> Hearts of Class
>  by ImAPonyXY
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





All Grown Up





“Sweetiebelle, darling, it’s time to wake up,” spoke a sophisticated sounding white, unicorn mare, which had the most beautiful purple mane. However, her shallow efforts for waking up her little sister had been in vain as all she got was a response was few tired groans.

“Sweetiebelle?” she knocked on the door a few times, making sure that the sound echoed throughout the room, “you don’t want to miss your train to Canterlot do you?
”
Yet again, all she got was a few tired groans as well as the sounds of blankets being pulled further over her sister.

“Sweetiebelle, if you don’t wake up now, I’ll come in there and wake you up myself,” the white unicorn threatened, she was getting a little angry and that was the last thing she wanted to feel right now.

“Alright, I’m awake!” Sweetiebelle replied, sounding hostile. She didn’t feel like having her sister storm her room.

“Finally,” the unicorn sighed, “Breakfast is on the table for you, dearie.” she walked off, down the stairs. She went back to her daily routine of fashion designing, she had a huge deadline to meet and she couldn’t afford any delays.

Sweetiebelle slowly climbed out of bed, she was wearing only her short, deep purple, nightgown that looked absolutely adorable on her, her pink and purple mane was in a mess and all frizzled up, and her coat wasn’t looking very neat either. She walked up to the mirror in the corner of her room only to be greeted by this befouling look.

“Oh my,” she grabbed a hairbrush which was lying on a desk next to the mirror and she started to brush her hair. Eventually, she fixed up her mane and gave it the lovely curls that she had always found to be pretty on her.

“There, that’s better.” she places the brush down and heads over to her wardrobe, she had many different outfits for many different occasions, whether it was formal, casual, or casual-formal, she had something for any situation.

“Hmm, what should I wear today?” she searches through her hundreds of dresses that Rarity had made for her, eventually picking out a very special one. It was a dress that she had made herself; it was her first dress and was by far her favorite. It looked a lot like her nightgown, which was what inspired her, but the dress was thicker and longer than a gown, it was also a light pink instead of a deep purple.

“Yeah, this’ll do.” she smiled, slipping off her nightgown into her underwear and sliding on her dress, which matched her pure white coat perfectly. However, she wasn’t done dressing herself, she walked over to the other side of the room to another mirror, this one though was full of jewellery; necklaces, rings, bangles, earrings. She smiled; she picked out her favorite one. She wore an emerald necklace in the shape of a manticore that matched her eyes. She also slid on multi-coloured bangles, which contrasted her coat and dress. She then placed in her favourite diamond earrings that hung down at least an inch under her ears.

“There, now what shoes should I wear?” she drifted over to her wardrobe again, at the bottom of it were hundreds of pairs of shoes, most of them were ones that she hadn’t worn before.

“Hmm, What would Rarity want me to wear?” she pondered to herself for a little while before picking out some glorious red sandal. They weren’t strapped sandals, they were fixed and they just slid onto her feet. Now she had finished getting dressed. She shut her wardrobe and opened her door; she exited her room and went downstairs. She immediately saw Rarity working on of her magnificent designs.

“Those dresses look really pretty, Rarity.” she blurted out and smiled.

“Oh, well, thank you Sweetiebelle. But they’re not done yet so they can’t possibly be that pretty.” Rarity humbly replied; she was flattered that Sweetiebelle had said that.
“No, they really are pretty, I love them.” the white, teenage, unicorn reassured.

“Thank you, darling. You breakfast is over on the table, and I have already packed your bags” Rarity indicated as she pointed a finger to the table, then two bags next to the door.

Sweetiebelle walked over to the glamorous circular dining table, there sat a small, bowl of porridge. She sat down at the table and looked over at her bags.

“Wait, Rarity, did you go through my room to get those clothes?” she asked curiously, with a tint of anger detectable in her tone, she didn’t like people, especially her sister, going into her room.

“Well of course, Sweetiebelle. How else do you think I would get your clothes?” the fashion pony replied simply. “You didn’t pack them last night like I kindly asked you too, so I had to pack them for you.”

“Hmpf!” she pouted and began to eat her porridge.

It was cold, but she did take a little longer than usual to get dressed and Rarity had already pre-made it for her. Never the less, she ate it up, she was hungry and she needed a lot of energy for today. She was being sent to a private school in Canterlot called Canterlot School for Equestria’s Gifted or C.S.E.G. The high school was very expensive, but Rarity wanted to give her the best possible education possible. At first, she wasn’t happy with this because it meant that she would have to leave behind Scootaloo and Applebloom, not to mention Dinky, Button Mash and Pip Squeak. She didn’t want to leave any of them behind. However, as soon as she heard that the school a Royal School meaning that it was funded and supported directly by the princesses, she considered changing her mind.

Yesterday she had to say goodbye to her old friends, and today she would have to say goodbye to her sister.

She hurried up and finished her bowl of porridge, placing the bowl in the sink when she was done. She glanced up at the clock. 8.35am.

“8.35,” she said to herself. “Hey Rarity, when does the train to Canterlot leave?”

“9.00 o’clock, darling,” she replied; again, simply. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh no reason, it’s just 8.35 already. That’s all.” Sweetiebelle pointed out, she doubted her sister was even paying attention to the time.

“Oh my, really?” she placed down her ribbon and scissors as she walked over to the front door. “Well, come along now, dearie, you don’t want to miss your train now do you?”

“No way, sis.” Sweetiebelle shook her head and joined her sister at the front door. She picked up her two, rather heavy bags and took one last glance at Carousel Boutique, for she wouldn’t see Rarity, or her room for the next year.

Rarity, smiled at her little sister, she was going to high school for the first time, and it was in Canterlot, every unicorn’s dream. She led Sweetiebelle to the train station with but only a few minutes to spare. She bought the ticket for Sweetiebelle and gave it to her, telling her not to lose it. After that, she pulled her in a tight hug.

“Good luck Sweetiebelle. I know you’ll do great.” Rarity said as a few tears dripped from her eyes. “Have fun, makes many friends, and don’t forget to be a lady.”

Sweetiebelle smiled, she hugged back, tightly. This was the last time that she would see Rarity face to face until the end of the year. And even though she wouldn’t admit it, she was going to miss Rarity. A lot.

CHOO, CHOO!!!

“All aboard!” shouted the conductor.

The train sounded its horn, signaling that it was going to depart soon. Rarity broke away from the hug and smiled at Sweetiebelle. “Good luck, little sister.”

“Thank you, big sis.” Sweetiebelle replied as she jumped onto the train, her two bags in her hands, as she searched through the train for any seats. There was no way that she was going to stand for the whole way to Canterlot. Although, as she walked along the aisle, something... no... Someone caught her eye. It was a purple dragon with green spikes. He wore blue jeans, a white shirt and a black jacket.

“Spike?” Sweetiebelle asked quietly. Barely audible so that only she could here it. She walked closer to the purple dragon, and the closer she got, the clearer that it became to her. It was Spike. Soon, she was right next to him.

“Spike? What are you doing here?” she asked him.

Spike jumped a little; he hadn’t noticed her come up to him.

“Oh, Sweetiebelle. Its you” he smiled, “Twilight decided to send me to Canterlot School for Equestria’s Gifted.” he explained,  “What about you, though? Why are you here?”

Sweetiebelle hesitated for a second. Spike was going to the same school as her, how, and why. This didn’t really worry her, but she knew that spending a long time with your friends then it tests your friendship.

“Oh umm, I’m heading to the school as well.” she replied hastily. She couldn’t deny her curiosity. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Spike didn’t say anything. He just looked down. Sweetiebelle got the impression that he was hiding something, and she didn’t like having secrets kept from her.

So, she repeated herself. “Well, Spike. Why didn’t you tell me?”
 

> Chapter One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





A Long and Eventful Journey





“Uhhh” Spike hesitated. He didn’t really know how to explain it. “It’s a little dumb,” he admitted.

Sweetiebelle crossed her arms as she was getting inpatient. “Spike, I haven’t got all day. Just tell me already!”

“Fine, if you really want to know, I’ll tell you. Just, promise not to laugh. Please?” Spike felt a little embarrassed, his reasons for not telling her were dumb and idiotic.

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to get upset. I didn’t know that you were coming to this school and we only just became really good friends. I was afraid that if I told you that you would get upset about me going away.” he took a deep breath, he felt a lot better now that he had explained it. “I’m sorry, I should have told you.”

Sweetiebelle glared at him for few seconds. His reasons were really sweet and kind, but he was right, they were dumb. She laughed a little. “Oh silly. That’s no reason to keep something from a lady.” she giggled again.

A tint of crimson hinted on Spike’s cheeks. “Hey! You promised not to laugh!” he felt stupid now, but also a little angry with Sweetiebelle.

“No I didn’t, you just asked me too,” she corrected him; she liked proving her intellectual superiority over people, especially Spike. “I promised nothing,” she smiled innocently; she knew that this would get under his skin. She figured that that’s what he deserved after keeping just a dumb secret from her.

“Yeah well...” he had nothing to say to that. He was stumped, and felt even stupider. That white unicorn had found flaws in his words twice now; it was hard to believe that Sweetiebelle could even be that smart. He never really imagined her getting over her curiosity and overt way of thinking, but she did. She had grown up, well, in his eyes she had anyway.

“I thought only smart people were allowed into this school?” Sweetiebelle teased and she giggled again.

Spike looked down, he had the feeling that she was just trying to embarrass him now, but she had gone a little too far with that comment. There was no way that a fashion unicorn would out-smart a Princess’ Assistant. He looked at her and burped, right in her face. However, since he was a dragon, his burp was flaming and it burned the fur off Sweetiebelle’s right cheek as well as singeing the skin.

A few drops of blood dripped from the singed skin of the petrified unicorn. Her eyes were full of emotion; betrayal, regret, anger. She just couldn’t believe that Spike, of all dragons, would dare breath fire at her.

“You burned me by calling me stupid, so I burned you by breathing fire into your face!” Spike snarled, as he chuckled a bit. “How does it feel?”

She was shocked; all she could do was hold a hand to her cheek and scream. “AAAAAAHHHH!!!” she cried out loudly. Everybody on the carriage turned around to look at her, they all gasped as they saw the burnt flesh and the dripping blood.

“What... What the hell happened here?” spoke one person.

“Is she okay?” another spoke with concern.

“Who, or what, did that to her?!” someone else asked.

Murmured chatter broke out through the crowd, almost all in shock of what had happened, yet, no one had seen what had happened so Spike was safe at the moment, although a few suspected him.

“Hey, it... It wasn’t really that bad, was it?” Spike whispered to Sweetiebelle as he came to the realisation of what he had done.
Sweetiebelle didn’t reply for a little bit, but she didn’t at all look back at him. She was furious with him, but also terrified. She didn’t really know what to do.

Spike felt bad, he had gone way to far. “I’m sorry, Sweetiebelle. Truly.” he apologised. He looked back on it, and now, he didn’t even know why he thought that it was a good idea in the first place. “I can help heal the wound if you’d like?”

“How?” she murmured.

Spike was a little stunned that she had actually responded to him.

“Well I... I can bandage it up, if you want?” he asked, he knew how to do a little bit of First Aid, Twilight had taught him a little bit last year but he never really thought that would have to use. “So, what do you say?”

“Fine! Just let me get rid of this crowd.” she replied, still only a whisper to him.

Spike was a little curious as to what she was going to do. How exactly would she get rid of the crowd a people that had responded to her scream? Would she use magic, or maybe just tell them all to go away and hope to Celestia that it’ll work. Yet, to Spike’s surprise, what she did was completely unexpected, and a little unnerving. Sweetiebelle began to laugh loudly, as if she had just played a huge joke on everyone.

“Sw-Sweetiebelle! What are you doing?” Spike asked curiously, although very surprised at what she was doing.

Sweetiebelle didn’t reply, she just kept laughing at the top of her lungs. Her laugh sounded insane yet pure, as it seemed to strike a sort of fear to those around her.

“Is she crazy? Why would she be laughing after something like that?” one person yelled from the crowd.

“Maybe’s she just screamed for the attention.” another said, many people seemed to agree with her.

“Or maybe, she’s just a little coo-coo in the head!” someone else blurted out.

People began to disperse, they grumbled disappointingly as their time had been wasted by her. They went back to what they were doing before.

“So, do you want me to patch it up for you now?” Spike asked, still quite confused about her ethics.

“No.” she said simply and leaned into his ear, “But if you ever do that again, I’ll sew your mouth shut so you can’t breath fire again,” she leaned away again. “So where do you want to go now? Should we head over to the food cart?”

Spike was even more confused than before now. Had she just forgiven him or was this all just a ploy? “B-But, your cheek.”

“I don’t really care if it’s bleeding or not. Rarity may have told me to be a lady, but I don’t have to listen to her, now.” she grabbed his hand and began to pull him along the train. “Lets go get something to eat!

“Wait but... Sweetiebelle!” the young dragon called out as he tried to talk a little sense into her. “Do you really think that you should go up their with a burnt and bleeding cheek?”

Sweetiebelle nodded. “I don’t care, I’ve already said that, and if others are smart too, they won’t care either. Well, if they know what’s good for them.” a small smile appeared on her face.

“Sweetiebelle are you alright?” Spike asked, he hated to admit but he was concerned for her. This wasn’t the Sweetiebelle that he had become friends with.

Sweetiebelle nodded again. “Yeah of course I am. Why would you say that?”

“Uhhh no reason. Just, you acting a little strange, and I’m kinda worried.” the dragon admitted.

“Strange, how?” Sweetiebelle ask curiously as she lead him through the train still.
“Well, you did kinda creep everyone out when you broke into laughter. Also, you don’t care that I burnt your cheek!”

“No, I care about the fact that you attacked me. I just don’t care that it’s bleeding. As in, sure it hurts like a bitch but It’ll heal over time and I doubt that it’s going to scar.” she replied.

“So why didn’t you let me patch it up? It would have healed so much faster.”

“Because Spike, even if you did, it wouldn’t make the pain, or the wound go away immediately. The burn would still be there and my cheek would still be hairless.” she explained. “Do you see where I’m coming from?”

Spike shook his head. “Nope.” he spoke simply. “I have no idea what you mean.”

Sweetiebelle giggled again. “Good.”

She continued to pull on his hand and tug him along to the food cart. The train wasn’t quiet, it was buzzing with life as all the students were chatting. Most were too busy to notice Sweetiebelle’s cheek, but others gave her a concerned glance. She was still holding onto her cheek, her hand was stained with red and every now and then a fresh drop of blood would ooze out and fall to the floor.

“Are you sure that you’re okay?” Spike asked again, he wasn’t afraid to express his concern anymore.

“Yes, Spikey, I’m fine.” she replied, with a little bit of a giggled added to the end.
Spike felt another tint of crimson over his cheeks. “Did you, just give me a pet name?” he asked, embarrassed.

“Mhmm,” she nodded. “It’s cute, it suits you.”

“Right...” he felt uneasy. First Sweetiebelle had forgiven him for burning her cheek, now she was giving him a pet name. What was she playing at?

Never the less, the two soon reached the Food Cart and the sat down at a table.

“So what do you want to have Spike?” Sweetiebelle asked kindly.

He shook his head, “I’m not hungry.”

Sweetiebelle shrugged and stood up, “Well I’m going to get something to eat and I’ll meet you back here, okay?”

Sweetiebelle looked around, trying to locate the stalls, and as soon as she spotted one off to the corner she rushed over, standing in the long queue.

