Spike’s Sacrifice: Prototype Version. · 7:36am Jun 26th, 2022

Before I made a Fimfiction account, I began working on my first work, “Spike’s Sacrifice,” back in October 2020. I scrapped it in late-December, but this little snippet of the prototype was saved on a separate document, and I stumbled upon it nineteen months later. In this version, Spike survives the blast, but dies the next day at the hospital. He does have his harem in the ASA series and that was supposed to be the original, but I scrapped that idea because I decided to go with the show’s setup of having him and the Mane 6 as just friends and I felt that this version was really just too sad for a first try. However, the idea of Spike having a harem did sound like a good idea to me the more I thought about it. I considered putting the prototype version in the ASA 3 story, but I scrapped it because, like the original, I felt it was just too sad. The majority of the story remained the same.

Chapter 1: The Sacrifice
Ponyville Hospital Waiting Room, 6:00 P.M.
Time seemed to fly for the harem, Ember, and Thorax from the point where they were at the scene of the battle to the time they were in the hospital room. Now, however, time had seemed to have slowed to a snail’s pace for everyone. Spike would be out of surgery any minute and everyone was anxiously awaiting a status update for the Drake that had saved all of Equestria from certain defeat.
Finally, after what seemed like days, Nurse Redheart emerged from the waiting room doors and, right on cue, all eyes fell on her as the fourteen creatures quickly scrambled from their seats and formed a huddle in front of her.
“How is he, Nurse?” asked Rainbow. “Is he okay?”
“He’s out of surgery, but he's been heavily sedated,” Redheart explained, letting out a heavy sigh. “We managed to stop the bleeding and stitch up his cuts, but we had to amputate his wings because they were damaged beyond repair. Most of his abdomen has suffered third-degree burns and his organs have also received some damage.”
Everyone just stared in shock at the white Earth Pony as she read Spike’s status.
“I-Is he going to p-pull through?” sniffled Fluttershy.
“It’s honestly up in the air at this point,” sighed Redheart. “We’ve never dealt with injuries like these before and we don’t know the extent of the damage to his organs. Best case scenario, he recovers. However, it will most likely be a lengthy process. Honestly, at this point, it’s 50-50 that he makes it.”
For a moment, everyone just stood silently, trying to digest everything they had just heard. Spike was alive, but his wings were gone and there was still a very real possibility that he could die.
“Can we see him?” asked Starlight.
“Yes, you can,” said Redheart. “But, you have to be quiet. He needs his rest. Follow me.”
Without another moment’s hesitation, the pack of creatures followed Redheart out of the waiting room and down the hall, dread clawing at their insides.
They were soon face to face with the door of the room in which Spike was in. Their stomachs were in knots and their hearts were racing a million miles a minute. Even Redheart felt her own sense of uneasiness as she slowly opened the door. Tears of fear and horror brimmed in everyone’s eyes as the door opened fully to reveal the dragon just barely clinging to life inside. There, sitting no more than 20 feet away from them, was the hospital bed that contained the drake that had saved them all. They slowly made their way to either side of his bed to get a better look at him.
Spike lay unconscious on his back with multiple IV tubes hooked up to him. The steady beeping of the heart monitor was the only source of sound in the room. Bandages covered most of his burned abdomen and the stubs on his back where his wings once were. The deep cuts on his arms had since been stitched up and Dr. Stables and his team had successfully managed to stop the bleeding. An oxygen mask that was hooked up to a respirator covered his nose and mouth and was wrapped around his face. His shallow breathing only added to the seriousness of the situation. His eyes were peacefully closed and his facial expression, despite his current situation, seemed relaxed.
“O-Oh, m-my C-Celestia,” whispered Rarity through silent sobs. “S-Spikey-Wikey.”
Gabby took a hold of Spike’s still hand.
“H-Hey, c-cutie,” she whimpered, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I-I don’t know if you can hear us or not, but we’re just glad you’re alive right now. I can only imagine how much pain you’re in. P-Please, kn-know that we all love you and are rooting for you to recover fully.”
