Spike The Time Traveler

by FlashFoward

Decisions

“Applejack, wake up yew!” Granny Smith yelled shrilly.

“GAH, I DIDN’T DO IT!” Applejack yelled back randomly.

Applejack realized that Granny was the one yelling at her and relaxed a bit. However, AJ’s ease of nerves didn’t last long when Granny started to give her a stern gaze. Seeing Granny annoyed was rare and AJ didn’t want her blowing a fuse, especially this early in the morning.

“Little late, are we not?” Granny said dryly.

Unfortunately, Granny was right and AJ had slept until 8:30 AM. She should have been out in the acres bucking trees about two hours ago. Having no idea how to explain herself, Applejack just let out a sigh and looked down at the floor, trying desperately to avoid Granny’s gaze.

“Ha not to fear Applejack, Big Mac has been working hard this mornin’ seeing as that he feels he needs to make up for his lost time in chores around here.” Granny said with a smile.

“You really had me going there Granny. For a moment I thought you were going to yell at me.” Applejack mumbled.

“Pft, yelling ain’t good for nothing. Anyway, mind waking up your friends?” Granny said with a raised eyebrow.

Applejack looked around and noticed that Rainbow and Spike were sleeping very close. For a moment, Applejack felt a little out of place and curious. Dragging a bucket of water to the table, Applejack doused her two friends.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?” Spike said in alarm. Rainbow just grumbled a bit and tried to sleep again on the table.

“I won’t be having any of that, you hear? Anyway, if yall don’t mind I am having a wicked headache so I am going to lie down. ” Applejack said with a groan.

“If you need me don’t yell.” Applejack called out as she left upstairs for her room.

Granny took a glance at Rainbow and Spike. She smiled and had a dreamy look on her face.

“Granny Smith, why are you smiling?” Spike asked.

“I think the both of yew make a cute couple with da two of ya resting on each other like that. Reminds me of me when I was in my younger days.” Granny said with the same dreamy look in her eyes.

Spike looked at Rainbow Dash, he blushed when their eyes met, and turned away quickly. Rainbow blushed as well as Granny spoke and tried to hide her happiness at her compliment.

“I think da two of yew better run along now. Applejack and Big Mac will be out in the fields most of the day so I don’t think yew want to wait that long.” Granny said promptly.

Spike and Rainbow Dash got up and made their way outside the house. Once they left, Granny inspected the table and noticed three jugs and a pitcher filled with apple cider.

“Ah, I see what went on around here. Really need to tell Tim to stop giving this stuff to us.” Granny said with a grin.

She saw that the pitcher was still had some of the amber liquid left. Having nothing to lose and no one to see, Granny poured the rest of the cider and drank it. She let out a hiccup and started to giggle for no apparent reason.

Rainbow Dash and Spike had been walking their way back to Ponyville. Lucky for Spike, his calves weren’t burning and aching as bad as they did yesterday when he had to walk up the hills to Sweet Apple Acres. None the less though, Spike was still lagging behind Rainbow just as he was behind Applejack the entire trip yesterday. Spike couldn’t help but envy Rainbow’s physical strength and was wondering if it was time for him to start exercising some more.

“Spike, about last night…Did it really happen?” Rainbow asked suddenly.

Spike nearly chocked in surprise at this question. He was hoping last night’s events were just a very good dream. Evidently though, it was more real than he could have ever imagined.

“Yeah, I think so.” Spike said awkwardly.

“Was I good?” Rainbow asked. She was really desperate to know this but she wasn’t going to let Spike know how badly she wanted to know.

“You were great.” Spike said with a sheepish grin.

Rainbow tried to hide her satisfaction with this, but failed. She grinned and felt slightly proud of her self. The two friends finally made their way back to Ponyville and it was Spike’s turn to ask a question.

“So, what happens from here?” Spike asked anxiously.

“Oh, I really can’t say. I know it’s weird since we kind of made it a point this won’t work. But that was before last night…” Rainbow said unsurely.

“I need some time to think about this.” Rainbow mumbled to herself aloud. Without another word, Rainbow flew off in another direction.

