Spike's nightmares are getting to the best of him.
It's amazing what one bad night's sleep can do you. It's unknown what several bad nights' sleep will do to a certain baby dragon. Spike's been having nightmares and they seem to only get worse and worse. How much more of this will he be able to take?
Spike was assisting Twilight’s research on the effects of magic on trees in their library. Twilight asked for him to retrieve a few books that were relevant to her research, one on trees, another on plants, and two that involved the proper precautions when dealing with using magic on living things. With his knowledge of what Twilight had worked on previously, he knew exactly which books she would need..
Spike grabbed one from the shelf, and used the ladder to retrieve the other three before Twilight could ask him for anything else. Twilight’s eyes widened a little when she noticed that Spike was already finished.
“Woah there,” Twilight proclaimed. “Seems that my number one assistant finished pretty quickly. You’ve been doing a great job, Spike.”
“Well I’ve been working with you for quite a while,” Spike bragged. “I’ve gotten pretty skilled at knowing which books to look for.”
“Not just that,” explained Twilight. “You’ve gotten taller, as well.”
She was right, Spike normally would have needed a ladder to retrieve all of the books, but he was able to reach to the third shelf from the bottom without a ladder, which enabled him to grab the book about trees easily.
Spike looked back at the bookcase behind him and smiled, leaning on it proudly. “Heh, I guess I have. I’m growing stronger and taller each day, so it’s about time I get some more use out of it.”
He looked toward his left arm, and even though he didn’t see any change in his muscles, he would never admit to that. He looked back at Twilight and gasped, something seemed different about her.
“Hey Twilight, did you get some sort of shrinking side effect from one of your spells? It’s worrying me a bit. And I don’t remember that ceiling being so low, is there something wrong with it?”
“No, Spike! I’m not getting smaller, you’re getting bigger!”
“What are you ta- Oh my gosh! Am I changing into that greedy dragon again? Protect Rarity from me, I can’t imagine what could happen to her!”
Twilight turned around to look for a spell in one of her books as she said, “No! You still look like yourself, you’re just increasing in size! I’ve got to find some sort of spell to rev-”
Before she could finish her sentence, she heard a loud crash and Spike’s head went up through the ceiling, still expanding rapidly along with the rest of his body.
“Twilight! Get out of there and use anything that can help me out! I’m scared of what might happen… and now my scales are becoming soft? What gives?”
He looked at his scales along his outer body, and they looked… rubbery?
“My arms feel so weak. Why can’t I move them?”
“Heheeheeheee,” a familiar and friendly voice laughed.
“Who’s there? Go get somepony to help me out! Wait, is that you, Pinkie?”
“This giant balloon will sure make the party more lively,” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.
“Balloon? Oh no, please stop it! Pinkie, why are you doing this?”
Spike suddenly realized what Pinkie was doing. She was pushing on a pump to make Spike expand! He quickly lost all control of his body, as he started to become more and more round. The scales on his body were non-existent and he was now starting to leave the ground.
‘Oh no,’ Spike thought. ‘She’s not stopping. I don’t know how much more I can take this! When balloons get too big they-’
Spike the balloon popped.
~ ~ ~
Day One:
“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” Spike opened his eyes to daylight streaming into the library’s bedroom. It had all been just a dream, but he didn’t think he was going to forget it any time soon.
“What’s going on? Is something wrong? Did you hurt yourself?” Twilight asked.
Spike took a deep breath and waited for a second to collect his thoughts. “No, I just… had this crazy nightmare. That’s all.”
“Oh, well that’s a relief. I don’t know how I could continue my studies on time without my number one assistant. Are you feeling alright, Spike?” Twilight was still eyeing Spike with a worried frown; she knew how terrifying nightmares could be.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. It’s no big deal. So… what are our plans for today?”
Spike wasn’t exactly fine, but he wasn’t just about to admit that he was afraid of a dream. Besides, he didn’t get nightmares often. Most of his dreams were wonderful and imaginative, and he looked forward to a good night’s rest. He wasn’t that worried.
“Well then,” Twilight spoke, “Today we’re going to visit Fluttershy. I wanted to try this water spell out.”
Spike shrugged and packed a couple of books into a sack and ran off, excited to get out and help Twilight, even though he didn’t quite know what this water spell was.
Twilight giggled and shouted after him, “Hold up Spike! Wait for me!”
* * *
They met over by Fluttershy’s cottage. The animals were all happy and cheerful as usual. Fluttershy was waiting by the river.
“Hey, Fluttershy!” Twilight yelled from a distance.
“Oh, thanks so much for coming,” said Fluttershy in her selfless tone. “I just hope that I’m not being much of a hassle.”
“Nonsense, this is going to be great!” Twilight replied.
“Hold up now, what are we doing here?” Spike brought up.
“Oh, you don’t know?” Fluttershy asked. “Well, I’ve been taking care of animals on land and in the air so well, and I just felt sorry for those poor little creatures underwater.”
“Fluttershy told me about her situation,” Twilight continued. “So I looked up a spell for breathing underwater and communicating with fish. If I could give Rarity wings, then surely I can give Fluttershy gills.”
“Well this should be interesting,” Spike commented.
“Let’s get started,” said Twilight, opening up a book with multiple types of fish on the cover. It was pretty thick, but after a minute or so she found the spell she wanted. “Are you ready, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy exhaled and responded to Twilight with a slight amount of confidence. “Yes.”
Twilight nodded and began to focus. Steam flowed around Fluttershy as Twilight’s horn started to be enveloped by a magical glow, with a changing from pink to light blue brightness as Twilight concentrated. The steam completely blocked Fluttershy from sight during the transformation. Eventually, the steam started to disappear, and Fluttershy was left standing just as she was earlier. She appeared basically the same, aside from gill slits along her body that were mostly covered by her wings.
“Well,” Twilight spoke. “How do you feel?”
Fluttershy was about to speak, but realized she had trouble breathing. She dashed over to the river, and frantically immersed herself . Fluttershy tried speaking, but she was interrupted by Twilight.
“I’m sorry Fluttershy, I forgot to mention that the gills would replace your lungs. Don’t bother trying to speak; you won’t be able to without them.”
