//------------------------------// // This Disaster // Story: It's All Downhill From Here // by B_25 //------------------------------// Spike waddled his way down the gravel path that led to his home, letting out deep sighs and other sounds projecting aloud his disappointment at the recently transpired events. The only audience to his depressing show of emotion, however, were the occasional squirrels or blowing leaves that saw fit to cross his path. No such comfort or understanding would come from them. Finally finding his way back to his home, he merely plodded his way through the front door, making no effort to close it behind him, wipe his feet, or greet the ecstatic Twilight that was waiting for him. “So, Spike, how did it go?” she asked, beaming at him. “Meh,” he replied, slumping his way to the stairs. “Um, Spike? Is everything… alright?” “Meh.” Twilight’s face took a one-hundred and eighty degree turn and morphed into an annoyed frown. “Alright, Spike, tell me what’s up. You’ve been waiting a long time for today.” Before he could take another step up the stairs, he was suddenly yanked back down to the living room by Twilight’s magic, and tossed onto the couch. “C’mon, Twilight. I just wanna go back to bed,” he whined. “I can hear my blankets calling for me. They’re so much nicer than the cruel world of fate and misfortune that awaits outside the front door.” Twilight rolled her eyes and took a seat next to Spike. “Spike, tell me what’s wrong. Please? You can’t just hide under your covers until all your problems go away.” “Why not? It sounds like a good plan to me.” “Because, unfortunately, life doesn’t work like that. Now, I take it something went wrong today?” Spike let out another deep sigh, and decided that fate had decreed he and his bed would be kept separate for the rest of the day. “Yeah, you could say that.” “What happened? Did you get put with someone you didn’t want to?” Twilight asked. “Yeah. Well, kind of,” Spike replied. “What do you mean, ‘kind of’?” “Well, it’s not that I don’t like her, it’s just that I don’t know her. And the challenge this year is going to be a scavenger hunt based entirely on teamwork and getting to know your team member.” “Oh…” Twilight replied. “Well, who was it? Maybe I can help?” “Cloudchaser.” Twilight had to think for a moment before she remembered the mare he was referring to. “Oh, you mean the pegasus with the spiky white mane?” “Yeah, that’s the one,” Spike said. “So, what’s wrong with her? She’s really nice. Kind of quiet from what I’ve seen, but nice. What's the big issue?" "The issue is that I wanted to actually be with someone I knew, and could maybe have a chance of winning with, and could at least have fun competing with. Now its just gonna be awkweird," Spike said, slumping his head into his palm. "Awkweird?" "Awkward and weird put together. I mean, I don't even know anything about her! What if she's prejudice against dragons? Or maybe she's a spy put it solely to undermine my efforts to win?" Twilight facehoofed at the direction Spike was taking the conversation. "Spike, I highly doubt that's the case. Besides, you've talked to Cloudchaser before, when we were measuring wing power for all the pegasi, remember?" Spike scratched his chin. " Oh yeah... But I'm still not convinced." "Look, Spike, you'll be fine. Besides, maybe you'll even become friends after this whole thing. The games aren't til next week, so you have until then to get to know about her." "I guess. She seemed nice enough, I suppose. And I guess I should consider myself lucky considering Dash got paired with Trixie." "Oh no. I think I'm going to increase Rainbow's personal injury insurance premium tonight." "Yeah, that won't be pretty," Spike chuckled. "Yeah, so don't count yourself out. I bet you and Cloudchaser will get along great." "I don't know, Twilight. Something tells me this is gonna be a disaster." ***** "This is going to be a disaster," Cloudchaser said, slumping into her couch. "Oh, come on, sis. It isn't that bad," Flitter said, nuzzling into the seat next to Cloudchaser. Cloudchaser pouted and glared at her sister. "Sure, says the pony who got put with the best stallion there." Flitter rolled her eyes and socked her sister in the shoulder. "Oh my gosh, Cloud. Thunderlane is not the best stallion. You just have the hots for him, and you're jealous." Cloudchaser blushed and turned her eyes to the floor. "I'm not jealous, I'm just-" "You're jealous," Flitter said, cutting her off. "Don't even try to deny it. But, if you want my opinion, you lucked out getting Spike." The elder sister cocked her head. "Spike? Why?" "Because hes a dragon. He's smart, he can see in the dark, he has claws and he's really tough just by nature." Cloudchaser pondered over what her sister said, and realised she made very valid points. But, he was no Thunderlane. "I guess, but still... I don't know anything about him. What if he's really obnoxious or something." "Sis, shut up. I'm obnoxious, and you put up with me. And besides, you've got all week to get to know him. I'm sure you'll get along just fine. He seems really nice. Nicer than Thunderlane for sure," Flitter said with a frown. "Fine,whatever you say. Just, don't expect me to be overly happy about this" Cloudchaser said, collapsing into her seat. "You? Being happy or in a generally good mood? I wouldn't dream of it!" Flitter teased. "You need to lighten up. I mean, for all you know, you and Spike could get to be good friends by the end of this. I mean, wasn't the purpose of having random teams to be that we could learn to get along with new ponies?" "Yeah, I guess so." "Exactly. Who know? You might even like him more than you know who." Flitter elbowed her sister with a sly wink. "Yeah, sure, whatever," she said, rising to her hooves and escaping down the hall towards her room. "Look, I'm going back to bed. Sometimes I feel like my pillow is the only one who understands me." "You know, maybe you'd have more friends if you weren't in a love affair with your bed" Flitter called after her. ***** "Maybe you'd have an easier time making friends if you didn't live under your blankets!" Twilight called out after the dragon who was meandering his way up the stairs. "Meh, I'd rather have my blankets than friends any day," he mumbled aloud. "At least blankets keep you warm and safe from the plagues of the outside world." After crawling into the safety and comfort of his bed, Spike laid there and let his mind drift to the events that had transpired, and how things were going to turn out. Ergh, so not fair. Then again, at least I didn't get paired with Trixie. But why Cloudchaser? She's one of the only ponies I don't know. And now I'm gonna have to work with her for this entire week! Spike buried his head in his pillow and let his disappointment simmer down for a moment. All in all, things might not be too bad if he thought about it. Alright, Spike, let's stop whining and look at some pros to the situation. For one, she's a pegasus and very athletic at that. So flying around hopefully won't be a problem. Two, as Twilight said, she seems nice. Number three... she's kind of cute. Not that it means anything, of course, but it's always nice to have some extra icing on the cake. Rolling the ideas around, Spike felt a little better about the situation. It wasn't remotely perfect, or ideal even, but maybe things would work out. Especially considering they would be starting training first thing the next day.