//------------------------------//
// 10. Spike: The Empty Spaces 
// Story: Rise of Ponietheus 
// by twitterdick 
//------------------------------//

	The group had only been walking for a while, but, still, it felt like hours for Spike. Pinkie Pie was at the front with that flashlight in her mouth. It didn't help much beyond illuminating mere inches in front of her, but she kept it pin-pointed to the ground. It was as if she was counting the tiles. Rainbow Dash and Rarity followed behind her and they conversed among themselves. Spike couldn't make much of what they said.
Twilight Sparkle was in the middle; earmuffs, eyes closed, head down - like she was entranced. Spike was worried. Before, she was violent and seizing; now, quiet. He didn't understand. He didn't get how earmuffs would prevent her from hearing whatever had caused her trouble. He sighed. Things had gotten far above his head with this whole alicorn business. 
He walked along with the commander in the back. He had figured this would be the best configuration. He didn't mind being the rear guard. It made him feel like a real soldier.
It seem lighter than it had before. He could make out the damped silhouettes of buildings, street signs and other oddments. Maybe it was just that his eyes were adjusting. He kept most of his attention on Twilight. It was strange how she followed suite with her eyes closed.
Protean Joy caught on.
"It's the strangest thing," he said, "Alicorns do that. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to the throne room and Princess Celestia is just sitting there like she's sleeping. No matter how quiet I try to be, she always catches on. She always knows it's me."
"I don't get it," Spike said, "I hate that I don't know what's happening to her."
"You've known her your whole life?"
"Yeah, she hatched me from an egg. It was a test. After that, Princess Celestia made Twilight her star pupil." Spike shrugged. "Did you mean what you said back there with Twilight being Princess Celestia's 'ace in the hole?' Like, what if I'm a part of that?"
Protean Joy sighed. He frown a bit like he regretted ever speaking. "No, it's not like that. I mean, you're not some tool to be used and thrown away. No, it's bigger than that. Twilight's important and she needs somepony like you, I think."
Spike cocked his head. "What do you mean?"
Protean Joy motioned his head up towards Pinkie Pie. "That book the pink one's got," he said, "That's a thick book. The cover's made of manticore leather. That stuff is old, hard to obtain and dense. You're a third my size and you tore a hole through that like it was toilet tissue. You're powerful, Spike."
"'Powerful,' huh?" Spike said meekly. No, he didn't think so. He'd cried twice in just the last few hours. No, powerful beings never cried, never slept in too late, never let ponies carry them to safety.
Spike was quiet for a while. He stared at the ground and was careful to avoid puddles of blackness Twilight's barrier missed. A question itched inside him and he did his best to ignore it. No, that just made it burn worse. Spike sighed. "Can… can I speak with you on the level?" he asked, "Y'know, guy to guy?"
Protean Joy nodded. "Of course…"
Spike swallowed and neared the commander's ear. He needed to know nopony else could hear. "I'm really scared," Spike whispered, "I need to stop being scared, but I can't help it. Then Twilight sees me cry… doesn't take me seriously. I want to stop crying."
Protean Joy laughed softly.
Spike pouted. "See what I mean!?" he said, "You don't take me seriously either."
"No, no," Protean Joy said, "It's not that. I mean, if you didn't want to cry, you wouldn't. You just don't want others to see you cry because they've been telling you all your life that feeling things makes you weak. Feeling things doesn't mean you're weak. It means you're alive inside. It means you're a living, breathing thing. It means something matters to you. Letting your feelings rule you, though - letting them make your decisions and compromise your values…That makes you weak. Weak ponies stare straight at a truth as plain as day and just ignore it because it doesn't reinforce their perspective, it doesn't meet their needs. They find themselves doing terrible things without even realizing it. Weak ponies don't see two feet in front of them. You're not weak, Spike. You're just young. When you're old, like me, you'll understand."
"C'mon," said Spike, "You're not that old…"
"I feel it, though," said Protean Joy, "You're young, Lord Spike. You can only see ahead. Once you can only look back - that's when you're old."
Spike shifted the commander's words about in his head. No, he didn't think that crying compromised his values. What where his values, he wondered? Maybe Protean Joy could help him in that department.
"Hey, Mr. Protean Joy? What, um, what are my 'values?'"
