//------------------------------// // The Banishment // Story: Grief is the Price We Pay // by Scyphi //------------------------------// For a long moment, neither Spike nor Fluttershy spoke, and just stood there regarding each other, unsure how to proceed. Spike started to feel a surge of relieved emotions gurgle up within him that he knew was only going to lead to him breaking down in tears then and there, so to save face, he inwardly worked to keep the urge down. “I was starting to think you weren’t coming,” he instead admitted softly. Fluttershy looked alarmed at this. “Oh, I’m sorry!” she declared apologetically, the expression genuine. “I tried to get here as fast as I could, but I couldn’t get train tickets to Vanhoover until first thing this morning, and I needed the time to read up on what sort of treatments I might need to do first anyway.” She motioned to the books tucked into her saddlebag. “…I’ve really only have experience giving first aide to my animal friends, so this is my first time treating a…well…someone like…” she paused, unsure how to proceed. “Thorax, his name is Thorax,” Spike said so to provided the flustered mare the correct name and he grinned faintly. “And you’d still know more than I would.” He stepped out from behind the front desk, regarding the yellow pegasus for a moment, realizing just how long it had been since he had seen her last. “It’s good to see you again, Fluttershy.” Fluttershy made a small grin too. “It’s good to see you again too, Spike,” she said. She then added, “We all miss you.” Spike simply nodded at this, but it also reminded him of the situation he still faced. “Who all knows you’re here?” he asked, turning serious. “Um, let’s see…” Fluttershy began, rubbing her chin with her hoof as she gathered the list in her head. “There’s Angel Bunny, Elizabeak, the birds Constance and Hummingway, Mr. Mousey, Oscar the otter, Harry—he’s a bear—and uh…” “No, no,” Spike interrupted. “I meant who all knows you’re here who’s not also a woodland critter?” “Oh, um…” Fluttershy pause to think again. “…well, I told Rarity I was going to Vanhoover because she noticed I was packing, but I didn’t tell her why or where specifically in Vanhoover, and she didn’t ask so… that’s really all.” She paused again. “…I thought about asking Zecora for some advice before I left, but then I thought I’d better not.” She regarded Spike meaningfully. “You did make it very clear in your letter that you wanted this all kept secret.” Spike grinned again, and nodded. “Thank you for your discretion, Fluttershy,” he said, convinced she had heeded his requests. He suddenly became aware of how visible they were standing in the shop like this and was suddenly glad there were no customers in the shop at that moment…but that could change at any moment. Further, a glance at the clock showed that Fly Leaf’s meeting was expected to be over in another mere half hour. “We’d better get you upstairs then,” he said, turning for the stairs and motioning for Fluttershy to follow. “Fly Leaf will be back soon.” “Fly Leaf?” “My boss.” “Ah.” Fluttershy was silent for a second as they crossed the shop to the base of the stairs. “…I assume she doesn’t know?” “No.” Spike paused mounting the stairs to look back at the pegasus. “And I’d prefer to keep it that way for now.” Fluttershy nodded in understanding. “Okay,” she said. She didn’t question or press the matter further. She simply agreed to respect his request. Spike couldn’t help but grin a little at it. Bless you, Fluttershy. They resumed heading up the stairs. Fluttershy was idly looking around in her trademark timid but curious manner. “So, um, this is where you’ve been staying?” “Yeah.” “…it certainly seems nice enough.” Spike couldn’t help but grin again, glancing around himself as they neared the third floor landing. “Yeah, Thorax and I were very lucky to find it,” he admitted. Shortly thereafter they arrived at the closed door to his and Thorax’s room. “He’s in here,” he told Fluttershy, going to open the door. He then paused and glanced back at the yellow mare. “…you ready?” Fluttershy bit her lip briefly, but nodded. Spike realized though that the sight of the changeling beyond might startle the easily frightened mare. “…he’s not disguised,” he warned. Again, Fluttershy simply nodded. “Okay,” she said normally, but Spike still noticed her subtly bracing herself. Assured that she was as ready as she was ever going to be though, Spike nodded too, and unlatched the door, slowly pushing it open. Fluttershy’s head leaned to one side as the door gradually swung open, following it as she worked to get her first peek at the changeling that had brought her here. As Thorax was still lying on his sleeping nest just to one side of straight across the room from the door, it wasn’t long before she spied him. She instantly gasped, one hoof rising to her mouth, which Spike initially took to be a reaction of fear. But instead, Fluttershy immediately surged forward to the ill changeling, concern clearly etched all over her face. “Oh my goodness!” she declared in alarm as she reached Thorax and began looking the virtually unconscious changeling over. “You poor thing, you look just awful!” She glanced back at Spike, distressed by Thorax’s pitiful state. “How long has he been like this?” Spike let out his breath at Fluttershy’s display of concern instead of fear or revulsion like he dreaded and immediately shared it, letting his own concern surface onto his features. “Too long,” he admitted gravely, mostly closing the door and moving to join her, “Since about Thursday evening.” Fluttershy’s brow wrinkled as she became more concerned, her hoof now feeling Thorax’s forehead. “He’s burning up,” she noted seriously and turned to begin pulling her saddlebags off her back. “What medication has he taken?” “None,” Spike admitted. Fluttershy stopped to stare at him in wide-eyed surprise. “None?” Spike shrugged helplessly, that dreading feeling of powerlessness beginning to fill his belly again. “…we couldn’t be sure what medicines would work on Thorax…or if any of them would react negatively to his biology…so Thorax ruled early on it would be better to go without.” Fluttershy tutted in disapproval of this as she set down her saddlebags down next to Thorax’s makeshift nest of blankets, beginning sorting through the supplies she had brought. “I’ve got something that should help with that at any rate,” she said as she began to multitask. “But first we need to be trying to get his fever down. Spike, get me an open container full of cool water. Not cold. Cool.” Spike nodded and quickly grabbed the bucket Thorax had been using to vomit in, ensured it was properly cleaned out (fortunately, Thorax hadn’t needed to use it that morning), then filled it with water at what he hoped was the desired temperature Fluttershy wanted; just shy of lukewarm. He brought it back to Fluttershy who then pulled out a cloth rag, soaked it in the water, and then pressed it over Thorax’s brow. She did this for a few minutes, refreshing the rag