//------------------------------//
// Confession 
// Story: A Spike of Remorse 
// by TheGildedHeroPrice 
//------------------------------//

Spike awoke feeling rather strange. The first thing he noticed was the arm wrapped around his stomach and the warm breath upon the top of his head. The second thing was the soft body of another person pressed against his back. That feeling made him hot and embarrassed in equal measure.

The embarrassment didn’t last when he opened his eyes and took in the devastation of his room. The feeling of his adopted sister pressed against his back failed to matter when he saw his destroyed books, clothes, and valuables thrown all around. 

The eleven year old tried to stifle his tears, his sobs. He tried anyway. Seeing the light shining in on all the damage he had caused. The tears fell despite his best efforts. 

Twilight awoke to the sounds of crying in her arms. She blinked her eyes clear before realizing that her little brother, Spike, was crying on his eyes out. She squeezed Spike tighter against her chest, feeling the little boy sobbing at her touch.

“Shh, it’s okay, Spike.”

His sobbing increased ten-fold.

“Shh, Spike,” Twilight cooed. “It’s alright, you’re okay. I’m here.”

“No, I’m not okay!” Spike cried out. “I ruined everything, I destroyed everything, I… I…”

A choke escaped his mouth as Twilight squeezed him too tightly. “Spike, it’s okay, just let it out.”

He turned himself around in her grip and Twilight pressed his head against her chest. She felt him crying, him sobbing into her chest. Spike wrapped his arms around her and squeezed as tightly as he could.

She placed her hand on the back of his head and simply let him cry out. She felt his tears upon her shirt as he simply let it all out. 

Twilight had no idea how long she held Spike like that, it could have been seconds, minutes, or hours. She simply held on to him, letting him ride out the wave of tears that fell from his eyes.

“Don’t worry, Spike. We don’t blame you for what you did, it’s okay.”

That… was the wrong thing to say.

“W-what?” Spike asked, for the first since he turned around and faced Twilight he pulled away, wiping his face with his hand. 

“I said we don’t blame you for how you acted.”

“For… how… I… acted?” Spike said between wiping his face clean. He sat up on the bed, seeing his sister clearly for the first time. Seeing her torn shirt, her tense posture, puffy red blotches under her eyes from her tears, all of which was his work. 

Twilight sat up as well, confused at this sudden change of attitude in her little brother.

The younger sibling sucked in a painful breath as his whole body shook with tension. His muscles locked down on his bones as for the first time he was scared of nobody but himself.

“Spike?” Twilight reached towards the small boy in an act to pull him into a hug but was denied when he stood up.

Quickly backing away from the bed, the young boy shook his hands in front of him in a display of fear.

“D-don’t. I don’t want to h-hurt you!” Spike stammered, clenching his eyes shut and shaking his head side to side at a breakneck pace. 

“Hurt me?” Twilight frowned, standing up slowly. 

Between their height differences she stood taller than him, something that was gradually changing over the years. It was never a problem before, but at the moment it meant all the difference in the world. 

She won’t understand. She’s just like them, she’ll just wave everything off just like them. It doesn’t matter what I say, I’ll just be scolded. Batted on the back of the hand and then they’ll all go back to their business and I’ll be on my own. Just like always.

Spike’s back hit the wall and his knees shook. 

“Spike,” Twilight’s soft voice graced his ears. It was just as kind and caring as it always had been. But unlike before when it calmed him, now it made him angry. 

“Stop. Stop being so nice to me! Stop making up excuses for me. Stop pretending like you care!” The young boy yelled at his older sister, his eyes popping up to glare at her as he clenched his small fists.

The older girl stepped back, her hands coming up to cover her mouth as her eyes watered.

“Why Twilight? Why did you have to be nice to me? Was it fun for you? A charity case? Just something to fill your time before something else fun showed up?” Spike continued, stepping forward.

What am I doing? Why am I saying all this? I hurt her already, what am I doing‽ Stop stupid. Stop!

Twilight dropped her hands and stood up straight. A fire ignited in her tearing eyes as she clenched her teeth and stared down her younger brother. 

“You want to know why I was nice to you! Because I wish someone would of done it for me! I wish someone would of wanted to be my friend so bad that they would go out of their way to just talk to me. But no one did. But you, you’re just like me. We’re the same, Spike. Yes, I had a home, parents, an older sibling, and all the stuff a little girl could want, but they were all too busy for me, Spike! But you, we were the same. We enjoyed the same things, we had fun together, We did everything together because you and I are a team, Spike. You’re my best friend in the entire world and I love you more than anything!”

Spike’s defenses failed before the storm of her words even hit. The look in her eyes froze him on the spot, his own expression dropping from anger to one of helplessness. But when she paused to take a breath he knew he wasn’t prepared for what came next as her own expression mirrored his. 

