//------------------------------// // Greed // Story: Wrath // by FishyCrackers431 //------------------------------// Chapter 4: Greed greed, noun: excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions - Something was wrong. Twilight's eyes sprang open, though she must've managed to get her head covered by the blanket, because she couldn't see. After a moment of struggling through it, her head popped free of the covers. She felt through the blankets plenty while trying to get free of them. Spike had left her side. That alone didn't scare her, he probably wanted to sleep on his own anyway, independent as he was. What scared her was that he'd woken before her, and he knew where the gem was hidden. Twilight took a quick glance out the window. Yes, the sun was still only just rising over the horizon. Maybe Applejack would be waking at this time, but certainly not Spike if he didn't have a reason for it. It took her a minute or so to stretch her limbs and shake the sleep from her eyes, but soon Twilight was standing and made her way down the ladder. Spike's bed had been empty. "Spike?" Twilight called. She expected no answer, and got none in return. She pulled the step ladder to her with her magic, and set it down in front of one of the higher shelves; where she'd left the gem the previous night. Twilight only took one step up it when she heard an oddly disturbing gnawing noise. 'Please tell me I'm dreaming' She stepped up to the top and took a moment to balance on her back hooves, so that she could peer up onto the shelf. What she saw brought out a gasp. Spike lay upon the shelf, very much asleep as he had been throughout the night. The difference now was that he had the gem clenched between his teeth; a full set of teeth that now looked as though they'd been shattered. "Spike! Wake up!" Twilight called, pulling him over as best as she could with her flat hooves. She didn't even think to use her magic right now, just to get the gem away from him and hope that she could find a way to fix him on her own. That was literally her downfall. First the step-ladder gave a jerk backwards, then Twilight along with Spike and the gem went tumbling down to the floor with a loud thud. While her head poundedand her vision flashed red for a second, Twilight tried her best to sit up where she lay, with Spike laying on top of her and only now just waking up. He looked dazily over to Twilight, letting the gemstone fall from his mouth and roll idly away. He spoke through broken teeth; "Twilight? What happened to you?" "What happened to me?" Twilight groaned angrily, giving him a rough push off of her and onto the floor. He looked up at her with confused eyes, running a hand over his mouth as though only just now noticing. "What were you doing up before dawn chewing on that thing again?" Spike was at loss for words, slowly standing himself up, though apparently finding himself sore from his sleeping position, if his flinching was any sign. "I... uh, just couldn't..." "Couldn't help yourself? Spike..." Twilight sat herself up, using a hoof to pull his bottom lip down, revealing his broken teeth. "What did you do? What were you thinking..." Spike let out an unintelligible mumble, with his lip being pulled as it was. "How are we supposed to fix this? Zecora's not going to do it again..." Spike let another mumble free, this one sounding vaguely along the lines of an apology. Twilight let his lip free, hurrying over to the many bookcases lining the room. She'd pull some seemingly at random towards her, glancing at their titles before returning them to their positions. No, no, no, not a single one was what she was looking for. Sure she could make up a spell to grow facial hair from nothing, but repairing teeth... "Spike, what were you think-" Twilight finally halted to turn back to her assistant. He'd picked up the gem again, and was gently gnawing on it while watching her. He looked a like a child who hadn't gotten its fix of sugar might. "Spike, cut that out!" She actually yelled in anger. Her horn lit up once more and pulled the gem from his mouth, towards her. "Sorry, sorry! I can't help it..." Spike mumbled. "But I think you're overreacting, we could just-" "Overreacting?" Twilight yelled, stopping herself just as it left her mouth. She was getting angry again, unnaturally so. With a deep breath, she continued. "Spike, you know what the Princess said about this thing... Maybe she can fix your teeth when she gets here, I don't know, but..." After a few moments of intense thinking on her part, she hurried back upstairs, finding and slinging a bag around her neck, which she shoved the