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// Stare Master 
// Story: Where Was Spike? 
// by powerpony 
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	Spike was busy dusting the shelves of the library when he saw Twilight about to walk out the front door. 
“Where are you off to?” he asked. 
“I’m just heading to Zecora’s,” said Twilight. “She has a fresh batch of my favorite tea ready.”
When Spike heard this, he started to feel a bit nervous. Mostly because Zecora lived all the middle of the Everfree Forest and Spike knew about all the scary and dangerous creatures that lived in it. 
“Are you sure you want to go all the way to Zecora’s for tea?” he asked. “You can just stay here and I can make you a cup of tea myself.”
Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle at how protective Spike was being. 
“Don’t worry, Spike,” she said as she patted the small dragon’s head. “I’ve been to the forest many times before and I know the way to Zecora’s hut inside and out. I’ll be fine.” 
Spike was still a bit nervous, but he smiled at Twilight and allowed her to go. He looked at Twilight as she left through the window and waved at her and Twilight smiled and waved back before going on her way. 
“I got nothing to worry about,” Spike said to himself. “Twilight is not a filly. She can take care of herself. She’ll be out of that forest in no time.” 
Spike quickly went back to dusting the shelves. When that was done, he started on his other chores, such as sweeping the floor, cleaning the windows and making sure Twilight had some fresh paper and a new quill on her writing desk. 
When he was finished, Spike noticed that Twilight still hadn’t come back yet. He didn’t worry about it though; he just assumed that Twilight stayed at Zecora’s hut to have a small chat with her. At that moment, Spike’s stomach started to growl, so he went into the kitchen, opened up a cupboard and took out a bowl full of gemstones that he had been saving. He then grabbed one of his comic books from a shelf and went up to the bedroom where he laid down in his bed. He then opened up his comic and began to read while munching on his gemstones. As he read, Spike started to feel a bit tired, so he covered himself with his blanket and took a nap. 
A few hours late, Spike awoke from his nap and noticed that it was already dark outside. He quickly got out of bed and went downstairs to see if Twilight was back yet, only to notice that she wasn’t home. 
Now Spike was really starting to worry. Twilight should have been back by now. He began to pace back and forth and started to imagine all of the terrible things that could have happened to Twilight. What if she was attacked by a timberwolf? Or fell into a hole? Or fell into a raging river? Or fell off a cliff? Or got lost? Spike could feel his heart pounding like a jackhammer and sweat came pouring down his forehead as he got more and more worried. 
At that very moment, Spike heard the front door open. He turned around and to his relief, there was Twilight. Before Twilight could say anything, Spike ran up to her and embraced her in a tight hug. 
“What happened to you?” Spike said. “I was worried sick.”
“Oh, Spike, you won’t believe it,” said Twilight with a bit of fear in her voice. “When I was on my way to Zecora’s, I was attacked by a Cockatrice.”
Spike let out a small gasp when he heard this. He had read all about Cockatrices in one of Twilight’s books. They were creatures that had the head of a chicken and the body of a snake and they could turn anyone into stone just by looking at them. 
“He turned me into a statue,” Twilight continued. “Luckily, Fluttershy found me and used that Stare of hers to get the Cockatrice to turn me back to normal.”
As Spike was hearing all of this, his hug on Twilight soon got tighter and tighter. This was causing Twilight to have trouble breathing so she gently pushed Spike away from her only to notice that the small dragon had tears in his eyes. 
“Sorry Twilight. I know you hate to see me cry,” said Spike. “It’s just that I was so worried about you. And hearing that you became a statue only makes it worse. What if Fluttershy wasn’t there to help you? If anything happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do.” 
Twilight soon felt her heart sink as she saw her little dragon friend cry. She was the only family he had so she didn’t blame him for crying. Twilight soon started to form a few small tears of her own as she wrapped her hoof around Spike and gently pressed him against her belly. 
“Oh, Spike. I’m so sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to make you worry. “
The two friends just stood there holding each other for what seemed like forever. Finally, Twilight let go of Spike who wiped the tears from his eyes. 
“Sorry for being such a blubbering mess,” he said. “I bet I look like a big baby.”
“Not at all,” said Twilight as she gently rubbed Spike’s back. “It just shows how much you care about me.”
Spike smiled as he gave Twilight one last hug before letting out a small yawn. 
“Guess it’s time for bed,” said Twilight before yawing herself. “All this excitement can really tire you out.”
The two friends went up to their bedroom. Twilight got into her bed and placed her blanket over herself. Before she could go to sleep, she saw Spike looking up at her. 
“Uh, Twilight,” he asked. “I know I’m a bit too old for this, but can I sleep with you tonight?”
Twilight couldn’t help but smile. She then used her magic to lift Spike up and gently place him right next to her on the bed and placed the blanket over him. That’s when an idea popped into Twilight’s head. 
“How about I sing you a lullaby,” she asked. “I know this great one that Flutterhsy just taught me.”
“I would love that,” said Spike. 
Twilight then wrapped both her front hooves around Spike, who snuggled himself next to her, and she began to sing.

Hush now, quiet now
Time to lay your sleepy head….