//------------------------------// // A Smile of Content? [Revised] // Story: A Spike of Remorse // by TheGildedHeroPrice //------------------------------// Light from the morning sun filtered through an open window, illuminating the second floor of the Sparkle family residence. Soft groans of annoyance, accompanied by a shifting of the covers, blocked out the disturbance. A sigh of complete bliss came from the small lump of a sleepy-eyed boy immediately afterwards. ‘Ba-rinnnnnggggg.’ The alarm clock blared loudly, causing the green-haired boy’s eyes to pop open. His teeth clenched together as he stared at the pale blue wall in front of him. Once again groaning, the boy sat up. His soft baby-blue covers cascaded down his small chest as he rubbed at his eyes with clenched fists, the alarm still echoing throughout the room. He reached over with his right arm, slamming the button down, quieting it’s shrill ring leaving an echoing silence in it's wake. Bright lime-green iris of one eye glared at the device while keeping the other covered by a curled hand. First day of middle school… This is going to be so bad. Twilight said middle school is a lot harder than elementary; that you have more work, and the kids are a lot different than the ones I’ve been around at Celestia’s school. Sighing, the small boy laid back down, his arms shifting to prop his head up slightly as he stared at the ceiling. I remember when Twi started middle school. It was a year after I came to live here. She was so nervous and fidgety. I didn’t quite understand what was going on then, why she needed to go to another building across town to learn. Now I understand considering that today I start at the same school she attended. Yay me… Spike raised one of his hands in the air pretending to wave an invisible victory flag. With a small chuckle, he returned the hand back to where it was and closed his eyes, a playful smile formed on his lips as his thoughts continued. Well I guess if she made it through this, so can I! She did make some really great friends, especially Rarity. Oh Rarity, I wish you would notice me like you do those older boys. Just because I’m young doesn’t mean I couldn’t… well you know, treat you like how Shining Armor treats Cadance. The little boy’s nose scrunched up, the memories of Shining Armor holding hands with Mi Amore’ Cadenza filled his thoughts. He pictured Shiny holding her close and kissing the beautiful girl, whispering things into her ear as she giggled girlishly. Okay, so I don’t want to do all ‘that’ stuff. But spending time with Rarity would be cool. I know she might not like talking about geology much, but we can talk about the pretty rocks! Or we can do whatever she wants to do, just as long as we’re spending time together I don’t care what we do. Spike groaned in despair, his hands sliding out from behind his head to cover his face. “Knock knock.” A bright, girlish voice echoed into the room as his door opened. Standing in the doorway of the softly sunlit room was Spike’s older foster sister, Twilight Sparkle. She was already primed and ready for school. Her white and blue uniform with a red-split tie was all properly resting and wrinkle free on her in the way the academy she attended required. Spike peeked open his eyes to stare at her between his fingers, an unconscious smile settling on his lips at the sight of his favorite person in the world. “Aren’t you supposed to get up when your alarm clock goes off? You don’t want to be late for your first day of school, do you?” Twilight playfully asked as she walked over to her baby brother’s bed. She leaned over it to poke her fingers into his sides, tickling him. Laughter broke free from the small boy’s mouth, his eyes clenched shut as his fingers jerked down to grab onto his older sister's wrist. Tears threatened to leak from his eyes as she continued; her roving fingers poking and prodding, flicking across the sides of his gray pajama shirt. His tiny hands did nothing to stop her movements. “What’s wrong, Spikey-Wikey?” Twilight said, giggling as she kept shifting her point of attack.’ “Why are you laughing so hard? Is the first day of school something to laugh about? You bet it is! You’re gonna have a great first day, aren’t you, Spike?” “Sto-stop, please. I-I-I can’t take anymore, yes! Yes, uncle! Please stop! I’m going to have the best first day of school anybody has ever had! Now ple-easeeee stop!” Her fingers immediately paused in their attack as she smiled down at her baby brother, her eyes shining with pride. The tears were sliding down the sides of his face as he smiled goofily, his eyes peaking open to stare back at Twilight. “Do you have your uniform set out already?” She asked softly, turning slightly to sit next to him. Her hair fell over her shoulder, longer than when they were younger. Her right hand reached out to swipe her long, thin fingers through his wavy green mop, pulling through it softly, feeling the tangles throughout. He flinched slightly as she hit a knot before he nodded, his hands clenching the blankets next to him. Twilight slipped her hand out of his hair, her index finger sliding under his left eye to wipe away the tear lines before doing the same to his right. She smiled brightly again before standing