> Spike The Time Traveler
>  by FlashFoward
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Task
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike had been walking the streets of Canterlot trying to think of reasons why Time Smith needed him. Princess Celestia’s letter only stated that a chariot would come and pick him up from Ponyville and he would wait until Royal Guards take him to Celestia’s castle or Time Smith himself would hi up. There was a catch to coming to Canterlot to speak to Time Smith though and it’s that Spike had to come strictly alone. No Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Rarity, and no Twilight. That last bit in the letter didn’t sit so well with his fellow friends especially Twilight. Spike chuckled to himself remembering how aggravated Twilight got for not being able to tag along with him.
“Does she think I am irresponsible or worse?!” Twilight said darkly out loud to herself.
“Nah, I doubt that. You have to remember that Smith wants me only.” Spike said in attempt to calm down his close friend.
Sadly it backfired. Twilight channeled her anger on her assistant instead.
“Who is this Time Smith anyway?” Twilight demanded forcefully.
Spike opened his mouth but nothing came out. She had a point, Celestia made no mention on what Smith did for a living let alone who he was. At last Spike answered.
“Celestia doesn’t say in her letter…” Spike said lamely. He was holding up Celestia’s letter of summonses as if trying to have the letter take the blame for him.
“Well I am going to send a letter to Princess Celestia! There is no reason for me to miss learning such valuable information!” Twilight declared.
“Now if you don’t mind Spike write this down…Spike? Where did you go?” Twilight said in surprise. Did Spike just leave her to ramble?
Twilight was furious with Spikes vanishing act but Spike was never going to feel her wrath at least until he came back from Canterlot that is. Upon his return Spike felt Twilight would be reading up on some spell that would punish him.
While Spike was busy in the middle of his flashback a stallion, in golden armor stood behind him towering over Spike like a tree towers over the rest of the plants in a garden.
“Spike?” said the Royal Guard.
“Huh? Um, yeah that’s me.” Spike said obviously thrown off guard by the new stallion speaking to him.
“Princess Celestia wishes that you be escorted to the Royal Palace-“the golden clad stallion started in a business man like fashion when a much taller colt appeared suddenly between the Royal Guard and Spike. The tall blue colt had appeared from a portal that cut through the air and disappeared just as fast as the colt came through it.
“Cool right?” smiled the blue colt sheepishly.
“Time Smith?” asked the golden clad Guard.
“Why yes it is! But please refer to me as Tick or Jordan whatever suits you better.” Said Tick in an enthusiastic voice.
“So you’re Time Smith?” Spike asked with curiosity boiling inside him.
“Time Smith is more of the title of my job if you will. However it didn’t stop people nicknaming me Tick Tock obviously after the job I do.” Tick answered.
“What is your job exactly?” Spike asked
“If you don’t mind Spike further questions will have to wait. No reason to have a guard standing around listening to us.” Tick turned his attention to the Guard now.
“If you don’t mind lad tell Celestia Spike is perfectly safe under my company.” Tick said cheerfully.
The Guard walked off heading off to the Royal Castle. Tick retrieved a pocket watch from his saddle and inspected it. Spike was beyond confused by Ticks interest in the silver watch.
“Well time is of the essence! Spike if you don’t mind place your hand somewhere on my watch.” Tick held out the watch for Spike to touch.
At first Spike seemed reluctant to touch the watch. “Is this a joke or something?” Spike thought. At last Spike gave in and just placed the tip of his claw on the face of the clock. Suddenly Spike and Tick vanished from the spot. It didn’t take long for Spike and Tick to teleport back to Tick’s home and workplace. Spike was slightly covered in ash from the unexpected teleporting but he brushed the ashes off himself.
“Well Spike this is where I spend the majority of my time in.” Tick said with great pride in his voice. “You may look around if you like while I grab some tea.” Tick said leaving Spike in the room alone.
At first glance it looked like he was back in Twilights library. There were mountains upon mountains of books and book shelves as far as the eye can see. Without much thought Spike grabbed a book randomly from a shelf and was startled to see the cover. It read “The Legend of Discord, The Spirit of Chaos”. Spike read through some pages and realized how disruptive Discords ideal world was to other ponies. Farming was near impossible due to Discords constant changing in weather (all that chocolate rain), day light and night time. It was also hard to believe anypony due to so many ponies losing their own unique personalities as Discord changed anyone’s personalities to the complete opposite whenever he felt like it. There were political figure that were turned into pigs or donkeys for Discords amusement. Discord would destroy or reconfigure something sacred or beloved for his entertainment while the community screamed and panicked at the horror. There seemed to be no limit to Discords manipulation, he did everything imaginable. Nearing the end of the book there showed a picture of Celestia and Luna turning Discord into stone and on the next page there was Twilight and her friends overtaking Discord as well. Both of the pictures looked similar to the glass windows, in the Royal Palace, showing the triumphs over Discord too. Spike flicked through some more pages then realized the pages were blank.
“I see you found a flaw in that book that is evident in many other books in here.” Tick said simply.
Spike was startled and blew flames upon the book he was because of it.
“I am so sorry-“ Spike began to babble then realized the book was perfectly safe and glowing blue. Then the blue aura surrounding the book faded and the book dropped to the floor with a dull thud.
“Not to worry Spike. Every book in this library is magically enchanted to have some means of protecting itself from damage and general wear and tear.” Tick said happily.
“It is pretty cool actually. You should have seen it when I left dinner catch on fire in the kitchen once! So many books popped from their shelves and started flopping around and trying to open windows to jump out off!” Tick laughed hysterically.
Spike had a sudden vision of all the books in Twilights library holding a protest against her for using them so much. He went into a fit of laughter. Once Spike and Tick calmed down Tick sat down on a chair and sipped at his cup of tea quietly.
“Well Spike I guess you have many questions about me and what is the purpose of me bringing you here. Am I right?” Tick said.
“Yeah what are you exactly?” Spike asked. Was he a pony or something more?
“Well I am an alicorn. Just like Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.” answered Tick easily.
Spike went to grab his cup of tea that Tick had floating near a table and sat on the other side of were Tick sat.
“So you’re the brother of the Princesses?” Spike said in shock.
Tick laughed at this. Then realized how serious Spike was about this question he stopped instantly.
“Oh, sorry Spike didn’t mean to offend but I am no way in any shape or form a sibling of the Princesses. However I am, in a sense, a distant cousin.” Tick said sheepishly.
“So, if you’re an alicorn you have been around for some time already?” Spike asked.
“Indeed, which was one of the main reasons why I was picked for this job. As you can tell no mere mortal being can live long enough to truly be in this job long enough without having a replacement every eighty-ish years when the pony would die or become too old to contribute successfully for this job. It just becomes complicated to choose a pony every eighty or so years. That is by average pony standards.” Tick said.
Tick took another sip from his tea cup while Spike mulled over this information.
“So you can see into the future?” asked Spike trying to mask his excitement.
Tick stopped sipping his tea and noticed how excited Spike was for his answer. “Yes.” Tick answered.
“Can you change the future then?” Spike persisted.
At this Tick raised his eyebrow at Spike.
“Spike, the future is so manipulated by everyday decisions it’s pointless to interrupt it in anyway.” Tick shrugged.
Spike deflated a bit but regained some confidence.
“But it’s possible right?” Spike asked hopping he was right.
Tick nodded and Spike grinned widely at this news. Tick suppressed a chuckle, seeing the small purple dragon’s reactions were priceless.
“Speaking of time traveling and manipulation Spike would you be interested in looking to the future and past of Ponyvilles residents? It was the main reason why I asked that you come here after all.” Tick asked seriously.
Spike considered this would be an interesting way of knowing about his friends and the people that lived near him. It might also show him a way to get with Rarity if he looked into her future. Course, Spike wasn’t willing to tell his greedy ambitions to Tick but this was a once in a life time opportunity after all. Twilight would be so jealous that Spike was basically Tick’s apprentice for a while and it sounded pretty darn cool to him. With barely anything to lose Spike made his choice.
“Okay Tick I’ll do it!” Spike declared.
“You sure Spike? I am not forcing you to do this. And I warn you this is not for the faint of heart. Prepare yourself to see things you will wish you can forget all together.” Tick added cautiously. He did not want to scar Spike emotionally if he could avoid it.
“Don’t worry about me! Just tell what I need to do.” Spike said with excitement
Tick stopped sipping his tea and walked off to another room. Spike followed and was in shock at what he saw. Thousands upon thousands of hourglasses and documents were in the room all placed in shelves against the circular wall. There was a rather large hourglass in the middle of the room and the sand within was a faint blue color. Without hesitation Tick took some sand from the large hourglass and placed it into a gold pocket watch.
“Here this is what will grant you the power to travel through time.” Tick said handing the pocket watch to Spike
“What’s with the sand looks different than regular sand?” Spike asked
“You see this sand is infused with magic. The first ever Time Smith made this himself in fact. Now Spike if you do well enough with this job I’ll let you keep the watch with its power.” Tick answered.
Spike couldn’t believe it. He had the power to defy age and practically laugh at the face of death now. As if Tick was speaking miles away he carried on.
“The first thing you must understand Spike is that you can’t kill anyone. Even speaking to your past or futuristic self can hold fatal consequences.” Tick continued.
“Why would I want to hurt someone?” Spike said in disbelief.
“You may not be pleased by what you might witness Spike. Also you are to just collect information not change the course of history its self.” Tick said in an undertone.
Spike wanted to justify himself but stopped before he could say anything.
“So wait how do I keep track of this information? And what information I’m supposed to look for anyway?” Spike asked.
“The watch keeps track of all events as it goes through time. It’s like carrying around a pen and book without the need to write anything down. As for the information to collect you just need to gather how long each individual lives and what they accomplish in their lives so that I am better able to connect distant families together, why wars happened, what was the true intention of an idea and so on.” Tick answered.
Spike loved the idea of not needing to write anything down. He did enough of that with Twilight as it is. But Spike realized a flaw to all this.
“So do I have to track down every pony in Ponyville? That’s going to take ages!” Spike complained to Tick.
“I’ll tell you what. You just gather info on your friends and people you know well. I understand this is a long and tiresome task so I’ll cut you some slack there. Fair enough Spike?” Tick asked.
“Well if you put it that way…okay sure.” Spike said in relief.
“One last thing before I send you on your way. Don’t abuse the watch Spike. Or I’ll have to fix up your mess and return to this very moment and take back that watch from you. I expect you to use the watch responsibly Spike. Understand?” Tick said warningly.
Spike just nodded his head. But something was irking Spike.
“Tick about that book…” Spike said in a low whisper.
“The book about the history Discord what of it Spike?” Tick asked raising an eyebrow at Spike
“With all the blank pages in there does it mean there will be more about Discord in the future?” Spike said in a shaky voice. He was terrified of the answer.
“It is very possible for Discord to return, anything from a strong magical spell to free him from his statue prison to the Elements of Harmony becoming too weak to suppress him inside that statue he resides in.” Tick said in a matter of fact tone.
Spike didn’t like the answer a whole lot. But he knew Tick was only telling him the truth. The possibility of Discord running wild again didn’t sit well with Spike but he had no doubt the power of his friend’s friendship for each other will last for a long time.
“I think Spike it’s getting late time for you to go back to Ponyville. Before you leave let me explain how to activate the watches time traveling powers. All you have to do really is click that little button on the side and twist the arrows clock wise for the future and counter for the past. Simple enough right?” Tick explained while pointing to purple button on the watch with stood out with all the gold on it.
“Wait! How much time do I have to get the information on everyone?” asked Spike nervously
“Let me see, it should take you about a month max and that’s with on and off work” Tick answered.
“A month isn’t that a little tight don’t you think?” Spike complained.
“Well considering Ponyville is nothing compared to Canterlot and I am allowing you to choose who to research on consider yourself lucky. I do all this in the matter of a few days.” Tick answered sternly.
“Why pick me then?” Spike asked.
“Well I have fallen a bit behind my research. So I asked Celestia if she knew anyone who was a good assistant or good at following directions. She recommended you.” Tick answered.
Spike felt embarrassed by this piece of information. The Princess herself recommended him for the job. He never felt proud in his life. Well not true being given the title number one assistant from twilight was a big deal but this is right up there. Without notice Tick clicked his watch and a portal materialized in front of him.
“Your ride.” Stated Tick
Spike hesitated to walk through the portal. He remembers all too well how the last portal left him barbequed and he wasn’t in the mood to be burnt again. It didn’t seem like Tick cared though since he kicked Spike through the portal. As Spike was falling through time and space, yelling the entire trip, he could hear Ticks voice faintly.
“Remember don’t screw this up.” Ticks fading voice warned.
“I’ll try not to!” called out Spike. He wasn’t so sure Tick could hear him but it was worth the effort.
Spike suddenly fell from the exit of the portal and landed face first on the cold hard floor of the tree house that he lived in.
“Ugh I will never get used to that…” Spike moaned, rubbing his face to see if he broke anything when landing. It was amazing how time flew by while he stayed at Ticks place it was night time already. Suddenly the portal reappeared and a book shot out of it and smashed right into Spikes head.
“OH COME ON!” Spike yelled into the portal as it disappeared.
The book was dusty, thick and had a dark green cover. Looked like something Twilight would fall in love with. Skimming through the pages Spike noticed this book was a hand guide to being a Time Smith. There was all kind of sneaky ways and clever ways of getting the information Tick needed from him. However Spike noticed there was a catch to even attempt to travel in a person’s life time. You have to have some sort of physical contact with them with the watch. Spike noticed there was a note from Tick at the page that was titled “Clever Approaches” it read “Doesn’t need physical contact with the watch its self. The magic infused in the watch is what needs to be in contact since the magic its self is what causes time travel the watch is simply a host or container. Good luck Spike”.
Spike placed the book Tick sent him in his basket. He didn’t really want to share the book with Twilight she would read it nonstop for hours on end. As Spike lay down in his basket he realized how tough this task was going to be and how easy it was for him to screw it up. Drifting into a deep sleep the only thing on Spike mind was that would be the first pony he would investigate on.
	
> Twilight's Future and Spikes Dread
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike woke up in the morning the next day. Twilight has yet to wake up which is never new. So following his usual routine he walked into the kitchen cooking breakfast for Twilight and himself. In the middle of cooking Twilight came wobbling down the stairs and got all wide eyed when she saw Spike cooking.
“When did you get here?” Twilight asked bewildered on how Spike even came home without waking her up. She had set a spell around the house that sets off an alarm when someone sneaks on the house at the night time. Spike wonders to this day why she even bothered with this but it is all for the name of safety he guessed.
“Magic.” Spike replied.
“Don’t be silly you’re not a unicorn.” Twilight retorted.
“Very true but I did get here by magic.” Spike smiled mischievously.
Twilight couldn’t wrap her head around this. Spike was a dragon not a unicorn she was sure of that. Maybe Time Smith had something to do with Spike’s appearance. But Time had to be very powerful to smuggle Spike in the house without tripping off the spell. Twilight sat down near a desk and started skimming through pages of a random book. Spike felt satisfied with Twilights actions. He had beaten her in an argument which was a rare achievement. As Spike was cooking breakfast he realized something. This was the perfect chance to investigate on Twilight. All he had to do was smuggle the watches magic in her orange juice and she would never notice the difference. Grabbing Ticks watch he realized there was a flaw in his plan. He still never figured out how to draw out the power of the watch and manifest it into something else. Spike rubbed the watch in his palms absent mindedly and he felt a burning sensation. Looking down at his hands he realized that his claws were glowing blue. Was this the magic the watch? Sure looked like the same thing in Tick’s hourglass back at Canterlot. With some hesitation he waved his hand over the glass of orange juice. The magic dripped from his hand like water and fell into the orange juice. Spike examined the cup for a bit and it looked normal to him.
Handing Twilight a dandelion sandwich and the spiked orange juice Spike sat on the other side of her desk nervously nibbling at his gems that was for him. Twilight ate her breakfast calmly. After she was done she said thanks to Spike and continued with her studying.
“I’m going to walk around town for a bit you don’t mind?” Spike called to Twilight.
She just waved her hoof at him. He took this as a sign to go. As he walked out the door he checked the watch. He noticed how the purple button had turned a lighter shade. It somewhat resembled the fur on Twilight. Taking this that Spike had the magic make contact with Twilight he pressed the button with zero hesitation. Suddenly his surroundings stopped. Spike was baffled by this sudden change around him. No one moved and there was no sound of the town’s people chatter, birds chirping and the rustling of the leaves. Nope, there was nothing going on. Spike checked the watch and remembered that he had to turn the arrows of the watch to suggest if he wanted to go into the future of Twilight or past. Spike wanted to see the future mainly since he knew a whole bunch about Twilights childhood already. Winding the arrow forward he heard a rushing sounds pressing against his ears. It was like his skull was getting smashed in between to walls. Just as the pressure started it stopped. Spike looked around at his surroundings and realized that this was Ponyville…well sort of. For one thing the buildings were much taller and it seemed like Ponyville had become a miniature version of Manehattan. Spike walked around and saw a pony that looked like Applejack. Walking closer to her he was in shock on how much older she looked. True, it was nothing like Granny Smith but she was easily in her late 30’s now. Her hat and warm green eyes stayed the same though. As Spike was trying to digest AJ’s new appearance he noticed AJ was waiting outside Fluttershy’s house. Time and age didn’t seem to exist to this part of Ponyville. It still had its lush green pastures and wildlife (which Spike guessed was still being supported by Fluttershy) unlike the rest of the city that grew more industrial.
“Fluttershy you ready? That new plow is no use when it’s just sitting around.”  Applejack called out.
The front door of Fluttershy’s house cracked open slowly. Applejack started stomping her hooves down on the ground impatiently.
“Come on Fluttershy! I don’t have time for your dilly dallies!” Applejack snapped angrily.
There was a small squeak sounds and a pink mane slipped behind the door and the door slammed shortly after. Spike smiled to himself. Considering how everything changed in Ponyville his friends remained the same. It made him feel a little more secure at this point. Sure, holding onto old memories was feeble but it just made him feel happier. Applejack seemed angry but Spike knew that she had no intention of leaving Fluttershy behind.
“Well, I guess I’ll be going on about my business see ya round Fluttershy.” AJ said in a slow voice. Spike wasn’t dumb, he saw past this clever ruse by AJ. Fluttershy hated letting people down and AJ was trying to say the right things to push her buttons.
“Wait!” a scared whisper came from behind the door.
Fluttershy came out from her house. Spike was in shock on how young Fluttershy looked. Compared to Applejack she defied age, she looked the same as the modern day Fluttershy he knew just a little taller though. She looked like she would not like anything more than to run back home and hide under a pillow. But she came up to AJ and the chatted while Spike’s mind drifted from the conversation.
“This has nothing to do with Twilight. I don’t get why I am watching AJ and Fluttershy.” Spike spoke to the watch. It sparked violently and the atmosphere around Spike started to shift and deform around him then reassembled into a library.
Yep, this was Twilights house without a doubt. Books everywhere and a familiar purple pony sitting behind a desk stacked with books. It felt like Spike never left Twilight while he went outside. Spike walked closer to Twilight and realized what she was using as a pillow. It was a diagram on the town’s expansion and possible new buildings to be added to the town. He had to admit from what he was reading it was really going to help the town. New hospitals, parks, schools, and what looked like a large plow on wheels (probably for the Apple family). Then it hit Spike, Twilights future was going to be assisting the town in becoming more efficient, modern, and all together better. AJ mentioned something about a plow. Was it possible the plow in the diagram was what Applejack was talking about?
“Well I guess that explains what Twilight will be doing in the future but what did Fluttershy have to do with-“Spike wondered when the watch sparked violently again and cut off Spike in midsentence. Spike had a weightless feeling and suddenly flew right through the walls off the tree house and off to Sweet Apple Acres. Spike yelled out as he flew over the pastures of the acres.
“Hey what’s the big idea?” Spike yelled angrily at the watch.
The watch sparked again and sent Spike in a nose dive straight to a large ox pulling an even larger plow. It all made sense now Spike thought. Fluttershy was great with animals and obviously the ox was stronger then Big Macintosh.
“Oh, well I um...my bad.” Spike finished lamely to the watch.
Spike was settled down to the ground and the feeling of weightlessness vanished. If that’s what Rainbow Dash had to go through whenever she flew he had a totally new respect for her. Flying wasn’t exactly his cup of tea. As nice as it was to see Twilight become so useful to the town the feeling of the inevitable started crawling at his scales. It was time to see the death of his closest friend, which he considered her a sister, all for the sake of Tick’s studies. For a moment Spike felt like abandoning the task. He felt watching his friend’s death wouldn’t sit well with him. Toughing it out was the only option now, Tick needed the date on Twilights death, after all he is a dragon which are notorious for being tough creatures.
“I’m ready” Spike whispered to the watch while slowly turning the arrows of the watch forward until it stopped suddenly.
Again, the Spike’s surrounding became distorted and blurred has he passed through time. He could faintly here chatter and crying but as it all started it ended. Taking a look at his new surroundings Spike wasn’t all that sure if this was Ponyville. Deciding it was pointless to stand around looking around and listening into people’s conversations might help him get an idea on where he was. It must be night time; Spike barely knew where he was going.
“AJ did you hear about Twilight?” came a voice.
“No, why?” came another voice in response.
Spike knew this is a conversation he had to listen to. Walking to the chatter he noticed the conversation grew more grave and saddening.
“No, it can’t be! She was just fine a few days ago when I went to see here at her house!” said a voice nervously.
“I know, gave her some cupcakes a few days ago.” replied the voice.
Spikes heart stopped. Cupcakes were usually associated with…Pinkie Pie.
“Well, does Spike know?” asked the voice shakily
“Oh he does, but he prefers to say it’s not true and say people are lying to him” said Pinkie sadly
“Why is he denying it? You can’t hide from the truth forever!” snapped the other voice impatiently
“Spike and Twilight knew each other from childhood. They considered each other brother and sister. How would you feel if Big Mac or Applebloom died?” retorted Pinkie
There was no response. Spikes mind was racing rapidly now. AJ and Pinkie were talking about Twi’s death and about how badly his futuristic self is taking it. He felt miserable at this point but also slightly happy that Pinkie, AJ, Big Mac, and Applebloom were still alive at this time. AJ seemed to regain her comeback because he heard her voice again.
“Granny died a few years back…” recalled AJ.
It was time for Pinkie to go into silence. Spike stomach started forming knots. Granny Smith died? Okay, yes she was old but even for the little old lady she was Granny ran the farm with an iron hoof. Spike noticed that the sun was starting to rise. At last, Spike finally was able to get a good idea on where he was. He was standing near the door way to the Apple Family’s house, which was stationed at Sweet Apple Acres, which looked a lot larger than it does in Spikes time. The house looked as if there was about two or three floors added. “Why is all that room needed anyway? Spike thought to himself.
“Well, Pinkie it’s time to start work. You mind helping my wake up the young ones?” Applejack asked, eyeing the sunset.
Pinkie obeyed without saying a word and Spike followed the two mares. It became clear to Spike that Pinkie was obviously not her usual self. Her mane was not frizzed it was just flat and dull. Spike recalled Pinkie hair getting like this when she felt upset that her friends were ignoring her invitations to a party, even when they were trying to get a party set for her own birthday. Spike was in shock to see a small colt and foal sleeping soundly in their beds.
“Up and at em lazy bones you sleep on your own time!” AJ commanded.
Moans of complaint answered her command.
“I’ll make you some cupcakes if you do your chores!” Pinkie declared.
“Pinkie I think it’s too early for…“ AJ started and was cut off by the two young pony’s running past her to rush off to the farm to work.
“Sweets…” Applejack finished lamely.
“Whelp, that’s one way to get em moving.” Applejack shrugged.
Spike watched AJ and Pinkie walk down stairs, probably heading outside to watch over the two younger ponies. Who were they anyway? Where they AJ grandkids or something? Spike thought to himself. They looked a little bit like her but not by much so maybe they were her grandkids. Pinkie was holding up alright and so was AJ except for a few wrinkles here and they looked alright. The watched sparked violently again. Spike knew the watch was going to take him to the funeral of Twilight and for once he felt prepared. Yet again, they feeling of his skull being squashed were evident but ended just as quick as it started, as usual. Tick never seemed the least bit phased by the constant travel of time and Spike envied him for that. Spike noticed there was row after rows of chairs in this room. At the head of the room Spike noticed there was a coffin, which he guessed carried Twilight, it looked rather small but looked elegant with its white paint and looked simple all at the same time. It was a fitting resting place for his sister. Walking down the aisle Spike noticed that Princess Celestia, Luna, and Tick where stationed near the front row. Spike felt like Tick was able to see him when he walked by Ticks row. After all, Tick is the Time Smith Spike wouldn’t put it past him if Tick could see him.
When Spike got near the back is when pony’s started filing in. It looked like the entire world of Equestria was there to say there farewells to Twilight. There was an absence of Rainbow Dash and Rarity at the service which put Spike at unease. Either they were ill or worse off. Spike saw his future self walk into the room. The future Spike was tall, lean, and had a longer snout but other than that looked like he did. There was no sign of a mustache which kind of let Spike down and also brought a nostalgic memory of Twilight giving him a fake mustache for a bit. Spike giggled to himself, not realizing that the service was well underway by now.
There were many creatures and pony’s giving there thanks and blessings to Twilight and her family. What looked like her children, grandchildren, and the future Spike sat at the very front row near the Princesses and Tick. Spike felt a sudden surge of pride grow in him. Twilight’s family was under his watchful eye when she was gone. This was such an honor to him.
“She was 87 when she passed away. In those 87 years she has helped many creatures, big and small, with their lives and also helped Ponyville prosper. We owe her are deepest gratitude.” Celestia said, a tear running down her eye when talking.
Spike felt miserable but also accomplished. He had found out the year when Twilight died, what she did later on, and what she influenced. Celestia also saved him the time of traveling into Twilights past since she went into full detail of Twilights childhood .There was no need for him to endure through the rest of the service. Spike took out the watch and wound back the arrows in the watch until he heard a click. The familiar sensation of his head being crushed returned but it wasn’t long until Spike knew he was back in present day Ponyville. Pressing on the purple button time continued as he left it. All that time spent running around in Twilights future and it was still morning in the present day. Spike felt like taking a nap but knew Twilight would not allow such a thing, not when there were chores to be done. Slowly, Spike walked back into the library fully expecting Twilight to give him a week’s worth of chores to do and expecting him to do it in a few days. That is the price to pay of being her number one assistant and to be honest it was worth it in his eyes more so than ever before.
		