Spike eyed her, she was still holding her cheek, and he wondered what the staff would say about all this, would he perhaps be expelled on the first day? Or would she stand up for him again. With motives like hers it was hard to tell, he couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. What if he was expelled, what would Twilight say? She had pulled quite a few strings to get him here; he didn’t want to disappoint her. What if Sweetiebelle covered for him, would that make it any better or would she get in trouble instead, then what would Rarity think? Spike sat their and pondered for a while, nearly every single scenario that flashed into his head seemed bad and nearly all of them involved him getting in trouble by Twilight. He began to sweat just by thinking about all this; he could only hope that Sweetiebelle had a brilliant plan and excuse to get them out of this.

He looked at her again, her cheek had stopped bleeding but her hand was still stained with blood. He had done this; he still couldn’t get his around it though. What exactly was going through his mind as he did this? It wasn’t like him to burst out in anger like that, but, he had been experiencing similar occurrence like this of late.

“Hey you, Dragon!” a voice spoke from above.

Spike looked up, not saying anything. It was a student, a senior by the looks of it, who had spoken to him. Spike was irritated; his thoughts had just been rudely interrupted.

“You’re the one who breathed fire into that pretty mare’s face right?”

Spike didn’t say anything again. What were they even doing here? He thought to himself.

“Hey!” the senior grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and forcefully pulled him to his feet. “I’m talking to you!”

“I know.” Spike said simply, he figured not to waste time on him. He couldn’t really be bothered.

“So...!” the senior raised his fist to Spike’s face. “Answer me!”

“No.” Spike said simple again. This time though, he burped in his face, setting his hair on fire.

“AAAAAHHHH!!!!” the senior dropped Spike and screamed as he desperately tried to pat out the flames with his hands. “YOU LITTLE SHIT!!!” he yelled loudly, this caught the attention of everyone in the cart as the all stared at him and Spike.

Spike smiled, he noticed that everyone around was laughing. “I guess nobody like him, huh?” he said to himself.

The senior was quick to pat away the flames but his hand was burnt. “You’ll pay for that!” he threatened as he picked up the dragon by the collar yet again, thrusting his elbow into his throat.

Spike did nothing, he wouldn’t be able to even if he tried. This senior was stronger and bigger then him. He wondered whether or not to burn his face off, but he didn’t really want to kill anyone today.

“I WANT TO HEAR YOU BEG FOR MERCY YOU LITTLE CUNT!” the senior yelled as he pushed into Spike’s throat harder. “BEG!”

Spike felt his consciousness slipping away as he couldn’t draw anymore breath, and just as he thought that he was going to faint, the senior’s grip fell away. Spike was curious but as soon as he realised what was happening he felt grateful.

Right swing, left swing, jab to the stomach and kick to the balls. This is what he saw happen to the senior as he gained focus.

Elbow to the face, knee to the chest, and as he was down, a stomp to the spine! The senior was finished.

"AAAARRRHHH!" cried the senior as he whimpered away and rolled on floor in severe pain. Spike had witnessed the most pleasurable experience today; by watching the senior get his ass handed to him.

Spike looked up to see a small girl, well a teenage girl, and probably the age of fourteen. She had short blonde hair with a ponytail, green eyes and a scar along her lip. Her fur was the colour of cream and she wore a red, hooded, zip-up jumper with her white shirt exposed. She had blue, flexible jeans and she wasn't wearing any shoes.

This girl looked at Spike with a disgusted expression planted on her uninterested face.

Spike cautiously approached her, holding out his hand as he did. "Thank you... uhhh, what was your name, again?"

As soon as Spike got close enough the girl grabbed his hand and shoulder. She gripped him tightly and flipped him over her shoulder.

"OOF!" he landed dead on his back, facing up at her. "Ow! Hey! What was that for?"

The girl sighed, her expression turned back from disgust to uninterested, as she stomped a foot onto his stomach to pin him down. She stared straight into his eyes. "Did you honestly think that I was protecting your sorry ass?" She asked. "Because if so, then you're stupider than I thought!"

Everyone laughed.

"I didn’t beat up that senior because I wanted too, nor did I to help you. I did it so that I  could beat some manners into you myself!" She threatened as she applied pressure to her foot, slowly crushing it into Spike's abdomen.

Spike winced as he tried to hold back the pain. His dragon scales helped with that a little but he couldn’t deny that it hurt a lot. However, before the pain became unbearable, the girl took her foot off and slammed it into his side. Causing him to yelp and whimper like a dog.

She laughed at this, "I guess I've had my fun though," she stepped away, allowing Spike to pick himself up. She turned her back to him and began to walk over to table. Although she stopped; halfway there. "Oh. And I suggest you stop lighting people on fire." She said calmly but still having her back turned to him. "Unless you have a death wish that is." She smirked, but spike couldn't see.

She then continued her way back over to the table and sat down, staring out of the window. She liked seeing the beautiful scenery of nature flash past, it was the one of the two things in this world that made her happy. Well that and showing off her martial arts.

Spike stood up. He was overwhelmed at all this. Was there no one on this train that was on his side, was there anyone nice? He doubted so. He looked around, Sweetiebelle had just seen all this, and she was laughing; she thought that he completely deserved that.

She made her way over to the table that the girl was sitting at. "Hey there, what's your name?" She asked politely, not wanting to get on her bad side.

"You're that girl who got your face burnt by that dragon right?" the girl question, not answering Sweetiebelle.

"Yes, I am. I'm Sweetiebelle, now, answer my question please." She said, getting a little annoyed.

"My name is Lyvia, and I never asked for your name. So why did you tell it me; a stranger?"

"Because." she began to explain, "I trust you enough."

"What do you mean by trust?" Lyvia asked curiously. She had taken her focus away fro the racing scenery and stared at Sweetiebelle. Nobody had ever said anything like that to her.

"Well I believe you knocked some sense into Spike over there. He deserved what he got, and I respect you for what you did. I trust you because you seem to know what you're doing, you always have a plan for something and you treat the world like it's a game," Sweetiebelle answered. "That's why I trust you."

Lyvia continued to stare at her, she was a little surprise at what she was hearing, but she didn't really care.

"I see. And why did you ask for my name?" Lyvia asked, again. "Didn't I beat up your boyfriend?"

Sweetiebelle glared at her, "He's not my boyfriend!" she rebutted, "We're just friends that's all!"

Lyvia laughed a little, “You're not fooling anyone." She said simply, and she returned her glance to back out the window. "We should be arriving at Canterlot in just under an hour."

"Right, well it seems that you don't feel like talking, so I'll leave you now." Sweetiebelle said as she stood up.

"Finally I can sight-see in peace!" Lyvia replied.

Sweetiebelle grumbled as she heard that and took a look around the room. She was still hungry so she could go buy some food now, or she could go see Spike who was now sitting alone at his own table. Alas, she decided to go to Spike, she could buy food later.

She walked up to Spike's table slowly; she noticed that he was feeling down. He was silent which wasn’t like him and he didn't look around. Spike hadn't even noticed that she was going towards him. She continued to advance towards the gloomy, purple dragon, she felt sorry for him, she shouldn't have laughed when he got beat, which was really mean. Sweetiebelle sighed and stopped half way there. What was she even going to say to him, she had never really needed to cheer him up before and she never thought she would have to. He always seemed happy and he never let anything get him down. Maybe she would stop the foolish hostilities between them and say something nice? No that wouldn't do, she had to be nice. Maybe, she would apologise to him? Yeah, that would do, but what would she apologise about? Would she apologise about laughing at him, would she apologise about worrying him, or would she apologise about making him feel stupid because she knew that he wasn't.

She smiled. She knew what she was going to say now, she would apologise about everything, that way he would feel better. She began to walk back over to him when all of a sudden the train jerked and everyone lost their balance, including Sweetiebelle.  In fact, she fell over, and she landed on Spike's lap.

Spike blushed. " Sw-Sweetiebelle!? What are you doing?" He was shocked and quite frankly surprised at this.

"Sorry Spiky." Sweetiebelle apologized as she helped herself off of his lap. She looked around, a little embarrassed. However, she saw a bunch of groups staring at them, most of the giggling or chuckling.

"Kiss, kiss, kiss!" They all began to chant. "Kiss, kiss, kiss!" They continued.

Sweetiebelle looked at Spike. "Please tell me that you're not listening to them?"

Spike shrugged, "Hey why not. We have to get on their good side at some point."

"Spike! This is not how to do...." she was immediately interrupted by Spike grabbing her and pulling her into a deep kiss.

Sweetiebelle blushed a deep crimson. The kiss was a deep one, and a long one. Yet it was a beautiful one, Spike had thought that Sweetiebelle would be the first to break away, but he was surprised, it seemed that she was enjoying this as much as he was. Spike soon too blushed again, also in a deep crimson. It was passionate and they were exactly what the crown wanted. They all roared and cheered as they saw love blossom right in front of them.

Spike broke away the kiss and looked Sweetiebelle in the eyes. "How was that?" he asked. He was nervous, yet anxious to what she was going to say.

"Well I won't deny anything,  you're a great kisser, Spike!" she admitted.

"Really, you liked it?"

"Yeah, it was great." she stood up and took Spike's hand helping up. "I want to introduce you to someone."

"Who?" Spike asked, giving into his curiosity.

"Oh you'll see," she giggled and began to pull him over to the table where Lyvia was still sitting at.

Spike saw her and gulped, "oh no Sweetiebelle,  you can keep me way from her!"

"Man up Spike, she's a nice gal if you get to know her."

"And did you get to know her?"

"Well no.. but I bet she is a nice gal."

Lyvia turned her head to the two noticing that they were talking about her, "Oh you're back again?"

"Yes." she pulled Spike in front of her, "Lyvia, this is Spike. Spike, this is Lyvia." she smiled and sat down, hoping that they would make up.

Spike held out his hand to her. This time he was ready for an attack if she tried anything. Lyvia shook it.

"Where are your shoes?" Spike asked her.

"You don't need to know." she replied, sounding hostile to the dragon.

An awkward silence broke out between the three of them. Spike decided to sit down, next to Sweetiebelle,  he enjoyed he comfort even more now than before.

"Well," Sweetiebelle began as she planned to break the silence, "Spike and I kissed." she announced, grabbing hold of his hand.
"I didn't notice." Lyvia replied half-assed. She didn't really care, but she supposed she might as well show some interest,  "Does that mean you two are dating now?"

Spike gulped and looked at Sweetiebelle who nodded at him.

"Yes, yes we are." Spike said with glee as a huge smile fell on his face, and a deep crimson tint fell onto Sweetiebelle's cheeks.

“I see.” Lyvia spoke calmly, yet still sounding uninterested as always. “So do you two plan on staying together at all?”

Spike eyed her suspiciously. “What do you mean?” he asked curiously.

“What do you think I mean?” Lyvia said coolly and she crossed her arms over chest. “I asking you whether or not you two plan to stay together or if this is all a ploy to get the attention of strangers?”

Spike looked at Sweetiebelle, he was planning to stay with her, but he didn’t know is she felt the same way.

“What do you think Sweetiebelle? I don’t mind so it’s up to you.” Spike asked her, anxious to what she might say. Would she even feel the same way, it seemed as though she did when they kissed, but she could be deluding him. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“I don’t know. I guess we should. I’m sure you didn’t just kiss me because you wanted to be popular.” she stated. “It would be a nice change after all.”

Spike smiled and looked back to Lyvia. “Yeah, we’re going to be staying together.”

Lyvia sighed and stood up, only just glaring at them as she turned away, “Young love never lasts.” she began to walk away.

She glanced down a little at her feet; she still wasn’t wearing any shoes. “I should probably go find my shoes.” she murmured to herself as she stepped out of the food carriage. She looked around, examining her surroundings; she was in just a regular passenger carriage. She smirked; surely she would be able to find them here. She had seen the senior walk through here, him and his friends, unfortunately for them; she was on their trail.

She slowly wandered down the aisle of the carriage, softly glancing at all the passengers who sat down in the seats. She saw a young couple smooching half way down the carriage. One of them was blue and the other was red. “Blue and Red, the colours of friendship. Why don’t they just stay friends? They’re only dooming themselves, young love never last after all.” she commented, but sighed. She was going to let them have their fun.
She continued walking; examining each student; hair, eyes, clothes, hoping that one of them or some of them would be the senior and his friends. Then finally  she took a glance at the third seat from the back, when she saw the senior and his friends.

“Hey, do you still have that crazy girl’s shoes?” one of them asked.

“Yeah.” the senior replied.

Lyvia smirked as she heard this; she then approached a nearby empty table and sat down, glaring out the window again as she overheard their conversation.

“Should we return them? She’s only a junior, she could get into trouble without her shoes.”

“No! We are not returning them. If she gets into trouble then it’s not our problem!” the senior yelled out.

“But it will be our problem when she comes looking for us!” one of his expressed, he was terrified of the consequences. “She’s the one who beat you up, right?”

“Yes, but only because I was alone and unprepared for her. It won’t happen again!” the senior reassured. “Because next time, it’ll be four of us, and one of her.”

Lyvia stood up; she smirked and made her way over to the table of the four seniors.
“I would like to have my shoes back now.” she said casually as she put her hands in her pockets.

The senior stood up, he towered over her and crossed his arms in defiance. He had a bruise on his cheek and his hand was burnt from when he doused the flames on his head. Parts of his hair was missing, and his once glorious golden hair was now black and brown.

“Yeah well, you’re not getting them back, girl!” he said aggressively, he was looking for a fight against her. He wanted a rematch, but this time he wouldn’t be fighting alone.

“Why not, they are my shoes, you know?” she replied, still keeping her cool. She found his words incredibly stupid, she would enjoy putting him in his place, but she wanted him to make the first move.

The senior growled at her. “Did you not hear me? I said that you’re not getting them back!"

Lyvia eyed his curiously. “I heard you. You have no right to them though. That’s called stealing, and I can’t stand the sight of thieves!” she threatened. “The sight of thieves is disgusting; just like vermin, and so are you.”
This pushed the senior over the edge as he roared in aggression. He lunged at her, aiming one of his huge fists at her tiny face. Surely he would be no match for her. She was only 4 foot 8 after all; and he was 6 foot 5, he towered her.

Lyvia dodged it with ease as she stepped to the side; she let him follow through with his momentum as he managed to crash into the opposite table. She wouldn’t bother with him; she was going to focus on his friends for a bit. She just stood there as she was still bored by their pathetic efforts.

The senior’s friends stood up and the formed a circle around her; hoping to be able to catch her off-guard. A brown, male, of the age of 17 who had a black mane and blue eyes went for a kick to her stomach. However, unfortunately for the friend, it was all to easily to counter; as Lyvia grabbed onto his leg and yanked upwards, causing the friend to fall flat on his ass.  While he was down Lyvia showed no mercy and stomped on his balls. She smiled as she heard the screams of him.

“You little bitch!” another friend said as he; a yellow male, also of the age of 17 with red hair went to grab her, hoping to pin her down.

She yawned at his attempt and grabbed his wrists; twisting them until she heard a pop. She cried out in laughter as soon as she heard his wrists snap and as soon as he heard him scream even louder than his friend.

She took a moment to glance at the remaining friend who was trembling in fear now. She smirked and the friend began to run off, terrified by her merciless tactics.

She then looked at the senior who was still lying on the table, the impact had took more out of him then he thought.

“Now, I won’t ask you again, where are my shoes?” she threatened as she pulled out a small pocketknife.

The senior’s eyes shot open in horror and he began to panic. “Th-They’re in my bag, th-the green one.”

“Thank you.” she said calmly as she sheathed her knife and walked back over to their old table. Noticing the green pack on the seat; she opened and searched through it. Immediately seeing her shoes. They weren’t actually shoes though; they were more-or-less boots, steel-capped boats to be exact.