Gabby buried her face in her talons and began to silently sob upon saying the last two words. There was a very real chance that he’d never do so. While his wounds would eventually heal, there would still be the trauma of him finding out his wings had been amputated. No one knew how badly he’d take that and it was a scary thought for them all.
Redheart could only feel sorry for the 14 creatures as she watched the awful scene play out.
For the rest of the evening, the harem, Ember, and Thorax all sat by Spike’s bed and kept the Dragon company, hoping to see any sort of movement or noise from him to signal he was waking up. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Soon, visiting hours had ended and the 14 creatures had no choice but to leave.
“D-Do we have to?” Sweetie asked Redheart. “W-We don’t want him to wake up alone.”
Nurse Redheart shook her head, “I’m sorry, but it’s not up to me. He needs to be prepped for his surgery tomorrow and it’s more than likely that he won’t wake up between now and when it ends. Adding on to that, I don’t think Spike would want you to worry. I would think he’d want you all to rest so you can be ready to see him when he’s out of surgery tomorrow morning.”
Realizing Redheart was right, the crowd of creatures reluctantly filed out of Spike’s room, but Twilight didn’t want to leave Spike without one last message.
“S-Spike,” sniveled Twilight. “P-Please get better soon.”
She planted a soft kiss on his still forehead and followed the others out the door.
The harem slowly trudged back to the castle, not once looking back at the hospital to try and shake their dread for the night to get some sleep for tomorrow. Ember and Thorax also tagged along. Twilight was more than willing to offer them a guest bedroom as it was too late for them to fly back home for them and they wanted to save as much time as possible when their friend was finally out of surgery. Small, wet dots on the dirt trailed behind them as they made their way back home.
Chapter 2: Hospital Horror
October 13, 2019, Ponyville Hospital. 8:30 A.M.
The girls had arrived at the Ponyville hospital right at 8:30 that morning. They hadn’t slept a wink last night because all they kept thinking about was Spike and hoping that he was doing well. They didn’t look or feel tired, though. All they wanted was to get a status update on their Drake as soon as possible.
When they had arrived at the waiting room, the dozen girls found Ember and Thorax sitting in two chairs adjacent to the door, fidgeting nervously and staring anxiously at the clock. Upon seeing the harem, the two rulers felt a sense of relief knowing they now had more company by them, although it was very small. They had already left the castle and been in the waiting room since 6:00 with the receptionist pony as the only other creature there.
After giving each other a quick greeting, the 14 creatures made a beeline for the receptionist desk for a status update for Spike
“Hello,” Gabby said to the receptionist Pony. “We’re here to see Spike. He’s a purple Dragon with a green head crest, green spines, a light green underbelly, and green eyes.”
The receptionist pony skimmed through her notes and looked back at the gray griffon.
“I’m sorry, but he’s still in surgery. Apparently, the damage is more severe than anticipated and Stable’s team is still working on him.”
The harem, Thorax, and Ember all felt their guts drop. For Twilight, however, she felt a sickening feeling beginning to build up inside her, but she had no clue why that was. While his injuries were worse than anticipated, Spike wasn’t dead, but the Princess felt like that wasn’t going to be the case for very long.
“H-How bad is it?” asked Gabby, almost hesitant to know how badly the injuries of the Dragon she shared.
“Of that, I’m uncertain,” the receptionist pony said. “However, they have notified me that they shouldn’t be working on him for too much longer. Nurse Redheart will come out to see you when they’re done.
“O-Okay,” Gabby replied, her voice cracking with worry and dread. “Th-Thanks.”
For now, the fourteen creatures could only sit in the waiting room, nervously awaiting for Redheart’s arrival.
30 Minutes Later, Hospital Hallway.
Redheart wiped away tears as she trotted slowly down the hall, a clipboard in hoof. This was, by far, going to be the hardest moment of her whole career. She was already running late to deliver the terrible news to the Princess and the rest of the herd. Though Dr. Stable and his team had tried every possible solution to try and save Spike, it was no good. There was just too much damage done to his small frame that even they couldn’t repair.
