like that, Leon.” Seeri replied sternly, ignoring the sudden re-emergence of Nica “The two of you are very deeply in love with each other you’ve just hit a small snag in your relationship, every couple does. You’re still changing out the lilacs every morning, correct?”
“Yes…” I replied sullenly “I’m not sure she even notices them…”
“Leon, if she truly hated you, she’d be throwing them out as soon as you were gone. The fact that you have to change them every morning is proof that she still cares.”
I was silent as I thought about it.
“Still, I… I can’t face her right now, I’m just…” I said as I walked past Seeri, who didn’t try to stop me “I’m going home…”
And I trudged back home, leaving Seeri to stare at me sadly.
Searing Shield’s POV
‘Crap, their relationship is going to collapse if I don’t do something.’ I thought as Leon walked away from me, his head hung low. I got an idea and turned around to go back to the library.
I walked in through the doors and immediately all heads turned to me. I didn’t see Rarity there, which means she must’ve left.
“I thought I said you and Leon could go home.” Twilight stated, an edge to her voice.
“Put your attitude aside, Twilight, we need to talk.” I snapped, grabbing her arm and pulling her into the kitchen.
She was irritated that I had grabbed her so forcefully, but she gave me her attention regardless.
“You have a real problem with asking ponies things, you know?” She said irritably.
“You need to get over yourself, Twilight.” I snapped in response “Leon’s tearing himself apart over you and I don’t think he’s going to last much longer.”
“Why should I be worried about what he’s doing when he went along with a decision without consulting me first?” She retorted, and I sighed.
“Because…” I said calmly, and gave her a desperate look “He’s losing faith that you actually still love him, which we both know is not true.”
She was silent for a moment as her eyes went from irritated to sorrowful. She raised a hand to hold her other arm and she looked away.
“What’s going on with him?” She asked quietly, and I sighed again.
“He’s not getting any sleep, he barely eats and he’s lethargic when he’s not training but even then he’s lacking his usual energy.” Terra’s voice came from the door, and we both looked at her in surprise “I was about to come talk to you, myself but Seeri got to you first, Twilight.”
Twilight did not look at us, but I did see a few tears begin to fall.
“It’s been the same for me…” She said sorrowfully “I can’t keep him out of my thoughts. I want to hold him again, to kiss him and let him know how much I love him… I want to be with him again.”
“If it hurts you so much, why do you keep acting this way?” I asked her and she gave a sniff as the tears flowed faster. Her legs began to tremble and I helped her into a chair.
“Because… I don’t know, I had a valid reason when I started but now… I just don’t know.” She said as she wept.
“You need to go to him, Twilight.” I said firmly, placing a hand on both her shoulders “If you continue this cycle of pain, you’ll lose him and it’ll break both of your hearts.”
“But… after the way I’ve been treating him…” She replied, her voice trembling “How can I face him again?”
“You can, because the alternative is to suffer heartache the likes of which will destroy you both.” I said calmly.
Twilight was quiet for a while, and then she nodded determinedly.
“You’re right; I’m going to stop pushing him away and… be with him.” She said, and hurried out of the library.
‘Well, that solves one problem.’ I thought triumphantly ‘Now… for the real reason I’m here, to investigate the location of the Corruption Entity…’
Leon’s POV
I stared at the mug of cocoa in front of me, the steam little more than a wisp at this point. I thought it seemed like a good idea at the time to make some but the moment I sat down at the table with it, I was reminded of that night I had truly accepted Twilight as my marefriend. So now I sit here, my drink cooling rapidly and my mind lost in happier memories, memories of intimacy and warmth and... and love. I guess I was so lost that I didn't hear my front door open, or even see someone sit next to me.
"Leon?"
The voice made my heart skip a beat and when I looked, Twilight sat next to me with eyes full of shame and worry.
"Twilight..."
She winced at the dull sound of my voice and her eyes teared up. Damn... crying women always tugged at my heart.