“But… you’re right.”

“Twilight, I—”

“You’re right about it all. We did take you in and expect you to just be happy. To just be ecstatic that you were no longer on your own. But we were selfish.”

“No I—”

“And I’m the worst big sister ever to not have noticed. Spike, it was never a charity case when I offered my friendship to you, but it wasn’t for your benefit. It was because someone gave me a job to do and I wanted to impress her that I could do it. That there was no task Twilight Sparkle couldn’t take on and finish to the end. I didn’t even consider your feelings when we first met.”

A sob left the small boys throat as he fought off the overwhelming sensation of his heart breaking.  

“I thought sharing my home with you would solve both of our problems, and in a sad horrible way it did. At least for me, and that’s the horrible part. I spent all these years just involving you so I wouldn’t seem like a bad sister, because of that I didn’t even—”

“Stop.” The young boy’s voice was broken but held a intimidating bite to it. 

“Spike I—” Twilight shook her head as she spoke but was cut off when the young boy stomped up to her and pushed her. 

The older girl fell back onto the bed as the small boy stood in front of her, clenched fists at his side as his expression bloomed with anger. 

“I. Said. Stop.” 

Twilight nodded, her hands clenching the sheets beneath her as she sat up properly.

They stared at each other quietly, tears silently making identical tracks down their faces. 

Taking a deep breath, Spike slowly made his way to sit next to his older sister. He crossed his small fingers together in his lap and stared at the floor. The quiet room just building tension as the silence between them built. Still the older girl did as her brother asked and stayed quiet, something he was thankful for as he got his thoughts together.

Does she really feel that way? All this time she was just trying to impress other people? Why Twilight? You don’t need to impress anyone! You’re perfect the way you are. So why are you saying all this? You made my life better. I no longer live in fear of where I’ll be tomorrow because as long as I get to be your little brother it doesn’t matter. 

“Twily?” Spike whispered, his eyes locking onto hers.

Twilight frowned at her nickname but nodded.

“Thank you for being selfish.”

The older girl’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

“Thank you for sharing Smarty Pants with me, for inviting me over for dinner. For dragging me along with you and forcing me to get out of my shell. For pushing me to be better than mediocre. For being my friend.”

“Spi—”

“Thank you for not giving up on me. For being my B.S.B.F.F.  But most of all, thank you for giving me hope for the future, mine, and ours together.” 

Twilight broke then, broken sobs left her mouth as she forcefully pulled the young boy into a hug. Her arms squeezing him tight to her chest as she buried her face in the tangled green mop on his head. 

Spike wrapped his own arms around her, pulling her tight to him. Tears silently left as eyes as he bit down on his lip to keep from sobbing. 

It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks or says. As long as I have Twilight in my life I can make it through any hell life throws at me. 

“Spike, h-how can you just—”

“Because it doesn’t matter what happened in the past. What matters is right now, that my big sister knows I love her and I am happy. I am so happy Twi. I have friends, I’m in school, I have anything a little boy could desire. But most of all I have my best friend in the world comforting me, and I her through something we both are going through.”

Twilight choked out a sad laugh. “When did you become so wise?”

“Socrates last days.”

The older girl pushed her little brother away to look at his eyes. Silent mirth bloomed in both of their sad eyes.  

“Socrates huh?”

“No, it was obviously Starswirl and his great friendship teachings.”

“Nerd.”

“Egghead.”

Laughter shook both of them, brightening the dark room.

“Not you too, Rainbow calls me that enough.”

“Too bad, she’s too cool not to make it a trend.”

Twilight playfully glared, swatting the younger boy before running her hand through her own hair. The tangled mess giving her hand pause on the top of her head.

“Spike?” The older girl whispered as she laid back on the bed, her hands stretching towards the ceiling to look between her fingers.

“Mhmm?” Spike leaned back against his headboard, crossing his legs and watching his sister.

“Promise me something?”

“Anything Twily.”

“Don’t let the stress and anger build up anymore, okay?”

Spike stayed quiet, his eyes dropping to look at his own clasped hands in his lap.

“You said anything.”

“I know, but what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Well… who will you talk to?”

It was Twilight’s turn to stay quiet for a moment before she turned on her side, propping her head up with her right arm.

“Spike, some things are too… adult for children.”

The young boy frowned, his brow dipping in confusion.

“So you don’t want to talk to me about stuff because I’m a kid?”

“I didn’t say that, I just… As your older sister I don’t want to put too much on your shoulders. You’re still young, you—”

“I can talk about adult stuff! I got a girlfriend.” Spike puffed out his chest, smirking as he raised an eyebrow at his sister in a cocky Rainbow Dash impression.

