Adjustment

by Altero

Chapter 2

Spike was stunned. There was a monster in the bedroom he shared with Twilight. A monster. Right there.

Spike felt his muscles seize. He couldn't catch his breath.

Twilight moaned, pushing herself up on shaky legs.

It was ok, right? They'd dealt with monsters before. Discord was a monster, wasn't he? And Queen Chrysalis, too, right? They'd dealt with them without any major troubles.

Except for that one pony who still thought she was a dog.

And the repairs to Canterlot weren't going to be done for at least another 6 months.

And maybe...

The monster started to shake and whistle. It was curled into a ball, huddled against the wall. It was really scary looking. It had two long, gangly legs, and two skinny arms with really long, pointy claws. The only place it had any sort of fur was on the top of it's head, and what little it did have was sandy brown. It looked at Spike with beady blue eyes over the knees it held to its chest. It was fully clothed, though. Maybe it was a civilized monster.

If it was, it would probably eat them over tea and crumpets.

"Spike..." Twilight called weakly.

The clothes were ripped and dirty, though. The creature was bleeding from the knees.

An uncivilized monster, then.

At least Spike's prize tea sets would be safe.

Probably.

"Spike," Twilight called again, stronger this time.

What was Twilight thinking, summoning a monster like this?! Who knew what this thing was capable of? It could probably wield powers beyond their feeble imaginations! It would turn them into monsters too, just like it! Spike thought of Twilight with long, gangly arms and legs, icy blue eyes, and no fur except for the last thinning remnants of her mane.

No wonder the thing wore clothes.

"Spike!" Twilight shouted, snapping Spike out of his reverie.

Spike rushed over to her. "Twilight! What's going on?! There's a monster in our room! A monster, Twilight! We have to write princess Celestia! Tell her that we need her! And Luna, too! And all of the guard ponies, and, and..."

Twilight grabbed Spike's head with her hooves. He would go on like this for hours if she let him.

"Spike, I need you to go get Fluttershy."

"Fluttershy? Are you sure..."

"Spike, go get Fluttersy. I need her."

"But, but..."

"Spike. Please. Go get Fluttershy."

She was using her princess voice again. Spike hated it when she used her princess voice. He could never say no to the princess voice.

Spike scurried out the door. Twilight sighed, painfully pushing herself to her feet. Her horn ached, her head ached, and she felt as drained as she had been after her first duel with Trixie. More drained, even. It was a wonder she could even move at all. She mentally added "Incredible magical power" to her list of alicorn advantages.

Carefully she approached the creature she had just saved. It huddled against the wall, arms wrapped around its knees and whimpering. Probably a defense mechanism of some sort. After what it had just been through, the poor thing was likely traumatized. She reached out to the creature only to have it shy away and whimper louder.

Twilight sighed. Fluttershy would know what to do. In the meantime....

Spike poked his head in the room. "But..."

Twilight whipped her head around and glared at him.

"Fluttershy. Now."

Spike arrived at Fluttersy's cabin huffing and wheezing. He paused for a moment, leaning against the doorframe and trying to catch his breath. A couple of squirrels wandered by and stopped. They watched him, their heads turning this way and that, then scampered off into the house. Spike barely noticed them. Spots were still dancing in front of his eyes. He shook his head, trying to clear them, but that only made the world spin. He felt himself start to fall, but was quickly scooped up by a pair of hooves.

"Spike! What happened?! Slimbody and Scamper told me you were here, but they didn't mention you were in such bad shape! Did Twilight send you? Is some pony hurt?"

Spike gave himself a little shake, the world finally coming back into focus. "Code...." Spike coughed. "Code... Code six. "

Fluttershy nearly dropped Spike.

"C-c-code six? A-are you sure?"

Spike quickly nodded. He'd finally stopped wheezing. "Yeah," he said weakly. "I saw it myself."

Fluttershy quickly set him on his feet and retreated through her front door. "Well, I hope you find Rainbow Dash or Applejack quickly. They shouldn't be too far. I saw Rainbow Dash flying around here earlier today. Okthanksbye."