Fluttershy nodded and then pointed back to her cottage, still seeming concerned.
Twilight realized what Fluttershy meant. “Oh, don’t you worry, we’ll take great care of your animal friends! And we’ll be waiting for you to get done!” Fluttershy nodded once again, and headed underwater. Twilight waved while watching her.
Spike waved as well and said, “Be sure to tell us all about it after you finish!”
“Spike,” Twilight spoke. “I need you to take a few notes for me while I continue the studies on this river to make sure everything’s under control.”
Spiked sighed and agreed. This was probably going to be very boring, but at least he would get to hear about what Fluttershy experienced.
* * *
It was sundown when Fluttershy finally came up. She was greeted by Twilight and Spike, and transformed back so that she could greet her other animal friends as she told Twilight and Spike about how great it was underwater. There were types of fish that she never even heard of under there! Although she may not be able to get as close to them as she could before, she promised she would visit them again soon and at least give them a friendly gesture.
Twilight and Spike headed back home to get some shut eye. After their busy day today, Spike had completely forgotten about his nightmare last night. They cleaned up a little and went to bed, getting ready for another exciting day in Ponyville.
Spike was out along Rarity, helping her find gems to collect. The weather was nearly perfect, the soil was in good condition, and best of all, no diamond dogs to capture Rarity. Not that Spike was afraid of them, he just couldn’t stand to see something so terrible happen to Rarity again.
They had already found enough gems to fill half of the wagon, and Rarity was being extra generous; she was letting Spike have one gem out of every pile he dug up! This was going to be a great day.
All of a sudden, Spike heard a voice off in the distance. “…pike…rare...”
“Did you hear that?” Spike asked Rarity.
“No,” Rarity replied. “I didn’t hear anythi-”
Rarity was interrupted by a much louder voice. “Spiiike! Rariteeee! Thank goodness I found you, Ijustcouldn’timaginewhatIwoulddoifIcouldn’tfindyouguys. Itremindsmeofthattimewhenwewere-”
“Pinkie,” Rarity interrupted. Well, attempted to interrupt. Pinkie never stopped talking, but it prevented Spike from hearing her.
“andthenwehadtogoaheadandcatchRainbowDash,” Pinkie continued as she got close enough for Rarity and Spike to talk to her.
“PINKIE!” Rarity shouted, in shock at Pinkie’s presence. “Why are you even over here?”
“I was getting to that!” Pinkie said in an annoyed manner. “You see, my knees wobbled, then my eyes fluttered, and then I shook! That means a tornado’s heading our way! Weneedtogetoutofherebefo-”
“A tornado?” Spike repeated. “Rarity, we’ve got to get back to Ponyville, now!”
“But my gems! What would I possibly do without-”
“This is no time for gems! Look!” As Spike pointed at the sky, heavy clouds rolled in and the sky became much darker. The storm rolled in so fast, it was almost like it was being summoned. They needed to get out of there as soon as possible, or else they’d be in even worse danger than they were already.
“Oh alright,” Rarity pouted after one last look at her gems.
They ran off, ignoring the gems and heading straight to Ponyville. A lightning bolt struck behind them and Spike twitched, his eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. They kept running, but it seemed like Ponyville was farther away than ever.
Spike took a moment to glance back and see if they were in any danger. Not only did he see the tornado, but it was close! It must’ve been as big as thatthe library, if not more. Why was this happening to him now, out of all times? This was supposed to be a special day for him! Now he was wondering if he would even live to see anypony have a special day.
“It’s…gaining on us,” Spike stuttered in fear, as he turned his head away from the tornado, his jaw dropped. Pinkie and Rarity were nowhere to be seen.
“Rarity! Pinkie! Are you there?” There was no answer aside from the roar of the storm. That was it, this day officially sucked. Spike was running for his life, his friends were nowhere to be found, and he was being run down by a tornado that was about to kill him.
To make matters even worse, Spike stumbled on a stone jutting from the ground. As he tried to get up, he saw that the tornado upon him.
~ ~ ~
Day Two:
Spike opened his eyes and started breathing heavily, trying to deal with the shock of his frightening dream. He breathed in and out, in and out, in and out, much like he did into a paper bag after Rarity had been captured by the diamond dogs.
The more he breathed, the more calm he became. It was going to be alright. It was just another nightmare. Sure, he didn’t remember ever having two nightmares in a row, but he had a lot to look forward to later today.
* * *
“You’re going to what?” Spike asked in disbelief.
“I’m going to visit Rarity to help her work on her dresses,” said Twilight. “She figured we could work together and make them even more extravagant.”
Spike brought his fingers up to his forehead, making his point clear while still trying to be respectful. He knew Rarity was a close friend of theirs and she needed help. There was no way that Twilight would turn her down, and he understood that.
“You know,” Twilight continued as she used her magic to pick up a few books. “You could still come with us. You might find something interesting, even if you don’t enjoy it.”
“No thanks,” Spike said as he rejected Twilight’s offer. As much as he enjoyed accompanying Rarity, he was a little afraid she would try and convince him to wear one of her outfits and tell him how cutesy-wootsy he looked. “It’s not my thing,” Spike admitted.
Twilight rolled her eyes and went off, telling Spike that she would see him later before she headed out the door.
Spike sighed and went to work on his chores, starting off with dusting the less-read books. It was weird how she would keep track of stuff like that, he thought, but he wasn’t the librarian. He was still pretty proud of Twilight for advancing her magic so far. Who would’ve thought she’d be able to give Rarity wings or Fluttershy gills? The more he thought about it, he was actually pretty lucky to have Twilight caring for him. Sure today wouldn’t be exciting, but maybe later on she’d advance even further with her magic abilities. Keeping this in mind, Spike was a little happier when dusting off books.
Spike was happy for quite a while, until he looked over at his bed to check to see if it was a mess. It wasn’t, but it reminded him of the nightmares that he had the past two nights. He rarely ever had nightmares, let alone two in a row. Spike was sweeping the floor while thinking about them. The more he thought about them, the sadder he felt.
As he thought about his terrifying dreams, his stomach rumbled, and he decided to go to Sugarcube Corner. He grabbed a small bag of gemstones and anotheran equally small bag of bits and went off.