She slipped them on and took another look at the senior who had got up and ducted himself off. “You’re pathetic,” she said. “You trusted your friends to help you, and they failed. Just like you will. Always!” she began to walk off, back down the carriage. She was going to see if she could find Sweetiebelle and Spike, she had a question to ask them.

She travelled back to the food cart, seeing them still at the same table as before. They had both ordered food now. Sweetiebelle was eating fruit salad and Spike had a bowl of Gems. She roamed over to them and sat down at the table, next to Sweetiebelle.

“Where have you been?” Spike asked as he popped another gem into his mouth.
“I was getting my shoes back.” she announced softly.

“Oh. Can I see them?” Sweetiebelle asked excitedly. She was a sucker for fashion, especially shoes.

“You won’t be impressed, so no.” Lyvia said. She knew that Sweetiebelle would be able to see the from under the table so she wasn’t going to go to the trouble of moving her feet for her.

“Oh,” Sweetiebelle said disappointed.

Spike threw another gem into his mouth; an amethyst.

“So where were your shoes?”

“In a bag of that senior who threatened you.” Lyvia declared.

“Did you have trouble getting them back then?”

“No, he was no trouble. Students are always terrified of knives."

Sweetiebelle dropped her grape as she heard this, stared at Lyvia with shock and surprise. “You-You pulled a knife on him?”

Lyvia nodded.

“Won’t you get into trouble?”

Lyvia shook her head. “If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll stay quiet.”

Spike rolled his eyes as he heard this. “I hope you’re right, because you’re a valuable friend to have around.”

Lyvia glared at him. “Why do you say that?” she asked without hesitation.

“Because you know how to defend yourself. You always have a plan and you never do anything pointless. It’s good to have a friend like that.” he smiled, “Also, Sweetiebelle and I would enjoy your company. You seem nice enough.”

A small smile appeared on Lyvia’s face; she hadn’t smiled in a long time. She was glad that Spike thought of her like this, it was heart lifting.

“I’m glad that you think of me like that, Spike. I hope you and Sweetiebelle can prove me wrong and have a glorified and enjoyable relationship.”

The train suddenly came to a stop. Lyvia looked out the window to see that they had arrived at Canterlot School for Equestria’s Gifted. The school was beautiful; it had a wall around it, which marked its boundaries. Inside those walls were stunning courtyards, awing gardens and glamorous ovals.
 

> Chapter Two
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





Rules and Mysteries





“We’re here.” Lyvia spoke simply, as she always did.

Sweetiebelle and Spike both glanced out the window too; the sight that beheld them immediately captivated their eyes. The School was beautiful, the gardens, ovals, courtyard, and even the humungous school itself was eye-captivatingly stunning.

“This place is... beautiful. No wonder my sister was so thrilled to send me here.” Sweetiebelle pampered. 

Spike smiled. “This is where we’ll be spending the next year.”

“Its beauty is pointless.” Lyvia said bluntly. “It will only be a ruin when time over takes it.”

Spike, glared at Lyvia. “Why are you always so blunt. Can you not just enjoy something for once?”

Lyvia didn’t reply, she just stood up and grabbed her bags, as she stood up, she gestured for the other two to stand up. “We better not be late” she said as she avoided Spike’s question, she may off trusted him but she didn’t like to reveal her secrets. She pushed her way into the large crowd of people that were heading for the carriage door to the platform. Sweetiebelle and Spike soon made haste to follow her; both of them were also carrying their bags. Spike was having no trouble but Sweetiebelle was struggling quite a bit.

“Do you need any help, Sweetiebelle?” Spike asked, offering to take one of her bags for her.

“Yes please, that would be great, thank you.” she gave him one of her bags, which Spike held with his strong, dragon, tail. “Thank you Spiky.” she smiled and she was able to carry her remaining bag with both hands.

Spike smiled, it still wasn’t very heaving for him with the three bags, although it was considerably harder. “You’re welcome.”

The two teens continued to follow Lyvia who had hastened ahead and was nearly out of sight. However, the row of students heading out of the train and up the hill towards the school would lead them to her in no time.

The path, which leads up to the school, was a long one. It started from the train platform and ended at the first courtyard, which lead to the School’s Assembly Area and Main Hall. The path was a long set of stairs which was heavily illuminated by torches which lined the edge. It wound up a hill, which increased the overall length of the path that also made it harder to walk up. 

It was night-time now and Sweetiebelle was wishing that she had chosen to wear something a little warmer, as it was getting cold, fast. Her short, sleeveless, pink, dress wasn’t keeping her warm at all.

“Can I borrow your jacket?” Sweetiebelle asked as a fresh wave of wave of breeze hit her skin and she began to shiver.

Spike looked at her in slight concern and nodded; he took off his jacket and handed to her. “Here, this should warm you up.”

Sweetiebelle smiled again and put it on her. The arms were too long for her but at least her hands would be kept warm. She zipped up the jacket so that her chest kept warm and she wouldn’t catch a cold.

“There. Better?” Spike asked, beginning to slug his way up the stairs.

“Yeah.” she reassured. She was feeling a lot warmer now.

The two began to hike their way up the path, awing at the beauty of their new school. They pushed past other students as they were walking faster than most, hoping to catch up to Lyvia sometime soon.

“How fast can she walk?” Sweetiebelle asked.

“Well someone as badass as her, is no doubt quick on her feet too.”

“Yeah I guess so, but why is she in such a hurry anyway?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Spike replied as he saw the school approach ever closer. The large door, which leads into the castle-like building, was huge. He smiled; this was what Twilight had put so much effort in for him, to see and to be taught at such a remarkable school. He began to walk faster and gestured for to as well.

“C’mon, we should hurry up. Well, if we want to catch up to Lyvia that is.”

“Right.” she sped up too. Walking beside Spike as she did. She beamed in happiness as she saw the sight of the school up close. It was stunning of course. They reached the large door, which had been opened for them and the students. They entered. They saw a large mustering hall that was most likely the assembly area which teachers had instructed both juniors and seniors to take a seat in.

“Do you see Lyvia anywhere?” Sweetiebelle asked, and her voice cracked as she spoke.

Spike chuckled. “No. I don’t, Sqeakiebelle.” 

Sweetiebelle blushed as he called her that. Her voice hadn’t stopped cracking for years now and she wondered when it was going to stop. Hopefully soon.

“Come, we better take a seat, we’ll look for her later.” Spike said as he gestured for Sweetiebelle to sit next to him on two chairs that had been set there prior to their arrival.

She took a seat next to him; they were both still looking around for Lyvia. She had disappeared again.

“Maybe she’s off fighting again?” Spike asked.

“Maybe. If she keeps doing that though, she’ll get into trouble.” Spike replied, a little bit of concern being expressed but he tried to hide it.

Sweetiebelle opened her mouth to reply but was immediately tuned out by the sound of a microphone tuning in. All the students, senior and junior alike looked at the front where the sound had come from. An old looking man stood in front of a pedestal; he was wearing a long brown coat, black plants and black boot. He had grey hair with a glorious Gandalf beard.

“Good evening, students.” the old man spoke. “To all of our juniors who have joined us today, I am Headmaster Tinder Box and welcome to Canterlot School for Equestria’s Gifted.” he smiled as he let the students clap loudly. “Now, your classes will not start until Wednesday and as you all know, today is Monday. Instead, tomorrow you will be choosing your subjects which will determine your classes for the rest of your years at this school.” all students clapped again. Sweetiebelle and Spike were happy at least; they would be able to choose their subjects. 

“Now for the part you’re not going to like.” the old headmaster said alarmingly and students began to groan. “The rule are as followed: No going beyond the school walls. No leaving your dorms after night. No arguing with teacher. And lastly, No relationships at any point.”

Students were shocked as they heard this.

“Wh-What!” Sweetiebelle yelled puzzlingly and surprised and she stood up. “ That’s unfair!”

“Sweetiebelle, protest later please.” Spike said as he pulled Sweetiebelle back down into her seat.

The headmaster smiled. He admired students who made their voice heard. “I’m sorry, but it’s only a precaution so that students do not get distracted and are able to put all their efforts into their work.”
Sweetiebelle pouted and crossed her arms in defiance, slouching down in her chair. “Not fair.” she grumbled.

Spike stroked her pink and purple hair. “Don’t worry, we’ll still be together. We’re not breaking up any time soon, no teacher is getting in the way of this.”

“Really?” Sweetiebelle asked, she really hoped so; she loved him.

“Yeah, of course.”

A few rows in front of them were a young couple, a blue male and red female. Both of them were panicking from the moment those words left the headmaster’s mouth. They were shocked at this, but they were going to have to put up with it and renounce their love.

“Now seniors, you know where your dorms are so you may be dismissed.” he waiting for all the seniors to get up and slowly exit the hall as they all headed for their dorms. When they finally left he spoke once more. “Now, to all the juniors.” there was only about fifty juniors this year, “There is a sheet being passed around which tells you your dorm number and your room mates. On the back of the sheet is a map on how to get there. If you have any question please ask the teachers.”

As soon as the headmaster stopped talking a sheet landed on Spike’s lap, Sweetiebelle had one too. His said.

Dorm Number: 73
Room Members: 
Quick Feathers
Twin Storm
Boulder Storm
Spike

On Sweetiebelle’s:

Dorm Number: 29
Room Members:
Lyvia Sounds
Sweetiebelle
Lil’ Dew
Tyrra Tomb

“Oh Lyvia’s in my dorm!” Sweetiebelle said excitedly. “I will be able to ask her where she went.”

“Yeah, and why she left us behind.” Spike added. “I don’t have anyone of interest in my dorm though.”
“Aww well, I’m sure you’ll make friends.” Sweetiebelle tried to reassure him.

“Now.” the headmaster began to speak, and he stroked his beard. “You are all to meet back her tomorrow after breakfast. Dismissed.” he began to walk out a door, which was behind the front stage.

Sweetiebelle looked at Spike. “I don’t like this school. We have to keep our relationship a secret now!”

“No we don’t. I doubt we will get expelled for being in love. We just have to prove that we’re smarter together.”

“Aww Spiky, that’s really sweet.” she pulled him in for a hug. It was a tight and warm hug.

She let go and stood up. “I guess I’ll se you tomorrow for breakfast.” she smiled and began to walk off down the hall towards her dorm. She flipped over her sheet to view the map so she could figure out wear she was going. She turned down a hall and immediately stopped. Lyvia was standing right in front of her, but as usual her back was turned.

“Lyvia?” Sweetiebelle asked softly.

Lyvia didn’t reply, she didn’t even have a sheet with her so most likely she wasn’t at the assembly. Sweetiebelle slowly approached her. 

“Lyvia?” she spoke again. “Why are you here?”

Lyvia finally turned around to look at here. An uninterested facial expression present as always. 

“None of your business, Sweetiebelle.” she scolded.

This took Sweetiebelle by surprise; she guessed Lyvia could be a bit of a bitch at times.

“What is your problem? Why so hostile to me all of a sudden. I’m not Spike.”

“You’re intruding on me... and my secrets!” Lyvia scolded again. “Did your mother not tell you to mind your own business?
“Well sorry, but you should come to your dorm. You’re in my one.”

“I know. I made that so,” she revealed, turning back around and walked back down the hallway, disappearing into the darkness.

> Chapter Three
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





Lyvia Sounds





-- Two years prior to the events of the story –

Lyvia woke up one, cold morning to the sounds of her parents calling her down for breakfast. She groaned and rolled over, looking at the alarm clock; it was 8:35 am. She shot up and out of bed, dressing into her usual attire of her Red, hooded, zip-up jumper, with her white shirt exposed, she was also wearing blue, flexible jeans. However, she was also wearing shoes, not boots, but black shoes. She left her room and ventured downstairs.

Lyvia Sounds was a 12 year old, peaceful girl who hated pointless violence. She had a loving family who had adopted her when she was only five. She attended Fillydelfia Primary School, which her parents supported. They also helped with anything she needed, she loved her family. Her house was Three Stories high with over 12 rooms. She had an older brother who protected her from bullies and other nasty predators in the world. He showed no emotion to anything he did and was a star-student at school. He was 17, and his name was Blazer Sounds.

Lyvia adored him and his love towards her. However, today was awfully quiet, usually he would training outside which would cause a lot of noise, but today it was silent. Anyway, Lyvia enjoyed the peace. She continued on back down stairs until she reached the bottom. That when she felt a hard smash on her head and she fell to the ground, darkness consumed her consciousness as she drifted off.

The last thing she saw was the body of Blazer who's blood was drowning him and he said to her, "Remember... what I taught you... please..."

When she finally woke up she found herself unable to move. When she truly gained focus she found that she was tied to a post. The post was on the roof of the Third Story, she began to panic madly, she was scared of heights.

"Daddy? Mummy?" she tried hard to loosen the ropes around her wrists and abdomen by kicking and squirming. 

As she wriggled around she heard an insane chuckle that oddly sounded to be her father.

"Daddy?" She whimpered quietly, scared that it was actually him who had done this.
A large man stepped out onto the roof eyeing her and holding a sword with blood covering it.

"Yes, it's your daddy, sweet heart!" the man spoke roughly and he chuckled once more.

"You-You can untie me now, please?" she pleaded with him. "Mummy and Blazer aren't going t-to like this,” she weakly explained.

The man burst out into laughter.

"They're Dead!" he yelled and he raised the sword. "AND YOU'RE NEXT!"

Lyvia breathing hastened quickly and she shut her eyes tight. She began to thrash around against the ropes in one last desperate attempt to get free. Then, the words of her dead brother echoed throughout her head. "Remember what I taught you,” she repeated quietly as she began to calm herself down; controlling her breathing and releasing herself from fear. She them tried to slip her hands free from the knot. This was a special technique that Blazer had taught her.

It worked and she got her hands free. She shot her eyes open in happiness. "It worked!"

Her father eyed her as he walked slowly and ever so closer to her. "Good work, sweetie, but you still won't be able to get free from the other ropes."

Lyvia searched rapidly around the ropes to find the knot so she could untie. With her wriggling around she was able to loosen it enough to slightly shift around. So when her father swung downward with his sword, she was able to dodge the blade, and the ropes were cut.

"Yes!" she yelled loudly in excitement, but now she had to get away. She wasn’t going to go near the edge of the roof; the height would give her a heart attack for sure.

"What!?" her father said, astounded, "You're supposed to die!"

"Y-You're not going to kill me now, daddy!" she ducted under him, running straight past and making a beeline for the rooftop door. Freedom was so close. Once she would get down there she would get the police and be safe again, but her father's next words crushed the idea of freedom.

"I have the key." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a key "and that door is locked. So if you want it, come and get it."

Lyvia stood there in pure fear, she didn't know what to do, she would have to confront him and she would surely be killed in the process. Her breathing went up again and so did her heart rate. Her death was standing right in front of her, all he had to do was swing his sword and spill her blood.

But then, Blazer's words echoed throughout her head again.

She then came to a realisation, "I have to be strong, I will avenge his death!" she yelled out and she began to charge at her dad.

His dad laughed loudly, "I must admit, there's a certain beauty to your resistance." and he swung his sword. But only to miss as Lyvia had ducked and weaved around his attack.

When she was close enough she grabbed is hand and lower arm, and sunk her teeth deep into his wrist, which made him drop his sword.

"AAAAARRRHHH!!! STUPID GIRL!!" He kicked her but then was blocked by her leg.
She let away her teeth, blood dripping from her mouth and she picked up the sword.
"No dad, it's your turn to die!" she said as she charged at her now petrified dad and sunk the blade deep into his neck, nearly decapitating him.

