It was a fresh morning as Twilight Sparkle trotted down from her room in the castle to the library. There, Spike was seated in a large chair with a stack of comic books by his side.
“Good morning Spike!” Twilight said as she entered the library.
Spike didn’t respond, his face hidden behind the action-packed pages of his literature.
“I said, ‘good morning Spike’!” Twilight repeated, approaching the young dragon.
As the princess of friendship pulled down the comic, she found Spike asleep! Gently, she nudged him awake.
“Wha...who…Twilight!” he exclaimed. Startled, Spike lost the balance of his chair and fell backward and crashed to the floor.
“Ow!” he moaned as he rubbed his head. “Is it morning already?”
Twilight nodded.
“Oh geez!” he muttered as he picked up his comic and placed it back on the table. “I’m sorry Twilight. I guess I was too deep in my reading.”
She smiled. “Enjoying your comics?” she asked.
Spike shrugged. “I still like them, but I’ve read them several times over,” he answered. “I honestly could use some new issues.” He looked up at Twilight. “I don’t suppose we could go to Canterlot today?”
Twilight pondered for a moment. “It depends on what happens with the others. For all we know, another friendship problem could emerge!” she stated.
He sighed. “You’re right.”
Over the next hour, the rest of the group arrived. As the morning rolled on, they went over the daily agenda, upcoming events, pending engagements, lessons learned, scheduling conflicts, party break and finally wrapped up with the map summoning Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie to Manehatten on a friendship mission.
As they were leaving the room, Spike approached Twilight. “Uh, Twilight?”
She turned to him and smiled. “I haven’t forgotten Spike. We’ll head to Canterlot this as soon as you’re ready.”
He smiled gleefully and headed up to his room. Once there, Spike went to his small money bank and pulled out the bottom cork. He spilled its contents onto his bed and counted the bits and gems he had saved. Once he had them in a small pouch, he walked back down to the main hall, where Twilight was waiting.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Yeah!” he replied.
The two headed outside and took off to the skies, Spike riding on Twilight’s back. A bit later, they arrived outside the main gates to the city. The guards greeted them with a bow.
“Welcome Princess Twilight! What brings you to Canterlot?”
“Well, Spike and I were hoping to visit a comic shop,” she answered.
The guards smiled. “There’s only one comic shop that I would recommend in the city,” he answered. “Enchanted comics!”
Both Twilight and Spike shuddered, recalling their adventure as the ‘Power Ponies’ inside an enchanted comic book.
“Um, great. Heh, thanks!” Twilight said gingerly as the three entered the city.
“I don’t know about you, but I’d rather try and avoid another adventure into a comic,” Twilight whispered.
“At least you had super powers,” Spike muttered.
Twilight rolled her eyes and looked around. “Do you know of another comic shop in the city?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yeah. I heard about from somepony in Ponyville. I forgot who, but it’s supposed to be cool,” he answered as he walked up to a city map. He looked it over until he found what he was looking for. “It’s this way!”
Spike lead the way, winding through the streets until they came to a small building on a corner, decorated with ponies and dragons in costumes on the storefront windows.
“Cosmic comics?” Twilight said, reading the sign overhead of the entrance. “Are you sure about this place Spike?” she asked.
He nodded and led the way inside. A bell rang as they pushed through the door. They found the inside of the store decorated with bookcases, each shelf filled with volumes of assorted graphic novels in a variety of genres that caught Twilight off-guard. Behind the register was a male pony with a comic spread out on the counter. He looked away from the pages as the three entered the room.
“Welcome!” he said with glee as he came around and greeted them. “How can I help you?”
“We’re looking for a few comic books,” Twilight answered.
The pony glanced around the store. “You’ll have to be more specific,” he stated. “Are you looking for MC or DC?”
“MC or DC? What do you mean?” Twilight asked.
“Well, ‘MC’ stands for ‘Monster Comics’,” he said, removing his glasses and tossing them aside. “and ‘DC’ stands for me,” he exclaimed and transformed, changing into an elongated collaboration of chaos, “Discord Comics!”
Twilight was flabbergasted as Discord smiled through his fanged tooth. Spike facepalmed. “Now I remember where I heard about this place,” he mumbled.
“What?” Discord asked as he pulled out a nail file from the air and worked on his nails. “You seem surprised princess.”
“Uh, well, I didn’t figure you for a comic book reader,” Twilight said.
“Humph! I’ll have you know that I’m an avid collector!” Discord said proudly. “I even have a rare copy of issue 100,” he added as he leaned in close to Spike.
“Issue 100? Of what?” Spike asked.
Discord smiled. “All of them!” he shouted as random comics flew into the air from the surrounding comic bins, covering the air and floor with an assortment of colorful covers and pages.