> Party Overdose
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike had been way ahead of his chores more than usual, which is amazing since Twilights plans weeks or sometimes months ahead, which Twilight by surprise. Twilight wasn’t sure if she should be worried, or happy, about Spikes new found work ethic. What she didn’t know though was that Spike true intention of working so hard wasn’t for a bad reason. After venturing into Twilights future Spike had found a new respect and pride in Twilight and felt that if he could make her life a little easier it would mean the world to him. Still, the cost of all his hard work was starting to take its toll. He takes naps in the middle of the day on Twilights books, usually the larger ones since they offered more comfort for his head, and it’s only a matter of time when she will catch him in one of his nap times. Also, Spike seemed to be fuzzing out when someone talks to him and it really started to get out of hand a few days ago. AJ asked Spike if he could help her with dispose of rotten apples. He happily complied but sadly with his lack and sleep and focus he nearly burned AJ’s hat a few times when he was trying to aim for a bucket full of the rotten apples. The biggest problem that Spike was having though was that he was really falling behind with helping Tick with his research. It has been three days since he ventured off into Twilights history and he hasn’t done anything from there. It made Spike feel guilty that he had fallen behind so much.
The fifth day is when Twilight finally caught on with Spike shenanigans. She walked into a room that had Spike sleeping there, using a book as a pillow.
“Spike, what are you doing?” Twilight asked. She was worried that Spike fell on his face or something.
Spike answered with a simple snore. Twilight giggled at her assistant.
“So, seems like work finally caught up with you.” Twilight asked.
Twilight magically lifted Spike’s limp body and levitated him into his basket.
“Good night, my sleepy dragon.” She whispered softly while kissing him on the check.
Spike simply stirred a bit and went still. Yet again, Twilight found it funny and cute on how hard Spike worked only to end up sleeping all over the place.
A few hours later Spike woke up suddenly, startled by his dream. His sweat was cold as ice and he felt shaky. This had been the third time that Spike had the dream of Twilights limp old body and his future self crying over it. It made him feel bad and lonely, he couldn’t imagine life without Twilight yet he wouldn’t admit it. Spike dug around in his basket and found the book that Tick had given him, or rather threw at him, the night Tick had given the task of discovering the future of his friends. Skimming through a few pages Spike found something of his interest. The page described how the watch could affect modern time. From freezing it entirely to making it goes by lightning quick. Suddenly, Spike realized that this watch could help him catch up on sleep and chores! He never felt so excited he no longer had to spend countless hours stacking books and chores were a thing of the past now. Spike shoved his claw in his basket again, searching for the watch. After retrieving the watch Spike pressed the purple button. Time froze instantly and with it all the sounds outside faded away.
“Silence is bliss.” Spike whispered to himself. He was rather fond of the silence. It was a big change from the usual chatter going around him on an ever day basis.
Spike had no idea on how long he had slept all he knew that when he woke up everything remained just as still before he fell asleep. Only if he could have slept like this more often, he would always feel fantastic. Spike flipped through a few pages and saw that there was a story in the book. It was titled “Passion and Sacrifice”. Honestly, it sounded like some corny romance story to Spike and those kinds of things don’t really get his attention. Still, with so much time to waste why not read it? The story was a lot more…dark then he imagined. Apparently, there was a Time Smith who had to make a tough decision. Lose his job and his family losing their immortality or his wife, Lily, must give up her life for her family to remain immortal. The reason this decision was forced down upon the family was due to other ponies and creatures fearing that the Time Smiths family would one day revolt and take over Equestria. Being immortal meant they would never lose a battle since they were always able to outlast their opponents. The majority of the family though, had no interest in becoming conquers. There was one colt in the family though that tried to lead a revolt and become the new ruler of Equestria. He was soon eliminated and the fear of the Time Smiths family grew larger than ever. The ruler of Equestria at that time needed the population to believe that the Time Smith and his family were nice ponies but the majority wanted none of that. They desired bloodshed, and if not given they threatened to overthrow the ruler at that time. Not wanting to lose his position in the land, he let the majority choose the family’s punishment. Many of the relatives felt that Time Smiths wife should flee but she refused and she didn’t want to give the towns people the satisfaction of making her an outcast. She gave her life away and the Time Smith’s family was allowed to remain immortal as long as one family member carried out the duties of Time Smith, naturally. 
As Spike finished reading the tale he felt remorse for the Time Smith family. If, the story held any truth they were treated unfairly because they could live forever and had one arrogant relatives. Spike fiddled around with the watch, his mind wandering off to Tick. Did Tick have a dark past that he didn’t want to share with him? Well, if that was the case Tick wouldn’t have given him the book then Spike thought slowly to himself. Suddenly, guilt pulsed through Spikes body. Here he was, reading about the bloody history of past Time Smiths and he wasn’t even trying to think who would be the next pony that he would try to time travel on. Spike wondered if Rarity would be a good idea, but he discarded that idea quickly. He can let alone barely stop himself drool when she walked by, he could only imagine how bad he would get if he had to touch her in some way. Ultimately, Spike decided that if a chance of contact with a friend was at hand he would grab it. Clicking the button to have time continue, Spike for once was looking forward to the next day.
Spike was in his usual spot in the kitchen at the next morning.
“Oh Spike, Pinkie wants you to pick up some cupcakes at the Sugar Cube Corner.” Twilight told Spike as she ate her breakfast.
Spike grabbed his watch from his basket and walked out the front door. This was perfect! All he to do was slip the watch’s magic into a muffin or something and Pinkie will be most likely fiddling around with some baked goods. However, Spike was in for a surprise when he walked into the Cakes Bakery. Pinkie was bouncing around in the kitchen with such speed that he was surprised she didn’t go crashing through a wall.
“Pinkie, Twilight told me that you had made some cupcakes for us.” Spike called out to the energetic pink pony.
“Huh, oh right! Yeah, there over there by that counter!” Pinkie said rapidly.
“If you don’t mind Spike, I am a little behind some orders and I really don’t much time to be standing around.” Pinkie carried on, bouncing over to an oven that just shot out a batch of cookies and she caught them all with great ease.
“Looks like I wasn’t the only one who had work being a bigger pain than usual” Spike thought.
Spike took out his pocket watch and stopped time with a press of the purple button. This was not going to be an easy task. Pinkie is bouncing around way too fast for him to have the watch make direct contact with her. His only hope was to have her bump into him, have the watch’s magic manifest in one of the treats or baking equipment and maybe try something new. Spike couldn’t manifest the watch’s blue magic on his claws while it was stopping. It became evident to him that the watch has its limitations. Pressing the purple button to restart time, Spike knew he had very little time to plan with Pinkies speed never really slowing down. Spike tried to get in Pinkies way a few times but her tail really did act a spring, and shot her way over his head. Having Pinkie smash into him was a lot harder then he imagined. She was in a controlled frenzy.
Spike manifested the watch’s magic on his claw, just when he was considering trying to put the magic in some batter Pinkie noticed Spikes glowing hand.
“Hey Spike, what’s up with your hand?” Pinkie asked with deep curiosity.
Spike panicked slightly. This was that last thing he expected and he really had to make up a lie quick.
“It’s uh…jam.” Spike finished lamely.
“Jam you say? I just love it!” Pinkie exclaimed. Suddenly, she started sucking on Spikes glowing blue claw.
She quickly drew back her head from his head and giggled nervously. Spike gazed down at his hand and saw that it was covered in drool. Not all that appealing, but hey contact is contact he thought.
“That tasted good! Never tasted anything quite like that!” Pinkie said with enthusiasm.
“Pinkie I would love to stay and chat, but I really need to get a move on.” Spike said.
“Yeah, I really need to focus on baking. Anyway, nice seeing ya Spike!” Pinkie called out as Spike was heading for the door.
Spike took out the pocket watch once he was a fair distance from Sugar Cube Corner. Yep, the button turned a bright pink color. Spike smiled to himself at his accomplishment. Sure, things didn’t go as planned but at the end it all worked out rather nicely. Without further ado, Spike paused time and his mind went blank. He never really thought much of Pinkies life and when given this chance it really showed. Well, it would be interesting to know if Pinkie’s future life would help support how real could Twilights future will be. Nervously, Spike shifted the arrows clockwise until he heard a click and with it came the feeling of his head being crushed again. Wincing in pain, Spike looked at his new surroundings. Ponyville felt slightly…dreary. There were no ponies outside and it was quite, to the point you can hear a pin drop. Walking back to the Sugar Cube Corner and there was a sign at the door. “Not Open”. Okay, things were really out of the ordinary. Sugar is nearly always open with the constant alternation of the Cakes and Pinkie running the store. Spike decided it would be safe if he walked back home, perhaps Twilight would be talking to someone. Sadly, there was no soul in the library either.
“Hey, help me out well ya?” Spike asked the watch.
The watch sparked violently in response and Spike was thrown in a portal and flew out at another end to find himself in a club. The loud music was shaking Spikes head like a little bobble head. Spike decided it was best to head to head to high ground to even have a chance to find Pinkie in this crowd. The DJ booth was at the peak of the club and there was Vinyl Scratch doing what she did best, being a DJ. There was no sign of a pink frizzy mane in the crowd, which put Spike at unease. The watch has never failed him before and he really didn’t want it to start now. Watching over the crowd like a hawk for who knows how long, Spike felt like giving up when Pinkie finally made her appearance.
“Hey everypony, there is the owner of this grand club and Sugar Cube Corner right there! Say hi for our lovely party goers Pinkie!” Scratch yelled through the sound of the music.
So, Pinkie was a club owner when she got older? Well, that made a whole bunch of sense to Spike. After all, Pinkie always loved throwing parties and why not have a place where the party never sleeps? Pinkie running Sugar Cube was no real surprise though.
“Okay, so that’s what Pinkie will do for a living. Now, to get to the grisly part of all this…” Spike groaned to himself. Spike twisted the arrows further clockwise and it stopped quicker than usual. Staring at the watch apprehensively, Spike was a little taken back by this. Was Pinkie really going to die that fast? Pressing the button the speed up time, Spike was a little worried now. Oddly, he was still at the club and it felt like he never left. Scratch was still doing her thing and the party going crowd seemed even bigger than before. The watch sparked again unexpectedly and Spike found himself floating over the crowd. In a way, it was good thing he was invisible he wasn’t sure how people will react to a floating purple dragon. He flew into an office somewhere in the club and there was an unconscious Pinkie, drooling on a table. Spike laughed to himself, but stopped quickly. If, this is as far as the watch was going to take him he knew Pinkie wouldn’t be letting a giggle out anytime soon. Inspecting the room, Spike wasn’t all that sure what could have caused Pinkie’s untimely death. Then, Spike found a few bottles and a cup of partially drunken wine near a shelf behind Pinkie. Sniffing the drink, Spike nose twitched violently. Yep, that was wine alright. But the empty bottles didn’t explain a whole lot…could she have overdosed or something? Spike knew that the cup of wine had something to do with the death of Pinkie. An idea sprang up in Spike’s head, turning the clock slightly counter clockwise Spike knew he would be able to watch Pinkies death unfold right in front of him.
It was an unpleasant sight to say the least. Pinkie was babbling to herself rapidly, Spike barley caught what she was saying. All he was able to get from her rambling is something about “I’ll show them” or “They’ll regret it!” and Spike shivered at the sight of his dysfunctional friend. There was a point when Pinkie just started bawling and screamed for the good old days. Watching Pinkie going into madness and paranoia was sickening Spike to no end, but he knew he had to watch the entire episode of hers to know what killed her off. At long last, Pinkie seemed no longer to control herself and dumped nearly a whole bottle worth of pills in the cup of wine and downed a portion of the wine, Spike tried to yell at his friend to get a hold of herself but knew his attempts were futile. In mid gulp though, Pinkie gagged and her head smack to the table. There it was the death of Pinkie Pie, the party pony. Spike sniffed slightly after the scene was over. He thought sitting through Twilights funeral was rough, this was just…torture. Spike turned the arrows counter clock wise, he didn’t want to watch the aftermath of Pinkies death. After Spikes surroundings finished reassembling its self, Spike noticed that this was definitely Ponyville. The happy chatter of the crowd felt like music to Spikes ears, he has grown tired of all the silence and emptiness after watching Pinkie having a meltdown. A younger Pinkie was seen planning a party with AJ outside Sugar Cube Corner.
“Dunno Pinkie, I don’t think Granny’s heart can take a party. Let alone, a surprise one.” The younger Applejack muttered to Pinkie.
“Oh come on you act like Granny doesn’t enjoy fun.” Pinkie coaxed.
“True, Granny does enjoy a good laugh. Just don’t overdo it okay Pinkie?” Applejack begged.
“Don’t overdo it? Aw, what’s the fun in that?” Pinkie whined.
Applejack gave Pinkie a stern gaze and Pinkie dropped the subject. Spike couldn’t help but laugh at this. 
“Pinkie, not overdo something? That’s impossible!” Spike said merrily out loud to himself.
Spike wound the arrows clockwise a little more; he really wanted to see this party. It took a few moments for Spike to realize that he was in the Apple Family’s house. The party was in full swing by now and just about everyone in Ponyville was there. Pinkie was playing pin the tail on the pony with Granny, who had placed her pin on Pinkies cutie mark. AJ trotted over to Pinkie and hugged her tightly.
“Pinkie, this is one fine party! You should throw more of em more often! I appreciate you didn’t go to crazy with this party.” Applejack said happily.
“OH, that sounds like a great idea!” Pinkie gushed out happily. Suddenly, there were fireworks going off outside and Granny Smith looked startled at first then stared at the fireworks in awe. AJ gave Pinkie a stern gaze but laughed with the pink earth pony.
So, Applejack was the one who gave Pinkie the idea to throw parties very often. Now, either if Applejack was just joking around or really meant it Spike doubted he’ll ever find out. Spike was happy to see the younger Pinkie was so happy and funny like the modern Pinkie he knew so well. Still, Pinkie’s future irked Spike a lot, how could Pinkie become so destructive and sad in just a short amount of time. She didn’t even look half as old as she did when Twilight passed away, which didn’t make a whole lot of sense to him. Deciding that he had gathered what he needed, Spike started turning the hands of the clock to where he started with. The familiar crushing feeling made its presence but as usual only for a bit. Spike looked around and knew he was a fair distance from Sugar Cube Corner. After letting time progress, Spike was in a mood for…a party. Walking back into Sugar Cube Corner, Spike found Pinkie, her head deep in some cookie dough. Only her pink frizzy mane, which was flat now, was visible.
“Hey Pinkie, you up for a party? It’s been a while since you threw one.” Spike asked cautiously.
Immediately Pinkie’s head resurfaced and she had a large smile on her face (her mane inflated to its usual frizzy fashion). Spike couldn’t help but smile to her reaction.
“I would love to! You’re so right; it’s been some time since I threw a party! Come on Spike, your helping me bake some goodies for the party!” Pinkie declared.
Spike was more than happy to bake with Pinkie. And with a little help from the pocket watch, he knew that there would be enough time to get everything set for the party in no time. There was another reason why Spike wanted to throw this party though, besides making Pinkie feeling a lot happier. With so many ponies at the party, Spike knew that he was going to hit the jackpot with finding friends to add to the research report to Tick.

A/N
I feel like I half assed the last chapter with Twilights past. So, I was determined to make up for it in Pinkie’s past. Slightly on the fence on the next pony that Spike will time travel on, so if you have any cool ideas I am willing to hear.
	