"Leon... I'm sorry."
I stared at her in confusion "For what? You've done nothing wrong."
"No, that's not true." She replied with a shake of her head "I wasn't honest before... I wasn't exactly angry - well, I was, but in truth I... I was so, so worried about you... I was terrified I'd wake up the next morning and find you gone, taken somewhere I... somewhere I couldn't be with you and couldn't bring you back from..."
I gaped at her "Twilight, I-"
"Please, let me finish." She interrupted, holding up a hand and looking like she was about to break down "I stupidly allowed my irrational fear and worry to... to..." She gave a small sniff "I hurt you, Leon... I hurt you so much and I'm sorry... you deserve better than me..."
There was a moment of silence “Maybe I do…” I said eventually and she looked away from me while I looked away from her “Maybe I do deserve better… but I don’t want better, Twilight, I want you…”
“Leon…”
I continued “Twilight… what happened to me… to my friend… it broke something deep within me. Ever since that day, I never wanted anything from other people except for them to leave me be. But then I was taken from my home. I met a girl who needed someone to help her and I met these ponies who wanted nothing more than to be my friend. But most importantly, I met you, Twilight. And ever since our first date, I realized… I actually wanted something for the first time in my life… I want you, Twilight... all I’ve ever wanted for months now is you. If I can’t have you, I’m just… I’m empty again.”
There was silence between us, and then Twilight placed her hand gently on mine. We stayed like that for several minutes when suddenly Twilight stood and pulled on my arm, coaxing me to my feet. What did she think she was doing?
“Twilight?” I asked and she put a finger on my lips, a warm smile on her face.
“No more words, Leon…” She said and began to lead me through my house, all the way to my bedroom.
The next morning, I was feeling much better. Even though Twilight hadn’t stayed the night, I was just happy knowing our problems were behind us. I was about to start making breakfast when I got a text from Twilight.
From: Twilight
Leon, I need you to come to the library now, something’s wrong with Spike!
To: Twilight
Omw
I got dressed as fast as I could and was out the door, nearly running in my haste to get to the library. I burst through the door to find Twilight trying to shift Spike’s attention from a globe that he seemed very interested in, oh and he was about four feet taller than when I last saw him.
“You went to talk to who?” She asked him.
“I, uh... I don’t remember.” He replied, his gaze fixing upon the globe again “Hey, can I have that globe if you're not using it?”
“Huh?” She asked, just as Spike took the globe from her magical grasp and climbed up the bookcases and over the balcony into her room, where he slammed it into the enormous pile of… junk he’d acquired at some point.
“What about this book?” He asked, and Twilight teleported behind him, attempting to take the book from his grasp.
“Spike, I’m concerned about you.” She said, continuing to try and take the book from him “You’re usually not so… ‘grabby’.”
She succeeded in pulling the book away from Spike and was examining it carefully when he took it back again, much to her annoyance.
“My arms weren't this long before now.” He replied with a wicked grin, his voice becoming deeper halfway through.
Twilight looked at him curiously as he slapped his claws over his mouth in shock.
“What’s happening to me?” He asked her worriedly and she looked thoughtfully at him for a second. Then she held up a finger as though to speak of an idea.
“Twilight, if your idea is to take him to a doctor, I can tell you right now they won’t be able to help you.” I called out, and she spun her head to look at me, her eyes lighting up and a smile gracing her features.
“Leon!” She exclaimed and warped directly in front of me before wrapping me in a fierce hug “I’m glad you came. Something’s wrong with Spike and I don’t know what it is.”
“Well, again, taking him to a doctor won’t yield the results you’re looking for.”
“What about a vet?” She asked me, and I laughed.
“Nope, won’t work either.” I replied casually, then jabbed a finger at Spike “If you wish to keep that, I suggest you leave my hat alone.”
Spike withdrew his hand immediately and scuttled back to his treasure pile.
“Anyway, do you know somepony who is proficient with unusual illnesses?” I asked her, trying to get her brain going. It worked and I could see the light bulb go off in her head.