Her dad now lay dead on the rooftop, her whole family was dead now. She wouldn't go back to orphanage as she would never be adopted again, and if she ran off to the police they would surely arrest her for murder. She couldn't trust anyone anymore; everyone was a potential enemy. She searched the corpse for the key, and soon found it. Freedom was now hers, but what would she do with it?

-- Present Day –

Lyvia stood in the shadows of the unilluminated hallways, holding the key in her hand. "Why am I remembering this now?" she asked herself.

> Chapter Four
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





Canterlot School for Equestria's Gifted





Lyvia continued to stair at the key, which she was holding in her hand. A tear dripped from her eye as the memories of that day flooded her mind. 

“Why... Why do I have to remember this now?” she cried out, more tears falling from the ducts. Her voice projected throughout the dark, silent and empty halls.

She closed her hand into a fist, gripping the key tightly until her hand began to bleed, she let the blood ooze onto her knuckles and from there drip onto the cold, hard floor.

“God fucking dammit, dad!” she yelled out loudly as she let her emotions take control of her. More tears dripped from her eyes and rolled down her now wet cheeks. She collapsed to her knees and covered her face with her hands. She broke down and sobbed loudly.

“Why? Why? WHY!?” she cried out, enraged by the memories that tormented her now.

She kept crying, trying to drain away the events that flashed throughout her mind with her tears that streamed down her cheeks.

“Lyvia?” called a soft, kind, and sweet sounding voice which sounded all too familiar. “Lyvia are you alright?” the voice sounded as though it was getting closer.

Lyvia brought her hands off her face and she looked up, staring up at the person who had spoken her name. To her shock, it was Sweetiebelle. Fear overwhelmed her face as she saw the white unicorn approach her; she didn’t want her to see her like this.

“Sw-Sweetiebelle!” she weakly said, tears still rolling down her face.

Sweetiebelle frowned at seeing her friend like this; she wandered over to Lyvia and sat next to her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked softly, concerned for her. ‘This isn’t like you.”

Lyvia glared at her, fear still expressed on her face. She wasn’t able to answer, she couldn’t stand having Sweetiebelle seeing her like this; she was broken, weak and helpless. Lyvia gulped, she would have to answer her at some point.

“It’s... It’s just... the memories.” she managed to say, looking away from Sweetiebelle as she did. She was ashamed.

“Memories? What memories?” she inquired, “Lyvia, what ever your remembering is breaking you.”

Lyvia whimpered a little at that thought, she didn’t know what was happening to her, she was becoming weak and helpless, but she wanted to fight that. She couldn’t bear to go back to the way she was. She couldn’t trust anyone, and as soon as Sweetiebelle recognised her last name, she would find out her tragic life. Never the less, she would find out at some point, perhaps she would help her along and hope that Sweetiebelle would remain her friend.

“You know my last n-name right?” Lyvia asked.

Sweetiebelle eyed her and rubbed her back, hoping to cheer her up, “Yeah, Sounds, right?”

Lyvia nodded. “And I’m from Fillydelfia...”

Sweetiebelle’s eyes widened.

“Wait! Your that girl who killed your entire family?!”

Lyvia gulped and looked down, covering her face again as even more tears streamed from her eyes and down her cheeks. She had no idea that that whole event was being pinned on her. She thought that the world was smart enough to realise that it wasn’t her, but she was proven wrong. She was only a small, weak, little girl that relied on others for help, and yet everyone thought that she was the one who had killed her beloved mother and brother.

She shook her head.

“No... My father killed them, and I kill m-my father...” she weakly said. “Then he tried to kill me.”

Sweetiebelle frowned and pulled Lyvia into a hug. It was a warm, tight, and caring hug; it was something that she needed right now. She needed to know that someone still cared for her, but she didn’t want to be betrayed again, she wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Lyvia smiled and cherished the hug; she put her head on Sweetiebelle’s shoulder and began to cry once more.

Sweetiebelle stroked her hair and pat her back hoping that she could calm her down.

“Hey, it’s alright. Don’t be ashamed about this. It’s perfectly normal to feel sad about something like this.” Sweetiebelle said comforting. 
“But it was two years ago!” Lyvia said back, but her words were slightly muffled by Sweetie’s shoulder.

“Memories always reappear, and you’ll never forget what happened. You lost your entire family and everyone you loved. You lost everything you needed, it’s normal to feel sad about this, even scary at times.”

Lyvia smiled, she was glad that someone was there for her, and she was glad that Sweetiebelle still saw her as a friend. “Rea-Really?”

“Yeah of course. Why would I lie to you?” she stood up, helping Lyvia to her feet as she did. “Now c’mon, we should head back to our dorm and get a good night sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.”

Lyvia nodded, she wiped her eyes and her cheeks, sweeping away the tears, she couldn’t let anyone else see her like this.

“O-Okay,” she began to walk with Sweetiebelle, a smile still beaming on her face.

-- The Next Day --

After waking up, everyone had gotten dressed and was heading down to the food hall for breakfast, including Spike. Spike was walking down the old hallways as the warm, morning sun glared through the windows and lit up the school. He was just one in a crowd of a thousand and he looked around excitedly, seeing if he could see Sweetiebelle or Lyvia. 

He turned a corner, and astoundingly he ran into Sweetiebelle.

“Hey Sweetiebelle.” he said with a smile.

“Oh hey Spike, can I talk to you for a moment?” she asked, sounding a little worried, “It’s about Lyvia.”

Spike looked a little unsure, but he nodded and agreed to it. “Yeah sure.” he said simply, hoping that it wasn’t bad news.”

“I saw Lyvia crying last night.”

Spike looked at her weirdly. He didn’t believe that Lyvia even had emotions.

“Are you sure?” he asked, “That doesn’t sound like Lyvia at all.”

Sweetiebelle nodded. “I’m sure.” she looked down, “You know her last name right?”

Spike nodded. “Yeah, it’s Sounds” he had read it off from Sweetiebelle’s dorm sheet. “Wait, you don’t mean, that she’s that girl from Fillydelfia who killed her entire family?”

Sweetiebelle shook her head, she felt slightly uncomfortable revealing all this, but Spike needed to know.

“No, her father was the one that killed her family, and she killed her father.” she took Spike’s hand, “She’s mourning for them, Spike.”

Spike came to the realisation that Lyvia did actually have feelings, that she more real than he had though and not just a mindless robot that ran on programed instinct.

“So, she misses them?”

Sweetiebelle nodded. “Of course she does, anyone would.”

“I see. What do you want me to do about it though?” Spike asked, he was unsure on what to do; he didn’t know how to handle a situation like this.

“I need you to choose at least one class with her, so that she has a friend that she can trust with her. You never know when she might need you. Or vice-versa. Can you do that?” Sweetiebelle pleaded, she need Spike to do this, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to go with her; all the classes she wanted would never suit the interests of Lyvia.

Spike thought to himself for a while, he assumed that she would choose some hard-core classes but he would need to go with her. The trust between them couldn’t afford being torn and he valued her as a friend; and if she needed comfort she would get it, and he would be the one to give it to her.

“Alright.” he announced, “I’ll do it, I’ll stay with her and comfort her. It’s the least I can do for her.”

Sweetiebelle smiled and pulled him into a deep hug. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” her voice cracked as she spoke.

Spike hugged her back and chuckled slightly. “No need to thank me, Squeakiebelle. I’m happy to do it.”

He pulled away from the hug and kissed her forehead. “Right, do you wanna head over to breakfast now?”

“Yeah, Lyvia’s already down there.”

The two of them held hands as they began to walk down the now empty hallways and headed towards the food hall, which wasn’t very far away. When they reached it, they saw that it was packed with students of all years. There was a group of people playing musical instruments, and another group singing loudly with their heavenly voices. Some people were arm-wrestling and others were writing. Nearly everyone was exercising his or her talents.

Over in the far corner though, was Lyvia, who sat alone. She was wearing her signature attire as usual and she had a bowl of cereal in front of her that she ate slowly. She had her cool about her and she seemed so much calmer than what Sweetiebelle had implied.

“Sweetiebelle. She seems fine.” Spike revealed, “She doesn’t seem upset.”

“Spike, do you really think that she’s going to appear weak in front of the whole school?” she replied as she and Spike walked over to get some food.

There was toast, pancakes, porridge, cereal and of course gems up for offer. Of course it was all free as well being that the school had to feed their students. Spike grabbed a large bowl of gems while Sweetiebelle took a pancake and some porridge. After they had gotten their food they ventured over to Lyvia’s table and sat down.

Sweetiebelle was sitting next to Lyvia and across from Spike who had already began to engulf his gems.

“Feeling better Lyvia?” she asked her, smiling.

Lyvia nodded. “They’re just memories now. They can’t hurt me,” she admitted. She had become strong again, but that could change at any moment. 

She had a bandage around her hand which she had made bleed from the key which sat in her pocket. She fiddled around with the bandages on her hand; she couldn’t believe that she had let her emotions get the better of her.

“Okay, well that’s good to here. We’re here if you need us.” she smiled, rubbing her back and she began to eat her breakfast, she was starving.

Lyvia smiled a little, but she wouldn’t, no, she couldn’t let this happen again, it wasn’t like her and this was the last thing she needed in her life. Reliving that life was torturous. So she too, went back to eating.

After they had finished the three of them stood up and left for the main hall to choose their subjects. Everyone was anxious and nervous; they would have to choose their subjects, which would determine their classes for the next few years.

Once reaching upon the main hall, it wasn’t very full as there weren’t very many juniors. There was the headmaster as well as various teachers all around the room. Each teacher had a list that they would place down the names of their future students who would wish to do their class. The headmaster stood up and began to speak.

“Good morning, students.” he spoke calmly, “today you shall be choosing your classes for the next few years. I suggest you choose wisely as you will only be offered this choice again when you finally become seniors.”

Murmured chatter broke out between everyone, as they were clearly excited. They separated off and visited the teachers, having their names taken down by them. Among them, was Lyvia who had walked off away from Spike and Sweetiebelle again.

“So what classes are you going to choose, Sweetiebelle?” Spike asked.

“Umm... I’m going to do design, fashion and definitely Singing.” she replied, what are you going to do, Spike?”

“Well Twilight wants me to do magical studies and mathematics... but I was also going to do a subject that Lyvia was going to do.”

Sweetiebelle nodded and the two of them split up to choose their subjects. Spike chose mathematics and magical studies first before he went over to Lyvia who was at the Advanced Martial Arts class.

“Hey, Lyvia. What subjects are you doing?” Spike asked her.

“None of your business, Spike. I chose what I wanted to do.” she replied.

“Okay. So you wanna do Advanced Martial Arts as well?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” she said as she placed her name down.

“Should I do this subject as well?” he asked her.

Lyvia sighed and turned around to look at him.

“How about you do what you want to do, and not let my opinion influence you. You should learn to take some initiative,” she explained to him.

“Okay then.” he said nervously as he also placed his name down for the subject.

Both Lyvia and Spike met up with Sweetiebelle in the main hallway that exited the main hall. They quietly walked down the hallways until they reached one of the courtyards. Their classes didn’t start until tomorrow.

Once they reached the courtyard, the saw that they were surrounded by beautiful stonework with stunning carvings in them of the Royal Family.

“Wow, this place is beautiful. I love it!” Sweetiebelle said loudly with her voice cracking yet again.

“Yeah I know. We should come here more often.” Spike replied.

Lyvia remained quiet she just took a leaned against a statue of Celestia that towered over the courtyard itself. 

“Do you want to come back her tonight?” Spike asked Sweetiebelle, “You know, on a sort of date?”

Sweetiebelle smiled and did a tackle hug on him, knocking him to the ground.

“YES!!!” she screamed loudly. Even though they were only dating for a day, they couldn’t afford to take things slow with the rule in place.

Lyvia glared at them. “You two are going to get into trouble,” she said simply, but a small smirk appeared on her face.

Spike and Sweetiebelle both looked at her. “What do you mean, we won’t be caught.”

“You will. You can’t run away from the inevitable.” she crossed her arms again, staring off into the sky.

It was a clear, sunny day with only a few fluffy clouds in the sky. It was beautiful and the warmth of the sun’s rays beamed down and gave the place such a happy feel. 

It was settled, Spike and Sweetiebelle had a date for tonight, they would make there way down to this courtyard late at night, hopefully avoiding teachers so they wouldn’t get into trouble. Once here they would most likely spend a few hours star gazing hopefully kissing too.

> Chapter Five
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





A Night Full of Memories





Later that evening, Spike and Sweetiebelle were getting ready for their date. They had planned to meet each other down in the courtyard. Since it was close and no doubt dark, they had a fairly good chance of not being caught. Yet they still ran that risk as they were going to break two rules. However, to them, it was worth it; because nothing was going to get in the way of their first date especially not a stupid, worthless rule made up by a crazy, old, man.

It was after dinner, the sun had set behind the large, snowy mountains that lined the horizon. A soft breeze swept through the silent castle-school and only a few clouds darkened the night from the illuminating moonlight. This was the time were everyone would be going to sleep so that they would be well rested for their first class of the year, however, this was not the case for Sweetiebelle nor Spike; these two were both frantically deciding what to wear for their special night.

In dorm number 23, the dorm which housed Sweetiebelle, Lyvia, Lil’ Dew, and Tyra Tomb was as eventful as the night before. Lil’ Dew and Tyra were slouching on the couch either reading a book, or practicing a talent, Sweetiebelle though, had occupied the change room as she was desperately trying to see what dress looked better on her. She couldn’t decide whether she would wear a red, or a black dress. The red dress was simple and kind of dull, but it did seem to go well with her fur colour. However the black dress was elegant and pretty but didn’t suit her. She tried to think of what Spike would want her to wear, but she didn’t know what he would like.

“What do you think, Lyvia? Do I look pretty in this?” Sweetiebelle asked as she stepped out of the change room wearing the red dress, with no jewellery and no shoes, only the dress.

Lyvia was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She let out a small yawn, as she too, was exhausted.

“I dunno. Good I guess,” she replied blankly as she was blindly judging her fashion choices. “I’m not the one wearing it am I?”

Sweetiebelle sighed as she heard this. She had previously asked Lyvia to help her choose but that was clearly not working out.

“You know I did ask you to help. So I need an actual opinion from you, please.” she pleaded, hoping that it might change something.

“I did give my opinion, ‘I dunno. Good I guess.” Lyvia repeated, “Do you want me to lie to you instead?”

This took Sweetiebelle aback; she didn’t know what to say to this. She didn’t want her to lie but she also knew that only way that Lyvia would actually give a damn was if she did lie. Lyvia wasn’t going to be much help then, so she would just have to decide by herself.

“Alright then, go away.” Sweetiebelle said, sounding annoyed as she pointed to Lyvia’s bed. “If you’re not going to give a shit, then next time just say no!”

Lyvia shrugged and began to walk off to her bed. She climbed in; she was already in her sleepwear. Which was just a white, tank top and purple, linen, pants.

Sweetiebelle sighed and went back into the change room. She had decided on what she was going to wear, she would keep the red dress on, since it suited her fur colour and she figured that Spike would prefer simple over elegant. 

She picked up the black dress and put it back onto the coat hanger, hanging it up in her private closet. She locked the door to it too so no one could take her glorious clothes. She then wandered off the other side of the room to slip on her red sandals again, which were under a table. On the table was all her jewellery. She grabbed her bangles but soon decided to not wear them, as she didn’t want to make too much noise while sneaking around. She did however put on her golden, manticore necklace and her diamond earrings that she was wearing earlier today.