at regular intervals, while she finished assessing the ill changeling’s symptoms. Upon finishing, she then pulled out a small kit from her saddlebags and, as Spike squeamishly watched, withdrew a small needle that she then used to prick Thorax on the foreleg then dabbed a small strip of colored paper in the bead of red blood this drew. Afterwards, she studied the small strip, watching as the colors gradually changed shades, reacting to Thorax’s blood. Spike realized it was some sort of simple blood test she was conducting. The results were heartening enough that Fluttershy smiled at them. “Good news,” she told Spike as she withdrew a couple bottles of medicine from her saddlebags. “It should be safe for Thorax to take most of the usual medications we could give him for an illness like this. The only medicine we should avoid giving him should be any sulfa-based drugs, which I don’t even have on hoof anyway.” “…ah,” Spike said, not sure he understood the full significance of this, but he understood enough to get he could’ve given Thorax at least a pain reliever or something well before now without danger and was kicking himself for not doing as such regardless of Thorax’s worries. Fluttershy then gently proceeded to get some medication down Thorax’s throat. When this spurred the changeling to feebly cough afterwards, the pegasus turned her attention to addressing the severe respiratory congestion plaguing him. “Spike, is there a way we could bring a pot of water to boil up here?” she asked. “Boiling water?” Spike repeated, uncertain he understood her intentions. “Why, are you planning to make soup?” “No, no, I’m more interested in the steam,” Fluttershy explained, but seeing Spike wasn’t following still, she settled to reassure him instead. “It’ll help, promise.” Spike thought for a moment. “Well, we’ve got a magic-powered heating plate and a camping cook set you could use…” he said slowly, turning to the wardrobe where they kept it so to pull it out. “That’d be perfect!” Fluttershy declared, pleased. Soon they had the heating plate set up beside Thorax’s sleeping nest with a black metal cooking pot full of water atop it. Once it came to a boil and clouds of steam began to billow up from the little pot, Fluttershy repositioned the sleeping changeling as close as she could to the pot, then gently draped a cloth over his head so to funnel the steam towards him. “Letting him breathe the steam for a bit should help break up some of that nasty congestion in his nose and chest,” she explained to Spike as she refreshed the rag she had draped over Thorax’s forehead in the bucket of cool water. “It’ll help him to breath a bit better, and help his body recover.” She felt the changeling’s forehead with her hoof again before placing the rag over top it again. She grinned. “I think his fever has gone down a little, so that’s good too. Hopefully the medicine I gave him will help to bring it down further.” Spike let out a sigh of relief at all of these positive results. But then he heard the front door down in the shop open and close, announcing the arrival of a customer and he remembered he had left the shop both open and unattended. “Look, I need to go downstairs and run the shop. You okay staying up here in the meantime?” Fluttershy nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on him, Spike,” she assured. “And, um, I’ll be sure to keep myself unnoticed too.” Spike nodded, grinning again at Fluttershy’s unquestioning kindness. “I’ll be back up here when I can,” he promised and headed back downstairs. Fortunately, he had missed little while he had been upstairs with Fluttershy as it seemed the customer who arrived was the first to enter after the yellow pegasus’s arrival, a polite stallion who stopped to look at the shop’s selection of books. His arrival was soon followed by several more customers thereafter as the lunchtime rush Spike had idly noted was late to begin earlier finally started to pick up. It was almost as if the universe had been holding off on sending these customers Spike’s way out of respect, until after he had gotten Fluttershy set up treating Thorax. Regardless of whether or not that was actually true or just a very lucky coincidence, Spike inwardly sent out a silence thanks…just in case. Not long thereafter Fly Leaf returned from her luncheon, looking calm but relieved it was over. Seeing that the shop was still operating normally, she went up to the front desk to check things over with Spike, who was pleased to report that nothing really major had taken place in the shop in his employer’s absence. Satisfied by that, Fly turned her attention to other matters. “How’s Thornton?” she asked. Spike couldn’t help but smile at this. “He’s actually showing a little improvement now,” he stated optimistically. “He’s still has plenty more recovering to do first before he’s in the clear of course, but…I can’t help but think he’s going to be okay after all, Fly.” Fly grinned at this news, but she was more careful about not being too presumptuous. “Well, I certainly hope so, but let’s not jump to any conclusions just yet. We’ll have to see if it’s the actual start of a trend,” she stated realistically. “Nonetheless, keep me posted of any other changes, good or bad.” “Will do,” Spike said, then changed the subject in case Fly wanted to inquire more. “How did your meeting go? Did you get the deal with that distributor?” At this, Fly smirked, and leaned closer to whisper into Spike’s ear. “Let’s just say Letterpress is going to have to watch out now,” she stated smugly. “Yes,” Spike quietly cheered, pleased they had succeeded in scoring the contract for the shop. Fly then went off to put her stuff away and to change out of the business suit she had worn for the meeting. She returned with no suspicions that there was now an extra pony in the building discreetly treating Thorax, making Spike confident that Fluttershy’s presence could be kept concealed still for the time being. After Fly had changed, she came back to take over running the shop. This allowed Spike to go on his lunch break, which he promptly made use of to run back upstairs to check on Thorax and Fluttershy. He arrived to find that Fluttershy had taken the boiling pot of water off the heating pad and set it all aside, and now seemed to be letting Thorax rest while she sat nearby, reviewing the books of treatments she had brought with her. She looked up optimistically when Spike entered. “He’s still showing improvement,” she reported positively as Spike came over to look Thorax’s sleeping form over himself. “His fever has dropped dramatically, and the steam has helped clear up his congestion quite a bit.” Spike could tell the latter of these easily as Thorax was breathing much easier now. “Right now he’s just resting, though I’ve been trying to keep him drinking water when I can.” She motioned to a glass of water she kept sitting beside her. “I, uh, meant to ask earlier…has he, um…eaten anything recently?” Spike sighed as he patted his resting friend assuringly with his