> Break Down and Burnt Out
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Surprisingly, it seemed that Spike didn't even need the watch to prepare for the party in a timely fashion. Pinkie really did have a talent for throwing parties; she had brought a large cannon to Sugar Cube Corner and once it went off it was shooting out streamers and balloons a plenty. Spike did question one thing though about Pinkie, she went out to deliver invitations to all their friends while he stayed to put the finishing touches on the party and returned in no time flat. Now, probably Pinkie bribed Derpy with a muffin, or multiple of them, to deliver the invitations quickly. However, Spike knew Pinkie had a habit of popping out of nowhere with no warning, so he wouldn't put it past her if she pulled it off on her own. It's one of those great wonders that will never go solved and Pinkie's peculiar abilities have tried Twilights patience and logic multiple times, but at the end, Twilight accepts Pinkies ability which makes Spike laugh every time because he knows it's getting Twilight all worked up to have Pinkie's talents have no logical explanation. At last, the party was set and ready to go and all it needed now was their guests. An unsettling silence grew between Pinkie and Spike as they waited. The party prepping really distracted him from Pinkie's future fatality, but now with the lack of a distraction Spike's mind was really starting to settle on the event. Pinkie on the other hand was more skeptical on the purpose of Spike's desire for a party. She knew he enjoyed a good party; however, it wasn't like him to suggest one. Before the tension reached a breaking point, the guests had finally started to come in. 
"Why, hello there Pinkie, nice to see ya throwing parties again. Been awhile since the last one, I was really starting to miss em'." Applejack said happily to Pinkie
"I know right? Spike over here was the one who gave me the idea of throwing the party today and helped set this up along the way." Pinkie answered with enthusiasm.
AJ's eyes grew wide and stared down at Spike, who was blushing from all this sudden praise.
"Looks like your being more than just Twilights assistant now. Hey, if your still in a helping mood Spike, interested in helping me with the farm in a few days? I could always use a few more hoofs-oh I mean claws." Applejack finished with a sheepish smile.
"Sounds like fun, I'll do it!" Spike replied with some uncertainty clawing at the back of his mind. 
Last time Spike "helped" AJ he got a generous kick right in the face from her while she was bucking trees. Of course she didn't mean it, but it put him out of commission for a few days. He remembered how Twilight had to keep the library neat, for once, and how much she complained during the week that Spike couldn't even get up from his hospital bed. Applejack came every day during his bed rest; she was always nice company when she wasn't trying to apologize for the incident.
"Great, I'll drop by your place when I'll need to collect you. Sound good?" Applejack went on.
Spike gave a simple nod and Applejack gave him a quick smile and trotted away to mingle with the other ponies who were coming in. Well, this party was working out very well already. He would soon have the chance to journey through AJ's life, which should prove interesting and hopefully less demoralizing then Pinkie's future. That was another issue now that he thought about it. Pinkie always seemed happy-go-lucky and for her to suddenly head for a downward spiral didn't add up to Spike. Watching Pinkie bounce around on her tail like a spring, Spike knew he would probably never learn why Pinkie grew so upset. Then it hit him, Pinkie had been ranting about how she would prove somepony wrong and how she wished for the old days. Who was she talking about and why would she head to such extremes to prove a point?
"Hey Spike…whoa you alright? You look a little sick." A familiar voice asked in worry.
Spike turned his head to see Rainbow Dash staring at him in worry. Blushing deeply, Spike buried his face in his claws and tried to avoid her staring. He didn't want to worry Rainbow anymore then he already did, but the damage had been done. Rainbow wrapped her foreleg around Spike's neck and he made no motion to move her warm gesture away.
"What's up Spike? Want to talk about it?" Rainbow asked in a low whisper, so that no pony could hear. Spike knew he must have looked like a child being held by Rainbow, but with the weight of dread building in his heart lately, he couldn't care less what people thought of the scene.
"I don't think I can talk about it…" Spike mumbled quietly. A thought came into Spikes head. This was the perfect time to have the watch make contact with Rainbow. Slowly, he made a grab for the watch, hoping Rainbow wouldn't catch on to what he was doing.
"Well, alright Spike. I'll be around if you need to talk though." Rainbow said, giving Spike one last tight hug. Spike finally grabbed his watch and had the blue magic manifest on his hand.
"Thanks, Rainbow." Spike said softly, returning the hug. The magic had evaporated onto Rainbow's sky blue fur. 
The deed was done and Spike felt accomplished. As Rainbow left him on his own, Spike surveyed the watch's purple button to see that it turned a sky blue color. At this point though, Spike wasn't all that sure if he wanted to proceed with the job. Knowing sorrow was only ahead of him Spike felt reluctant to venture forth. Remembering Tick's warning Spike felt worse than ever, if only he had taken Tick seriously he would probably have avoided this. But, he was too deep now and there was no turning back. With a deep gulp, Spike paused time. This was probably the weirdest thing he had ever seen. Seeing punch float in mid-air trying to fall into a thirsty mouth was just one of the many sights available to him when inspecting the frozen party. Spike waddled to the arch made from punch and, for the fun of it, took a sip of it. The liquid couldn't go down his throat since it was frozen in place and Spike had to arch his head slightly back to have the liquid escape his mouth.
Rainbows soft behavior was starting to eat away at Spike's mind as he was trying to decide if he should venture into the future of Rainbow or past. Why was she so nice to him suddenly? Rainbow is usually the brash and arrogant not the caring and sympathetic type. He would expect that behavior from Twilight if anything, but Rainbow? The only explanation was that she cared for him and didn't want him stressing out their friends, or himself. Spike decided it would be more interesting to go into Rainbow's future. So, Spike twisted the hands clock wise a fair amount and watched his surroundings become blurred and twisted. However, the usual crushing sensation did not come to him. Instead there was a feeling of…falling.
Spike panicked, he had no wings and let alone would know how to use them to save him from plummeting down to the hard ground. Wind started to rush past Spike as he fell faster and faster. Grief and panic swelled up in his chest. For some reason, Spike didn't make a grab for the watch. His instincts screamed at him to save himself but for some reason part of him welcomed the incoming doom. Seeing his friends die in front of him made him feel empty and distant from the world at this point. The ground was growing ever closer and Spike was hearing a voice scream. Spike wasn't sure if it was him, nor did he care, but looking a little up Spike saw an orange filly falling that he instantly recognized as Scootaloo.
Spike knew he was in no harm's way, but the same didn't apply to Scootaloo at this point. There was a loud explosion, which sliced through the rushing wind, and Spike saw a shock wave made up of rainbow colored bits. What looked like a missile was flying at ridiculous high speeds to catch up Scootaloo.
"Help me!" begged Scootaloo, tears dripping from her eyes.
The blur that was probably Rainbow Dash came rushing closer to Scootaloo. Spike noticed the ground was coming ever closer, this was going to be a tight save if Rainbow pulled this off. Rainbow pulled off from her nose dive with Scootaloo in her hoofs. While Spike stared at Rainbow in awe he had no idea the ground was closer than ever before. As Spike returned his attention to the ground, his face was greeted with grass and dirt. There was no crack or dull thud when Spike's face hit the ground, in fact, Spike felt just fine. Surveying his surroundings, Spike noticed Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo landed only a short distance away.
"Scootaloo you okay? Didn't break your wing or anything did you?" Rainbow asked quizzically, as she inspected Scootaloo's wing.
"I'm fine! I have been training to get my wingpower higher for when Cloudsdale needs water from Ponyville to make clouds this year. I want to do the best I can!" Scootaloo said with a determined sparkle in her eyes.
"Alright, that's a very good goal Scootaloo, but you still haven't told me why you started falling." Rainbow pressed on.
"I um, might have over done it…" Scootaloo mumbled quietly. It seemed she didn't really think of what would happen if she overworked herself.
"Well, I think that's enough flying for you today-"Scootaloo moaned as Rainbow said this, which earned her a glare from Rainbow "as I was saying, you need rest. I'll take you home." Rainbow said with a note of finality.
"Aren't you supposed to be leading the practice for the Wonderbolts today Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo said with a guilty face.
"True, but I think they can live a day without their awesome captain. It's about time they start thinking for themselves anyway." Rainbow shrugged.
Spike watched Rainbow and Scootaloo walk over the hill and away from his field of vision. So, Rainbow became the Wonderbolts' Captain and honestly Spike wasn't really surprised by this. Rainbow Dash was an excellent flyer, probably the best in Ponyville and Equestria at this point, and her ability to pull of the sonic rainboom probably helped a lot with her getting in the Wonderbolts. Grabbing the pocket watch Spike turned the hands counter clockwise a bit; he wanted to see how Rainbow got into the Wonderbolts in the first place. As usual his surroundings grew blurred and started to reform into what looked like a coliseum.
It looked like the same place Rainbow had won her trophy for Best Young Flyer. There was no visible floor, just the sky and some patches of clouds. Spike sat down at the stands and digested this amazing sight. After wasting some time staring awestruck at his surroundings, Spike noticed there was a large group of Pegasus flying overhead. A rainbow colored mane was visible from the crowd and Spike heard a powerful voice speak over the gossip of the eager Pegasus.
"You're all here for one reason, to become the new member of the Wonderbolts!" Spitfire said with authority. Her statement was greeted with many yells of approval.
"Simmer down everypony! Now, we will be putting you through rigorous training and test to see who is fit to become the next Wonderbolt." Spitfire stated. She gazed over the crowd of Pegasus, her eyes almost sending a message daring some of the weaker links to give up on the spot now. After she swept the crowd with her intense gaze she continued.
"Right, Soarin' and I will be the judges of this event. Wait, where is Soarin' hiding now!" Spitfire snapped angrily. Soarin' was at the stands near Spike eating some apple pie.
"Huh, oh so sorry Spitfire I'll be up in a minute." Soarin' called to his captain.
"Not in a minute! I need you up here now!" Spit said with an air of great impatience.
Soarin' flew up to Spitfire's side with apple pie at hand. Spit gave him a look capable of killing. He flinched at the look she gave him.
"I do hope none of you will be eating while we are testing all of you." Spitfire said loudly. Soarin' looked down, trying to avoid Spitfire's intimidating stare. Her comment was greeted with giggles.
Spike was losing interest in all this. It seemed this was the first meeting and the law was being laid down. Twisting the hands a little more clock wise Spike was surprised to see he was still in the coliseum. However, the stands were filled with probably thousands of Pegasus and a few earth ponies that must have been given some magic ability to remain up here to watch to festivities. Spike surveyed the crowd trying to find Twilight and the others but with all these ponies Spike doubt he would find them in this mess. Celestia and Luna were seated near a high balcony, with Spitfire and Soarin' looking slightly panicky.
A familiar loud explosion rang through the sky and a shockwave in the color of a rainbow traveled throughout the land. The princesses looked at the shockwave in awe while Spitfire and Soarin' were whispering to each other. An announcer was giving a play-by-play of what was going on before the Sonic Rainboom happened and when it did the announcer even stopped talking to stare at the shockwave sent off when Rainbow hit top speed. After Rainbow Dash's performance there was a follow-up with a yellow Pegasus who the announcer called "Lightning". He lived up to the name the announcer gave because he shot through the clouds so quick you would have thought a lightning storm was going on. As he landed you could see sparks popping all over him, but he seemed unharmed.
The rest of the contestants were alright, but Lighting and Rainbow really stuck out to him. The last Pegasus though was named "Flash". She flew so quick that only a dark blur was moving through the air and she left a trail of a red blur along the way. Spike was impressed by how quick Flash cut through the air, but Lightning and Rainbow were still, at least in his eyes, the ones to beat.
"I wish I could pull that off. That Sonic Rainboom is something." Soarin' said in an awestruck voice.
Spikes was amazed he even heard the comment from Soarin', let alone finding himself standing on the balcony where the Princesses and the two Wonderbolts were watching from. The view up here was far superior then the view available down to the people in the stands.
"I did enjoy Rainbow Dash's performance. Not every day you see a Sonic Rainboom happen." Celestia said out loud.
"Indeed, it is quite the sight. However you must admit that Lightning character really lives up to his name." Luna added in a light hearted tone, unlike her shrill and forceful Royal voice.
"You think Rainbow can teach us how to pull of the Sonic Rainboom Spit?" Soarin' asked his captain with great enthusiasm.
"Sounds like it would be pretty interesting to say the least. Flash sure can fly though; she's probably the fastest flyer I seen before this contest happened." Spitfire muttered aloud.
Spike decided to skip time a little bit more forward. He knew more praise was heading for Flash, Rainbow and Lightning. A large trophy was stationed in the balcony where Spike was standing. Celestia, Luna, Spitfire, and Soarin' were standing near the trophy and Spit was holding a Wonderbolt suit and goggles. Rainbow, Flash, and Lightning bowed when they walked into the balcony, to show respect for the princesses.
"No need for that, all of you have such excellent talent. It's a shame we only can pick one of you though." Celestia told the remaining three. Luna gave an approving nod at her sister's statement.
"I think the time is now to welcome our new Wonderbolt." Soarin' said to Spit. She nodded and went over to the three finalists.
"Celestia is right, you all did great, heck that's some of the best flying I seen. But, we can only choose one of you." Spit said.
"And with that, I am proud to say that Rainbow Dash is our new Wonderbolt! Welcome to the squad!" Spit said happily. Rainbow smiled joyfully and was given the trophy along with her new uniform.
"You guys won't regret it! I'll become one of the best flyers in the Wonderbolts! I'll be the Wonderbolt Captain one day” Rainbow said cockily. Spit raised an eyebrow at her.
"Sure hotshot, but as long as I am around you'll have to wait for that to happen." Spit said to Rainbow. Looking slightly embarrassed, Rainbow waved to the crowd cheering her on. Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity had walked onto the balcony and congratulated Rainbow on her success. A large purple hot air balloon flew into the coliseum and Pinkie was inside with a large microphone in hand. The future Spike looked a little sick as he popped his head over the basket giving a claws up to Rainbow, then sagging back into the basket without a word. Spike was surprised to see his future self look only a little taller then he currently was. Did this mean that Rainbow being a Wonderbolt wasn't that far off?
"Wow, being announcer is some hard work. Hey Rainbow, congrats on becoming a Wonderbolt, I knew you had it in you Rainbow!" Pinkie called from her large balloon. Rainbow gave Pinkie a knowing nod and continued to chat away with her other friends.
Spike watched the scene a little distance away. For all the happy vibes going through the air, Spike was having the familiar feeling of dread and fear drip back into his heart. Taking out his pocket watch, Spike knew he had to face the fall of Rainbow Dash. Turning the hands clock wise, Spike noticed it didn't really go all that far. It wasn't like Pinkie's were it stopped almost instantly but nothing like Twilight's either. Taking this as a decent sign, Spike pressed down on the sky blue button and watched as his surroundings grew distorted and reassembled.
Spike was flying through the air and he panicked. After a few moments of yelling, Spike realized he was perfectly safe. He saw Rainbow sleeping in her usual fluffy cloud but there was something unfitting going on. The sky was dark and thundering loudly. Spike grew panicky again and wondered if Rainbow was going to fly away from the incoming storm. The storm though, was moving at quickly to where Rainbow had been napping. Her eyes open wide and yelled in shock at the sight of the storm. She tried to fly away from the storm but it chased after her, and it was gaining on her. Storms never hunt anypony down, so this storm couldn't be natural. Rainbow, at this point, was breaking the sound barrier trying to escape the storms wrath but the storm didn't lose any ground if anything it got closer to Rainbow.
"Almost there…." Rainbow yelled through gritted teeth, Cloudsdale wasn't far away.
"Oh no you don't." a voice roared. It came from deep within the storm and Rainbow opened her eyes in shock and fear.
A large lightning bolt flew from the dark mass of cloud and hit Rainbow Dash. Spike was terrified at the sight of Rainbow's charred body. It fell and hit a cloud near Cloudsdale with a thud. Dash did not move or twitch after the thunderbolt hit her.
"Revenge is sweet…" roared the voice from within the storm. The dark cloud dissipated and Spike was able to see a Pegasus flying a distance away with lightning trailing him.
Spike couldn't digest what just unfolded. Rainbow Dash, Wonderbolt captain and one of the most fearless flyers in Equestria, was hunted down and killed. The spineless assassin nearly did her in while she was asleep. But who would do such a thing? If Spike felt sad before this, that feeling near doubled after watching Rainbows assassination. Grabbing for his pocket watch, Spike paused time and cried for Celestia knows how long. All the grief that built in him over the week was slowly eating away at him. After some time, Spike got a hold of his emotions and decided he had enough of Rainbow's future. Turning the hands counter clock-wise, Spike had a sudden idea of wanting to see how Rainbow reunited with Fluttershy after her first rainboom. The sight of Cloudsdale gave him this sudden thought.
After his atmosphere reassembled, Spike noticed he was back in Ponyville. He noticed Rainbow Dash looked slightly alarmed at being down in Ponyville; Spike guessed she never has been down to Ponyville at this point. The younger Rainbow mane was not all that well groomed, but the look of determination was evident in her eyes. That look in her eyes reminded Spike of how Rainbow gets all hyped when she attempts a new stunt or has to do a task.
"Have you seen a Pegasus with a pink mane?" Rainbow Dash asked a random pony.
"No." replied the earth pony.
"A Pegasus with a pink mane…does she have yellow fur and is extremely shy." asked another earth pony that Spike instantly recognized as Granny Smith.
"Yeah, have you seen her?" Rainbow asked with a look of relief.
"Mhm, mind you she has been hanging out near ma farm. She's very good with ta' animals, but it seems she talks to em' more then to me and ma family. Mind if ya talk to her? Big Mac is becoming awfully chummy when she comes around." Granny Smith asked.
Rainbow Dash and Granny Smith trotted off to the farm to collect Fluttershy. Spike mulled over this after Granny and Rainbow Dash disappeared from his field of vision. Seems like Rainbow was sent from Cloudsdale to find Fluttershy after she disappeared from the race that Rainbow competed in and Spike wasn't all that sure if he should remain in Rainbow's past. Scootaloo hold told him how Rainbow had achieved the Sonic Rainboom when she was young and he felt that was pretty much the highlight of her past. Also, Spike thought trying to see how Fluttershy reacted to Rainbow Dash looking for her was mainly going to relate to Fluttershy's past rather than Rainbow's.
Spike felt he had gathered enough information on Rainbow Dash's life. Slowly, Spike moved the hands clock wise so that he would be sent to the present. The familiar crushing feeling returned to Spike as his surroundings reassembled themselves and for once Spike somewhat missed the feeling, even if it made his head hurt and spin. Looking around, Spike was dumbfounded when he noticed he was still in the party. Time traveling really threw him off from what was happening in the present. After Spike pressed the sky blue button to allow time to proceed, he noticed the button turned purple again.
"Spike where have you…oh dear, Spike you look sick." Twilight said. To Spike, her comment seemed so distant it sounded like he was in a cave. Everything echoed and frankly it was annoying him.
"Nah, I am fine." Spike lied.
"No you're not, you're pale as marble!" Twilight said in disbelief of Spike's lack of attention.
Spike felt miserable, but he wasn't going to admit this. However, it seems his body was saying otherwise at this rate. His knees started to feel like jelly and Spike collapsed face first to the ground.
"Alright, maybe I need some help." Spike mumbled.
"What you need is a doctor. Come on Spike lets go…" Twilight said forcefully but noticed her assistant was in no shape to walk but the word doctor alarmed Spike.
"A doctor, I'm not sick! I just need rest, that's all!" Spike said defensively.
"You have been like this for a week now! Come on Spike, your pushing yourself to hard. What's going on Spike? You're keeping a secret from me and I know it." Twilight said sharply.
Spike withered at this and started sweating, even though it was cold out. The gig was up. Twilight knew Spike was slowly cracking under Tick's task. Whether if she knew he was helping Tick with research was questionable, but she was Celestia's pupil…was it possible Celestia told Twilight about his task? If so, why didn't Twilight understand the strain he was under? Anypony would start to crack under the grief of seeing his friends fall one by one for the purpose of Tick's research. But, she was expecting him to be indifferent about the ordeal. Spike's eyes darted everywhere for somewhere to escape from Twilight but nothing seemed available.
"Spike, please let me help you…" Twilight begged.
Spike didn't know if he could trust her anymore, let alone anyone else. He backed away from Twilight.
"Leave me alone Twilight." Spike said frantically.
"I am doing this for your own good Spike." sniffed Twilight. She seemed to be crying a little. 
"No!" gasped Spike. He ran at full speed for the door.
Twilight froze Spike with a freezing spell. Nervously, she asked her friends if they would help her carry Spike off to the hospital. Rainbow Dash held Spike in her hooves as the mane 6 made their way to the local hospital. Even Pinkie had become serious after her friends made her aware of Spike's break down.
"Hey, what's this?" Pinkie asked the others. She was holding the pocket watch Tick gave to Spike.
"Must be Spike's, he probably dropped it after he started running. Here, just put it on his chest or in his hands." Twilight answered.
"Poor guy, he sure looked jumpy during that party. I should have known something was up with him. Heck, I even talked to him before he got all crazy." Applejack said sadly.
Rainbow Dash didn't want to give her input on this subject. She knew Spike was a wreck before all of them and she had no intention to tell them….not yet anyway. Also, she felt bad for Spike and really wanted to help him out.
"Why did you have to freeze him again?" Rainbow Dash demanded from Twilight.
Twilight was caught off guard from Rainbow sudden demand.
"Well, um you see I was worried Spike would run off-"Twilight started saying when Rainbow cut her off.
"Can't you see he's going through a tough time Twilight? Can you blame him from trying to get away?" Rainbow retorted.
Twilight, for once, had nothing to say. Rarity though, was there to back up Twilight.
"Darling, you can't tell me Spike doesn't need some form of help. Twilight even mentioned how Spike has been losing focus lately. There's no need for him to be hard headed like you." Rarity said in her usual prissy manner.
"Hard headed?! Take that back Rarity!" Rainbow Dash yelled forcefully.
"You're only mad because you know it's the truth." Rarity said with an edge in her voice.
Rainbow's eyes opened wide and her ears dropped slightly. Rarity had taken a big punch at Rainbow's usual swagger and it threw her off guard. Without warning, Rainbow dropped Spike and lunged at Rarity and the two tried to kick and yank at each other's manes.
"Oh my, somepony do something!" Fluttershy whimpered. Applejack stared at the fight in shock while Pinkie was watching the fight and eating popcorn, from somewhere.
Twilight performed her freezing spell on the two struggling mares. Both Rainbow Dash and Rarity lay rigid on the ground. Spike's body hit the ground with a dull thud and everyone winced at the sound.
"Um, sugarcube, sure that was a good idea? You, let old Spike hit the ground." Applejack said nervously to Twilight.
"You know, for as lady like as Rarity acts, I bet she would have won if we had let the fight continue." Pinkie mentioned. Applejack gave her a stern stare which Pinkie answered with a shrug.
"Not like we should have let it gone on!" Pinkie added quickly. Applejack just shook her head and looked at Spike's limp body.
"Great, now we have two ponies and a dragon to carry around!" Applejack said exasperated.
"Don't worry Applejack; I can have a spell carry Rainbow and Rarity. But, you mind carrying Spike?" Twilight pleaded.
Applejack nearly let out a moan and tried to find a way to get Spike's body on her back.
"Pinkie, do something useful and put this dead weight on my back." Applejack asked Pinkie after many failed attempts on trying to get Spike on her back.
It didn't take long for Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie to carry there three friends to the local hospital.
"Pinkie, your parties seem to be getting rough these days." said the intern, taking a glance at the three new patients.
"Oh come on! It's not my fault they get in a fight." Pinkie said in disbelief.
"Seems all three of them are frozen, did the white unicorn try freezing the other two or something?" questioned the intern, she gave Twilight an analyzing stare. Twilight looked nervous at this and Fluttershy stepped in.
"I guess so, we found them lying near the front door." Fluttershy lied simply. The other's tried to hide their surprise at Fluttershy's lie and tried to go along with it.
After the intern assigned Rainbow, Rarity and Spike into their different rooms, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie, and Twilight made their way back home.
"Quick thinking there Fluttershy, I thought are gooses were cooked!" Applejack said. Fluttershy shielded her face with her mane as this remark.
"Well, see you tomorrow girls." Twilight called out to her friends. The others said there farewells and also headed back home.


Tick, Twilight has sent me a letter saying that Spike had a break down. Please see if Spike is doing alright.
From, 

Celestia

Tick was reading Celestia's letter multiple times over. The more he read, the more he felt responsible for what happened to Spike. Tick eyes glowed blue and a portal appeared in the room. It was purple, like the color of a button on Spike’s watch.
"Hope he didn't lose that watch yet" Tick mumbled to himself.
Without further ado, Tick was sucked into the portal. Back at the hospital Spike's pocket watch was sparking angrily without his notice. It grew so hot it started to burn Spike's hand.

A/N
This chapter is longer than usual, but with reason. I believe every story needs a good twist every now and then. Also I wanted to show in a little more detail of how Spike was slowly losing faith and the power to move on. The One Who Reads Too Much has spent his time on proof reading my work and I appreciate it deeply.
	
> Second Thoughts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike was out in a lovely field filled with flowers and the moonlight illuminating the field with its faint glow. It was a beautiful sight, but not as beautiful as the sight of Spike's crush, Rarity. The moon light was reflecting off her elegant white fur and made her purple mane shine. Spike couldn't help but appreciate Luna's handy work a little more while staring fixedly at Rarity.
"Oh Spikey, you're so charming and strong." Rarity said seductively to Spike.
"Rarity, I have wanted to tell you for the longest…I love-"Spike started to say to Rarity in a low whisper when Rarity transformed into Rainbow Dash.
At first, Spike was caught off guard by Rarity turning into Rainbow. But he realized that the sudden change in mares really didn't bother him. In fact, he felt more comfortable with Rainbow around then Rarity.
"Yes Spike?" Rainbow said with a twinkle in her eye.
As Spike was moving in for "the move" his hand started to burn badly. He tried to dismiss the pain, but it was only getting worse, the purple scales on his hand were getting burnt and black. He started to faintly hear a hissing sound which worried him. As he looked up from his hand, Twilight and Pinkie had taken the place of Rainbow Dash.

"Oh Spike, you are so crazy!" giggled Pinkie.
"Wonder how long it's going to take him to notice his hand is really burning…" Twilight asked Pinkie.
"Don't tell him that! It's more fun to see him catch on by himself." Pinkie stated.

Spike woke up in his hospital bed with pain growing ever worse in his hand. The pocket watch was so hot it turned a blinding white color. Spike yelled in horror at the sight of his mangled hand. He threw the watch across the room and tried to cool off his hand by blowing on it. The pocket watch's lid popped open and a purple beam shot from the face of the watch. The purple beam shot to the roof of the room and started to form a large portal.
Tick fell from the portal and landed on the floor with perfect form. Spike was annoyed with Tick's landing as he himself always landed on his face after traveling through the portal that Tick kicked him through. Spike stared open mouthed at the sight of Tick in shock. However, Spike started to feel angry and nervous as Tick's appearance in his room started to sink in. Was he here to strip him of his duties or punish him for not being able to handle being Tick's assistant.
"Well Spike, how you holding up?" Tick asked Spike.
"Aren't you here to punish me?" blurted out Spike. Spike felt terribly cold and clammy as he said this.
"Punish you? Please Spike, why punish you when few creatures can sit down and watch the death of friends on a daily basis. You have feelings and entitled to feel sorrow and all the things that go along with having feelings." Tick said matter-of-factly.

"Then why let me do this? Can't you see I have fallen apart with knowing how my friends will die?" Spike lashed out angrily. He felt betrayed that Tick knew Spike would crack and not bother to warn him about it.
"Let's agree to disagree…" Tick said with controlled anger. Spike felt like he stepped on the toes of a large dragon and regretted his outburst now.
"You claim, that I have not warned you that this task is not for faint of heart Spike. Which you and I both know, is a complete lie. Do not blame me for things that I told you would unfold." Tick said with his voice rising with every word, Spike cringed ever time Tick raised his voice.
"I didn't…" Spike mumbled but was quickly cut off by Tick.
"Yes, I know Spike. You felt that it wouldn't be so bad and that you could handle this. Evidently, you were wrong." Tick simply. Spike let his head drop down in shame.
"Anywho, I am not here to chew you out. In fact, I came here to offer some support." Tick said with his usual happy tone.
"Help me? How so Tick?" Spike asked skeptically.
"If you like, I will go back in time now and take the watch from you. You no longer need to suffer the strain of knowing the downfall of your friends." Tick offered.
Spike was about to say yes but stopped himself just short. He wanted to say yes but at the same time it felt like he was admitting defeat, which didn't sit well with him.
"Let me finish up the research and from there I'll think about it." Spike finally answered.
"You're really determined to see this through aren't you?" Tick said with a raised eye brow.
"Yes, I started this and I will stick through it!" Spike said with some regained confidence.
"Very well, when the time comes I'll ask again. Have you told your friends of the job I am making you do?" Tick said.
"No, not even Twilight knows. Why you ask?" Spike asked with curiosity building inside him.
"I fear your friends will use your new given abilities for their own benefits, which isn't the purpose for Time Smith's. We analyze and write down information on the process of history and what is yet to come." Tick simply.
"My friends would never take advantage of me!" Spike said in shock. Why would Tick even think of such a thing?

