Chapter 45: Owl's Well that ends Well (Last Edited: 3/22/2023)
October 26, 2020
Ponyville Park
It was a crisp Autumn night. Twilight had invited Fluttershy and Jack to view a meteor shower from the hill in Ponyville's park. They arrived at the same time as Pinkie Pie and Sakura finding Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle waiting around the picnic Spike had set up.
"Do we have Spike to thank again for this amazing spread?" Rarity asked. "Isn't he simply amazing?"
"Oh, come on," Spike responded, pausing expectantly for continued praise. "I said come on."
"Little Spikey-wikey!" Pinkie responded dotingly. "Who knew that big ferocious dragon started off so cutesy wootsy?"
"Spike, you are such a little star that I had to make a little bow tie for you," Rarity said, placing a large jewel-bedazzled tie around Spike's neck.
"Gosh. You guys are embarrassing me," Spike said.
"I’d be embarrassed too if I was wearing that,” Jack chuckled, pointing at the Spike’s bow tie.
“Hey!” Spike protested.
“It does look ridiculous,” Sakura giggled.
“Hey, everypony!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “The show is starting!”
As everyone else clamored to watch the meteor shower, Jack smiled, thinking how much Sweetie Belle’s mood had improved since their talk. Though now something seemed wrong with Sakura, who he’d noticed glaring at Sweetie Belle more than a few times since they’d gathered.
The meteor shower left everyone present in awe of its beauty. As the night went on, they gorged themselves on the food Spike had prepared.
“Mmm,” Pinkie said, munching on some of the cookies. “Wow! These cookies are delish!”
“Spike made them,” Twilight said. “Speaking of, Spike, can you bring us some punch? Spike?”
Spike had worked so hard preparing the food that after drinking the entirety of the punch bowl, he passed out inside it.
“Oh, poor little thing,” Rarity cooed.
“Oh, this is hilarious!” Jack laughed, snapping a picture with his phone.
“Aww... He's worked himself to the bone,” Twilight said.
“And now the punch has been... spiked!” Pinkie joked.
As the ponies giggled at Pinkie’s joke, Jack groaned to himself, “God damn it, Pinks.”
Fluttershy’s Cottage
“Well, that was a nice night!” Jack exclaimed, collapsing backward into the couch.
“I agree,” Fluttershy said cheerfully. “Spike certainly knows how to make a picnic.”
“He’s definitely a hard worker,” Jack yawned. “Especially for such a little kid.”
“He does take his job as Twilight’s assistant seriously,” Fluttershy giggled.
“Did Sakura seem… off to you tonight?” Jack asked.
“Huh?” Fluttershy asked. “That seems kinda random. Not really though.”
“She seemed kinda angry to me,” Jack said. “Guess my autism must be playing tricks on me,” he chuckled.
October 27, 2020
Outside Golden Oak Library
The next day Twilight invited Jack and Fluttershy to the library, claiming she had something important to show them.
Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack had already gathered outside the library by the time they arrived. After a few minutes of small talk, Twilight finally walked out of the library with, of all things, an owl flying behind her.
“What’s with the bird?” Jack asked.
“This is Owlowiscious,” Twilight said. “My new junior assistant.”
“Is something wrong with Spikey-Wikey?” Rarity asked in concern.
“What?” Twilight asked. “Oh… no, it’s nothing like that. I just thought it might be nice to give Spike some help. He does so much for me.”
Jack and the ponies quickly grew fond of Owlowiscious. The bird was quite handy, really. Over the course of three hours, he’d saved Opel from a tree, taken care of a rat infestation in Applejack’s barn, and removed a snake from Jack’s room.
Having gathered around the library again, they were excitedly discussing how great the owl was.
“Oh, what a fantastical, flufflicious feathery little friend!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “I'm... hooked!” her pun sending the rest of the Mane Six into a laughing fit.
“He's just wonderful,” Fluttershy agreed.
“He's just wonderful,” Spike said mockingly from the library’s window.
“Someone’s jealous,” Jack thought.
“Uh, yes. Wonderful,” Spike said normally, seeing he was getting stares. “He's quite... the charmer,” Spike growled the last part under his breath.
