//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Dealt A Bad Hoof // by TheHooligan //------------------------------// Chapter 4: Spike desperately wished this long day would come to an end already. After waking up in a dungeon, teaming up with the one of the few ponies he had next to zero tolerance for, and just barely escaping the diamond dogs he could honestly say that he had his fill of tense situations. Alas cruel fate smiled deviously upon the tired dragon and had thrust him into his worst predicament yet. “Keep it together Spike, remember no sudden movements and wait for an opportunity.” His thoughts brought little consolation as his emerald eyes locked with the irate foe before him. Irises devoid of any hints of mercy glared right back at him, and an uncomfortable feeling that his very soul was being perceived crept all over his scaled body. Stalling for time was quickly morphing from a good idea to a fatal one as Spike realized he was just giving his opponent more time to deduce the appropriate strategy to end him. At this point any idea would do, and the purple dragon was once again going over his list of possible options. “Intimidation!” Spike flexed his claws, and narrowed his eyes hopefully making himself look more trouble than it would be worth to tangle with. No reaction besides an ever more piercing leer being focused on him. “Intensify intimidation!” Spike bared his rows of diamond munching, ruby crunching, razor sharp teeth and steady puffs of smoke escaped his nostrils. The cruel eyes widened slightly, but then a eyebrow raised and for a slight span of time Spike's show of ferocity was met with a dubious stare. “Alright Spike lookin good, keep it up and you have this in the bag... oh horse apples.” Spike's snarl faltered slightly as the questioning gaze turned to one of sudden enlightenment. A ill intentioned smirk made the dragon's blood run cold, and suddenly without warning the smell of ozone filled his nostrils. Spike tensed his muscles, and readied a mouth full of pain inducing emerald heat in case of an attack. No attack came, instead a pear that sat atop the pile of edible things Spike had managed to find levitated into the air, and drifted toward the unicorn before him. She knew exactly what he wanted, and she planned to make this as agonizing as possible for him. A loud crunch cut through the tension induced silence, and Spike flinched from the sudden sound. With no need for the flames that he had built up, Spike willed the fire to snuff itself out though the aftermath resulted with a unplanned coughing of smoke into the air. Greyish magenta eyes gazed uninterestedly at Spike, the smirk now lost in the machinations of chewing the still floating fruit. In an effort to save face Spike reached out cautiously for the food pile between them. He eyed a few mushrooms at the side of the pile that he had checked before hand to make sure they were safe to eat. Seizing them between his claws Spike blew a small flame to his hand roasting the fungi yet leaving himself unharmed thanks to the heat resistance of his scales. Another loud crunching drew his attention back to the chewing mare, and he wondered if she was purposely doing that to drive him mad. As they ate in silence Spike's thoughts drifted to the bigger predicament at hand. He had no idea where he was still, he lacked any scrolls donning the royal crest that would give him the ability to send any messages to Celestia, and to further the matter he had received none from the princess yet which meant either Twilight herself hadn't reached the princess, or he was too far out from the alicorn's circle of magical influence for any of her messages to reach him. If the ladder was true then that meant he was no longer within the borders of Equestria, another chill went down his spine at that thought. “Just how far from home am I?” His thoughts were only met by his traveling companion's continued chewing, which sparked another question. Spike's eyes riveted back to the cyan unicorn as his train of thought began to pick up momentum. If they truly were outside of Equestria's borders, what the heck was Trixie doing out in the wilderness performing for diamond dogs? So many questions, but no way of getting answers without first breaking the law of silence that had settled since his return from foraging. If this was any other pony Spike would likely be speaking his mind, and having pleasant meal time conversation. Trixie though was no other pony, she would instigate some sort of argument and he would just find himself rubbing his temples in a desperate attempt to sooth a threatening aneurism. “Argh! Just say something already whats the worse that could....” Spike already knew the answer to that, speaking first would be an admittance of defeat, of no longer being able to take the silence. As stupid, and worthless as such a victory would be, Trixie would take the greatest of delights from it, and Spike just couldn't allow such a thing to transpire at his expense. No he could handle this no matter how much he wanted to ask questions, and just hear something besides the