The bell’s dark magic had slowly destroyed his organs overnight and into the morning to the point where they were starting to slowly give out one by one. When Spike was put into surgery, it was discovered that his sinuses had been fried beyond repair and his ability to taste and smell had been long gone. The magic had also left toxins in his body that overwhelmed his immune system, rendering it useless and leaving Spike slowly fading away.
Then, came the challenge of telling Spike that he wasn’t going to make it. The Dragon had accepted it rather quickly and requested that Redheart go and get his lovers and best friends so he could say goodbye to them. That was exactly what Redheart was headed to do, but not before telling Spike that he was the bravest little Dragon that she had ever met. She knew the Dragon through his stories of heroism, but not personally. Yet, she felt like she was losing a loved one of her own.
Before she even knew it, she was at the doors leading into the waiting room to break the sorrow news. The white Earth Pony took a shaken breath, swallowed hard, and opened the doors. As she did so, one thought kept echoing throughout her mind.
This is going to be a nightmare for them.
Waiting Room, 9:00 A.M.
The moment they saw Nurse Redheart enter the waiting room, the harem, Dragon Lord, and Changeling King swarmed her and Twilight uttered a question that would start a domino effect that would forever be remembered in Equestria history.
“Redheart, how is Spike? Is he okay?”
Nurse Redheart felt her stomach drop into a bottomless pit when Twilight asked that question. It was always hard to tell family members that their loved one wasn’t going to make it, but to tell the twelve girls who were all sharing the same drake seemed even worse. Spike had no family aside from his harem members and the others he knew, like Thorax and Ember, were simply friends. She took a deep breath and addressed the anxious Princess.
“I-I’m sorry, Ms. Sparkle,” Nurse Redheart said as she looked over her clipboard, trying hard to fight back tears. “His injuries are just too severe for us to save him and the magic that was in that bell has left toxins in his body that have destroyed his immune system and are causing his internal organs to fail. It’s honestly a miracle he didn’t die at the scene.”
Everyone felt their blood run colder than Hearth’s Warming snow when they heard the first sentence Nurse Redheart spoke. By the time she was finished, all twelve harem members had felt their hearts shatter simultaneously inside their chests and fresh tears had begun to well up in everyone’s eyes and seep down their cheeks, falling onto the smooth tile of the hospital floor like sorrow rain.
“W-What about organ transplants?” whimpered Smolder, trying hard to wrack her brain for as many solutions to the dire problem at hand. “C-Can’t we find organs from other Dragons to replace them?”
Redheart just shook her head.
“It doesn’t work that way, Smolder. We’d have to go through and replace every organ one by one and we don’t have all the organs needed to take the places of the old ones. Even if we did, the shock and trauma would be too much for someone of his size and age to handle and there’s still the factor of trying to help nurse his immune system back to its original state, which is unfortunately impossible. We’ve tried using healing potions, but they’re not working because the magic is rendering them ineffective. He’s conscious now, although just barely. We’ve already broken the news to him that he’s not going to make it and he’s already accepted that. I don’t know how much longer he has, but anyone who wishes to say their final goodbyes should do so now.”
The harem, Ember, and Thorax slowly trudged out of the lobby, following Nurse Redheart down the hall toward the dreaded hospital room that contained their dying friend and lover. Unlike last night, as they stopped in front of the room, they all noticed the room’s number on the left of the door and locked eyes with it, 201. It was this very same room that Spike had confessed his love to all twelve of his now harem members three months and four days earlier. Now, they were here again, but for a much more awful reason.
Redheart opened the door and the everyone felt like throwing up when they saw what was on the other side. Spike was laying on his back in his hospital bed. The respirator, heart monitor, oxygen mask, stitches, bandages, and numerous IV’s still remained in their original places from last night. His eyes weren’t even half-open and his usually vibrant, Emerald Green irises seemed to be fading. The now wingless drake turned his head to look to the right and saw his harem walking toward him. He flashed a weak smile as he looked at them.
“G-Girls. E-Ember. Th-Thorax,” he rasped. “Y-You’re here.”