"You say that now, but you fail to realize that many creatures grow greedy with this kind of power. You can alter and stop time at whim. Name one friend who wouldn't be interested in having that watch right now." Tick retorted.
"Well, Twilight wouldn't…no how about Rarity…that wouldn't work either….nor will Applejack." Spike said with slow realization. Now that he thought about it, his friends would use the power of time to be ahead of their jobs and help themselves get ahead in life.
"See? Not so easy is it now Spike?" Tick said with a smile on his face. He knew he had Spike on the ropes.
"Okay, you got me." Spike confessed.
"Very good, I think that settles that. Before I go Spike, how many of your friends futures have you looked into?" Tick asked.
"Well, I got Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie." Spike said while ticking off the names with his fingers.
"Three then I take it. Well, it's been barely a week. To be fair, you’re moving through this quicker than I expected Spike for I thought you would have only have done one or two at best." Tick said in surprise.
"Low standards don't you think?" Spike asked dully. He was surprised that Tick was happy at the speed Spike was working at while Spike felt he was taking too long to complete his job.
"Considering you're giving this a lot of effort while assisting others when they need your help is remarkable." Tick said trying to compliment Spike.
Spike smiled so wide, he hadn't smiled like this in weeks. But Spike's worries resurfaced when he saw his burnt hand.
"Know how to patch my hand up Tick?" Spike pleaded with Tick, raising his burnt hand to Tick's eye level.
Tick's horn glowed and had the tip of it touch Spike's hand, instantly mending his burnt claws and scales.
"I am no doctor but that should suffice." Tick shrugged.
"I feel better than ever! Thanks Tick!" Spike said with great relief, he started flexing his burn free claws.
"I should really get going. Fare well Spike and if you need me, send me a letter." Tick said with his usual cheery voice.
"Wait, how am I supposed to pull that off?" Spike asked with an extremely confused look on his face.
"Have you learned how to manifest the watch's magic on your hands?" Tick asked.
"Yeah, how's that supposed to help?" Spike said with greater confusion.
"Do I have to paint a picture Spike?" Tick said hotly. Spike knew Tick's patience was thin.
"Might help now that you mention it." Spike said with a giggle. Tick gave Spike a gaze that felt like it penetrated his very soul, which sent chills up Spike's spine.
"Okay fine, sheesh Tick, can't you see I was just pulling your hoof?" mumbled Spike.
"In my line of work, growing a sense of humor was not on the needed skills list." Tick retorted shrewdly.
A blue portal ripped through the wall across Spike's bed. Tick walked up to it and plunged his head deep within the portal and soon his entire body was sucked in. A nurse came rushing into the room with her hair slightly frizzled. She looked like she needed a good night's rest, considering how dark her eyelids were.
“What’s all the noise?!" The nurse whined shrilly.
"How am I supposed to know? I was asleep." Spike said dully. He wasn't in the mood to get in an argument with a nurse who looked cranky and slightly paranoid.
"Don't give me that attitude! Go to sleep!" lashed out the nurse. Spike raised his eyebrow at her and yawned. Spike's yawning only made her get angrier than before, which seemed impossible at this point.
"Sleep, with you screeching like a bat? Only a really boned headed pony can sleep through that." Spike answered back in a calm voice.
The mare nurse seemed to grow fed up with Spike's comments because she shortly stormed away from his room, muttering nasty things about him as she trotted away. Spike didn't feel the slightest bit guilty about how he treated the nurse because she seemed to be looking for trouble anyway. He got off from his bed and walked to the pocket watch that was on the floor across the room. The watch read it was around sun rise.
"You got to be kidding me." Spike growled out loud to himself. Twilight didn't even have him waking up this early.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Spike grew nervous and shoved the pocket watch underneath his pillow frantically.
"Is it alright if I come in?" said a familiar voice from behind the door, which Spike recognized as Fluttershy.
"Yeah sure, come right in." called Spike from his bed.
Fluttershy pushed open the door and flew over to his bedside.
"Oh dear, you okay Spike? Is there anything I can get you?" Fluttershy asked in her usual quiet voice.
"Fantastic, I feel better than ever!" Spike said with a grin. "If you can Fluttershy, can you get me a glass of water or something? My throat is pretty dry." Spike added after a few moments of thought.
Fluttershy left his room to fetch him his water. Quickly, Spike shoved his claw under his pillow and tried to fish out his watch. Once he found it, Spike froze time. This is great news, all Spike had to do was manifest the watch's magic on his claws and grab the cup while Fluttershy had a hoof on it. Having time continue, Spike started to manifest the watch's magic on his claws, but Fluttershy came into the room earlier than expected. As soon as his concentration was diverted to Fluttershy's early arrival, the magic vanished from his claws. Spike couldn't believe his horrible luck when suddenly, an idea hit him.
"Hey Fluttershy, you have any idea how to fix a watch?" Spike said in a pleading voice, hoping to sound as realistic as possible.
"Well…." Fluttershy mumbled. She was turning Spike's pocket watch over on her hooves trying to figure out what went wrong with it. "I really can't help much there Spike. Animals are more up my alley." Fluttershy said in a sad voice. Spike felt guilty for making Fluttershy upset and quickly tried to change the subject.
"So, Fluttershy what happen after Twilight froze me?" Spike asked Fluttershy. For a moment it seemed like Fluttershy was going to cry, but she regained her composure.
"Rarity and Rainbow got in a fight…" Fluttershy finally said in a low and shaky voice. Spike regretted even asking the question now that he knew this.
"Are they alright?" Spike asked anxiously.
"There here…." Fluttershy said in a faint whisper. She let out a sob and covered her face in her mane. Spike was caught off guard by Fluttershy's crying and wasn't sure what he could do. Slowly, Spike moved some of Fluttershy's mane away from her face and he was able to see she was crying which led to her eyes becoming red.
"What's bothering you Fluttershy? Want to talk about it?" Spike offered. Fluttershy placed her head on Spike's shoulders and sobbed deeply.
"I don't want to bother you Spike. You been through a lot already and I don't want to worry you more." Fluttershy said in between sobs.
Seeing Fluttershy cry was probably the most upsetting and sad thing Spike had ever had to witness. He couldn't stand to see her like this. Spike pushed away Fluttershy's head away from his shoulders and whipped away her tears from her eye lashes and face. 
"Trust me Fluttershy, you can never bother me in the slightest." Spike said with a friendly smile. Fluttershy giggled at his remark and she let a smile out as well.
"Why are we growing apart?" Fluttershy finally asked.
"What do you mean?" Spike said in surprise.
"Rarity and I barely go on our usual spa dates, and when we do she usually leaves half way through because she says she has to make dresses for a client. I also barely see Applejack out of the farm anymore either, she is always bucking trees and looking more tired every day. Rainbow Dash is so busy with weather patrol these days too. If you don't see her attending to the skies she'll be practicing her flying moves." Fluttershy confessed.
"What are you talking about? Back at Pinkie's party you all were having fun." Spike reminded her.
"True, but that was only for the moment. Right after we said hi to each other Rarity went off to talk to a group of local designers while Applejack was busy talking about the farm to Twilight. Rainbow wandered off somewhere while Pinkie was busy trying to entertain a crowd and it was just me on my own…" Fluttershy carried on.
Spike felt a pinch of guilt in his heart when Fluttershy mentioned Rainbow Dash; she had been comforting him while she was supposedly wandering about.
"Fluttershy, everything is going to be just fine…" Spike said when Fluttershy interrupted him.
"How do you know Spike? For all we know, it can get worse." Fluttershy groaned.
"Now come on Fluttershy, be a little more optimistic. No point thinking nothing will get better." Spike stated.
For a moment, Fluttershy just stared at Spike with her great big blue eyes. She suddenly hugged him hard and held on.
"Spike, thanks for listening…" Fluttershy gushed with joy.
"Hey that's what friends are for." Spike said happily.
Fluttershy let go of Spike and kissed him right on the cheek. She blushed at her action and, without a word, left the room quickly. Spike sat on his bed in shock, he was also blushing. After a few moments, Spike remembered to check if the watch was set to Fluttershy's time line. Yep, the usual purple button turned yellow. Spike was determined to see if Fluttershy's past linked together on how Rainbow Dash discovered her in Ponyville. The usual crushing feeling returned to Spike's body when he traveled to her past. After it stopped, Spike took a look around his new surroundings. He was stationed at the Apple's farm. Spike sat on a fence and decided to watch the events from there. Soon, Rainbow Dash and Granny Smith came walking up to the farm.
"Big Mac, mind grabbing' the young girl from the woods? Tis here Pegasus is her friend and is here ter…do what again?" Granny asked Rainbow.
"Bring her back up to Cloudsdale." Rainbow said.
"Well, you heard her. Get a move on Mac." Granny said waving off the younger Big Macintosh.
"How am I supposed to know where she is in them woods?" Big Mac asked defensively.
"Simple, you are always trying to talk ter her when she comes round. And don't act like yew doesn't walk her back ter dem woods." Granny said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Big Mac simply walked off to the woods without another word. Spike couldn't help but smile about all this. As Big Mac returned with the younger Fluttershy, Rainbow was running up to greet Fluttershy.
"How did you survive the fall?" Rainbow Dash said in awe and surprise.
"Butterflies saved me." Fluttershy answered proudly.
"How does that even… What matters is that you're okay! We have to get you back up to Cloudsdale! Everypony is worried out of their minds for you." Rainbow said with a smile on her face. Fluttershy tried to return the gesture but she couldn't manage it.
"What's up?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't want to go back." Fluttershy managed to say.
"What do you mean? Cloudsdale is your home! You can't just walk away from it!" Rainbow said in shock.
“I know, but I am happier here. I don't have to worry about being a good flier anymore. Also, everything is better here. The flowers are so pretty and the animals understand me and are nicer to me than most people are to me at back at Cloudsdale." Fluttershy said with a twinkle in her eye.
"I guess I can't force you to come back can I?" Rainbow asked Fluttershy.
"I guess so." Fluttershy said sadly.
"Well, I need to come down here more often in that case." Rainbow said happily.
"You would do that for me?" wondered Fluttershy.
"Of course I would!" Rainbow exclaimed.
As the two friends happily chatted, Spike started fiddling with the pocket watch absent mindedly. It seems like Rainbow's and Fluttershy's past mixed rather tightly to Spike. However, as heartwarming this reunion was Spike had the familiar feeling of dread lunged at him again. Yet again, he would have to sit through another friend's death and at least this time around he felt more prepared for it. With a little hesitation, Spike turned the hands clockwise until it stopped. Spike was surprised to see that the hands took some time to stop turning and took it that Fluttershy was going to live a nice long life, like Twilight.
At first, it seemed like Spike was back at Twilights ceremony. There were many pony's sitting on chairs and they were all looking at a large coffin, that probably held Fluttershy. Spike surveyed the crowd and noticed that Applejack was the only pony remaining in the Elements of Harmony. The future Spike, whose head was poking in through a window do to how large he had gotten through the years, was also present at the funeral. Sitting near the older Applejack, who really started to looks a lot more like Granny Smith at this point, was Big Mac accompanied with probably what was his children and grandkids and Applebloom wasn't far away either. There was something odd though about one of Mac's kids, one of them had a pink mane like Fluttershy.
"We are gathered here today…" A priest started to say.
Spike wasn't really interested in listening to all this, he was there for the bottom line information and nothing else. Another reason why Spike wasn't all that excited to hear the priest chatter was that he wanted to end this a quick as possible and the less he had to look at Fluttershy's peaceful, dead, old face the better. The last thing he wanted was the start having nightmares about her old withering face.
"Fluttershy died of natural causes and was ninety-three when she passed away." The priest rambled on. Spike wasn't all that surprised to hear that. Fluttershy always looked like she defied age in the other's futures. Maybe her age defying ability was due to her leading a laid back life style.
"She was married to Big Macintosh and had three children together. She was the grandmother of four grandchildren as well." The priest stated.
Spike couldn't help but smile at this piece of information. He knew that Macintosh had a thing for Fluttershy when they were kids and they really complemented each other well if you thought about it. They were the perfect couple and Spike felt happy that they got together. Retreating back to his pocket watch, Spike moved the hands of time back to their original position before he started time traveling into Fluttershy's time line.
As time progressed around him Spike felt happier than usual. The futures of his other friends always left him in a bad and depressed mood and for once there was one future that made him happy for a change. Even in death, Fluttershy seemed to make things a lot nicer and less harsh then they usually were. The only thing that could bring down Spike's new found happiness was that he was still in a hospital room and the angry nurse from before started hollering at him again.
"Hey, has your breakfast come up yet?" nagged the nurse.
"Let me see…my stomach is growling at me. So no, I have not eaten breakfast yet." Spike answered sarcastically.
The nurse inspected Spike's physical health for a while. She was staring at his face, which started to freak Spike out, after she was done seeing if Spike was physically fit.
"Why are you smiling, you're in a hospital. There's nothing to smile about here." The nurse loathingly stated.
"Sure there something to smile about and you know what it is?" Spike asked happily.
"What is it?" asked the nurse.
"I am happy I'm not you!" Spike said enthusiastically.
	
> Heart Breaker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tick was back at his office, leafing through the pages of "The Legend of Discord, The Spirit of Chaos". The familiar blank section of the book made its appearance. But there was a change, words started to become scribbled onto the book. For a moment, Tick dismissed this, but the words being written were concerning him.
"He broke free from his statue prison once the power of friendship and unity that kept Discord in check became so frail that he was more than able to break free. The wielders of The Elements of Harmony could not resolve their differences, for some had feelings for a creature that disrupted their friendship. While others said things to each other that cannot be forgotten easily."
The return of Discord seemed evident since Tick doubted friendship can last even after death. Tick wasn't all that sure who could be able to make the mane six turn on each other. Spike was for too busy juggling his duties and the task Tick set for him, so the possibility of Spike being the cause was slim. Perhaps this creature was a love interest of sorts? Whoever this being was, the consequences for its actions had to be nullified as soon as possible. For as much as Tick thought Discords sense of humor was actually funny to him, the issues that came with Discord manipulating the world outbalanced the comedy that came from it. Grabbing a roll of parchment and a quill, Tick started to notify Celestia that the return of Discord could be at hand.

--

Spike woke up terrified. He felt like someone dipped him in freezing water and tried to warm himself up with his green fire, which emitted from his mouth. The dream felt so vivid that Spike was surprised it wasn't actually happening. Discord was on a rampage and had placed Spike in a large hourglass. No one came to save Spike from his suffocating death and the dream was reaching the point where the sand started to crush his very chest, giving him the feeling that his lungs would explode if he didn't find a way to escape. Just as the sand started to go over Spike's eyes he woke up.
Taking a look around his surroundings, Spike was disappointed to see that he was still in the hospital. Today was going to mark the second day that he has been stuck in this place. Applejack and Pinkie had come to visit him later in the day yesterday. They were very pleasant and kept Spike in good spirits until AJ started to worry constantly about the farm and wondering if Mac was slacking off. At this point, Applejack became more of a nuisance then anything. Even Pinkie, who always smiled, started to frown at the actions of Applejack.
"Applejack, we came here to cheer up Spike. Not to cheer up a farm." Pinkie said airily.
"Whatcha' tryin to say Pinkie is that I don't care for Spike?" Applejack bit back spitefully.
"No! Not at all! It's just that all you talk about is the farm these days." Pinkie replied, dropping the peppiness in her voice.
"Not my fault that I actually have to work!" Applejack said angrily. She bit her lip as she said this because Pinkie's eyes started to water and her hair deflated, almost like a balloon.

"Pinkie, you know I didn't mean to-"Applejack started to say but was cut off when Pinkie ran from the room.
"Pinkie, come back! Please…." Applejack pleadingly called out to Pinkie. A distant sob answered her.
"Do you think I was too rough with her?" Applejack asked Spike anxiously.
"You made her cry Applejack. Shouldn't be too hard to piece it all together you know." Spike said sadly.
"But it's been so hard at the farm lately!" bawled Applejack. The strong earth pony covered her face with her hat and started to cry.
Spike was taken off guard by this. Applejack was always tough and mellow in life. For him see AJ vulnerable was near impossible. Yet here she was, crying loudly in front of him. It became evident to Spike over the last few days that he wasn't the only one going through tough times.
"Want to talk about it?" Spike offered.
"My brother….he barely finishes his chores anymore. I had to take over for his and still do my own while still doing it all on time. At first, it wasn't too bad. But after a week of his nonsense, I couldn't do it anymore." Applejack admitted in a muffled voice, her face still hidden behind her hat.
"What do you mean by not being able to do it anymore?" Spike asked.
"You see, I um…" Applejack started to say but stopped herself short.
"Come on Applejack, no use in hiding it anymore." Spike coaxed.
"I passed out. There I said it!" Applejack moaned into her hat. She started crying heavily again as she admitted that even she can't bare the strain of doing double duty. Spike felt sympathetic for her after all he was in the same situation like her.
"Same thing happened to me AJ. I had a break down but look at me! I am happier than most of the people who are outside this place." Spike said with a grin.
Applejack poked her head over her hat and stared at Spike with her green eyes. She was also grinning and Spike was satisfied to see AJ being truly happy, instead of just smiling to have no one suspect something's going wrong.
"You really know how to make people feel better Spike." Applejack said softly.
"I think I been hanging around this hospital too much. I probably can become a therapist after I leave this place." Spike joked.
Applejack let out a chuckle at his remark.
"Well Spike, I really need to go find Pinkie. I owe her an apology." Applejack said as she made her way to the door.
"That you do. Oh, mind asking Twilight if she can visit me? I feel like she's avoiding me these days." Spike asked, trying hard not to show his disappointment in the lack of Twilight's visit.
"Sure thing champ, I'll try to come by and check on ya tomorrow." Applejack said before disappearing behind the door.