up, her hand coming down to rub affectionately through his hair. “Come on, big guy; hurry up and get dressed. Meet me downstairs at the table. Mom’s got pancakes cooking, fresh orange juice too! Just how you like it.” Her voice was joyful but soft, it brushed against Spike’s ears making him smile brightly as he nodded. His short legs kicked off the blankets and shifted so they were hanging over the side. His hands clutched at his navy-blue pajama pants, while he watched his sister vacate the room. She paused at the door before looking back at him, her left hand clutching the doorknob as she stood in the open doorway. “I was scared on my first day too. Just remember to have confidence in yourself. Don’t let the fear get to you, and know if you ever need to talk, I’ll be here for you. No matter what.” “Thanks, Twily. You’re the best B.S.B.F.F. I could ask for.” “And you’re the best L.B.B.F.F. I’ll ever want, Spikey.” With one last shared smile she left the room, the door pulled shut behind her with a click. Spike sighed as he tilted his head down, his bangs covered his closed eyes. His fingers flexed aggressively, causing the fabric of his p.j.’s to bunch up, the cloth folding between thin digits. Twilight came in here just to check on me because she knows I’m... scared. Does she… does she think I’m that weak? He quickly raised a hand to rub at his eyes, forcing the tears that threatened to fall away. His nose sniffled slightly, a lump forming in his throat, blocking out his small whimpers. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. She’s concerning herself with your problems, your fears. Why is she still so nice after all these years? I’ve seen the way her friends treat their younger siblings; always complaining about how annoying Ab, Scoots, and Sweetie can be, yet Twilight always goes out of her way to make sure I’m alright. Is it because she’s scared I’ll go back to being quiet again or something? Would it be so bad if I went back to being that way? It hurt less. It meant that way I didn’t have to feel anything. A croak echoed around the room, melting into soft whimpers between clenched teeth. He shook his head roughly, some of his tears flying off to land on the crumpled sheets around him. He stood up—his hands clenched at his side—as he marched over to his closet, pulling on the small, golden knobs of the shuttered room. Inside, most of his clothes hung limply on their hangers, his shoes were aligned in a straight line at the bottom. Toys were stashed away in boxes with labels, and books were organized alphabetically and by size on a small bookshelf resting against the back wall of the closet. Twilight must have organized my closet for me. Again, Spike thought with a roll of his eyes. His uniform, a white, boy’s dress shirt rested perfectly still on its hanger. No wrinkles, not a smudge of dirt that a boy of his age would normally have on his clothes. The other half of his uniform consisted of flat black shorts, with a pair of black dress shoes to match. With a growl of aggravation, he snatched the shirt and shorts from the hanger, and lowered to the floor to grab his shoes. He marched back over to his bed and threw them onto it, glaring at them. His mind immediately thought back to the day Twilight Velvet brought it home after filling out the paperwork that registered him for Cantercity Middle School. ~~~ “Spike, darling, look! I just finished the paperwork and you’re all set now. Come August, you’ll be starting at your new school: Cantercity Middle! Isn’t that exciting? You know, Twily and Shiny attended the very same school. They absolutely loved it and hated to leave. Of course high school is just as exciting, if not even more so. But we’ll get there, we’ve got to get you through middle school first. Ohhhh’ why are my babies growing up so fast.” Twilight Velvet gushed, droning on and on. Spike was trying hard to pay attention to his foster mother, but his eyes seemed to glaze over, her voice becoming a dull buzz until a soft hand reached out to pinch his cheek. The action caused him to squint and yelp out in pain. Velvet let go and patted the cheek she had inflicted pain on, the action causing it to sting. Spike pulled his face away, his hand reaching up to hold his foster mother's hand away from his face. “That’s great mom! I can’t wait. Twilight’s told me so much about it, and I got to help her with a lot of her homework over the past few years. She even taught me a few tricks I’ll need to stay ahead of the rest of my grade.” Spike puffed his chest out, looking proud. Velvet laughed softly, the sound like bells tinkling. At that moment Night Light came out of his study, his eyes shining brightly as they gazed upon his wife. “Did you tell the big guy the news yet? I’m sure he can’t wait to try it on. I just know he’ll look great.” Spike’s foster father winked at the young boy’s confused expression. ‘Try… something… on?’ Spike thought, frowning. “Not yet darling, I was so excited to tell him that he’s been accepted to the school, but with all this excitement I forgot to tell him the best part! Let me go get it.” Spike’s gaze watched his mother go back out the front door. His father was standing next to him, hands shoved deep into blue-jean pockets. The young boy looked up to see the man grinning goofily, a small chuckle morphing into choked laughter. Night Light looked down at his youngest son, mirth plainly visible in his yellow eyes. “You’re going to absolutely loovveeeee this.” His laughter returned full force, causing the young boy to scowl. Spike swiveled his gaze back to the door as his mother opened it and walked back inside. The green-eyed boy squinted to see what his foster mother had gotten him, his small mouth contorting someplace between a confused smile and a scowl. In Velvet’s small pale hand hung a metal hanger, a white paper bag draped over it. “I just picked it up from the dry cleaners, so it’ll be clean and wrinkle free for the first day of school. Here, have a look.” She extended her hand out, the hanger hanging delicately from her curled fingers. Spike reached out, his hands grabbing the shoulders of the bag. His fingers felt the shift of soft, slippery material. What is this? The young boy’s gaze immediately lifted to stare at the excited smile on his foster mother’s face. “Go on, you need to take the paper off to hang it in your closet anyways. Let it air out. Don’t want it stiff and itchy when you go to wear it on your first day.” Spike glanced back down at the bag before looking up at Night Light. The older man was leaning against the doorframe of his office, hands still buried deep in his pockets, his left leg crossed casually over his right with the tennis shoe clad foot kicking the toe against the hard wooden floor. The grin on his face was wide as he lifted his eyebrows up at the younger boy. Spike dropped his eyes back to the object in front of him, a frown marring his once-smiling face. With careful hands he began to remove the paper. Eyes blinking rapidly, his mind couldn’t process what was in front of him. “Do you like it? It’s going to look so adorable on you!” Night Light’s laugh echoed through his head. ~~~ Spike Sparkle snorted at the memory. His hands crossing across his chest as he tilted his chin up at the articles of clothing defiantly. “This is so stupid! Why do I have to even wear this stuff! At least Twilight liked her uniform when she went to this school. I guess Shining Armor had to wear the same thing, but this is ridiculous! I’m just going to get it dirty.” Spike continued his complaining as he went to his dark-brown wooden dresser. He wrapped his fingers around the tiny knobs, roughly pulling it open to grab his undershirt and boxers. Quickly changing out of his pajamas and into his underclothes, he once again stood in front of his uniform—his glare not wavering as he reached out to pick up his black dress shorts. “These don’t even have pockets! Why do we have to wear these stupid dressy clothes. Just because it’s a private school? Sweet Celestia!” Spike jokingly used the playful phrase. A saying Twilight and himself used when they were talking about something that bothered them, a nod to the woman that had brought them together. With a sigh, he slipped the shorts on, fixing them so they sat just right. He reached forward and wrapped his tiny fingers around the front of the dress shirt. Two long, white cloths stretched from the collar of the shirt, something that would be tied into a bow once a wearer put it on. With a roll of his eyes, he slipped the shirt over his head, grumbling angrily as he fought his arms through the sleeves, eventually he popping his head out of the top. His arms reached up to flatten the collar down. He then proceeded to try to tie the two strips of cloth into a proper bow. Unsuccessful after three tries, he left it in a tight, awkward knot that was slightly tilted. He didn’t care. He just proceeded to button the snaps on his wrist so the sleeves would stay tight. “Finally, now that that’s over, I can get breakfast!” His arms shot up into a cheering position as he ran towards the door, his right hand grabbing the knob and turning it. His gaze immediately shot down as he wiggled his sockless, shoeless toes. His head dropped with a loud sigh before he turned around and made his way back to his dresser. He reached forward, mumbling angrily, his hands once again pulling open a drawer to grab a pair of short, black socks. Strolling slowly back to his bed he turned around jumped back roughly onto it, shaking the entire frame, and possibly even the second floor of the house. He quickly pulled his knees to his chest, extending his right foot in front of him slipping on the sock. Repeating the process for the left, he reached behind him and grabbed his shoes, slipping them on with ease much like he did with his socks. “Alright, now, if nothing else would like to hold me up... breakfast time!” Spike said as he jumped up and made his way to the door, his eyes looking himself over to check off his mental checklist. Shirt, shorts, socks and shoes. My tie is… tied. It’ll do for now. Hopefully they won’t say anything about it. Uh, anything el— The young boy made to scratch his head in thought as he opened the door, his small fingers snagging a knot. Right, my hair… and my teeth. Deodorant would be smart too there Spikey-boy. Don’t want the first day to be ruined by improper hygiene. With a frustrated sigh he closed his bedroom door and ran for the bathroom slamming the door shut behind him.