“And Owlowiscious is just such a star I just had to make this little bow for you,” Rarity said, placing another of her tacky bows on the owl.
Seeing this, Spike slammed the window shut, fuming at the perceived indignity.
“What's he all saddle sore about?” Applejack asked.
“He's probably just jealous of Owlowiscious,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Maybe Spike feels threatened or worried that Owlowiscious will replace him?” Fluttershy offered.
“Replace him?” Twilight asked incredulously. “Hah! That's crazy! Spike knows he can't be replaced.”
Fluttershy’s Cottage: Jack’s Room
When Jack returned home with Fluttershy, he immediately rushed up to his room to play his 3DS. He had just finished with Ocarina of Time 3D and was looking forward to replaying Majora’s Mask. Unfortunately, he couldn’t seem to find the 3DS.
“Fairly certain I placed it on the window seal,” he said to himself, walking to the open window. “It’s not like it could have gone….”
As he looked out the window, he stopped mid-sentence. On the ground, two feet from the wall, the 3DS was spread out in at least two pieces.
“How…?”
It didn’t take long for Jack to figure it out, “Owlowiscious!”
Owlowiscious had indeed knocked the device over while removing the snake. Under normal circumstances, Jack would have been able to reason it’d been an accident, but as it stood, he was already stressed out enough trying to keep Jade Jack at bay.
“The owl will pay!” Jack shouted.
October 28, 2020
Ponyville Marketplace
Jack had gone to sleep shortly after vowing revenge, but the night’s rest had done little for his anger. As such, he was already on his way to the library, albeit on the long route so as to come up with a plan.
As he was walking past Carousel Boutique, he noticed a peculiar sight. Spike, dressed as a mustachioed magician, was sneaking into the shop. Or at least it appeared he was attempting to be sneaky.
“The Hell are you up to?!” Jack called.
Spike froze like a deer caught in the headlights. “Oh… uh heeeey, Jack. I was just….”
“I don’t have time for this!” Jack interrupted. “The owl must pay!”
“Wait, you want to get rid of Owlowiscious too?” Spike asked.
“Yeah, what of it?” Jack asked.
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Spike answered. “I don’t want him to replace me, so I thought I’d make it look like he did something awful.”
“Go on,” Jack said.
Spike explained how he planned to make it appear Owlowiscious had left a dead rat in the library. The idea was that Twilight would send him packing upon seeing the bloody mess. There was just one problem with the plan as far as Jack was concerned.
“You honestly think Twilight’s gonna fall for a fake rat?” Jack asked.
“Well, I…” Spike started. He hadn’t thought of that.
“Why not try something a little more… real?” Jack asked.
“What do you mean?” Spike asked with a nervous gulp.
Everfree Forest
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Spike said as they trudged through the forest. “Wh-what would Fluttershy say about killing a mouse.”
“What, she doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” Jack said darkly. “Besides, I’ve seen her catching fish to feed her animals. What room does she have to judge?”
By this point, Spike had lost all interest in getting rid of Owlowiscious. “What’s going on, Jack?” he asked. “You’re not acting like yourself!”
Having been training in the forest, Jack had figured out how to tune his senses to detect animals moving in the underbrush. Soon enough, he’d found one. Using his magic h used his magic to pluck a leaf from a nearby tree, and in an instant, he’d sliced into his target’s neck. Tossing the bloody leaf aside, he picked up the dead mouse by its tail. “There are sides of me you don’t know about, Spike. Now, we have what we came for. Let’s go back… huurgh!”
Jack felt the wind being knocked out of him as he was sent flying into a large oak. Up until then, he’d almost felt like he was in a trance. He knew what he’d been doing, but he wasn’t entirely in control. It was as if someone had been planting thoughts in his head, and he’d just been going along with them. The impact had more than cleared up his mind.
“HELP!” he could hear Spike shout.
The small dragon was cowering in fear as the beast that had Struck Jack towered over him. Its head, limbs, and torso were that of a lion, though it had the wings and ears of a bat and the tail of a scorpion.
Jack launched a blast of jade energy at the beast, who let out a furious roar as it turned to face him.
“Shit, that didn’t do anything!” Jack gulped to himself.