When the flying comics had stopped, Twilight brushed a comic book off of her face. She muttered incoherent under her breath as she trotted to the door.
“Come on Spike! Let’s go to another store.”
As she reached for the door, Discord instantly appeared in the doorway. “Now, now, Twily, surely you and Spike would not want to turn away from a friend,” he said and motioned them toward a rack with comics. “Now, what is it that you are looking for?”
Hesitantly, Twilight turned to the dragon. “Spike,” she said.
He glanced from her to Discord and sighed. “I’m looking for some new issues of ‘Power Ponies”, he said.
Discord smiled. “Ooo! I do have a few in stock,” he mused and lead Spike to a section of the store, featuring posters and displays of super-powered ponies. “Hmmm, let’s see,” he muttered. A pair of reading glasses appeared on his face as he rifled through the comics. “What issues?” he asked.
“Issues after number one hundred and thirty-seven,” Spike stated.
“Hmm…this looks like all we have,” he said and handed Spike a few issues. “You’re lucky too. I heard that enchanted comics ran out of the final issues.”
“WHAT?!!” exclaimed Spike. “F-f-final issues? Wh-wh-what happened?” he asked as he started biting at his claws, shocked at this news.
“You don’t know? Why must I be the bearer of bad news!” Discord moaned as a violin appeared and started playing a series of sad notes.
“No, this cannot happen!” Spike cried out, falling to his knees and reaching up, as though he was begging for mercy. “Why? WHY??” he yelled, his voice echoing off the walls of the comic shop.
“I…I don’t believe it,” Spike muttered. “This cannot be the end!”
“I’m afraid that it is,” Discord said. “Even as the lord of chaos, I could not have predicted something of this magnitude.”
“Spike, this could be a good thing,” Twilight chimed in and placed her hoof on his shoulder. “Maybe you could try out a new series.”
“A new series?” he muttered. “No! This is…is…horrible! Surely you must be tricking us! Tell me this is just one of your tricks! Please! PLEASE!” Spike sobbed as he buried his head in Discord’s arm.
Discord glanced up at Twilight. “He’s a bit over dramatic, isn’t he?” he said with a sigh. “These things happen Spike. Unfortunately, no series can last forever.”
“Well, maybe you can recommend a similar series to him?” Twilight said as she chimed in the conversation. She pulled out a comic from a nearby bin and held it up. “This looks like a fun one,” she said and held it out to Spike.
Discord smiled. “Oh yes! That’s a rather fun one,” he commented. “It’s similar in some ways to the comics you like.”
Spike grabbed the issue and looked over the cover. He sighed and placed the comic back in its bin.
“Let’s just get these and go,” he said.
Spike paid Discord and left the shop, while Twilight lingered behind.
“Discord, would you mind pulling a few issues that you think he might like to read?”
“I’ll scour through for some that might suit him,” he said with a salute and escorted her to the door.
With his final issues in hand, Spike and Twilight passed through the streets. Spike was rather quiet as they came to the city’s main entry gates.
“Are you going to be okay Spike?” she asked.
Spike nodded. “I guess. I’m just a bit, well, sad I guess.”
“That’s normal,” Twilight said. “For you, this is just a little bit of grief.”
Spike turned to her. “What do you mean?”
“Well, when ponies get upset at something, they can either accept it for what it is, or get angry about it. If anything, I’m rather proud of you for handling this, um, tragedy in such a mature manner.”
Spike managed a small smile. “Well, at least I can read the final issues and see how the series ends. I guess that’s a nice thing.”
The rest of the day passed without much excitement, mainly because Twilight had pulled out one of her many to-do lists and kept herself and Spike busy until late that evening.
As Spike crawled into his bed, he turned on his bedside light, opened his bag and retrieved the purchased comics. He sprawled them out on his covers and glanced from one issue to the next.
“Well, I guess this is the end of an era,” he said and proceeded to open up the first comic and started to read.
As he read, Twilight lay in her bed. She mumbled in her sleep, trying to create an organizational paradigm of the library, her brain not resting with organizational ideas in her dreams. Just as she was fixing the problem, regarding the matter in which to order Starswirl’s special editions when she was disturbed from her dreams.
“ARRRGH!!!”
Twilight bolted upright in bed, her eyes darted around the room.
“Wha?” she mumbled sleepily.
Another loud yell echoed through the halls of the castle, coming from Spike’s room.
Startled, Twilight jumped out of bed and hurried down the hall. She barged through the door, her horn sparkled with magic from the tip.
“What is it Spike?!!” she shouted. “Are you hurt? Is everything okay?!!”
Spike was sitting upright in his bed, a comic gripped tightly between his clenched claws. “This is just crazy! Who would do such a thing?!” he shouted.