What Spike Sparkle didn’t expect in response to the Dash copyrighted look was a dangerous fire to light in Twilight Sparkle’s eyes.

“You. Have. What?” Twilight was in his face before he could blink, her nose touching his as she glared at him.

His eyes went cross-eyed as he stared at her, his mouth immediately pulling down in a terrified frown. 

“I-I-I-I—”

“Spike Sparkle! You’re too young to have a girlfriend! Do I know her? Did you meet her today! I’m going to choke the life out of her if she’s laid a hand on you!”

Twilight stood up fast, kicking broken items out of her way she began pacing at a fast speed. Her mumblings growing angrier and angrier as she started using her hands to pretend to beat up an invisible person. 

Sweetie Belle, forgive me.

“You! How dare you!” She turned on him, her hand waving a shaking index finger in his face.

“Me‽”

“Yes you! This is all your fault for skipping second grade. You are too young to be around older women! I knew I shouldn’t of let Rarity give you all that affection.”

Twilight continued to pace again mumbling about her friends as Spike tried to process how his older sister was coming up with these ideas about him being a casanova.

 The door opened then, revealing a tired looking Shining Armor.

“Whoa, what happened in here?” The oldest Sparkle sibling asked as he stepped into the room.

“You!” Twilight turned to him, walking up to him to wag her finger in his face.

“Me?” Shiny asked, his arms coming up in a surrender pose as he glanced from Twilight to Spike and back. 

Spike sat quietly, his eyes wide as he watched his sister start poking their older brother’s chest.

“Yes, you! Did you know about her?”

“Her? Who is her?”

‘That is what I’d like to know! You picked him up yesterday. Was there a girl with him?”

“You mean Sweetie Belle?”

Twilight Sparkle froze, her entire body going rigid as her expression took on that of a psychopathic murderer.

“You’re on your own, little man!” Shining Armor backed out of the room slamming the door behind him, his loud footsteps echoing down the hall as he ran away.

Spike jumped up and ran to his closet, closing the shuttered doors behind him and holding them shut.

The room was quiet, the lights still off and the only light shining in from the curtain window. 

The only sound in the room was the soft noise of light breathing as the two occupants of the room stood in silence, the only barrier between them a shuttered door. Something that did not give Spike Sparkle any comfort from the demon forming inside his older sister at the moment.

“Spiiikkkeeeee!” Twilight called out softly.

Through the shutters the young boy could see his sister turn around slowly, a terrifying smile on her face causing him to almost wet his pajama pants.

“Come out here, Spike, I just want to talk about Sweetie Belle.” Her voice spoke the name of his young girlfriend too sweetly for his liking. 

I’m dead. Goodbye world, it was nice knowing you.

He watched as she took slow steps towards the closet, her hands reaching forward to grab the small golden handles of the doors. 

Spike immediately pulled hard on the doors to keep them closed. 

Mirth playing in the older girl's eyes she shook the doors causing her brother to yelp, his grip loosening being that there was no handle on the inside. 

Without another word, Twilight pulled the doors open wide revealing the shaking eleven year old.

They stared at each other for a moment before the older girl leaned in, her nose touching his.

“Boo.”

“Twily…” The little boy scowled as he crossed his arms over his chest.

With a laugh Twilight pulled the little boy out of his closet and into a strong hug. 

His annoyance dissolved into happy bliss as he wrapped his arms around his older sister.

“I still don’t approve.” 

“Twily…” Spike began to pout.

“What? As your older sister I should meet the girl you’re interested in before you start… dating.” Twilight scowled as she glared into the closet behind him. 

“So, do I get to check out the girl you’re interested in before you get to date her?” Spike asked, grinning.

Twilight blushed, her mouth dropping open as she pushed the young boy away to stare down at him.

“I-I-I-I, how do you know I don’t like boys?” She managed to stutter out as she released him and pulled at her long hair, nervously.

Spike laughed out moving past her. When he got to the middle of the room he began dancing in a circle, his hands clasping in front of him as he spun, dipped, and swooned.

“Oh Da—” He began in a high pitched impression of his sister.

“You were spying on me in my room!” Twilight stomped her foot pointing accusingly.

“You didn’t close your door.” He continued as he began to make kissing faces. 

“I never said her name!”

“Says you.”

“Spike!”

“Twilight!”

After a moment of staring at each other; the young boy’s face frozen in a comedic kiss, the older girl’s in frozen, embarrassed anger, they both doubled over in laughter.

“Okay, okay. So we’re even. I still think you’re too young to have a girlfriend—”

“That makes two of us.” Spike whispered loudly, wiggling his eyebrows.

Twilight rolled her eyes and walked over to him, wrapping her arm around his shoulder.

