Risks

Author's Note:

Update, update! I'm posting this into the Fluttercord Week since I've been informed that they still accept late entries so, yay!

Update! I got a cover photo now, yay! It was done by my friend, FloofyPon. She has a fimfiction account as well, go check her out! ^w^

Woo, the first short story I've written with Spike and Big Macintosh! Anywhoo- Heyo to everyone who's going to read this! This was a prompt I did based on the Fluttercord Week contest. However, due to it being so past the submission dates, I'm way too late to submit this in. However, I loved the prompts and I thought they were really good ideas so I'm going to do all of them. I hope you enjoy!~ This was prompt 1, Spike!

The sun was slowly disappearing behind the mountain of Canterlot as Big Macintosh made his way up to the castle of Princess Twilight. It was time for the regular scheduled guy's night of him, Spike, and Discord where they would play Ogres and Oubliettes. A few nights ago, Spike had mentioned that Twilight and the other girls would be off on their own little 'girl's night' and would be leaving the castle totally empty and alone. The perfect time to host a night of fun. Especially with Discord's powers to bend reality to his will. Tonight would be fun and Big Mac was looking forward to it. Big Mac stepped up the stairs and knocked on the door, waiting for Spike to greet him and allow entry. He waited for a few moments, wondering what was taking Spike so long when the door flung open and there was Spike trying to catch his breath.

"Hey, Big Mac.." Spike panted. "Sorry, I just got a really 'chaotic' message from, Discord."

Big Mac suddenly noticed that Spike was dripping wet with water. Discord must have sent a prank of some kind his way. He didn't seem too happy about it either as Spike turned around, searching for something on himself when Big Mac saw a fish flopping about on Spike's tail. Spike groaned angrily and brushed the fish off, sending it flying to the ground. It smacked its tail on the ground a few times before disappearing with a small 'poof' noise. Spike shook off, slightly spraying Big Mac with a bit of water before regaining his composure.

"Well, seems like Discord isn't going to be joining us for Ogres and Oubliettes tonight..His so-called message said he was busy or something. I guess we'll be playing the board game this time."

"Eeyup."

A few moments later, Spike and Big Mac were now seated at the Cutie Map Table which was no longer being used as a map but rather a table for their board game and snacks. Spike had whipped up his famous nachos to try and liven up the mood. Although the nachos did taste good, they didn't exactly help the empty feeling they felt of not having their chaotic friend there to spice things up. Every once in awhile Spike would glance at the empty throne of Fluttershy where Discord would sit normally. He wondered why Discord sat there particularly and not anywhere else.

"The Squizzard approaches readying himself to...To.." Spike stumbled, squinting at the pages of the board game's book. "Wait..There's no words here! Where'd they go?.."

Big Mac leaned over Spike’s shoulder and looked down at the pages of the book. He was indeed correct. There were words at the top of the page but as they went on they suddenly faded into nothing but a blank white page.

“Ugh, Discord’s doing I’m sure.” Spike sighed and chucked the book across the table.

“Well, that leaves us with absolutely nothing to do. It’s like Discord has made it his job to ruin our night when he’s not here. I don’t even know what he’s doing!” Spike complained, angrily.

Big Mac patted Spike on the back, looking around the empty room for something else to do. He was unfortunately met with nothing since the room was really only used for the Cutie Map table and he knew that Twilight wouldn't appreciate them messing around with the table. It probably wouldn't even work for them anyway.

Big Mac got up from his seat and trotted over to a nearby window. Since he arrived the sun had fully disappeared and the sky was a beautiful purple-blue color as the day had come to an end and night approached. His gaze fell on the many rows of houses and then a certain building in the distance. He could see the giant pink cupcake on top of Sugar Cube Corner just peeking from behind a house when he suddenly got an idea.

"Spike."

"Yeah?"

Spike glanced over to where Big Mac stood. Big Mac motioned for him to come over as Spike stood up and followed. Spike looked out the window, confused when he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Big Mac guided his gaze to the giant cupcake peeking behind the house and then smiled at him.

"Isn't that Sugar Cube Corner?..What about Sugar Cube Corner?.."

And just like that, a sudden idea of what Big Mac meant came to Spike's mind. He definitely wasn't charades champion for nothing.

