Children of Darkness and Light

by Aquaman

Crimes

===

“–mind!”

…

“For fuck’s sake, say something! At least pretend you give a shit!”

It was war. Creatures die in wa–

“Creatures get killed in wars! Other creatures choose to kill them! You and the whole fucking Alliance, you act like things just happen, like it’s all inevitable and we’re just a force of nature we don’t have any control over, and we do! We chose to do this. This is the image we made the world in. And everyone just acts like it’s normal, like it was good, and I… it’s insane! I feel like I’m fucking insane!”

…

“I’m going to prison, aren’t I? Court martial, the whole nine yards?”

Probably.

“Go fuck yourself, Spike. And find your own way back.”

===

Spike turned his head and watched Garnet leave, until the pony was no longer visible through the trunks of the trees and the brush peppered between them. He didn’t follow him. He stayed on the ridge and faced the ruined valley, waiting patiently to learn who had been following them from the road all the way to where he stood now.

He didn’t have to wait long. The fluttering of wings preceded the gentle clack of hooves on displaced stone, and he straightened up as his uninvited guest approached him.

“Spike,” she addressed him as she came to a stop a few feet away.

“Princess,” he replied, without turning around.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

Spike flexed his claws, let his eyes fall closed, and turned in place. When he looked up, Flurry Heart tilted her head slightly to match her bemused expression.

“No,” Spike told her. She twisted her lips, glanced at the valley behind him, and shrugged.

“Hmm,” the Princess hummed. “Shame.”

They stared at each other for several seconds. As usual, Spike was the first to blink. “What’ll you do with him?” he asked, nodding towards where Garnet had vanished into the forest.

“Probably nothing,” Flurry replied. “He seems harmless. And if he’s not, well, you don’t trim branches while they’re buds. You really did upset him, though. Thought you’d be good at interviews by now.”

“Always room for improvement.”

“So I’ve heard.” The Princess nudged her hoof against a loose stone, then idly inspected the scuff mark it had left behind. “You’ve been busy lately, Spike. Doing what, I wonder?”

“You don’t need to worry about me.”

“I don’t worry about you,” Flurry remarked. “Just like to know what my friends are up to. And we are friends, aren’t we, Spike?”

Spike looked at the mare he’d known since she was an infant — at the ruler of the free world who knew exactly what she’d done to his sister and would’ve relished anything he had to say about it.

“I’m with the Guild,” he said, “and the Guild will always stand with the Alliance.”

It wasn’t a question of whether Flurry could kill him, just whether she wanted to bother with it herself. She thought for a moment, and seemed to decide she didn’t.

“Well, at least you’re honest,” she said. “You wouldn’t believe the nonsense I’ve heard from the Sennans we’ve got back in Canterlot. Apparently there wasn’t a single true Freiherder in the whole scientific corps. What are the odds? But give ‘em credit, they’re cooperative. And better that they help us than Orlovia.”

“Orlovia,” Spike murmured. “Always against something…”

“Hmm?”

“Nothing,” he said — an answer Flurry didn’t believe, but accepted nonetheless.

“Well, enjoy your nothing, then,” she said, lighting her horn. “Gotta get back. There’s a new changeling leading the Equestrian hive, wants to talk about reclaiming an ancestral nesting ground in one of our Saddle Arabian territories. Worth a listen, I figure.”

“Glad you dropped by,” Spike told the Princess, who grinned.

“Don’t lie to me, Spike. It’s rude.”

The Princess vanished in a flash of magic, leaving Spike alone as far as he could see. She probably knew better than to upset the Guild by detaining him. He should probably hurry up anyway. He turned back around, sighted out his path, and began to pick his way down the pulverized hillside towards the smoldering, twilit crater in the distance.