After she had made herself pretty she decided it was time to sneak out. So she slowly opened the door of the change room and saw that everyone was now asleep. She quietly crept past them, struggling not to make a single sound as she stepped one foot at a time. She first passed Lil’ Dew’s bed, then Tyra’s bed, then finally, Lyvia’s bed, which was closest to the door. After successfully sneaking past her fellow dorm mates, she slowly opened the door that let out a small creek as it eased open. She snuck out without closing the door behind her and she began to walk silently down the empty hallway.

As she walked she overheard teachers talking. These teachers were patrolling the passageways for any rogue students. Sweetiebelle took a mental note to avoid them at all costs, because if she did, she risked exposing both her and Spike; which she would hate to do. However, just as she was about to reach the courtyard, she heard footsteps approaching ever closer. Her eyes widened and she looked around frantically for somewhere to hide. Yet, there was nothing but empty hallways. She began to panic and sweat from the threat that loamed closer and closer with every passing second.

“Are you sure that she could be around?” one of the asked, she sounded still a fair-way-away though.

“Yes, the other student that we caught said that there were two students sneaking out at night.” the other replied hastily, she sounded a little closer and her voice echoed throughout the empty school

“Juniors are known to lie sometimes.”

The other teacher sighed and they drew closer to their target. 

“Well, now that you think of it, that junior didn’t say where they were going. Should we head back and ask him?”

“That’s a good idea,” the other replied and the two teachers turned tail and went back to their office.

Sweetiebelle took a sigh of relief as the threat went way. She was lucky and she wasn’t going to waste this chance. She waited until the footsteps went away and she pushed open the door that led to outside. A strong gush of chilling breeze hit her and immediately made her shiver. She had forgotten to prepare for the cold again.

Sweetiebelle looked around at the wonderful sight that beheld her, the Celestial Courtyard was absolutely stunning at night. The soft moonlight glared on the statue of Celestia, which made it shone and gleam. The statue reflected and enhanced the moonlight to illuminate the courtyard of which she stood in.

“Sweetiebelle you made it,” whispered a voice, which sounded so familiar from behind the statue. The owner of the voice stepped out from behind the statue to reveal that it was Spike who was still wearing the same clothes as earlier, but he was holding a second jacket. It was light purple jacket. 

“Here.” he said as he through the jacket over to Sweetiebelle, “I brought this for you just in case you didn’t bring one. It’s a little cold tonight.”

Sweetiebelle smiled and put the jacket on, one arm at a time.

“Thanks, Spiky.” she replied and she walked over to him. “So what do you want to do first?” she asked as she took his hand.

“Well, I was thinking...” he began and pointed over to a large oval that was too, illuminated by the mystical moonlight. “That we should go over to the oval so that we’re not too close to the school. We don’t want to risk being caught.”

Sweetiebelle agreed completely, but she still wanted to hang out around this courtyard, it was absolutely beautiful and gorgeous and she wanted to inspect the carvings of the royal family to learn who was actually part of it. But, that would have to wait, because she knew that Spike was right and that they would have to move away from the school to not risk being caught. She wanted this night to be magical.

“Alright, Spike. Lead the way.” she said as she kissed his cheek and put on an adorable smile.

Spike rubbed his cheek slightly and smiled adorably too as he pulled on her hand and lead her out of the courtyard and onto the grass. 

The grass was soft, cold and evenly cut, it had recently been watered and was still wet, which allowed it to reflect the light from the moon.

“I’m really looking forward to spending the night with you, Spike.” Sweetiebelle announced as she walked along beside him; still holding his hand.

“Me too, Sweetiebelle. It’s really sweet for you to come along with me. I’m sure it’s going to be a lovely night.” Spike replied as he led his girlfriend over the oval until they reached the middle.

When they did Spike let go of Sweetie’s hand a lay down, he gestured for her to do the same next to him. Which she did, but she also didn’t. Instead, she lay her head down on his chest.

Spike smirked and began to stroke her soft, pink and purple hair and held her hand again.

“So what do you feel like doing, Sweetie?” Spike asked. He knew that she had asked him before and he didn’t answer, he wanted her to choose and he also knew that she would have no objection to that.

“Hmmm...?” Sweetiebelle began to think to herself, she hadn’t really though about it, since she asked Spike and she though that he had planned something. “How about we star-gaze?” she replied, it was the first thing that came to her mind.

Spike shrugged. “Alrighty then. Lets star-gaze.” he approved.

The two of them both looked upwards, staring at the starry sky. It was clear and dark, only a few clouds were present which made it easy for them to spot the different constellations which Twilight had so effortlessly taught Spike. He loved the stars and had grown an interest in them for a few years now. It amazed him that there were so many twinkling lights in the night sky and that nearly all of them formed patterns or shapes.

“Sweetiebelle?” Spike asked.

“Hmm?” she replied.

“Why did you decide to date me?”

Sweetiebelle didn’t really know how to answer this. She liked him and he cared for her. That was all she really knew; also, he was a great kisser.

“Well, you’re a great kisser and I like a guy who knows how to treat a lady in a proper way. Your very chivalric you know, you’re always looking out for me. That’s why I decided to date you,” she answered in a gleeful tone and she looked him in the eyes by turning her head. His chest was hard and yet, his scales made it comfortable; she didn’t want to take her head away, his abdomen was a nice pillow.

“Why do you ask?”

“Oh no reason. Just curious that’s all. I’m still trying to get my head around all this, it happened quite fast.” Spike replied and he looked her in the eyes too and he caressed her non-burnt cheek. Her white fur was nice and soft. It was like a kitten’s coat, he could stroke it all night and surely she wouldn’t mind.

Sweetiebelle giggled, “Oh your silly, Spike. I would only date someone if I loved them.” she held the hand that Spike had caressed her with; she did like the feel of his hand against her face. It just felt so romantic. “I don’t ever want to be heart broken, Spike. So promise that you’ll stay with me.”

Spike smiled and moved her hair out of her face. 

“I promise that I will always stay with you, Sweetiebelle. You are a beautiful girl in both appearance and personality; and only a jealous fool would miss that.”

This made Sweetiebelle blush deep as he cheeks were stained with a crimson colour. That was the sweetest and cutest thing that she had ever heard Spike say and she was most definitely cherish those words.

“Thanks, Spiky.” she thanked and her voice broke as she did.

Spike chuckled, “Not a problem Squeakiebelle.” he assured and he pulled her head closer to his as he pulled her in for a kiss.

The kiss was long. It was passionate. And it was glorious! The kiss was pure love itself as it was a declaration that neither of them would part from each other. Spike, held Sweetie by the hand and nape and as her stroked her hair during the kiss. 

Sweetiebelle was still blushing deep but she loved the kiss all too much and she wouldn’t dare be the first to break away. She held the kiss for as long as she could. Her hands were behind Spike’s head as she felt his green spikes. They were tough and remarkable. 

Spike closed his eyes and so did Sweetie. They were enjoying themselves and the kiss, which was bringing the night to life. Nothing was going to ruin this perfect moment, and even if a teacher were to find them, they would not separate. They would defy them and the rule until the end. They did not care if they got expelled; they had no fear of that. Rarity and Twilight wouldn’t be able to scold them over loving one another.

Spike pulled away so that he could take a breath, and so did Sweetiebelle. They were both blushing but they went for another kiss, the night was becoming better by the minute. This time Sweetiebelle pulled Spike in, and the kiss was just as, if not even better then the last one. It wasn’t as long though as they were still short of breath. Eventually they broke the kiss before the suffocated.

Spike and Sweetiebelle looked each other in the eyes yet again, both having the love and romance printed all over them.

“Enjoy yourself?” Spike asked, even though he knew the answer, he just wanted to hear her cute voice.

“Of course!” she replied and she laid her head back on his chest, still gazing at him.

Spike smiled and stroked her hair again.

“I have something for you, Spiky.” she began. “I bet you’re going to love it.”

Spike looked at her with surprise. He wasn’t expecting a gift; if he were he would’ve gotten her something too.

“What is it?” he asked curiously.

“A song. I’ve been practicing it for a while, for when I finally found a boyfriend. I want to sing it to you.”

She awed spike, he couldn’t believe that he was going to her sweet ad cute voice sing him a song.


“The sparkle in your eye,
The warmth of your skin.
Your breath on my neck,
That shakes me within.

The touch of your hand,
The smell of your hair.
The naughtiness in your smile,
That strength in your stare.

Your kiss on my lips,
Your body near mine.
The stroke of your touch,
That feeling inside.

The Compassion in your embrace.
The power in your face.
The beating of your heart.
That we may never part

The beauty of your kiss,
and that magic in your touch.
It is for all these reasons and more,
Why I love you so...”


Sweetiebelle stopped singing; that was the end of her most beautiful song.

“How was it?” she asked eagerly, she had never sung that to anyone before and she was nervous to see if it was actually good.

Spike was in awe. He gazed at her. Her heavenly voice had captivated him. “It was beautiful, Sweetie.” he spoke, sounding entranced.

“Really? You liked it?” Sweetiebelle asked, as she blushed again. She had just admitted all of her feelings to him and she was so glad the he liked it.

Spike nodded.

“Of course. Your voice is heavenly, it’s like an angels.” he reassured.

Sweetiebelle smiled, kissing him on the forehead and hugging him tightly. This night was turning out to be the most memorable night ever.

“Thanks Spiky, I’m glad you liked it.”

For the rest of the night Spike and Sweetiebelle did nothing but lay down and stargaze. They talked about their past adventures and how much fun it was to be a child. they also discussed their future and how they thought it was going to turn out and what they were going to be. Spike had not the slightest idea, but Sweetiebelle went on about how Rarity wanted her to take over Carousel Boutique but she wanted to be a famous singer who brought smiles to people’s faces. She wanted to brighten the world with her sonnets and poems. That was her dream, and Spike thought that it was a exquisite dream, one that he hoped she achieved, one that he would help her accomplish. It was safe to say, that the night was a success.

Sweetiebelle closed her eyes, and slowly began to dose off, her head still on his chest. 

Spike continued to stroke her hair and caress her cheek, he knew she liked that and it helped her sleep. They were probably going to spend the entire night out here now, as he didn’t wish to wake her up.

Spike let her sleep for next few hours as he just lay there, remembering all the beautiful moments that they had experienced tonight, he would not forget a single on of them. He even began to recite the song that Sweetiebelle had sung him, it was hard but her managed to remember it. These memories of their first date would last a lifetime, and he would treasure every single one of them to his dying breath. 

A dragon was loyal to those he loved, and he loved Sweetiebelle ever so much so he would remain loyal to her for as long as she remained loyal to him. He glanced the Sleeping Beauty that lay on his chest as if it were a pillow. He smiled, she was wonderful unicorn; pretty in every way. Her thoughts stunned him and her beauty captivated him. Her charm drove him and her love bound him.

Her breathing was soft and she slept with a smile, her face for as beautiful as an angel’s and her emerald eyes were hidden behind her eyelids, which were protected by a set of divine eyelashes. Her ears, which pointed out of her hair, were as soft as a puppy’s and her hair had the cutest curls that perfectly contrasted the pink and purple.

Spike continued to glare at her beauty, but as time passed something began to seem wrong with her. It wasn’t her that was wrong, but it seemed that her breathing had increased, in fact it had increased, her breathing was getting faster and she began to rock in her sleep. Spike sat up, holding her as she rolled and wriggled.

“Sweetiebelle, what’s wrong?” he asked in a whisper.

Sweetiebelle’s eyelids eventually began to quiver and soon her eyes shot up and she shot up. Breathing heavily and a few tears fell from her eyes. She had just had a nightmare. She pat her chest frantically as if she was checking for a wound or an injuring.

Spike held her close and she slowly came to the realization that it was all a dream.

“It was only a dream. It was only a dream...” she repeated to herself as she recovered from her shock.

“Sweetiebelle, what’s wrong?” Spike asked concerned, caressing her cheek again.

“I-It was just a nightmare, Spike... I-I’m alright.” she said, trying to sound reassuring as she didn’t wish to scare him. She had had a terrifying dream. 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Sweetiebelle shook her head as he asked. It was painful, and kind of awkward to talk about.

“That’s okay, Sweetie. I understand if you don’t want to talk about it.” Spike said as he hugged her tightly and he wiped away the tears from her cheeks, being careful of her burn. 

He was still concerned for her though. Maybe it was time to heard back, it was way past midnight and they needed a good night sleep for tomorrow, which was their first classes.

“Do you wanna head back?” Spike asked her, breaking her hug and smiling at her, letting her know that he was there for her.

Sweetiebelle nodded at him. It was time for the date to end. Although, she had a wonderful time with Spike.

“Alright then.” he stood up and took her hands, helping her to her feet and the two of them began to walk back to the school.

Even though the night ended on a horrible note, the overall success of the night was astounding as both of them had the both experienced the best night ever.

Spike though, as he led Sweetiebelle back, was still very curious as to what Sweetiebelle had dreamt that made her scared.

> Chapter Six
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





A Mortifying Request





Spike woke up the very next morning to the blaring sounds of his alarm clock that woke everyone up in dorm room. Twin Storm, Boulder Storm and Quick Feather’s all woke up with a start.

“Turn that damn thing off, Spike!” Boulder yelled as he folded his pillow around his head; trying to drown out the sound.

“Sorry guys.” Spike apologised as he frantically hit the top of the clock in a desperate attempt to turn it off and with the chance of a miracle, it did.

“Thank you!” Boulder mumbled.

Spike rolled his eyes and climbed out of bed, he did his daily, morning routine of have a quick shower and getting dressed into his usual outfit which was, as always, blue jeans, a white shirt and a black jacket. Today was the day that they would be starting their first classes and he heard read a notice saying that they would be getting their time tables while eating breakfast. He wondered what he would be doing today, maybe he would have Advanced Martial Arts with Lyvia, or perhaps Advanced Magical Studies, it would be interesting to find out.

He made his way out of his dorm and through the sunlight illuminated hallways down to the Food Hall where he would see Sweetiebelle and Lyvia. The memories of last night were still ever so fresh in his mind and the words of Sweetie’s sonnet lifted his heart and made him smile. It was so sweet of her to give him such a kindness of hearing her adorable voice. He tried to recite the lyrics in his head, but he had only heard it once so that proved to be a challenge. He could only remember certain lines such as, The naughtiness in your smile... The strength in your stare... The smell of your hair... The beating of your heart. 

Spike sung these few lines to himself, her song was so beautiful and accompanied by her angelic voice it was the greatest poem that he every heard. He soon reached the Food Hall and went up to the counter to grab himself a bowl of gems, which he would always have. Once he had received his breakfast her saw Sweetiebelle and Lyvia sitting at the table they were yesterday; which was placed in the back corner of the hall. 

Spike approached them and took a seat next to Sweetiebelle who had clearly already finished her food as she had an empty plate in front of her.

“Morning Sweetiebelle, sleep well?” he asked her, still curious as to what her nightmare was.

Sweetiebelle nodded, “Yeah I slept great, Spiky. Thanks for taking me back to bed.” 

“No problem, Sweetie. It was a lovely night and you were tired.”

He began to think of their kiss now, their deep, passionate, loving kiss that declared their love.

“Oh and Spike, I wrote to Rarity to tell her about us.” she announced, happily.

“Really? That’s cool, hopefully she’ll reply soon.” Spike said excitedly. He wondered how his old crush would react to such news. Would she feel uneasy about all this, or would she feel elated for them and their newfound love.

“I still think that this love is pointless.” Lyvia warned bleakly, “if you get caught than I’ll probably laugh.”

“What’s wrong with you today, Lyvia?” Spike asked, “You see even more cruel than usual.