"You want to go to Sugar Cube Corner..Because..You have coupons..To get us..Free cupcakes?"

Big Mac nodded and grinned.

"Ah! Well, I suppose that would be a good use of our time. Besides, I could use something sweet right about now."

And with that, the two friends travelled into the night. It was rather late to get something sweet right about now but the two could care less. As long as the sweet bakery was open, they would be able to get a sweet treat. They seemed to be open anyways as the front door was open and light poured out of the bakery. Although, it seemed rather deserted. Probably because any normal pony wouldn’t be here at this hour for a treat. However, just to make sure, Spike peeked in from the door and looked around. Nopony was sitting down at a table and there was nopony at the counter either. Perhaps they were closing down for the night.

“I don’t know..I think they’re closing down. There’s nopony in there.” Spike explained.

They took one last glance before turning on the bakery, heading back for the castle.

“Oh dear, wait, wait, wait! We’re open!”

Spike heard Mrs. Cake yell as he stopped and turned around to see her galloping over to them.

“Oh, hi, Mrs. Cake! I thought you were closing down for the night.”

“Oh no, dearie. Sorry, we have a reservation in the bakery and I was just taking their orders. If you’d like I could get you both something now.” Mrs. Cake pulled out a tiny notebook and pen from out of her puffy pink mane.

“Sure, if you’re not too busy.”

Mrs. Cake nodded and led them inside. She seated them at a small table and gave them some menus.

“Here you go. I’ll be right back, I’m just going to check on the others.”

Spike nodded as he watched her disappear into another room that was also lit up. It made him wonder who made a reservation here so late at night and how you could even make a reservation at a bakery. Was that even possible? Perhaps it was a birthday. He opened his menu and looked at the many choices.

“You know, I wonder if Discord actually didn’t mention anything that he was doing because he was taking Fluttershy on a date and he was embarrassed by it so he didn’t want to let me know so that’s why he made an excuse of being busy..”

Big Mac looked up at him rather confused.

“Yeah..You’re right, that’s a little too crazy of a situation. Even for, Discord. I mean really, who would think that Discord would be a real gentleman and take her on a date? It seems very unrealistic.”

Mrs. Cake returned and began to take their order. Big Mac offered her his coupons and she took them and nodded. Eventually, she disappeared again but this time to the kitchen.

“I just think you know..You have, Sugar Belle..I have Rarity..Well..Kind of..Don’t you think Discord deserves a special somepony? Someone who would treat him with kindness and love?”

“Eeyup.”

“Exactly! Discord shouldn’t be alone forever just because of some things he had done in the past.”

Mrs. Cake exited the kitchen, balancing a plate on her flank of a very extravagant looking cake. It looked like a mix of white chocolate and milk chocolate. It made Spike’s mouth water looking at it as she disappeared back through to the other room. There were gasps and giggling heard in the other room as the others in there seemed very pleased with their cake.

“Oh my, Discord, you didn’t need to get THAT! That was the most expensive cake on the menu!”

“My dear, you deserve it. After all, to me, you’re the most expensive pony in all of Equestria. A silly little cake doesn’t even cover your importance and beauty.”

Both Spike and Big Mac looked at each other in shock, was that really them?..

Fluttershy burst into laughter. “My goodness, you’re flirty tonight. This isn’t quite like you.”

“I suppose a certain pony has her way of reforming creatures and changing them. Even the most chaotic ones.”

Big Mac and Spike watched Mrs. Cake exit giggling a little. She seemed to find the two rather entertaining as she walked back into the kitchen.

"That's definitely Discord and Fluttershy.." Spike said, turning to Big Mac.

"Eeyup."

"I knew I was right!" Spike said excitedly, putting his claw to his chin thinking. "Hm..You know, this is probably Discord's first time really doing something like this for a mare. We should give him a little push in the right direction. Besides, I think they'd make an AMAZING couple. We need to help him 'wow' Fluttershy."

"Eeyup."

"Hm..I have just the idea!"

A little while later, Discord and Fluttershy were leaving Sugar Cube Corner and giving Mrs. Cake their thanks for all the delicious treats. As they walked on through the darkness, Fluttershy leaned her head on Discord's arm smiling blissfully. She stared up at the twinkling stars in the sky as she did so.