There was only one thing Spike regretted about his encounter with AJ yesterday. He didn't not find a way to have the watch's magic come in contact with her. There was still a chance for him to pull it off, when he got back in shape, when he has to help her around the farm. But that moment seemed so far away and Spike was really beating himself up about not being able to capitalize on Applejack's presence. Twilight's absence was really starting to drag on him though. She always seemed to be his guide around life and yet, when he really needed her most, Twilight was nowhere to be seen. However none of these really worried him as much as his nightmare about Discord. It wasn't that he never had nightmares of Discord before, for he had once envisioned Discord having him run through Ponyville with a skirt on, but it was the fashion that Discord dealt with him this time around. Discord was more into making people suffer for his entertainment but not to the point of death. As Spike was trying to calm himself down, the angry nurse made her way to Spike's room.
"You're free to go." The nurse announced.
"You're kidding." Spike said in disbelief.
"I have one less patient to deal with. Which means my life is easier. Less to worry about makes me less angry." replied the nurse.
"Somepony must be really bugging you then?" Spike asked.
"Now you mention it, yes. It's that purple manned unicorn that was brought along with you and the sky blue Pegasus. If I recall correctly their names are Rainbow Dash and Rarity." answered the nurse after a few moments of thought.
"Wait, you're telling me there in this hospital?" Spike asked wide eyed.
"There is no other hospital in Ponyville. Where else would they have gone?" countered the nurse.
"Wow, thanks for making me feel dumb." Spike said angrily.
"Remarkable, is it possible to feel even dumber than what you previously were?" asked the nurse dryly.
"This is for yesterday isn't it?" Spike said in a low voice.
"Maybe it is and maybe it isn't." said the nurse mischievously.
"Mind telling what rooms Rainbow Dash and Rarity are in? I want to pay them a visit." Spike said anxiously. This nurse was the last person he wanted to ask for directions but she had decent knowledge on Rainbow and Rarity already.
"Room 342 is where Rainbow Dash is and Rarity is in 343. I advise you stay away from Rarity though. She is such a nag since she woke up. The other nurses refuse to watch over her and I got stuck with her." finished the nurse with a groan.
Spike can see why the nurse wasn't all that excited to be watching over Rarity. For as beautiful and nice as she was it seemed her dedication to her extravagant standards overshadowed the positives in her and made it seem like Rarity was just unbearable. As he left his room, Spike noticed he was on the third floor. His room number was 329 which meant Rainbow Dash's and Rarity's rooms weren't far away. The hallway Spike was currently walking through was starting to freak him out. It seemed like the walls were growing ever closer, giving Spike the feeling of claustrophobia. And with the nonstop coughing of sick ponies everywhere, Spike was wondering if a hospitals true purpose was to make people feel miserable rather than better.
What took about a few minutes was starting to feel like a slow and painful death march for Spike. With every cough Spike twitched nervously. The last thing he wanted was to get really sick with some incurable disease of some sort. At last, rooms 343 and 342 came into Spike's view. As Spike was going to open the door to Rainbow's room, Spike felt odd. Was he going to visit the pony he had a crush on first or visit the Pegasus who actually was concerned about him? Absent mindedly, Spike grabbed his pocket watch and started to fiddle with some buttons on it. Then it hit Spike, he was going to visit Rarity first since he hadn't looked into her future and past yet. However there was another reason why Spike had made the choice of visiting Rarity first. He wanted to desperately find out if he had a chance of being together with Rarity in the future. Even he tried to lie to himself about his hidden desire, but he could barely do it.
Peering in Rarity's room, Spike was surprised how fancy her room was. The usual hospital bed and frame were replaced with elegant frames and a very comfy mattress. Even the walls of the room, previously white, had been painted to a dark blue. For a moment, Spike felt slightly jealous of how nice Rarity's room was but realized how pointless it was to have a room redecorated when she would only be spending a few days in there anyway.
"Spike, is that you?" asked an elegant voice.
"Yes, the one and only Spike." He answered.
"Such a dreadful place isn't it? So drab and lifeless, the very walls themselves weep of dull." complained Rarity.
Spike wasn't really paying attention to Rarity's whining. He was more worried that he really never thought on how he would manage to make the watch's magic make contact with Rarity. Referring back to his old habit, Spike drew out his pocket watch again and began to fiddle around with it. Rarity's eyes sparkled wide at the sight of Spike's watch.
"That pocket watch is just marvelous Spike! Where did you get it from? I simply must know!" Rarity said with excitement.
"Oh, um a friend gave it to me." Spike said, obviously surprised by Rarity's interest in the watch.
"That's a very good friend you have their Spike. The engravings are truly fascinating….mind if I hold it?" Rarity asked, trying desperately to hide the envy in her voice.
Spike nervously fidgeted with the watch. The conversation with Tick about his friends taking advantage of him was still fresh on his mind. However, Spike knew this was the perfect opening for having the pocket watches magic register Rarity. Throwing caution in the wind, Spike handed Rarity the pocket watch. She admired it with a large smile Spike had a feeling he would never be able to get the watch back from her. The look in her eye didn't make Spike feel much better about this situation; her eyes stared at the watch with deep admiration.
"Mind if I have it back?" Spike asked after a few minutes.
"Oh yes, of course." Rarity said, trying to hide her disappointment of letting go of the watch.
Spike tried to pry the watch from Rarity's hooves but for a moment she refused to let go. Taking advantage of this struggle, Spike tried to manifest the watch's magic to its surface while Rarity was still grabbing on it tightly. Just was the watch's surface started to glow blue Rarity finally relinquished her hold on the watch. Spike looked at the usual purple button and was content to see that it turned white, like Rarity's fur.
"I am so sorry Spike! I couldn't control myself." Rarity blurted out anxiously.
Spike just shrugged and decided that was enough of seeing Rarity. As he went for the door Rarity tried to say something but he didn't hear her and left the room without looking back. Without much hesitation, Spike turned that hands of time clockwise and pressed on the white button. The usual crushing sensation was replaced with the flashing of cameras and the chatter of ponies. As the flashes and chatter halted Spike noticed he was in a large runway. Rarity and another mare, who had sunglasses on and her cutie mark was a rose, were talking on the stage and Spike decided to tune in on the conversation.
"My word, such wonderful jewels and they're so much finer than the ones I ever find. Please tell me where you get them from Rarity!" begged a designer.
"Darling, you must realize that a friend of mine has helped me gather these wonderful gems and it's his talent alone that lets me have these on my dresses." Rarity said happily.
"Ah yes, the purple dragon is your little miner isn't he?" the designer asked.
"How do you know of Spike?" Rarity asked in surprise.
"I know people." The designer answered simply
"Also, you friend must be spending a rather large amount of his time collecting all these gems." The designer said with a smirk.
"I..." Rarity started to retort when she stopped herself. The mare designer had a point, Spike found a large amount of gems even when Rarity told him to collect some on short notice.
"My point exactly, even you have no idea how he does it." The designer pressured on.
"Also, you have been dating that famous designer, Ringo Tailor, for some time now. Told your little assistant about this yet?" the designer asked with a devious smile.
Spike felt angry and a little used by the details of this conversation. So, Tick was right all along in that his friends would probably abuse his ability on time control and travel. This is what he gets for putting faith in his friends, being used for their benefit. Sparks of green fire erupted out of the corners of Spike's mouth. He had never been more annoyed and betrayed in his life. The pony that he had a crush on taking advantage of him and the more he thought about this the more fire erupted from his mouth. Her lavish purple mane, large eyelashes, fine fur and enchanting voice were no longer things that Spike viewed at awe, rather in disgust.
All the rage and grief that was born made Spike feel sick to his stomach Felling broken hearted, Spike returned to his old habit of fiddling with the pocket watch. While he was playing around with his watch a battle was engaged between the newfound hatred in Spike and his rational thoughts.
"She was only using you like a puppet!" hollered the dark side of Spike's mind.
"You saw for yourself, she knew nothing of your time defying abilities until someone brought it up." countered the nicer side of Spike's mind.
"Further reason why you should forget of her! She didn't care how you pulled it off! All that mattered to her was that you got the best gems!" The dark side hissed in a harsh voice.
"Think of what you're doing Spike!" The other voice pleaded desperately.
"You be surprised what people do when there angry, you little nag. Also, Rarity is more concerned for herself than others. She will only lend something to someone so that they look "presentable" when she introduces her friends to famous designer or parties in which famous designers will be." The dark side noted.
“That’s a lie! She tries to please others even if it causes her enormous stress! Remember when she made those lovely dresses for her friends for the Gala and took the time to make dresses the girls wanted.” The other voice said in a scandalized tone.
Spike let the fire in his mouth die out after much consideration. Turning the hands of time further until they stopped Spike for once could say he was actually looking forward to see someone die, especially if it was her. Rarity was lying down on her bed, her face buried in a pillow. This scene reminded Spike of Pinkie's death. She didn't just drop dead because she felt like it, there was something else going on. Turning the hands of time slightly back, he wasn't really sure if he was going to enjoy this or feel sad like usual.
Rarity was flirting up a storm with a colt in her shop. Spike wasn't really in the mood for this but knew this guy had something to do with Rarity's downfall. Eventually the two love birds made their way back up to where Rarity was to be shorty found dead in. The colt and Rarity were drinking when they started to talk again. The two instantly got into a heated discussion about clothing and a child. The colt got up and tried to leave but Rarity wasn't going to let up. He tried to get around her but she blocked the door way. Without warning, the colt kicked Rarity right in the stomach, she screamed in agony and hit the floor, and he ran out the door. She crawled feebly to the bed and moved no more. Spike found himself back to where he was, seeing a dead Rarity on the bed. None of this added up but a cracking sound broke Spike's train of thought. Fire was starting to chew away at the door to Rarity's room. Feeling helpless, all he could do was sit back and watch the mayhem unfold. The fire worked its way past the doors and soon started to consume the room in its wake. He couldn't watch anymore but Rarity's screaming in the back round was slowly eating at his sanity. Not wanting to see nor hear anymore, Spike left the boutique and watched the place burn down. Standing at a close distance was the same colt that kicked Rarity, who was staring fixedly at the inferno.
"It's been done boss." said an orange colt.
"Very good, left no evidence behind?" asked the Rarity's attacker, who was had tanned skin and had a fancy bowtie for a cutie mark.
"I have been doing this for a long time, do not worry over that. One thing I must ask though. Wasn't the young mare baring a foal?" asked the orange colt nervously.
"It doesn't matter anymore. If you don't mind Horace, my wife is waiting for me back at Canterlot. I will see you tomorrow then?" said the tanned colt hotly.
"Yes, I'll be back at work as usual Ringo." answered Horace.
Spike could hardly take in what just happened. Rarity was being used by Ringo, who apparently was married at some point in his relationship with Rarity, and he had to get rid of her because Rarity was probably having his baby. Ringo tried to cover up his infidelities from his wife and Rarity's death seemed to be the only option left.
"Talk about being used…" Spike muttered to himself.
Spike knew Rarity's past was up next, but the thing was that Rarity had already gone in depth about her achievements in her youth. Why bother going to her past when he knew a good amount of it already? Taking out a quill and scroll, Spike started to write down Rarity's quest for cutie mark and how she found her love for fashion. After he was done Spike let time progress in its usual state. After manifesting the watch's magic in his hands, for a moment Spike forgot how to send letter directly to Tick. Then Spike brought his hand near his mouth and breathed in the blue magic as if it was air. The insides of Spikes nose burned and he let out a great sneeze. The usual green fire that Spike breathed was gone and replaced with a blue flame that consumed the letter he had just written. Spike was pretty impressed on how cool the blue fire was but the pain that went in his nose was not something he was willing to go through again.
Room 342 was calling to Spike now that he was done with Rarity's timeline. The chance to chat with Rainbow Dash seemed much more fun than trying to talk with Rarity, who only complained about that state of the hospital. Maybe being in this hospital wasn't so bad after all. As long as Spike had a chance to talk with her again he was more than willing to sit in a room filled with a hundred sick ponies coughing all over him.
	
> Make the Pains Go Away
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike was grasping the handle of the door for Rainbow Dash's hospital room. His heart was beating quicker than usual. The more he turned the handle the faster his heart pounded against his chest. By the time he had twisted the handle all the way, Spike felt that his heart might jump out his chest and go running down the hallway. Once Spike opened the door, he noticed that Rainbow was looking out the window in her room with a longing look on her face. Instantly, Spike knew she missed flying outside in the sky and hates the fact that she's stuck in this hospital. It seemed, though, that Spike's presence didn't go unnoticed, Rainbow Dash turned her head to his direction and instantly the bored look in her eye vanished.
"Spike, is that you?" Rainbow said in disbelief.
"Yep, it's me alright." Spike said with a grin.
"Oh good, I was starting to worry about you." Rainbow said.
Spike felt a little odd when Rainbow said this. But, he continued to keep the conversation going.
"So, how long you're going to stay here?" Spike asked.
"Don't remind me, not until later today or early tomorrow morning." Rainbow said, with a large frown.
"But, how did you get out of your room? The nurses around here refuse to let me even leave my bed. Heck, they even start to flip out when I just stretch my wings a bit." Rainbow said, with a tone of jealousy.
"Ha, it's not like I made a great escape from my room to get here, even though that would've been pretty cool. One of the nurses told me that I'm healthy and she doesn't think I need to stay here anymore." Spike said happily. 
He knew Rainbow would be jealous that he would be able to walk away from the hospital now while she had to sit here and wait, so Spike did his best in not trying to rub it in much.
"Wait, you can leave?" Rainbow said in surprise.
"Yeah, but I decided to drop by to see you and Rarity before I walked out. I think I seen enough of this hospital to last me a while." Spike said happily.
"Rarity huh, what's she nagging about this time?" Rainbow asked.
"Oh you know, whining about how dull the paint is here and such. She's so grumpy here, but hey, it is a hospital after all. However, Rainbow, you're holding up fine. In fact, you look happier than usual." Spike finished saying, raising an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow was unaware that she was smiling. Once Spike pointed it out, her face went back to normal. A nurse that came earlier today pointed out the same thing. The nurse seemed baffled that Rainbow was smiling when she was just sitting around in a hospital. As the nurse asked Rainbow what made her so happy she couldn't reply. Every time she thought of the tender moment she shared with Spike, Rainbow can't help but smile.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Rainbow said in a calm voice, trying desperately to have Spike not notice what the cause of her happiness was.
"Come on Rainbow, you can tell me." Spike coaxed.
Rainbow by now had her sheets held in front of her face, to avoid Spike's gaze. Spike pulled the sheets from her hooves and he looked right into her eyes, Spike's green emerald eyes met with her purple eyes. He grabbed her hooves and continued to stare deeply into her eyes.
"Want me to be honest, don't you?" Rainbow asked anxiously. Spike just nodded. With a great sigh Rainbow continued,
"Well, every time I think about what happened at the party I just can't help myself. It's weird I know, but that was really the only time I really got to sit down and talk with you." Rainbow finally said.
"And while I am being honest with myself, I was hoping you would pop by." Rainbow said in a whisper that was similar to Fluttershy's.
For a moment, Spike felt light headed. Here he was broken hearted not long ago and for Rainbow suddenly to say she was hoping to have him pop by was a huge shift. It felt like his heart was deflated and suddenly inflated with air again in a short space of time. Instead of air filling back up his heart though it was a mixture of adoring and…love. And unlike with his crush with Rarity, which seemed to be going nowhere anytime soon, the prospect of Rainbow even liking him back was an achievement.
"I had a dream about you yesterday." Spike confessed.
"Funny you mention that, so did I." Rainbow said with a laugh.
Spike joined in with Rainbow's laughing. The laughed until their bellies ached and their jaws were sore.
"So, what do we do from here?" Rainbow asked, trying to catch her breath.
"I really don't know. Can't really say we're just friends anymore can we?" Spike replied.
"I guess not. It's not like you dream about your friends every day in this kind of way." Rainbow said slowly. She wasn't sure if she should ask the definitive question, but it seemed like Spike was ahead of her.
"Are we…friends or closer?" Spike asked suddenly, he was trying to keep the nerves out of his voice with little luck.
"It would look kind of weird if you and I started going out together." Rainbow said. Spike let out a groan and Rainbow looked alarmed.
"I'm so sorry Spike! I didn't mean that you would be a bad boyfriend or anything like that! It's just that, don't you think it would look different?" Rainbow said guiltily.
"Oh don't worry about that. Truth be told, I am just so happy you even thought about it. I never got this lucky with Rarity, you and I know that." Spike said reassuringly.
"Can we still be friends?" Rainbow asked anxiously.
"Course we can, whatever gave you the idea we wouldn't be?" Spike asked with a wide grin.
"I should get going now; Twilight is probably having a fit right back at the library. See you around Rainbow?" Spike said.
"Hopefully, next time you see me it won't be in this place. Have a nice day Spike!" Rainbow called out to Spike as he left her room.
Having your heart squashed two times in a row would probably make your average creature fall apart, but not Spike. Instead of feeling upset and lonesome, Spike felt free and happy. He was no longer a prisoner in his own mind. Leaving the hospital, Spike felt like an entirely new dragon. Even with all this change in Spike's life, he still wanted to find out why Twilight didn't visit him at the hospital. As he walked to the front door of the hospital he saw the familiar nurse that had taken care of him while he was stuck in the hospital.
"I see you're doing fine. In fact, you still got that smile on your face." The nurse stated after giving Spike a quick scan with her eyes.
"Talked to my friends, they said by tomorrow morning they should be gone." Spike said simply.
"Do me a favor Spike, if you are ever to end up here again don't have Rarity come and visit. The last thing I need from her is another lecture about how dreadful I look in my uniform." The nurse asked, with a strain of anger in her voice.
"Don't worry about that. I am not a big fan of hers either anymore." Spike replied calmly.
The nurse gave Spike a rare smile and left him on his own. Spike walked out the hospitals front doors and immediately wind started to rush past his face. The first thing Spike noticed was that there were no walls surrounding him anymore. Everything looked more spacious to him and Spike had a feeling it was going to take a few days for him to get used to the outside again. Once Spike finally found his way back to the library, he noticed the library looked slightly run down. Spike knew Twilight heavily relied on him to keep the library in tip top shape, but he never realized how badly Twilight leaned on him though.
As Spike opened the front door, he heard an audible yelp and someone running from his view.
"Twilight, are you in here?" Spike called out into the dark library.
"Wait, is that you Spike?" a scared voice answered back from the darkness.
Growing annoyed with not knowing where Twilight's voice was coming from, Spike stumbled in the dark for a light switch. Just as Spike felt his way to the light switch Twilight magically turned the light switch on.
"I could have done it and I knew it was there." Spike said aloud.
"Oh I know, but you were taking too long." Twilight said happily.
Spike turned his head and saw that Twilight was near her bed, with a book on her back, and she looked very wild. Twilight's hair had lost its shine and was tangled up. As Spike was taking in the state of the library he grew more surprised. Some books weren't in their shelves, let alone in order, and covered in dust.
"This place looks great!" Spike said sarcastically.
"Oh hush Spike; I know this place has seen better days." Twilight snapped back angrily.
"I should be the one angry with you; after all you were the one who froze me. Anyway, happy you noticed Twilight. But if you knew this place needed a face lift, why haven't you been at least trying to keep it neat?" Spike demanded.
"About that, as you know I um never really kept this place tidy on my own before. And I froze you because I was worried you were going to do something dangerous." Twilight mumbled.
"Well don't worry Twilight; your number one assistant is back in action!" Spike said with enthusiasm, obviously not wanting to get into an argument with Twilight. "Now, where is that feather duster?" Spike wondered aloud.
It took some time for Spike and Twilight to clean up the library. The large abundance of books in the library was starting to prove as an issue.
"Finally, that shelf is in order!" Spike said in relief, placing the last book into the self.
"Hold up, found another stash of books near the kitchen table…" Twilight said sheepishly.
"More books! I was just done too!" whined Spike.
"Come on Spike, maybe if we are lucky this is the last set of books we have to put in order." Twilight said with a yawn.
"That's what you said three hours ago Twilight." Spike said spitefully.
Just as Spike and Twilight finally had the library back in order, there were a few knocks at the door. Spike stared at his aching claws and fumbled with the door knob for a while. When Spike managed to open the door, Applejack was standing there with a basket of apples harnessed to her back.
"Hey Spike, glad to see you're out of that hospital!" Applejack said happily.
"Yeah, I was starting to wonder if I would ever leave that place." Spike replied sourly. As he said this Twilight looked guilty and started to flick through the pages of a random book.
"Spike, not to sound pushy or anything but I was wondering if you can drop by the farm and help me with gathering up apples. Well, will you come along Spike?" Applejack asked.
"It seems you and Twilight were just hanging around anyway." Applejack added while looking in the library.
Spike glanced back into the library and noticed that Twilight was reading a book intently. This would be one of the few times Spike minded that Twilight was reading through a book. But, the damage was done and Spike knew if he rejected Applejack's request he would look rather inconsiderate.
"Yeah sure Applejack, I'll help out." Spike said with a fake smile. His ached horribly just thinking of what task Applejack might put them through.
"Excellent! Let's get a move on Spike, we're burnin' day light!" Applejack said with eagerness.
"Day light won't be the only thing burning today." Spike mumbled to his aching claws.
The walk to the library to Sweet Apple Acres was a painful one for Spike. His calf and feet burned with pain. Applejack, on the other hand, seemed to be holding up fine. In fact, she wasn't even sweating.
"How do you do it?" Spike moaned to Applejack.
"If ya walk on this road fer years on end ya'll get used to it." Applejack shrugged.
"Maybe I should walk more often then." Spike said jokingly. Applejack let out a giggle but stopped when she saw that Spike collapsed to the ground.
"Spike, ya okay?" Applejack said worriedly.
"Yes, just a little sore that's all." Spike groaned.
"Well, if you want ya'll can take a ride on my back." Applejack offered.
Spike staggered to his feet and tried to catch up with Applejack, but yet again he hit the ground with a dull thud. Admitting defeat wasn't going to be easy. However, at this rate Spike knew he would waste more energy getting to the farm then the energy he will blow off working there. Slowly, Spike made his way to Applejack and took a load off on her back while AJ continued to trot to the farm in the same speed as before. Secretly, Spike was slightly jealous of how strong Applejack was considering she was carrying a basket of apples and him on her back and she was still able to move up the hill with ease.
It only took a few minutes for AJ to get to Sweet Apple Acres once Spike decided to take a ride on her. As Spike slipped off Applejacks back, he noticed that there were several large baskets full of rotting apples. The sharp smell made Spikes nose twitch horribly, but it seemed Applejack was not bothered in the least by the scent.
"I see you already found the reason why I brought you here." Applejack said happily.
"A few baskets full of rotting apples? Oh joy, just what I wanted in life." Spike replied to Applejack sarcastically.
"Fairly simple, all you have to do is burn up these apples a little bit so I can use em as mulch." Applejack said, eyeing Spike now.
"Can't burn them into a crisp or have those becoming even squishier?" Spike asked Applejack.
"You got it. Now, after you're done I would like you to leave em in the basket. A friend of ours will drop by and scatter the mulch around the open plot of land Big Mac and I plowed out a few days ago." Applejack said.
"And maybe when we are all done with this I will treat thee both of ya to some "special" apple cider that's usually reserved for special occasions." Applejack added mischievously. She left Spike alone while she walked back into her house.
Spike grabbed a decayed apple and roasted it to the point of ashes. Feeling this was going to take longer than expected, Spike tested how hot his flames needed to be to roast the apples just right. After discovering the right temperature, Spike set off to work. As Spike worked his way to his third basket he was starting to wonder if this would ever end. The soft skin of the apples usually sliced open easily as Spike gripped an apple and by the time he worked his way to the third basket his claws looked like there were dipped in apple sauce. Daylight was nearly gone at this point and Spike knew that it was time to consult with his pocket watch again. Pausing time, Spike returned to his work of burning up apples. By the time he was done, Spike felt his throat was dry as a barren desert and his claws ached from grabbing apples. The promise of that "special" apple cider by Applejack sounded extremely appealing to Spike right about now.
After Spike let time commence, Applejack trotted back outside and was surprised to see all the baskets of decaying apples being replaced by baskets full of near liquefied apple mush.
"Gotta give credit when it's due and I must say Spike you did a good job. Even better, you did it in a short amount of time." Applejack said in a flattering voice.
"Thanks Applejack. Mind if I clean up? My hands are kind of covered in apple mush." Spike asked, showing his apple mush glazed hands.
"Go right ahead; wash up in the house while I bring out the cider. Shouldn't take long for our friend to spread out the mulch after all she is a fast worker." Applejack said in that same mischievous tone as before.
"Who is this pony anyway?" Spike asked.
"Oh, you'll see Spike." Applejack said, giving a wink to Spike as she said this.
For a moment, Spike felt like interrogating Applejack some more, but the mush covering his hands started to crust around his claws. After washing out his claws for what felt like ages, Spike walked into the kitchen of the house and saw Applejack chatting with Rainbow Dash. The sight of Rainbow nearly made Spikes jaw hit the ground. Applejack caught sight of Spike and waved him over to the table where she and Rainbow were sitting at.
"That crust is real pain to wipe off right?" Applejack asked Spike with a grin.
Spike stared at his claws for a moment. He tried to melt the crust off his claws but only achieved in making the crust feel like cement around his hand. Remembering the pain in tearing off the crust, Spike just winced and nodded with a groan.
"Yeah, I know how you feel. But, that's all behind us now and Rainbow finished spreading the mulch around so it's about time we start drinking this here cider!" Applejack said enthusiastically.
Applejack passed around a jug to Spike and Rainbow and poured in the cider in there jugs. For an added measure, Applejack threw in some cut up green apple slices in the cider and had a few cinnamon sticks in there as well. As Spike took his first sip of the "special" cider, he had a burning sensation growing his throat and a numbing feeling spread across his body. All the aches and pains were gone from his entire body. The cinnamon added a serious punch to the cider, which in Spikes opinion enhanced the taste and after effects of the cider. It wasn't long before Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Spike started to giggle at the slightest things.
"Applejack, what was in that cider?" Spike said in a drawl.
"What? Oh, well one of my cousins is into making moonshine and he mixes it with apple juice or in this case cider, and as you noticed, some apple slices and a few sticks of cinnamon." Applejack said with a slur. Just as Applejack finished her sentence, she laid her head on the table on started to snore.
"Spike, you look very handsome today." Rainbow said softly.
"I do try my best. Hey Rainbow I got to admit, you look very pretty as well." Spike said with a grin. Rainbow blushed at this and she started to smile.
"You know-"Rainbow moved closer to Spikes face "I want you to prove that you think I am pretty." At this point Rainbows face was right in front of Spikes.
"What do I need to say to prove it to you?" Spike asked slowly.
"Don't say anything, just show me…" Rainbow moved in and kissed Spike on the lips.
Spike returned the favor. When they parted, Spike tasted something in his mouth that tasted a lot like the "secret" cider. Rainbow rested her head on Spikes shoulder and fell asleep. Everything felt like a dream to Spike and he really didn't want to wake up from it. However, Spike knew the purpose behind even accepting AJs call for him to work at the farm needed to be fulfilled first before he slipped conscious. Slowly, Spike grabbed his pocket watch and he tried to manifest its magic on his claws. After he achieved this, Spike kept his hand over AJ's spilt jug of "secret" cider and watched the magic work its way through the trail of cider, around the jug and finally touching AJ. Once it touched her, the blue stream of magic slipped back into the watch. Happy to see that the usual purple button turning orange like Applejacks fur, Spike leaned his head against Rainbows and wondered vaguely if this was all a dream as he fell asleep.

A/N
I want to take a moment to thank all the readers who have spent there precious time in reading my fic. In honesty, I never could see this coming in where near 500 people have read this story and if you were to tell me a few months ago this would be happening I would tell you that you are crazy or just joking.
> Decisions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Applejack, wake up yew!” Granny Smith yelled shrilly.

“GAH, I DIDN’T DO IT!” Applejack yelled back randomly.

Applejack realized that Granny was the one yelling at her and relaxed a bit. However, AJ’s ease of nerves didn’t last long when Granny started to give her a stern gaze. Seeing Granny annoyed was rare and AJ didn’t want her blowing a fuse, especially this early in the morning.

“Little late, are we not?” Granny said dryly.

Unfortunately, Granny was right and AJ had slept until 8:30 AM. She should have been out in the acres bucking trees about two hours ago. Having no idea how to explain herself, Applejack just let out a sigh and looked down at the floor, trying desperately to avoid Granny’s gaze.

“Ha not to fear Applejack, Big Mac has been working hard this mornin’ seeing as that he feels he needs to make up for his lost time in chores around here.” Granny said with a smile.

