Life of a Dragon: Die for Metal

by MoshKing


Chapter 10: After Forever

A Year and a Half Later...

"Wakey, wakey, lizard boy!"

The impact of Blueblood's boot on Spike's ribs sent the sleeping dragon sliding off his bed and onto the floor. Spike sat up from his position on the floor, disoriented and half-tangled in his sheets, to glare at his cousin.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he roared.

"You overslept...again." Blueblood responded, irritated. "We're almost at the Crystal Palace. Get your shit together, because the rest of us are waiting downstairs." Blueblood walked out of Spike's bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

Spike untangled himself from his sheets and hurriedly got ready for the day. He hurried down the stairs to see Blueblood, Big Macintosh and Cheese Sandwich standing in the living room, glaring at him.

"Sorry guys." he apologized, grinning sheepishly.

"You should really learn how to set an alarm." Big Mac advised.

In the last eighteen months, the four of them had all changed their appearance. Big Mac, along with Spike, had chosen to grow their hair out. While Spike and Cheese had remained clean-shaven, Macintosh had chosen to grow out his facial hair, and ended up sporting a horseshoe mustache and sideburns, while Blueblood had a neatly kept beard. Big Mac's usual outfit consisted of a black T-shirt and jeans, and the same black cowboy boots that he wore everywhere he went, while Cheese, Blueblood and Spike stuck to the same outfits they wore when they first formed Greenfire.

The reason for their appearance was that the anniversary of the liberation of the Crystal Empire was in one week, and Cadence and Shining Armor felt it was important that the hero that saved them all from the wrath of King Sombra was there to celebrate. Spike saw this as an opportunity to put a show on for the people of the Crystal Empire since Greenfire's newest album, "Turn to Ash", was just released.

The bus stopped as the four of them exited the bus and walked towards the entrance to the Crystal Palace. The trucks that carried all of their equipment had arrived a day earlier to set up so that they could start rehearsals as soon as possible. Still, Spike did want to spend some time with Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. It had been almost two years since the last time he had seen either of them or his niece, Flurry Heart.

The Crystal Guards guarding the doors saw Spike and immediately moved aside to make way for their hero. Spike and his friends passed through the entrance to see Cadance and Shining Armor sitting in the throne room with Flurry Heart bouncing happily on her father's knee.

"Uncle Spike!" Flurry Heart yelled excitedly as she jumped from her father's lap to her uncle. As she reached Spike, he swept her up in one arm and hoisted her onto his shoulder.

"Hey! How's my favorite niece doing?" Spike asked.

"Great! Mr. Sunburst helped teach me a new spell! Watch this!" Flurry's horn glowed pink as a vase that sat on a pedestal near the door was turned into a banana, and then immediately turned back into a vase.

"Wow! That's real impressive, kiddo!" Spike praised her. Cadence walked over to Spike and hugged him as Flurry Heart jumped out of his arms to embrace Blueblood.

"It's great to see you again, Spike." Cadence greeted her brother-in-law. Spike smiled. He hadn't been to the Crystal Empire in almost two years. After his fight with The Elements of Harmony, Spike had become so wrapped up in his own career that he barely had any communication with family and friends outside of the Mane Six, which weighed heavily on Spike the longer that he continued such behavior.

"I'm sorry that I haven't been keeping up with you guys." Spike apologized. "But a lot's been going on with my music, and we've had tour dates to keep up with and-"

"It's fine, Spike." Cadence reassured him. "A lot changed in the last year."

Shining Armor walked up behind his wife and wrapped his arm around her waist. "You had a lot to figure out for yourself. So did Twily and her friends. What's important is that we're all together now." Shining added.

"Yeah, I'm glad that I finally have the time to catch up with y--" Spike paused. "Wait, did you say all of us?"

Cadence and Shining grinned sheepishly. "Well..." Cadence started.

"Are Twilight and the others gonna be here?" Spike questioned them.

"...Sort of..."

Spike stood still for a moment. "Huh..." He replied. "Well, I gotta go grab my luggage."

Spike's mind was racing as he made his way back to the bus that he had called home for the last eighteen months. He knew that it was important for the Elements of Harmony to be at the celebration, but after how things went the last time that he spoke to them, he didn't know if he was ready to face them again. He walked into the bus and grabbed the suitcase labeled with his name that he had left sitting on the floor by the couch,

C'mon, Spike. You gotta set things straight with them. J His conscience told him. He sighed. What happened in the past is in the past. Even if Twilight And Rarity are together, Twilight is your sister and Rarity is one of your best friends.

He walked back to the castle where he left Shining Armor and Cadence while Blueblood, Bic Mac and Cheese were being escorted to their rooms. Hopefully, I'll have plenty of time to think about what I want to say to them. "So what time are they gonna get here?" Spike asked.

"Yesterday..." Shining answered meekly.

So much for preparation. "Where are they?"

"They're walking around the city." Cadence responded.

"You two are assholes for not telling me they'd be here." Spike deadpanned.

"Spike, we--"Shining began.

"Forget it. I'm gonna go find my room and put my stuff away."Spike walked away, not happy that his own brother and sister-in-law had kept from telling him that the Mane Six were going to be at the celebration.

