The Rocks And Water

by KingReptarAlmighty

Ch. 5: The Ticking Clock

Spike is a walking cataclysm, and Discord was well too aware of that fact.

The little dragon was a polite thing, generally speaking. He was raised by Twilight, so one would expect such. But, he was so blissfully unaware of what he was causing, and it made Discord horrendously nervous.

As of right now, the poor little dragon had two major power surges, one to get rid of the Anemoi, and one to save his changeling friend. And as far as Discord could tell, a third was on it’s way based on the timing of the other two. He was changing things around him in ways he wasn’t even aware of, and the worst part is, it was getting worse. The initial surge merely scattered the Anemoi, but the second one completely changed the ecosystem of the area where he surged, planting a tropic right in the middle of a frozen north. Discord had to fix that one in secret, didn’t want Twilight on his tail. Then he’d have to explain that she’d been raising a very polite, ancient super deity-spirit, reborn through means that Discord was not and did not want to be aware of.

The worst part was, it’s not as if he could do anything about it. Best he could do is hope Spike became aware of it, and learned to undo what he did. He wasn’t sure how long it would take before Spike’s little rewrites turned too big for even Discord.

So there he sat, among the clouds of the Frozen North, watching from the edge of the Crystal Empire. He watched as his clock ticked towards his best estimate for the next surge, four hours, and his face pulled into a nervous grimace.

He hoped Spike had gotten “the dream”. It was the only way he’d gained his control.

---

The Crystal Empire had some amazing cooks.

Even outside of the castle, there were a myriad of restaurants and diners that Spike was a decent fan of, but Cadence and Shining Armor somehow managed to balance a taste for the refined and fancy with food that actually tastes good. Likely because Shining Armor, despite being raised in Canterlot, went out of his way to eat at greasy, hole-in-the-wall places, and knew that fancy was usually pretty bad for food.

Spike ate with as much poise and proper etiquette as a starving bear, and made no attempts to remedy that fact, given that he was with friends and family.

That was one trope from Twilight’s series of romantic books that he hated. Why would you change your entire behavior to be with someone? Then they don’t like you, just some weird fabrication of you. He wasn’t going to switch up and start eating all proper because Thorax was there. Honestly, the Changeling King was possibly worse than Spike was. That said, he was eating noodles, a food that required a lot of effort to look proper while eating. It’s like trying to look proper while sucking on a smoothie straw that got something stuck in it. It’s not going to happen. In any case, while the two of them ate like they hadn’t eaten all day, which Spike realized they hadn’t around halfway through his meal, and promptly asked for more, Cadence tried to help Shining Armor get Flurry Heart to eat. Eventually, once they managed to get Flurry Heart to cooperate, Cadence turned on them.

“So,” She began. “Why are you two so hungry?”

“We did fly all the way here. Also, I don’t know if it’s possible to freeze off calories, but I feel like I definitely did.” Thorax said. Spike nodded in agreement, and once he swallowed his bite of food, he added on:

“Also, I don’t think we ate anything the whole way here. I’m pretty sure we skipped breakfast.” Thorax silently ‘oh’ed.

“That’s why you asked for more. Should I get something extra too? I feel pretty full, but I don’t know if that’ll be true in like three hours.” Spike shrugged.

“Grab a loaf of bread or something. Just keep it and see if you get hungry.” Thorax nodded, and called over one of the chefs.

“Well, what did you do for the few hours that you were gone?” Cadence asked. “We didn’t see you around the castle, so we thought you had gone out.”

“Nope.” Spike jabbed his thumb in Thorax’s direction. “He wanted to take a nap, and dragged me back when I was going to go to the library.” Cadence raised an eyebrow at him.

“So why didn’t you just go when he fell asleep?”

“For one thing, Thorax is the lightest sleeper on the planet.”

“That’s true,” Shining Armor interjected. “He used to wake up just from me walking past the door.” Thorax frowned at the accusation.

“You used to wear that loud armor everywhere. The clanking woke me up.” Shining Armor rolled his eyes.

“If it didn’t wake Flurry, it should not have woken you up.” Thorax pursed his lips and returned to his food.

“Number two, he decided to place himself on top of me, and even if he wasn’t such a light sleeper, I was not going to be able to drag myself out from under him without waking him up. And number three, do you really think I, of all people, would say no to a nap?” Cadence’s mouth quirked upward in a sort of smug smile for a fraction of a second, not long enough for Spike to catch it. Still she nodded, and Spike pushed his empty plates into a neat stack.

“Do you think it’s too late to go out?” Cadence shrugged.

“It depends on where you’re going. A theater’s probably still open, or maybe a few libraries.” Spike nodded, and dragged Thorax off.

---

Three hours. Three hours. Discord had considered moving into a better vantage point inside the empire itself, but he didn’t want to risk Cadence and Shining Armor becoming aware of his presence. They’d either inquire him much too heavily about why he was there, or the much better but still slightly scary option, ask him to play with Flurry Heart.

He tapped on his crystal ball. The thing was struggling to keep an eye on Spike, and Discord suspected it had something to do with his recent power awakening. He leaned in, trying to get a closer look, when the ball began fogging up, as if he’d started breathing on it. He backed off, but the fog didn’t dissipate. Lip curling in displeasure, he picked up the ball, and started vigorously rubbing it with his arm. He tapped on it a few more times, and nearly groaned out loud when the fog was replaced only by a pure purple. He stared at the clouds swirling higher above him, before he went wide eyed, snapping back to attention as he realized what that color was. He watched as what he now recognized as an eyelid opened to reveal a familiar green eye with a slitted pupil. The iris slowly faded into a dull blue, and Discord watched, in utter abject horror, as the Crystal Ball began melting in his hands. He looked back at his clock, and watched in fear as it accelerated.

From three hours to two.

And from two to one.

Only stopping at fifteen minutes.

Mouth drawn into a fearful grimace, and eyebrows knit in confusion, Discord flew off towards the Crystal Palace. As a matter of fact, he thought as he flew, it might very well be worth it to inform Cadence of what might awaken in her kingdom.

---

Spike squirmed lightly as he walked. He hated when it felt like he was being watched. He reached a hand up, and rubbed at his eye subconsciously, and breathed a sigh of relief as the feeling melted away.

Author's Note:

Leave a comment. Let me know if you see a mysterious green eye in your dreams.

Comments

[BleuBlooms]

I do. It likes hats.