Normally Spike would never touch coffee, but after last night, he knew it would be the only thing keeping him on his feet. As he drink the steaming brown liquid, his expression contorted to one of disgust.
“Nope, still not enough,” he said, reaching for another sugar packet.
As he threw the empty packet next to the half a dozen others, he could hear a giggle from behind. He looked up to see Twilight walking towards him.
“You do know there’s such a thing as creamer, right?”
“… Oh. Where is that?”
Twilight reached for the cabinet above Spike, and with her magic, pulled out a glass jar full of a white powder.
“So, what’s with the coffee,” she asked.
Spike wiped his eyes as he added the creamer. “I had a lot of trouble sleeping.”
Twilight leaned forward. “Why’s that?”
“I was just doing some thinking.”
“Anything I should be worried about?”
He shook his head. “No, it’s okay.”
“Well, alright... Hey, if you’re feeling up to it, do you want to go out later?”
Spike was a little surprised by this, but nonetheless happy. “Of course. What did you have in mind?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we could go see a movie.”
He smiled. “That sounds nice.”
Twilight began to walk past him on her way out of the kitchen. “Hey, I’m going to go get clean up. I’ll be back down in a few.”
“Alright,” Spike replied as he picked up his cup of coffee.
Once Twilight had left, Spike figured he might as well get started on breakfast. Making his way over to the fridge, he began looking for the eggs. He figured Twilight wouldn’t mind scrambled eggs and toast before they left.
“Spike”
Startled, the dragon let out a small yelp as he turned around. Twilight was standing behind him, grinning.
Spike let out a sigh of relief upon seeing his friend. “Twilight, please don’t sneak up on me like that.”
“How did you get down here so fast, weren’t you just brushing your teeth?”
At those words, Spike stopped gathering the ingredients he needed, and only stared at Twilight.
“You’re not her, are you?”
Twilight’s expression flipped as she took a step back. “Who are you?” she asked, almost demanding.
Spike put up a hand. “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.”
“What are you?”
“I could be asking you the same thing.”
She moved forward slightly. “Y-You’re the one I was talking to last night, aren’t you?”
Spike nodded. “Yeah, I am.”
Twilight stepped forward more. “You thought I was your Twilight, just like I thought you were my Spike?”
“Yeah.”
She smiled. “You sounded like you must really care for her.”
The dragon returned the smile. “Yes, I do.”
“So… Are you two together?”
Spike’s eyes widened. “Oh, no. We’re just friends. Besides, she’s taken.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Yeah, her and Flash Sentry have been together for a little over a month now.”
She smiled. “That’s funny. You and Rarity- Er, my Spike and Rarity started dating right around then.”
Spike leaned forward. “Really? What did-“
“You didn’t have to start on breakfast, Spike.”
Spike looked up to see Twilight stepping into the kitchen, before heading over to the stove. He looked back to where the other Twilight had just stood, only to find that she had vanished.
“N-No, it’s alright. I figured I could help out a little.”
Twilight shook her head. “You cooked dinner last night, so it’s only right that I make breakfast.”
Twilight eyed Spike a little more closely. “Are you okay?”
“Y-Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired, remember?”
“Alright, you just seemed out of it.”
“No, I’m good.”
Twilight went about cracking eggs with her magic before pouring their contents into a mixing bowl, while simultaneously turning on the stove and toaster. With all this magical multitasking, it’s hard to believe that Spike was the better cook.
“So, who called?” asked Twilight.
Spike looked up, confusion in his eyes. “Huh?”
“I heard you talking to someone. Don’t tell me you’re so tired you can’t even remember that.”
“Oh, no it was nothing. Just Fluttershy telling me about some new animals she found.”
Twilight couldn’t help but use this as an excuse to mess with Spike.
“You and Fluttershy, huh?”
At first Spike didn’t understand, but the moment he got it, his cheeks flushed red.
“Mph! Twilight if you don’t-!”
The moment Twilight saw Spike’s face, there was no containing her laughter. His reaction was priceless.
----------
As Spike and Twilight stepped out of the theater and into the bright sunlight, they couldn’t help but squint as their eyes adjusted. However, their minds were having a bit harder of a time adjusting to what they had just seen.
“Okay, that was nothing like what I thought it would be.”
Twilight smirked. “What did you think it would be?”
“I don’t know, more intergalactic and less bending of time and space.”
“Well, did you like it?”
Spike nodded. “Of course I liked it, it was just very confusing.”
“I thought you were expecting that?”
“Yeah, but that was-“
“Twilight!” called a familiar voice.
The pair looked up to see Flash sentry making his way over to them. Before Spike could realize what was happening, Flash had already wrapped Twilight in an embrace.
“Great” thought Spike.
“Flash? What are you doing here?” asked a noticeably happier Twilight.
“I was coming to see you actually,” he looked over to Spike. “So what are you and the little guy doing?”
“I hate it when he calls me that.”
Twilight giggled. “We actually just saw a movie, and were about to head home.”
“Alright, you want me to catch you later?”
Spike really didn’t want to do this, but he knew it would make Twilight happy.
“It’s alright Flash. You and Twilight can hang out. I was planning on seeing Sweetie Belle anyways.”
Twilight eyed him. “You were? When were you planning on telling me this?”
“She’s having trouble in school, so I offered to help. I’ll be back in a few hours, okay?”
She never like plans to be suddenly sprung on her like this, but Twilight understood.