“What are you talking about Spike?”
He held out the comic to Twilight. “Read the last page!” he said as he pushed the comic at Twilight.
She took the book and flipped to the final page, her eyes skimmed through the pictures to the final panel at the bottom, reading the word aloud.
“To be continued,” she muttered. “This is why you shouted?”
“That’s the last issue!” Spike stated. “This is infuriating! Who would end a story unfinished! It’s just cruel! I mean, how could anyone do this?!!”
“Ugh! You could have waited until morning,” she said and turned away. “Just sleep on it tonight Spike.”
Spike mumbled under his breath and walked back to his bed. He grabbed his pillow and yelled into it.
“Spike!”
He stopped as he was lifted in the air by Twilight’s magic and held until he had calmed down. He crossed his arms and glared at Twilight.
“Look, I can see that this is upsetting you, but yelling won’t fix it. Now, can you please go to sleep and we’ll talk about it in the morning?”
Spike grumbled as he nodded and was released from the princess’s magic hold. Spike flopped down on his bed and buried his head into his pillow. Slowly, his eyes became heavy and Spike fell sleep.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a peaceful sleep, but was rather restless. His mind was clouded with anger that manifested itself into the form of a super-villain.
“I am the Scribe!” he yelled, his voice echoed. He stood large, high above Spike, looking down at him, his eyes glowed beneath the hood of his cloak.
“Humdrum!” he yelled. “It’s only a matter of time! Tell me, are you afraid?”
Spike looked down and found himself dressed as the powerless sidekick, tied to a chair. “Always the sidekick,” he mumbled.
The Scribe leaned over the walkway. “You’ll have to speak up. I can barely hear you,” he said.
“What do you plan to do?” Spike shouted.
“Quite easy sidekick,” he mocked, “I plan to erase your friends!”
“Not likely!”
Both Spike and the Scribe turned. There, crashing through the roof, were the Power Ponies, their leader Masked Matterhorn at the forefront. “Power Ponies, charge!”
“Ah! I knew you would appear,” from inside his cloak, the Scribe pulled out a comic book and a large eraser. “And now, you’ll disappear!”
The Scribe took his eraser and ran it over the image of the Power Ponies leader. As the Masked Matterhorn came at the Scribe, she started to fade from existence.
“No! Nooooo---!” she cried out, until she had vanished, nothing left of her.
“Somepony take the lead!” shouted the lightning wielder Zapp.
As Fili-second rushed at Scribe, he moved his eraser over her image and she too faded from view. Like her lightning, Zapp vanished in a flash. The Saddle Rager was next as she grew and ran at the Scribe. Mistress Mare-velous shouted and threw her lasso at the villain as the eraser ran over her image and removed her from existence. Radiance trembled as the Scribe approached her. “No more,” he said and removed the last of the heroes from the world.
“Thus, the end of the Power Ponies,” the Scribe said proudly and dropped his tools of villainy. The comic fell to the ground, now blank on its cover.
“No! This cannot happen!” Spike yelled in anger. “I cannot allow you to do this!”
The Scribe approached Spike. “It’s already done,” he said. “Good bye Spike,” he said and turned away. As the Scribe walked away, Spike’s restraints vanished, along with his Humdrum uniform.
“Please! Please come back!” he yelled as he dropped to his knees. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to end! I will do anything! ANYTHING!”
The Scribe stopped and turned to Spike. “No,” he said. “Why should I hear your pleas? You try to bargain for something that isn’t available to you. No, Spike, this will not change. I suggest you accept this and move on,” he said and disappeared. “The world changes around us constantly. Adapt to it and move on.”
His eyes watered as his sadness overcame his anger. Tears rolled slowly down Spike’s cheeks and formed a small puddle at his knees. The water started to grow in size, until it was about the same size as a pond. Through his watered eyes, Spike could see a face in the surface of the pool. It stared at him. It looked familiar to him, but he could not place it.
“Spike! What troubles you that it shakes the very fibers of your dream?” the figure asked.
He wiped at the tear on his face as he approached the pool.
“Who are you?” he asked.
The face started to rise up from the water and take the shape of a pony. A light glowed from within it, until the water evaporated away, leaving a pony in its wake. There, dressed in colors of indigo and midnight was Princess Luna. Spike bowed to her.
“Luna! I…I didn’t realize it was---“, he started to say just as she placed a hoof on his shoulder.
“I could hear you cry. I came to see you, as we are friends,” she said and pulled him close to her side. “And like any good friend, I am here to listen.”
With her horn, she summoned a table, two chairs, an array of desserts and a kettle of tea at the center of the table. She led him to the nearest chair and sat opposite of him at the table. “Now, tell your princess of the night why you are in such depression.”