claws. “Not really,” he admitted. “If he’s eaten any emotions recently, it can’t have been very much.” This left Fluttershy quiet for a long moment. “…what sort of…um…emotions…does he eat?” “Positive ones,” Spike said, and sighed. “We need to get him eating more, but this isn’t something you can just force him to do…he has to decide to do it on his own, and first he’d have to get an appetite back.” “Then he’s certainly not in the clear just yet,” Fluttershy deduced seriously. “He won’t get better if he isn’t getting the proper nourishment.” Spike was silent for a moment, weighing options as he rubbed his cheek thoughtfully with one set of claws. “When do you need to be back in Ponyville?” he asked the pegasus. “Oh, um…not any time soon, really,” Fluttershy admitted. She managed a half-grin. “I, uh, tried to arrange things so that if I didn’t get back right away…things would still be okay.” She studied Spike for a moment, and then reached out with one hoof. “If you need me to stay overnight to keep an eye on Thorax, I can do that.” Spike grinned and patted her hoof. “Thank you, Fluttershy,” he said. He took a deep breath. “Let’s see how Thorax is doing by this evening before we decide that, though.” Fluttershy nodded, and having nothing else of pressing need to report, she turned back to her books. Spike, meanwhile, walked over to the desk by the door and sat on the stool, turned so he could watch Thorax sleeping. A long moment of awkward silence fell, so after a few moments, Spike finally decided to ask something he had long been wondering about since becoming an outcast. “How are things in Ponyville?” he asked politely and genuinely curious. Fluttershy glanced at him. “Oh, good I suppose,” she said. “You know, um, the usual sort of things.” Spike smirked a little. “Any recent monster attacks nearly leveling the town, then?” he asked teasingly. “Oh dear no,” Fluttershy assured, but she did have to giggle, catching Spike’s quip. “No, just routine normal things, really. Not unless you want to count the time when Pinkie Pie and Apple Bloom accidentally mixed cake batter with a magic potion that would’ve created a sort of cake monster if Starlight Glimmer hadn’t come along and stopped it short.” She giggled again before continuing. “Actually, it seems all the…uh…interesting things are happening outside of Ponyville lately.” “Really? Like what?” “Um, well…some of the other girls and I went up to Yakyakistan with Princess Celestia on a goodwill tour not so long ago…” Spike’s eyebrows went up. “Yakyakistan, huh?” he said, suddenly extra glad he and Thorax had opted not to head there when they were banished or they might have been discovered during this visit. “How did that go?” “Um…well, I think.” Fluttershy frowned. “I can never be quite sure with the yaks…” “Anything else of note happen?” Fluttershy stopped to think for a moment. “I suppose I should mention that Applejack and I also participated in a friendship mission in Las Pegasus recently.” Spike laughed. “You? In Las Pegasus?” “Yes,” Fluttershy shuddered at the memory. “It…could have gone better. But the important thing was that we resolved the friendship problem. In the end.” “But not one of the better friendship missions though, huh?” Fluttershy shrugged. “I couldn’t say, really. That’s more Twilight’s area of expertise than mine, and the map has always seemed like it knew what it was doing in the past, no matter how challenging the circumstances are…though I suppose the map has occasionally been behaving a little…oddly…ever since it…um…” “Got broken by Starlight’s little time travel mess?” Spike offered knowingly. “I thought Twilight and Starlight got that fixed though.” He thought about it for a second longer then shrugged. “Maybe they missed something.” He turned back to Fluttershy. “So what’s Twilight doing to fix it?” “Well, I don’t think she is currently. She, um, she’s been busy with…other things.” Spike frowned, his brow furrowing. It didn’t seem like Twilight to put off something like that, not unless it was something that was several orders of magnitude larger in concern than a possibly broken Cutie Map. “What sort of other things could be more important than that?” Fluttershy hesitated. “Um…well…” “Wait a minute, wait a minute…” Spike interrupted, suddenly seeing a pattern in all of this. “…back to Pinkie and Apple Bloom and the cake monster…you said it was Starlight who stopped that?” “Um, yes…with a spell that reversed the effects that made it.” “No offense to Starlight, but why didn’t Twilight do it? That’s usually her forte.” “Uh, well…Twilight was busy elsewhere that particular day and Starlight wasn’t…but um…” “And that trip to Yakyakistan…let me guess, Twilight didn’t go on that either, did she? Too busy with something else then as well?” Fluttershy winced. “Um…” She glanced briefly at Thorax. Spike followed her gaze and it suddenly clicked. “…she’s been busy hunting for me and Thorax, hasn’t she?” he asked darkly. Fluttershy bit her lip for a long moment. “She misses you deeply, Spike,” she attempted to explain. Spike snorted loudly. “Not enough to prevent all of this,” he pointed out, crossly motioning to their surroundings. “Spike, in her defense, she thinks you’re in grave danger,” Fluttershy explained in a placating tone. She motioned to their surroundings too. “We all have. None of us stopped to think you might be at…well…someplace like this.” “That’s because Twilight still thinks Thorax is a threat,” Spike reasoned and glared ominously at Fluttershy. “And she convinced the rest of you of that too, didn’t she?” Fluttershy looked sadly at the floor, ashamed. “…we didn’t have any reason to disbelieve her…but now…” she shifted her hoof awkwardly on the wooden floor. “…I don’t know what to think now, Spike.” She gazed back up at the dragon again with sad eyes. “…it’s clear to me now that…things aren’t as I’d thought…if that helps.” It didn’t seem too, because Spike merely rolled his eyes, disappointed, and turned himself away from Fluttershy. “…maybe you should tell me your side of the story…so to, um…set the record straight.” Spike didn’t respond for a long moment, long enough that Fluttershy started to think that perhaps he wasn’t going to respond. Somewhat upset by that, she paused to check on Thorax again before turning back to her books, refocusing her attention back on them. But then Spike suddenly spoke again. “Everyone acts like it was me who betrayed them, Fluttershy…but it was really more them betraying me.” Fluttershy glanced up at Spike again, surprised at the sudden comment. Spike hadn’t turned to face her again, but his face had taken on a faraway look. “What happened, Spike?” she prompted gently. “Why did you do it?” Spike closed his eyes slowly and took a deep breath. “You already know why we were up in the Crystal Empire in the first place,” he began to solemnly relate. “Twilight and I were visiting Princess Cadance, Shining Armor, and Flurry Heart, and Starlight was tagging along to see Sunburst. We were expecting things to be going as usual