"Only you can decide that, Spike."
"Oh."
Spike frowned like a kid. The answer he got wasn't what he wanted.
"Um," he said, "Could I ask you what your values are?"
"Loyalty. Honor. Respect…" Protean Joy said. He paused, then frowned himself - like he didn't like his answer. "No, no, those are virtues…"
He was quiet for a bit. Spike shrank in on himself a bit, but at least he wasn't the only one stumped by the question.
Protean Joy breathed in, then out again. "I value… the lives of others more than my own. I value everypony's opportunity to lead a safe, comfortable life. So, I gave up my claim to such and became a member of the Royal Guard. I wanted to protect ponies. I wanted ponies to see me and feel safe. I wanted-"
Protean Joy thought. He looked at Spike a bit then relented. "…I wanted a fight," he said softly. 
"A fight?"
"Yeah," said Protean Joy. He face seemed almost juvenilely eager. "I wanted a real good one. I wanted one to make me feel like I've done something meaningful. ...I'm tired of just sitting around protecting a princess nopony wants to attack."
Spike raised his brow. "What are you talking about? Lots of folks have been attacking Princess Celestia - Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis-"
"I know, I know," Protean Joy said, "But before then… Before Nightmare Moon, before you lot were put together - Nothing. No changelings, no Discord, not even the bloody griffons, nopony was against us. Not in my time, anyway. But now…"
"Now what?"
Protean Joy gritted his teeth. Spike was under his skin now. He sighed and relented again. "But Princess Celestia points Princess Twilight Sparkle in the right direction, and suddenly you lot are the element bearers and you bag Nightmare Moon, Discord and Queen Chrysalis in just under two years. Where are all these bad guys coming from? I mean, a thousand years of relative nothing and suddenly monsters are popping out of the woodwork. There's too much correlation."
"Oh, and Sombra too!"
Protean Joy cocked his head. "What on earth's a 'Sombra?'"
Spike frowned. "A big jerk that got what was coming to 'im."
"Ha! Don't they always?"
"Hmm, Nightmare Moon is reformed… Discord too," Spike said, "That's interesting."
Protean Joy nodded. "That's very interesting."
They both frowned a bit - talking in hushed voices right behind Princess Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's ace in the hole. Odds are the ladies up front overheard. Spike looked at Twilight. She seemed entranced, captivated. How could he protect her from whatever made her seize? It wasn't a 'thing' he could interact with. Protean Joy nudged him gently.
"She's a good one, from what little I've seen of her," he said, smiling.
Spike nodded. "She's the best pony I know…" 
Spike frowned. He didn't suppose he had any role in Princess Celestia's supposed master plan. He wasn't even an element bearer. Protean Joy looked over him a bit. He affably nudged him again, shoulder to shoulder. He brought his head down to Spike's level.
"You must protect her, Spike," he said, "Nopony is better suited to be her sentinel. I think she's going to need you more and more."
Spike smiled to himself. A lukewarm batch of pride flickered within him. The tips of his fingers stung a bit like growing pains, and he fidgeted.
Protean Joy looked admirably down at him again, like he had when they first met. He brought his head down to Spike's level.
"Will you ever abandon her?" he asked in a goading manner.
Spike scowled and shook his head. "Never."
"Good lad."
Spike was quiet a bit. A question roasted on the tip of his tongue, but he held it - afraid it would offend. He breathed out. Well, what would be the worst that would happen.
"Would you abandon her, commander?"
Protean Joy seemed struck by the question. A pallet of dread burst in Spike's gut. He bit his lip and hoped he hadn't upset Protean Joy. The commander briefly smiled at him, but noticeably closed up some.
"If it could be helped, no."
Spike nodded. "Then you have my permission to guard her."
Protean Joy laughed. He was quiet for a while with his eyes darting around. He walked like something was always sinking into him. He smiled at Spike - a genuine smile. It was the most emotion Spike had seen him convey that day.
"Thank you," he said.   

---

The group soon gathered atop a steep hill above Sweet Apple Acres. It was sordid now, like a phantom. A malign breeze drifted through dim trees, rustling the leaves. It circled the barrier above them, testing it. The soft rain trickled upon the beaten, quiet earth as well as the barrier itself. It was a soft, terrible music. It was very quiet. Spike frowned. It almost didn't look real, like a painting.