As Spike told Luna of the cancellation of his favorite comic book, Luna sipped at her tea, until he had told her everything.
“That’s quite some detail in story,” she commented.
Spike blushed. “As Twilight’s friend, I’ve grown accustomed to it.”
Luna smiled and placed her tea down. “I am sorry to hear about your sadness,” she continued. “but why is it you are having such a hard time accepting what has happened? I know this is unfair to say, but it is just a comic.”
“It might just be a comic to you, and Twilight, and Discord, but to me, it’s something more,” he said. “I’ve been reading and collecting comics since before Ponyville. It was my hobby. Now, with the series cancelled, I don’t know what to do.”
“Well, why not try another comic?”
Spike shrugged. “Nothing is as good as the Power Ponies,” he stated.
“Oh really?”
Spike nodded.
She shrugged. “It’s a matter of perspective. After all, the Power Ponies is almost reflective of yourself, Twilight and the others. But, I’m a fan of the Mystic Mustang,” Luna said.
Spike perked up.
Luna calmly sipped her tea. “Yes, I read comic books, and so does my sister. We have quite a collection,” she said proudly.
Spike’s jaw dropped, surprised by this reveal.
Luna smiled and as she finished her tea. “There is more out than just one comic Spike. You should try others and see if there is one that you might enjoy just as much. I know that sounds a bit of an undertaking, but sometimes something great does come along, especially in our darkest times.”
Spike sighed and nodded. “I know, I know,” he muttered. “It’s just irritating that the series ended on a cliff-hanger.”
“Not everything can end as we have hoped,” she added and stood up from the table. “I hope this has helped you a little bit Spike,” Luna said as she gave the dragon a hug.
“It has,” he replied. “Thank you, Luna.”
As she faded away, Spike could hear a voice in the distance. It called out his name and grew louder until he felt his dream slip away.
“Spike!”
Spike woke up in his bed inside the castle. He looked around, his mind was a little foggy.
“Spike! Are you still asleep?” Twilight asked as she walked in the room.
He yawned and stretched.
“What is it Twilight?” he asked.
“You have a guest waiting for you downstairs,” she said.
“Guest?” Spike shouted and threw his covers off quickly. He ran out the door and quickly down the stairs. He saw Discord, a parcel tucked underneath his arm.
“Discord?” he asked.
The Lord of Chaos nodded. “You look surprised to see me,” he commented. “I told you that I would try to find something that you would enjoy, and I believe I have,” he said and held out the package to Spike.
Spike took the wrapped parcel and opened it. He peered inside and found an array of comic books, but didn’t recognize any of them.
“What are these?” he asked.
Discord took the package to a nearby table and spilled the comics out. “They are brand new comics. I went through my store and found these might be to your liking,” he said.
Spike thumbed through the various issues and read each of the titles aloud. As he did, Twilight appeared and walked up behind Spike.
“Well, what do you think?” she asked.
Spike smiled. “These look great!” he said and turned to Discord. “Thank you!” he added and gave the chaotic beast a hug.
Discord was taken aback by the gesture and petted Spike on his head. “Um, you’re welcome,” he said.
Twilight patted Spike on the back. “I think you can let him go Spike,” she whispered.
“Oh! Um, hee,” Spike chuckled.
Discord smirked. “This is just a few freebees. If you see a series you like, let me know and I’ll set them aside for you,” he said and vanished from the castle.
“I take it that you are feeling better about things?” Twilight asked.
Spike nodded.
“And did you learn something?” she asked.
Spike nodded again. “I get where you are going,” he said as he tucked the comic books under his arm and started up the stairs. A short time later, after he set the issues by his nightstand, Spike walked over to his desk and started to compose a letter.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I’m writing to you because I’ve learned a valuable lesson, about handling grief. While it is hard to handle situations alone, it is better to have friends at your side to help you.
I experienced many emotions in this struggle, but Twilight, Discord and your sister, Luna, helped me to accept the change and to be a better dragon.
Signed, Spike.
“I’m proud of you Spike,” Twilight said and gave the dragon a hug. “Come on, you have some reading to do,” she added.
Spike nodded and plopped down in the nearest chair. “Yes, I do,” he said and started on the first of the comic books. “You know Twilight, reading all about super powered ponies, I realize that sometimes the best superpower, is being a good friend.”
“We do what we can,” she said.
Spike looked at the pile of comics. “Do you want to read with me?” he asked.
Twilight smiled and took the chair by his side. “I would very much enjoy that,” she said and pulled a comic from the pile.
For the rest of the afternoon, Spike and Twilight read one comic book after another in the pleasure of each other’s company.