Chapter 8: Secrets
“What did I miss?” Line Space asked as he trotted into the library. It still looked like a hurricane had come through after Twilight had been cleaning for thirty minutes. Twilight lifted her head and Line Space rushed over seeing how puffy her eyes still were. “Twilight! What in the world happened to you?!”
“Red Pen came and attacked Spike,” Twilight began, her voice shaking. “He came here and started ripping things up and when Spike came out with a newspaper article I was looking for, Red Pen attacked him. He was locked in a chest while I was gone. He’s upstairs resting now.” Her voice had pain wracked throughout it. Line Space was speechless. He never imagined Red Pen would even go this far. He should have though, and now Spike was hurt because the two of them had left him alone.
“Twilight if you don’t want-”
“No. I will still help you,” Twilight said as her voice gained an angry edge. “You might not be able to stop him and I have plenty of reason to go after him too.” She looked up into Line Space’s eyes and he was shocked at seeing her more determined now than ever before in the show. “Besides, Spike got hurt because I decided to help you. I’m not about to stop now when I’ve already payed the price.” Line Space walked closer and kept looking into her eyes.
“I understand. Don’t worry, Red Pen will pay and we will make sure he gets what he deserves. Don’t let yourself become hateful Twi.” He took one of her hooves and both of their eyes softened for minute. “It won’t help us and it has never helped Red Pen in the past. We can make it through this and then we can forget about this stupid curse.” Twilight took back her hoof and nodded. She turned away and started shelving more books while looking away from him.
“So, ummmm, do you mind if I finish cleaning up the library first? I don’t want to leave it in a mess because when Spike wakes up he would probably clean and he doesn’t need to go straining himself.”
“Of course.” Line Space started shelving books as well and found the task to be about as boring as paint dry. He tried taking interest in book titles but there were very few that interested him. To take his mind off of it he started thinking through their conversation from earlier and realized something. “Hey, what article was Spike looking for?”
Twilight looked over before saying, “We reorganized the stored newspapers a few months ago. He remembered seeing an article about Red Pen but I guess we don’t need it now. Too bad I didn’t get a chance to tell Spike before the girls came to get Fluttershy. Line, are you okay?”
No, he wasn’t. His entire body had locked up and never before was he happier to be facing away from Twilight. That bucking article could go to Tartarus for all he cared and he really wished it would. If she had read that article what would she think? There are things he never wanted to admit to anypony and most had forgotten about him and what had happened all those years ago. He never dared go near Rarity afterwards but that was it. He was supposed to be safe but now he wasn’t! Now he had to say something, anything to change the topic!
“Fine,” Line Space said, his voice strained from the effort of desperately trying to think of something. “You, uuhhhh, know what? I think I’ll, uuuhhh, go see Spike and check his injuries. You know, that whole, helping other ponies thing. Even dragons count right.” Mentally, Line was smacking himself and cursing himself for not being able to lie to save his flank.
“Uhm, okay. If he’s sleeping please don’t wake him.” Twilight’s tone told him she was suspicious and he knew that if he said anything else he would probably slip up badly. He slowly walked up the stairs and just as he reached the top, he looked back at Twilight. Her eyes were filled with suspicion and worry. He looked away and had to keep himself from galloping up the stairs. It didn’t feel right to lie to Twilight but the truth of what happened was not something she needed to know. Reaching the top he gathered himself before he reached for the handle and then stopped.
How should he act with Spike? The little dragon was friendly enough in the show but Line Space was feeling worse and worse each time he relied on it to help him talk to these ponies. Not to mention the secrets the baby dragon has that he knows about. Line Space lowered his head realizing he was keeping secrets when he had taken away so many of theirs. He would just have to put them to good use and besides, Celestia had given him the link in an e-mail. There must’ve been some point beyond simple entertainment since no one else in town knew. He shook his head and decided to leave that moral question for another day. He then pushed the door open and walked inside.
Inside Spike was looking at himself in the mirror, checking his various bruises and his half swollen eye. Line Space walked over hoping that Spike would be a little easier to talk to then Twilight would be at the moment.
“Hi there,” Line Space said. Spike jumped and spun to look at him having not heard the well-oiled door open. “Calm down. My name is Line Space and I’m helping Twilight track down the monster who did this.” He smiled mentally at how similarly Spike had reacted to his sudden appearance as Twilight had earlier today. Spike wasn’t so quick to drop his guard or get embarrassed though.
“Uh huh. And what makes you so qualified?” Spike said trying to sound like he was in charge while wincing in pain. Line Space reached up and pointed at his own black eye before answering.