there. I was even taking steps to arrive in disguise, so I wouldn’t get mobbed by the crystal ponies fawning over Spike the Brave and Glorious and mess up what was supposed to be a private visit.” He frowned at the memory. It seemed so odd now, after spending so much time avoiding the spotlight now, to think he had ever held such fame. “But when we got there, the streets were abandoned, and the crystal ponies frightened and hiding. Something was clearly wrong. It wasn’t until we arrived at the castle that we figured out what. A changeling had been spotted nearby, and given how things had gone last time we encountered the changelings, Cadance and Shining didn’t want to take any chances. They feared the changelings were either plotting another invasion, or possibly, plotting to kidnap Flurry Heart because of all the love her birth and Crystalling had been generating.” He shook his head. “But I’m sure Twilight told you all this already. The point is that thanks to my…past actions in the Crystal Empire, the guards asked if I could help hunt for the changeling, thinking I’d provide extra insight they could use, being their hero and all, and Twilight and Shining kindly agreed to let me go with them on a patrol.” He paused suddenly, a heavy thought occurring to him. “If they hadn’t…this all probably would’ve played out very differently and we probably wouldn’t be here now, talking about it.” Fluttershy glanced at the sleeping Thorax. “That was when you found Thorax, wasn’t it?” Spike nodded. “Once me and the guards had gotten out into the frozen wastes a good distance, I…I tried to make like I knew what I was doing and split the guards into groups to go off and search for the changeling, but forgot to include myself into a group and ended up getting left behind on my own. In trying to do some searching on my own…well…I guess I succeeded, because I accidentally tumbled into this hidden cave in the ice and snow and found Thorax hiding down there.” Spike chuckled faintly at the memory. “He startled me so much I started to tumble into this nearby chasm…” he gazed at his sleeping friend. “…but Thorax saved me.” Fluttershy blinked in surprise. “He saved you?” she repeated softly. Spike nodded. “It was then that I realized Thorax couldn’t be like the other changelings, otherwise why would he do that?” he reasoned. “It only took some quick talking to confirm that. Thorax was being genuine, and he meant no harm.” He gazed forlornly at Fluttershy. “He was just looking for a friend, Fluttershy. He saw ponies doing it, he saw you and the other girls doing it, and realized that was something changelings didn’t have.” He hung his head. “He left his hive trying to find such friends in Equestria after he failed to do so in the changeling hive…but everypony was immediately skittish and not only had he wandered all the way up north with no success, he had also been getting few positive emotions to sustain him. Fluttershy, he was on the verge of starving when I found him.” Fluttershy looked conflicted, gazing back at Thorax again for a moment. “Didn’t you tell Twilight all of this?” she asked. “Of course I did. I told them all this and more, but they refused to listen, waving it all away as some deception or lie.” Spike shook his head. “But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, after meeting Thorax, I tried to go back to the Crystal Empire on my own and convince some others that maybe the changeling could be good.” He snorted. “That went nowhere fast. The crystal guards all just thought I was making some sort of elaborate joke, and Shining made it clear then that he didn’t approve…hay, he even went as far as to say then that there was no such thing as a nice changeling.” Spike glowered for a moment. “Lot he knew. Anyway, it was clear pretty quick that wasn’t working, so I aborted that plan, and Thorax and I…we tried something else. He disguised himself as a crystal pony we dubbed Crystal Hoof, and after we were successful in passing him off as such to Twilight, we went about the city introducing the disguised Thorax to every pony we could. The plan was to try and get Crystal Hoof plenty of friends, and then if we could show them that Crystal Hoof the pony and Thorax the changeling were one and the same, they’d see Thorax could be trusted, and then, hopefully, they wouldn’t care if he was a changeling or not.” Fluttershy mulled over this. “It seemed like a good plan,” she admitted. But Spike shook his head. “It didn’t work, though. The crystal ponies…bless them, they’re so eternally friendly…but they’re also so quick to scare. And we didn’t count on Cadance and Shining hearing about Crystal Hoof and wanting to meet him, so we got pulled into their presence sooner than I expected and…while we were there in their company…Thorax got overwhelmed by all the love surrounding Flurry Heart and lost control of his disguise in front of everypony, and the reaction was…not good.” He hung his head again. “I imagine Twilight told you all about that too.” Fluttershy nodded. She bit her lip. “Um…” she began with clear hesitation. “…Twilight also noted that when the changeling—Thorax—was chased off…um…you didn’t do anything to follow or to…well…stop it.” She waited for Spike to comment, but when the dragon, having turned ashamed, said nothing, she continued. “She reasoned that if you were really…um…so determined to side with the changeling as you had claimed…why didn’t you support the changeling then?” Spike sighed heavily. “…I let my pride get the better of me, Fluttershy,” he admitted, feeling deeply ashamed. “I was an idiot to let it dictate my actions like that too…but I did…for fear of the consequences that might fall on me if I did.” He twiddled his claws awkwardly. “Back when Shining told me there was no such thing as a nice changeling…I’m not going to lie, Fluttershy, the…stern way he addressed that whole matter spooked me…and when I saw everything falling apart in that moment and everypony still treating Thorax as just the enemy they thought him to be, despite having gotten to know him as Crystal Hoof, I feared I was only going to invite that wrath onto myself if I tried…so I chickened out trying to protect myself.” He made a shuddering inhale, revealing he was close to tears. “And I immediately regretted it when I saw that look of betrayal on Thorax’s face when he realized what I was doing…right before he was chased out the door. I almost let him get captured doing that too, and who knows what might have happened to him if he had, but he managed to escape regardless.” His brow furrowed as he put on a determined expression. “And I quickly vowed I wasn’t going to let my foolish pride stand in the way of that again, and set out to find him so to set things straight.” “But, um, Spike,” Fluttershy interjected. “That’s what first brought on Twilight’s argument against all of that. Starlight even agreed with her on this. You didn’t support Thorax in that moment, nor did you show any sign you intended to…until after you had gone out on your own, found the