“As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted,” she said as she pinched his shoulder. “I’m glad you fell for someone as cute, kind, and wonderful as Sweetie Belle. Although I don’t know how you’re going to ease Rarity down without hurting her.”

“Sweet Celestia! I didn’t even think about that! Twilight, you gotta help me!” Spike turned to look up at his sister in horror, his hands clenching her night shirt.

Twilight bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. “Okay, but you have to keep the thing about me liking girls between you and I until I’m ready to tell the rest. Deal?”

“Deal. Oh, and Twi?”

“Mhmm?”

“I promise to come to you about anything instead of bottling it up.”

“Ditto, little man. Since you’re already better at the dating game than me, I guess I gotta come to you for advice.”

“Chicks dig the Spike-man.” The little boy broke out into what he thought was a manly pose but Twilight couldn’t help find it more adorable than manly.

“Yes, they do,” she said with a laugh, after a moment of silence she glanced around the room. “Spike?”   

“Yeah, Twi?”

“We have to clean up this mess before mom and dad see.”

“Eeyup.”

“Not it,” Twilight said as she patted the young boy on the head and made for the door.

“Wait what‽” Spike called out, his eyes bugging out as he stared up at her.

“You made the mess, why should I have to help?” The older girl asked as she stared towards the door, a smile fighting for dominance on her mouth he couldn’t see.

“But you said—”

“I’m joking Spike, I’m just going to go change clothes, grab a garbage bag, and I’ll be right back. Alright?” She asked as she looked back at him, her eyes shining playfully. “After all, we’re taking the day off.”

“What do you mean? What about class? You don’t actually mean ski—” Spike bit his lip, staring wide eyed at his sister.

Twilight frowned, quietly staring at the wall before she answered. “As much as I don’t like missing any opportunity to learn something new, we kind of had a rough night. And what are you complaining for? Shouldn’t you be excited about missing class? Even if you don’t get to see Sweetie Belle.”

“Oh, haha Twily. Yeah, alright. I don’t think I can make it through another day of class so soon. I’ll go ahead and change too, if I can find some clothes that aren’t... ruined.” He said as he looked around distastefully. There was no saving his school uniform, he saw to that himself.

With one last nod Twilight opened the door and left, closing it softly behind her.

Sighing, Spike reached down, shifting through a pile of clothes. After a few minutes he found a clean, untattered green and purple striped collared shirt, and a pair of khaki cargo shorts. He quickly changed into them and began to make piles around the room of what was salvageable, and what wasn’t. 

His eyes landed on the untattered green and purple dragon his girlfriend had given him, his mind immediately bringing up the memory of receiving it.

The warm smile the memory brought with it quickly faded as his mind latched onto the next memory of what happened last night.

Smarty Pants is gone, and there’s no telling if she can ever be repaired.

With a sigh, Spike let the doll drop back onto the side table where he found it and continued with his room. 

The door opened a good fifteen minutes later, revealing a freshly dressed Twilight Sparkle.

Her face was noticeably washed but makeup free, her hair combed, and her clothes without wrinkles or tears. She was wearing a light grey and white striped t-shirt with a tiny pocket on the left side, and faded pair of tight blue skinny jeans. As she walked in her hands were occupied with tying her hair up in a ponytail, the trash bags held under her chin, pressed against her chest. 

“What’s wrong?” She asked as she grabbed the bags and made her way to the bed to tie one around the bed post.

“Noth—” Spike bit his lip, remembering what he had just promised the girl not even an hour ago. “I murdered Smarty Pants”

Twilight looked up at him from her inspection of a pile of destroyed books. “Spike, it’s okay. She’s just a stuff animal.”

The young boy’s head swiveled so fast to look at her she was afraid he broke his neck.

“What‽” He asked in disbelief.

“She’s just a doll.’

“Just a doll! She meant everything to you!”

Twilight was quiet for a moment before she dropped the torn book pages she was holding.

“You’re right. She did mean everything to me. When I was little she was my best friend, my confidant, my number one assistant.” Twilight whispered quietly.

“And now she means nothing to you‽” Spike asked hoarsely.

“I didn’t say that, it does sting a little that she’s gone, but I’ll be okay. You know why?”

“Twilight, we can fix her. You don’t have to pretend—”

“Do you know why I don’t need her anymore?”

“Twi—”

“Because I have you.”

Spike froze, his eyes going wide and his throat closing up.

Twilight smiled brightly at him, just as she had been for the past five and a half years. 

With a deep breath Spike shook off his shock and smiled back with a nod.

Together they began cleaning up the broken and destroyed room, which to them felt like they were doing more than just fixing the material items, they were fixing their scarred hearts. Together, just as they had been from the first day they became friends. 

I promise you Twilight Sparkle, we’ll be best friends, forever. No matter what.