Unforeseen Consequences - Welcome to Griffonstone 8

>At first, Spike found himself hesitant about continuing. Understandable give the history the two of you had. In fact, you were more than prepared for him to backtrack on his decision and leave the room.
>So it certainly came as a surprise that the salamander decided to throw all caution to the wind and actually go back to his bed. An even bigger surprise was that he didn’t really waste any time to start talking.
>“Okay, dude. You win. Everything started like four or five days ago. I was baking some sick ruby muffins when the castle’s map called for the girls to solve a friendship. Of course, it called me too since I’m very important, not that you would understand…”
>While this was a progress, it certainly wasn’t what you wanted. This didn’t bother you much though, after all, his mind must still be somewhere else.
“Alright Spike, I’ll have to pull the breaks here. I already know what happened, that’s why I came to Griffonstone in the first place.”
>“But I’m telling my story! Isn’t that what you wanted?”
>Or maybe he was just dense. Sweet mother of science, this was gonna be tough.
“I just said that to sound… it’s not a literal… Man, let’s cut the chase and just tell me why you are being sad.”

>“You really need to be clearer dude, but okay.” Spike said while trying to not face you directly “I’m… not sad, well not really. I-I don’t like thinking what Twilight is going on right now, but… I don’t want to see the girls because everything that happened is my fault.”
>Without losing your chill, you raised an eyebrow at the salamander and tried to both clarify who were the real culprits and to give the lizard a good chance to explain himself.
“How so? Everything I’ve heard and seen points out that it was the council’s greedy shenanigans the ones to blame in this.”
>“I know the council are a buncha jerks! I was there, you know!” You were impressed by Spike’s explosive reaction, but on retrospective, that’s something that you should’ve fully anticipated given the circumstances “But I can breathe fire! I should’ve protected Twilight and the girls! Then everything…”
>Alright, it was clear why Spike’s mood was in such a bad state, and since this was also a good opportunity to start making your point, you decided to interrupt him.
“Would be worse than what we have right now. C’mon, Spike! You can’t really think that this is your fault!”

>The lizard answered by rolling his eyes and going back to his usual stupid way of thinking. At least he didn’t give you his back, that would’ve been annoying “Pfft! I knew a hoity-toity dude like you wouldn’t understand.”
>Well, it was a bit annoying to be discredited in that way, but… kindness was something that was needed here, so keep chill was an absolute must. Besides, this was a perfect chance to say something you always wanted to.
“As Discord would say “au contraire, mon captain!”. Trust me, I’m no rookie when it comes to blaming myself for bad things happening to my loved ones.”
>That actually made Spike to hop off his bed, his little claw was pointing at you in anger. “Oh, yeah?! Name one time that happened! Go on!”
>You felt a bit tempted to use your magic and show this lizard who’s boss… alright, you had to do your best to not do that, but hey, it’s not like you actually slapped him or something.
>Nah, there were other ways to make him swallow his words, ways that didn’t involve making you look like Ruffle Truffle. Ways that did involve being smug.

“Chrysalis.”
>It worked of course, Spike was now looking a bit embarrassed by his accusations “Oh… I forgot about that one.”
“Well, I didn’t! The entire time I spent inside that stupid cocoon I was blaming myself for putting everyone in danger! And you know what happened after that?”
>That ended up killing Spike’s embarrassment as he crossed his short chubby arms and replied with the least excited tone ever conceived “Lemme guess, you went back to your perfect life and forgot about it…”
“Heck, no! I couldn’t stop blaming me for everything that happened even after the day was saved! But then Discord came, and he taught me a very important lesson.”
>Spike quickly replied and promptly replied with something so out of field that actually stunned you for a bit “Never roll a piercing spell when facing the sword sponge?”
>Honest question. How do you even answer to that other than with a…
“…What?”

>“You know, the sword sponge has a high resistance to any kind of sword magic, Discord always had a tough time remembering that one”
>Sword magic? You had to ask yourself if you had been transported to a different dimension and time, one where the world had lost its frickin’ mind.
“I-I really have no idea if we’re speaking the same language anymore.”
>You didn’t know what was more baffling, this whole line of conversation or Spike being angry that you had no idea what he was talking about “Oh, come on! It’s Ogres n’ Oubliettes, dude! Don’t tell me you don’t know about it!”
>Oh… that thing. Man, and Eris said you were a dork… WAIT! What did that lizard say about your uncle?
“Discord plays that junky game? Man, just wait until I tell my moms and Eris about this, they’re gonna have a field day with… err… we’re getting derailed, so let’s go back to the topic, alright?”
>Spike huffed and reluctantly agreed, even if he made a final protest about his trashy game “Fine! But for your information! Ogres n’ Oubliettes is the best game in the history of the world!”