* * *
It didn’t take Spike very long to get arrive at his destination. To his relief, Pinkie was there, running counter. A couple ponies were in line, but it didn’t look too busy. It was still a little early for lunch, and it didn’t take long for Spike to get to the counter.
“Heya, Spike! I haven’t seen you in a couple of days! How’s it going?” asked Pinkie, excitedly.
Spike twiddled his thumbs as he responded to Pinkie’s question. “Oh, I’m alright.”
Pinkie didn’t seem to notice his hesitation. “What can I get ya?”
“I’ll just have a cranberry muffin and a cupcake.”
“What kind of cupcake?”
“Doesn’t matter. Any kind will do.”
Pinkie handed Spike a cranberry muffin and strawberry cupcake. “That’ll be two bits, Spike!”
Spike handed her the money and sat down. He unwrapped the muffin and sprinkled some small gems on top of it, taking a small bite. Pinkie was looking at him, since nopony was in line behind him. He wasn’t eating very quickly, and sighed after he took a bite. Something was on his mind, and she couldn’t stand to see anypony sad, especially one of her close friends like Spike.
Pinkie sat down across from Spike, hoping to find out what was wrong with him. “Why so glum, Spike?”
“Glum? I’m not glum. Whatever gave you that idea?” Pinkie was onto him, but he didn’t want to make a big deal out of his nightmares. Those were just a rare occurrence, it wasn’t that big of a problem. At least… he hoped not.
“Spike, you’re more glum than a wet Rarity! Normally you’d try and eat that muffin in one bite! That’s probably the smallest bite I’ve ever seen you take out of a muffin. You can tell me what’s wrong!” Pinkie brought up her chin and smiled after she said that.
Spiked sighed and realized that lying to Pinkie about his feelings wasn’t worth it. She’d just pester him about it and make it an even bigger deal than if he told the truth.
“Alright,” he said and then took a deep breath, almost as if he was making a confession. “Pinkie, what do you do after you have a really scary nightmare?”
“Well, I scream, obviously!”
Spike wasn’t amused, if the flat look he gave Pinkie was anything to go by.
“Ohhhhhhh. Well, I laugh at my dream to make it not seem so scary anymore. Dreams can’t harm you! You just need to brush it off and realize that there’s nothing to worry about, and I laugh about thinking that it could’ve hurt me. I sometimes also do that before going to bed, and it makes sleeping easier!”
“Laughter, huh?” Spike scratched his chin.
“So you had a nightmare?”
“Not one, but two in a row.”
“Woah, I don’t remember ever having two nightmares in a row. Were they scary?”
“They sure were. They were pretty realistic, too. I-”
“I once had a reeeeeeaaaally scary nightmare. I was making cupcakes with Rainbow Dash! We were all happy and then suddenly I got crazy and my hair went straight and I strapped her to a metal table and then took a few-”
She was interrupted by hearing the door open. Another customer was here.
“The point is,” she continued. “No dream can harm you, no matter how realistic it seems! You just have to laugh it off.”
Despite being freaked out a bit by hearing about where Pinkie’s dream was going, he did feel better about his situation. So what if he had nightmares? He laughed it off as well before taking another bite of his gem coated muffin.
* * *
After a boring day of almost nothing but chores, Spike looked forward to Twilight coming back. Who knows? Maybe she learned something new while helping Rarity. It was late into the evening when Twilight finally came back, and she did not look happy.
“Hey Twilight,” Spike greeted her. “How was combining your magic with Rarity?”
Twilight didn’t hesitate to reply, and she sounded just as annoyed as she looked. “Awful, Spike. Just awful. I didn’t learn a thing today. And, Rarity hardly needed my help.”
“What about combining your magic with hers?”
“She denied saying such things. Oh the nerve of that mare!” She continued in a mockery of Rarity’s voice.
“Twilight, could you get that fabric for me? Twilight, give me those scissors. Twilight, do you think this dress makes me look fat?”
Spike giggled a little at Twilight’s frustration.
Twilight hardly noticed Spike’s amusement during her rant and eventually decided to change the subject, burnt out from talking about it.
“So Spike,” Twilight said. “Did you do anything interesting today?”
“Not much, though I spoke with Pinkie Pie and she gave me a little advice.”
“Advice with what?” Twilight’s curiosity was exposed. Finally something interesting, after doing next to nothing with Rarity.
“To laugh and realize that no matter when I have a nightmare, it’s nothing that can harm me. Just laugh the fear away.”
“Uh-huh,” Twilight replied as she nodded. She clearly remembered back when they first met Pinkie and she taught her friends to laugh at those scary looking trees. It didn’t seem like anything she could write about, since she already knew about it, but it was good to see Spike learning.
“Yep, even if I have a third nightmare in a row tonight I shouldn’t be worried. They can’t harm me!”
“Right, glad you learned to conqu- Hold up. You mean that you’ve already had two in a row?”
“Yeah, what’s the big deal?”
“This doesn’t seem very common,” Twilight said looking slightly worried, but not enough to panic or go into a research binge. “And I don’t remember anypony having two nightmares in a row, let alone three.”
“Well that’s real encouraging,” Spike said in a sarcastic and depressed manner.
“Sorry Spike, Pinkie’s right. Nightmares can’t hurt you…..just let me know if you have another one tomorrow, alright?”
Spike yawned for a second and stretched his arms out. “Alright, I think it’s time for me to get to bed. I’m not worried anymore.”
Spike went off to bed and Twilight followed shortly after. This night, sleep came much easier for Spike than Twilight, as Pinkie’s advice about laughter eased his worries. A nightmare’s a nightmare, and it doesn’t affect anypony’s life during the day. It was no big deal.
Spike just finished sorting Twilight’s shelves. It took quite a while because of the sheer number of books, but it was worth it. He didn’t have anything else he needed to do until Twilight came back, so he decided that he earned a snack.
“Time for some gems,” Spike said as he licked his lips and rubbed his hands together, eager to finally just be able to relax and enjoy some delicious gems.
He went to the cupboard to grab a few, and set them down in a bowl and got ready to eat them. He picked one up with his fingers, lifted it towards his mouth, and it slipped out of his fingers and fell to the floor.