“Alright, just don’t be too long.”
Spike nodded. “Alright.”
----------
Never had Spike lied to Twilight more than in the past few weeks. Still it was all for the best. He knew he had to keep it up in order to ensure her happiness, but with his new friend playing tricks with his mind, he also knew many more lies were still to come.
As Spike walked through the park, he passed various ponies having picnics, foals playing in the afternoon sun, and lover’s enjoying each other’s company. Why couldn’t it be that simple for him?
“Decided to go for a walk too?”
“What the-”
Spike turned to see Twilight trotting up next to him, her face as cheerful as when she looked at Flash Sentry.
Granted, Spike was happy to see her, but nonetheless confused. “I thought you were with Flash.”
As those words left Spike’s lips, a wave of realization came crashing into the both of them.
Twilight looked away. “Well, that explains why you’re not with Rarity.”
“What, did you decide to go for a walk too?”
Twilight smirked. “Considering all that I have on my mind, it might do me some good, but no. I was actually on my way to the market… At least until I saw you.”
Spike turned to face her, and was about to reply when he noticed a colt eyeing him as if he were an alien. His cheeks turned crimson as he quickly turned forward.
“I’m not going to look at you, but that doesn’t mean I’m not listening. If there are ponies around you, I suggest you do the same.”
She made a confused expression before it hit her. “You’re the only one who can see me?”
“It looks that way.”
Twilight smiled. “That’s kind of cool, actually.”
At this, Spike instinctively raised his brow. “Cool?”
“Oh come on, no matter how confusing and weird this all may be, it’s nice that of all the hallucinations I could have had, it’s you.”
He rolled his eyes. “How sweet. And hold on, I can assure you I’m not a hallucination.”
“Well, from where I’m standing, it sure looks like that.”
“Vise versa.”
“Anyways, you and I should probably head somewhere a bit more private before someone calls the mental institution, agreed?”
He chuckled slightly. “Agreed.”
----------
After walking with this other Twilight for some time, it was becoming all the more obvious that she was almost exactly like his own. The only parallels he could draw between the two were what they had experienced.
“So you’re telling me that, in your world, Shining and Cadence have a foal?”
Twilight nodded excitedly with a wide smile. “Yup, her name’s Eris.”
“Eris huh? I take it you’re happy being an aunt?”
“Happy doesn’t even begin to describe it, Spike. You should see her. She’s so adorable.”
Spike couldn’t help but smile. “What happened to you since this morning?”
“What do you mean?”
“You were scared to death of me earlier, now you’re all smiles.”
“Well, to be honest, it only took me a few minutes to see who you really are. You’re sweet, caring, and a great listener; you’re just like my Spike.”
Spike couldn’t help but blush. “Thank you.”
When Twilight saw the embarrassed look on his face, hers quickly mirrored his. “Uh, anyways, we need to think of names for each other.”
“Names? What do you mean?”
She stepped forward. “Well, Spike is already taken, and apparently so is Twilight. Eventually we’re going to begin calling each other something to avoid all the confusion, so I’d like to get it over with.”
Spike shrugged. “Well, alright. Did you have anything in mind?”
Twilight thought a moment. “Well, um… You’re name is difficult.”
He smiled. “Well, I’ve got one. How does Fauxlight sound?”
The alicorn’s expression instantly became unamused. “Gee, thanks.”
“What? I think it sounds alright.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever Faux Spike.”
“Really, you’re just going to steel my idea like that?”
She smirked. “Well, you said it sounded alright, didn’t you?”
“Spike, are you okay?” came a familiar voice.
He looked up to see Applejack staring at him with an expression in-between concern and confusion. Spike’s face instantly became beet red. He glanced back at Fauxlight, before looking back to Applejack, but when he did this he found that she was no longer at his side.
“Hey AJ, how long have you been standing there?”
She stepped closer. “Long enough to hear ya talkin’ to yourself. Is everything alright?”
He brought a claw to the back of his neck. “Yeah, everything’s fine; I was just, uh practicing something.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Practicin’ what?”
“Well, I sometimes write stories, and occasionally I’ll say the lines out loud. Act it out, I guess you could say.”
“Is that so? Well, you should probably keep your actin’ in your room. Wouldn’t want anypony to think you’ve lost your marbles.”
Spike let out a forced chuckle. “Yeah, I guess not.”
----------
As Spike stepped through the castle doors, the first thing he noticed was the silence. He found this odd, as usually when Flash visits, he stays for dinner and can be found snickering with Twilight in the kitchen.
“I was wondering when you’d come home.”
Spike looked up to see Twilight sitting on the floor with a book open before her. She stood and began to make her way over to him.
“Where were you?”
Spike made a confused expression. “I was helping Sweetie Belle, remember?”
She shook her head. “Flash had to leave early, so I thought I’d check in on you two. When I got to Rarity’s, her and Sweetie Belle had no idea what I was talking about.”
Spike began to blush. “I-I…”
“Spike, why were you sneaking around?”
He sighed. “Twilight, I just wanted to give you and Flash some alone time. I thought it’d make you happy. I just went on a walk through the park. I’m sorry if I freaked you out.”
Twilight couldn’t help but smile. She leaned forward and wrapped a hoof around Spike.
“You’re always putting others before yourself; it’s one of the things I love and hate about you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Spike. Just please try to worry about yourself more than me, okay?”
He wrapped his arms around Twilight, returning the embrace.
“That’s not going to happen.”