//------------------------------// // Over The Head, Below The Knees // Story: It's All Downhill From Here // by B_25 //------------------------------// Spike plodded his way through the front door of his home where Twilight was studiously gazing over the pages of a book in the living area. “Oh, hello, Spike!” She said, setting the book aside. “How’d the training exercises go? I assume you were sufficiently challenged?” Spike glared at her. “Hide and seek with the Cutie Mark Crusaders was not what we had in mind. When you said you had some training ready for us, I assumed there would be some actual relevant exercises involved. But that… that just wasn’t fair!” Twilight chuckled lightly. “If you can’t even handle a friendly afternoon game of hide and seek, how can you handle an entire weekend of it? That is what a scavenger hunt is, you know?” “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Spike huffed, taking a seat across from Twilight. “But I’d like to see you try to track down those frustrating fillies. I would’ve had an easier time finding a needle in a haystack. At least the haystack couldn’t mock me.” Twilight stifled a giggle and shook her head. “Well, I’m sorry you got embarrassed Spike. Anyway, how did things go between you and Cloudchaser? Do you think you’re any closer to becoming friends?” “Ergh, that’s the other thing,” Spike said, rubbing his forehead. “Cloudchaser seems to have this eternally negative outlook, like the world hates her or something. She’s like an angry virus trying to rub off on the rest of the world. She seems particularly set on rubbing herself all over me at the moment and it’s getting tiresome.” Spike took a moment to reflect on the strangely provocative phrasing he had just used, but realised he didn’t care. “Oh, come now, Spike, she can’t be all that bad,” Twilight said. Spike pictured the mare in question in his mind. It was true, she wasn’t really as bad as he was making her out to be. I mean, they did have a rather decent exchange earlier that day about her wannabe coltfriend. However, she seemed rather adept at hiding any form of friendliness behind a mask of unpleasantness. “I guess, but all I’m saying is having a friendly conversation with her is like talking to a wall. Except the wall doesn’t give you attitude when you say hi.” “Maybe, but last time I checked, you weren’t assigned a wall for a partner, you got Cloudchaser.” Twilight slammed her book shut and shot a hoof out at Spike. “So you either need to find a way to deal with your differences or you can pretty much kiss any chance of winning goodbye.” Spike blinked several times in response to the sudden scolding. “Twilight, are you mad?” “Mad? No. Frustrated? Absolutely.” Twilight shook her head and glared at Spike. “It seems all you’ve been doing the past several months is moping about and cleaning out our refrigerator. This is your first real chance at social interaction of any kind and I am not going to sit by while you let petty differences drag you back into the realm of anti-socialism! Friendship is magic, Spike, so be friendly!” Spike rose a claw to protest her argument, but it was to no avail. He had nothing to counter with.   “...Fine.” Spike slumped into his chair and frowned. “But I still don’t know how this is going to work if we can’t find a way to get along.” “Well, maybe you can ask somepony else for help. You know, I’m sure you’re not the only one with trouble getting along with your partner.” Spike jotted through his mind, trying to remember the other pairs. “Let’s see… AJ was with Lyra, Rainbow was with… That’s it! Dash is with Trixie. I’m sure she’ll have some tips for me.” ***** Cloudchaser stormed through her front door. Her target: the couch. She leapt over the back of it and collapsed into its embrace. After the long day she had, a little TLC with a soft cushion was just what the doctor ordered. “Ugh.” She could feel the pain in her muscles every time she tried to flex her wings. She had no idea hide and seek could so physically taxing. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack, but the needle moved around every five seconds. On top of that she could still feel the knot in her stomach from her confrontation with her sister earlier that day. It was not a pleasant feeling to be sure. Cloudchaser was about ready to just scream into the cushions when the sound of the door opening behind her paused her actions. She casually glanced up to see her sister walking in… followed by him. “Oh, thank you, Thundey!” Flitter said with a giggle. “It was a lot of fun.” She felt her stomach jump in disgust. Cloudchaser perked one ear up. “Heh heh, no problem, sweets. Let’s do it again sometime.” “Alright. Well, goodnight then?” Cloudchaser lifted her head ever so slightly to see the scene unfolding before her. “It doesn’t have to be over yet,” Thunderlane said, leaning in closer. “Um, okay,” Flitter said with a rosy tinge on her cheeks. “We’ve got all night, if you want,” he replied. “I want it.” “Woah, hey! I didn’t know you two were back yet!” Cloudchaser attempted to cooly rise from the couch but ended up tripping over her hooves and stumbling to the ground. Flitter gasped and turned beet red. “Cloud? What are-” “Oh, hey, look at the time,” Thunderlane said, slowly backing out of the room. “I’ll see you around, Flitter.” Flitter looked on as the door shut, her mouth agape. However, her face of shock quickly switched to one of fury as she turned back to her sister. “What was that?!” “What was what?” Cloudchaser replied with a smile. “Ergh! You just scared him off! We were about to have a moment and you ruined it!” “Hey, don’t look at me,” Cloudchaser said. “You’re the one who tried to take that moment to the next level with me sitting right over here!” “Humph! You’re just jealous that Thunder’s my partner and that he wanted to kiss me and not you. Admit it!” “Psh, you only wish he wanted to kiss you,” Cloudchaser replied with a frown. “Besides, what kind of training involves going to dinner and flirting?” “The kind that’ll kick your butt this weekend!” “Oh, that’s it! I am so going win, and then we’ll see who Thunderlane likes more!” “Fine, you’re on!” The two sisters locked gazes for a moment more before disappearing into their respective rooms. Cloudchaser has had many a fight like this with her sister in the past, but for whatever reason, it just felt more personal this time. Maybe it was the heartache involved? Or maybe she really was just being jealous? Either way, she had to win this competition now. It was a matter of sibling rivalry and boyfriends. Things just got real.