“You should be glad Cherrywood isn’t here, because she would have your spine for saying that. Anyway, going back to what Discord taught me. Sometimes we make mistakes, while others, things simply happen outside of our control. It doesn’t which one is it though, because what’s important is what we do to solve these problems instead of drowning into useless what ifs”
>You were amazed by how wide Spike could open his jaw, but hey, at least you finally managed to surprise the guy “Discord told you that?! Really?!”
“Of course! My uncle can be pretty cool… most of the time… well, sometimes… like it can happen… Anyway, those were more or less his words, and I’m telling the same to you right now. Maybe you could’ve done something more, maybe you couldn’t. It doesn’t matter because that’s in the past. If you care so much about Twilight, then you should be focusing on how to help her IN THIS MOMENT!”

>Spike vehemently shook his head, as his insecurity started to surface “But I can’t! The council doesn’t let anyone to see Twilight and I’m just too weak to break her out of that cell… what can I even do?!”
>Alright, you couldn’t screw up this time because that would’ve meant absolute failure… and you weren’t gonna lose this. Oh no, you were gonna get that reptile out of his hole!
“Hmm… Those cheats never mentioned anything about visits being prohibited. I will keep that in mind for tomorrow. As for you, Spike… let me ask you a question. How much does Twilight values her friends?”
>“Duh! More than anything else! She’s the princess of friendship!”
“Exactly! Maybe you can’t comfort Twilight directly, but there is another way that you can stand by her, and it’s quite important if you ask me. The girls needs you, Spike, more than any other time.”
>And just like that, Spike’s self-esteem vanished faster than your hopes to get a Mane-maniac card “I dunno, they seem pretty okay to me.”
“They are just better at hiding their feelings, but I’m sure that deep down, they must be going through a lot. So you have to swallow your tears and be strong, Spike. You have to get back up and go back to them with your head held high. You have to do it for them, and for Twilight.”

>Spike remained silent for a moment, but when he spoke, you could see something in his eyes “…And for Equestria?”
>It was hope, and as many problems as you had with him in the past, that’s something you would not dare to destroy.
>So you hopped off the comfy desk and placed your hoof on his reptilian shoulder as well as giving him the warmest smile you could muster.
“Always for Equestria.”
>Spike sighed, but not in annoyance or defeat, but rather, the guy seemed pretty relieved “Thanks, Anon… this really helped me.”
>You let out a small chuckle and hopped off the desk to pat Spike on the back
“No need to thank me. I’m just doing my job.”
>“Yeah…” Spike remained silent for a couple seconds before chuckling “Guess I won’t be getting all of those humdrum cards, huh?”
“No, but if you can tell Discord to stop messing with my card packs I would be thankful. My allowance is like three bits and I can’t really buy many whith that.”

>“Three bits?!” Spike replied with absolute bafflement “Dude, a single pack costs five!”
>Remembering that your allowance was far, far below the national average and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon, you let out a heavy sigh.
“I know…”
>“Geez, and I thought Twilight giving me fifteen was cheap! Wait… Aren’t the Princesses rich? Why do you get so few bits?”
>The details were long and painful and time was short, but you guessed that it wouldn’t hurt to give him the basic rundown.
“I actually don’t, my real allowance is like a hundred and fifty bits, but… I basically get grounded every other week… and I have to pay all the stuff I stea… borrow from the royal guard somehow...”
>Spike stared at you with a deadpan “Can’t you just, not do that?”
“Science has a price, Spike… and the armor the guard uses work really well as super conductors.”
>Spike finally became more relaxed as he laughed heartedly and even gently hit your shoulder “You’re a weird dude!”
>You on the other hand, gave him a more dignified response as you walked past him and towards the door.

“I rather think that I have a unique charm, thank you very much.”
>“Whatever you say…” Spike looked awkwardly at every direction and scratched the back of his head. “So, umm, does this means that we are friends now?”
>You tapped your chin and thought long and hard about the implications of his question… ok no, you actually responded quite fast to that as you used your magic to open the door.
“Nah, man! I still hate your guts! We’re just doing a temporary truce.”
>Feeling relieved by this, Spike raised his short chubby arms and exclaimed with the same enthusiasm of a stallion who just got a non-guilty verdict “Oh, thank goodness! I was starting to get worried! Just to clarify, we’re still enemies no matter what, right?”
“To the bitter end”

>“Alright! Now what are we waiting for?! Let’s join Rarity and the others!”
“…You know there’s no way you can have a chance with her, right?”
>“Puh-lease! It’s like Twilight always says! Slow and steady wins the race!”
“Man, Miss Rarity is like twenty years older than you, how in the wide world of Equestria can you believe that… know what? Forget it, keep your dream alive, champ.”
>“… Do you really mean that, or you’re just saying it so I screw up?”
“That’s up for you to figure out, champ.”
>“Could you stop talking like that?! You’re starting to sound like Discord!”
“Nope! Now you know why he’s my uncle, champ.”
>“Ugh… I hate you so much.”