Everyone nearly lost all composure when they heard how horrible their boyfriend and best friend sounded in addition to how he looked. The once happy, energetic, laughing Dragon could now hardly get out more than a single wheeze. They huddled around either side of his bed, tear streaks soaked into their cheeks.
“O-Of c-course we’re here, Spike,” whimpered Twilight.
“I take it you’ve all heard?” the moribund Dragon croaked.
“Y-Yes, we have,” sobbed Rarity. “I-I can only imagine how scary this must be for you.”
“R-Rares,” Spike said, before going into a violent coughing fit. “It’s okay. I’m not afraid or sad. I know I’m done for, but please know that as long as you’re all safe, I wouldn’t want anything more than that.”
“No,” sniffled Twilight. “No, it’s not okay. Not in the slightest. It isn’t fair that we’re all safe while you’re on your deathbed. You don’t deserve this. I’m so sorry, Spike.”
“Sh-She’s right,” choked out Smolder. “I don’t know a sweeter kid on this whole planet other than you, a-and n-now you’re about t-to-“
Smolder got no further before she buried her face in her hands and began to cry and cry.
It hurt Spike’s insides even worse than they already were seeing all his lovers and his two best friends in so much distress. Using what was left of his rapidly waning strength, the moribund Dragon reached out and grabbed Twilight’s left-front hoof with his right claw and held it in his feeble grasp, fading emerald eyes locking with vibrant, pain-filled purple ones.
“Twilight, I want you to know something. S-Smolder, I-I want y-you listen too because this is for you to hear this as well.”
Smolder, upon hearing this, quickly got her emotions together and leaned in close to hear what her perishing lover had to say.
“N-none of y-you have a-anything you n-need to apologize for,” he reassured. “I hold no ill will towards any of you, not even Discord. I know he never meant for this to happen. There’s nothing more in the world that I’d want other than for you all, as well as all of Equestria, to be unharmed and away from any danger. I also want you to know that nothing you could’ve done would have prevented this. Thank you all for being the sweetest, kindest, and most beautiful girls in all of Equestria.”
He turned his attention to Ember and Thorax.
“A-And th-thank y-you, Ember and Thorax, for being m-my best friends.”
Spike’s next coughing fit was more violent and sickening for the others to watch than the first one. What was worse was after he was finished and had gotten the ability to continue to speak, he began to feel a numbness starting at his feet and beginning to slowly spread up his legs. His vision began to go blurry and it was becoming harder than before to take a breath, even with the help of the respirator.
“Y-You’ve g-given *cough* me the *wheeze* best life. I c-could *wheeze* have e-ever asked for. I-I *gasp* love all of y-you.”
No sooner did he say his final word than did he feel the numbness spread all the way up his body. His eyes drooped fully closed as his last breath left his nose and his grasp on Twilight’s hoof vanished completely. As that occurred, the heart monitor's beeping began to go from slow to rapid in less than half a second.
Then came the sound that made everycreature freeze with pure horror. The rapid beeping quickly transitioned to a long, dead tone that echoed throughout the room, signaling to everyone that the little Dragon was no more. As that occurred, Redheart, through blurred vision, quickly scribbled something down on her clipboard.
Time of Death: 9:04 A.M.
“No,” whimpered Rainbow Dash. “No. No! He’s just a kid! NO!!”
The usually stoic, cyan Pegasus collapsed and began to bawl uncontrollably. One by one the others began to break down and follow Rainbow’s lead. They all embraced each other and began to just sob and sob. Redheart grabbed a white sheet and threw it gently over Spike’s body.
“I’m so, so sorry,” she whispered, letting a few tears of her own fall.
With nothing more she could do or say, the white Earth Pony trotted to the door as fast as she could, leaving the group to grieve alone. She bolted to a nearby bathroom, locked herself in a stall and fully broke down, sobbing uncontrollably as she let her emotions flow. Equestria and its residents were safe, but one would sadly never make it home to his friends and lovers, and it would be just mere minutes before the rest of Equestria would hear about it.