Spike felt oddly empty as Rainbow left him on his own. It was like someone took away a part of him. Returning to a habit of his, Spike grabbed the pocket watch absent mindedly and fiddled around with the buttons. Spike was surprised to see that the usual purple button had turned into an orange color. For a moment, Spike had no clue how he managed to have Applejack make contact with the watch, let alone remember the majority of last night’s events. None the less, Spike felt proud that he pulled of having the watch set to AJ’s timeline.

Just as he was about to press the orange button, Spike felt reluctant to click it. A nasty headache started to drain Spike’s energy. This is one of the few times Spike wished he was back in the hospital, even if he had to listen to his old nurse whine at him again. Dragging his feet, Spike made his way to the library and wanted nothing more than to sleep in his basket. As Spike entered the library, Twilight perked up her head from behind a book. She finally had gotten her mane redone and seemed like her usual self.

“Spike mind reorganizing the library for me? I found a book about potion brewing in the plant and herbs shelf.” Twilight said in her usual crisp tone. She heard a snore behind her and saw that Spike had fallen asleep in his basket.

“On second thought, maybe I can do it myself.” Twilight said with a grin, looking down at her sleeping assistant.

“Good morning my little number one assistant, hope you sleep well.” Twilight said in a whisper as she gave him a kiss on the forehead.

Spike just mumbled in response and went back to snoring. Twilight giggled at this and went off to tidy up the library as Spike continued to snore the day away.
--
Rainbow flew over to Fluttershy’s house after she left Spike. If there was pony Rainbow knew that would never gossip, its Fluttershy. Her shyness and quiet demeanor was perfect for keeping secrets. Fluttershy always had good advice as well. Rainbow started knocking on the door with vigor and Fluttershy let out an audible yelp from within her home. Realizing that she was nearly knocking the door off its hinges, Rainbow Dash reverted to lightly tapping the door. Fluttershy finally opened the door, looking rather frightened while doing so.

“Oh hello Rainbow, what brings you around here?” Fluttershy asked in her usual soft tone.

“Can we talk for a bit?” Rainbow asked anxiously.

“Sure, why not. I was heading down to the spa anyway. So we can talk there, is that alright with you Rainbow?” Fluttershy replied.

“Well, spas aren’t really my thing but I guess I can go.” Rainbow said in a defeated tone. Spas always seemed too frilly to her but if this was a chance to chat with Fluttershy, she wouldn’t mind as much.

The two Pegasus made their way down to the spa at Ponyville. Aloe and Lotus greeted Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash with a smile.

“How lovely, it’s our favorite customer Fluttershy! Oh, I see that you another one of your friends here! The more the merrier I say.” Aloe said with enthusiasm.

“The usual I guess?” Lotus asked to Fluttershy.

“That would be delightful.” Fluttershy replied with a gentle smile.

“And you?” Lotus asked, directing her attention to Rainbow Dash.

“I’ll take what she gets.” Rainbow replied.

After an hour or two at the spa, Rainbow was starting to regret suggesting she will have what Fluttershy gets. The mud baths were probably the worst, since the mud became plastered to her wings like glue after the mud dried up. Somehow, Fluttershy didn’t have the same problem and moved her wings freely while Rainbow struggled to part her wings from her sides. The massages were coming up next and Rainbow was actually looking forward to this.

“Rainbow Dash, you will have to relax yourself if you want me to massage you. It’s pointless if you keep squirming around.” Lotus ordered.

Relaxing only happened when she was taking a nap on her fluffy cloud. Other than that, Rainbow worked around the clock trying to keep Ponyvilles clear of clouds and keeping proper maintenance of the sky over Ponyville. Still, the prospect of a massage was intriguing and Rainbow didn’t want to pass it up. Lying perfectly still, Lotus finally set to work on massaging Rainbow’s back and wings. As Lotus started to rub Rainbow’s wings, she felt relief and a fuzzy warm feeling overcome her entire body and mind. It felt like she was back sleeping in her usual fluffy cloud.