“You really had me going there Granny. For a moment I thought you were going to yell at me.” Applejack mumbled.

“Pft, yelling ain’t good for nothing. Anyway, mind waking up your friends?” Granny said with a raised eyebrow.

Applejack looked around and noticed that Rainbow and Spike were sleeping very close. For a moment, Applejack felt a little out of place and curious. Dragging a bucket of water to the table, Applejack doused her two friends.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?” Spike said in alarm. Rainbow just grumbled a bit and tried to sleep again on the table.

“I won’t be having any of that, you hear? Anyway, if yall don’t mind I am having a wicked headache so I am going to lie down. ” Applejack said with a groan.

“If you need me don’t yell.” Applejack called out as she left upstairs for her room.

Granny took a glance at Rainbow and Spike. She smiled and had a dreamy look on her face.

“Granny Smith, why are you smiling?” Spike asked.

“I think the both of yew make a cute couple with da two of ya resting on each other like that. Reminds me of me when I was in my younger days.” Granny said with the same dreamy look in her eyes.

Spike looked at Rainbow Dash, he blushed when their eyes met, and turned away quickly. Rainbow blushed as well as Granny spoke and tried to hide her happiness at her compliment.

“I think da two of yew better run along now. Applejack and Big Mac will be out in the fields most of the day so I don’t think yew want to wait that long.” Granny said promptly.

Spike and Rainbow Dash got up and made their way outside the house. Once they left, Granny inspected the table and noticed three jugs and a pitcher filled with apple cider.

“Ah, I see what went on around here. Really need to tell Tim to stop giving this stuff to us.” Granny said with a grin.

She saw that the pitcher was still had some of the amber liquid left. Having nothing to lose and no one to see, Granny poured the rest of the cider and drank it. She let out a hiccup and started to giggle for no apparent reason.

Rainbow Dash and Spike had been walking their way back to Ponyville. Lucky for Spike, his calves weren’t burning and aching as bad as they did yesterday when he had to walk up the hills to Sweet Apple Acres. None the less though, Spike was still lagging behind Rainbow just as he was behind Applejack the entire trip yesterday. Spike couldn’t help but envy Rainbow’s physical strength and was wondering if it was time for him to start exercising some more.

“Spike, about last night…Did it really happen?” Rainbow asked suddenly.

Spike nearly chocked in surprise at this question. He was hoping last night’s events were just a very good dream. Evidently though, it was more real than he could have ever imagined.

“Yeah, I think so.” Spike said awkwardly.

“Was I good?” Rainbow asked. She was really desperate to know this but she wasn’t going to let Spike know how badly she wanted to know.

“You were great.” Spike said with a sheepish grin.

Rainbow tried to hide her satisfaction with this, but failed. She grinned and felt slightly proud of her self. The two friends finally made their way back to Ponyville and it was Spike’s turn to ask a question.

“So, what happens from here?” Spike asked anxiously.

“Oh, I really can’t say. I know it’s weird since we kind of made it a point this won’t work. But that was before last night…” Rainbow said unsurely.

“I need some time to think about this.” Rainbow mumbled to herself aloud. Without another word, Rainbow flew off in another direction.

Spike felt oddly empty as Rainbow left him on his own. It was like someone took away a part of him. Returning to a habit of his, Spike grabbed the pocket watch absent mindedly and fiddled around with the buttons. Spike was surprised to see that the usual purple button had turned into an orange color. For a moment, Spike had no clue how he managed to have Applejack make contact with the watch, let alone remember the majority of last night’s events. None the less, Spike felt proud that he pulled of having the watch set to AJ’s timeline.

Just as he was about to press the orange button, Spike felt reluctant to click it. A nasty headache started to drain Spike’s energy. This is one of the few times Spike wished he was back in the hospital, even if he had to listen to his old nurse whine at him again. Dragging his feet, Spike made his way to the library and wanted nothing more than to sleep in his basket. As Spike entered the library, Twilight perked up her head from behind a book. She finally had gotten her mane redone and seemed like her usual self.

“Spike mind reorganizing the library for me? I found a book about potion brewing in the plant and herbs shelf.” Twilight said in her usual crisp tone. She heard a snore behind her and saw that Spike had fallen asleep in his basket.

“On second thought, maybe I can do it myself.” Twilight said with a grin, looking down at her sleeping assistant.

“Good morning my little number one assistant, hope you sleep well.” Twilight said in a whisper as she gave him a kiss on the forehead.

Spike just mumbled in response and went back to snoring. Twilight giggled at this and went off to tidy up the library as Spike continued to snore the day away.
--
Rainbow flew over to Fluttershy’s house after she left Spike. If there was pony Rainbow knew that would never gossip, its Fluttershy. Her shyness and quiet demeanor was perfect for keeping secrets. Fluttershy always had good advice as well. Rainbow started knocking on the door with vigor and Fluttershy let out an audible yelp from within her home. Realizing that she was nearly knocking the door off its hinges, Rainbow Dash reverted to lightly tapping the door. Fluttershy finally opened the door, looking rather frightened while doing so.

“Oh hello Rainbow, what brings you around here?” Fluttershy asked in her usual soft tone.

“Can we talk for a bit?” Rainbow asked anxiously.

“Sure, why not. I was heading down to the spa anyway. So we can talk there, is that alright with you Rainbow?” Fluttershy replied.

“Well, spas aren’t really my thing but I guess I can go.” Rainbow said in a defeated tone. Spas always seemed too frilly to her but if this was a chance to chat with Fluttershy, she wouldn’t mind as much.

The two Pegasus made their way down to the spa at Ponyville. Aloe and Lotus greeted Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash with a smile.

“How lovely, it’s our favorite customer Fluttershy! Oh, I see that you another one of your friends here! The more the merrier I say.” Aloe said with enthusiasm.

“The usual I guess?” Lotus asked to Fluttershy.

“That would be delightful.” Fluttershy replied with a gentle smile.

“And you?” Lotus asked, directing her attention to Rainbow Dash.

“I’ll take what she gets.” Rainbow replied.

After an hour or two at the spa, Rainbow was starting to regret suggesting she will have what Fluttershy gets. The mud baths were probably the worst, since the mud became plastered to her wings like glue after the mud dried up. Somehow, Fluttershy didn’t have the same problem and moved her wings freely while Rainbow struggled to part her wings from her sides. The massages were coming up next and Rainbow was actually looking forward to this.

“Rainbow Dash, you will have to relax yourself if you want me to massage you. It’s pointless if you keep squirming around.” Lotus ordered.

Relaxing only happened when she was taking a nap on her fluffy cloud. Other than that, Rainbow worked around the clock trying to keep Ponyvilles clear of clouds and keeping proper maintenance of the sky over Ponyville. Still, the prospect of a massage was intriguing and Rainbow didn’t want to pass it up. Lying perfectly still, Lotus finally set to work on massaging Rainbow’s back and wings. As Lotus started to rub Rainbow’s wings, she felt relief and a fuzzy warm feeling overcome her entire body and mind. It felt like she was back sleeping in her usual fluffy cloud.

“Oh, Rainbow what did you want to talk about again?” Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow was so into the massages relaxing effects that she barely heard Fluttershy say anything. If it wasn’t for the fact that Rainbow saw Fluttershy’s mouth move, she would have not even bothered replying or even wondering what she might have been trying to say.

“What did you say Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked in an extremely relaxed tone.

“You wanted to talk, didn’t you?” Fluttershy asked again.

“That I did. It’s about Spike.” Rainbow replied. The warm fuzzy feeling that took over her mind and body were gone and now were replaced with a feeling of uncertainty.

“Spike you say?” Fluttershy said in surprise and curiosity.

“Yeah, Spike and I have been getting kinda close lately.” Rainbow said vaguely.

“How close are we talking about?” Fluttershy said with a raised eyebrow.

“Like, really close.” Rainbow replied.

“Would it even work? I don’t want to make Spike go through with this if I keep having second thoughts. I don’t want to treat him like Rarity did, always having him sit back and wonder if it would ever happen between each other. I want to give him an answer but I just don’t know!” Rainbow moaned helplessly.

“Why do you think this won’t work again?” Fluttershy asked.

“Is it not obvious? He is a dragon, with no wings, and I am a Pegasus. We aren’t even the same species!” Rainbow groaned sadly.

“Love holds no boundaries.” Fluttershy answered back simply.

Rainbow considered this for a moment. True, love was a stranger to no one and crosses many borders. Another problem crept up on the back of Rainbow’s mind and she had a feeling Fluttershy would have a helpful answer.

“What would Twilight say? Heck, what do you think of this, Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked anxiously.

“I think it sounds quite wonderful actually. You and Spike are sarcastic and funny sometimes so you have at least that part in common with each other. As for Twilight, she did try to get Spike to replace you as the Element of Loyalty when Discord was around.” Fluttershy said in her usual soft and polite tone.

Rainbow chuckled at this. Now that Fluttershy brought it up, Spike and her really did have many similar traits. Whether it is from their sense of humor to their unwillingness to lose or be defied in something, Spike and Rainbow actually had a lot in common. There was a loud crashing noise from another room and Aloe left Fluttershy alone, Fluttershy didn’t mind, for a bit as she left to inspect what was the cause of the commotion. Rainbow didn’t seem bothered by the sudden noises and continued talking as if nothing happened.

“You won’t tell anyone about this Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash asked nervously. Last thing she wanted was for all her friends to know about this.

“If it means that much to you, of course I will not say a word about this to anyone.” Fluttershy replied, reassuringly. Aloe returned and continued to give Fluttershy her massage, as if nothing had interrupted her.

After paying Lotus and Aloe, the two Pegasus left the spa rejuvenated and happy. What they didn’t know was that Rarity had been spying on Rainbow and Fluttershy ever since they entered the spa. Rarity was smart though, she borrowed a book from Twilight about spells and learned how to make herself camouflage with her back rounds. Rarity’s first attempt at the spell didn’t end well though, she ended up only making her mane obtain the camouflaging effects and Rarity grew frantic until she figured out how to reverse the spell. However, Rarity’s second attempt succeeded. Rarity’s first interest for the spell was that she thought the spells effects would be interesting to try on dresses, sadly the spell made the clothes almost impossible to match with something since they always copied their surroundings.

Rarity was making her way down to the spa to have her usual spa date with Fluttershy. Once she saw Fluttershy walking with Rainbow Dash to the spa, Rarity felt slightly betrayed and hurt. However, Rarity was in no mood to confront the two, so she used her newly learned spell a try on herself and followed the two Pegasus. The more Rarity listened on their conversation, the more jealous and envious she grew of Rainbow Dash. True, Rarity did feel guilty for letting on Spike the way she did but she never imagined for him to finally grow tired of her stalling. How could Spike fall for a pony who acted just as uncivilized and unsophisticated as Applejack? Surely, an elegant and glamorous pony like herself is more desirable?

For once in Rarity’s life, she had met a colt who no longer paid attention to her, excluding Prince Blueblood. So many colts had tried to impress Rarity, lavishing her with priceless gems and many other luxurious just to try to have her attention. Yet they all failed to impress her even in the slightest. Yet now, the fact that Spike was no longer going to chase after her made Rarity feel less majestic. Sure, many other colts will try to treat her like a princess but loosing Spike’s interest was a bit of a blow to her ego and self-esteem. All that Rarity knew at this point was that she wanted to regain Spike attention, even if it meant shoving Rainbow Dash out of the picture.
--
Dear Tick the Time Smith,
Tick, the power of friendship expands too many deep levels. I know you’re thinking that even friendships wither away at the test of time. However, I disagree full-heartedly. In fact, I believe friendships can even surpass time its self. For as long as people retell the stories of us, we will never truly fade away completely. I do hope you have not forgotten about your wife Tick. She was very optimistic and carefree, unlike you. Those were the days when you truly smiled on your own. As for you fear of Discord returning, please consult with Spike to see if that the Elements of Harmony are truly having disagreements that might break their friendship and if this is the case send me back another letter back to me.
From,
Princess Celestia

Tick had been tearing up at the mention of his beloved wife in the letter sent to him. For many years, maybe even centuries, he had tried to forget about how his wife passed away. Yet, with the visit of Spike and making Spike his assistant, Tick was reminded of how his wife feared the very things Spike feared as well. Seeing friends pass away and watching many years of change go by, sometimes unwanted. Oh how she begged to no longer stand watching the relentless cycle of life. But, Tick always managed to persuade her to remain by his side. It was only a matter of time though before she started to lose the will to live. For a while, she no longer laughed or remained laid back. Instead, hostility and a short temper replaced the once happy mare’s emotions. She finally told Tick that the families on her side were nearly gone by now while Tick’s relatives remained the same as they were bounded to immortality as long as there was a Time Smith performing their duties in the family. Tick can remember how she yelled at him to negotiate some sort of way for him to give the same immortality his family had to hers. He told her how he was not allowed to do so and that immortality was a large burden anyway and he felt that giving them this burden in exchange for her peace of mind was slightly selfish. She retaliated that Tick had grown cold and distant from emotions the more years he remained Time Smith. Unfortunately, Tick was taken aback by this sting in her words and said nothing else. She grew tired and frustrated with Tick and left him.

However for as soon as she headed off, she started to dissolve into dust and bones in front of Tick’s very eyes. He still has nightmares about a skeleton of a mare reaching out her hoof to him, only to hit the ground to form a pile of dust. Ever since that dreadful day, Tick had always tried to be a happy go lucky colt to remind himself of how his wife used to be. There are times when Tick wondered if it was time to cut the acting out and show how he really felt, but he never bothered. It seemed pointless to whine anyway since there wasn’t much for Tick to care about. His kids, grandkids, great grandkids and so on are well taken care of. Tick even doubted some of his distant relatives knew they were related to him. Tick dragged himself to his hooves; he then turned his head and saw that there was a picture hanging above his fireplace. The picture showed a happy dark blue colt, with an hourglass cutie mark and a fancy top hat with a white suit, alongside a pretty white mare, who wore a white gown. Tick stared at the photo, for what felt like millenniums. He ran his hoof down the face of the white mare, a tear falling from his face while doing so.

“Good night, my sweet Jewel.” Tick said with deep sadness.

Tick stood alone in his empty study room for a few moments. He wasn’t sure what he should have been doing until Tick remembered that he had to write a letter to Spike about the situation of The Elements of Harmony’s friendship with each other might be breaking. Energetically, Tick wrote down his letter and summoned the usual blue portal when he was done.

“This is much faster than express mail.” Tick said to himself with a grin. He then pitched the letter into the portal which disappeared once the letter was sucked into its depths.
--
It was night time in Ponyville by now. No lights were on unless you’re accounting the faint blue glow coming from the windows of Twilights library. Inside the library, Spike mouth was the source of the mysterious blue light. It grew faint at first but now, blue flames could be seen popping out of the corners of his mouth. The inevitable was growing near as Spike’s stomach started to growl violently.

> The Decaying Apple
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wave after wave of burning flames were slashing its way through the shore. The flames made the very sand sizzle and crackle as it worked its way through the beach. What might look like a sight of chaos and mayhem to others to Spike though, it was actually relaxing. True, fire is a destructive being with intentions only to consume and destroy. However, it was a thing of beauty to watch the green flames dance and splash around like the sea. Spike envied how powerful and majestic the flames were, if only his flame could match such epic standards. Suddenly, the flames turned a violent dark blue. The flames reminded Spike of the blue flame he produced from his mouth when he mixed the watch’s magic with his flame. The blue flames really gave Spike the feeling as if he was staring at a real ocean. With the exception of the temperature sky rocketing, Spike still felt reasonably relaxed. He did not fear the flames would work its way up the mountain, where he had been staring at the flames show case.

The flames though, were crawling its way up the mountain slowly but with growing pace. A large wave of the dark flames slammed against the mountain, where Spike was sitting, and left scorch marks all along the face of the mountain. Fortunately, mountains did not feelings for if they did this particular mountain would be cringing in agony. The heat emitting from the ocean of blue fire was starting to bother Spike though. It felt hotter than lava and Spike swore that the heat was slowly burning his scales. Not wanting to be burnt to a crisp, Spike decided it would be best to leave the mountain before he fainted from the raging flames.

As Spike walked from the mountain side, a loud roar and hiss erupted from behind him. Spike looked behind him and saw the blue flames had finally worked its way up the face of the mountain. Horrified, Spike ran from the blue flames. It seemed that the flame sensed Spike’s fear and pursued Spike. Hot on his heels, literally, the flames started to hiss madly, almost like a snake. Looking back, Spike saw that the flame took the form of a snake head and its mouth bared its enormous fangs at him. Fearing for his life, Spike kicked it into overdrive and ran with full speed. Adrenaline and panic pulsed through his veins and his very heart thumped madly. For a moment, it felt like his very heart would explode with all the thumping it was emitting.

The flames chased after Spike like a wounded animal. Spike was the poor prey while the ferocious fire was the dominating predator. At last, Spike was slowly using the energy to out run the ferocious blue fire. The fangs of the blue flames chomped on Spike’s heel but missed by a scale. Spike wasn’t sure for how long he could have out raced the hungry flames. At this rate, he felt for sure he was going to collapse any time soon. The flame took another bite at Spike, its aim true. Spikes leg burned violently, his scales being burnt and working its way to his skin, and the flame began to twist its way around Spikes body. The flames crushed Spike like a boa constrictor, but instead of it snapping Spike in half like a twig it felt like Spike was in a burning furnace. Wasting no time, the flames burnt Spikes scales like tissue paper and started to burn away at his skin.

The pain was unbearable, all the fibers in Spikes body screamed in agony. Spike knew death was imminent, but never expected to go down like this. The blue flames blocked the last of Spikes eyesight and everything went pitch black. Spike wasn’t sure if the flames had finally killed him and if so, death really felt painless. Inspecting his scales, Spike was glad to see no burn marks of any sort. A white light was present ahead and Spike perused it. However, when Spike finally got close to the white light it turned into the snake head, made of the blue flames that chased Spike before. Screaming, Spike tried to run but was paralyzed in place due to being terrified. The blue snake roared and rushed right into Spike mouth. The horrible burning was now in Spike stomach. Feeling like his very intestine was melting under the heat of the fire, Spike groaned in pain and collapsed to his knees. Just as Spike started to feel faint, Spike burped with such violent force that his very skull rattled around like a bobble head. The blue fire roared its way through the air.

“NO!” Spike yelled into the night.

Feeling slightly embarrassed about his outburst, Spike checked to see if anyone was awake to hear his yell. Not a soul was present in the library, which made Spike relax a bit. A scroll was near his basket and Spike wasn’t sure how it got there. Deciding the scroll might give some answers; Spike unrolled it and began to check for the signature of the sender. There it was Ticks signature was right at bottom right corner of the scroll. Spike wasn’t exactly sure why Tick felt the need to send a letter to him, after all Tick did say he was content with Spikes progress so far.

Spike, I am sorry to be the bringer of bad news but the book about the history of Discord had just updated its self recently. It mentions the bound between your friends breaking and a creature causing the disturbance. Princess Celestia does not wish to alarm the community if it can be avoided. So with that in mind, is there anything causing some kind of friction between your friends Spike? If so, please let me know so that Celestia and I can figure out a way to prevent Discord from returning.
Sincerely,
Tick

When Spike finished going over the scroll multiple times, he still wasn’t able to figure out the cause of the book mentioning the stone prison for Discord will no longer hold up and the Elements will fall. All this sounded like a bad fairy tale with a lousy ending to Spike. However, Tick’s work was nothing to laugh at so Spike considered which of his friends might be angry with one another. Fluttershy was out of the question, she was too shy to seek out an altercation. Applejack had grown a short temper as of late, due to farm work starting to catch up to her fatigue. Pinkie Pie was just too happy to be looking for problems, if anything Pinkie life involved parties and jokes. Twilight usually had her face too deep in books to bug anyone.

There was something that was making Spike doubt though. Rainbow Dash and Rarity were both in the hospital at the same time as he was. The only explanation to this was that something happened to them after Twilight froze him. But could it be? Spike thought about asking Twilight about that night, but realized it was still dark outside. The last thing Spike wanted to do was annoy Twilight, let alone in the middle of the night. She might have him reorganize the entire library as a punishment, which didn’t sound very fun to him in the least. Still, he was awake and it was rather pointless not to do something productive now. Retreating to his old habit, Spike took out his pocket watch and twisted the knobs absent mindedly. Looking down, Spike was dumbfounded to see that the usual purple button turned orange. He couldn’t believe how he complete forgot how he managed to get AJ timeline in the watch. Having nothing better to do, Spike pressed onto the orange button and time froze instantly.

Spike wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do next. AJ’s future seemed bland but at the same time Spike felt that he wouldn’t be surprised if the opposite was true. Figuring it be more fun to venture to the past then the future, Spike turned the hands counter clockwise a fair amount. Spike’s entire body felt like it was being squeezed into a small box. The claustrophobic feel was starting to become too much for Spike to bare now. Soon as it began, it stopped. Spike was frankly in relief; he thought he was going to pass out.

The sun was beginning to rise on the farm. It really made the scene so much more surreal, the leaves and the very brown dirt had a certain charm to it. Spike couldn’t help but be in awe, letting his jaw go slightly slack as well. He wondered vaguely if the Applejack had watched sunsets here. This was something Spike would happily wake up to see, instead of a bunch of heavy books about magic and history. However, the time for sight-seeing was not now, there was a job to be done. If Applejack usually woke up at the crack of dawn to start work, she should be coming out of the house by now.

What Spike saw instead was a tall red stallion coming from the front door of house. That couldn’t be right; Mac should be a young colt at this point. Spike decided to follow the large red stallion to see if he looked familiar. The stallion bucked trees with tremendous strength, nearly leaving hoof imprints in the bark as he bucked away at an apple tree. The large stallion looked remarkably like Big Mac, except he had gray eyes while Mac had green. Besides with very small physical appearances, it was evident both of them had some serious strength to perform their labor on the farm. Spike guessed this large stallion was the father of Big Mac, Applejack, and Applebloom. A yellow mare came trotting from the house, a stetson hat that looked like AJ’s on her head, and made her way to the large stallion. She covered his dark orange hair with the hat she brought her, gave him a kiss on the lips, and left to go back to the house. The yellow mare looked so much like Applebloom; you could have mistaken them for twins. The mare also seemed to be pregnant, probably Applebloom, and she looked a little tired but happy all the same.

It was such a heartwarming moment for Spike. This bound was the kind of thing Spike lacked in his life, a father to give him advice and a mother to seek comfort in when he wasn’t sure what to do. All he had was Twilight, who he considered a sister. True, Twilight had many words of wisdom to share with Spike, but it wasn’t enough at times. When he would ask her about improving the power in his fire breathing she would have no answer and desperately searched for answers to give to Spike, which never came. It seems no pony would ever dare even thinking about how to train a dragon to be more deadly than it already was. So many questions Spike would ask Twilight about being a dragon to his egg and the only response he got from her was “I am not sure.” or “There isn’t anything in the books. But I’ll keep looking!” and an answer never came.
Now, Spike knew Twilight was only so limited about knowledge of dragons. But still, his hunger to know more about himself and his kind never dwindled in the slightest. Spike wondered what his parents would say, if he had, when they saw he was being raised by ponies rather than dragons, like him. Sadly, he can only do just that. Guess what they wanted from him. Guess what his parents would have thought him. A whole lot of guess work, but so little answers to those questions.