“Zecora!” She exclaimed excitedly “She’ll know what to do!”
And with that we were off, slowed slightly by Spike wanting to take everything in sight. Twilight led us through the Everfree Forest until we reached Zecora’s hut, at which point I realized that I’d never formally met the zebra yet. Sure, I’d seen her around a couple times, but I was always busy when I did.
The zebra was pretty much like she’d appeared in the show, with the addition of tribal garb to go with her numerous gold rings. All in all, she was kind of pretty to look at.
She messed around with Spike for a moment, knocking on his head lightly and then dangling a gold watch that she’d gotten from wherever in front of his face while he tried to grab it like a cat. She accidently caused Spike to slap Twilight when she took one of his arms and flicked like one would horse reigns.
“Oh, he is starting to mature, of this fact I am quite sure.” She said, the rhyme flowing effortlessly.
“Mature? So he’s just… growing up?” Twilight asked incredulously “But that doesn’t explain why he keeps grabbing things.”
“A dragon’s heart is prone to greed.” Zecora replied, approaching her cauldron and throwing a pinch of… something in it, while Twilight approached to watch “A steady diet to make growth speed, then the resulting bigger size only makes their hunger rise. If this trait should go unchecked, if Spike should continue to collect, more growth will certainly occur. He is going to turn into a monster!” And Twilight gasped in horror.
“Are you telling me that the more things a dragon collects, the bigger and greedier he gets?” She asked, worriedly.
“Zecora’s rubbing off on you, Twi.” I said with a smirk, which caused her to blush.
“So how do we stop him before he’s completely out of control?” Twilight continued.
“If it’s his monstrous ways you wish to impede, you must prevent him from practicing greed.” Zecora said sagely.
“Good to know.” I said calmly, and then looked around the suddenly bare hut “Kinda wish you’d told us sooner. Oh yeah Spike’s gone, that’s probably a bad thing.”
Zecora glanced unamused at Twilight, who chuckled nervously.
“Sorry, Zecora, we’ll get your things back soon, I promise.” She said as she moved to the door “Let’s go, Leon, before he gets too far.”
“Coming Twi.” I responded, and then turned to the zebra “It’s good to finally meet you, Zecora, let me know if you ever need any help.”
“Same to you, an equal pleasure.” She said, shaking my hand “Though what you have with Twilight Sparkle is quite the treasure.”
“Indeed it is, Zecora.” I said, as I left to join my marefriend “Indeed it is, and I’ll guard her with my life.”
We hurried out of the Everfree Forest and into Ponyville, desperately looking for the wayward dragon. We found him accosting the CMC, trying to take Scootaloo’s scooter.
I scooped up a rock and lobbed it at him. It hit, but he merely growled and continued to tug at the scooter. I huffed in frustration; I could see that the girls weren’t going to be able to hold on for much longer, with Scootaloo giving me a desperate look.
Fortunately, Twilight had a brilliant idea.
“Hey, Spike!” She called out to him, levitating a broom in front of his face which got his attention immediately “Check out this amazing broom!”
She levitated it away from him and he released the scooter.
“Girls, go and get somewhere safe!” I yelled at them, which they heeded immediately.
“Spike… WANT!” He cried out in a guttural voice and his size increased dramatically, shortly thereafter he began to charge Twilight and I for the broom.
“Great we got his attention, Twi.” I said, taking a couple of steps back “What was Step Two again?”
“Um… RUN!” She cried out and we tore down a nearby alleyway mere seconds before Spike was upon us.
I ended up following Twilight as Spike chased us through Ponyville. Eventually we came across the library.
“In there, I’ve got an idea!” Twilight called out, and we ran through the door, with Twilight levitating the broom in front of it and waving it alluringly “C’mon, big boy; look at this incredible broom!”
Spike lunged in after it, got stuck in the door but managed to squeeze through and continued his pursuit of the broom.