"My dear, you look rather tired. Would you like me to walk you home?" Discord asked in a soft tone

"No, no, it's alright. I appreciate the offer though. I'm just..Really happy about tonight. I never expected you to take me on any date at all truly. You know..I never thought you were the romantic type."

Discord looked slightly taken aback and let out a laugh. "Fluttershy, I've lived for thousands of years. I've had plenty of time to see many beautiful mares pass by and allow myself to try and charm them."

"Oh.."

Fluttershy stopped in her tracks and looked down at the ground, her ears lowered. She knew Discord may have experimented with many mares in the past and perhaps did things with them too but she was hoping perhaps it wouldn't be true. There was nothing wrong with experimentation, it was just more that Fluttershy worried perhaps she wasn't exactly good enough to match the other pretty mares maybe the Lord of Chaos had come by. Maybe the ones he might come by now even. Discord stopped, noticing the concerned sort of look on Fluttershy's face.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

It was like Fluttershy had woken up from falling asleep in place as her ears perked up and she stared at Discord in the face, rather alarmed.

"Oh! Sorry..I must have been lost in thought. I was just thinking about something.." She started walking alongside him again.

"Like what?" He asked, a rather playful look on his face.

"O-Oh..N-Nothing..Don't worry about it.."

"Fluuutttterrrsshhhhyyy.." He sang mischievously, grinning widely at her.

"I said it's fine!"

Discord's eyes widened, a little shocked at Fluttershy's sudden outburst. She sighed and then started to walk off on her own.

"Well..I'm going back to my cottage..I'll see you maybe tomorrow or another day. Thank you for the cake and the date.."

Discord frowned, watching the yellow pegasus walk away. This wasn't how he wanted the night to end at all. He hoped maybe he would even be able to share a kiss with her before she went on her way. This certainly wasn't how he imagined things to go.

"Oh no, this can't be happening! My ship is going to sink!" Spike exclaimed dramatically.

Big Mac's head peeked out of the bush he and Spike were currently hiding in as he gave Spike a very odd look.

"Uh..Right. You don't know what a ship is..Never mind that! We need to help, Discord. How are we going to get them together now?"

There was a harsh wind and the crackle and crinkle of leaves and twigs as Big Mac zoomed out of the bush and started to gallop in the direction of his home, Sweet Apple Acres. Spike called out to Big Mac as he rushed to follow him, spreading his dragon wings and flying to match his speed. It wasn't long until they reached the big barn and made their way inside. Spike had landed rather roughly and loud and was shushed by Big Mac considering everypony else was asleep in the barn. They quietly went upstairs to a little shelf of books that Big Mac quietly sorted through until he found the right one.

"Magical Beasts of the Everfree?"

Big Mac suddenly shushed Spike again.

"Sorry.." Spike whispered.

They went downstairs quietly and sat down on the couch with the book. Big Mac flicked on a nearby lamp and flipped open the book. He quickly flipped each page, giving a slight glimpse of the contents inside. Spike saw all kinds of different weird looking creatures with odd limbs and heads. This could be Discord's kind of book definitely. Spike even wondered if Discord was even related to any of these creatures. Spike suddenly stopped Big Mac from flipping through the book when he spotted those same yellow and red eyes of their friend.

"Look, Discord's in here." Spike whispered, pointing to the draconequus on the page.

The book perfectly pictured him in all his weird chaotic glory. Although, it didn't picture him very nicely. The picture reminded Spike of the stained glass window in Canterlot Castle where Discord was torturing the three races of pony. This book must have been outdated since Discord was no longer like this and would no longer put Ponyville or the rest of Equestria in a dystopia of chaos and misery. The picture was him drinking his famous chocolate milk in a glass and smiling evilly as the ground beneath him was like a checkerboard and pigs with wings flying in the sky in the distance. Whoever the artist was they drew very beautifully and definitely did their job at showing him as someone you wouldn't want to mess with. It almost made Spike sympathize with Discord at this point in time since there was so much history on him that ponies could give him judgemental opinions. There was a paragraph of what seemed to be a description of Discord. Spike didn't dare read it since he didn't exactly need a refresh on Discord's past crimes.