Turning the hands of time slightly forward, Spike wanted to know what became of AJ’s parents, seeing as that the Apple Family never mentions them let alone that he has never seen them. Spike found that he was in the same kitchen in which he, Applejack, and Rainbow had drunk that “special” cider. Granny Smith, who looked younger but by at least ten years at best, and AppleJack’s mom and dad were sitting at the table, all their faces looked strained with concern. Granny cleared her throat and started the conversation.

“Funds are lower than the usual yew two. Hate to say it, but at tis here rate, we might have no choice but to close up Sweet Apple Acres.” Granny said sadly.

The yellow mare leaned into the large red stallions shoulder and began to cry. But, the stallion looked defiant and spoke up.

“This ain’t the time to hang it up! We can still dig ourselves outta tis here budget hole!” The stallion said with determination. The yellow mares sobbing stopped at once and she looked up at her husband hopelessly.

“Wat do y’all suggest we do then Big Lance, I ain’t going to be good for work forever and Alison can only do so much.” Granny said in a testy voice.

“Overseas.” Lance replied simply.

Granny grew wide eyed at this and so did Alison.

“So, yer tellin me that it’s bout time Sweet Apple Acres heads overseas?” Granny asked.

“Eyup, that’s mah plan.” Lance replied with a confident smile.

The scene changes dramatically after Lance spoke. Spike was surrounded by sea and had his feet firmly planted on a large boat. There were so many crates and barrels that Spike thought this boat were one of those large cargo ships. Spike walked to the captain’s deck to have a good view and found Lance and Alison lingering in the room. Lance was missing his light brown stetson and his dark orange hair looked wild. Alison looked a little sea sick but happy to be in the strong hooves of Lance. An old gray stallion was steering the ship, his fur looked like leather and had a slight hunch. Considering how old the stallion looked, he looked more than able to beat up even present day Big Mac with ease.

“The bearing sea is a bit stirred then it usually is today.” The old gray stallion wheezed.

“Oh quit being so darn positive Howard.” teased Alison.

“She’s right, lighten up a bit Howard.” Lance added with a chuckle.

“How fun it is to be young and foolhardy. And I see you don’t have that old hat with you Lance.” Howard croaked back.

“Yeah, gave it to mah girl Applejack for her birthday awhile back. She just loves it.” Lance replied proudly.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash and everypony was thrown to the ground by the force of the collision. Remarkably, Howard still had a grip on the wheel and quickly steadied himself back into a standing position.

“Abandon ship! Grab your vest you monkeys, I do not want no one dying on me today or ever for that matter! Move it!” barked Howard through the loud speaker.

Spike could see hundreds of stallions scrambling to find life rafts and such. It was like watching a swarm of bee’s hovering around there hive, so many ponies jumbled together. Howard turned to Lance and Alison and began to speak quickly.

“The hull had been breached. The ship will sink in less than an hour at the rate the water keeps rushing in. I advise, the two of you make your way down to the dock and hop on a boat outta here.” Howard said in a rushed tone.

Alison looked shocked at the situation at hand while Lance didn’t take his eyes off Howard.

“And what about you Howard, I am not going to leave you behind!” Lance said.

Howard smiled at Lance, making his wrinkles stretch even more.

“A true captain goes down with his ship. I rather die than have my crew members die on me while I walk away from this.” Howard replied.

“Come on Howard, you have kids and a wife back home.” Lance pleaded.

“Kids don’t like me and so doesn’t my wife Lance. My home and probably my wife as well has been the sea.” Howard confessed sadly.

“Don’t talk crazy! We still have time!” Lance demanded angrily.

“I saw my wife fooling around with one of my crew mates Lance! You think I want to go back home to that!” Howard snapped back hoarsely.

Lance was beginning to open his mouth in retaliation but Jessie grabbed him by the shoulder. He looked down at Alison and saw that she just shook her head. For a moment, Lance looked strained. It was evident he wanted to make a last ditch effort to persuade Howard to leave but knew it would prove fruitless. At last, Lance lowered his head in defeat but immediately picked his head back up.

“Don’t you die on me Howard, or so help me I will drag you from the gates of heaven myself!” Lance yelled to Howard.

“Ha, right back at you Lance! Also, say hi to your kids for me! They always were pleasant to me when I came over to visit.” Howard called back to Lance.

The couple left Howard on the deck alone and went straight down to the dock. As Spike began to follow the couple, he looked back and saw that the old leathery face had let one tear drop from his wrinkled eye. Even for as tough as Howard looked, he still had a heart. Spike looked down at the dock and saw the mob of ponies trying desperately to get on a life boat. Lance and Alison were nowhere to be seen in the mess. Taking out the pocket watch, Spike absent mindedly began to twist random knobs on the watch. The pocket watch had become a clutch for Spike now. Whenever when he was in doubt or lost in during time traveling, it would lead him to the right direction. True, it never spoke a word but it offered assistance without the need of a voice.

“Mind helping me out?” Spike pleaded with the watch.

The familiar blue aura started to surround the watch in reply. Soon, Spike felt weightless and found he was floating over the dock. Spike wasn’t sure where Lance or Alison was, but it seemed like the watch knew none the less. Going into a nose dive, Spike darted toward a boat nearby. Once he landed, Spike saw that he sat right next to Lance accompanied by Alison. There were a few other stallions on the small boat as well, none look familiar though. As the small boat parted away from the large ship, Spike looked back and noticed one end of the large ship started to become submerged in water. For a moment, Spike wondered if Howard did ever make it out alive from this mess.

As Spike turned his attention back to the sea, he saw a large wave making its way toward their small boat. Spike wondered if it would have been better to remain on the ship to die or have this boat break and drown at sea. Neither option sounded pleasant.

“Don’t worry Alison, everything will be all right.” Lance said happily. Alison just hugged Lance tightly and didn’t let go.

The wave came even closer and soon consumed the small boat. The last thing Spike saw was the couple hugging tightly as water rushed around them. When the wave came toward Spike, he found himself back in Sweet Apple Acres. Not a drop of water was on his scales. Spike felt slightly guilty about being worried for his own safety even when nothing could hurt him, learning he had this ability when he hit the ground after falling from the sky. Spike wondered if Applejacks parents’ death were painful. Drowning sounded brutal, with water rushing into your lungs until you can’t breathe no more. It sounded dreadful and it wasn’t something Spike hoped he never had to experience.

Applejack, Applebloom, Granny Smith and Macintosh were waiting at the front door of the house. They all looked rather nervous.

“Pa’s promised he would be on time, like always.” Applejack said nervously. She rotated Lance’s Stetson hat to relieve some of her nerves.

A brown Pegasus landed in front of the Apple Family, he looked sad. Spike had a dreadful feeling that the Pegasus was going to tell them that Lance and Alison died. Not wanting to hear the news, Spike tried to walk away from the scene, but the audible cries let from the Apple Family still could be heard. It was heart breaking to hear Applebloom yelling for Lance. Tears were falling from her eyes relentlessly and Applejack held her little sister close to her to comfort her. Even the strong and mellow Big Mac was crying softly.

Not wanting to remain in Applejacks any longer, Spike quickly turned the hands of time clockwise until they stopped. Spike saw his surroundings grow blurred and distorted, but soon realigned itself back into Sweet Apple Acres. There was a large crowd close by on top of a hill and they seemed to be gathering around something. Taking it that this is Applejacks resting place, Spike walked up the hill as fast as he could. It was odd; every funeral in the future that Spike attended it was in this fancy room. However, it seemed Applejack had no interest in that kind of thing and wanted to do things as simple as she could. Once Spike reached the top of the hill, he was able to see the entire farm from up here. It was quite a sight to behold, everything looked so small and colorful from way up here.

Spike noticed the crowd was made up of the entire Apple Family clan. Even old Braeburn was present in the crowd. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were sitting at the front row. The sheer amount of family that came to say there good byes to Applejack were equivalent to how many high ranking government officials came to Twilights funeral. Even future Spike was present at the funeral, but hung at the back to him being too big to fit in a chair. One thing struck as odd to Spike, Pinkie was here. Last time he checked, Pinkie looked like she died when she was much younger than this. Yet, here she was alive but older. Did something happen in the present to change the how Pinkie died? Tick did mention how things change with the slightest decision and maybe it applied to this.

One of Applejacks relatives was speaking now. He sounded dull and dreadful with his monotone voice. It reminded Spike of the previous priest that drone on and on in Twilights funeral.

“Applejack was ninety years old when she passed away. Her life was spent in this farm and she was excellent with a lasso. Her kids are more than happy to continue working on this farm so AJ will have nothing to fear.” The relative said with a smile.

Ninety he said? That meant that Fluttershy was due to pass away shortly and probably Pinkie as well. A familiar empty feeling entered Spike’s heart again. Soon, he would be alone with no Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and even Rarity. The only thing he would be able to remember them by is in his memory. Still, there was a spark of hope left. His friend’s kids and grandkids will hopefully come to him, asking him stories of their relatives. It’s like he would become a large overgrown history book for the future generation. Not that he minded, at least then he wouldn’t be so lonely.
Spike wasn’t sure if he wanted to feel sad after watching the funeral. He had grown tired of fussing over this, but it always nagged at the back of his mind. How was Tick able to constantly know that the world around him was slowly crumbling underneath his very hooves? Everything he sees will soon become dust and die. It was amazing that Tick was so upbeat even with all this knowledge on his shoulders. Spike pressed the orange button on his pocket watch again and returned to the present.

Time travel always seemed to eat away at Spikes energy these days. Spike wondered if he should wait for Twilight to wake up, but it was midnight at this time. Not wanting to hang around for several hours to have Twilight wake up, Spike crawled back into his basket and tried to fall asleep. Spike dreams were filled with a large wave ready to knock him deep into its depth. A blue Pegasus hugged him tightly as the wave swallowed both of them whole.
> Company
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The one thing Spike hated more dearly about waking up in the morning was this. He always woke up before Twilight. That meant he had to make breakfast every day, there was this one time that Twilight did make breakfast but it was a disaster, and usually having to sort out the shelves, only to have Twilight take out books to read during breakfast. Twilight might have been the eldest in the house, but Spike doubted that if he existed, Twilight would be totally at loss without him. However, the usual morning ritual was a tad different this time around. It was more tense, to the point where the very air its self-felt heavy. Twilight wasn’t oblivious to the sudden tension though.

“Spike, is there something wrong?” Twilight asked, obviously concerned that her number one assistant wasn’t in his usual happy mood.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you what happened back at Pinkie’s party after you knocked me out. And as to why you didn't visit me when I was in the hospital” Spike replied, more seriously then he would have liked.

Twilight’s ears dropped at the question and she wasn’t sure if she was willing to tell the truth. But lying to Spike about this felt…wrong.

“You see, Rarity and Rainbow Dash got in a fight. And I felt guilty if I went to visit you, after all I was the reason why you were there in the first place.” Twilight finally answered slowly.

“Fight as in argument or actual hitting?” Spike asked, wanting to clear up any confusion. He also didn't want to push the subject of the hospital visit anymore. It was easy to see that Twilight was scared of seeing him after she was the one who froze him. She felt sorry and probably made her self sick with worry.

Twilight’s face looked more sad and upset then it did a few seconds ago and Spike regretted even asking. But, curiosity is a killer and Spike wanted answers.

“Got that bad huh? Well, what could’ve it have been about?” Spike questioned.

“It was about you.” Twilight said in a barely there whisper.

Spike heart grew heavy at this information. It was his fault his friends were at each other’s throats. Even if Rarity felt rather distant and cold to Spike at this point, she was still a friend nonetheless. What really worried Spike about all this is that Rainbow was willing to fight with her friends for his sake. Even before things got as complicated as it did a few days ago, she was defensive of him. If Twilight had come to Spike’s defense it wouldn’t have bugged him so bad, because Twilight was practically like his big sister.

“Spike, it’s not your fault.” Twilight pleaded sadly.

“Maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t. All I know is that things have been getting complicated for me lately.” Spike groaned.

“Don’t worry Spike! Everything will work out on its own!” Twilight said, obviously trying to put a positive spin on things. She wrapped Spike in a comforting hug.

Only if she knew what I have seen, maybe then she’ll realize how bad I really feel.

“Thanks Twilight. If you don’t mind, I need to collect some new quills and parchment for you.” Spike said, trying to have an excuse to leave the library.

“Yeah, mind also grabbing some ink?” Twilight suggested.

“Ink…didn’t I just get you some a few days ago?” Spike asked in surprise. It was one thing for Twilight to go through ink since she wrote so many notes and letters to Celestia…but that fast?

“I’ve been writing a lot that’s all.  Studying and taking notes eats up a lot of ink you know.” Twilight said dismissively.

“You’re a bad liar.” Spike noted.

“I am not lying.” Twilight shrugged off.

“You been writing nonstop for the last few days and been using the local mail office to deliver letters.” Spike pointed out. 

Twilight gulped nervously as Spike put two and two together.

“After all, I am the only one capable of giving and receiving letters from Celestia. Either you been thinking I needed a break 
from just sending letters…or those letters are a lot more than just “letters”.” Spike finished with a devious grin.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Twilight said, nerves etching her voice.

Spike brought his face closer to Twilight’s “I don’t buy it for one second. You’re hiding something.”

“Oh wow, look at the time! The shops should be opening up soon!” Twilight said quickly.

The last thing Spike saw before Twilight teleported him downtown was her horn glowing and he tried to say “You’re just going to kick me out like that?”

Apparently she can.

“You forgot to give me money!” Spike yelled out.

With a loud crack, fifty bits appeared in front of Spike.

“Thanks!” Spike called out.

Spike was happy he didn’t have to contend with bartering for the things he needed to get for Twilight. The shop owner saw Spike as such a regular customer that Spike would actually receive discounts. The last time he had to barter with someone was for a very fancy emerald, which Spike didn’t get. Spike recalled how he had to point out how flawed the emerald was, but the stallion selling the emerald just wouldn’t budge. It was probably rude to call out the flaws, but hey that’s the deal with bartering.

After collecting Twilight’s parchment and such, Spike decided to walk over to Sugar Cube Corner, hoping he could buy something to snack on. It was busy as always and Spike even considered leaving to head back to the library. That is, until Pinkie Pie spotted Spike.

“Hey Spike!” Pinkie called out to the purple dragon.

“I see you’re busy as ever.” Spike replied, with a bemused smile.

“Here take this.” Pinkie handed Spike a bag filled with who knows what “Little treat that I have been trying to give to you for a while.”

“Oh wow, thanks Pinkie!” Spike said, obviously taken aback by Pinkie’s kind gesture.

“Sorry Spike, but duty calls.” Pinkie said quickly before returning her attention to the other customers.
Spike walked outside and took a seat at one of the tables outside Sugar Cube Corner. Leaving the bag filled with Twilights supplies on the floor, Spike made his attention focused on the bag Pinkie gave him. There was nothing fancy with it, looked like a normal plastic bag. Opening the bag with great caution, Spike waited for something to pop out of the bag. Nothing happened. Testing his luck, Spike probed his hand in the bag and quickly took it back out. Nothing happened to his hand.

“Guess it’s safe.” Spike shrugged, taking a bite out of the first cupcake that he grabbed from the bag.

Man, was that a mistake.

The cupcake oozed all sorts of jellies of different colors after Spike took a bite out of it. It was odd, to say the least, the cupcake looked like it was bleeding a rainbow from the bite marks Spike left on it. The taste the cupcake had was also an interesting taste though, it tasted like electricity its self and the sensation it gave through Spike’s spine and tongue was ticklish rather then painful. Not daring to take another bite, Spike checked the bag Pinkie gave him for a note, hopefully explaining the nature of the cupcake. Sure enough, there was a note buried underneath more of the rainbow cupcakes.


The cupcake that has a rainbow jelly filled center is called The Oozing Rainbow (get it?). The jam is made from The Apple Family’s famous Zap Apples!


Spike eyed the rainbow cupcake with interest, rather with paranoia, now. Taking a bite out of it again, Spike savored the odd taste the cupcake supplied. Maybe, if he was lucky, there would be time later on to ask Pinkie Pie for more of these Oozing Rainbow cupcakes because Spike felt like he could eat these things forever. However, three little fillies brought Spike from his tasting dreamland though.

“Spike, what are you eating?” Scootaloo asked, eyeing the rainbow colored cupcake.

“Some experimental cupcake Pinkie made.” Spike shrugged before taking another bite out of the cupcake again.

“Is it any good?” Sweetie Bell asked in wonder.

“Course it should be! That’s Zap Apple jam in there, aren’t I right?” Applebloom interjected.

“That you are.” Spike replied.

“What’s in the bag?” Scootaloo asked, eyeing the bag on the floor near Spike’s chair.

“Eh, bunch of supplies that Twilight needs” Spike shrugged, taking another bite out of the rainbow cupcake again.

“I really need to ask AJ for Zap Apple Jam when I have the time.” Spike mumbled, more to himself then to the fillies.

“Why would Twilight need a pocket watch? You would think she would know a spell that can tell her time.” Applebloom asked, holding onto the pocket watch Tick gave to Spike.

Spike nearly choked on his rainbow cupcake when Applebloom asked this “How did you find that?”

“It was in the bag.” Applebloom answered promptly.

“Mind giving it back?” Spike asked, trying hard to not to sounds too pushy. Last thing he wanted to do was give the girls a reason to leave with the watch.

“What do you think Crusaders? Give Spike his old watch back?” Scootaloo asked her friends.

“Why would you want such a thing anyway? It looks kinda old and beat.” Sweetie Bell pointed out.

“It has some sentimental value to me. Now hand it back.” Spike replied.

“Or else.” Spike added, trying to sounds as evil and twisted as he said this.

“Or else what Spike?” Applebloom challenged.

“I will show you the horrors the watch holds.” Spike said with a frown.

“Horrors, you say? Is it ghost?” Scootaloo asked in a panicky voice.

“Ghost are fake!” Sweetie Bell cut in.

“How do you know?” Scootaloo retaliated.

“How would a ghost fit in that little thing?” Sweetie Bell countered.

“You’re lying Spike.” Applebloom said.

“Alright, the watch has nothing scary like that in it. But, it can do something that will freak you out nonetheless.” Spike said, in a grave voice.

“Come on Spike, tell us!” Scootaloo begged. The crusaders looked at Spike with their adorable puppy eyes.

“Sheesh, fine, I’ll give in.” Spike groaned. He had to admit, cuteness overload was his weakness.

“Sucker.” Scootaloo snickered into her friends ears.

“It gives me the power to time travel.” Spike finally revealed.

“You’re kidding.” Applebloom said in awe.

“Nope, I am not.” Spike replied with a smirk.

“Are you a wizard?” Sweetie Bell asked.

“You say ghost don’t exist, but you say wizards DO!?” Scootaloo said, angry that her friend was a bit of a hypocrite.
Spike ignored Scootaloo’s outburst. “No, I am no wizard. But I did get the watch from an Alicorn. His title is Time Smith. He told me to call him Tick though.”

“Time Smith, we are learning about him in school!” Applebloom said enthusiastically.

“Are you now?” Spike said in surprise, he didn’t know that the suitors of the role Time Smith were studied on.

“Yeah, so far we learned that Time Smith is the keeper of well time and is as old as time its self!” Sweetie Bell noted.

“That he is. He writes all about time on many different books to. And the role “Time Smith” is as old as time its self but not the actual pony.” Spike said, recalling all the books Tick filled in about what goes on in the modern day and possible future events.

“So, you’re saying he is like Twilight?” Scootaloo groaned.

“Nah, he likes jokes and isn’t so crazy about books. In fact, he uses magic to have the books in his studies keep track of themselves.” Spike recalled. How much Spike would love it if Twilight could magic books to care for its self. No more will he have to arrange a book. He could see it now, books parading all over the library and neatly arranging themselves whenever Twilight would remove them from their proper spot.

“Can you show us?” Applebloom suddenly asked.

“Show you what?” Spike asked in surprise.

“Time traveling!” The crusaders said in unison.

“I’d prefer if I wouldn’t.” Spike started to mumble but was cut short by the whining and pleading of the crusaders.

“Come on Spike!” Applebloom pleaded.

“We will be good!” Sweetie Bell whined.

“We need to see our cutie marks Spike!” Scootaloo groaned.

“Fine, just your cutie marks. You got that?” Spike said, trying to make is point clear.

“Yep.” The crusaders responded in unison.

“Good. Now, who do we start with?” Spike asked in a business man like fashion.

“Me” The crusaders said in unison again. They all glared at each other and Spike could sense a big fight happening just to see who goes first.

“Forget it, before you hit each other, Applebloom you’re first.” Spike said forcefully.

“Why can’t all three of us do it at once?” Scootaloo demanded.

“Simple, the pocket watch only registers one timeline at a time. Have three going at once and everything will probably be overlapping.” Spike dismissed.

“So, why does Applebloom go first again?” Sweetie Bell asked.

“Looks like even being related to his crush won’t give you any favors.” Scootaloo teased. Spike acted oblivious to her comment, the less he had to hear about Rarity the better.

“I think Applebloom is the strongest in the group of yours and will easily win the fight anyway.” Spike shrugged.

“Are you calling me weak?” Scootaloo demanded, raising her hooves ready for a fight.

“No, but Applebloom is raised on a farm and works along with AJ and Mac when they start bucking trees. Dunno about you, but I like were my knees caps are at right now.” Spike replied simply.

Spike looked at the pocket watch and noticed the button to start the time travel looked like Applebloom’s fur already. Grabbing the watch from her, Spike started to turn that hands of time forward just enough for maybe a few years at best. The last thing Spike wanted them to see was their own ends.

“Okay, grab a hold of my arm.” Spike offered his left arm for the Crusaders to grab, which they did. “One last thing, expect to feel like your body is being crushed and maybe jammed through a REALLY skinny tube.”

“You act like its normal.” Scootaloo said in surprise.

“I got used to it overtime. And if anything dangerous happens, it won’t hurt you.” Spike also noted, the girls like scared at this knowledge but it didn’t bother Spike much.

Spike froze time with a single click, instantly causing his surroundings to freeze still. The young fillies were surprised to see everything so still and quiet.

“Don’t get so comfortable. We are just starting.” Spike said with a grin.
With one last click of the yellow button, the Cutie Mark Crusader and Spike vanished from the still Sugar Cube Corner. Spike left his unfinished rainbow cupcake on the table, the oozing Zap Apple jam not moving an inch since Spike froze time.

> Broken To The Core
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Um Spike, how did we end up in Sweet Apple Acres?” Scootaloo asked, surprised that the watch took them to the familiar farm.

“Obviously Applebloom’s future involves the farm in that case.” Spike replied.

“Can we walk around?” Sweetie Bell asked unsurely.

“Eh…” Spike mumbled unsurely.

“Guys, look! Is that me?” Applebloom asked, pointing at her older self who was walking over to the house.

“Come on girls, we have to ask her how she got her-“ Scootaloo started to declare when Spike cut her short.

“You can’t talk to your future selves.” Spike warned.

“Why, it’s not like she doesn’t know we are.” Sweetie Bell countered.

“True, but she is going to ask a lot of questions on how and why your even here.” Spike drawled, thinking this was common sense.

It seemed like the crusader could care less about Spike’s warning, they were sneaking up on the future Applebloom.

“Man, why did I even do this again?” Spike groaned to himself.

With another casual click of his watch, Spike made the future come to a standstill. The crusaders weren’t oblivious to Spike’s trick because they noticed how the future Applebloom was stuck in mid-trot.

“What gives Spike?” Scootaloo hollered.

“She is in the house now and we have no way to see her cutie mark.” Sweetie Bell whined.