As the beast barreled towards him, Jack desperately formed a barrier out of the surrounding leaves. To no use as the beast ripped straight through, narrowly missing Jack as he rolled out of the way.
“Give me control, or both you and your friend will die!” Jade Jack hissed.
Now things made sense. “You’re the one who put those thoughts in my head!” Jack accused as he continued dodging claw swipes and tail jabs. “No! You’re even more dangerous than this thing! You wanted this to happen, didn’t you!”
“Initially, I wanted to have you kill the owl,” Jade Jack admitted. “The ponies would have shunned you, and eventually, you’d set me free out of despair. But the dragon’s plan provided me with a quicker solution. It didn’t have to be a manticore. A chimera, a timber wolf, anything attracted by the smell of blood would have worked. You have no choice. I won’t let the emerald buzzkill interfere. Give me control, or all three of us die with your dragon friend!”
Fortunately, Jack didn’t have to make a decision just yet. Swooping silently through the branches, Owlowiscious went straight for the manticore’s exposed eyes. The manticore let out a roar of frustration as it batted at the owl with its paws. When that failed, the manticore turned to its stinger, jabbing at Owlowiscious, who dodged expertly. As if having both the wisdom and combat experience of Athena, Owlowiscious landed on the manticore’s head, taking off just in time for the manticore to give itself a paralyzing dose of venom.
“Hoo-hoo!” Owlowiscious cried in victory.
“Spike! Jack! Over here!” Twilight called through the tree line.
Not wanting to wait around for the manticore to wake up, both Jack and Spike followed Owlowiscious and Twilight out of the forest.
“What were you two thinking?” Twilight asked once they were safe.
“I thought you didn’t need me anymore,” Spike sighed. “I thought if I could frame Owlowiscious leaving a dead mouse in the library, I could be your number on assistant again.”
“Oh, Spike,” Twilight said with a sympathetic smile. “You’ll always be my number one assistant. It's just that sometimes I need some help at night. I can't ask you to stay up late. You're a baby dragon, and you need your rest. Owls are nocturnal. So I asked Owlowiscious to help. But not to take your place. No one could ever replace you, Spike.” Giving Spike an affectionate noogie, she added, “not even when you are being a jealous numbskull.”
“I'm sorry, Twilight,” Spike said, grabbing her in a tight hug. “I never should have been so jealous.”
“And I'm sorry too, Spike,” Twilight said. “I should have been more sensitive.”
Letting go of Twilight, Spike walked up to the tree Owlowiscious was perched in. “And Owlowiscious... I know now that you weren't out to take my job. Forgive me?”
“Hoo?” Owlowiscious hooted.
“Anyway, what are you doing here, Jack?” Twilight asked.
He was fully medicated, but even so, Jack couldn’t bear to make eye contact with Twilight. “Owlowiscious broke my 3DS. I wanted him gone as much as Spike,” he admitted.
“You mean this?” Twilight asked, telekinetically passing him the fully repaired gaming device. “Owlowiscious brought it to me last night. I hope you don’t have any hard feelings.”
Jack’s heart sank to the pits of his stomach. He could have very well ended up killing Owlowiscious if he hadn’t come across Spike. “I was consumed by rage. Spike wanted to fake the dead mouse. I… I convinced him he needed a real one. There was someone else in my head giving me directions.”
“Jade Jack?” Twilight asked.
“Yes,” Jack nodded. “I think he’s getting impatient trying to take over my mind. He wanted to force me to give him control, and he was willing to risk us both dying to do it.”
“So, he’s able to control your mind outside of Chaos Mode?” Twilight asked.
“No, it’s more like he took advantage of my rage and gave me suggestions when I wasn’t thinking straight,” Jack answered.
“I’ll have to report this to Princess Celestia,” Twilight said.
“I know,” Jack sighed, slumping his shoulders and staring at the ground.
Stats
Page generated in 0.021 seconds
Total duration
879 users online
521,284 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
11101602
Going centuries without anything resembling an actual war will do that. Peace isn't a bad thing of course. It's inherently a good thing, but it does have a tendency to make countries let their guard down. (Or in the case of the United States continue to spend tons of money on equipment that is inevitably just left to rust.)
11103469 I appreciate that a great deal. Thank you.