"Wow..I'm glad I wasn't a villain. I wouldn't want a page about me." Spike whispered. "Although..A painting made just for me is pretty nice."

Big Mac than flipped the page after a minute of looking it over and went back to searching. Eventually, he stopped on another odd creature. It was a hybrid of what looked like to be a bear, a tiger, and a lion. It was a rather large bear with markings of a tiger and the fluffy mane of a lion. It looked very fierce and set on chasing its prey down with no mercy. It scared Spike a little just looking at it.

"Is this what you wanted to find?.." Spike asked.

Big Mac nodded and moved his hoof, scanning through the words until he found a sentence he wanted. Spike gasped at what he read.

"It eats ponies?!"

"Shhhh!!"

"Sorry.."

Big Mac slammed the book shut and quietly trotted upstairs with the book leaving Spike to sit on the couch. He returned shortly after without the book and ushered Spike outside. Once they were finally out of the barn, Spike started to speak in his normal volume.

"Why did you need to find that book, now I'm terrified of that thing.."

Big Mac than whispered in Spike's ear and began to tell him his plan. Spike couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You want to lure that thing over here and make it chase after, Fluttershy?! Are you nuts? That thing eats ponies! Not even Fluttershy could calm down that thing. Besides, how is that going to help Fluttershy and Discord get together? It'll just endanger Fluttershy."

Big Mac shook his head and then whispered in Spike's ear again.

"Yeah right, Discord might be the Lord of Chaos but that doesn't mean it's just safe to send a pony eating monster after his future wife! What if he doesn't come in time? What if he tries to fight if off and gets seriously injured? What if-"

Big Mac put his hoof over Spike's mouth and shook his head. He then grinned reassuringly at him as if to tell him he knew what he was doing.

Spike sighed. "Alright..I'll trust you I guess. But if something bad happens to them it's on you. I hope you pay for their hospital bills and such."

Big Mac laughed and nodded.

Elsewhere, Fluttershy was now getting ready to rest for the night. She straightened her blankets and fluffed her pillows as she had her kettle downstairs heating up water for some tea before going to bed. She brushed her mane until her water was ready and then made her night time tea. She took a good whiff of the tea and took a sip, sighing tiredly as she sat down on her couch with the teacup. She was left alone with her thoughts and all she could feel was the guilt of her walking off on Discord. She knew she was wrong for what she did and she hated it. She felt so bad for Discord but there was nothing she could do now. He had probably already vanished back to his dimension to probably sleep himself. He would be okay..She hoped.

She finished her tea and only hoped her guilt wouldn't keep her awake at night as she got under her blanket. She shut her eyes letting the darkness consume her.

"...HEEELPP!!"

She sat right up in bed, her yellow wings spread out at her sides as she panted in fear. Was that Spike?..Oh no..Was he in trouble? She sprang up from bed, opening her bedroom window and peering outside. She couldn't see anything but it was too dark outside to see anything anyways. She would have to go outside..She shivered at the thought but she had no choice. Spike or somepony else was in trouble and she couldn't just lay here and do nothing.

She rushed downstairs, waking up a few of her sleeping animals and burst out of the door. She wasn't sure where to run but she ran anyway.

"Spike?...Anypony?..Are you there?!" Fluttershy called.

"Fluttershy, over here!"

She stopped, her hooves sliding across the grass. She looked around to the source of the noise and spotted Spike running towards her looking particularly terrified.

"Spike? What are you doing here?"

"Never mind that, we need to run, NOW!"

"But-"

"JUST GO!"

The pegasus didn't take any chances. She ran away with Spike from whatever they were running from. She didn't know why they were running and where they would go but she did know they had to go somewhere.

"S-Spike, what are we running from?"

Spike looked behind them and she watched as his face turned from fear to pure terror as he sped up.

"IT'S COMING RIGHT FOR US!"

Fluttershy looked behind her to look and she instantly regretted it. A large looking bear snarled at them as it chased them, never stopping. Fluttershy started to speed up as well as she realized they were in true danger.

"Where did that thing come from?!" She yelled.

"I don't know! It just started to follow me and I realized it was trying to eat me!"