“SPIKE WANT!” He roared as he dove after the broom into another wing of the library, with Twilight and I slamming the door behind him. He pounded on the door when he realized he was trapped.
“Fight all you want, we are not letting you out of there!” She called out to him, when suddenly the door stopped shaking.
Twilight and I glanced at each other in surprise, then it turned to dread. Twilight opened the door to see what had happened and we stared in awe at the fact that Spike had taken every single book off the shelves and sat upon them in a pile, his arms wrapped around his prize protectively.
“Oh, Spike!” Twilight exclaimed exasperated “I just re-shelved this room!”
“Again?” I asked her quizzically, to which she gave me a deadpan stare “Right, I’ll ask later.”
She levitated the pile of books out from under him, much to Spike’s surprise and displeasure, and brought them into the main room and shut the door with a sigh. Almost immediately we heard a crash come from inside the other wing.
“Ugh, what now?” She asked wearily.
“With our luck?” I said as she opened the door and we looked into the empty wing that had a nice, Spike-shaped door in the wall “He broke out and is now rampaging around Ponyville.”
“Augh, can this day-” Twilight began but I grabbed her immediately and cut her off with a kiss.
“Unless you wanna jinx us all to Tartarus, I suggest you don’t finish that sentence.” I said calmly, and she batted her eyelashes at me.
“You could’ve used your hand, you know.” She said coyly.
“What, and miss a chance to steal a kiss from you?” I chuckled “Perish the thought. But let’s not get side-tracked here, we’ve got a growing dragon on the loose. I think I saw him heading towards Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Right, let’s get moving.” She said and we ran out of the library to the farm, where we found Applejack examining her strangely barren trees curiously.
“Now who in Ponyville would steal mah apples?” I heard her exclaim incredulously “Fer that matter, who would steal mah leaves?!”
“Applejack, we need your help!” Twilight called out to the cowpony “Spike’s running wild and I need you to lasso him!”
AJ stared at her for a second before breaking out into laughter and slapping Twilight on the shoulder.
“Oh tha’s a good one, Twilight.” She said, chuckling “Sweet little Spike, runnin’ wild, what a laugh!”
Her laughter was killed immediately when she saw “Sweet little Spike” charge past with her apples… and her leaves, yes he literally took the leaves, too. I’m quite frankly more surprised he didn’t take the whole damn tree ‘Why don’t you remind him, I’m sure it’d be worth a few yuks.’
“Twilight.” AJ said calmly “Get mah rope.”
They had a brilliant plan to tackle Spike and tie his feet up before he could respond, but it was fouled up when Spike ducked to pick up a single apple and the girls ended up tied to a tree. Spike roared at them and left, while I appeared from behind my hiding spot and went to untie the girls.
“Hey, thanks fer yer help back there, Leon.” AJ said sarcastically “We shor coulda used it, but nah we’re fine now.”
“Don’t mention it.” I replied amiably as I began to untie the rope.
Rainbow Dash showed up at that point, and started to laugh at the sight of AJ and Twilight tied up to the tree.
“Don’t tell me… you tied yourselves up?” She exclaimed in between laughs.
“Feel free to join them, Dash.” I said, while tugging periodically at the rope “They’ve got jackets and badges… all sorts of cool stuff.”
“Are you done yet?” Twilight asked me and I shrugged.
“Nope, this rope is tied up something fierce.” I replied without looking at her “I can’t hardly tell where it begins, oh there it is.”
And with a light tug, the rope slid free of them and both of the girls stared at me incredulously.
“How in Equestria didja manage that, Leon?” AJ asked and I shrugged, but before I could respond there was a pair of high pitched screams.
“What was that?” Applejack said with a gasp.
“It sounded like Fluttershy to me!” Rainbow Dash stated, and we took off in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage.
“Fluttershy?” Twilight called out “Fluttershy!”
“Fluttershy, where are you?” I called out as well.
