//------------------------------// // V - (N)Everfree // Story: Spike's Journey // by Integrity //------------------------------// *BANG* *BANG* *BANG-CLINK* "Well, that was absolutely disgusting." Spike had exited the sewer pipe, his B.O. covered in an unspeakable stench. Immediately after, he threw himself into the closest pond to wash away his sins. "Blblblblblbl. Good? Good." A few things were noticeable. One, he was in the Everfree Forest-- which is a problem, because, you know, there are several dozen Lovecraftian horrors ready to fucking kill him at any moment. Two, he couldn't actually see Ponyville at all; just a giant sewer dump placed right in the forest's river system. Wait... "Why are we dumping our urine and feces in the rivers of the Everfree Forest? Maybe that's the reason everything in the trees is pissed at us! I mean, even BIRDS have rights at this point! You can marry a bird. I watched it happen. You think I'm joking? I was the best man at a bird wedding. It was the most uncomfortable thing I've ever seen." It suddenly hit Spike that he was talking to nobody and probably going insane. He decided to get walking in a random direction. In the dead of early morning, the sun hadn't even rose yet, meaning he had to be extra, extra careful. Which is exactly when the Timberwolves started howling. Spike had a pretty decent chance to rush while they weren't listening. The pat-pat-pat of furious footsteps and panting were the only sounds he could hear. He leaped over fallen branches and rocks to keep the pace, but eventually made a sharp turn that he just couldn't keep up. He was on the very edge of a cliff. When the rocks crumbled and hit the bottom, the howl had stopped. "Shit." It was a solid minute before a pair of green eyes glowed in the bushes. Then another pair, then two more pairs followed suit. "Well, this is how I die. Eaten by a tree monster. I can't say it's been fun, but it's better than drowning in horse piss, I guess." One of the wolves growled, launching themselves at the puny little dragon, knowing there's absolutely nothing he can do to stop them. At the moment this knob was about to get swallowed, a tribal screech had alerted the presence of all the beasts as one of them lost their head in a single chop. More of them began to pounce as a glistening axe swung wildly, removing limb after limb until the creatures were a pile of firewood. Spike watched in adamant wonder for a while before asking the obvious question. "Can you do that to me too? Just right down the skull, hard as you can, I'd rather not live the life that I possess." "I am sorry, my scaly friend, but murder I won't comprehend." "Oh god damn it, it's a zebraaaaaIIIII mean, there's nothing wrong with that! I have tons of zebra friends, I'm totally joshing you dude." "...at least your pride you find in solace, despite your racism not going unnoticed." The hood was removed to reveal Zecora! Wow. Wow this was awkward. "Heyyyy Zecora, how are...thi--" "They're fine." "...right." The dragon and the zebra walk in silence for a short time. "I mean, they're just zebra things, right?" "Oh jeez, dude, sorry chick, sorry not-dude, I didn't mean to offend you--" "No no no, I totally get it, all I did was save your life and put myself in imminent danger and everything." "It's not like that! I was just caught up in the heat of the moment, and I was surprised, and--" "'Oh, I'm Spike and I have tons of zebra friends'! One. You have one zebra friend. And that's me. The rest are ponies because you can't relate to anyone from your actual race." "...alright. I'll let you have that one. I'm sorry." "Just get in the house before, Celestia forbid, I steal your watermelons or something." Spike wandered into the...hut. It was basically a shack in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, let's just be honest with ourselves, but he didn't want to make things even worse. He was bandaged up, cleaned, and given fresh lake water in complete. And total. Silence. It was so incredibly uncomfortable, by the time he was finally ready to leave, they still haven't said a thing. "Well, uh, I can't thank you enough for everything you've done to help me." "Twilight and her friends will be here soon. I can't wait to see your body turned maroon." "...you son of a bi--" The rustling of leaves was a dead giveaway; he was in the middle of an ambush. Spike had to think quick and fast; he knew the alicorn would be hauling her entire squad at this rate. He started to panic, fire seething from his breath...wait. Fire breath might work! Applejack, still present with scars, was the first to speak up once all six had surrounded him. "Alright, Spahke. Ya journey is all over." Pinkie Pie spoke up afterwards. "We're going to throw a 'we just stopped a baby dragon temper tantrum' party when we get home!" A moment of silence washed over the group, waiting for Spike to respond. "All this time, you've treated me like absolute garbage, like some slave to command around." "You've exiled me several times over in order to strengthen your sick, twisted bonds with each other." "I finally have a chance to turn and run away from it all and live out my own choices." "Who, in this group, opposes that choice?" Fluttershy and Rarity had winced, refusing to look at the others. Rainbow Dash had slowed down her flight until she stood still, contemplating the morals of Spike's case. Pinkie Pie tilted her head, much like a cat. Applejack had glanced at the dirt, sighed, and turned back to the drake with understanding and vigor, giving another single nod. "Spike!" The group turned around to find Twilight, picking Spike up with his magic. "Twilight, look, I--" The only thing Spike felt next was being thrown into a nearby tree. Muffled yells from the others and Twilight had come out afterwards. Rainbow Dash held the alicorn by the neck. "Twilight, stop! He's just a homeless kid!" "And look how much some 'homeless kid' has done over the past few days! He deserves to be locked up in the castle and never brought outside agai--" A large plume of fire had erupted the area, lighting the hut and trees ablaze. Five ponies and a zebra jumped back, watching the area around them burn in green licking flames. In the dead center of it all stood Spike, now 100% fully pissed. In a split second after his onslaught, ready to fight his friends and who he considered family for his rights, he realized something. Fluttershy was lying on the soil motionless.