"Trying to eat you? Bears don't really eat ponies..Especially dragons!"

"That isn't JUST a bear."

Fluttershy looked behind her again to try and get a better look. She noticed something fluffy on the bear but that wasn't much else. She didn't quite understand what Spike meant.

"CLIFF!" Spike screamed.

Fluttershy screamed and halted herself, sliding across the grass and kicking up mud and dirt. She was so close to falling off the edge when she finally stopped and she squealed a bit in fear. She turned around to see the big figure started to slow down as it realized they had stopped. It was finally close enough for her to get a better look. It had tiger markings all along its body and a big fluffy lion looking mane. Spike was right, it wasn't a bear. It was some hybrid she had never seen before. Regardless of what it was, its plan was either to scare them off the cliff or eat them as Spike said.

"What are we going to do?!" Spike said fearfully.

Fluttershy frantically looked around, trying to think of a solution to the current situation. And then she thought of something. She took a deep breath, puffing her chest confidently and trotting up to the big creature.

"Fluttershy, no!"

She looked up at it, furrowing her brow as she stared at it. It growled a little bit due to her being so close to it.

"Leave me and my friend alone! A big scary creature like you shouldn't be picking on others who are smaller than you!"

She stared at it in silence, keeping her strong composure as she waited for it to make a move. It blinked a few times before it opened its mouth and roared loudly right in Fluttershy's face. A loud lion roar echoed around them and blew Fluttershy's mane as she shielded her face with her hooves. Once the long lion roar ended, Fluttershy unshielded herself and shook in terror of the creature. She had completely locked up as her tactic seems to of been a failure.

"Fluttershy?"

The creature roared into the air this time and started coming closer to them as Fluttershy backed up into the cliff, shaking terribly. She didn't know what to do anymore and she and Spike were both about to be eaten or fall off the cliff. Both ended with a terrible demise. She started to cry as tears fell down her cheeks and she squealed a bit in fear again. Spike backed into Fluttershy, closing his eyes tightly ready for it all to be over. This was the end..There was only one left thing to do since her draconequus friend would never see her die.

"I'M SORRY DISCOOORDD!"

The pegasus yelled louder than she felt like she ever had in her entire life. She and Spike crumpled into a pile together, holding on to each other in complete fear.
...

And then she heard furious blasts of magic and she saw a bright flash beneath her eyelids. The creature roared angrily as sounds of blasting and punching filled the air. She opened her eyes to see Discord fighting the large creature. His face was full of hatred as he blasted and blasted the creature. It was a look she never saw before on his face and it filled her with utter happiness to see him and to see how passionate he fought. The creature whimpered and cried as it finally surrendered to the draconequus, running off back towards the Everfree Forest covered in wounds.

"And stay there you putrid trash! Don't you ever touch her AGAIN!"

Discord landed on the ground, watching to make sure the creature fully disappeared into the forest with a look of triumph and seriousness on his face. Fluttershy's eyes filled with tears again, this time in happiness. She cried out happily and bounded over to Discord. She cried, hugging his arm and nuzzling her face into it.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I can't thank you enough for saving us! I'm so glad to see you, you don't even know!"

"Us?.."

Discord glanced over to Spike to see him getting up and dusting himself off. He smiled sheepishly and waved at Discord.

"Shy, I'd appreciate it if you didn't get yourself chased in the night by random monsters. You know..Maybe stay in your cottage." He grinned playfully at her.

"Hey, it's not like I do this daily!" She giggled

She looked up at him, a few tears going down her face.

"Aww, Flutters, why are you crying?" He asked, wiping away her tears with his lion paw.

"I-I'm just..I'm just so happy I met you...I-I..."

She hesitated, looking up into his red and yellow eyes for a moment. She suddenly stood up on her hind legs and used him to balance herself, pressing her muzzle to his lips. His eyes widened but he slowly relaxed into the kiss, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around the pegasus.

"Awwww!! It's so cuteeee!" Spike gushed.

Big Mac walked out from behind a tree and joined Spike, watching the two love birds.

"Eeyup."

"I guess I owe you a milkshake huh?"

"Eeyup."

"I figured..I'll get you one later. For now..Let's just wait."

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