gem into. "I don't think-" Spike started to protest, but couldn't quite find the words. Twilight hopped down from the bedside, back to the main floor, and headed for the door. Spike had yet to move, still staring awkwardly at the floor. "Twi', I'm sorry, really, but I really don't think you should be carrying that thing around with you" He murmured, rocking on his heels again like a scolded child. "Well I can't leave it here, alone with you, can I? Listen, just... stay here, tidy the place up or something. I need to find some place to put this for the day" She asked, sounding slightly more hostile than she'd meant to. Twilight stepped outside as calmly as she could manage, catching Spike's look as she was leaving. "Spike, I'm not mad at you, honestly" She finally finished before shutting the door from the outside. 'What a bad liar you are, Twilight Sparkle'Twilight thought idly. She gave the door a quick kick with a back leg, taking a seat right there on the doorstep. She was very much angry. In fact, she was boiling inside. Maybe the gem was doing something to her, like it had to Rarity and Spike... But that was a thought she was not eager to accept. Yes, she was getting angry, yes, maybe even she'd been more mean than necessary, but something inside her just seemed to shout that they deserved it. Spike knew what he was doing, and he did it anyway. Spike may as well have just used a hammer to do away with his teeth, damaging- no, destroying them so quickly after they'd just gone through the trouble of fixing one. And the way he obsessed over the gem, maybe less dangerously than Rarity had, after what the Princess said... How could Twilight not be mad? Spike certainly gave her enough reasons to worry. So much stress, so much left to figure out. Twilight finally let out a loud groan of annoyance, not caring who heard (which was, thankfully, not many at this early hour). They'd never quite fought like this before... Fine, yes, she'd calm down later. She'd apologize, try to understand where he was coming from. Later. Right now, the thought of him being anywhere near the gem was terrifying and infuriating all at once. Giving several quick glances around herself, Twilight set out, once more, to walk and think. Maybe she'd think of a place to hide the gem until the Princess arrived; maybe she'd find one. Maybe she'd just find a fountain to dunk her head into and cool down. - Twilight had only just made it out to the park, away from the streets and homes, when she heard a familiar voice call out "Heads up!" Instinctively, she flattened herself against the ground. Just in time too, if the sudden rainbow appearing mere feet above her head was any indication. Twilight slowly rose back up, legs a little shaky from that close encounter. The stream of rainbow circled around in the air, coming back at her. This time, however, it slowed as it neared, until a cyan pony with rainbow mane could be made out from it. The fastest flier in Equestria, Rainbow Dash. The pegasus slowed to a hover before Twilight, never laying a hoof on the ground. "My bad, Twilight. You okay?" "You almost took my head off" "Yeah, but I didn't" Rainbow replied smugly. Twilight's gaze dropped to a look of 'are you kidding me', which Rainbow at least seemed to pick up on and cover for. "Besides, I'm flying out here every morning, and there's never really anyone out here getting in the way" "Wait, you fly around Ponyville every- is that why you sleep in every day?" Twilight asked, suddenly coming to that realization. Rainbow Dash gave a quick shrug, finally landing herself on the ground as she did so. "Gotta get practice in some time, right?" Now it was Twilight's turn to give a shrug. "I just thought what you do normally was your practice... and that you were just lazy" Twilight started off again, knowing Rainbow Dash would be eager to follow after even if she was in the middle of practicing. "Yeah, yeah" Rainbow rose back into the air, following after and circling around as expected. It suited her best considering the pegasus loved to move. "You don't get to join the Wonderbolts with day to day practice and being lazy, though. You should see some of the new moves I came up with on my own. Want to watch?" There was a thought. As exciting as watching Rainbow perform was, even to a bookworm like Twilight, she hadn't actually considered the pegasus' flying abilities until just now. The gem suddenly felt like it was burning against her chest through the bag. Rarity and Spike were easy, small, not very strong and certainly not on Twilight's level of magic. If the others found out about the gem, if Rainbow wanted