//------------------------------// // Chapter Five // Story: The Purest Amethyst // by BOM //------------------------------// Sweetie Belle cringed away as Spike belted through the wall. Hearing it was still enough to make her flinch. A prod from Scootaloo brought her attention back to Spike and the wall, or much rather the lack of one. Where a pristine wall had once stood, barring any hope of escape, now was a gaping hole. Bits of rubble littered the area and a cloud of dust rose from the debris. Sweetie Belle started over towards the hole, waving away as much of the dust cloud as she could. Entering the mouth of the hole she spotted Spike lying face down on the floor. Dread swept over her, draining all the colour from her coat. Standing over Spike she didn’t know what to do. Why haven’t we done crusading in doctoring? Sweetie Belle shuffled her hooves nervously looking around for anything that could help her. The room seemed to be somepony’s living room. A sofa and an armchair stood facing each other with a small square wooden table in between them, family portraits hung on the wall; but she couldn’t see anything of use. Apple Bloom and Scootlaoo joined her, each one looked at Spike just as helplessly as she did. Tears started to swell under Sweetie Belle’s eyes. He came to help us, it shouldn’t have been him. She placed her hoof on Spike’s shoulder. “Spike?” she whispered. “Spike? Come on. You gotta get up.” Desperation had crept into her voice. “Spike, we gotta go.” Tears began to well up inside her. “SPIKE!” Sweetie Belle looked up to the heavens, tears streaming down her face. “SOMEPONY! ANYPONY! Help…” Sweetie Belle felt like the Changelings were feeding on her again. Moving over she laid down next to Spike, huddling close so their bodies touched. The dragon let out a soft groan. “Spike!” Sweetie Belle’s voice cracked in delight. The purple dragon pushed himself up to a sitting position. Dust covered him from head to tail, his left side was covered in small bruises and across his chest lay a faint diagonal emerald scar, reaching from his waist up to his right shoulder. What struck Sweetie Belle however was Spike’s eyes, behind the innocent green burned a fire, wild and savage. Spike gave a humongous burp. As he did so, a stream of green mist escaped his mouth before dissipating into the air, the fire in his eyes died. “Remind me not to do that again.” Sweetie Belle threw herself on Spike, wrapping her hooves around his neck, giving his cheek a small nuzzle. She held on for a couple more seconds before releasing him. Spike’s cheeks had a slight tint of red to them and he was having trouble meeting her eyes. “Um, thanks,” Spike said seeming embarrassed. Sweetie Belle smiled. She turned back to her friends, Scootaloo tilted her head to one side and looked at Sweetie Belle with utter confusion, whereas Apple Bloom was looking back and forth from Sweetie Belle to Spike. She finally turned her full attention to Sweetie Belle her eyebrows raised accusingly and a sly smile painted on her face. Sweetie Belle wiped away the tears under her eyes. “What?” Apple Bloom’s eyebrows raised higher and she tilted her head towards Spike, Sweetie Belle followed her gaze. The Purple dragon still wasn’t looking at her and his cheeks seemed to be turning crimson. “What?!” Sweetie Belle cracked at Apple Bloom. “Nothin’” Apple Bloom wore a grin on her face like she knew something Sweetie Belle didn’t. “Don’t worry Scoot, and quit starin’” She clopped the Pegasus over the head who still had the dumb confused look on her face. “We need to move.” Spike had recovered from Sweetie Belle’s affection assault and was now standing. "Why? You and Sweetie dealt with those Changelings.” Scootaloo made some punching motions imitating the battle. “One got away, and he’ll be back with more.” The thought of another encounter sent shivers down Sweetie Belle’s spine. “So what we’all gonna do?” Spike looked around the room, taking in its architecture. “These old houses have secret panic rooms from the Nightmare war, if we can find it then we can hide there until the Changelings are beaten.” “What are panic rooms?” asked Sweetie Belle. “They were first made when Nightmare Moon tried to take over. The idea was that if she ever attacked, then ponies could go hide in their panic rooms until the battle was over. They were hidden and protected by powerful magic.” “How we gonna find it?” “Don’t worry about that, you three stay here.” Spike wore a small smile and with that he dashed into the other room leaving Sweetie Belle and her friends alone. A few moments later he was back with a large grin on his face. “Found it.” Sweetie Belle followed Spike with the rest of the crusaders through the kitchen and upstairs. The rest of the house had the same charm the living room had. If it hadn’t been so dark, Sweetie Belle would have called it homely. She thought back to her home, in Ponyville, with Rarity. “Spike?” “Yeah Sweetie. I-I mean yeah Sweetie Belle,” Sweetie Belle gave Spike confused look as his cheeks turned red again. “Is my Sister alright?” Her ears flopped to her side and her head hung low. Spike seemed to pause in thought for a moment. “Sure she is, she’s with Twilight.” This did little to boost Sweetie Belle’s morale. Sensing his failure Spike continued. "In fact I bet that they have the Elements of Harmony right now and are kicking some Changeling butt.” Spike gave the air a good kick. Sweetie Belle