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// Look Before You Sleep 
// Story: Where Was Spike? 
// by powerpony 
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In Canterlot, Spike was walking through the market place. Princess Celestia had asked him to come and help her with some of her errands. Her regular assistant had called in sick and Spike was more than happy to help out. 
He was going through the list Celestia had given him, making sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. When he checked off every item he quickly headed back to the castle. 
“Thank you, Spike for doing this,” Celestia said as she saw all of the items she wanted were there. “I can see now why Twilight calls you her #1 assistant.” 
“Thank you, Princess,” Spike blushed. “That means a lot coming from you.” Anyway, I better get going. Twilight hates it when I’m away too long.”
Spike made his way to the front entrance, but as soon as he opened the door, he saw a huge flash of lighting in the sky and a large booming of thunder. The rain soon followed, pouring down in buckets. 
“Oh dear,” said Celestia, as she looked outside. “The weather ponies really did a good job with those storm clouds.”
She then looked down at Spike, who looked a bit uneasy going out in the rain.
“I can’t allow you go out and get soaked, Spike,” she said. “How would you like to spend the night here in the castle with me?”
“Are you sure about that?” asked Spike. “I don’t want to be a burden.” 
“Nonsense,” said Celestia. “You can have the guest room down the hall. And I’ll send a note to Twilight that you’re here so she doesn’t worry.” 
Spike couldn’t help but feel very grateful for what Celestia was doing. 
“Thank you, Princess,” he said smiling. 
That night, Spike was lying down in the large bed in the guest room. The only problem was that he had trouble falling asleep. Every time he shut his eyes, he was awoken by the sound of the thunder outside. Also, when he looked around the dark room, he couldn’t help but feel scared. It reminded him of when he was back in Ponyville and some nights, he felt afraid. Be it either a storm outside or he just had a nightmare he would curl up in his little bed and be filled with fear. The only comfort he had was knowing that Twilight was there with him and sometimes, if he was really scared, she would let him sleep with her. 
But this time, there was no one there to comfort him. Spike was alone in the room, and that made him more and more terrified. 
Spike then thought his mouth was a bit dry, so he got off the bed and walked down the hallway towards the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. 
As he walked down the hall, the darkness of the room made Spike even more scared. It made him think that some monster was going to come out and grab him. And every time he heard the thunder, it caused him to jump with fright. 
“I really wish Twilight was here,” Spike said to himself. 
All of a sudden, Spike could hear heavy footsteps in the darkness coming right towards him. He quickly ran off, hoping to get away from whatever was following him, but the footsteps kept getting closer and closer. Then, Spike tripped over his own tail and fell to the ground. As he sat up, he could hear the footsteps coming right towards him.
“Please don’t hurt me,” Spike yelled as he cowered in fear. 
“Spike?” came a soft voice. 
Just then, a big bright light filled the hall. Spike looked up and saw Celestia looking at him with a look of concern on her face, using her magic to light up the room. 
“Spike? Are you okay,” the princess asked the small dragon. 
Spike then stood up and was silent for a few seconds. Then small tears appeared in his eyes as he ran up to Celsestia and hugged her front leg. Celestia placed a front hoof on Spike’s back as she tried to figure out what was wrong. It wasn’t until she saw a flash of lighting from the window that she had a good idea of what was going on. 
“Spike? Are you scared of the storm?” she asked. 
“It’s not just the storm,” said Spike as he let go of the embrace. “I’m scared of the dark and Twilight not being here to help me. She would always comfort me if I was scared, but now that she’s not here, I feel terrified.”
“Oh, it’s okay, Spike,” said Celestia. “Tell you what. How would you like to sleep with me? My bed has plenty of room for the both of us.” 
Spike felt a bit better after hearing this as he wiped his tears away and smiled. 
“Thanks, Princess,” he said. “I would really like that.” 
Spike then followed Celestia to her bedchambers and quickly jumped onto the bed and got under the covers and fell asleep almost instantly. Celestia couldn’t help but smile at how adorable Spike looked. She then got into bed herself and went to sleep. 
The next morning, Celestia followed Spike as he made his way to the front entrance. 
“Thanks again for everything, Princess,” said Spike. “Sorry for being such a scardey cat.” 
“You have nothing to be ashamed of, Spike,” said Celesaia. “”Everyone gets scared sometimes.”
“Really? Even you,” Spike asked. 
“Yes, even me,” Celestia said as she looked over her shoulder and saw Luna talking with one of the guards and a sad smile appeared on her face. 
Spike said his goodbyes to the princess and made his way to the train station. 
Back at Ponyville, Spike entered the library to find the room covered with feathers while Twilight was using her magic to sweep them up with a broom. 
“What happened here?” Spike asked. “It looks like a stampede of chickens came through here.”
“Actually this was caused by a little pillow fight,” said Twilight. “Applejack and Rarity came over for a slumber party and things got a little carried away.”
“You had your first slumber party?” Spike said, a little proud of Twilight. “How did it go?”
“It was a bit rocky at first,” said Twilight. “Applejack and Rarity had a big argument beforehand, so they had a little trouble getting along. But they were able to put aside their differences and we all had a fun night. “
Spike then smiled as he walked up to Twilight and gave her a hug. 
“What’s this for?” Twilight asked. 
“I’m just happy to be home,” said Spike.