“Leon-sama, up here!” A familiar voice shouted and I looked up to see Sakura high up in a tree with Fluttershy and a family of squirrels waving at me.
“Sakura, Fluttershy, what happened?!” I called out to them.
“W-we were helping my squirrel friends with a dance step, when all of a sudden, a g-giant, r-rampaging d-d-d-dragon stormed through!” Fluttershy called out nervously.
“That was Spike!” Twilight called back, and I heard Fluttershy and Sakura gasp.
“Spike?!” Fluttershy said, shocked “But why would Spike steal my chicken coop?!”
As one, we turned our heads to see that Spike had, in fact, stolen the chicken coop sans the actual chickens.
“I’ll admit, it’s less ridiculous than stealing leaves.” I quipped, earning a deadpan stare from Twilight and AJ.
“He just pulled it out of the ground and filled it with a bunch of apples and stuff.” Fluttershy called down at us again.
At that moment we heard another scream.
“Great…” I drawled exasperated “Someone else needs help… this just isn’t our day, Twi.”
“Tell me about it…” She replied wearily.
“It sounded like Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“Quick, Bat-mare! To the Pinkie Cave, I mean, uh, Sugarcube Corner!” I said and ran off before the girls could respond.
We got to Sugarcube Corner and found Pinkie sitting on top of a dessert shelf lobbing pastries at Spike, who couldn’t decide whether to dodge them or catch them.
“Back! Get back!” She yelled as she threw more sweets at him.
“Pinkie Pie, don’t give him anymore cake!” Twilight yelled at her, which got an angry glare from the pink party pony.
“I’m not giving him cake!” She responded angrily “I’m assaulting him with cake!”
She ran out of ammo and reached down to get more, but Spike snatched them all up as she did, knocking her off the shelf.
“HOW DARE YOU TAKE THE CAKE!” Pinkie roared angrily and Spike roared in response but before he could act, he grew again… except this time he was towering over us, having torn the roof off of the bakery.
“Uh, girls?” I said with a gulp “I don’t think we’re high enough in level to be taking on a gargantuan dragon…”
“I wish I hadn’t left my +5 Vorpal Sword in my other bag…” Pinkie responded sadly and I barely kept my laughter in check, it coming out as a snort. Fortunately, Spike got distracted and he played Instant Door with the bakery wall.
“Will you please stop with the jokes, Leon?” Twilight asked irritably as she began to follow Spike “He’s completely out of control, who knows where he’ll go next.”
“Ten bits says it’s Carousel Boutique.” I whispered to Pinkie, who groaned.
“Aww, I was gonna say that…” She replied, though she winked and flashed me a big smile, and then she froze when she saw what remained of the bakery, her mouth dropping in shock.
“Aw, damn… Applejack, honey, can you help me with Pinkie Pie?” I asked the cowpony, who sighed and picked the party pony up effortlessly and moved at a brisk pace after the others.
As we ran through Ponyville looking for Spike, air raid sirens began to sound though it was quickly shut off in a manner that suggested something had removed them. When we caught up to him at, wouldn’t you know it, Carousel Boutique, my mouth dropped in both amazement and horror.
He was huge, and I mean the kind of huge that would’ve made King Kong piss his drawers. I noticed Rarity being held in his tail, a look of absolute terror on her face and screaming her lungs out.
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both tried to talk Spike down, which didn’t work out so well because of conflicting messages, one threatening and the other oh-so-polite. It ended with both of them getting caught up in Rarity’s cape when Spike tried to swat at the pegasi with his tail and they both fell in the river (note to self; avoid looking directly at them when they get out).
Then the Wonderbolts showed up and attempted to deal with the huge dragon, but all they managed to do was annoy the hell out of him and drive him over to a nearby mountain, Rarity screaming the whole way. Spike ended up catching them in a very brilliant manner by putting his junk in a cave and holding the top of the water tower he’d taken to transport the ever growing pile and catching the three pegasi assaulting him as they attempted another pass and slamming it, opening forward, into the mountain.