“Huh,” Spike didn’t understand how it slipped in between his fingers, but it was probably nothing, so he grabbed another from the bowl. Up to his mouth it went- and down to the ground, out of his fingers once more. This got Spike pretty frustrated, and this time he grabbed a handful and they all fell down onto the floor, each one sliding off like an ice cube.
“Come on!” Spike hit the table with his fist, and the rest of the gems rose up out of the bowl and were launched across the room and onto the floor, just like the rest of them. He was beyond frustrated, but he would’ve been even more upset if he didn’t see the gems moving around on the floor.
“Is there some sort of magnet under these floors? Maybe Rainbow Dash is trying to prank me again. I’ll show her-”
He was cut off when he noticed they were now stacking up on top of each other. They were organizing themselves into some sort of strange pattern. At first he couldn’t tell what it was, but then he noticed that they piled together to create a large gem, about the size of his head. If they weren’t different colors, he might’ve thought that they turned into one gem.
“I enjoy eating large gems, but this is just getting weird.”
“You enjoy what!?”
No way. Those gems just…spoke? This wasn’t right, but he heard them. They spoke like it was one voice, high pitched and loud. There was also an opening as if it had a mouth to demonstrate that the gems were…indeed talking. Spike just stood there, speechless.
“So, you enjoy eating us, do you?” The gems accused.
Spike managed to get some words to escape his mouth, despite the shock.
“I would never eat something that can talk!”
“Oh, so now you’re too good for us talking gems?”
“I never said that!”
“Oh, but you were thinking it, weren’t you? We’re rare enough in Equestria. If we’re going to be held prisoners, we deserve to be shown off or given away as valuable gifts, NOT to be eaten!”
“I-” Spike tried to say something but was interrupted.
“Oh, but you dragons just love to eat us. Don’t think we have feelings… hmm? Maybe we have accomplishments we want to make in life, too? But nopony gives a flying feather about what we think! Well we don’t give a flying feather about you either. Hmm…. What does dragon taste like?”
Once Spike heard the word “taste” he started to run off.
The other gems started pouring out of the cupboard to join the giant gem, making it even bigger.
Spike ran out of the door, trying to find somepony to help him out. There was nopony around, except one. Applejack! He could recognize that hat anywhere, and he saw it right behind that apple cart. Surely she would be able to help wrangle these gems, or at least know what to do.
“Applejack, thank Celestia I found you! There are these gems and they’re trying to eat me! I need you to round them up before they get out of control.”
Applejack turned her head, revealing that her face was really only some more gems under the cowgirl hat, just like before.
“Why would you want to round them up?” They said in the same voice.
~ ~ ~
Day Three:
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” Spike yelled as he woke; this was starting to become familiar. He wasn’t so used to seeing Twilight, however. She was right beside him, and it seemed that she was prepared for Spike to wake up screaming.
“Calm down Spike, you had another nightmare. Here, take this bowl of gems so you can relax and explain everything to me.”
As she held up a bowl using her magic, Spike stared at the gems. They looked exactly like the bowl he had from his dream, filled to the brim and everything. He couldn’t help but throw out another scream, attempting to keep the bowl out of his sight.
“Get them AWAAAYYYYY-mmmp” Twilight covered his mouth with a hoof, more frustrated than confused by his reaction.
“Spike, please! Quit all this yelling! Now take a few deep breaths and tell me what happened.”
Spike breathed in. He saw sunshine streaming through the window. Spike breathed out. It was quiet, and everything was so calm. Spike breathed in. He looked back over at Twilight. Spike breathed out. She looked very sincere and simply wanted to help him out. Twilight was deeply concerned for Spike, and Spike could tell. He had calmed down. It was simply just another nightmare, and if he could explain it to anypony, it was Twilight.
“Where do you want me to start?” Spike asked.
“Tell me everything you can remember from your dream last night,” Twilight said, making sure the gems were out of sight so he wouldn’t freak out again. She pulled out a sheet of paper with a quill, and was ready to take notes.
“Well, I got done working and decided to grab a snack. I poured a bowl of gems and they fell onto the floor whenever I tried to eat them. Then they grouped together on the floor and I heard this creepy voice. It turns out the gems were talking, and it said something about wanting revenge on dragons and getting that revenge by eating me! I tried to run and get help, found Applejack, but when she turned around she was just a group of gems as well! It was pretty scary at the time, Twilight.”
“So that’s why you yelled when I raised the bo- Never mind. What else do you remember?”
“That’s when I woke up. I don’t remember anything else.”
Twilight wrote a few more words down as she replied. “Alright, I guess we’ll have to go by this for now. Do you remember your other dreams?”
“Let’s see,” Spike began to ponder, thinking about his previous dreams. “I was chased by a tornado alongside Rarity in one dream and uhh… I had another one where I was being blown into a giant balloon by Pinkie. The details are pretty blurry, but they were terrifying enou- I mean… dangerous enough to be remembered.” Spike had a nervous grin on his face after attempting to cover his fear.
“Well then,” Twilight continued, ignoring Spike’s embarrassment. “We’ll just have to go by this information. Give me a moment to think about this.”
Twilight walked away and toward the bookshelves, carrying the paper with her. She looked from one book to another, turning page upon page. What could possibly be giving Spike these awful nightmares night after night? There was a load of possibilities, but Twilight had never been in this position before. Sure she had the occasional nightmare, but nothing like this.
* * *
She kept reading, looking at her notes every once and a while, trying to find a connection. Finally, Spike broke the silence.
“Twilight, are you done yet? You’ve been reading for an hour. I’m starting to worry about you and I’m the one with the problem here.”
Twilight lifted her head and looked at Spike, frustrated with a lack of answers. “Well, I have a couple of theories, but none of them seem reliable enough. First off, your dreams lack consistency so we can’t decipher a common problem directly from them.”
After all this time, no results? Spike had been waiting all day… scratch that.. days for some sort of relief to this problem. Every second that passed by was a slight increase in tension. Spike gave Twilight a frown, crossing his arms in the process.
Twilight pondered for a moment, resting a hoof on her chin. A few seconds later, it came to her; there was something else she could do.
“I’ve got an idea,” she said.
“Oh boy,” Spike suggested sarcastically. “This should be interesting.”