What did you expect? They have to be here, dipshit. They're national heroes, just like how you're the savior of the Crystal Empire. And with how shit went the last time you talked to any of them, it's no wonder that they didn't tell you that they were gonna be here until the last possible second.

Fuck, why couldn't Spike's conscience let him act like a sulking asswipe instead of using logic to prove him wrong?

Spike's inner self continued to lecture him as he made his way through the many halls of the castle. He already knew where his room was, as it was the same one that he stayed in every time he visited the Crystal Empire. As he turned one of the corners, a figure a head shorter than him with rainbow-colored hair crashed into him. While Spike was only pushed back slightly from the force of the collision, the one who had crashed into him was sent sprawling. Spike looked down and immediately identified the one who had run--well, really flown--into him as Rainbow Dash

"Ow!" She cried out, rubbing her head. "Why don't you watch where you're going!?" As she was ready to let loose another insult, she looked up and realized that it was Spike who she had flown into, who was currently looking down at her with an emotionless expression.

"Spike?"

"Nice to see you too, Rainbow Dash." He replied.

Dash hurriedly got to her feet and dusted herself off. "Wow. I almost didn't recognize you with the hair." She halfheartedly laughed. "When did you get here?"

"The guys and I just got here. They're being shown their rooms." He answered. "Where are the rest of the girls?"

"They're all out sightseeing and looking around at all the different shops. I decided to hang back, but I got bored and I've been racing around these hallways for the last 20 minutes."

Rainbow could never stay still for very long. Spike thought. Unless she's up in the clouds napping.

Spike continued his walk to his room with Rainbow in tow. "So, how's Ponyville been without me around?" He asked, trying to break the ice.

Rainbow looked down. "Different. Ever since you left, a lot changed. For a while, things went back to normal. We all went back to our work, but nothing felt the same. Pinkie doesn't have as much energy, and she doesn't bounce around like she used to, Fluttershy barely talks to anyone but her animals, and Applejack buried herself in her work."

"Seriously?" Spike asked, surprised that his leaving would cause such a shift in morale for his friends.

"Rarity and Twilight took it the hardest. Twi barely leaves the library, and the same goes for Rarity and the Boutique. She spent the first week you were gone downing enough booze to support half the population of Yakyakistan."

"Damn..." Was all Spike could say. They had finally reached Spike's room. Once they entered, Spike tossed his suitcase on the bed and walked over to the balcony. The room was similar to the one he kept at his mother's castle in Canterlot, only the walls were decorated with small amethyst and emerald gems, made to form a pattern that when looked at, looked like green and purple flames swirling together. "Well, at least they have each other to lean on, right?"

"You'd think so." Dash replied, earning a puzzled look from Spike.

"What do you mean?"

Rainbow Dash sighed. "You leaving wasn't the only reason that she started drinking." She explained. "The day after you left, Rarity went over to the library and broke it off with Twilight."

Spike was stunned. "But...I thought..."

"Rarity didn't think it was fair to betray you by dating your sister." She scoffed. "Took her actually betraying you to figure it out."

Spike's eyes narrowed. "She didn't have to do that for me."

Rainbow frowned. "What are you talking about? You were pissed to find out that they were dating and now that they're broken up, you're angry?"

"Because them breaking up doesn't fix anything." Spike retorted. "Just because Rarity dumps my sister doesn't mean that everything you girls did to me is gonna go away. It happened, it's over with, and because of it, I actually figured out what I want to do with my life. What's them splitting up going to do? Make me happy? Even if I was pissed, I don't want them sacrificing their happiness for me. That's just vindictive."

Rainbow Dash was taken aback by his reaction to the news. "Wow. I didn't think you'd want them to stay together after everything that happened."

Spike leaned against the railing with his arms crossed, looking out at the city of crystal below as it glimmered in the mid-morning sun. "A year and a half ago, That's exactly what I was thinking. But after a while, I realized that the damage was done, and all I could do was move on." He chuckled. "To tell you the truth, I was more worried about what I was going to say if I saw you guys again."

Rainbow walked over and leaned on the railing next to him. "Believe it or not, I've actually walked in on Twilight rehearsing what she was gonna say to you the next time you two met."

Spike laughed. "Why am I not surprised?" The two laughed together.

Rainbow smiled. "Don't tell anyone I said this, but...I'm glad that you're happy."

"Getting sappy on me, Dash?" Spike joked, which earned him a punch to the shoulder.

"Shut up. Hey, I gotta get going."

Spike smiled mischievously. "Gonna try and find Big Mac?"

Rainbow looked at him quizzically. "What are you talking about?" She asked, which made Spike's grin grow larger.

"I'm talking about how you drool over my bassist every time he walks into the room--"

Next thing he knew, Rainbow was nose to nose with him, staring him down. "Not a word out of you to anyone about this. Got it?"

"Eeeyup" Spike mocked her, once again, earning him a punch, only this time in the stomach. Dash flew out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Spike turned and took one last look outside to the glorious city below him, before leaving his room to find his bandmates.

Time for rehearsal.