changeling, and then brought him back to suddenly about face to…to argue he could be trusted. To Twilight and the others…that sudden shift didn’t seem plausible. She believes you had gone out hunting for the changeling on your own, trying to show off being the hero, and instead the changeling found you, tricked you, and fooled you into believing it was a friend so he could use you as a pawn, and…um…” “Of course she does!” Spike snapped angrily without warning, shooting a glare at Fluttershy that startled her into silence. “Anything to justify her actions, anything that will let her continue to abuse Thorax as nothing but a foe to be squashed without mercy!” He narrowed his glare levelly at the yellow pegasus. “The only one doing any manipulating here is Twilight, Fluttershy, and I need you to see that.” His tone dropped darkly, realization sinking in. “But you believe her still even now…don’t you?” Fluttershy, realizing she had spurred the dragon’s fury onto herself, nervously hemmed and hawed for several moments, trying to find the nerve to explain herself. “I just think she has a point that I can’t confirm might be false just yet, Spike!” she whimpered miserably. “But…but…it’s not that I don’t want to believe you Spike, and I…I’m trying…it’s just…it’s just…” she trailed off, beginning to weep. The sight made Spike’s fury fade, and realizing he was perhaps not being fair, especially after everything Fluttershy had done for him to help Thorax, without question, despite her misgivings, he slipped off the stool and padded over to Fluttershy, giving her an awkward hug to try and calm her down. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy,” he admitted softly. “This is all probably very confusing for you.” He sighed. “It’s just…I’ve been hurt too in all of this…I can’t just forget that either.” Fluttershy nodded, silently agreeing, as she worked to reel in her tears. “Besides Fluttershy,” Spike continued, fighting back his own bitter tears. “What would you have done, if you were in my shoes? Would you have been brave enough to support Thorax so unconditionally like that from the beginning?” Fluttershy, sniffling now, averted her gaze in shame. “No,” she admitted finally. “No, I wouldn’t. I’m…I’m not even sure I could ever bring myself to show support for him like that…” she glanced at Spike. “…certainly not as long as you have Spike. You’ve…been braver than I ever could.” Spike grinned slightly, and patted the mare reassuringly. “Don’t sell yourself short, Fluttershy,” he said. “You’ve been pretty brave coming here on your own, despite having clear misgivings yourself. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. That must have been a hard choice to make.” Fluttershy was quiet for a moment. “I admit,” she began slowly. “When I first got your letter…I couldn’t even be sure it was really you who had written it. I couldn’t, um, help but think that it was some sort of changeling trick, luring me into some sort of trap for whatever reason. But you had used Pinkie’s invisible ink, complete with the…uh…code phrase, I guess, letting me know it was there. And I thought…how could anyone but you even know about all of that?” She then gazed at Thorax, still deeply asleep and unaware of the emotional conversation. Spike followed her gaze. “Besides…I thought that if your letter was genuine…then I couldn’t possibly stand to one side and not try and help poor Thorax here recover…changeling or not.” Spike grinned. “And I can’t thank you enough for that Fluttershy,” he said. “I’m sure Thorax would say the same right now if he were able. We are, in a way, in your debt.” “Oh no,” Fluttershy said, shaking her head humbly as she and Spike pulled apart finally. “You don’t owe me anything, either of you.” She made a sheepish grin. “I’m just happy to help.” Spike returned the grin, and the two sat on the floor awkwardly for a few moments. Thorax let out a small snore. Fluttershy then cleared her throat. “Anyway,” she said, getting back to their original topic. “You were saying earlier? About…about what happened in the Crystal Empire?” “Oh right,” Spike said simply, and paused to get his mind back on track with his tale. “Um, well, after Thorax had been chased off and I decided I was going to try and defend him no matter what now, I went looking for him. It wasn’t hard; he was right where I had first found him, back in the cave. But um…” Spike grimaced. “…I had nearly shattered his faith in me for that stunt I pulled in the throne room, so…we had to talk it out a little first. Get him convinced again I was on his side and I wanted to help. Thankfully, Thorax was pretty understanding. He knew all of this was hard for me too, and knew he couldn’t expect me to—basically—throw away my reputation for his sake.” Spike grinned bitterly. “That’s pretty much what I did in the end, though. After I convinced Thorax I knew what I was doing, I brought him back to the throne room and we confronted the others, with no disguises or tricks this time, and this time I stood my ground and argued that Thorax could not only be trusted, but he could be a friend, and he was my friend…and they weren’t going to change that.” He chuckled sadly. “Thorax said later that he thought I was pretty convincing…I don’t know about that, but…I had thought we were going to do it too. I went into that throne room thinking for sure I could convince the others Thorax could be trusted, and that he wanted to be an ally and friend, seeking to coexist peacefully with us. I went in there thinking I could make them see Thorax for what he really was…that they would befriend Thorax and accept him as one of their own.” Fluttershy gazed sadly at him. “They didn’t,” she observed solemnly. Spike nodded. “And consequences followed,” he agreed. “The very same consequences I had feared would come.” He shook his head sadly. “I was committed this time though, so I stood my ground, kept trying to convince them of the truth, but…” he shook his head. “I don’t know what Twilight’s told you about what followed, but um…when they dragged me off and the arguing began…we quickly weren’t getting anywhere fast.” He shrugged helplessly. “They just…wouldn’t listen to me. They had already convinced themselves, probably well before I got involved, that Thorax would not be trusted, with no exceptions. All they wanted to do at that point was make me agree to their side of things…but I wasn’t going to do that. In fact, I was more just stunned they were being so…blind. I mean, I can understand Cadance and Shining Armor, seeing what they had been put through at the invasion at Canterlot, but…” Again he shook his head, this time in dejection. “…I was really more surprised Twilight of all ponies was refusing to see the truth. I…I was counting on her to side with me at the very least, or at least be willing to give me the benefit of doubt seeing everything we’d been through together but…she wouldn’t. She was just as blind as the rest, if not more so, and was determined to make me see I was wrong and she was right…just like I