* * *
Spike and Twilight were down in the basement. They didn’t actually go down into the basement that often, the lighting was better on the main floor. Spike was sitting off to the side, watching Twilight as she worked.
Twilight was making some modifications to a machine and changing the wiring. Spike didn’t actually know what it was used for, and never really cared enough to ask.
“Run this by me again,” said Spike. “What’s this machine supposed to do?”
“Remember when I tried to study Pinkie Pie’s Pinkie Sense?”
“Yeah, we kept telling you that it was real, but you kept on badgering it for proof.”
“That’s not the point. I built this machine to detect what was causing her reactions throughout her body. If I modify it, I can probably read your brain waves.”
“You mean like…read my mind?” Spike began to look a little nervous. He didn’t want his privacy invaded. Twilight simply giggled.
“No, Spike, but it may be enough for me to figure out what’s causing your nightmares. And…done. That should do it.” Spike looked at the machine. It didn’t really look any different before, but then again, Spike wasn’t familiar with this type of machinery. What did he have to lose, anyway?
“So, how’s this thing work?” Spike asked.
“Put this helmet on, and stand over there.” Twilight offered Spike the helmet and pointed over to another machine. The helmet looked like a green bowl with some colorful lights on it. He put it on his head and walked over to a smaller machine that Twilight wasn’t working on and stood there just as she asked. Unfortunately, the helmet was too big and kept slouching down into his face.
“Oh,” Twilight responded. “Let me get that for you.” She grabbed a rope with her magic and tied it from the top of the helmet to below his chin, making it more secure. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but getting results was more important than how the rope felt around his head.
Twilight grabbed a wire and hooked it up to the helmet. The lights started flashing and the machine beeped. She also placed his arms in two metal bracers, though they didn’t secure him since his arms were too small. He also noticed tons of paper coming out of the machine with a red squiggle on it, going into a bin.
“Just a little longer and we should get some sort of information on your brain waves,” Twilight spoke.
Five minutes went along by, nothing new happened. Ten minutes, still nothing. What was going on?
“Uhh… Twilight? Is it supposed to be working like this?” Spike asked, nervous about the whole situation.
“Just a little bit longer, Spike, I’m sure that some-”
“Pardon?” Somepony familiar interrupted. Twilight and Spike could recognize that voice from anywhere.
“Applejack?” Twilight asked. “What are you doing here?”
Applejack made her way down the stairs as she continued to speak.
“I was just coming by over to get this book about…what in tarnation are y’all doing?” Applejack took notice of the machine and the oversized helmet on top of Spike’s head. Whatever that machine was, it was clear that she didn’t like it.
“Spike’s having recurring nightmares, so I’m trying to detect his brain wave patterns so we can figure out-”
“Y’all don’t need that crazy doohickey to figure out why Spike’s having nightmares,” Applejack insisted.
“Well then,” Twilight responded in a doubtful manner. “How else could we figure out what’s wrong with Spike?”
“Simple. As the Element of Honesty, I know that when somepony’s having nightmares, they’re hiding something. Whenever I had a nightmare it was because I wasn’t being mah honest self. Like one time when Granny Smith baked a pie I didn’t like, I pretended to like it so her feelings wouldn’t be hurt. Her cutie mark is a pie, after all.”
“So what happened?” Spiked asked, intrigued by the story, it was nice to listen to her after ten minutes of nothing.
“I had this awful nightmare about not being able to buck apples. I was gonna let mah whole family down. It was terrifying.” Applejack shuttered at the thought of it, hating the feeling of being helpless.
“How’d you solve the problem?” Spike asked once again.
“I ponied up and told Granny that her pie just wasn’t as good as they usually were. Ah later found out that she put in salt instead-a sugar by accident.”
“Applejack,” Twilight commented. “I appreciate you trying to help, but I don’t think it was because you weren’t honest. You probably just got sick from eating the bad pie.”
“No Twilight,” Applejack insisted. “It was because I lied. Ah have this kind of intuition ‘bout it. My fears were coming from right here.” She placed a hoof up to her chest, where her heart would be.
“Applejack’s got a point, Twilight,” Spike agreed. “Maybe I just need to make a confession or two. Besides, that machine of yours isn’t giving any results.”
Twilight looked over at the machine. Spike was right, it was giving the same pattern and making the same exact noises at before . Nothing was happening. Even if confessing didn’t help, she could still try and fix the machine or find some other way to solve Spike’s nightmare problem. What was the worst that could happen?
“Alright,” Twilight said hesitantly.
* * *
The three of them went up the stairs and back to the main floor of the library. Spike sat on top of a stool while Applejack sat on the floor in front of the dragon. Twilight stood nearby, quite surprised at how seriously Applejack was taking this whole “confessional” thing. More than any other pony in Ponyville, Applejack was the most appreciative of honesty. Still, this seemed like a bit much to Twilight.
“So,” Spike started off the conversation, not quite sure what to think. “What exactly am I supposed to be confessing?”
Applejack smiled and spoke to Spike in a comforting fashion. “I want you to close yer eyelids. Think ‘bout all the moments you’ve had in Ponyville. At some point you’ve probably wronged somepony. Think ‘bout a recent moment. Yer hiding something from somepony close to you. Figure out what that may be.”
Twilight looked puzzled. Spike seemed to be concentrating hard, but it shouldn’t be that difficult to come up with some confessions. She could name several off the bat, right then.
“How exactly is this-”
“Shh…” Applejack interrupted Twilight, placing a hoof in front of her own mouth to make sure it was quiet enough for Spike to concentrate.
A few moments later, Spike finally responded.
“I’ve got it,” he said with some confidence.
“Alright Spike,” Applejack stated. “Spill the beans.”
Spike exhaled slowly, as he made his confession.
“I lied about Twilight’s new special ordered book being lost. I sneezed and it caught on fire, I’m really sorry, Twilight.”
Twilight wasn’t very happy about hearing that, but as she noticed how genuine Spike was being, she quickly decided it would be best not to hold a grudge.
“I forgive you, Spike… I can always order another.” She then turned her head from Spike to Applejack. “Is that going to be enough, Applejack?”