They descended the hill quietly, down onto a path into the apple trees. The branches loomed over them. The farm was much darker than the town. Twilight Sparkle had opened her eyes again. They paused as they passed further into the tree line.
"Has the blackness seeped into the ground, Pinkie?" Rarity asked.
Pinkie Pie set her flashlight down so it would light up the dirt before them. She bent her head down to look and the eclectic puddles. She squinted. "No, I don't think so," she said, "The puddles look like they're just sitting on top. Y'know, like when you spill water on a wood table? It's just sitting there, not sinking in."
"Are you absolutely sure, Pinkie?" said Rainbow Dash, "The last thing we need is black mud…" 
"Well, you look at it then!" Pinkie Pie snapped.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and bent her head down like Pinkie's. Spike scooted past Twilight and looked for himself as well. Sure enough, a puddle just outside the barrier sat in such a way that it seemed to protrude from the earth - like it was repelled by it. Rain that made contact with the ground crawled along it and settled into smaller puddles. No, normal rain did not behave like this - not even when the pegasi didn't put it together correctly.
"Hey, let's get going," Twilight Sparkle said, "Princess Luna could contact me at any moment, and we'd sure be sorry if it happened out here. Applejack's house isn't too far from here."
At that, they continued. The house was only a few feet before them. Its familiar shape stood stoically in the distance.
Then, a blackened silhouette appeared crumpled upon the mud just before the porch. It trembled and sobbed, curled up upon itself.
"Oh no… No, no, no…" said Twilight Sparkle said. 
Spikes's heart sank. "That's Applejack, isn't it?"
There she was, their friend, cold and shivering in the rain.
"We… we're too late," Rarity said. She trembled. "No, if anypony could weather this thing, it should've been Applejack..." 
Twilight's ear flickered, and she twitched.
"What do we do know?" said Rainbow Dash, "We can't just leave her out here…"
Spike scowled and tried not to whimper. "We have to leave her here," he said.
Rainbow Dash snapped her head back towards him and sneered. "What!?"
Rarity and Pinkie Pie looked down and were quiet.
Spike frowned. "We can't touch her," he said, "She's covered in the darkness. If we touch her, it gets on us and then the clocks ticking. I don't like it either…"
"No, there's got to be another way," Rainbow Dash said, "There's always another way!"
"We'll think inside," Protean Joy said, motioning towards the door, "She's not going anywhere."
Rainbow Dash snorted. "And who do you think you are?"
Protean Joy glared back at her. Spike looked up at him. He was angry. "I'm one who's tasked himself with your safety, Ms. Dash. Princess Luna will contact Princess Twilight Sparkle soon and we are no use to anypony if we get caught in the storm when that happens. We're going inside if I have to drag you there…"
Rainbow Dash tilted her head down and glowered at him beneath lowered brows. She drove her hoof into the dirt. "You will not," she said.
Twilight Sparkle shook her head at Rainbow Dash mournfully. She didn't speak, but she mouthed one word; enough.
Rainbow Dash caught her eyes and begrudgingly relented. She snorted. "We're not leaving here until we think of a way to get her inside."
They entered the house. Twilight seemed relieved to drop the barrier. She took her earmuffs off and placed them gently on some furniture near the door. Spike caught her look nervously at Rainbow Dash, who festered and grumbled. She glared at Protean Joy, who was stern as always. Spike snuck a somber peeked at poor Applejack outside one last time before the commander closed the door.
"So, Twilight, do you have any way of knowing when Princess Luna might contact you?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Twilight shook her head softly. "None. I just feel a woozy sting in my head then, bam; lights out."
Pinkie Pie frowned and scrunched her nose slightly. "Well, that's annoying!" she said.
Twilight Sparkle laughed slightly. "I'll say."
Rainbow Dash was sour. She quietly poked her head around corners and through doorways; scouting. She didn't seem to dare venture away.
Rarity, however, frowned and pined. "Sweetie Belle!?" she cried out into the dark, quiet house. The soft, spluttering sound of some bleak rain water sprung from a leak in the ceiling down to the floor below. The house itself retained silence. Rarity was flustered. "Oh, do you think she's in here!?"