obnoxious sound of her munching away on that hapless pear. Eyes narrowed, and willpower replenished Spike reached out for a lone daisy only for it to move out of his reach thanks to unicorn magic. With a silent growl Spike looked from the floating flower to the smirking unicorn. There was no way that had been accidental, and now he looked silly reaching out to an empty space. “What kind of sick, twisted mind could possible operate within this mare?” “Silly dragon, flowers are for foals or in this case all powerful unicorn mares.” The outraged look that sprouted on Spike's face nearly had Trixie rolling in laughter. It was even funnier that this dragon dared to hope that he could beat her at their little game. He wanted to talk that much she was certain, but he wanted her to break the silence first and that wasn't going to happen. So instead she resigned herself to merely torturing her scaled beast of burden. The quickest way to victory would be to get him mad, but the trick to it was to do so without speaking. A glance to the floating daisy beside her brought a delicious idea to her mind. “This will be fun.” Slowly the daisy floated toward Trixie, and once she was sure Spike was looking she nipped off one flower petal. “He hates me.” She could see his emerald eyes burn with frustration, at least he was smart enough to realize she was doing this purposely to annoy him. Another bite relieved a second petal from the poor plant, Trixie's eyes glinted in cruel glee. “He hates me a lot.” For kicks and giggles, Trixie faked a look of complete amazement at the taste of the flower and pretended to be blown away by it's taste. Scaled brows furrowed in anger, and Spike's eyes burned with envy. This ill spirited game continued till there was only two petals left, and as she bit off the second to last one remaining a devious idea 'dinged' within her thoughts. With a stoic face Trixie levitated the remainder of the daisy toward a now shocked looking Spike. The flower danced within reach of his snapping jaws, and she donned an apologetic smile when his green eyes jumped from the offering back to her. A full minute passed as Spike pondered whether this was a trick or not. All evidence pointed toward this being a cruel prank, and that the mare before him was actually some vile, despicable monstrosity merely disguised as an arrogant unicorn. But maybe just maybe she had felt bad for her previous actions, and was trying to apologize in her own way. The look on Trixie's face wasn't beaming with bad intentions like usual and this did seem like a lot of effort just to further infuriate him. The corners of Trixie's mouth twitched involuntarily as she watched the conflicted dragon. She could tell he was giving in, perhaps he was hoping that she was turning a new leaf or something. “Fat chance at that!” She almost giggled in glee as a defeated look flashed across the dragon's face, and his eyes gazed into hers with a hopeful gleam. As Spike opened his mouth and neared the floating daisy he dared to think that maybe traveling with Trixie might be more bearable than he first assumed. Just as his jaws began to snap together to entrap the apology gift, he noticed to his horror that Trixie was wearing a devious smirk. A fang filled mouth closed on nothing but air, and the speeding flower darted back toward it's magical puppeteer. With a vicious chomp Trixie ate the rest of the daisy, and offered a big grin toward the now fuming dragon. “Victory in three...two...one!” “Argh! I buckin knew that you were going to do that!” Spike's angered shout not only cut through the silence surrounding the two, but also caused several birds quietly roosting in the nearby trees to fly off in a panic. And just like that Spike had lost the game, pupils shrinking in realization, and a look of pure humiliation settled upon his face. A smug smile was plastered on Trixie's face as she watched the embarrassed dragon. The daisy had actually tasted exquisite, even more so thanks to the fact that Spike had wanted it to begin with, but even better than that was the sweet flavor that came with another victory. Her magenta eyes locked with his emerald green ones, and she briefly wondered if perhaps she shouldn't push him any more so than she already had. “Problem?” And within an instant the distance between them was closed, and a pair of angry green orbs glared into her own eyes now separated by only a few inches. Perhaps other ponies would have been afraid, or at least made nervous by the sight of an enraged young dragon looming right in front of them. Trixie on the other hand smiled and laughed in Spike's face at her own reply, she was enjoying this immensely. “I dislike you with great intensity right now.” Spike had meant to sound as angry and menacing as possible, but the long day had already sapped most of the fight out of him. With a long sigh Spike returned to his previous spot and settled for gathering his thoughts before speaking again. Now that the whole silence thing had been dissuaded, Spike could focus on more important things. Like awkward small talk with a pain in the flank