“He gave me the same souvenir you got and I’ve been after him for years. Trust me, I’m one of the good guys.” He put on his best smile which must have looked really strange with the black eye. Spike seemed to relax a little though and then slumped again as he glanced at the mirror again. “What’s wrong little buddy? Won’t all your stallion friends think the new look is cool?” Line Space felt guilty since he still considered himself responsible for Red Pen’s victims and he was using the show to help bait Spike. He was helping the baby dragon though so it all balanced out.
“I don’t have any Stallion friends. Well except Shining Armor and he lives in the Crystal Empire. All my filly friends certainly won’t like this.” Spike sounded rather defeated and there was obviously more to it then worrying about Twilight or AppleJack seeing him like this.
“Yeah well, you might be surprised how much they want to take care of you. Mares and fillies can be very anxious and when a friend gets hurt they tend to want to help. Maybe Twilight or one of your other friends could nurse you while you enjoy the attention?” Line Space had an innocent smile on himself. He secretly rooted for the baby dragon and hoped he would take the bait.
“Nurse me?” Spike said with a touch of awe in his voice. Line Space shouted inside because the dragon had taken the bait, hook, line, and sinker. “Well uhmmm, yeah that doesn’t sound too bad. Hey, how do you know this?” Line Space grinned at the baby dragon and then made it a little smaller considering how his face must look.
“It happens in stories all the time. Female characters are always being written as very maternal even if they hide it normally. It goes double for friends they’re close to but can’t help any other way.” Spike was looking a little suspicious and Line Space barely controlled himself from sighing. It got old having nopony trust you, which, until recently, had included himself. It was refreshing to be able to trust himself and Twilight had done so. Why couldn’t Spike? “I got hurt once and a filly I only talked to occasionally was all over me. I’m sure your friends would appreciate you coming to them to get help.”
That did it for Spike. The allure of a certain somepony taking care of him must have been too much for Spike to resist, no matter how much his common sense made him wary of Line Space. He started checking his spines in the mirror now and Line Space failed in stifling a chuckle. Spike glared at him and then walked over to the door. He was kind of sluggish, a sign of the damage Red Pen had inflicted.
“Are you sure this works?” Spike asked his voice uncertain.
“One hundred percent,” Line Space said back. That was a lie though, nothing was ever one hundred percent and analysis simply helped you find the right path. Spike ran down stairs and Line Space followed. Talking to Spike had calmed him down really well. He could probably talk to Twilight again. He probably couldn’t meet her eyes though.
“Hey, uummm, Twilight. I’m heading over to Rarity’s to see if she…. needs anything,” Line Space heard Spike ask. He kept himself to the landing at the top of the stairs, failing once more to control his giggles.
“Really Spike? Are you sure you’re okay?” Twilight’s voice was filled with concern. Line Space prayed she wouldn’t be too protective as it would ruin Spike’s chance.
“Yeah. I feel fine and some activity will help take my mind off of.. what happened.” Spike’s voice faltered halfway through the sentence. Line Space felt another stab of guilt as he realized Spike would be pushing himself because of his prompting. He scolded himself again because he could usually think about the consequences and other scenarios.
“Oh well. I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Line Space mumbled to himself. Meanwhile, Twilight had reached a decision.
“Fine you can go. But be careful and remember to behave like a gentlecolt around Rarity,” Twilight said, the second half having traces of amusement mixed in with the worried tone. The door closed shortly after and Line Space started walking back down.
“Did you have something to do with that?” Twilight had her eyebrows raised at Line Space and he couldn’t help grinning. Spike going after his crush had obviously lifted her spirits.
“I just gave him a little bait and he chose to do the rest himself. He was the one who told me he had a bunch of filly friends.”
“Yeah well, he has this massive crush on Rarity. Do you know her?” Line Space tried his best to look curious.
“I’ve certainly heard of her but I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting her myself. Sounds like Spikes aiming pretty high though.”
“I don’t have it in me to tell him he’s aiming too high. Speaking of which,” Twilight’s voice gaining a harder edge now, “you’re sure we shouldn’t make some kind of plan? You’re sure we’re not in over our heads?”
“No we’re not.” Line Space got extremely serious now. This was what he had been thinking about for the past two hours. Red Pen only had his rage though. He had proven time and again that he was resourceful in how he satisfied his rage but in the end he was always consumed by his need to get his target. “He has a massive advantage in the fact that he’s merciless and fearless. That is coupled with arrogance, hatred, and a one-track mind. He wants me and he will hurt those who get close to me. If we go after him he’ll come after me.”
“How can you be so sure?” This wasn’t her questioning his reasoning. After all, Line Space had been Red Pen’s prison for years and he had attacked Spike without any connection to him except for Spike’s association with Twilight. Fluttershy was different, marked by his destruction of the library. She had been random, Spike had been a surprise.
“I’m his target. If we go after him he won’t be able to help himself but to come after me and that is when he will find out how much trouble he’s in. Just a moment too late.”