couldn’t help giggling at Spike making a fool of himself. “You sure?” “I know it. And I’m sure Apple Jack is right there with them,” Spike said, loud enough so that Apple Bloom could hear. “Thanks Spike.” Sweetie Belle bumped her flank against Spike causing him to blush again. “Do-don’t mention it.” The four of them arrived at a grandfather clock. Its wood was clean and smooth, no splinters, no damp. The golden numbers shone as if they had just been polished and the hands ticked by unhindered by the passing of time. “Here we are,” Spike stated matter-of-factly. Spike opened the clock case, much rather than revealing a maze of cogs and moving parts, instead was another door with a silver key hole. Spike knelt down inside the clock. Sweetie Belle moved closer so she could better see what he was doing. Spike took in a small breath and held it; after a few seconds he whistled out a stream of green magic into the key hole. A series of clicks echoed from the door as if thousands of tiny locks unhooked on the other side. The door crept open, its absence showing a long dark tunnel with unlit torches hanging on the walls at regular intervals. Sweetie Belle could only see about three torches down before the tunnel was swallowed by darkness. “Are you sure about this Spike?” Sweetie Belle couldn’t help it, something about the tunnel scared her. The dragon took her hoof in his claw giving it a small squeeze. To Sweetie Belle’s surprise his claw wasn’t rough or hard, but gently encased her hoof in a wave of warmth as its smooth surface made her skin tingle. She looked at Spike’s face, his smile sent a flush of warmth through her body, dispelling all fear and doubts she had. Sweetie Belle turned to look at the floor as she felt her cheeks getting hot. Spike led the crusaders into the tunnel. He let go of Sweetie Belle, which she was embarrassingly sad about. Spike shut the door and whistled into the key hole again, a series of clicks told Sweetie Belle that the door had locked itself. The pitch black of the room was flooded by a wave of light as Spike lit up one of the torches. Taking it in his claw Spike led them down the tunnel. Unlike the clock, the tunnel had seen better days, its walls were covered in damp moss and cracks in the brickwork challenged Sweetie Belle’s judgement as to whether the tunnel was stable. Sweetie Belle bounced around a puddle which shone an eerie green. The tunnel opened up into a square room which had been carved out of rock. It was no bigger than Sweetie Belle’s bedroom. The only decorations were cobwebs and moss which hung on the wall. Two long slabs of stone formed benches on either side of the room and in the corner sat a bucket, which Sweetie Belle decided not to question. A chill wind swept around the room causing Sweetie Belle’s coat to stand on end. “Where are we?” Sweetie Belle whispered. “We’re in Canterlot Mountain,” Spike stated. “There are approximately two thousand of these rooms throughout the mountain, each one dedicated to a different house.” “How do you know so much Spike?” Spike placed the torch in a holder on the wall before taking a seat on the slab furthest from the bucket. Sweetie Belle sat next to him, followed by Apple Bloom and Scootaloo who sat next to her. “Twilight’s home schooling,” sighed Spike. “She made me write a 2000 word essay on ‘How did the Nightmare War affect the citizens of Equestria?’” “What did you get?” “Sorry?” “What grade did you get?” “Oh um, B+.” “Are you two serious!?” shouted Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle jumped, puzzled at her friends outburst. “Changelings are attacking, we’re trapped in a cold damp dark cave and you two are talking about ‘School Work’,” she spat the last bit with utter disgust. Sweetie Belle looked at the floor, feeling embarrassed and ashamed. What’s wrong with me? My sister and her friends are out there right now fighting Changelings and here I am talking about school. She gave herself a small kick. “Maybe you three should get some shut eye,” suggested Spike. “Why y’all say that?” “It’s just you three have been through a lot today, and maybe it would be for the best if you slept through the rest of it.” Sweetie Belle turned to Spike. “But what about you?” “Prfff me? I’ll be fine,” Spike waved away the accusation, “besides someone has to be awake so we know when it’s over.” “I guess.” “But I’m not even tired.” As soon as Scootaloo said it she gave off the biggest yawn. Even Sweetie Belle had to admit that all the events of the last hour were starting to catch up with her. All her energy seemed to disappear and all her limbs became a lot heavier. Her eyelids began drooping. “Maybe just a short nap won’t do no harm,” said Apple Bloom as she closed her eyes. “I guess not.” Scootaloo quickly joined her. Shivering, Sweetie Belle huddled closer to Spike. The dragon flinched at first but then as Sweetie Belle nuzzled up against him he nervously wrapped his arm around her. His warm scales brushing up against her coat made Sweetie Belle tingle from head to hoof. She looked up into the dragon’s large green emeralds. “Is everything going to be alright?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Do you trust me?” Spike gave her a reassuring smile. Sweetie Belle smiled, letting her head rest against the stone and allowing her eyelids to droop. “I trust you.” Everything’s going to be alright. The moment her eyes were closed Sweetie Belle fell fast asleep.