unicorn. “So....hows the life on the road treating you?” Spike could already feel a headache coming on as Trixie laughed again and fixed a 'are you serious?' look upon her face. “...Really? That's what your gonna open up with?” “Shut up, would it kill you to have a conversation without starting a argument?” “Would it kill you to have something intelligent to say?” *Sigh* "Just humor me for a minute.” “Very well, the Great and Powerful Trixie shall try her best to listen to your babbling.” Despite wanting to smash his head into a tree due to Trixie's rudeness, Spike was glad to be doing more than sitting and eating. At least he now had a chance at getting some questions answered, despite his lack of faith in the unicorn's honesty. “Any chance that you know where we are?” “The Great and Powerful Trixie likes to just go where the wind takes her.” Spike rolled his eyes and sighed out of frustration, the light blue unicorn sure knew how to dodge around the words 'completely lost'. “So I take it that we'll be just wondering around till we either come across Equestrian borders or some sort of settlement then. How long have you been trotting around outside of Equestria anyways?” Spike was hard pressed to believe that Trixie had survived as long as she had without help from somepony, even with her magic. “A few seasons, The Great and Powerful Trixie decided some time ago that she should be exposing her unparallelled greatness to lands beyond that of simple Equestria. Trixie has seen many interesting things in her travels though nothing nearly as interesting as herself of course.” Trixie's cape began to ignore gravity's rules once again as her natural need to put on a show started to overcome her. “So you've been on the road for a few years I take it. Don't you ever get tired of traveling all the time?” Spike tried to imagine himself going to foreign lands, seeing the exotic sights of neighboring kingdoms, and the stories he would tell his friends back home when he returned. “No Trixie never tires of the life of an adventurer, the world was made for her to explore, observe, and hold an opinion of. As for the first question, a few years would be an understatement since Trixie has been living a life on the road for a long, long time.” Though her voice held its superior tone, Trixie's eyes now seemed to have trouble focusing on a single object as they darted from place to place. Even her cape began to droop lower to the ground as if her magic was some how being directly affected. As enthralling as the life of an adventurer sounded to him, Spike couldn't imagine partaking for a long period of time. He'd get homesick, would miss his friends and family, and ultimately believed that such an existence would be shrouded in loneliness. The purple dragon also found it odd that a mare like Trixie, would live this way by choice when she enjoyed making such a show of herself in front of others. “Don't you ever get lonely or miss you're friends, and family?” Spike's question sparked a sudden change in Trixie's demeanor as her uncertain eyes morphed to a steel glare, and she stomped her front left hoof onto the ground. “Never! The Great and Powerful Trixie has no need, or desire for insignificant things like friends or family!” Trixie's anger was made quite evident by the harsh tone of her voice, and the sudden displacement of objects within a hoof step of her. Random rocks, twigs, and leaves hovered in the air around her and seemed to shake in coordination with her growing fury. Spike couldn't help but gulp in unease, the piercing gaze from the agitated pony told him that he was probing a very sensitive subject. A change of topic would be vital at this moment, luckily enough Spike had an idea that would play right along with Trixie's self-promoting mind set. “S-So has the Great and Powerful Trixie made any changes to her act since the last time I had the good fortune to witness it?” Lacking the energy to clash with an irate unicorn at her possible magical peak, Spike instead hoped that a bit of ego stroking would calm the mare down. As much as he hated the idea of enabling her boastful attitude Spike lacked any alternatives that didn't end with an explosive after dinner fight to the death. “Indeed Trixie has, though she must admit to the difficulty to improving an already perfect show.” And just like that the quaking sticks, and stones fell to the earth harmlessly. Trixie's glare changed back to a familiar all knowing and superior than thou smirk as the unicorn stood to her full height and continued speaking. “As Trixie's power grows, so does the magnificence of her performance, the unmatched feats of magical excellence Trixie has at her disposal is mind-boggling. As the unicorn carried on boasting about the magnitude of her abilities, Spike already found himself missing the awkward silence. "At least then I could hear myself think.” The dragon couldn't help but chuckle at his own thoughts, though he found himself growing slightly curious about just how much Trixie's skills truly had grown since last he had seen her. “So it's safe to to assume that you stopped going