“She got into a fight this morning with a girl called Tyra this morning.” Sweetiebelle explained, frowning as she remember how much was, which ended up staining the bed sheets and the window curtains.

“She deserved every punch.” Lyvia said coldly and she clenched her hand into a fist.

Spike gulped, Lyvia was scary at the best of times, but now she was just terrifying. She was by nature a cruel person who seemed to love violence so she could pounce on anyone at anytime and snap his or her neck.

At that moment, a teacher came by; he had long, back, frizzy hair with a glorious, bushman’s beard. He wore a white, buttoned-up shirt covered by a long, green coat. He was also wearing long, black pants and slick black boots. As he walked past he dropped three pieces of paper on their table and continued on his way.

“What’s this?” Spike asked curiously as he picked one up that had his name written in big, bold, black letters. He read what was on it, as it seemed to be their timetables, and it was. He had Magical Studies first, then Martial Art, followed by Mathematics and Literature; which was forced onto everyone.

“So what do you have first, Spike?” Sweetiebelle asked. She was reading her own timetable as she asked. 

“I have Magical Studies, then martial arts with Lyvia,” he answered.

“Well I have Fashion Design first so I guess we’ll see each other at lunch time. Do you want to meet back at the Courtyard?” Sweetiebelle asked.

Spike did not even hesitate to answer, “Sure thing.”

The bell chimed signaling for everyone to go to class and so Sweetiebelle, Spike and Lyvia all stood up in unison. They split up, said their goodbyes and went to their separate classes. They had only a day to learn the grounds and so navigating their way around was more difficult than imagined. Spike’s first class though, Magical Studies was fairly close and luckily there were signs throughout the school to point juniors in the right direction. He was able to find his way pretty easily but as soon as he got there, he saw that everyone was a Unicorn.

He gulped, Twilight had wanted him to choose this class to help her with her Magical Studies herself and so that he would have a basic understanding of the subject. However, she neglected to mention anything about the subject itself, and he was now concerned that the course would require actual use and practice of magic in which case he would surely fail because he had no way of actually producing magic.

He walked into the large and empty classroom that had only high and wide windows, a few chairs stacked off to the side and a single desk for the teacher. There was also a set of large and filled bookcases full of Magical Spells and Theories written by various and powerful magicians. Spike went to join the group of chatting Unicorns however felt extremely left out, yet, before he got the group, a tiny, Unicorn teacher came in. She was wearing a long black cloak and a white shirt underneath. She also wore black pants and sleek, laced, black shoes. She had ivory coloured eyes and light blue coloured fur. He mane was crimson red and it went all the way down to her waist.

“Good morning class, my name is Miss Fair and I’ll be your Advanced Magical Studies teacher for the next years or so.” she said, sounding sophisticated, intelligent and posh. She was a stereotypical Unicorn for Canterlot. 

She looked around the class for of Unicorns and smiled, however, as soon as she laid eyes on Spike, she frowned slightly. “Dragon? What’s your name?”

Spike gulped, “my name is Spike, Miss Fair.” he said nervously, realizing that most of the class was looking at him.

“Spike are you sure that you should be in this class?” she asked calmly. “I teach magic in both theory and practice.”

Spike nodded, “Yeah I’m sure. Princess Twilight wants me in this class.” he began to explain, “She wants me to have a greater understanding of how magic works so I can assist her in her projects.”

Most of the students were in awe due to the fact that he personally knew a princess.

“Well then, you best focus your attentions on the theory if you wish to pass this course. I’ll send a letter to the princess to let her know that you will be unable to be a high achiever in this course.” she wrote a note of that in her note pad. “Now, I want everyone to go over to the bookcase and choose an attribute of magic that you wish to study. This attribute will apply to your first assignment, which I will be giving you later in the week.”

All the students nodded, seeming to know what specific attribute that they wanted to study. Most would choose to enhance their knowledge on a previously studied attribute, however, Spike, had not the slightest idea. He could try to study Illusion, or perhaps Alteration, maybe even Transfiguration. Twilight new every type of Magical Attribute and if he was to help her, he would need to learn them all; Illusion, Alterations, Transfiguration, Manipulation, Destruction, Restoration, Protection and Survival. Spike sighed, he guess he would touch up on the one that he new the least about, which was Transfiguration. 

Spike approached the bookcase and skimmed through all the names of the books, eventually coming to one called ‘Advanced Transfiguration of the Basic World’ written by Magia Potestatem. He pulled out the book and went over to a quiet corner to begin his research. Since he had been living with Twilight for the past fourteen years, he had the ability to study faster and more in-depth than most other students.

He began to read through the first chapter that explained the basic use and dangers of Transfiguration as well as the physical rules that granted it’s risks. If one was to change one thing into the other, the items would be swapped to equal out the transformation process. For example, if one were to change a lamp into a shoe, somewhere, a shoe would become a lamp. This is how Transfiguration differed from Manipulation and Alteration. After understanding the basic rules and risks of this magical attribute he skipped over to the next chapter, which explained some basic principals and techniques of transforming one object into another.

As he studied he felt a tap on the shoulder. Spike looked up and saw that it was Miss Fair.

“Yes?” he asked, slightly irritated as is reading had been disturbed.

“Spike, since you will be struggling greatly with this class. I will help you in any way you need to help you achieve the highest grade in your theory as possible.” she said, with a smile. Her name definitely reflected her personality; she was giving him a fair an equal chance to succeed in a course designed for Unicorns.

“Thank you, Miss Fair.” he smiled at her and went back to his reading, which he was greatly interested in.

“Oh and Spike, it’s time to go.” she said to him.

Spike was surprised that an hour had passed already, he guessed that he was just extremely focused on his reading that he lost track of time. However, he was so intrigued by what he was learning that he wanted to borrow the book for reading later on.

“Umm Miss Fair?” he asked, grabbing her attention, “May I borrow this book for reading later on?”

Miss Fair smiled, “Yes, you may, but don’t lose it. It’s the only copy we have.”

“Thank you.” Spike replied as he began to walk out of the classroom, putting the book in his backpack and commenced to travel to his next class, which was with Lyvia and would hopefully be friendlier to his education and not restrict him due to race.

He glanced at the signs that were scattered throughout the school to help him find his next class. It took him a while but he eventually reached a large, also empty room. It had only a large, blue mat in the middle and the students were of every race. He saw Lyvia standing alone in the corner of the room and decided to approach her.

“Hey Lyvia. How are you?” he asked in a partially cheerful tone.

She glared at him slightly. She was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed; she was in her normal mood of not giving a shit today.

“Tortured by painful ignorance and stupidity of other students.” she meagerly replied.

“Oh well, uhhh, that’s not good.” he stated as he stood next to her.

“Don’t worry, they won’t be opening their mouth any time soon,” she said, a slight smirk appearing on her face. She enjoyed pain all too much and it was damn creepy.

Spike didn’t know what to say to this, he didn’t support Lyvia on how she dealed with problem but he believed that it would be wise to mind his own business and to only involve himself with Sweetiebelle’s life.

In that very same moment as when Lyvia spoke, the teacher walked in; he was wearing a white, martial artist’s robe and a black headband. He had leather gloves on that went up to his elbow and leather, martial artist’s shoes that went up to his high shin. 

“Hello class, I am Master Bataille and I will be you Advanced Martial Arts teacher for the next five years.” he bowed humbly as he introduced himself, “Any questions?”

The class stayed quiet as they had no questions and Master Bataille smirked. 

“Good, now before I start, I need to speak to...” he glanced at his clipboard, which contained all the notices he needed to know since he had a horrible memory. “Lyvia Sounds.”

Lyvia looked at him with the same facial expression that she always had and she lightly pushed herself off the wall beginning to walk over to Master Bataille.

“Follow me please,” he said calmly as he began to lead her into his office that was connected to the classroom by a simple door.

Spike watched them walk out, “Is Lyvia in trouble?” he asked himself quietly so that no one could hear him.

“Yeah I bet she did.” a young, cute, voice of pure innocence spoke from behind him.

This caused Spike to jump as he was startled by this girl’s sudden appearance. He turned around to face her and saw that she had pale cream coloured fur and light pink hair. She had amber eyes and she wore a thin, red shirt which you could slightly see her bra through, she also wore grey jeans.

“Who are you?” Spike asked.

“My name is Lil’ Dew. You’re Sweetiebelle’s boyfriend aren’t you?” she answered.

“How do you know that she’s my girlfriend?”

“Because I’m in her dorm and we like to talk about boys,” she giggled, “You’re cuter than she made you out to be.”

“Uhhh thank? I guess.” he felt a little awkward from that; he didn’t know what to say to that and he wasn’t very good with girl so he didn’t know whether or not she was flirting with him.

“Oh don’t listen to me, my mouth gets a little ahead of my mind sometimes...” she went on, talking on and on about how she has a problem with being quiet. 

Spike sort of tuned out as she was talking; he was thinking what was happening with Lyvia. Maybe she did get in trouble or maybe she got caught for all those fights that she was in. Maybe she was about to be expelled and she would have to be alone again? Nearly ever scenario that played out was bad and this worried him. As in, sure, Lyvia was a bitch at times but she had motives, she had a reason to be who she was and that made her one of the most interesting people he had met at this school and he would hate to lose her as a friend.

“... oh and how did your date with Sweetie go last night?” Lil’ Dew finished off her rambling with a question that made Spike shocked.

“Wh-What? How did you find out about that?” he inquired.

Lil’ Dew giggled, “Sweetiebelle is horrible at keeping secrets; my entire dorm knows.”

Spike gulped. He hoped that they could keep their mouths shut; he didn’t want this news to spread to one of the teachers.

“Right....” he said simply and uneasily.

At that moment Lyvia and Master Bataille left the office and Lyvia walked over to Spike. She was calm but she looked as though she had a plan.

“Spike, I need you to do something for me, can you do it?” she asked with slight urgency.

“What is it?”

“Well I got into trouble for all the fights and they’re putting it into a log book and handing it to Princess Celestia. I need you to burn that book for me. I can’t do it because I need an alibi so they don’t suspect me.”

Spike gulped. This was a very big request of her and he really didn’t want to do it.

“And what if I say no?” he asked coolly.

“Then I’ll expose your relationship with Sweetiebelle and we both go down together!” she threatened.

Spike was utterly shocked at this, why would Lyvia do such a thing? She obviously couldn’t be trusted and she was most likely just waiting to backstab them. He honestly did not want to do this and he would most likely be caught and get into trouble himself. He debated the facts to himself and wondered whether or not he should actually try something like this because if he didn’t, him and Sweetiebelle would be exposed. He kept thinking to himself before coming to an answer for this extremely dangerous assignment that Lyvia had tasked him with.

He opened his mouth and simply said.

“No.”

> Chapter Seven
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





Noble Efforts





“Well then,” Lyvia sighed and turned away from him, “You better tell Sweetiebelle that you just doomed your relationship.”

Spike gulped and looked down, he didn’t know whether or not he had done the right thing but Lyvia was right, he had just doomed their relationship and if he hadn’t, then he doomed their academic success. Spike felt horrible for doing something like this because if he had just said yes and at least tried to help Lyvia he wouldn’t be risking something like this. Never the less, he chose what he chose and there was no going back on it now; he had doomed himself and his loved one.

“Wow! What a bitch!” Lil’ Dew pouted and stuck her tongue out as Lyvia walked away.

“You can say that again.” he replied and he tried to mask his concern with bleakness.

“Okay... Wow! What a bitch!” she repeated, giggling as she did.

Spike could see they childish characteristics in her. She seemed fun loving and cheerful but also oblivious to the problems of the world. She may seem like a normal teenager, but her attitudes of being herself overwhelmed any kind of peer pressure forced upon her. She seemed like an interesting person to have now intruded onto Spike’s life.

“So are you and Sweetiebelle going to be alright?” she asked, now seeming concerned. This was another feature that Spike admired about her.

He nodded. “Yeah, we’ll be fine.” he said merely and quietly. 

To be honest, he didn’t even know what was going to happen, he assumed that Lyvia was about to betray them and expose their forbidden relationship, but she was one who was shrouded in complete mystery and secrecy; she was unpredictable in her methods. She would most likely just beat the shit out of him, that’s how she usually dealt with problem.

“I can try to get in her way if you want?” she offered, sounding innocent and she glared an all too precious smile at him.

“Are you sure?” Spike asked. He wondered if she actually knew the dangers of what she would be doing. Getting in the way of Lyvia could be a death wish and only a courageous fool would even try such a thing.

Lil’ Dew nodded. 

“Of course. She won’t hurt me, we’re like, besties!”  She replied excitingly, “I can’t wait to start!”

Spike admired her enthusiasm and couldn’t possibly deny of her of such a pleasure.

“Okay, you can help. Just... Don’t get hurt,” he warned cautiously. “If it gets too dangerous then leave her alone. Got it?” he was worried for her. He wouldn’t be able to stand someone as innocent and precious as her fall pray to Lyvia’s cruelty.

“As I said, she won’t hurt me!” Lil’ Dew replied confidently and she began to skip off and away from Spike to rejoin some of her other friends, one of them being Lyvia.

The rest of the lesson just included of Master Bataille explaining how this class can be dangerous at times at that his students would have to master movement as well as combat to succeed. However, the class itself was very boring at it was an hour of his life that he just spent worrying about what Lyvia would do and how Lil’ Dew would stop her. It really did stress his mind and he just needed a little time to unwind. Luckily, when class ended it was lunchtime and he rushed outside an went on his way to the courtyard to meet Sweetiebelle. 

The hallways that he travelled through contained more shadows than light as the Celestia’s sun was higher up in the sky and it’s light found it difficult to illuminate the dark hallways. The passages that Spike moved through were empty as most people were in the loud and crowded food hall filling up their large and empty stomachs. Spike though, was not hungry; he had only been stressing his brain and not his body.

He reached outside and stopped in the grand Celestial Courtyard that himself and Sweetiebelle had met the previous night. He noticed a wide, stone, bench and sat down on it as he waited for Sweetiebelle to arrive. 

Spike took this time of peace to admire the full beauty of where he was. Stunning, snowy mountains along the horizon divided the Skyline and the Ground and the clouds in the blue sky were white and fluffy and stuck in small groups as the floated through the sky. The stones and woods of the piazza were soft colour of grey that allowed it to greatly reflect the light of the sun to keep the area bright, warm and happy.

“Spike!” sounded, a sweet and adorable voice, which belonged to ever so beautiful Sweetiebelle.

Spike looked up and smiled as he saw his gorgeous girlfriend that came running up to him and gave him a warm, caring hug.

“Hey Sweetiebelle. How ya been?” he asked, hugged tightly back.

“I hate my teacher’s they’re horrible and strict. They have no sense in fashion either!” she began to complain, not liking her day.

“Well that sucks, maybe your other teachers will be better.” he pulled away from the hug and held her closely. Her soft, white, fur felt heavenly against his hard, green, scales and she was wearing a sleeveless, lime-green dress with a golden hemline. “You look beautiful though Sweetie. I love you.”

Sweetiebelle giggled and nuzzled him cutely. “Aww that’s so sweet Spike. I love you too.”

The two embraced each other for the next passing moments and they held their gazes; staring deep into one another’s dreamy eyes.

“OI DRAGON!!! Remember me!” shouted and obnoxious and annoyingly keen voice. “We have some unfinished business!”

Spike let go of Sweetiebelle and turned around only to see the senior that he had encountered on the train. He towered Spike and he was so much stronger. The senior smashed his firsts together and laughed a little.

“Go away or I’ll burn you again!” Spike threatened, breathing out a little fire to show that he was serious.

“Hey, leave Spiky alone!” Sweetiebelle’s horn flared, as she was ready to completely annihilate the senior who had interrupted a special moment of theirs. “Or I will pop you!”