“Not so fast, Twilight. This here was one of them warm ups. Spike still has a way to go before his conscience is clear.”
“Oh alright,” Twilight groaned.
Applejack glared a bit at Twilight, upset with her impatience, but then looked toward Spike.
“Spike, you ready for yer next confession?” asked Applejack.
“The first one wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I think I’m ready for the next.” Spike nodded as he finished answering Applejack.
“Okay,” Applejack continued as she tilted her hat downwards, closing her eyes. “Close yer eyes again. Take a few deep breaths. Now… You did something unreasonable that could get you in trouble and yer too scared to admit it. You’re afraid of what others will think of you. Just remember that we’re yer closest friends, and you can tell us anything. We won’t judge you Spike. Please, tell us what you did.”
Spike was silent for a moment. It wasn’t that he didn’t know what to confess, it was more of a hesitation. After a few seconds, Spike spoke.
“Alright. I’m not proud of this, but… I once pretended to be you when writing a letter to Celestia!” Spike clinched his teeth together and tightened his eyelids even more. That confession wasn’t easy for him to admit. He felt ashamed; ridiculed, even. The worst part of it all was that he didn’t know how Twilight would respond.
Surprisingly enough, Twilight didn’t respond. She looked as if she wanted to say something, but she was holding her words back. Applejack was glaring at Twilight, almost like Fluttershy giving a creature The Stare.
“W-well,” Twilight stuttered. “That took a lot of bravery to admit, Spike. I’m proud of you for being able to confess something like that to me.”
“You’re not mad?” Spike asked, unaware of Applejack’s influence.
“Upset that it happened, yes. Mad, no. You know it’s wrong and it’s all in the past. Don’t you dare do anything like that again, though-”
“Ahem,” Applejack interrupted. “Pardon me Spike, but could I speak to Twilight in private?”
“Sure,” Spike agreed.
The two mares stepped out the door and started to talk.
“What do ya’ think you’re doin’?” Applejack asked Twilight. “Can’t you tell that poor feller’s had enough?”
“What am I doing? Spike pretended to be me in front of the most important pony in all of Equestria! Not only did he lie to me, but he lied to the Princess!” Twilight really had been holding back her anger. She felt humiliated that Spike would do something so dishonest.
“Listen Twi,” Applejack continued. “You have every right to be upset. Growing up with Applebloom and Big Macintosh, I know how it feels to be madder than a wet hen. Spike might be yer assistant, but he’s also one of your closest friends, if not your closest. He’s going through a rough time, and getting mad at him will only make the poor feller feel worse. You need to let bygones be bygones, Twi. Now it took a lot out of him to make that confession, give him the respect he deserves. Besides, what we need to worry about is that his nightmares will stop. That’s what’s most important. I’m sure they’ll stop after he confessed, but I don’t know everything.”
“You’re right,” Twilight spoke as she nodded in agreement. "This isn’t about me or the Princess. This is about Spike and his nightmares. Thanks, Applejack. You’ve been a real help.”
“You need to be a real help, Twi,” said Applejack as she pointed towards the door with a front hoof.
“Right,” Twilight admitted as she entered the door.
“So,” Spike said as he noticed Twilight come back in. “What was that about?”
Twilight thought for a moment. “We just agreed that you need as much help as anypony can give you. Also, I’m really proud of you for confessing something like that to me. You’ve been there for me, and I’ll always be there for you, Spike.”
Twilight stood on her hind legs, rapping her front hooves around Spike to give him a gentle hug. Spike returned the same, feeling emotional himself.
No response. It was complete silence in the library.
Guess she’s not, Spike thought. I wonder when she’ll get out of b- Wait.
Spike changed his thoughts on account of the fact that he noticed Twilight wasn’t sleeping, or in her bed, for that matter. Instead of a mass under blankets, there was just a note.
Dear Spike,
I won’t be living with you in Ponyville anymore. You’ll have to take care of the library now. I know you can do it. I also left some extra bits under my bed in case you get off to a rough start. Good luck being in charge.
Twilight Sparkle
…What? Nonononono. This was insane. How could Twilight simply leave Spike to take care of himself all alone, with so few details at that? Dozens of ideas were running through Spike’s mind, and perhaps more questions than anypony could answer.
So, Spike thought to himself. This is really it. Twilight left without leaving a reason. I’ve only known her for… my whole life. Wow… umm… I guess I need to make sure the library stays at its best. Better be prepared.
How could she just leave him like that? This wasn’t like Twilight. What could be so important that he wasn’t told about this ahead of time? Spike felt like crying and showed it, as small puddles of water started to appear near his feet. Speechless as he was, he headed for a broom to do some sweeping when he heard a knock on the door.
“Coming,” Spike groaned to the mystery guest. Although he was caught up in thoughts about Twilight, he still wondered who would be at the door.
He opened it to find a wide-grinned Rainbow Dash. She looked more excited than usual, probably because of a new Daring Do book that must’ve come out.
“Hey Rainbow, haven’t seen you in a bit. Are you looking for-”
“Daring Do and the-” Rainbow Dash was cut off even quicker than when she interrupted Spike earlier.
“Gotcha, new Daring Do book came out. I’ll head over and see if I have it.” Spike wasn’t exactly eager to hear about what adventures Daring Do was going to go through next. Sure he enjoyed her company, but when she was on the topic of her favorite series…well…she could go on about it for a while.
Despite the distaste for the series, he knew exactly where the books belonged. He grabbed a book entitled ‘Daring Do and the Triumphant Tiger.’ And walked back over towards the door, where Rainbow stood.
“This the one?” Spike asked, handing it over .
“Yeah, I can’t wait to see what happens next! Thanks Spike!” Rainbow Dash turned around and was getting ready to fly.
“Wait Rainbow! I need some help! Twilight -” Spike was once again interrupted by the sound of perhaps the fastest pegasus in all of Equestria, but this time at the worst possible time.
“-left…me.” Spike shook his head. He tried to pull himself together and tell himself that everything was okay, maybe somepony else could help him out. He went back towards the broom to tidy the place up, when he heard another knock.
“Coming,” Spike said, once again. He was greeted by none other than Mrs. Cake.