“Well, so much for them.” I said, pulling up a lawn chair and kicking back with a box of popcorn Pinkie had handed me, though she was still in shock over the bakery.
“How can you be so calm about this?!” Twilight asked me incredulously “He’s too far gone and we’re out of options… it’s hopeless.”
“Nah.” I replied casually, continuing to watch the spectacle on the mountain “Rarity’s got this in the bag.”
“What?” Was the unanimous response.
“Just watch.” I said, gesturing towards the mountain.
We saw Spike freeze after what I assumed was Rarity showing him her ruined cape, staring at something very intently. I got up from the lawn chair and stood in preparation for what was to come.
“Oh, now suddenly you’re all serious?” Rainbow Dash asked me, and it took everything I had not to turn and face her.
“It’s over; we should go collect our friends now.” I replied, still casual “Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, grab that cape and prepare yourselves to catch them.”
Just as I finished speaking, Spike reverted back to his old self and he and Rarity had a moment to consider their new predicament before they began to fall, screaming to the earth. The pegasi acted immediately and flew at top speed toward the mountain.
They caught Rarity and Spike moments before they would’ve hit the ground and brought them safely back to the rest of us, where they were both met with hugs. I saw the water tower fall from the mountain, releasing three terrified Wonderbolts, who looked around before puffing their chests out in mock confidence before shooting away.
Rarity went over to Spike, who was feeling somewhat guilty and talked to him, while Twilight walked over to me with an irritated expression on her face.
“Hey Twi, what’s wro-” I managed to say before she slapped me across the face “Okay, I deserved that.”
“Damn right you did!” She yelled at me, forgetting her normal etiquette “I was worried sick about Spike and Rarity while you just cracked jokes the whole time!”
I looked away guiltily and rubbed the back of my head.
“Sorry, Twilight… I shouldn’t have treated this so lightly, I promise I-” I said, but was interrupted by her again, this time with a kiss.
“Shut up…” She murmured quietly as she hugged me “I absolutely love your confidence, though I wish you’d treat things with a little more seriousness from now on.”
“I’ll try, Twi.” I replied with a smile “I make no promises, though.”
And we both chuckled, until we heard Spike clear his throat.
“If you two are done with the mushy stuff, I have a Friendship Report to write.” He said, walking up to Twilight and holding out a claw.
Twilight sighed and handed Spike a quill, ink and parchment, which she always carried around with her, while I leaned in very close to her ear.
“I’m gonna head home and ask my housemates if they can stay with one of the other girls tonight.” I whispered, and her ear twitched at my proximity “I would like it very much if you joined me for dinner.”
“Just dinner?” She replied in a seductive whisper, batting her eyelashes at me “Or did you have something else in mind?”
“With you, I always have something else in mind.” I whispered again “We can do whatever you want tonight, it’ll be just you and me.”
‘I remember when you first met her, you were all like “I want wait” and some junk, now look at you! Can hardly keep your hands off her and your-‘ Oh hello, Nica, good to hear you again ‘I’m taking a break from the snark for a bit while I decide what to do about Miss Shield.’
“Sounds like fun.” She replied, giving me a peck on the lips “I’ll see you tonight, Leon.”
And with that we went our separate ways. Terra gave me a fierce hug when I got home and she told she’d been worried about me. After reassuring her I was then assaulted by the CMC, who nearly crushed the life out of me in a massive group hug (apparently when I’d said “Get somewhere safe” they’d immediately run to my house. Go figure), while Seeri looked on with amusement.
Then I told the girls they all needed to vacate my home for the evening, because tonight was going to be private time between Twilight and I. The CMC looked at me in confusion while Terra giggled and Seeri gave me a knowing smile. Terra went to Rarity’s while Seeri decided to go sleep over at the library so that Spike didn’t get lonely and the CMC went back to their own respective homes.
Twilight showed up that afternoon and we spent the rest of the day and most of the night “enjoying” our relationship.