Fists flew wildly, hitting the punching bag as hard as she could, getting lost in her own thoughts inside of the mini gym Twilight's castle had. The equipment and set was brought in when Spike had hit his draconic puberty years ago.
Rachel was fast when she hit the bag, the worn out leather sack jolted harshly with each blow. Beads of sweat dripped off her body from the intense workout.
Spike had then come into the gym. He watched his girlfriend slammed her fists against the bag for a bit. Watching the bag move before he approached her. "Hey." he said.
"Hey babe." Rachel responded with a loud SMACK against the bag. The bag swung hard, the chain connected to it creaked from the movement. "What's up?" she asked, not tearing her focus away from what she was doing.
"Just coming to check on you." Spike said. He walked over to the other side of the bag before grabbing it and holding it in place.
"Thanks." Rachel said for him holding the thing as she continued to wail at it with her fists. "And I'm fine."
"You say that now." Spike said as he held the bag. He could feel the strength the human was generating.
Rachel continued to give the punching bag hail of fists of fury. The dragon couldn't help, even though he wanted to talk to her about something serious, he couldn't help himself to eyeing his mate's physique.
The way her skin glistened as sweat rolled off her body. She wore her black sports bra so her toned midriff was exposed, the intensity in her eyes as she focused on her target.
Look later, Spike, the dragon thought before clearing his throat. "Rachel, can we talk for a second?" he asked her then.
"What's up?" She responded with another punch. When she did a spin kick, Spike let out a grunt upon impact.
"Rachel, please, stop for a sec." Spike said.
After a couple more blows, Rachel finally stopped. Taking in a couple of deep breaths, walking over to the bottle of water she had on the bench. She scooped it up, undid the top and took a drink. After quenching her thirst, she turned back towards spike.
"Is something the matter?" Rachel asked as she took a seat on that bench.
"No, nothing is wrong." Spike said, walking up to the bench and sitting down next to her. The metal groaned and his tail and wings scrapped against the surface. "I want to know how you're feeling."
Rachel sighed. "For the umpthteenth time, I'm okay." she said. The irritation in her voice was clear.
"Rachel, you've been having nightmares since we came home. I think after three nights of waking up in the middle of night screaming and throwing up late at night. I think that calls for worrisome."
Rachel narrowed her eyes up at him. "You're not gonna stop asking, are you?"
"I'm known to be very persistent." he wiggled his brows and grinned. "As you know very well." he teased before sighing softly. "Seriously though, I am worried about you." he reached down and grabbed her hands gently. "Please."
Rachel stared up at him.
"You told me no secrets between us." Spike reminded her.
This boy here…..
Rachel's shoulders sagged. "I honestly don't know." she responded. Taking a hand away from Spike to rub the side of her head. "Since touching the Crystal Heart, I've been having these dreams."
"What were they exactly?" Spike pressed calmly.
She waited a moment before responding. "My demons. Like I said before Spike, we all have our demons. For years I've managed to keep them at bay since living in Equestria, but when I touched the Heart… it showed me what I am." She then thought to the faint yellow mark around her breast. If Spike was looking at her cleavage closely, he would've detected it. "Among other things."
Spike stared at her for a while, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand. "What did it show you…?"
"I…" Rachel then hung her head down and sighed. "I'm sorry. I want to tell you… but I don't know how to explain it." her voice softened. Her eyes were swelling in tears in thought of what the heart showed her, not aware however what the Heart actually did.
Spike frowned once she saw the tears. He removed his hands from hers to reach out, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close in an embrace. She lay her head on his chest. "I'm sorry spike, I just don't know how to…"
"Hey, please don't cry. I shouldn't ask. I'm just worried about you." Spike said softly, planting a kiss on top of her head as he soothed her. "Don't worry about it for now… just, don't block me out."
They sat in silence in their embrace. Rachel closed her eyes as she continued to think about what the Heart showed her.
Hypocrite…. That one word echoed in the human's mind. This voice in her mind didn't sound like her all, sending a shiver down her spine. Her heart tightened as a result for a split second before it released it.
Spike thought for a moment before going to the main thing, the main reason why he wanted to talk to her. "Rachel, we have a problem with the White Mantle." he said, causing the human to sit up.
She dried her tears before looking up at him. "Assuming you talked to Shining Armor?"
Spike nodded. "Managed to find a moment to talk to him. He showed me something in his dungeon; a young human, a child."
Rachel's eyes widened when he mentioned a child. "W-why was a kid in the dungeons?"
"The White Mantle did something to him. Made him violent, almost zombie but without the rotting flesh. But his mind was not there." Spike explained.
"Why didn't you show me this while we're at the Empire?" Rachel asked with a grunt.
He sighed before digging into his pants pocket and pulled out his phone. He began showing a picture of the kid.
Rachel gasped when she saw the child. Covering her mouth in horror with one hand and the other latching on the phone to look at it. "What on earth did they do to him?" she felt sick to her stomach just looking at him. She scrolled to the next photo, that was actually a video of the boy. When she pressed play, she saw the gray skin kid acting violent towards Spike and the other pony guards with him. She could just make Shining Armor's royal coat and hand motioning the dragon to shut it off.
"They don't know. But its some sort of mind control he's in. There's been other attacks reported of humans attacking. It's getting really dangerous out there." Spike said, taking the phone from her.
Rachel shook her head, her hands shook a little. She knew exactly why someone would do this to her race. Humans were the invaders. However, they shouldn't be subjected to this torment.
"A-are they doing something to reverse the kid?" she asked him.
Spike nodded. "Whatever magic was used, Shining and his guards are working on it." He gently raised a hand and began caressing her cheeks. "I know you can handle yourself, and I tend to get a little overboard when it comes to you, but I'm serious about this Rachel. I don't want to lose you to these guys."
"So you expect me to stay put?" she asked him. "Hide out in the castle?"
He bowed his head, shaking it before raising it back up. "I want you to be careful. You're strong yes but take extra precautions. I know I can't keep you locked up in the castle."
"I have the bracelet."
"More than that. Either take your bow or take my dagger." Spike grunted. The dagger he was talking about was the one with the crescent moon on the handle. Though in Rachel's case, the dagger to her would be the size of a small sword. Though clearly those two were very different things.
"You think those humans are going to attack me?"
"No. It's for any White Mantle fucker that tries to take you."