“Hello Spike, I’m working on adding some new recipes to our menu and I was wondering if I could borrow a specific cookbook.” Mrs. Cake looked eager, but not nearly as eager as Rainbow Dash had. Spike looked back over to the shelves, thinking of which cookbook would be best suited for Mrs. Cake.
“Sure, though I’m not entirely sure which cookbook-” Spike was interrupted.
“I’m looking for a cookbook as well,” said somepony with a blue and pinkish mane. Bon Bon, was it? They never really spoke much, but he recognized her when he turned around.
“Well uhh… sure. What can I-” Spike was interrupted once again.
“I’m looking for a book on time,”
“I need one on ice skates,”
“I need a book that will show me how I can get hands!”
Waaaaaaaaay too many requests. Spike started to back away as the amount of ponies at the library was increasing at an unbelievably high speed. This was even more than when they had that exclusive release on a book involving one of the comets, and ponies from all over Equestria came!
“BOOK…PAGES…ANIMALS…SPACE…CANDY…” Spike couldn’t even make out who was saying what, and could barely hear words come from those ponies anymore. All he heard was a crowd rumbling.
“At least things can’t get any worse,” Spike muttered.
As if cued by the cruelty of the universe, Spike heard glass shattering. He searched around and spotted three unicorns dressed in black and carrying sacks in their mouths by the window, trotting in uninvited. They started moving miscellaneous items with their magic and brought them to their bags. The ponies who were requesting for books started to scream.
Spike’s jaw dropped. He didn’t know what to do, but this could be the end for the library itself. He couldn’t think of anything but to just stand there and scream.
“HEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!”
~ ~ ~
Day Four:
“HEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!”
“Spike! Snap out of it!” Twilight shouted. Spike woke up to a mare grabbing him by his back shaking him back and forth. It was a rather unsettling way to wake, but effective.
“What? Whaaa…Twilight?” Spike was lost for words with how surprised he was. He needed a moment to take in the fact that what he went through was another nightmare.
Twilight released her hooves from Spike. She was grateful that Spike had finally woken up from his latest nightmare, but she needed information, and by the fact that Spike was screaming for help in his sleep meant that this became even more important.
“Spike,” Twilight spoke carefully. “I know you’re probably tired and have trouble thinking right now, but I need you to tell me everything you can remember about your dream.” She had a quill and notepad ready, enveloped in her magic.
Spike rubbed his eyes and waited a moment trying to remember everything he could. It didn’t take very long for him to tell Twilight, even if it wasn’t easy. At least the confessions with Applejack made it easier to tell Twilight what was on his mind.
“Well, in my dream, you left a note for me saying that you left Ponyville. I was put in charge of the library.” Twilight’s eyes widened.
“Did I give any sort of reason why I left?” Twilight questioned.
“No. It was unexpected and on short notice. Anyway, I was visited by Rainbow Dash who was looking for a new Daring Do book. Then Mrs. Cake came and was talking to her about some sort of cookbook. Next thing I know, there’s a ton of ponies outside the door all wanting books. Way too much for me to handle on my own.” “That sounds awful.”
“It gets worse. Three unicorns…at least, I think they were all unicorns, dressed in black broke into our home. They started stealing things with their magic, and the crowd started panicking, and then I woke up.”
“I see,” Twilight said, lowering down her quill and notepad. “This dream sounds a bit more dramatic than your past ones.”
“I… I’m just glad it’s over.” Spike lowered his head slightly, sighing gently.
Twilight rested a hoof on Spike’s shoulder, causing him to look back at Twilight. It must have been awful to have gone through with the experience of his closest friend to just… leave him all by himself.
“It’ll be okay, Spike,” Twilight said encouragingly. “It was just a dream. You’ll still live your normal, peaceful life during the day just like always.”
Spike just smiled. Twilight stared back at him, relieved with how well he was handling the situation. Spike was still just a baby dragon, and she didn’t even know if she would be able to handle nightmares this well as an adult. Still, no matter how the situation looked, Twilight was determined to help Spike fix his problem.
Twilight broke the silence. “Oh I know! Spike, I think I have an idea as to why you’re having these nightmares.” This intrigued Spike. “How so?” he asked.
“It might be because of your species. Ponies don’t normally have nightmares, but this may be different for you since you’re a dragon. Maybe this is a part of you growing up.”
“I certainly hope not, but it could be.” The idea of this made him worry. Would this go on for the rest of his life, making an unpleasant sleep each night something he’d have to get used to?
Twilight pondered a bit more, tapping a hoof on her chin. “Zecora might be able to figure it out. She seemed to know about dragons the last time we asked her. Maybe she knows what’s going on.”
Spike nodded. “Makes sense, it sounds like she’d be good with that kind of stuff.”
“Alright, we’re going to visit Zecora. We’ll have to be careful in the Everfree Forest, though.”
* * *
The Everfree Forest was mysterious and dark like always, though it didn’t seem to creep Twilight out as much as it did to Spike. Twilight had been there more often and was more familiar with the area. Because of her familiarity, she led the way to Zecora’s.
The walk through the Everfree Forest didn’t seem like it would be a fond memory for Spike earlier. Anything could pop out in the darkness and probably make Spike jump out of his own scales, even if it was harmless. He didn’t know what could come out, whether a manticore, cockatrice, or even worse… a zombie pony.
What they actually ran across was much less threatening. They spotted a patch of blue leaves on the ground, blocking their way.
“Poison joke,” Twilight indicated. “Looks like we’re going to have to change our path. If we head left we should be able to-”
“Poison joke?” Spike interrupted. “You mean that plant that made the six of you…hehehehe…HILARIOUS?!” Spike broke out in laughter, lying on the ground and unable to control himself.
“Please don’t bring that up again,” Twilight requested. “Come on Spike, we need to get going.” Twilight started to turn around and head off.
“Hehehe, sorry,” Spike settled down, stood up and started to maintain control of himself. “Hey wait, this stuff made you all radically change. That gives me an idea.”
“Spike you can’t be serious,” Twilight said as she turned around, only to see Spike running through the poison joke.