was determined to make her see that she was wrong, and I was right.” He curled his legs up before him and wrapped his arms around them in a sad hug. “It quickly became a pretty circular argument…and it clearly wasn’t going anywhere.” Fluttershy looked at Thorax once more. “Was that when you tried to break him out of the dungeon?” she asked simply. Spike nodded. “Pretty much,” he admitted, not surprised Twilight had explained that. “After an especially…frustrating round of arguments, Shining pulled Twilight aside to talk in private and left me locked and guarded in a room. It had become clear that they were considering banishing Thorax, their thinking that this would force him to go back to the other changelings they thought were hiding out nearby but didn’t actually exist, and that this would thwart whatever they thought the supposed master plan was…but there were no other changelings, and Thorax would’ve been left on his own…and as deprived of nourishment as he was still at the time…he probably wouldn’t have lasted long out there in the frozen wastes.” Spike looked seriously at Fluttershy. “He would’ve died out there on his own, Fluttershy.” Fluttershy bit her lip, indeed looking very bothered by that revelation, but she otherwise kept quiet to permit Spike to finish relating the tale. Spike made yet another heavy sigh. “But it was pretty clear by that point in time that I wasn’t making any progress convincing the others of that, and fearing for Thorax’s safety, I decided to take matters into my own claws. So I lured the guard standing outside the door of the room inside, claiming I had seen a mouse, and while keeping him preoccupied with that, snuck out and locked him in. I then sought out Thorax in the dungeons, and yes, I did knock out the guard standing at Thorax’s cell by hitting him over the head with a bucket, which I take no pride in, but…I didn’t see much in the way of alternatives at the moment.” He shrugged. “I was thinking I’d worry about getting Thorax out of there and to somewhere safe to wait, while I kept working to convince everypony else he was safe and could be trusted first…but we got caught and pinned down before we got far in escaping…I probably hadn’t thought it all the way through, and I shouldn’t have done it, but…I didn’t know what else to do. Whatever the case, everything fell apart from there. They locked Thorax back up and me too, fearing what else I might try. Twilight tried again to try and sway me, but…by that point…I’d had enough, and laid down the line. I was siding with Thorax, no matter what happened now. Wherever he went, I intended to follow him…and they weren’t going to stop me…and that still didn’t even make them pause.” Fluttershy frowned sadly. “According to Starlight, everyone thought you were bluffing.” “I was,” Spike admitted. “But I didn’t think they’d have the gall to put it to the test either…but they did…they dragged us out to the throne room, and…and…” he trailed off suddenly, getting a faraway look. “…Spike?” Fluttershy prompted, unsure. Spike responded by shuddering, feeling a dark sadness welling up within him as recalled what followed… Their crystal guard escorts had brought Spike and Thorax before Cadance, sitting on the throne, with Shining Armor standing officially beside her. Twilight and Starlight sat to one side in the background, apparently to observe the proceedings. Their guards took position up behind them to wait at the ready, while a long moment of tense silence fell. Finally Cadance sighed and addressed the pair sitting before her. “It’s with much trepidation that I have to do this,” she began solemnly. “But this has become an increasingly grave matter that’s disrupting the well-being I try to promote as princess and which I can’t permit to continue. It’s time that this be settled however necessary.” She took another deep breath before continuing, focusing her attention on solely Spike. “Spike, your recent actions today are…highly concerning to us. But, considering you’re a long-time friend and ally to the Crystal Empire and the royal family, we strove to keep that in mind in making our decision.” When she did not immediately continue, Spike, anxious, leaned forward. “And?” he prompted. Cadance hesitated, looking unsure. She glanced to her side at Shining Armor, who silently nodded, stepping forward. “Spike, I’m going to ask you a question,” he said to the dragon calmly. “And I want you to think hard about it before you answer.” “Okay,” Spike said simply, unsure where this was going. Shining took a deep breath. “If we still rule to cast out the changeling, for whatever reason…” he began slowly and clearly so there could be no confusion, “…will you trust in our ruling, and permit it to be carried out without protest or attempts to resist?” Spike almost responded immediately, but remembered Shining’s request to think about it first and paused to do so. He glanced at Thorax standing beside him, virtually ignored as if he wasn’t even there in the eyes of the others. Meeting the dragon’s gaze and looking grave, as if Thorax could see something Spike didn’t, the changeling subtly nodded his head, urging Spike to agree. Spike fleetingly thought about it, if only because Thorax supported it, but looking back at the ponies awaiting his response, that thought was quickly chased away. He still had faith this could be resolved peacefully, and with that in mind, he chose the stance he felt in his heart was right. “No,” Spike answered. “I’m not abandoning Thorax.” He noticed Thorax bow his head remorsefully out of the corner of his eye, but Spike ignored it to focus on Shining. Shining, to his credit, showed little outward reaction other than to stiffen slightly, turning more formal and official. “Are you certain?” he asked, after only a brief pause. “Yes,” Spike stated immediately this time. He was committing himself to this, trusting it would work out. Shining paused to glance back at the others before continuing though. Behind him however, Cadance had averted her gaze suddenly, as if feeling guilty. Meanwhile the silent Twilight and Starlight also avoided the stallion’s gaze, Twilight bowing her head, obscuring her face, while Starlight looked at her sadly, putting a hoof on her shoulder. Though nothing was said verbally, the body language of the group was apparently message enough to Shining Armor who turned to face Spike and Thorax again. “Very well then,” he murmured before nodding his head in the direction of Spike’s guards. The guards immediately sprang forward to restrain Spike. “H-hey!” Spike objected, vainly struggling against their grip. “We’ll talk more in a moment Spike,” Shining promised sternly before turning to face the patient Thorax, pulling himself into a formal position to proceed with his proclamation. “By the authority of the princess and prince, current rulers of the Crystal Empire and representatives of the royal government of Equestria, and the support of the Princess of Friendship, on charges of conspiracy, impersonation, and aiding and abetting an enemy