it, Twilight couldn't honestly be certain that she could stop the pegasus from taking it. "Uh, no, I'm actually kind of busy right now" The thought to get away from Rainbow, find a spot to hide the gem was suddenly making its way into Twilight's mind. She would never think of herself as a paranoid one, but after what had happened earlier... Rainbow swooped down to hover just a few feet before Twilight, backing up as the unicorn kept walking. "Let me guess, on another assignment for the Princess?" "You know me too well" Twilight responded, putting on a smile and asking nonchalantly "Hey, weren't you practicing a minute ago?" The realization seemed to hit Rainbow hard, as though she'd forgotten what she had been doing by simply talking to Twilight. "You're right, I need to keep my time! I need to get back to it, see ya around!" Those were good words. Within a second the pegasus had taken off out of sight. Twilight let out a sigh of relief, finally continuing on her way without worry. At least she would have, if Rainbow's voice hadn't sounded up seconds later. "Wait, you're doing something for the Princess?" The pegasus reappeared before Twilight, stopping her in her tracks, now somewhat worried. "Yeah, so?" "Don't you normally do your assignments in the library?" Rainbow asked confusedly. Her eyes wandered to the bag hanging around Twilight's neck. "Oh, are you bringing something somewhere for her? I can do it!" Speaking as quickly as she could, Twilight brought up the first excuse coming to mind "Oh nononononono, I couldn't keep you from your practice, I mean, you're already late on it now, aren't you?" The unicorn took an awkward step back. "Well, yeah, but my time's already messed up. Besides, this is routine now, it's better practice if I try something completely new!" Rainbow took off again, hovering closer to Twilight as the unicorn stepped back. "Really, I should just do it myself" Twilight felt her horn hum with some power again, this time pushing the bag against her so that Rainbow couldn't grab it if she tried. Not that the pegasus had any reason to at this moment, though the fear of her trying didn't help in Twilight's mind. "Come on, Twilight, what's in the bag? I can help" "Nothing!" Twilight finally yelled, finally physically holding it against her. Rainbow hovered back some, a look of genuine surprise on her face from Twilight's outburst. 'Oh please no' Twilight thought to herself at this realization. Slowly, the look of surprise changed to one of curiosity and confidence. "Oh really?" Rainbow asked with a hint of sarcasm. She flew a few feet closer to Twilight before setting herself down. "You're hiding something, aren't you?" "Nothing at all" Twilight's attempt to sound calm this time wasn't even remotely believable. "It's something for me, isn't it?" Rainbow stepped forward closer, until she and Twilight were nearly close enough to count each others skin cells. "Come on, surprise over, what'd you get me?" Where was Discord when you needed a good lie? "Alright, you got me, it's... uh..." Twilight took an uncertain step back, looking Rainbow up and down and saying the first thing that came to mind. "Rainbow Appreciation Day!" Rainbow at least seemed confused for a moment, stopping herself from coming any closer and sitting back onto the ground. "Rainbow Appreciation Day? We don't have a Rainbow Appreciation Day" "Of course not!" Twilight gave a quick wave of the hoof as if dismissing it. "But we had it back in Canterlot, and I just thought, hey, why not celebrate it here with the best Rainbow pony I know?" "Uh... okay" Rainbow scratched her head thoughtfully, trying to picture such an event. Considering she was from Cloudsdale, the very idea of a Rainbow-based holiday in any part of the world seemed unheard of. "Are you sure-" "Just come to Sugarcube Corner at noon. But don't tell anyone I told you!" Twilight stepped up and gave Rainbow a few nudges in the shoulder. "It's still supposed to be a surprise!" With her luck, this would probably be the one day Pinkie wouldn't be up for a random party. "Uh... great, I guess" Rainbow answered uncertainly. She nudged the bag around Twilight's neck. "So... what about my gift?" Another sentence, another lie. "Come on, Rainbow, let's have one real surprise today, alright?" Twilight tried to laugh it off like no big deal. Dash only gave a disappointed shrug. "Fine, I'll see you there I guess..." Giving a quick nod of thanks, she lifted off into the air and out of sight for the second time. Twilight finally let out a much needed sigh of relief. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. After all, if Rainbow had just been as greedy as she'd expected, the whole situation could have turned out much worse. Now of course she'd have to buy a present for later, but that was most certainly worth it... And, on cue, a rush of color passed by Twilight, she felt a sudden yanking on her neck, and finally looked down to see the bag was nowhere in sight. "Rainbow!" Her horn lit, and suddenly the rush of color speeding away from her gave a sudden lurching stop. Not expecting it, the pegasus twisted backwards somewhat and hit the ground, still holding the bag firmly in her teeth. Rainbow spat the handle from her mouth. "Come on, I hate waiting around" She groaned, nudging the bag with her hoof. That simple action was all it took. The bag tipped over onto its side, the top opening and the blue gem rolling out onto the dirt. "Well, you'll just have to manage" Twilight rushed over as quickly as she could, grabbing the gem in her teeth and returning her bag to her neck with a quick use of magic. "If you're going to spoil the surprise like that, I don't have to get you anything at all" She reminded the pegasus, falling back into the lie and hoping Rainbow hadn't seen too much of the gem already. Her hopes, as they seemed to do a lot recently, fell hollow. "Whoa whoa whoa, hold up" Rainbow Dash lifted herself from the ground, hovering just a few feet from Twilight with head bent in close to see the jewel. "Cool..." She murmured, positively transfixed by the sight. The color visibly drained from Twilight's face at this realization. "Let me see it!" Rainbow suddenly lurched forward in the air, making a grab to pull the gem from Twilight's mouth. The unicorn had expected this, however, and ducked down beneath the pegasus's grasp, firing a shot of magic from her horn up at her rainbow-maned friend. Rainbow Dash, unlike Rarity, however, was much quicker than that, and was well out of harms way before the shot even left Twilight's horn. Twilight only just stood back up once Rainbow came in close again, this time circling around her in a rainbow daze of color. The same 'Rainbow Dry' as she'd called it once suddenly seemed a lot more menacing. With some fear in her heart, Twilight lit her horn again and, in a flash of light, teleported out of the rainbow twister. She appeared only a few meters away, catching her balance. Rainbow seemed to notice at the same time, and broke from the twister, coming at Twilight again. "Let me see that gem!" She yelled. "Will you forget about the stupid gem!" Twilight yelled in return. Her voice seemed to be off, somewhat, more... hateful. Her horn lit itself again, and this time fired a blast, much greater than those even she had seen before. Rainbow must have been just as surprised as she, because the pegasus hit the blast of magic head on. Within an instant, each feather on her wings turned grey and lifeless, ceasing their flapping and suddenly weighing Rainbow down. At this speed, she hit the ground hard, grinding against it somewhat with her stone wings keeping her from getting up. It wasn't just the fall, it seemed. From the look on Rainbow's face, the stone wings were really pulling down more than they shouldn't. Twilight had never seen such a look of pain before. Something foreign, sinister inside of her cherished it, and she hated that feeling. This thought was tossed from her mind in full, however, when Rainbow started shouting from the ground, "Twilight! Sorry, sorry! Change them back, change them back!" "Promise you'll keep your hooves off my gem!" A shout of pure rage that sounded nothing like her own escaped Twilight's lips. "Fine! Fine! Change them back, change them back!" Rainbow yelled. It was scary, actually, the pegasus sounded genuinely terrified, and the sight of her pleading on the ground like this was not a comforting one. Had she perhaps gone too far? No time to think on it now. Twilight gave Rainbow another quick magical burst, and as quickly as they'd changed before, Rainbow Dash's wings transformed back to their old feathery selves. The pegasus sprang back to her feet, quickly backing away from Twilight with a look of pure fear on her face. She seemed to be folding her wings back into herself with some force, as if hoping to keep them safe. "What is wrong with you?" Her shaky voice could barely be heard. Without another word, Rainbow turned and sped up into the air, quickly hiding herself amongst the clouds. Yes, she had undoubtedly gone too far, or so Twilight thought to herself. The unicorn hung her head, not bothering to look where her friend had sped off to. 'I lied to my friend, I hurt my friend... and I might have just lost her too'