“Spike!” Twilight used her magic to pull Spike by the tail towards her and away from the poison joke, lifting him in the air as he dangled by his tail, pulling him out of the blue leaves. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Don’t you get it, Twilight? The poison joke might change up my dreams from those nightmares into something sillier! How come I didn’t think of this before?” Twilight set Spike down on his feet, and the two of them continued walking, away from the poison joke.
“Poison joke doesn’t work that way. You have absolutely no idea what you got yourself into! Poison joke doesn’t affect the mind, it changes your features on the outside and we have no idea what will happen!” Twilight was beyond annoyed; she just hoped that Spike wasn’t going to change too drastically. At least she knew the cure. Some dragon was going to get a bubble bath.
“Let’s just get to Zecora’s,” Twilight continued.
* * *
Zecora’s door swung violently open, startling the zebra. Spike and Twilight found her on the floor surrounded by beads and a mostly empty sack.
“Oh my gosh, Zecora,” Twilight quickly apologized. “I’m so sorry, we didn’t realize you were busy.” Twilight used her magic to move the beads back into the sack, and also tied up the opening of the sack securely. Zecora stood up momentarily, not seeming to let the incident bother her.
“It’s alright, Twilight Sparkle. The door slamming was all but harmful,” Zecora stated respectfully.
“We didn’t mean to interrupt what you were doing,” Twilight claimed. “Spike’s been having nightmares every night for the past four nights, and we thought it may have had to do with him being a dragon. Last time we came to you for help you knew about dragons and their greed. Maybe you could help us out with this?”
Zecora patted her hooves on top of Spike’s head, and then rustled them down a couple of Spike’s scales, one by one. She then proceeded to spin him, leaving him a bit dizzy afterwards. Neither Twilight nor Spike understood what this was about, but they didn’t come to question her methods. They remembered the last time her acts were confronted.
The zebra grabbed some bottles and started to pour them into her cauldron. Green, blue, clear, each one falling in at the same speed, but having a different effect when landing. Sometimes it would bubble, other times the formula inside the cauldron changed color. When she finished, she turned toward Spike.
“Please forgive me, but this is needed to be” Zecora rhymed as she poked Spike in the left eye with one of her front hooves.
“Ow!” Spike cried, holding a claw up to his eye.
Zecora got what she needed, as she balanced a tear drop from her hoof to fall into the cauldron. It fell gently, but then the cauldron started to squeal. Steam rose high up to the ceiling, crowding the area of the pot before expanding further across the room. It became hard to see past the steam.
“This is getting pretty weird,” Spike said fearfully, gripping his arm around one of Twilight’s legs.
The steam toned to more of a reddish color, within that red there was an image starting to form. It was a dragon, no, multiple dragons surrounding a volcano, similar to when Spike participated in the Dragon Migration. But what did this mean? The image started to zoom in on one dragon in particular. It was a full-grown adult yellow dragon, with orange scales. It looked vicious. The image grew closer, panning towards the dragon’s face, then its eye. It just… stared. There was no blinking. It was as if it were a statue, or a picture of some sort. Then above all, something made that dragon stand out among the rest, aside from the fact that he was being zoomed in on. A single tear drop formed and rolled down from that same eye.
The steam vanished, returning the room to its original state. Spike was blinking a bit more excessively, due to the vapors irritating his eyes, on top of the fact that Zecora poked his eye moments ago.
Zecora stood still and smiled, preparing for conversation with Twilight and Spike. “There is nothing that reveals a fear quite like a dragon’s tear.”
Twilight and Spike were both puzzled by Zecora’s response, though not much more than usual.
“I don’t get it,” Twilight pondered. “What was that all about? Who was that dragon and why is Spike’s tear significant?”
“Yeah, and did you have to poke me in the eye for that?” Spike agreed, as he continued to blink.
Zecora seemed prepared for questioning, and continued to answer so. “In order to find the source of your problem, you must find those whose thoughts are in common. If you go ahead and find the dragon shown, Spike’s nightmares may vanish, along with his moans.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Twilight said as she collected her thoughts. “But how are we supposed to find this dragon anyway? We don’t know his name or what volcano they were at.”
“As the Element of Magic, you should know. To your library, you must go.”
Twilight looked over at Spike, considering what he had to go through. It must be so painful to have to deal with that type of stress night after night, and have perhaps his own closest friend abandon him, to live off his own. These nightmares only seemed to be getting worse and worse, and if something wasn’t done, who knew what may-
“Twilight?” Spike interrupted her train of thought.
“Sorry, zoned out a bit… Yes, I’ll gladly check for that spell. I’m sure I can track down that dragon and help Spike out. Come on Spike, let’s get out of here! Thanks for the help, Zecora!”
Twilight took off out the door, with Spike trailing behind.
“Bye Zecora,” said Spike as he ran off to catch up with Twilight.
“Yes, good bye as well, my friends. I hope I will see you again!” Zecora waved, even though their backs were turned away and probably didn’t see her.
* * *
The walk back to the library wasn’t very long. Once they arrived, Twilight scurried straight towards the bookshelves. She pulled out a few books, flipping through the pages and skimming through them as fast as she could.
“No… no… no… not this one… let’s see here… aha!” she exclaimed. “Detection spells! Hmm… Gemstones, flowers, ponies…”
“Anything on dragons?” Spike inquired, curious about how this spell would help them.
“Not that I see… hmm… I guess it would be classified under this category right here.” She set the book down and pointed a hoof at a black picture that shaped out to be a manticore with a white question mark in the center. Underneath the picture were the words, “Other Living Creatures.”
“I think I’ll be able to pull off this spell,” Twilight confirmed. “However, it doesn’t look easy to remain in control. Might as well round up the others, I think we may need them.”
Twilight stood in front of the door and looked back at Spike before she left. “I’m going to tell them all to meet up here tomorrow, how about you sort those shelves and feed Peewee while I’m gone?”
Spike sighed and lifted his head. “Okay, Twilight.” Hopefully tomorrow would be a whole lot more interesting. Just who was that dragon? What was Zecora saying earlier? Something about… Having a common problem? Spike had a lot to think about for tomorrow.
“I’ll be back shortly,” Twilight replied, as she shut the door and hooves clopping on the ground could be heard, becoming softer after each step.
I’ve never seen another dragon cry before, Spike thought as he started to pick up the books, becoming lost in his thoughts.