The senior pause for a moment, as he was trying to process how a small, weak unicorn could possible harm him. Then he realized that it was a death threat and he finally snapped. he began to charge at Sweetiebelle with all of his might.

“YOU LITTLE SHIT!!!” he yelled aloud, his wings spread and his fist was out in front of him as he prepared to beat the living shit of her.

Adrenaline poured into Spike and without even thinking he charged for the senior, hoping to stop him before he harmed Sweetie. He tackled the large senior to the ground but was soon overwhelmed and thrown off and he landed in his back, which ended up winding him.

The senior stood up and walked over to the winded dragon. 

“You’ll pay for that. I’mma gonna beat ya both!” he roared and he pinned Spike to the ground raising his fist for a final, devastating blow.

Spike spat in his face; he still had a lot of fight left in him but the sheer size and strength of the senior was just too much and Spike couldn’t even hope of getting free. He had failed in defending himself against the senior twice now and that was just humiliating for a dragon. 

The senior wiped away the spit and growled at him, “Okay that’s it! You’re dead now!” 

Spike closed his eyes and hoped that Sweetiebelle had turned away as he waited for the final blow that could end him forever. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion now and the few moments of waiting seemed like an eternal nightmare. He just wished that the senior would put him out quickly, and hoped to Celestia that Sweetiebelle wouldn’t be harmed. However, the punch never came, in fact all that had happened in the past few moments was the mortifyingly chilling scream of pain that derived from the senior.

Spike opened his eyes to see that Lil’ Dew was standing over the senior and that the senior was clutching his neck tightly as an expression of pure pain and fear was fixed upon his red face. Spike came to full focus and noticed that Lil’ Dew was holding something into his neck, a sharp, metal, object with a wooden handle. It was knife.

This shocked him; she had just plunged a knife into the senior’s neck and blood began to drip out. He looked at Sweetiebelle who was shaken by what she had seen and she didn’t speak, all she had was an expression of pure confusion and fear.

“Don’t you dare... hurt my FRIENDS!!!” Lil’ Dew yelled in rage as she ripped away the knife, causing drops of blood to fly everywhere and littering the ground with a onslaught of red.

The lifeless body of the senior hit the ground and Spike was released. he stood up and glared a the deceased senior; blood was still oozing out of the wound, creating a pool of blood underneath him. 

He was dead. The senior was dead... Forever. He was never going to come back, he would never be able to graduate school, never be able to get a job, or to start a family. He would never be able to atone for everything he did wrong, never be able to set his life straight. His family and friends would be disheartened for months on end all because the luxury of life was snatched away from him.

“Lil’ Dew?” Sweetiebelle asked in shock and horror of what had just happened.

Lil’ Dew was also in shock, only just now coming to the realization of what she had just done; this cute, innocent, young, soul had just stolen a life from someone.

“I... I killed someone... I... I... I...” she was speechless and she slowly began to back away from the body, staring at her small hands that were stained red with all the blood. “I killed someone...!”

She eventually tripped over herself and fell over, landing on her back and she curled up into a ball; shaking tremendously. “He’s dead... I... I killed... him!”

Sweetiebelle and Spike looked at each other, they couldn’t let their friend be like this. Lil’ Dew had helped them and possibly saved their lives, they needed to help her.

The two of them approached the crying and stressing girl, kneeled beside her and comforted her. Spike stroked her soft hair while Sweetiebelle began to whisper soothing and hopeful things to her such as; ‘It’ll be okay’ or ‘We’ll help you through this, just as you helped us.” 

“Hey, it’s okay. You won’t get into trouble..” Sweetiebelle began; she had a plan all ready for her.

Lil’ Dew glared up at her in disbelief, “I killed someone, Sweetiebelle! I... KILLED... SOMEONE!!!”

“I know, but I have a plan.” Sweetiebelle continued saying, hoping that she could calm her friend down, “You won’t get in trouble because you won’t get caught. All you have to do is hide and I suggest you go and hide out in the forest.”

Lil’ Dew was in panic and anything seemed like a good idea at the moment, so she just nodded her head, eye vision was smudged by all the tears that she was producing.

Spike smiled a little and picked her up, holding her with both arms.

“Sweetiebelle, you hide the body an I’ll take Dew to the forest so she can hide.” he said urgently, taking charge and he looked at the dead senior’s body; blood was still spilling out.

Lil’ Dew didn’t do anything, she just sat in his grip, allowing him to do all the work with the shock and trauma slowly crept up on her. She had known that killing someone was hard but she never guessed that it would be this daunting.

“Okay Spike.” Sweetiebelle replied and nodded, her horn flaring again with magic.

Spike smiled and her and kissed her cheek. He then proceeded to carry the extremely light and fragile Lil’ Dew towards to large and enchanting forest that was no doubt filled with perfect hiding spots. She would be able to hunt and survive for weeks on end in there while avoiding detections at the same time.

Spike got closer and closer, leaving the courtyard and crossing the ovals, passing through the flower fields and reaching the unguarded walls. Just beyond the tall and crumbled walls of the school was the Everfree Forest, a place of danger and serenity. It was a place of peace and war, it was unpredictable yet still somewhere safe if you didn’t venture too deep.

He reached the forest with a crying Lil’ Dew still in his arms. He set her down and he looked at her; concerned. She was shaking dramatically and she was barely able to stand, tears were streaming from her eyes and her lips were trembling. The trauma and shock had finally caught up with her.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright. You saved us, you did a brave thing Lil’ Dew and I have to say, I probably would have died if you didn’t come to save me.” he smiled and brushed her hair out of her face, “You did the right thing by helping us, so we’re going to do the right thing by helping you.”

Lil’ Dew was only able to nod again. Spike felt so sorry for her, the pain and suffering she would be going through right now would be extremely confronting and confusing. For her entire life she was told that murder was bad, but now she was being thanked for committed such a foul deed.

“Now, we have to go back to class but we will come back tonight. Will you be alright?” Spike asked, he had a clear concern for her. Murder was a traumatic thing to endure and Lil’ Dew was not the bravest nor most cold hearted person so this was going to be especially hard for her.

The senior was not a kind nor intelligent person and he doubted that anyone would miss him so Lil’ Dew did a good thing by doing what she did. She not only rid the world of him, but she also saved Spike from certain death. It was either him or the senior and he was glad that it was the senior. Lil’ Dew had done the ultimate kindness in saving his life and Spike would not hesitate to repay her in anyway that he could.

After all, she was going through a tough time and he would be there for her. Killing someone meant that they were dead, they were gone from this world, they ceased to be. That was not something that anyone could go through; Lyvia no doubt would have a hard time coping with murder.

As Spike walked away from Lil’ Dew who had slowly wandered into the forest whether she would be okay or not; the Everfree Forest could be a harsh and cruel place for those who didn’t know what they were doing. He muttered to himself words that he wished she had told her.

“Thank you, Lil’ Dew.”

> Chapter Eight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





Glowing Lies





“Spike wait!” called out Lil’ Dew from behind.

Spike was surprised as to how she managed to even talk in a state like she was in. So he turned around to face her wondering what was wrong.

“What is it?” he asked curiously, noticing the little mare running towards him.

“D- Don’t go... please!” she begged and she hugged him tightly.

Spike didn’t know what to do; he was a surprised. However, he guessed that she would just want company.

“I- I need someone... anyone... to stay with me... I don’t want to be alone!” she continued to beg, still hugging the dragon tightly.

Spike let out a soft smile and hugged her back. Of course he would stay with her, if its what she wanted right now he would do it. She needed it.

“Alright, I’ll stay here for a little while longer.”

“Thank you...” she replied; really quietly.

Spike sat down and she sat down next to him. They could see the walls of the school grounds in front of them and they could feel the forest behind them. He smiled at her again and stroked her soft hair as tears still dripped from her eyes.

“Do you... do you really think what I did wa- was right?” she asked.

“Well... you had good intentions and I’m thankful that you saved us... but... It’s a shame that he had to die.” Spike replied. “I’m not going to lie to you, Lil’ Dew, but killing someone is never right.”

Lil’ Dew looked down and her tears soaked the grass under them, his words made her feel worse. She hadn’t done the right thing well at least, not in his eyes. She had done a bad thing; she was a bad girl, just like what her parents always said.

“So I’m a bad girl, right...?”

“Huh?” Spike sighed and rubbed her back, “no you’re not. You did a good thing in saving our lives. You’re a good girl.”

“But he’s dead!” she cried out in anger and frustration. Spike was making no sense to her; first she did a good thing, then a bad thing and now a good thing again. She just didn’t know anymore.
“I know, and wish that he wasn’t so you’d be alright. But you saved our lives. You took away one life so that two may live. That’s called being a hero, Lil’ Dew. Sometimes though, hero’s don’t get the praise they deserve even if they did a good thing.”

Lil’ Dew looked at him weirdly; no one had ever called her a hero before, she always seemed to just do something wrong or stupid. She was glad to have a friend like him.

“Do you, really think that?” she inquired, desperate for an honest answer.

Spike nodded, “Of course. I did say that I wasn’t going to lie to you.”

Without hesitation Lil’ Dew hugged him again tightly, pressing her shaking and scared body against his. She wanted a friend like, because he actually cared about her and what happened in her life. That was more than she could say for her family.

The two of them held each other in embrace for a while longer. Spike was pondering how they would get out of this mess while Lil’ Dew wondered how long she would have friends like him. However suddenly, both train of thoughts were interrupted when the sound of Sweetiebelle’s voice travelled across the plains.

“Spike! Lil’ Dew!” she cried out, running towards the two of them. She was holding her heels in her hands as she ran so she wouldn’t trip.

Spike looked around and saw her.

“Sweetiebelle? What are you doing here?” he asked her as she reached them. “Shouldn’t you be in class by now?”

“I would ask you that too. Look, I have something really important to say.” she looked at Lil’ Dew mainly, “he’s not dead.”

This took Spike by complete surprise, surely she wasn’t talking about the senior, as in he had a knife stuck in his neck.

On the other hand, this made Lil’ Dew extremely happy. She hadn’t committed murder, and he hadn’t seen her when he stabbed him so she wouldn’t be caught out.

“You mean... he’s not dead!” Lil’ Dew asked with anticipation.

Sweetiebelle only nodded. “Yeah, he’s a live.”

“YES!!!” Lil’ Dew shouted out. She was so glad that she hadn’t killed anyone.

“But Sweetiebelle, He was stabbed in the neck! How could he have survived that?” Spike asked, having a feeling that something wasn’t right.

“I don’t know, Spiky. I just know that he was still breathing and he still had a pulse.” Sweetiebelle explained. “He also stopped bleeding as well.”

“Where is he now, I need to see this!” Spike asked urgently.

“You can’t Spike, I took him to the school infirmary so he’ll live.” she replied. “Look I didn’t them that you were involved,” she looked at Lil’ Dew as she said that. “I only told them that he tried to kill me and Spike but he fell on a rock.”

“So I’m... So I’m safe?!” Lil’ Dew questioned; looking at Sweetiebelle hopefully.

“Yep. No one suspects you.”

Lil’ Dew’s face of concern and worry quickly changed into one of happiness and joy. She no longer had to live in secret and fear of being caught for murder. Yet, never the less, she was still curious as to how the senior survived. She doubted anyone would be able to survive such an assault. 

“I’m safe... Oh great Celestia I’m safe!” she sat down next to a tree and took a giant breath of relief. This was all too much for her; the stress of everything was unbearable. She would never do anything like that every again, not even if she needed too.

Spike smiled at Sweetiebelle and then looked at Lil’ Dew. 

“That’s right, we’re all safe, and he’s going to get into trouble for trying to kill us.” he said. “It feels great knowing that it all worked out.”

“Do you know why it worked out?” spoke a voice from out of nowhere. “Or do you just plan on saying that it was a miracle?”

The three of them looked around peculiarly trying to find out where the voice had come from and where the owner of it was. Since it didn’t seem to be coming from any particular direction it was very hard to pinpoint it.

As they look around a cruel laughter boomed out. “I’m in the tree, dumbasses!” 

They looked up to see none other then Lyvia Sounds.

She was sitting on a branch not too high above Lil’ Dew. In her hand was her pocketknife, which looked oddly similar to the one that Dew used to attack that senior.

“Lyvia? What are you doing her?” Spike growled and he demanded an answer. He didn’t trust her anymore. “I thought you’d be off dobbing me and Sweetiebelle in to the principal?!” 

“Wait what?” Sweetiebelle turned to Spike in confusion.

“She said that she’d expose us if I didn’t help her burn a log book being sent to the princess. But I can’t do that because I’m loyal to royalty.”

Sweetiebelle glared up at the traitorous bitch that sat before them. She couldn’t believe that Lyvia would do something like that, she thought that they were friends.

“What is your problem Lyvia? How could you do something like this!” she was angry, very angry with Lyvia.

There was silence between the four of them for a while. Lil’ Dew, Spike and Sweetiebelle were all glancing up at Lyvia who seemed to have secrets worth revealing. Lyvia smirked and put away her knife before glancing down at them again.

“Are you sure you really want to know?” she began, “Because if you do, then you have to promise that you’ll forgive me for whatever you here.”

“What do you mean Lyvia? Why in Equestria would we forgive you?!” Spike yelled out, again demanding an answer.

“Because I will explain everything, all my action, my motives and my goals in hopes that you, my friends, will understand.” she took a deep breath, “So do you really want to here it?”

Spike took a second to pause, he didn’t know if her was ready to here all this. Lyvia was such a secretive girl and by revealing all of her secrets then they could know everything. But, since they were all secrets, they might not want to hear them.

However, before Spike could open his mouth, Sweetiebelle chimed in and replied with only a simple, yet determining, “Yes.”

“Yes we want to know!”

> Chapter Nine
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





Denounced Secrets





“Alright then.” Lyvia said simply as she crossed her arms and slowly hopped down from the tree. She stood next to Lil’ Dew who was just as tall as her. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, you seem like someone with a goal. So, what’s your goal?” Spike asked, standing close to Sweetiebelle.

Lyvia glared at him and gave off a slight smirk. “Such a big question already? You’re not messing around. Alright, I’ll tell you.” she sighed and looked at them nervously, “but please, don’t judge me on what you’re about to hear. It’s something that I don’t understand... but... my goal is to get you guys expelled from the school...” she paused, but soon continued to speak. “Well it’s not even my goal... it’s just what I was told to do...”

A silence fell upon the group and the four of them stood not saying anything. Lil’ Dew, Sweetiebelle and Spike were all still trying to process what Lyvia had said. What did she mean by ‘not her goal’? Was she being forced? Was there someone in the shadows pulling the strings and playing with their lives? Either way, it seemed as though what ever was happening played a bigger part then they did.

“What do you mean by that?” Spike began, “if it’s not your goal, then who’s is it?!” he yelled, he was getting frustrated and inpatient with all these riddles that flooded his life.

“I’m not allowed to say, sorry.” Lyvia apologised and looked down. “It’s not my place to spill such secrets... yet.”

“Not your place?!” Spike was furious, “Lyvia, since when do you listen to others!”

Lyvia stared at, looking deep into his eyes. “Spike, no matter how hard we try, we’re always just another piece of trash caught in the winds of reality. In the end we have no control over ourselves, only others with supremacy and wealth have such power.” she sighed, “It’s the harsh truth of life... we just have to learn to live with it.”

Spike paused; he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It was sounding as though Lyvia had given up, as though she just didn’t care anymore. Yet, he wasn’t going to give up, she had offered them this chance to find out everything and he didn’t want to waste it. Just, what was he going to ask next?