Spike hovered about the window in the living room. It provided a keen view of Applejack outside.
Rarity whimpered. "You don't think she's somewhere outside, do you? Oh, I should've never let her out of my sight…"
Spike felt for her, but was solemn and quiet. He turned from the window and looked at the floor. There, he spotted the leak and some tiny, black hoof prints.
"There!" he called, pointing out at the trail in the living room. "Watch out!"
Twilight conjured a small ball of light and illuminated the room. Sure enough, there was a leak and many hoof prints.	
"Yikes. Watch your step!" Pinkie Pie said.
"Oh no!" Rarity cried, "Are those…"
"It's okay, Rarity," Twilight said, "It'll all be okay."
Spike peered out the window again. Things weren't okay for Applejack or Fluttershy.
Rainbow Dash bent her head down and tilted it to get a perpendicular look at the puddle at the base of the leak. "Hey, it hasn't soaked into the woodwork…"
"Sweetie Belle!?" Rarity called up the stairs.
Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight. "I don't think this is water."
Rarity was indignant. "Never mind the stupid leak! Help me find my sister!"
Twilight grimaced. "Relax, Rarity, we'll look for your sister. Come with me, we'll follow the hoof prints around. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, check the other rooms downstairs and see if you find anything. Take the flashlight and watch where you step. Spike, you and the commander stay here and keep a lookout."
They all nodded and when about their tasks. Soon, it was just Spike and Protean Joy.
Spike was glued to the window. The commander eyeballed him slightly. "Something out there got your attention?" he said.
Spike peeked out the window again. He squinted his eyes and searched for Applejack. Apprehension shot through Spike then, for he saw her - laying out there in the rain. He squeezed his eyes shut and relented. Rainbow Dash would not budge and inch until Applejack was inside. He shuttered slightly, but was resound.
He had an awful idea.
Spike grit his teeth and looked grimly down at his fingers. They tingled slightly, and his heartbeat resonated in his throat. He swallowed. It was a stupid idea - a shot in the dark - but he needed to do this; needed to try; needed to make up for crying then.
No, his mind was set.
"Um, could you check up on Twilight for me? She hasn't said anything in a while and I'd like to stay up here, if, uh, if that's okay…"
Protean Joy looked at him from the corners of his eyes, but relented and sighed. He nodded. "Very well," he said.
Spike sat on the couch a while as the commander left. Then, peeking over his shoulder to assure nopony could see him, he made for the front door. He opened it carefully and peered out into the rain. It was softer now. He could see Applejack lying just beyond the porch. He shuttered and winced, but committed. He ventured out into the rain and grabbed both of her front legs. The darkness stung a cold sting as he made contact with it. His hands when numb and the sections of his back struck by the raindrops cried out in a pseudo-pain. 
He drug Applejack from the rain into the house, placed her careful beside the door then closed it slowly with his nose. The darkness, surprisingly, left no residue on wood work. Spike's hands began to shake, but he sat down by the front door and waited.
Soon enough, they reappeared. Twilight had a ghastly look about her.
"S-Spike… Spike, what have you done!?"
Spike shrunk a bit. "I'm fixing this," he said, "Applejack needed to come inside and you needed to study the darkness."
Twilight Sparkle shuttered and whimpered dreadfully. The look on her face stuck Spike and made him doubt. 
"What… what do I do?" Twilight Sparkle said.
"It's okay," Spike said. He twitched slightly, as his fingertips where going numb.
"No it isn't, Spike!! Why would you do this!?"
Spike shrunk.
"D-Does the farmhouse have running water?" Rarity said, "We could wash it off, perhaps!?"
"I'm on it!" Rainbow Dash replied, rushing into the kitchen.
"Twilight…" Spike said. His eyes caught Pinkie Pie's, who simply stood there silently alongside Protean Joy. She tilted her head and looked puzzlingly at him. He breathed out, and the frantic mutterings of Twilight Sparkle and Rarity. 
"Water works!" Rainbow Dash cried from within the kitchen. "Be careful, though, there's darkness all over the sink in here!"
"What about in the bathroom? There's a bathroom upstairs, right?" Twilight called in reply.
Rainbow Dash returned to the room and grabbed Pinkie's flashlight. "I'll check." She muttered from clenched teeth. She preceded down the hall and up the stairs, where she disappeared into the darkness.
"Twilight, enough…" Spike said.
"'Enough!?'" Twilight shouted, "Spike, do you have any idea what you've done!?"
Spike stared back at her grimly but firmly. He nodded down towards the darkness on his hands. "Twilight, you need to understand this. You. If anypony has a shot at reversing whatever this is, it's you. You don't need me. You need Applejack and Fluttershy; you need the Elements of Harmony. I can't stop the darkness, I can't take on the Harbinger and… and I can't… protect you. But I could do this. I could bring Applejack inside and I can be your test subject."
They all became quiet. Twilight swirled and swayed. The rest were just still. Protean Joy caught Spike's gaze now. His stern brow communicate disapproval, but he still nodded at Spike. Spike sighed and calmed himself.
"…You guys don't need to baby me anymore," Spike said, "I know what's going to happen - and I know it's rash and short sighed - but you can watch and listen. You can see how it happens. I had to do something, y'know? Just…don't leave me by myself, please."
Twilight grimaced. "Spike…"
"It's okay, Twilight…." Spike whispered. "It's all okay…"
Twilight looked sick. She sauntered up before him and simply sat down. She was panting. She was tired. He just stared back at her with the same look.
"I'm sorry," Twilight said wearily. She whimpered again, like she was choking up. Spike felt a sympathetic urge to cry, but he repressed it.
Twilight buried her head in her hooves. "I… You've always…"
"It's okay. You don't have to say it," Spike said. He frowned. "There's no point in crying about it. We don't know what the darkness even does. This isn't a death sentence, Twilight, it's an opportunity. If you can figure out how this darkness works then you can save me. If you can't, then I'll end up like this anyway. You're the best scientific mind we have, Twilight. You're Celestia's ace in the hole, not me."
Twilight brought her head up. "But what if we can't. What do we do then?"
Spike shook his head. "We can't think about that now. We've got to hold onto hope, right? There's always a way, isn't there?"
Twilight brought her head up from her hooves. She was a portrait of lament, but still she nodded slightly. "You're… right," she said. She looked solemnly at Rarity. "He's right, isn't he?"
Rarity was abraded and silent. She looked meekly at little Spike and frowned. She looked away then. "…There's no going back now," she said, softly. She swallowed and made for a back room.
Twilight picked herself up from her heavy slump. She smiled weakly. "I'll study you," she said.
Spike motioned his head towards where he'd left Applejack.
"You're going to have to study her, too," Spike responded. "I'm the before picture and Applejack's the after, right? You have your test subjects; Rarity and Pinkie Pie are the control."
"You're not a test subject, Spike." Twilight said reassuringly, "This is not a science experiment."
Rarity appeared from the next room bearing quills and paper. "I brought you some scratch paper. I figured you'd want to take notes."
Twilight Sparkle nodded grimly. 
Spike looked at Protean Joy. "You have to watch over her now," he said.
Protean Joy was somber.
Spike frowned sternly. "Don't you leave her side," he said.
Protean Joy's brow was stiff. He raised his head and nodded firmly. "Never."
Twilight peered back at Protean Joy. His eyes hadn't left Spikes. She looked back at the dragon - with his stern lip and watery eyes - and nuzzled his face with her nose. "You don't have to worry about me," she whispered.
Twilight peered up the stairs now. "Rarity," she said, "Could you see where Rainbow Dash got off to?"
Rarity nodded wearily. She looked at Pinkie and motioned for the stairs. "Could you come with me, darling?"
"Yeah," Pinkie Pie said.  

---

It had been a while. Both Spike and Twilight Sparkle had calmed some. She had some paper stretched out along a small writing desk Protean Joy had pushed in from the other room. The room was soporific now. Spike lay atop a quilt on the couch. The darkness didn't spread to the quilt or the couch. It was like it didn't care to, if one could equipomorphize such a thing. Twilight Sparkle had asked many questions harboring both crushing banality and paralyzing terror. Her notes seemed spread out - like she was writing down things she didn't need to.
It was simply them in the room then. Rarity and the others had vanished upstairs and Protean Joy ventured to the kitchen to fetch them some water.
Spike hated the anticipation. He hated knowing what was going to happen more.
Twilight Sparkle yawned and rested her head upon her writing desk. "I'm… so proud of you, you know?" she gleamed softly. She stretched and rubbed her eyes. "Mmm…You've been… acting so grown up. You've handled this all so… well…"
Spike fluster a bit and bit his lip. He was quiet for a few seconds. He sighed then and closed his eyes. "Hey, Twilight? …I'm terrified."
She didn't answer.
"Twilight?"
A ringing flushed in his ears. He grimaced. The macabre creaking of the derelict farmhouse ostensibly amplified. He could feel a low rumbling. The shadows scattered about the room loomed upon him, and they intensified. His breathing picked up. Spike whimpered. Twilight was asleep. He was alone. The somniferous atmosphere trickled and trembled around him.
"Twilight, wake up!" he said. 
He peered down at his hands. The darkness seemed to breathe in time with him. He found himself chuckling morbidly. His shoulders were getting tense. He felt heavy. Spike that slow, subtle rumble building up in the back of his ears. He felt sick to his stomach. 
"Oh, it's happening…" he whispered somniferously.
He was quiet, then, for a single moment. Soon, a shock of terror shot up his spine and he scrambled to act. He threw himself from the couch to floor. He couldn't stand. He was so heavy. His ears were ringing. His mouth was dry. His eyes were burning.
Spike drug himself over to Twilight's writing desk, employed the chair to pull himself up, snatched some paper and a pen, then crashed down again. On the floor, he franticly scribbled any coherent thought or observation he could. There was a terrible howling in his ears and a throbbing pain in his head. The darkness upon his body began to impulse to a slow rhythm. The surrounding area melted and twisted together in his peripheral visions as he wrote. Tears welted up in his eyes, and whimpers escaped his lips. He was terrified.
Spike tried to focus himself upon the paper in which he wrote, but the streaks of the fading room gave way to darkness, taking his paper and pen with it. He couldn't see a thing. Spike's muscles locked in place, and he sat within the darkness remaining very still. He held back tears and whimpers with everything he had. Whispers whipped around his head.
Then everything fell away; Twilight, the paper, all of it. He was alone. He swore he heard music somewhere.
He put his hands down where he thought the floor might be and felt solid. He stuck his hand out and felt for the desk. No, it wasn't there. He whimpered, but was resolute and focused on his breathing. He stuck his hands in front of his face, hoping to see anything. Nothing at first, but soon they came into focus. Soon the room came back into focus. Twilight wasn't there. The whole place seemed more arid, more dusty - like… like it had been abandoned for years.
Spike stared at his hands. They were bright purple. They were normal. His eyes seemed to pulse. His head stung again, and he heard a voice. 'All alone…'
A sullen light gleamed from the kitchen. It was like the sun, illuminating the dust in the air and flooding the night away. Spike was so heavy, but he crawled for the light. It was farther away the closer he got. 
'But where's Spike?'
Spike hurried to the best of his ability. His head felt like it was tearing away from him.
'I haven't seen him.'
"Wait…" he called out to the light. "Wait for me…"
'No choice. We have to leave him.'
His heart sank and he abraded and moaned. Tears left his eyes. The doorway was in reach, and he clasp the corner with both hands. 
'I'm not getting turned into one of those things. Not for Spike, I'm not.'
He pulled himself into the doorway and marveled.
'I have to protect you, Your Majesty, not him.'
The walls of the kitchen had fallen away. The dark clouds festered the farmhouse. In the distance, the sun baked the darkness from Ponyville and Spike's friends basked in the glow of the sun - Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, all of them. Spike screamed out at them, but they didn't hear. He crawled into the kitchen and waved his arms, but they didn't see. Their figures swirled and swayed in the light. They danced away without him. Spike pined and cried. They left. They all left. He couldn't move. The lights went out. The kitchen walls closed up. He was stuck there and they hadn't come back for him. He clasped his head in his hands and wept.
Soon, he stopped.
A calm silence came and beckoned him. The ringing was drowned out. The world he saw seemed to crack, and to draw back. Spike felt a warmth from within and he gasped. He remembered. He remembered how he'd gotten there.
"…It's not real," he said.
'Spike!? Spike, can you hear me?'