“Oh, Rainbow what did you want to talk about again?” Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow was so into the massages relaxing effects that she barely heard Fluttershy say anything. If it wasn’t for the fact that Rainbow saw Fluttershy’s mouth move, she would have not even bothered replying or even wondering what she might have been trying to say.

“What did you say Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked in an extremely relaxed tone.

“You wanted to talk, didn’t you?” Fluttershy asked again.

“That I did. It’s about Spike.” Rainbow replied. The warm fuzzy feeling that took over her mind and body were gone and now were replaced with a feeling of uncertainty.

“Spike you say?” Fluttershy said in surprise and curiosity.

“Yeah, Spike and I have been getting kinda close lately.” Rainbow said vaguely.

“How close are we talking about?” Fluttershy said with a raised eyebrow.

“Like, really close.” Rainbow replied.

“Would it even work? I don’t want to make Spike go through with this if I keep having second thoughts. I don’t want to treat him like Rarity did, always having him sit back and wonder if it would ever happen between each other. I want to give him an answer but I just don’t know!” Rainbow moaned helplessly.

“Why do you think this won’t work again?” Fluttershy asked.

“Is it not obvious? He is a dragon, with no wings, and I am a Pegasus. We aren’t even the same species!” Rainbow groaned sadly.

“Love holds no boundaries.” Fluttershy answered back simply.

Rainbow considered this for a moment. True, love was a stranger to no one and crosses many borders. Another problem crept up on the back of Rainbow’s mind and she had a feeling Fluttershy would have a helpful answer.

“What would Twilight say? Heck, what do you think of this, Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked anxiously.

“I think it sounds quite wonderful actually. You and Spike are sarcastic and funny sometimes so you have at least that part in common with each other. As for Twilight, she did try to get Spike to replace you as the Element of Loyalty when Discord was around.” Fluttershy said in her usual soft and polite tone.

Rainbow chuckled at this. Now that Fluttershy brought it up, Spike and her really did have many similar traits. Whether it is from their sense of humor to their unwillingness to lose or be defied in something, Spike and Rainbow actually had a lot in common. There was a loud crashing noise from another room and Aloe left Fluttershy alone, Fluttershy didn’t mind, for a bit as she left to inspect what was the cause of the commotion. Rainbow didn’t seem bothered by the sudden noises and continued talking as if nothing happened.

“You won’t tell anyone about this Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash asked nervously. Last thing she wanted was for all her friends to know about this.

“If it means that much to you, of course I will not say a word about this to anyone.” Fluttershy replied, reassuringly. Aloe returned and continued to give Fluttershy her massage, as if nothing had interrupted her.

After paying Lotus and Aloe, the two Pegasus left the spa rejuvenated and happy. What they didn’t know was that Rarity had been spying on Rainbow and Fluttershy ever since they entered the spa. Rarity was smart though, she borrowed a book from Twilight about spells and learned how to make herself camouflage with her back rounds. Rarity’s first attempt at the spell didn’t end well though, she ended up only making her mane obtain the camouflaging effects and Rarity grew frantic until she figured out how to reverse the spell. However, Rarity’s second attempt succeeded. Rarity’s first interest for the spell was that she thought the spells effects would be interesting to try on dresses, sadly the spell made the clothes almost impossible to match with something since they always copied their surroundings.

Rarity was making her way down to the spa to have her usual spa date with Fluttershy. Once she saw Fluttershy walking with Rainbow Dash to the spa, Rarity felt slightly betrayed and hurt. However, Rarity was in no mood to confront the two, so she used her newly learned spell a try on herself and followed the two Pegasus. The more Rarity listened on their conversation, the more jealous and envious she grew of Rainbow Dash. True, Rarity did feel guilty for letting on Spike the way she did but she never imagined for him to finally grow tired of her stalling. How could Spike fall for a pony who acted just as uncivilized and unsophisticated as Applejack? Surely, an elegant and glamorous pony like herself is more desirable?

