//------------------------------// // Chapter Nine // Story: Hearts of Class II: Lights of Love // by ImAPonyXY //------------------------------// Redemption Spike went into the bathroom and opened the small closet; in there were some bed sheets and a pillow. Both of them the colour white. He brought them into the living room where Lyvia was still standing. “Here.” he threw the sheets and pillow at her. “I’m going to make dinner. Do you have an allergies?” Lyvia shook her head and began to set the couch up like a bed, “I’ll just eat whatever you make.” she spoke in a quiet and nervous tone still. “Okay.” Spike replied simply and went into the kitchen. He began to search through the fridge and pantry and gathered pretty much anything he thought would go well together; he had no idea what he was going to cook. “What are you going to cook? If you d-don’t mind me asking.” Lyvia asked cautiously; she didn’t want to push her luck and seem annoying. “Stew... or Soup... or anything.” he replied without even looking at her. “So you don’t know?” she was sceptical but she tried not letting it evident within her voice. He nodded. “Whatever happens, happens.” he glanced at her, “Now why don’t you go read a book or something? You know, away from here.” Lyvia hesitated for a few seconds before moving out of the kitchen and into the bathroom. However, she stops herself at the door and looks a Spike again. “Can I have a shower?” “Might as well, I don’t like foul smells in my house.” he replied coldly. Lyvia took this directly as an insult and even though she would rather be a pushover than some heartless bitch, she still didn’t want to be someone worthless. The words of what Spike said ticked her over. “HEY!! Don’t you dare treat me like this and expect Sweetiebelle to fucking take you back!” she yelled and slammed the door behind her as she entered the bathroom. She then turned on the hot water, stripped naked and got in. She would wash herself with the small bar of soup until she became clean. Meanwhile though, Spike was still standing in the kitchen with these words echoing throughout his head. She was right, he was being an asshole to her, he was treating her as nothing less than a worthless pushover that he pretended to feel sorry for. This wasn’t like him, it wasn’t like him at all and he couldn’t stand to realise this. He had to change his attitude. He came to the conclusion that as soon as Lyvia left that bathroom that he would sit down with her and get some answers. He would ask her why she acted the way she did. But not only would he ask questions, he would also apologise to her, he needed too. He was loyal and nice and he was denying both traits. For now though, he would continue cooking. He had filled a pot up with water and after a few minutes of placing the pot over an open flame the water began to boil. Once it did, and the water was boiling, he began to cut up some potatoes. Once he had done that, he had about two cut up potatoes, which was about twenty-four slices, which he poured into the pot. He then decided to chop up some carrots. He grabbed two carrots and small, sharp; knife to begin cutting them into small circles. When he had finished he was able to pour quite a lot of pieces in, which was well over forty. He continued cutting up various other fruits and vegetables such as tomato, cucumber, pumpkin and onion. He then waited for them to properly boil before he added an entire pack of cubed pork slices and poured a bag of stock as well. He then began to stir and slowly add seasoning, which included of Salt, Pepper, Tyme, Rosemary and Chilli. To be honest, Spike had no idea what he was cooking but it smelled extremely good. At that moment, Lyvia walked out of the bathroom wearing only a towel wrapped around her and she was looking around frantically with a very worried expression on her face, which Spike noticed all too clearly. “What’s wrong, Lyvia?” he asked softly. “I accidently splashed my clothes with water and now they’re soaked...” she admitted and blushed slightly. He sighed and chuckled slightly, “don’t worry, I’ll grab you some clothes that’ll probably fit someone as small as you.” he put down the wooden spoon and went up stairs to search through his drawers to see if he could find any of his old clothes that he hadn’t thrown out. “Ah hah!” he shouted as he found as slim pair of grey jeans and a fairly small black shirt. “Here, catch.” he warned as he threw the jeans and shirt down at her. It was then that he noticed that the shirt might be too big for her, but that didn’t really matter anyway. “Th-thank you, Spike.” she called back and entered the Bathroom to get changed. This move of kindness would not be unnoticed by Lyvia; which made her curious as to why he would do something like this after acting the way he did before. Was he feeling guilty or was he just finally trying being nice to her and making up with Sweetiebelle? Spike went back down stairs and on his way to the kitchen Lyvia left the bathroom. “Spike?” she asked, “can we talk?” “Uhh sure... but can it wait until I’ve finished cooking? It shouldn’t take too much longer.” Spike asked with a small smile upon his face, he was determined to show her kindness, as he did feel bad for what he did. “Oh umm yeah. Sure thing....” she replied and sat down upon a leather chair. Spike was right, the black shirt was way to big for her, but it suited her and her small, feminine body. Within the half hour, Spike had finished cooking what he liked to call soup. Although whether or not it was actually soup was debatable. On the plus side though, it smelled delicious and the herbs and spices seemed to give it a lot of flavour. He scooped up the meal into two bowls and placed a spoon in each bowl before he placed the food down in front of them on the table. “Eat up.” Spike said as he began to scoop up a spoonful’s into his mouth; he was starving. Lyvia nodded and began to eat too, but she was still