“I want to see my cutie mark Spike.” Applebloom pouted. Her eyes grew large and her lower lip trembled. Spike was terrified that she was almost starting to cry.

“Okay, okay. You guys can go spy on the future Applebloom. But, you guys better not talk to her or anyone else for that matter.” Spike warned.

“We promise.” The crusaders said in unison.

Spike clicked the familiar yellow button on the watch and time continued as if nothing happened.

“How are we going to get in the house now?” Applebloom groaned.

“Simple.” Spike replied, pressing the yellow button again.

A blue portal opened underneath them. For a moment, Spike was rather taken aback that the portal didn’t appear in front of 
them.

“Spike, what’s the big idea…” Scootaloo managed to say.

She couldn’t utter another word since they all fell into the portal. Spike could hear the audible yells of terror from the crusaders. For some reason, Spike felt rather…comfortable in the portal. Maybe it’s because he was done this so many times before and the shock of seeing rushing images of events go by him didn’t faze him anymore. Is this how Tick felt? Feeling so secure in time travel, more so than the actual present?

At last, the portal reappeared in the Apple Family’s kitchen, on the ceiling, and ejected The Crusaders and Spike into the room. Soon as Spike and company were released from the portal, it began to grow small and soon disappeared. It took a few moments for Spike to regain his composure after the portal just dropped him on the floor. The Crusaders were already up and waiting for Spike impatiently.

“You’re so slow!” Scootaloo said impatiently.

“What I do to be young as you.” Spike growled.

“Here she comes! Where do we hide?” Sweetie Bell said, in a panicky tone.

“Hide? No need for that.” Spike shrugged off.

“But you said-“ Applebloom started to say before Spike waved her off.

“Yes, yes I know I said there was to be little talking around future ponies. However, the watch gives me the power to be pretty 
much invisible. It’s almost like watching a movie.” Spike said.

Everyone went silent as the future Applebloom entered their presence. She looked the same as the modern day Applebloom; except she had a long ponytail now and her old red ribbon was on the end of it. Her cutie mark was an apple, no real surprise there, but it was rainbow colored. It looked a lot like…the zap apple jam.

“Zap Apples!” Applebloom exclaimed in awe.


“Heh, I am not surprised. I bet Granny Smith taught you how to make em.” Scootaloo said.

“This is far as we go.” Spike declared, turning the hands of time back to the present as he said this.

The walls of the kitchen grew blurred and murky as time went back to the present. They were back at Sugar Cube Corner and Spike was happy to see that his Zap Apple cupcake didn’t move from where he left it. Finishing off his cupcake, Spike turned his attention to the chatting fillies.

“Thanks for doing that for me, Spike. I’ll make sure I’ll make sure I’ll get you some Zap Apple jam!” Applebloom said with enthusiasm.

“All right, me next!” Scootaloo demanded.

“Just for that, you’re last.” Spike retorted.

Scootaloo look dejected and glared at Spike. However, Sweetie Bell was beside herself with joy. Spike handed her his pocket watch, but quickly retrieved it after she barely rub it with her hoof.

“What’s the big idea?” Sweetie Bell asked, she was worried that Spike didn’t trust her with the watch.

“The watch just needs some form of contact that’s all. After it touches someone, it will allow me to travel through their timeline.” Spike said, gesturing to the watch which started to spark violently.

“Whoa.” The crusaders said in unison. Spike was really starting to enjoy their presence. They acted like an audience, curious about his work and were in awe once he showed them.

“See, the button that used to be yellow is now white like your fur.” Spike said, pointing to the white button now.

“What happens if someone doesn’t want to touch the watch?” Scootaloo asked.

Spike’s face tensed up at the question, “There are ways to sneak the magic onto a pony.”

“Can you show us a few ways?” Applebloom pleaded.

Spike just shrugged, but proceeded to show one of his most used tricks. The watch sparked again and it ejected some blue aurora around Spike’s claws. Again, the crusaders started at Spike’s glowing claw in awe.

“Fairly simple from here, just touch something somepony will eventually grab. Once the touch it, the magic will register them and return to the watch.” Spike explained, the glowing blue aurora around his hand faded as he finished talking.

“Come on, Spike! I want to see my cutie mark!” Sweetie Bell begged. She obviously annoyed that seeing her cutie mark was being delayed.

Without delay, Spike made sure the Crusaders had a firm grip on him before traveling into the future yet again. The fillies seemed not to surprise by the shifting of their environments as before, but they were still surprised all the same. The new surroundings Spike found himself were in a very large ballroom, glossy to the point of a diamond and big enough to fit multiple full grown dragons. It was a fancy sight to say the least. In the middle of the ballroom was a small stage, considering the size the ballroom was anyway. Many ponies were around, as if waiting for something. No sooner did Spike start to question what was going on is when an announcer spoke.

“Here she, is the star of the show, Sweetie Bell!”

T
he crowd clapped and applauded as the future Sweetie Bell took center stage. Like her sister, Sweetie Bell had a similar mane style and her flank bared some musical notes.

“I guess you become a good singer.” Spike whispered into Sweetie Bells ear.

“Mind if we watch?” Sweetie Bell pleaded.

Spiked eyed the future Sweetie Bell for a moment, “Sure, why not.”

The future Sweetie Bell trotted up to the microphone stand with confidence and began to sing.


Will we be more then friends? Is there a chance you and me will be more than this? I want more, but I been told it’s just too good to be true. And if that’s the case, I will rather dream all day. You’re just too good to pass up. When you walk by me, me heart starts to race. Maybe it’s the way you just talk to me. All I know is that you got my attention. So, don’t waste it. I am willing to go to the ends of earth with you. Every time you smile at me, my world lightens up. This really must be a dream, because you’re too good to be true. All I know is that I never want this to end.


“Wow that is something.” Scootaloo whispered in awe.

“I’ll say.” Applebloom whispered with a nod of agreement.

“I think we are done here.” Spike said, setting the watch to return to the present.

"But I want to hear more!" Sweetie pleaded. Spike just ignored her and pressed the whit button to procced with going to the present.

Once again, CMC and Spike found that they returned to a still frozen Sugar Cube Corner. Spike handed Scootaloo his watch, but like Sweetie, grabbed the watch as soon as she touched it. Without a moments delay, Spike set the hands of time a few years ahead and clicked the now purple button once the CMC had a firm grip on his left arm. For a moment, Spike was slightly surprised that they were in Cloudsdale.

“You live up here?” Spike asked, looking directly at Scootaloo.

“No.” Scootaloo replied.

The area looked familiar to Spike. It was a large coliseum with a lack of a ground. Then it hit Spike, this is where Rainbow would later win a spot on the Wonderbolts. However, Spike wasn’t going to mention this to the Crusaders.

“What is this place?” Applebloom asked, pawing at the fluffy clouds underneath her.

“We won’t fall will we?” Sweetie Bell asked in a terrified tone.

“Like I said, danger is not a factor.” Spike answered.

“What are we waiting for?” Scootaloo asked.

Spike knew the crowd in the coliseum wasn’t just there for decoration, they were waiting for something. An orange blur zipped around the coliseum, leaving a purple trail as she traveled. The girls let out an adorable oh and ah as the orange blur performed complicated flying tricks. Spike had to admit, the future Scootaloo was a pretty good flyer. But she wasn’t in the same league as Rainbow Dash.

“I can’t believe that’s me.” Scootaloo whispered, awestruck that she was so fascinating.

“But wait, I can’t see the cutie mark!” Scootaloo snapped impatiently.

“Give me a minute.” Spike replied promptly. Giving the hand of time a slight nudge, Spike had time travel further to the future, after the show was over to be exact.

It was a locker room made up of clouds. There was Scootaloo, removing her Wonderbolt uniform, and there was her flank…with no cutie mark. Scootaloo groaned and started to sniff sadly, her friends trying to comfort her.

“I AM STILL A BLANK FLANK!” Scootaloo screamed in misery.

“Oh come on Scootaloo, you became a great flyer! You became just as good as Rainbow Dash.” Applebloom offered comfort.

“It’s easy for you to talk! At least you get a cutie mark!” Scootaloo snapped back angrily.

Applebloom looked visibly hurt herself and started to tear up as well. Sweetie Bell looked torn, not knowing which friend to comfort. Spike felt…cold and distant. That feeling of dread and sadness…it was all too familiar to him by now. Without saying a word, Spike set the watch back to the present. The girls were to busy crying to notice the change of scenery. Once back at Sugar Cub Corner, Spike grabbed his bag of muffins, that Pinkie gave him, and eyed the Crusaders.

“I’ve done enough damage for one day.” Spike mumbled darkly to himself.

Turning away from the Crusaders, Spike wanted nothing more than to hide in his basket for a while. Spike opened the door to the library and noticed the lack of a familiar purple mare reading behind a pile of books. Taking a seat at the dinner table, Spike chomped away at his zap apple jam filled cupcakes. But, once minutes turned into hours, Spike grew tense and noticed the lack of cupcakes to eat will mean a lack of something to occupy himself. Returning to an old habit, Spike palmed the pocket watch. A dragon and his thoughts is what remained. Breaking a friendship to its core, the ever confusing route of love, and just a lack of guidance was starting to really prove to be a big annoyance to Spike.

Confusion, that’s the word.

Twilight come bursting into the library, breaking Spike of his thoughts. She looked terrible, her mane mangled and her eyes wide with sadness.

“You look terrible.” Spike joked.

“This is no time for jokes! Rainbow Dash is really hurt!” Twilight replied nervously.

Spike felt his heart drop to his knees. Everything became fuzzy to him. Stars and a fog started to form over his eyes. Twilights concerned voice rang in Spike’s ears, but it wasn’t very audible. Breaking friendships and there was Rainbow Dash. By the tone Twilight said it, Rainbow was hanging on life by a thread. The mare who revealed her feelings to him and possibly wanting to be with him could by dying at this very moment. Spike saw Twilight’s eye’s tear up. He felt guilty for working her up like this, but it was out of his hands at this point.

“I am sorry Twilight.” Spike groaned before passing out.

The small purple dragon hit the ground with a small thud. Twilight grew panicked and levitated Spike into the air. She levitated Spike to the hospital. One friend was already hurt, but now two? This just wasn’t her lucky day.

> In Exchange
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Is he going to be okay?” Twilight asked, pawing at the ground nervously.

“Spike is just suffering from shock. Give him sometime and he’ll come around.” The doctor replied with a considerate smile. 

He glanced over Spike’s charts and walked over to the rainbow manned mare next to him.

“Now you, on the other hand,” the doctor eyed her wings sadly “will not be flying in the near future.”

“How long are we talking about?” Rainbow Dash demanded, wanting to know her fate but terrified that it will be too much to bear.

“Perhaps a few months of therapy and proper medication should be effective.” The doctor replied.

“A few months, be a little more specific.” Rainbow Dash pleaded her eyes full of grief of the possibility of a long recovery.

The doctor let out a sigh but answered anyway, “You’re lucky to even talking to us as we speak. You fell from about 75 feet in the air. Luckily, the cloud you rested on took up most of the shock of the landing. However, the impact on your wings took a fair hit and so did your legs, just some bruises though. As for how long to will remain grounded…perhaps three months. And this is along with the fact that you get plenty of bed rest and NO flying.”

“Three months…” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself. She gazed at her bandaged wings and let out a groan.

“I could supply you with pain killers…” The doctor considered. “But, that doesn’t mean I am giving you a pass on flying 
though. The pain killers will only block out so much pain. At best, the pills will allow you to stretch out your wings without wincing in pain.”

Rainbow’s ears drooped sadly at the news “Eh, I think I’ll pass.” Being able to fly while not being permitted to fly was pointless. She rather suffer with knowing she won’t be able to fly rather than knowing she can fly but can’t.

“I need to check on your X-Rays. I will return to tell you the results, if there bad anyway.” The doctor said before leaving the 
room.

Rainbow Dash flopped back on her bed; her wings ached at the sudden movement. Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack, and 
Pinkie Pie were sitting around the room. Pinkie was first to notice the lack there purple manned fashionista friend missing.

“Where’s Rarity?” Pinkie asked.

“Heck if I know, last time I saw her was back at Pinkie’s party.” Applejack replied, she looked at the girls hoping they had an answer.

“I gave Rarity a book about some basic spells a few days ago, but that’s it. Sweetie Bell was the once who told me where 
Rainbow got hurt.” Twilight offered her input.

“Rarity canceled our usual spa date today.” Fluttershy said meekly.

“Safe to say, Rarity is avoiding us like the plaque.” Applejack said with a shrug.

“But, why would she do that? We are her friends after all.” Fluttershy said in a hurt voice. She feared she might have been a 
cause of Rarity not keeping in touch with them.

“Oh don’t beat yerself up over this Fluttershy. If anything, Rarity has some explanin to do.” Applejack said with a hint of anger in her voice.

Spike palmed his pocket watch nervously, “I think I can help.” Spike showed his pocket watch to the girls. The girls were startled that Spike was even awake, let alone eavesdropping on their conversation.

“It’s a pocket watch.” Applejack mumbled without emotion. She didn’t see how a watch was supposed to help.

“As much as I would like to go into detail about this, I can’t bother anymore.” Spike groaned “Now, um, hand Rainbow Dash 
the pocket watch for a second.”

Spike passed along the watch to Twilight, who stared at the watch for a few moments. Twilight passed the watch along to 
Fluttershy, who then finally gave it to Rainbow Dash.

“I have seen that watch before.” Twilight said in realization, looking at Spike in the eyes.

“I guess, keeping it a secret is not an option anymore.” Spike mumbled. “Fluttershy, mind giving me the pocket watch again?” Fluttershy obliged and handed Spike the pocket watch.

So much pain the watch has caused. For once, it will help solve a problem rather than spawning more uncertainty and guilt in Spike’s heart. Looking over at Rainbow Dash, Spike knew she was in no condition to be moving.


“I’ll tag along-“ Rainbow Dash said, trying to move her bed sheets off herself but struggled.

Spike cut Rainbow sentence short, “No, you’re going to stay here.”

“What! You just expect me to sit here and do nothing!” Rainbow Dash demanded.

Spike got off his bed, his knees wobbled a bit as he tried to steady himself, and walked over to Rainbow’s bed. Was it him, or was Rainbow Dash looking softer and gentle every time he saw her? Her usually cocky smile and brash nature was immediately tame once Spike came into her direction.

“I am sorry Rainbow, but I don’t want to see you hurt anymore as it is. It hurt my bad enough to see you in the hospital once; 
you can only imagine how I feel this time.” Spike said with genuine sorrow.

Rainbow motioned Spike to come closer, which he obeyed, and she whispered in his ear “You won’t be gone long will you?” 

The pleading, almost beggine tone to her words, in voice chewed at his heart painfully.

“I won’t be long. I promise.” Spike whispered in her ear. Good thing Rainbow’s mane was so long, it blocked there audiences view.

“You really promise?” Rainbow teased.

“Must I Pinkie swear?” Spike mumbled impatiently.

“I got something better in mind.” Rainbow Dash whispered with a grin.

She leaned in and kissed Spike right on the lips. Her soft tender lips were like silk against his. Soon though, Rainbow Dash 
grew greedy and let her tongue mingle with his. Even when locked in a kiss, Rainbow Dash’s competitive side wanted to dictate on who had more control over the kiss. Spike tried to outmaneuver her, but let her win this one. After all, Spike had an odd feeling there was more moments like these to come. At last, they parted. A string of saliva was connecting from her mouth to Spike’s. Rainbow Dash let out a small giggle from the sight of this, which broke the string. She was red faced and Spike could only imagine how red he was at this point. Wanting to spare himself from the questions about his sudden red face, Spike froze time and took a moment to calm down; once he did he allowed time to continue.

“Again, how is that watch going to help us?” Twilight asked, eyeing the watch with confusion.

“I rather show you then explain. You guys better hold me arm though.” Spike replied, turning the hands of time just slightly 
back.

Five hooves made a grab for Spike’s arm, slightly squeezing a little feeling out of them. Choosing to ignore this, Spike pressed down on the blue button. The girls were in shock to see the walls of the hospital room grow distorted and blurred. Fluttershy let out an audible yelp and Twilight analyzed the changes in the room with interest. Applejack looked a little scared of the sudden changes while Pinkie was just laughing hysterically at the changes around her.

Spike found that they ended up in Ponyville, right around Rarity’s boutique store. Spike could feel the hundreds of questions about to be asked darting towards him. Twilight fired the first shot.

“Spike, what in Celestia’s name did you do?” Twilight asked, eyeing the watch with a newfound excitement.

This is EXACTLY what Spike feared. Twilight would be asking millions of questions about the watch’s capabilities. And to be honest, Spike had no interest to be studied on like some sort of book. But, Spike knew Twilight’s thirst for knowledge will not subside if he just ignored her.

“Time travel is what I am doing.” Spike replied quickly.

“Who gave it to you?” Applejack asked.

“Um, I went to see the Time Smith. He gave it to me and gave me an assignment.” Spike confessed.

“So that’s why you have been acting weird lately. You kept it a secret from us.” Twilight said, putting two and two together.

“But you can trust us Spike!” Pinkie said in disbelief.

“Tick said I can’t tell anyone about this. But, since I am done with the research, I see no point to hide it anymore.” Spike replied.

“You can control time with that?” Applejack said in an awestruck voice. “Chores will take no time at all, literally, with that thing!”

“That’s the same exact thing Tick warned me about. Ponies and even my friends would take advantage of its power.” Spike said looking visibly upset. Applejack looked down in shame, knowing her greedy intentions were not right.

“Anyway, I didn’t do this to explain how this watch functions and why I kept it a secret. I am doing this because I want to know who made Rainbow Dash crash.” Spike said a little impatiently.

Rainbow Dash could be seen flying overhead. She looked remarkable, her long mane flapping in the wind, her slender form...Spike shook his head a bit; day dreaming can wait for later. Now, Spike knew that Rainbow fell, meaning she had no use of her wings. So either her wings were to sore from doing work or somepony magically shut them so she couldn’t use them. Rarity was standing at the front door of the boutique, her horn visibly flaring up and pointing at Rainbow. Before Spike could register what she was muttering under her breath, Rainbow became rigid in the sky and went instantly into a downward spiral. Fluttershy passed out from seeing the sight and Twilight tried to magically slow down Rainbow’s fall.

“Why won’t it work?” Twilight yelled out in frustration.

“We are just spectators. Nothing we do now can change anything that already happened.” Spike said with a sigh.

Rainbow landed right on her usual comfy cloud. But she was moving so fast that the cloud was taken down with her. Once she hit the ground, the cloud made a soft thump sound and broke into many tiny wisps of clouds. But, the cloud didn’t break enough of Rainbow’s fall and her body still hit the ground with considerable force.
Rarity looked over Rainbow’s limp form “You took something important to me. Now I took something important from you.” She whispered into Rainbow’s ear. She glanced of Rainbow’s wings; they were stuck at odd angles. Rarity gave one last sweeping look over Rainbow’s limp body and wore a mocking smile on her face.

Spike fumbled with his pocket watch a bit, “I think that’s enough.”

The girls and Spike returned back into hospital room. Time in the present was still frozen, so Rainbow was not yet aware of their arrival. Applejack was the first to break the tense silence.

“That back stabbing no good-“ Applejack voiced her rage before Fluttershy cut in.

“I can’t believe she would do such a thing.” Fluttershy mumbled so softly it was barely audible, when with the pressing silence around them.

“Come on girls, we need to confront Rarity about this!” Twilight said, raising her hoof high.

“I’ll bring along mah finest rope. Make sure she don’t get away, you know.” Applejack said, holding back on her rage but the fire in her eyes noticeable.

Spike let time continue and let the girls go and interrogate Rarity. But he stayed behind to be with Rainbow Dash. She looked at him with a mixture of confusion and happy smile. Spike returned the smile, a little awkwardly, and glanced at the watch. More problems and fewer answers were being made from this stupid thing. Spike grew angry and threw the watch violently against the wall. The force of the impact forced the lid of the watch to pop open. Once the face of the watch was visible though, there was a blue beam that shot from it and hit the wall that it recently collided with. Spike knew who was going to come through it before the figure even made its way out of the portal. Tick came clambering out of the portal, which made Rainbow give out a stifled yell. Once Tick found his balance, he looked at Spike with pitying eyes.

“I see you told ponies about the watch then.” Tick said, looking at Spike directly in his eyes.


“I just couldn’t hide it anymore. It became too much for me to handle.” Spike said, trying desperately to defend his actions.

“I can see that. In a way, I am happy you did so but also disappointed by the results.” Tick admitted with a little grin.

“You expected me to fold?” Spike said in disbelief. Tick was always planning ahead, but this much?

“Spike please, you aren’t like me. I am cold and many people know I am the Time Smith. Ponies don’t dare ask me to use my power to give them an edge in life because they know I will transport them to the beginning of time when there was nothing but rocks everywhere.” Tick said with a smile chuckle.

Spike had to take a moment to really take then information in “You aren’t mad?”

Tick raised an eyebrow at Spike “Of course not! In fact, I think you composed your elf well throughout the short time that I 
made you supply me with details about your friend’s life.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash said in mild annoyance.

“She is a friend of yours Spike?” Tick asked with mild interest.

“Yep, she is.” Spike replied.

“So you made Spike look into our lives?” Rainbow demanded.

“Yes, only because I was far too behind in studies to come here to Ponyville to collect data myself.” Tick answered promptly.

“Can’t you see how much pain you been causing him!” Rainbow accused.

Tick looked down at the ground “Ah, yes, I have been the main source of Spike’s grief lately. And for that, please forgive me 
Spike.”

“It’s alright; I was in over my head when I took the job anyway.” Spike mumbled darkly.

“So, will you take me up on my offer?” Tick asked in a business man like fashion.

“What offer?” Rainbow interjected.

“For a friend, you sure like to get in his business a lot.” Tick said with an air of impatience.

“We are more than just friends.” Rainbow retaliated.

Tick’s eye’ narrowed a bit “A deal that I take the watch from Spike but in return I free Spike of his burdens.”

“Which means?” Rainbow asked anxiously.

“That none of this ever happened.” Tick replied grimly. He wasn’t willing to notify them of this, but Discord’s statue has been developing a lot of cracks lately. The rate their friendship has been falling apart, Discord will be out and about in no time. This wasn’t only for Spike sake…it was for Equestria too.

“Does that mean Rainbow and I never…” Spike said, looking at Rainbow Dash sadly.

“I am afraid so.” Tick said with a bow.

“You should take the deal.” Rainbow said suddenly.

“What? That means that this never happened! I don’t want to lose you!” Spike said, holding Rainbow’s hooves. She was crying a little but she firmly spoke again.

“I don’t want to make you suffer for me Spike.” Rainbow said, pulling in Spike for what could be there final hug. She looked at him in the eyes and shared one last kiss as well together.

Tick was brought back to the days of him and Jewel. How happy she was...it reminded him of Rainbow Dash a bit. She willing 
to sacrifice but knows when the line needs to be drawn.

“What will it be Spike?” Tick asked again.


Spike parted from Rainbow “Okay. Here it is.” Spike mumbled, handing the pocket watch to Tick.

Tick levitated the pocket watch in the air. The watch sparked violently for the last time and ejected the entire amount of blue aurora that was confined in the watch. The aurora made its way into Tick’s own watch. After the transaction was complete, Tick eyed the sad couple one last time.

“Maybe, we will meet again Spike. Hopefully, on different circumstances though.” Tick said. His eye’s glowed blue and the entire room was engulfed in blinding whiteness.

“Such a shame it ended like this.” Spike heard Tick say, before passing out.