from town to town challenging ponies to a silly 'anything you can do, I can do better' contest?” Trixie rolled her eyes and trotted toward the dragon till he found his personal space being invaded by her. His confused emerald eyes stared into her now challenging dark violet ones. “Not at all, that part of the performance is still Trixie's favorite, and most well known of her feats.” There was a subtle tone to her words that caused Spike to growl in response, she was trying to get a rise out of him that much he was sure. A smirk grew on his face as Spike already came up with a reply that he knew would unbalance the smug unicorn. “Even more well known than your supposed clash with that oh so fearsome Ursa Major? Or was it the Ursa Minor?” Trixie's smirk was wiped off her face by Spike's words, and quickly replaced by a teeth-gritting snarl. Violet eyes shined with utter loathing, and disdain. While orbs of forest green flashed in defiance, there was a moment of silence before Trixie spoke. “Anything a fledgling dragon like you can do, the Great and Powerful Trixie can do a million times better.” The snarl was slowly being replaced by an eager grin, there was a twinge of excitement that Trixie always felt when she faced a self assured challenger, and she was tickled pink at the thought of adding a dragon to her list of defeated competitors. “We'll just see about that won't we? Just remember I'm the assistant of the one pony that one-upped you in front of the entire population of Ponyville, so I'll know a real magician when I see one.” Spike inwardly laughed as he noticed Trixie's tail whip around in anger at his words, though he reserved a small amount of respect at her for being able to keep that grin on her face. For some unexplainable reason a hot-blooded sensation began to spread through his scaled body, something about this challenge seemed oddly exciting to him. Spike's thoughts were brought to a standstill when Trixie moved even closer until her head was alongside his own, and a racy whisper entered his ear. “Keep in mind little dragon, Trixie doesn't plan on going easy on you, even if it is your 'first time' going against her.” “W-WHAT?!” Spike reared his head back in surprise as the scales on his face tinted a darker shade than usual. His blush grew even more unbearable when the sound of Trixie's ridiculing laughter rang into both of his ears. “Getting a little hot under the scales are we?” With a victorious smile Trixie trotted back toward her carriage, opened the door, and hopped inside. Spike fumed in self disgust for falling for such a cheap trick as the sounds of Trixie rummaging through her belongings filled the air. After a few minutes had passed Trixie let out a loud “Aha!”. Luckily Spike's scales had returned to their proper color, and he kept a straight uninterested face even when the unicorn's head popped out from within the carriage with a large grin on her face. “Just what Trixie was looking for, a scoreboard so she can keep track of her wins during this little contest.” A small chalkboard, along with a long stick of chalk floated from within the carriage to rest on the ground in front of Spike's feet. After sparing the items before him a quick glance, Spike raised a scaled brow to the mare in front of him. “So we're going to be at this more than once then?” A cheshire smile widened on Trixie's face, and her hat seemed to straighten a slight bit. “Of course! Trixie plans on dragging this out until you realize just how foolhardy it is to match wits, or power with her. You don't have a problem with that do you?” Eyes blazing with an inner dragon fire, Spike stood to his full height, and stalked toward the smiling unicorn until they were only a few inches apart. “No problem at all Trix, in fact having an exact number of how many times you're ego gets you in over your head sounds like a great idea.” Spike allowed himself a toothy smile when Trixie's left eye twitched in annoyance at the given nickname. “Well now that we have the foreplay out of the way, shall we begin?” “Mares first.” “Oh a gentledragon! Trixie believes she'll be enjoying this more than usual.” “That makes two of us then.” Oddly enough Spike wasn't feeling quite so tired anymore. Elsewhere: Dozens of theories written down, hundreds of variables accounted for, and a hoof full of Canterlot's greatest equine minds hard at work produced a heaping amount of...nothing. Even with all of Celestia's resources at their disposal, Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia where no closer to ascertaining Spike's whereabouts than they had the moment they began hours earlier. Twilight scowled in irritation at the notes, and papers she had been using for reference on her latest hypothesis on Spike's probable trajectory. The hapless dragon could have been sent halfway across the planet, and at this very moment be in grave danger, and all Twilight could do was make a guess at which pony settlement he might have made a crater closest too. Just the mere thought of the possible hazards she may have sent her best friend hurling towards caused another wave of tears