For once in Rarity’s life, she had met a colt who no longer paid attention to her, excluding Prince Blueblood. So many colts had tried to impress Rarity, lavishing her with priceless gems and many other luxurious just to try to have her attention. Yet they all failed to impress her even in the slightest. Yet now, the fact that Spike was no longer going to chase after her made Rarity feel less majestic. Sure, many other colts will try to treat her like a princess but loosing Spike’s interest was a bit of a blow to her ego and self-esteem. All that Rarity knew at this point was that she wanted to regain Spike attention, even if it meant shoving Rainbow Dash out of the picture.
--
Dear Tick the Time Smith,

Tick, the power of friendship expands too many deep levels. I know you’re thinking that even friendships wither away at the test of time. However, I disagree full-heartedly. In fact, I believe friendships can even surpass time its self. For as long as people retell the stories of us, we will never truly fade away completely. I do hope you have not forgotten about your wife Tick. She was very optimistic and carefree, unlike you. Those were the days when you truly smiled on your own. As for you fear of Discord returning, please consult with Spike to see if that the Elements of Harmony are truly having disagreements that might break their friendship and if this is the case send me back another letter back to me.

From,

Princess Celestia

Tick had been tearing up at the mention of his beloved wife in the letter sent to him. For many years, maybe even centuries, he had tried to forget about how his wife passed away. Yet, with the visit of Spike and making Spike his assistant, Tick was reminded of how his wife feared the very things Spike feared as well. Seeing friends pass away and watching many years of change go by, sometimes unwanted. Oh how she begged to no longer stand watching the relentless cycle of life. But, Tick always managed to persuade her to remain by his side. It was only a matter of time though before she started to lose the will to live. For a while, she no longer laughed or remained laid back. Instead, hostility and a short temper replaced the once happy mare’s emotions. She finally told Tick that the families on her side were nearly gone by now while Tick’s relatives remained the same as they were bounded to immortality as long as there was a Time Smith performing their duties in the family. Tick can remember how she yelled at him to negotiate some sort of way for him to give the same immortality his family had to hers. He told her how he was not allowed to do so and that immortality was a large burden anyway and he felt that giving them this burden in exchange for her peace of mind was slightly selfish. She retaliated that Tick had grown cold and distant from emotions the more years he remained Time Smith. Unfortunately, Tick was taken aback by this sting in her words and said nothing else. She grew tired and frustrated with Tick and left him.

However for as soon as she headed off, she started to dissolve into dust and bones in front of Tick’s very eyes. He still has nightmares about a skeleton of a mare reaching out her hoof to him, only to hit the ground to form a pile of dust. Ever since that dreadful day, Tick had always tried to be a happy go lucky colt to remind himself of how his wife used to be. There are times when Tick wondered if it was time to cut the acting out and show how he really felt, but he never bothered. It seemed pointless to whine anyway since there wasn’t much for Tick to care about. His kids, grandkids, great grandkids and so on are well taken care of. Tick even doubted some of his distant relatives knew they were related to him. Tick dragged himself to his hooves; he then turned his head and saw that there was a picture hanging above his fireplace. The picture showed a happy dark blue colt, with an hourglass cutie mark and a fancy top hat with a white suit, alongside a pretty white mare, who wore a white gown. Tick stared at the photo, for what felt like millenniums. He ran his hoof down the face of the white mare, a tear falling from his face while doing so.

“Good night, my sweet Jewel.” Tick said with deep sadness.

Tick stood alone in his empty study room for a few moments. He wasn’t sure what he should have been doing until Tick remembered that he had to write a letter to Spike about the situation of The Elements of Harmony’s friendship with each other might be breaking. Energetically, Tick wrote down his letter and summoned the usual blue portal when he was done.

“This is much faster than express mail.” Tick said to himself with a grin. He then pitched the letter into the portal which disappeared once the letter was sucked into its depths.
--
It was night time in Ponyville by now. No lights were on unless you’re accounting the faint blue glow coming from the windows of Twilights library. Inside the library, Spike mouth was the source of the mysterious blue light. It grew faint at first but now, blue flames could be seen popping out of the corners of his mouth. The inevitable was growing near as Spike’s stomach started to growl violently.