Spike shoved his foot in the rapidly closing door and winced as Fluttershy tried to close it. "Come on, Fluttershy! Twilight asked for you specifically!"

"Are you sure? You must have misheard. After all, Rainbow Dash and I are both pegasi. She must have meant her, and my name just slipped out," she said, gently trying to dislodge Spike's foot from the door.

"No, she asked for you. Multiple times." Spike leaned in, heedless of Fluttershy's attempts to remove him. "She used the princess voice."

Fluttershy froze. "The princess voice?"

Spike nodded.

"Oh my."

"Yeah, I know. Now come on!" Spike grabbed Fluttershy's foreleg, pulling her out the door. "We've got to hurry!"

"I don't know, Spike," Fluttershy said, digging her hooves into the ground. "I don't know how much help I can be with a code six..."

"Whoa! A code six?! Are you sure, Spike?"

Spike glared at the pegasus hovering above them. "Of course I'm sure! I saw it with my own eyes! Now help me with Fluttershy! Twilight asked for her specifically."

Rainbow dash rubbed the back of her head with a foreleg. "Uhhhh.... Are you sure, Spike? She must've been talking about me. I mean, we are both pegasi, and you know how eggheads like Twilight get things like that mixed up."

"Yes, I'm sure!" Spike huffed. "Twilight used her princess voice!"

Dash blew out a low whistle. "Her princess voice, huh? Must be pretty serious."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you two!"

"Alright, alright," Dash said, landing next to Spike. "Are you sure she didn't-"

"YES!"

"Ok, ok, little guy. No need to get all huffy," said Dash, grabbing Fluttershy's other foreleg. "Come on, Fluttershy. It's the princess voice. "

"Oh, I don't know, guys," said Fluttershy, still doing her best to dig her hooves into the ground. "It's a code six. I'm sure you'll do much better with out me."

"What's this all y'all are talkin' about?" Applejack stood at the gate, a load of fresh fruits and vegetables on her back.

"Spike says that Twilight needs Fluttershy for a code six."

"Whoa, there. A code six? Are you sure-"

"YES! Banish me to the moon for a thousand years, yes!"

Everypony stopped and gaped at Spike. Even Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash stopped their tug of war to stare at the little dragon.

"Hehe. Oops?" Spike said, drawing circles in the dirt with his foot.

Applejack's eyes narrowed at Spike. "When we get back to the library and get this all straightened out, me and Twi're gonna have a nice little chat about what you just said."

"Oh, come on AJ! It was just a slip of the tongue! All the guys are..."

"I'm sure she'll be very interested in what you have to say for yourself," Applejack interrupted, turning to Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash had resumed trying to pull her along without much success. AJ wrapped her foreleg around Fluttershy's shoulder. "Come along now, Fluttershy. Twi needs ya. She wouldn't a asked for ya if she didn't thing you could help. Ain't that right?"

"I suppose," Fluttershy muttered, looking at the ground. With a nod from AJ, Rainbow Dash let her go.

"'Sides, Twi's got sort of a Pinkie Sense when it comes to this magic stuff, don't she? Remember back a couple a weeks when we got our cutie marks all mixed up and she fixed us right up on the first try?"

"Yes, but that was just a spell that misfired. This is a code six."

"Aw, shucks. You've got to give Twi more credit than that. She knows what she's talking about. Plus, we're your friends. We'll protect you, won't we RD?"

"Hm? What?" Rainbow Dash looked back, startled. Applejack gave her a subtle glare and tilted her head toward Fluttershy.

"Oh. Yeah. Of course. We'll totally protected you, Fluttershy. No doubt about it."

"I don't know girls. It sound really dangerous. We've never had a code six before."

"Come on Fluttershy. It can't be worse than Discord was, and we took care o' him just fine. Heck, you even turned him to the good side!"

"I don't know girls," Spike cut in suddenly. "This one's pretty ugly and plenty scary. He's probably really dangerous."

Fluttershy squeaked and tried to bolt, but AJ held her tight and glared at Spike.

"The only danger y'all are gonna be in is if you don't shut that trap o' yours."

Spike's mouth snapped shut with an audible clack, and Applejack turned back to Fluttershy.

"Come on, Fluttershy. We need you. Twilight needs you. Can you be there for us?"

"Yeah! I mean, what happens if it's like that time where you calmed down that manticore with the thorn stuck in it's paw? Or that time where you saved us all from the dragon? That was so totally cool! I thought he was so going to come out and eat all of us, and then you come out of nowhere and show him who's boss, and..."

Fluttershy mumbled something, shaking.

"What was that, sugar cube?"

Fluttershy was trembling and her voice wavered as she spoke. "I said ok. I'll do it. I'll come. You girls need me."

"Awww, yeah! We're totally going to kick that things but back to wherever the hay it came from!" Rainbow shouted, leaping up into the air.

Applejack gave Fluttershy a strong squeeze. "That's very big of you, Fluttershy. I knew we could count on you."

Fluttershy gave her a weak smile. "Thanks."

"I'm all for the mushy girly stuff, but it can we move it along? It is a code six after all," Spike said impatiently.

The group arrived at the library several minutes later, Spike rubbing the back his head and grumbling under his breath. Behind him Applejack and Rainbow were arguing over the head of an increasingly distraught Fluttershy.

"You still didn't have to go and hit him, AJ."

"He was bein' rude and inconsiderate!"

"Um, girls?" Fluttershy interjected.

"It doesn't matter. That's no way to treat somepony. You don't hit Apple Bloom, do you?"

"Of course not! How can you even suggest that?!"

"Girls."

"We'll, it's the same thing. If you wouldn't hit Apple Bloom, you shouldn't hit Spike."

"It ain't even close to the same thing, RD. Besides, Spike's a colt. He can take it."

"Girls?"

"I can't believe you'd say that, AJ!"

"It's not like I even hit him that hard."

"Um... We're here."

Both mares stopped short, surprise written on their faces.

"Huh. Lookit that."

"This isn't over, AJ," Rainbow said as the four of them walked inside.

"Oh, calm down RD. You're making a fuss over nothin'. Now where's Twilight, Spike?"

Spike was already halfway up the stairs. "She's up in our room. Come on, I'll show you."

AJ and Rainbow started climbing the stairs when they noticed Fluttershy standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking intently at her hooves. Applejack cocked her hard at their friend and RD rolled her eyes. They went back down and slid alongside the paralyzed mare. Fluttershy was breathing like she'd run a mile, her eyes squeezed shut. She whimpered faintly.

"Hey there, sugar cube. We're almost there. Don't quit on us now."

"Yeah, we've got your back. When have I ever let you down?"

"Well," replied Fluttershy quietly, "there was that one time..."

"Oh, come on! That was one time and the dude was totally smoking hot! Besides, I came back for you, didn't I?"

Fluttershy laughed softly, opening her eyes. "Yes, you did." She nuzzled Rainbow. "Thanks for always being there for me."

Rainbow blushed a little. "Yeah, no problem, Fluttershy. You know I'd never leave you hanging."

AJ smiled to herself. "You ready Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy swallowed and nodded, and the three friends slowly went up the stairs to Twilight's room.

Twilight's voice greeted them as they went over the threshold. "What took you so long?! I sent Spike to get you almost half..."

Twilight's tirade was cut short by a bright yellow blur streaking across the room to the gangly creature huddled in the corner. She wrapped it in her forelegs and coo'd quietly into it's ear. "It's ok. It's ok," she said, stroking it's head. "I've got you. You're ok. You're ok. Nopony's going to hurt you. I've got you. You're safe now. Everything's going to be fine."

Author's Note:

Nothing special, though I did enjoy the dialogue. Maybe a little too much; I might have gone a little over the top with AJ & RD. Tell me what you guys think.

Comments

[Delirium]

This seems pretty good. I will be waiting for the new chapter.

[JBL]

Well, another story where Spike gets abused.

[poisedanimeBloke]

2660938 Hey don't be like that, the author is just following cannon.