to cascade down the unicorn's face, and onto the multiple parchments below her. “For crying out loud Twilight!..Y-you need to keep it t-together, Spike needs you now more than ever!” Doing her best to wipe away the tears from her vision, Twilight tried desperately to continue working, but once again nothing she found provided a creditable solution. With the tears threatening to rebel once again, and her guilt stabbing at what little concentration she had left, Twilight felt a small snap. A sudden flash of emotion swept through her, and before Twilight knew it she was throwing all the papers to the floor in frustration. “It's useless! Nothing here is helping at all!” Twilight's horn flared up and she was only a second away from funneling all of her emotional turmoil into a dangerous pulse of magical energy, when she was stopped by a second presence. “It pains me to no end too see you like this Twilight.” Celestia's shining visage entered the young mare's field of vision, and soon after she felt the warmth of her majesty's magic spread across the room. The once scattered papers rose into the air, and flew to a nearby desk to lay neatly. Books that had been left open or thrown aside due to their lack of relevance to the situation, glided toward a bookcase by the window, and set themselves in order. The window itself which had it's luxurious red curtains closed to block any view of the outside world now opened to allow a view of a now setting sun. “Your mind and body are weary from worrying, and frantically trying to force answers where they can not be found. Please Twilight allow yourself rest, while I do what I can to find him.” A long blanket levitated into the room, and gently wrapped itself around the exhausted unicorn. “No! I can't sleep knowing that somewhere out there, Spike is lost, confused, maybe even hurt. It's my fault this happened to him, I won't rest until he's back in Ponyville safe and sound.” Even amid her protest Twilight felt the blanket levitate again, bringing her along with it as it slowly exited the private study and enter a large bedroom. She tried to squirm, and struggle to free herself, but she was too tired, and she knew nothing she could do would break the alicorn's magical hold. “Spike won't have anything to come back home too if you work yourself to death. I understand your grief, but don't let that blind you to the distress you may cause those closest to you.” The blanket wrapped Twilight softly landed on the bed, and Celestia nuzzled her mane gently. “Twilight Sparkle in all your years as my student, and close friend have I ever done anything to make you lose faith in me?” Heavy-lidded eyes threatened to close as Twilight gazed upon the solemn face of her mentor, and princess. “No princess Celestia, you've always done everything you can to keep everypony in Equestria safe, and happy.” “Then for the rest of the night fret no more, let your princess do her part while you sleep.” And with that Celestia departed the room out into the hallway. Making sure to close the door behind her gently, the alicorn made her way to the royal guards conference room. Within a matter of minutes every royal pegasi was informed to fly out to the farthest pony colonies outside of Equestria, and spread word that a close friend to the princess was missing, and any information regarding his whereabouts would be greatly rewarded. As her thoughts grew distant, her eyes closed, and she slowly sank into the unconscious realm Twilight wished with all her might that Spike would be ok until she found him. Back Where We Began: “Achoo!” “Eww! Cover your mouth next time dragon!” “Not like I meant to do that on purpose.” “Enough of your babbling, whats the score?” Taking a quick look from their current competition to gaze at the chalkboard a few feet away Spike was reminded of just how bad of an idea this had turned out to be. Given that the only spectators were the actual competitors themselves every loss, or victory led to a ten minute argument over whether or not said victory had been won fairly or not. There was no denying the slight tinge of amusement Spike received during these debates, but at this point the scoreboard had become illegible with tally marks, rude comments, and ever ruder depictions of unicorns and dragons attempting to cheat at random tasks. “...Uhh I think it's a tie.” A loud growl reached Spike's ears as Trixie was fast losing her patience for their most recent competition. “Liar! Trixie was at least ahead by seven points, either way its you're move so hurry up.” Spike brought his attention back to the crudely drawn square between the two of them. At the moment they were playing one of his personal favorite games, Chess. During her last turn Trixie had taken a bishop, but at the cost of leaving her king dreadfully exposed. Mind tempered from the multiple times he had played this back home with his friends Twilight, Celestia, and on one very odd occasion where he lost to Derpy in a shocking seven rounds. Taking advantage of Trixie's unnoticed flaw in her strategy, Spike moved one pawn forward, and said with a toothy