to the state, without any display of remorse or repentance, you, changeling, are hereby banished from the land of Equestria and all affiliated territories…” “What?!” Spike shouted in shock, his struggles to escape the guards restraining him redoubling. “…effective immediately,” Shining continued, ignoring Spike’s outburst, “and will not and cannot be rescinded at any time by any citizen of this land unless the prince and princess of the Crystal Empire deem it to be in the best interests of their subjects to do so, should the nature of the situation or reasons for this ruling change…” “You can’t DO this!” Spike continued to shout, stunned, hurt, and continuing to struggle while the other guards were already moving to lead Thorax away. “You’re making a mistake! He’s done nothing wrong, and you know it! YOU’RE ALL BETTER THAN THIS!” “…or by majority ruling of other royal members within the royal government or direct veto presented by the diarchy, high rulers of the state of Equestria and all affiliated territories,” Shining Armor pressed on, raising his voice so to be able to continue to talk over Spike’s yelling. “Any attempt to reenter or otherwise reside within these lands henceforth will be automatically deemed a criminal offense of the highest order, will be treated swiftly and with the full force of the law, and will guarantee stronger punishments to follow in the future. You will henceforth be escorted outside the boundaries of this land under guard where you will be then expected to depart from the area to be left to the wills of realms beyond and unknown. May harmony help you to see the magnitude of your crimes.” Shining then nodded to the guards, who proceeded to either pull the irate dragon to one side or work to lead the silent changeling out of the throne room. Shining proceeded to follow so to supervise. But Spike wasn’t done protesting this unjust turn of events and locked eyes onto the princess of friendship. “Twilight!” he shouted, grabbing her attention. “Twilight, don’t let them do this, don’t you DARE let them do this!” Twilight locked eyes with his, having begun to tear up, but she made no immediate move to respond. “Twilight!” Spike shouted again, anxiously looking at Thorax being pulled through the throne room door before looking pleadingly back at the princess. “Please! You’re the princess of friendship! Thorax is a friend, trust me! After everything we’ve been through, you can’t just stand there and let them do this!” Twilight closed her eyes and averted her gaze. “I’m sorry Spike,” she said simply and softly. But her words struck Spike as if it was a cannon that been had fired. Stunned speechless, the dragon found himself going limp as he was dragged to one side to watch as Thorax began to be led around the corner and out of sight. But then his resolve rapidly returned to him. “Then I want to be there!” he declared firmly. “I want to be there when you send him away! At least give me that, all of you!” Seeing the others looking at him and Shining suddenly stopping in the doorway of the throne room, motioning for the guards ahead of him to wait, he pressed on. “Please…no matter what, he is my friend…I owe him this much.” A moment of silence reigned. Shining turned to Twilight, silently shaking his head and urging her not to agree, and Cadance appeared to be moving to agree with him. But Twilight looked to be genuinely considering the offer, and after a moment of debate, she started forward, approaching Spike and his guards. Starlight started to follow, but one look from Twilight made her hold back. “Okay Spike,” Twilight agreed as she approached Spike, nodding to the guards to release him as she pulled him closer with one hoof. “But you stay by me, do you understand?” Spike nodded in agreement. “I just ask in return you play close attention to what it is that you’re doing,” he said as he and Twilight joined the progression, Shining nodding to the guards to continue escorting Thorax out. To his credit, Thorax was going silently, without protest or struggle and with his head held high, having accepted his fate. Spike thought he was being very brave. For the next several moments though, he gazed back at Shining and Twilight as they went, hoping that at least Twilight would pull through for him and intervene, like she always had. Being a princess, her authority bore considerably more weight than Spike’s. But she never did, instead holding her peace and position at the back of the escort, keeping Spike beside her. And gradually, the realization sank in. The banishment was considered indisputable by all but him. There would be no going back now. The escorting proceeded in silence. Upon leaving the castle, the exile and his escorts naturally drew the attention of many stunned crystal ponies passing by, stopping to watch the group silently move past in shock and awe. But Spike barely noticed. He barely felt as the crystal roads they walked transformed to cold snow, or the sting of more snowflakes falling upon him as more lightly fell from the sky outside the Crystal Empire in small flurries. He barely reacted when they stopped some distance outside the boundaries of the empire, still visible in the distance, and barely heard Shining Armor as the last words he spoke to Thorax—thrust ahead of them so to urge him to leave—was a word of warning that they would be guarding the border in case he attempted to sneak back inside. He barely watched as Thorax, nodding and giving Spike one last mournful gaze, turned and proceeded to march away from them and the empire, heading off into the unforgiving Frozen North on his own. But then Spike reached a decision. “NO!” he hollered, and despite Twilight’s protests, he threw off the hoof she tried to stop him with, dodged the guards that moved to block him, and raced out in front of the group, putting himself between them and Thorax, the latter stopping to watch the events unfolding in shocked awe. “I’m not letting you do this! You can’t banish someone who has done nothing wrong!” “Spike, get back here!” Twilight cried, starting forward after him, but was stopped by Shining. “Spike, it’s already done,” the stallion told the dragon standing alone before them. “The changeling has been banished! Accept it!” “No!” Spike repeated, stomping one foot in the snowy ground. “Somebody has to stand up to protest this, so it might as well be me!” “Spike, stop this!” Twilight urged, standing beside her brother. “What could you gain from this? It’s already done! He’s been ban—” “If you banish him, you banish me too!” Spike roared suddenly, interrupting. This got both Shining and Twilight to pull back in shock, staring at him with wide eyes and momentarily at a loss for words. Even the guards seemed stunned by this, looking between themselves and their commander, wondering if they should intervene. Twilight was first to recover. “Spike…” she began, again moving forward, but again Shining held her back. Shining’s expression had morphed into something more apologetic. “You don’t really mean that, do you?” he asked Spike softly. Spike glanced back at Thorax some feet ahead of him, silently watching, then back at Shining. “Believe me, I wish you hadn’t driven me to do this…but I can’t stand by and just let you banish him alone, Shining,” he said firmly. “I just can’t. And you can try and make me stay here…but I’m going to fight you every step of the way, and I don’t intend to stop. You’re already shattering my faith that you’ll do the right thing, so I wouldn’t be too motivated to trust your judgment right now. And if I really can’t get anyone else to realize this is wrong, and to instead stand up for what’s actually right…then I’m going with him. That’s the way it’s going to have to be.” “Spike, please,” Twilight pleaded. “Don’t do this.” “Then stop this,” Spike urged. “Don’t banish Thorax. See him for what he really is…just someone looking desperately for a friend. Otherwise…I am going with him…wherever that may be. And if it’s means getting cast out? Then I’ll do it.” Shining gazed at the dragon forlornly. “You realize that if you do this,” he reminded, “I would be legally forced to consider you cutting ties to Equestria in favor of the enemy, and would have to extend the banishment onto you too…right?” Spike nodded. “I do,” he said. “So if any of you really care about friendship, or harmony, or peace, or even just me…now’s your chance to fix it. You should know what you need to do.” A long moment of silence fell as he then waited to see if they would react. They didn’t, with no further protests given, or any motions made to halt him. So to show that he wasn’t bluffing, he turned and walked towards Thorax, joining the changeling. Thorax looked troubled and concerned for the dragon. “Spike…” he began to object to the dragon’s actions. “I made my choice, Thorax,” Spike responded, cutting the changeling short. “Now it’s up to them to make theirs. So let’s go.” He kept on walking, soon moving past Thorax. For a second he wondered if even Thorax wasn’t going to be willing to let him do this, but soon the changeling silently caught up with him, joining his side as they continued to trudge through the snow. Meanwhile, there were still no efforts from the ponies behind them to stop him. Shooting a glance back, he saw they were just standing there, unmoving, sadly watching him go. Twilight had averted her gaze, and Spike’s mind was suddenly flooded with the burning memory of Twilight refusing Spike’s pleas earlier in the throne room. But she surely wouldn’t do that now, would she? Not when he was putting himself on the line too? They were certainly too close for her to let that happen. He kept expecting her to suddenly come running up to them, ready to rectify the matter. But no one came. And soon they had traveled so far that the ponies Spike had left behind were long out of sight, the Crystal Empire now appearing to be a mere fraction of its size and far out on the horizon. It was then that the truth hit him, and Spike suddenly stopped, turning to look sorrowfully back. “They’re not coming,” he murmured aloud to himself sadly. “…are they?” He barely reacted to anything, hardly noticing his now only ally had stopped and looked back too…until Thorax gently put a hoof on his shoulder, causing the dragon to snap suddenly out of his trance and look up at his fellow exile. The changeling’s eyes were sorrowful, empathizing with Spike’s grief, and looked like there was much he wanted to say, but no doubt seeing this wasn’t the time or place for that just yet, he addressed the more immediate concern. “We should find shelter,” he advised the dragon as cold flurrying snowflakes continued to dance around them. Spike gazed at him for a moment then nodded his head silently in agreement. Wordlessly, the two then set off, soon falling into the path leading them back to the cave where they had first met without either of them suggesting it as a possible location to head for. It was halfway there when it finally became too much for Spike and he collapsed into tears. Rather than try and press the dragon to keep going, Thorax sympathized, wordlessly scooping him to rest on the changeling’s back to carry the rest of the way to the cave while Spike continued to weep bitterly. “I’m sorry Spike,” Fluttershy as she stepped forward to give Spike a comforting hug, having broken into tears as he finished the woeful tale. “I’m really, really, sorry…I wish I had been there to help.” Spike didn’t reply, numbly letting his tears flow. “It was a lie, Fluttershy,” he murmured in dismay instead. “That bond I thought me and Twilight had…clearly it was never real…not like I thought.” “Spike…” Fluttershy began to object. “You don’t get it!” Spike snapped, pulling away suddenly. “I thought I could count on Twilight for anything! That she’d always be there to defend me, to protect me! But she wasn’t even willing to save me from banishment! Despite having been practically raised by her and always trusting in her fully up to then…she chose to cast that ALL aside to support them…over me!” He gazed in utter dismay at the troubled Fluttershy. “What sort of pony do you have to be to do something like that?” As was usual for her, Fluttershy’s reply was a timid one. “One that was confused and didn’t know what was the right way to react,” she responded. “You haven’t seen what all this has done to Twilight, Spike…she’s been just as troubled and distraught as you are now.” Though tears still streamed from his eyes, Spike’s gaze turned into a dark and unforgiving glower. “Too little, too late.” Fluttershy bit her lip and lowered her gaze, unable to argue further against Spike’s anger. The conversation rapidly dried up from there. Spike spent the next few moments calming himself down and wiping the tears from his eyes. He had to remove the false glasses to do so, and Fluttershy got a look at his face without them for a change. She was surprised at how much of a difference mere glasses made to Spike’s appearance. With them, he appeared as an older, more mature drake that knew what he was doing. She almost didn’t recognize him when she first saw him when she first arrived. But without them, he was still that small and young baby dragon trying to figure out the world she had always known him to be…only now he had been deeply hurt…and Fluttershy was now starting to realize just how deep it actually was. Finally, Spike had calmed himself down and had restored his usual demeanor. Fluttershy wondered inwardly how much of it was actually a front. “Anyway,” he said, suddenly aware of the time. “I probably need to be getting back to work downstairs.” He turned for the door. “I’ll…I’ll be back later.” Fluttershy numbly nodded. She thought about saying something to the affect that she would keep watching over Thorax and treating him accordingly, but wasn’t able to gather her nerve soon enough before Spike exited the room, closing the door behind him. And thus, Fluttershy was on her own in the room, sitting beside the ill and sleeping changeling, and left to silently mull over her troubled thoughts.