“Does this have anything to do with your family’s death?” spoke Sweetiebelle. She had stepped forward stood in front of Lyvia.

Lyvia stood a little shocked for a second then she to stepped forward with an enclosed fist and growled loudly.

“You’re walking on thin ice here Sweetiebelle!”

“I’m just asking, I know that you’re sensitive on this... but... it obviously had a bigger impact on you that what you’re telling us.” stated sweetiebelle, donning a soft and caring tone as she usually did.

“I’m warning you Sweetiebelle! You are not to talk about that!” Warned Lyvia, clenching her fist tighter.

“Sorry, I’m just curious that’s all...” she apologised and began to back off.

Spike looked at Lyvia with pure hatred in his eyes. “Lyvia, how dare you fucking threaten Sweetiebelle!” he gritted his teeth, “I’ll crush you!” he yelled loudly with a furious roar.

Lyvia grinned and positioned herself into her fighting stance. She had placed one foot slightly in front, but still beside her foot to form and triangle shape and her arms in front of her face to protect her. “I’ll tell you what Spike. You beat me and I’ll tell you everything you want to know. But if I win, then you never ask this again. Does that sound fair?”

“But Spike will never be able to beat you, Lyvia.” Lil’ Dew spoke, she had backed away from Lyvia and was sitting against the tree.

“There’s no other way that he’ll find out, he has no choice but to fight.” Lyvia pointed out without even glancing back at her.

Spike didn’t say anything but he stepped forward. Lyvia was right; he had no choice but to fight if he wanted an answer to all these riddles.

“Spike don’t fight her. You’ll get hurt again!” Sweetiebelle called out.

Spike turned around. 

“Sweetiebelle, I want to know the answers I won’t lose. Not this time.” he answered.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’m a dragon, Sweetiebelle.” he replied and puffed a small ball of fire in front of him. 

He spun back around to face Lyvia, also donning a similar combat stance to here.

“I hope you’re ready, I’m not holding back!” he growled.

Lyvia did nothing but smirked, “good.” she said simply, prepared for any attack that he threw.

Spike puffed another ball of fire hoping to intimidate his enemy and charged her; his fist out in front of him and another arm protecting his body. When he reached her, he lunged his fist forward, aiming for her torso, an unguarded area of her body, but... she dodged it by simply stepping to the side.

Once off to the side Lyvia lifted up her left leg and kicked Spike directly in the abdomen as he passed by her. This caused for Spike to fall face-first to the ground, receiving a face-full of dirt and rocks.

As he tried to get up though, Lyvia slammed her foot into his back, knocking him back into the ground and holding him there. For someone as small and frail as Lyvia, she was rather strong.

“I thought you were a dragon Spike, and I thought that you weren’t going to hold back!” she taunted, drilling her foot into his back.

Spike growled and gritted his teeth more. His back was in pain and even though he tried to push himself up, Lyvia’s strength proved to be a little too much.

“Get off of ME!!!” Spike yelled, trying to push himself up one last time and to their surprise, he prevailed. He managed to off-balance Lyvia and she stepped back; Spike crawled to his feet, rubbing his back.

“Okay, now you’ll pay!” he snarled and he tried to whip her with his spiked tail.

Lyvia kept her blank expression and took only one step back to dodge his pitiful attack.

Spike kept swinging his tail while hoping to hit her but she just kept simply stepping back to avoid him. However, she could only go back for so long and she soon eventually backed into a tree... and Spike had the upper hand.

Spike took advantage to this and pinned her against the tree and he kept a hand over her throat.

Lyvia smirked. “The little dragon found his strength.”

“Tell me, Lyvia. Who’s pulling the strings?!” he interrogated and tightened his grip upon her throat.

“Do you think that you’ve already won this fight?” she began, staring at him with a dark, intimidating expression. “You haven’t changed from the train... you’ve always been stupider than you look!”

As she said that, she lunged herself off of the tree and pushed herself away. In the split second that Spike was momentarily stunned she flipped away to gain a good distance from him; she was acting with caution now. 

Lil’ Dew and Sweetiebelle were looking with awe from the side. Sweetiebelle was worried for Spike, she thought that it was a stupid idea; she thought that fighting Lyvia was the most stupidest thing to ever do and that if one were to fight her that they would surely get hurt. 

“Spike! Please stop fighting! I don’t want you to get hurt!” Sweetiebelle called out in concern; she was worried for Spike’s safety.

Spike looked over at her and smiled only softly. “Don’t worry Sweetiebelle, she won’t be able to hur~...!”

Just before he was finished speaking, Lyvia who had a menacing and seriously pissed off look on her face kicked him in the abdomen and knocked him to the ground, winded.

“SPIKE!!!” Sweetiebelle yelled and she tried to rush forward to him. However, Lil’ Dew was holding her back.

“Sweetiebelle, don’t rush in there. Lyvia is utterly pissed off now and I doubt she’ll hold back even for you.” Lil’ Dew explained, holding her by her arms. “I know you’re worried, but so am I... I’m worried for you and Spike... You helped me, so I’m helping you.”

“Lil’ Dew let me go! I won’t let Spike get hurt.” she cried out.

Lyvia moved over to Spike who was grounded and holding his stomach. He groaned loudly and his breathing was heavy as he tried to catch his breath.

“Spike.” Lyvia began to say. Her voice was calmer, yet still serious and intimidating. “You fought well but you are not the victor.” she kneeled down beside him and held the back of his neck to immobilize him through pain.

“I... can still fight!” Spike snarled at her and he tried to stand up only to have Lyvia to pull him back down by the scruff of his neck.

“No you cannot.” she said, “You can’t change your fate. The outcome will always be the same.”

Spike looked down, the fight was over and he had lost. He had tried so hard to win, to surpass Lyvia’s ability but he failed. He had gotten nothing from it, now Lyvia would never tell him her secrets.

“Spike lost.” Sweetiebelle said in shock.

“Spike may be strong, but Lyvia’s stronger. I didn’t expect it to be over so soon.” Lil’ Dew replied.

“Do you submit, Spike?” Lyvia asked, slightly releasing her grip on him.

Spike nodded slightly, he hated to accept defeat, he refused to feel this weak. Lyvia noticed this and let go of him.

“Pfft! Don’t waste my time again.” Lyvia said and walked away, she walked back to the school.

Sweetiebelle rushed towards Spike and hugged him tightly. “Spike! Are you okay?”

“Yeah... I-I’m okay” he replied as he tried to catch his breath, holding his diaphragm.

Sweetiebelle, Lil’ Dew and Spike all watched Lyvia walk back to the school. She had pulled up her hood on her red jumper and the three were alarmed by unusual behavior and how surprisingly violent she has become. They felt as though that the secrets that she was keeping was the key to understanding all of her motivations.

> Chapter Ten
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





Crushing Blow





Lil’ Dew and Sweetiebelle both helped to pick up Spike and help him to his feet. After his fight with Lyvia he was winded but only mildly wounded. It seemed as though Lyvia had held back, otherwise he would have been in so much more pain.

“Are you sure you’re alright, Spike?” Sweetiebelle asked, holding his hands tightly, worried for him.

He nodded, “I’m fine, Sweetiebelle. I’m only a little winded that’s all.” he smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

He looked upon her beautiful face, which was covered, in pure-white fur and her emerald green eyes just screamed out ‘love’! She had a soft, soothing smile that showed she cared and the lightness of her expression only accompanied that. However, he also noticed that the burn on her left cheek reopened and had begun to bleed again.

This made Spike feel guilty and miserable, the memories of what he had done on the train were rushing back to him now and how he had caused her so much pain. Yet, these emotions were soon overshadowed by his instant curiosity that emerged as he remembered her laughter. He still couldn’t figure out why she had laughed the way she did, or why she even did.

He shook his head a little to try and throw away these thoughts, they were distracting him and right now he thought that it would be best if they just returned to class; they were surely late.

“Hey, Sweetiebelle.” Spike said to grab her attention as the three of them walked towards the castle-school.

“Hmm?” she replied, turning her head to face and still holding his hand.

“You’re cheek is bleeding again.” he remarked.

“Yeah I know. I can feel the blood.” she replied, using her other hand to wipe some of the drops off her cheek. 

“Do you want to go to the nurse?” he inquired, as he was worried about he. A burn can easily get infected and the last thing he wanted was a girlfriend who was sick or in pain.

She only shook her head. “No I’ll be okay, I’ll put a bit of ointment on it when I get back to my dorm, but thanks anyway.”

“Alright then. As long as you’ll be alright.”

“Spike, it’s not going to kill me. Of course I’ll be alright.”

The three of them entered the school grounds through the large, stonewall, crossed the grassy oval and walked through the Celestial Courtyard and the soon reached the school itself. The corridors were empty and the air was quiet and still, something seemed wrong, the place seemed dead.

“Is it just me, or is this place quieter than usual?” Lil’ Dew spoke, She was looking around curiously to see if she could see anyone and to her surprise, she couldn’t even see or hear Lyvia anywhere either.

“You’re right, is really quiet.” Sweetiebelle replied, also letter her curiosity take over and she looked around too.

No one was in sight and no one could be heard, it seemed as though they were very late for class because there was not a singe person walking the hallways. This was also slightly unusual considering that teacher’s often patrol the passageways of the school. 

But then, they heard two voices; they were coming from just around the corner. One voice sounded like a grown woman, actually it just sounded like an old hag, which was probably one of the teachers. The other voice belonged to none other, than Lyvia Sounds.

“... so you’re saying that there are three students skipping class and two of them are romantically involved?” the old hag asked.

“Yes.” Lyvia replied simply.

“Then this must be reported to the Headmaster immediately!”

Lyvia and the old hag of a teacher walked around the corner to see the three students. Sweetiebelle, Spike and Lil’ Dew stood shocked as they saw the teacher and Lyvia.

“That them, Miss Hag.” Lyvia pointed out and she took a step back to watch the events unfold, she had a small smirk on her face; she was enjoying this.

“Thank you Lyvia.” Miss Hag walked up to the three; she had an irritated and menacing expression planted upon her face. “What the hell do you kids think you’re doing!?”

Spike gulped and watched helplessly as the teacher approached.

“We... We got lost.” lied Sweeteibelle.

“Is that so, little missy? Then how did you get accepted into this school if can’t read the signs that are everywhere?!”

Sweetiebelle went silent, she was usually a very good liar but this time she was caught out and she didn’t know what to do.

The teacher noticed the silence and ordered the three of them to follow her back to the headmaster’s office, and the did. They followed the old hag all the way until their impending doom. The headmaster was about the find out about their relationship and not to mention they would get into more trouble for not going to class. They would surely be expelled and all that time and money that Rarity and Twilight put in would have been a waste. Spike wondered how Twilight would react; he wouldn’t be able to help her in her advanced magical pursuits. And how would Rarity react; she would surely not be happy about this at all, she’s not as rich as Twilight and she was stricter on Sweetiebelle too. He glanced over at his beloved girlfriend and noticed that the same thought was going through her mind; you could tell just by looking at her face.

The old hag opened the headmaster’s door and brought them in, she lined the three of them up in front of a curious principal and began to explain what had happened. Lyvia was behind her.

“Headmaster Tinder Box, I caught these three skipping class and wandering the halls. Not only that, but two of them are romantically involved.”

This immediately caught Tinder’s attentions and he sat up in his chair, glaring down at the three students.

“What are you names?” he asked softly, trying not to strike any fear into them.

“I’m Spike, this is Sweetiebelle...” he said, pointed to her, “... and this is Lil’ Dew.” he finished off by gesturing to Lil’ Dew.

“So Lil’ Dew, Sweetiebelle and Spike, which of you are romantically involved?”

“Spike and Sweetiebelle, sir.” Lyvia said as she stepped out from behind Miss Hag, showing herself and she lined up with her friends. “I also skipped class with them.”

This stalled his attention and he looked at her, angrily “Lyvia, how dare you continue to break my rules. We have talked before about you’re continuous fighting and now this. What is wrong with you girl!”

“I don’t care, you know that. Expel me if you want, but I still wont care.” Lyvia replied.

The headmaster shook his head in disapproval and looked at the other three, specifically Spike and Sweetiebelle. 

“Why are you kids dating when I made it clear that dating is against the rules?” he asked.

“Because I love him!” Sweetiebelle yelled without hesitation. If she were to be expelled, she would go out with a bang.

“I see...” he looked over his papers and pushed his glasses closer to his eyes and read from the sheet. “It says here: Dating is against the rules at Canterlot School for Equestria’s Gifted due to the fact that it distracts students from their study and hinders their true performance. The punishment for students caught dating is instant expulsion.”

Sweetiebelle looked down and her stomach suddenly dropped; the feeling of sorrow flooded her mind and the thoughts of Rarity’s reaction did too. She knew that she would be grounded and she knew that she would be lectured everyday for it, but what actually ate at her sanity was the fact that she had just wasted thousands of her sister’s Bits on only four days of school.

“However, on that note, I offer you a choice. You can both denounce your love and remain in the school, or you can stay together and I shall expel the two of you.”

Spike looked at Sweetiebelle and held her hand again. “I wasn’t lying when I said that I would never leave you... So I’m sorry about this” he turned to look at the headmaster, “Expel us. We will never denounce.”

“I see then... well, by my right as headmaster, you two are expelled.”

It was done; they had been expelled. After only four days of attending school they had already been expelled. It was remarkable and scary, but the way they sore it, if they couldn’t love each other where they were, then they would go someone where they could.

“Oh and Miss. Sounds.” the headmaster continued and spoke to Lyvia. “You are expelled too for not heeding my warning before.” he looked at the three of them, “ There will be a train waiting for you tomorrow morning at 10am. Gather your things and be down there by then. The train won’t leave until all three of you are aboard.” 

-- The next morning –

The three teenagers, Sweetiebelle, Lyvia Sounds and Spike were all lined up on the platform waiting for the train to come.

Lyvia was wearing her signature red, hooded, zip-up jumper with her white, buttoned-up shirt exposed. She had a brown belt that held up he blue jeans. On her feet were black, leather boots. Her blonde hair was in a ponytail again too. She stood near Sweetiebelle and Spike but she assumed that it would be safer to stay away. By her side were two suitcases full of all her belongings, they weren’t heavy and they didn’t even have that much in them since she didn’t wear a wide variety of clothes.

Sweetiebelle was also wearing her signature outfit, which were a shortish, light pink, sleeveless dress, red sandals and multi-coloured bangles. Around her neck hung a golden, manticore necklace and on her ears were two diamond earrings. She had brushed her hair and pampered her face extra today in hopes of distracting Rarity from her anger with how beautiful she looked. She had only one suitcase by her side as Spike was carrying the other one, which meant that he was carrying three in total.

Being a dragon meant that he was stronger than most ponies and so he was able to carry Sweetie’s extra bag with his tail. He was wearing a black, zip-up jacket with his white polo exposed underneath. He was wearing blue jeans and black shoes as well. He was holding Sweetiebelle’s hand and his two suitcases were by his side.

They patiently waited for the train to arrive and when it did they boarded. Or, so they were supposed too.

This was the last thing Sweetiebelle had remember as she never did board that train, in fact she wasn’t sure what had happened instead. However she had woken up in a small, dark and damp looking cell. 

The cell appeared to be underground, as it didn’t have any proper wall, only rock formations. This didn’t disturb her too much, no, what actually disturbed was what she was looking at.

Through the bars of the cells were eyes staring back at her, they eyes belonged to an old rival, someone she hated to see and someone she had hoped she wouldn’t see for years to come. The eyes that stared back at her were owned by Diamond Tiara.

To Be Continued...