grin. “Check.” Trixie's eyes narrowed, and a scowl appeared on her face as she glared at the makeshift chess game in front of her. After a few minutes she moved her king to a different position, and fixed Spike with a challenging leer. “Your move dragon.” Spike shrugged and without any hesitation moved a knight down a few spaces. An innocent smile plastered on his face as he took his claws off his chosen piece. “Check.” Greyish violet eyes twitched in anger, and Trixie bit her bottom lip to avoid letting out a loud curse. Jumping up from her sitting position, Trixie circled around the square taking in every angle, and pausing to glare accusingly at an amused looking Spike. Once she was sure she had taken in every viewpoint that she could Trixie walked back to her previous spot, and moved her king again. “You sure you wanna move there?” “Shut up!” “I'm just trying to help that's all.” “Trixie doesn't require your help, now take your turn!” With another shrug Spike moved his queen, and with a proud tone announced. “Check again!” The smile was knocked off his face when a rock surrounded in a blue aura collided with the side of his head. “What was that for?!” “You cheated!” “Did not!” “Did so!” “DID NOT!” “DID SO!!” Before opening his mouth to shout back at the irate unicorn, Spike regained his senses, and realized that they had once again stepped back into the pattern of one winning, and the other declaring foul play. With a sigh Spike shook his head, stood up, and moved to gather the scoreboard. “This is stupid.” “YOUR STUPID!” Trixie was still riled up, and more than willing to argue all night if it came down too it, or at least she would be if the fatigue from all of the annoying situations this dragon had dragged her into hadn't started to all pile up at a moments notice. Suddenly her legs felt wobbly, and her horn which was glowing brightly had started to fizzle till the magic within went out completely. To her horror she realized that she was completely tapped out on energy, it would take a great stroke of luck if she managed to stay standing for another five minutes. “I didn't say you were stupid Trixie. ( at least not out loud ) I was just saying that this argument isn't going anywhere, and I don't know about you but I'm beat. How about we finish this later, or at least when we have a third party to decide the winner besides us?” With the chalkboard in his tail's grasp, Spike turned back to see a very tired looking Trixie barely able to stand on her hooves. With a smirk the purple dragon made his way toward the weary eyed unicorn then stood beside her for a moment. “Looks like somepony has stayed up past her bedtime.” Spike's smirk was met with a tired glare, and Trixie looked as if she would have liked to tell him off if she had the energy too. “Magical depletion huh? Yeah I recall a time where Twilight attempted an experiment with duplicating herself magically, failed miserably and Twilight couldn't move for two days. Well I'd be more than happy to help, but I know how you feel about accepting help from others.” And with that Spike started to make his way back toward the carriage leaving an almost completely immobile Trixie behind. “No problem at all, the Great and Powerful Trixie can handle getting to her carriage all on her own.” With that thought echoing in her head, Trixie commanded her legs to move forward without a moments hesitation. A muscle twitched, and her front right leg raised upward, then suddenly the other three gave out underneath her earning an unpleasant collision with the ground.”Oof!” Seeing the predicament she was now in caused Trixie to consider options that she was less than enthused to go through with. With Spike getting farther and farther away and the very real prospect that while she was left to sleep in the dirt like some sort of commoner, that damned dragon might get his dirty claws all over her things, Trixie painfully swallowed some pride. “H-Help.” “Did you say something just now?” Spike turned his scaled head back to the unicorn with a raised brow, and a wide grin. Of course his ears had heard the plea perfectly, but he was still a little sore over an early incident that involved Trixie nearly crushing him under a tree during their 'Who can reach the top of the tree faster' competition. “The Great and Powerful Trixie requires....assistance.” In a heartbeat Spike was now standing alongside his fallen associate looking down at her while his grin widened. “...Are you sure?” “Yes! Trixie is sure now are you going to help or what?!” “Certainly! Under one condition.” Trixie gritted her teeth in frustration as she glared daggers at Spike and that annoying grin on his face. She was growing unsettled by the number of times in which this dragon has had her at a disadvantage in the past twenty-four hours. “And what pray tell is this condition you speak of?” “Say your sorry.” “WHAT?!” “You heard me, I want you to apologize for the way you've been behaving since we busted out of that diamond dog den.” “You can go buck yourself!” “Real classy, but seeing as how you're currently face down in the dirt I don't think