restless to speak with him; it was urgent. “Hey Spike?” she spoke and got his attention. “Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?” she asked curiously; she knew how stubborn dragons could at times. Spike put his spoon down and faced her, “Because, I can’t possible hope to make up with Sweetiebelle without befriending you again, and to do that, I sort of need to be nice to you.” he explained. “I guess so... but is that really the only reason?” she glared at him in disbelief. “Well no, I don’t like being mean to people. It’s not my nature.” Lyvia looked down in shame, “I don’t know what my nature is...” she said blankly. “Well if you want, we can try and figure it out after dinner, how about that?” Spike offered; he didn’t want something like this to chew away at the mind of a friend. “Really?” Lyvia asked, again in disbelief. Spike nodded. “That would be great.” she replied with glee. After that, the two of them both ate their bowl of soup-stew quickly in order for them to talk. By the time they finished, it was already 7 pm and Spike placed the two bowls and spoons in the sink so that he could wash them later. He then walked back into the main area and sat on the couch next to Lyvia who had set it up to be a bed. “Is it alright if I ask you a few questions before you begin to ask me?” he asked; not wanting to seem rude. “Yeah, of course... I think I need to explain myself for my actions...” she admitted but felt ashamed at the same time. “Great.” Spike spoke confidently and looked at her hopefully. “Alright, first question. You said that you were part of the Black Apple Gang... why?” Lyvia hesitated before answering, usually, her first instinct would be to lie and cover up anything bad that she had done, however, she was trying to change and be a better person. To do that, she couldn’t lie to her friends when she needed their trust. “Well I...” she began to explain. “After my family was dead, I couldn’t go anywhere so I had to live in the streets... A few weeks later a man comes up to me and offers me a helping hand in exchange for joining his gang... I didn’t even know what I was getting in to until about a month later when guards started to stop and ask me questions... I left before the ritual...” “Ritual? What ritual?” “The ritual to turn you into a demon... every Senior Gang Member is a different kind of demon, you have to be there for over a year though and the powers are extremely dangerous...” she explained. Spike immediately remembered the demonic figure that killed Silver Blaze’s entire elite team. He was a Black Apple Gang Member; he must’ve gone through the ritual, which would explain his sudden powers. “Is that why they wear cloaks to cover themselves completely?” “Yeah, but also just to conceal themselves from anything or anyone really... They tend to like not getting caught.” Spike stopped to think of what he was going to ask next, then he remembered about the annoying and brutish senior he uncounted at Canterlot School for Equestria’s Gifted who miraculously survived a stab to the neck. Did he possess demonic powers too, or was it something else? “What about that senior in Canterlot, is he part of the gang too?” Lyvia nodded simply, “He and I were friends, until I decided to leave and he began to hunt me down. I bested him every time we got into a fight and he then tried to keep his distance... but he’s not very smart.” “Is that why he was able to survive the...” “Yes.” Lyvia cut Spike off with a simple and dull answer. “Is there anything else you need to know?” “Yeah, why did you adopt a different personality?” he wondered curiously. “Because in order to remain undetected, and as well to keep my secrets kept hidden, I needed to not be so easy to predict. The Lyvia that the gang knew was a happy yet quiet girl. But the one that they had to find was a quiet, brave and mysterious brute. I also, didn’t know how to act when I first met you and Sweetiebelle, so I had to go along with what I was acting.” “It’s a good thing that we only knew you for a week and not for longer. Otherwise I would have felt a lot more threatened... and... I’m sorry for yelling at you by the way, It’s not like me...” he apologised softly and smiled a little; he understood her reasons for joining the gang and he did trust her now. Hopefully she would trust him back too. “It’s alright Spike, I would be mad too if I discovered my new friend deceived me.” she accepted his apology and returned him an equally warm and soft smile. The two of them sat in a sort of awkward silence for the next few moments, wondering if it would be a good idea to bring up their next planned discussion. Eventually, Spike opened his mouth and blurted out the first things that came to mind. “So do you want to talk about who you are?” he asked quickly and a little nervously. “No. I’ve been thinking to myself for a little bit, and I know who I am now. I’m me, a girl who cherishes her friends and who would fight for their well being. But I’m also soft and shy, who needs to be protected from things I can’t physically fight. I’m a teenage girl who has only one skill, and that is to fight, and that is what my life revolves around.” she clarified and blushed slightly, “but I’m only young, and I’ll probably change like a caterpillar changes into a butterfly.” Spike just sat there and smiled at her, taking in every word she said. What she said was beautiful and inspiring; he loved the way she described both her strengths and weaknesses and what her life revolved around. “So is that what you were like when you had a... you know... a family?” he asked politely. “Yeah... well, not the fighting part... but as I said, I will change.” she smiled at him and yawned. “I’m going to go to sleep now. And yes, I am aware that it is only 7.30.” “Okay.” he stood up, “Well sleep well.” “Yeah, you too,” she replied, and before closing her eyes she said one more thing, “Oh and you should probably put a shirt on.”