you have the leverage to be making remarks like that.” “You can't possibly be serious?! Trixie has been nothing but compassionate and level-headed since we began this charade of a honest deal.” “You purposely ate the daisy that I wanted just to annoy me, you dropped a tree on me, and you won't even call me by my name. A puff of smoke escaped Spike's nostrils at the end of his sentence, and his grin deflated into a small frown. “If you can manage an apology then I'll help you, otherwise I'll be more than happy to get nice and comfy in whatever bed you have stashed inside that carriage of yours.” “The Great and Powerful Trixie...does..not...apologize. And if you dare go near Trixie's carriage it'll be the last thing you do on this plane of existence before Trixie turns you into an unpleasant stain in the dirt.” Despite the overwhelming numbness that enveloped most of her body, Trixie was able to gain enough muscle control to firmly plant her hooves into the ground, and stand up to her full height. The world through her eyes seemed to sway drunkenly as everything but her defiant will demanded immediate sleep. Spike's emerald hued eyes were once again deadlocked with Trixie's purple ones as they glared at one another. “Is it really so hard for you to be civil with someone else Trixie?” Spike would probably have had an easier time convincing Applejack to sell oranges instead of apples than getting the slightest ounce of manners from this self-absorbed unicorn. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is.....falling again.” The force of her rebellious will was no longer sufficient enough to keep her legs under her control, and once again Trixie could feel gravity dragging her down for another less than soft embrace with the earth. But the embrace never came...or at least not the one that she had been expecting. Once her eyes refocused, and her mind could make sense of her current situation, Trixie realized that something had caught her. “I can honestly say that I've never met anything as stubborn as you.” With an annoyed sigh Spike had quickly caught the unicorn in his arms as gently as he could. With a slight adjustment Spike now was carrying the surprised mare over his shoulder as he headed back toward their camp site, scoreboard still wrapped securely in his tail. “W-What are you doing?” A slight blush started to grow on Trixie's face at the unexpected close contact, coupled with the slight embarrassment of being carried around like a doe-eyed filly. “Carrying a spoiled diva to her carriage despite how much I want to wring her neck.” Spike's grumblings would have continued, but a sudden scent began to waft it's way into his nostrils. An odd combination of jasmine, ozone, and something else that he couldn't put his claw on. Either way the smell was absolutely divine, and seemed to be coming from the pale blue mane hairs that covered Trixie's head. “...Wait!” A sudden shudder went down Spike's spine as he came to terms with the fact that he had been smelling Trixie's mane...and DIDN'T utterly hate it. He swiveled his head around to see if Trixie had noticed anything, luckily enough his gaze wasn't met with that of an outraged, and for once completely justified glare. Instead most of Trixie's face was obscured by her hat, and the hair from her mane, her one unobstructed left eye was trying it's best to stave off the sleep that her body craved. For a few moments the only sounds that were heard were the steady padding of Spike's feet against the dirt, the occasional crunching of twigs, and the forest inhabitants that were either going to sleep or about to begin their nocturnal agendas. A breeze swept through the numerous trees, and bushes and much to Spike's dismay sent more of that scent to dominate his sense of smell. “Why are you helping Trixie?” Spike managed to at least stifle the oncoming shudder brought on by Trixie's sudden question, he had been sure that the troublesome unicorn had fallen asleep. “Because even though you act like a jerk sometimes, we still have a deal. And if I'm gonna be stuck with you till I get home, I ought as well just try to tolerate your attitude. Now try to get some sleep it'll be a little bit before we're back at camp, we did wonder off a bit during those competitions.” At that moment Spike passed a fallen tree giving it a look of absolute disdain while he did, then he walked by it's stump which had been used for a not so friendly arm-wrestling match. “...thanks, and......sorry.” “What was that?” Even with his heightened hearing Spike was just barely able to hear the quiet whisper that escaped Trixie's lips. “Nothing...now shuddup dragon, Trixie is trying to sleep.” Trixie's whisper was now a grumpy growl and she whipped her tail against the side of the dragon's head to emphasize her need for him to stop talking. “It's Spike, my name is Spike.” “Don't push it.” After a few more minutes Spike's ears picked up the sound of light snoring, happy for some relative peace he continued toward where the carriage awaited them eager for a good night's sleep, and to continue on his way home. End Of Chapter: