//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: A Trip Down Memory Lane 
// Story: The Adventures of Test Subject SP-1K3 
// by Dedion 
//------------------------------//

It didn't take long for Spike to fall into the routine. Breakfast was followed by testing which lasted until lunchtime. More testing ensued until it was time for dinner and after that, it was lights out. The following days followed the same guideline with ever so few changes to the formula. 

What intrigued Spike the most of the routine was that they were allowed a thirty-minute break during testing. He was so fascinated by the idea of them getting a break that he asked Twilight about it while she examined him one day. To which she responded, "Having at least one thirty minute break during the testing periods allows both test subject and researcher to recuperate. Though the break leans more in favor of the researchers' side as it allows them to gather their thoughts and..." Spike had stopped listening at that point. He was just glad to know he could have a break.

The days soon flowed together. Spike found himself having trouble remember if yesterday was indeed yesterday or a week ago, but it didn't matter. He had more concerns on his mind right now. He thought about things a lot nowadays. Certain phrases of what people have said stuck in his mind like a bug in a spider's web. To amplify this, the voices that often spoke to him had taken it upon themselves to repeat the phrases in his head. Though now they weren't fragmented as they were before. Long gone were the voices speaking above one another or jumbling their words. They spoke in nearly perfect unison this time. 


"I'll mAkE suRE yOu get WHaT... wANt."
"...We ShoUld at leAST c... a LiTTle. AftER all they Wo... care at all."
"WhAt do I WaNT?"


Spike gazed at the apple that he held in his claws. The more the phrases repeated the more thoughts plagued his already heavy consciousness. His train of thought was only interrupted by Jet's interference. "You've been staring at that apple for a long time, dude," he said, startling the baby dragon in the process. Jet raised an eyebrow. "You okay little buddy?" Spike looked at the midnight purple dragon for a few moments before sighing.

"Can... can you tell me what Fizzle and Garble were like?" Spike asked. 

"Oooohh," hissed Jet, "So that's what you're worried about." He too sighed before carrying on the conversation. "Well, Fizzle's a big scalie baby, but he's got us out of a lot of situations before. And he knows quite a lot too. Did you know that he can use magic?" 

"Don't all dragons technically use magic?" asked Spike.

"No, I mean like the magic ponies use," explained Jet, "He could make this float in mid-air, make a shield out of magic, he got really mad this one time and turned Garble into a frog." A chuckle came from Jet as he retold the story. "Dude, knocked himself out when he did it though."

"Speaking of Garble, the dude's kinda worthless," admitted Jet. 

"Isn't that kinda harsh?" Spike replied.

"It's the truth though. Garble likes to let his fists do the talking for him. The only reason me and Fizz even stayed with the guy was that he was very strong for a fire dragon. Normally it's the earthies that get to be that strong."

"How strong was he exactly?"

"He got mad and ripped out a fully grown tree and threw it at a pony scouting camp. Though he was out of commission for quite some time. That's actually how we got captured in the first place," Jet finished the rest of his lunch, "It's hard to move a dragon that weighs almost as much as you do and fend off anger ponies at the same time." 

"He probably has some earth dragon blood mixed in somewhere, " Spike suggested as he finally took a bite of the apple he was holding.

"That would explain a whole lot. But now that we're on the subject of bloodlines," started Jet. He was interrupted by the ringing that signaled the end of the lunch period. Every dragon stood and soon reported to their designated testing rooms.



"Stop drinking that," ordered Moondancer. Twilight looked at her with an uninterested look. Her flask just inches away from her mouth. "You'll die of alcohol poisoning at this rate."

"Wouldn't be so bad," retorted Twilight.

"Don't talk like that either!" Moondance demanded, "Ugghh, listen. How about we just let the other researchers handle this?"

"Can't."

"Why not?!"

"I'm the only one capable of performing this spell for long periods of time," Twilight answered. Moondancer let out a groan as she slammed her hoof onto the table. Spike and Little Fang sat and bore witness to the whole spectacle."Listen, I understand why you're worried, but it's going to be fine. I work better when I'm drunk anyway."

"I'm not just worried about you," Moondancer glanced at the two baby dragons sitting on the bench in the corner, "Diving into someone's mind isn't something you can just go about willy-nilly. Especially if you're drunk, Twilight. Also, isn't that spell forbidden?!"

"Ha! Forbidden, smitten! Just because a spell's been labeled 'forbidden' hasn't stopped ponies from using them! I mean just look at D-1043!" Twilight pointed a hoof at Spike, who was still trying to understand the situation. "Starlight had a field day with him and I can't find a single scrap of information about what she did to him. How am I suppose to fix him when I can't even tell what's magic she used?"

"You can't use fire to fight..."

"THEN EITHER GIVE ME A BETTER SOLUTION MOONDANCER OR JUST SIT THERE AND BE A GOOD LITTLE GUARD DOG!!" yelled Twilight. Her tired eyes now blazed with an anger that neither the dragons nor Moondancer had seen before. Twilight's nappy hair seemed to start to move on its own accord. It danced as arcane energy began to radiate off of the mare.

Moondancer could only sit in fear at Twilight's sudden outburst. Another emotion crossed her face for a brief second before she turned to face the window. Spike couldn't quite tell what it was. "As you wish, Director," she said. Twilight's hair calmed down as she took a deep breath. She looked at her flask before tucking it into her lab coat. She got up from her chair and proceed to open the door to the larger portion of the room. 

"Come on D-1042. I need to make sure these calculations are correct," demanded Twilight. Little Fang stood up quickly, She didn't want to anger the mare any further after everything that had just transpired. Once the dragonette passed the threshold of the door's frame, the door closed behind her. 

Spike then did something that he normally wouldn't do. He stood up and walked over to the table that Moondancer was sitting at. He climbed onto the chair sat next to her. The two of them sat in a moment of silence as they watched Twilight perform her spell. "I... I take it that she's not always like this?" Spike asked, breaking the silence between them. Moondancer sighed.

"... No, she's not. She also didn't drink so much either," she answered. Her gaze never tearing away from the experiment. There was another moment of silence between the two.

"So... what's this forbidden spell you were talking about?" asked Spike. To which Moondancer remained silent. "Well, I can assume that it allows the user to enter the mind of another. Is there anything else it does?"

"...  it doesn't let the user enter the mind of someone else. Well not entirely," Moondancer finally spoke, "It allows the user to view memories of the person they cast it on. But there's a catch to it." Moondancer looked onward to see the events unfold. Little Fang's hair stood on end. Arcs of electricity flew off of her body in waves. Multiple of them had even managed to hit the violet unicorn, but, thanks to the collar around the dragonette's neck, she was unfazed. "The spell causes the one whoever had the spell cast on them to essentially relive said memories. I've read that it is a... very unpleasant experience."

Spike felt his claws start to dig into the wooden table. He could feel his teeth grinding against each other. Unpleasant. Why did that word make him burn up inside at the mere mention of it? Moondancer took the moment to glance at the young dragon beside her. After the weeks of having seen him and his standard blank expression most of the time, It was a surprise to see some fire those emerald eyes of his. 

Twilight returned with a worn out Little Fang on her back. She gently placed the heavy breathing dragonette on the bench. Spike rushed towards his friend. "Fang! Fang, are you alright?" Spike asked, his voice heavily dripped with concern. The dragonette looked towards Spike before she reached out and pulled him into an embrace. Her tears flowed freely while she clung to Spike as if her life depended on it. Spike was at a loss for words and in the attempt to try to find the words to say, he was separated from Little Fang by Twilight's magic.

Little Fang screamed for Spike not to leave her, but Spike had no control over the situation. She pleaded for Spike to stay, but he had no say in the matter. The pure look of devastation on her face was forever burned into Spike's mind. He was so distraught by this that he didn't even notice that he was on the other side of the closed door. He had stood there for who knew how long just staring at the door. His stayed frozen in a state of horror.

"D-1043, I would appreciate it if you would come over here so we can start the procedure," state Twilight. Spike's body seemed to have moved on its own. His mind was still lost, but his body had performed these simple actions so many times it didn't need his input. It even went as far as to change his expression to his normal blank expression. "Good, now let us begin." 

The familiar aura of Twilight's magic surrounded her horn. Spike felt a sudden pressure on his mind. He felt himself drifting away as if he was about to go to sleep. Spike's world soon turned black.





Spike seemed to be running through a forest. He didn't know why he was running, but he knew that if he had stopped, his life was as good as over. So he continued to run. He ran even as his chubby legs burned and ached. He ran even as his lungs felt as if they were about to burst. He ran until he couldn't feel his legs anymore and had slumped against a tree trunk.

Breathing heavily, he looked ahead of him and found the mouth of a cave. A tired smile was plastered on his face as his eyes shined bright with hop. His destination just a few feet away from him. Just a little bit further and he would be safe. He tried to stand up, using the tree trunk for support but found his way back down to the grassy earth.

A sound was heard coming from behind him. He didn't know what it was exactly, but his fears told him what it was. Using the whatever strength he had left in his arms, the baby dragon began to crawl his way towards the entrance of the cave. The noises began to grow louder and louder. The sound of hoofsteps becoming more evident with each passing moment. Spike had just passed the threshold of the cave's entrance when he heard shouting from behind him.

Looking into the darkness of the cave, Spike could see the outline of the person he was sure would save him. He reached out a claw and shouted a name that he did not know, but sounded oh so familiar. His pleading shouts seemed to grab the person's attention. They stood for a brief moment, looking at the baby dragon with confusion, before running at full speed towards him. Their mouth moved, but no voice came from it. It was then that Spike felt the cold metal of a collar clamp around his neck.

Immediately, his already tired body flopped onto the ground. He could feel his inner flame begin to dim and the heat it once emanated fade away. He was soon scooped into the arms of a teen dragon that possessed his same color of scales. He could hear the muffled yelling of the older dragon that held him in their arms. Spike could feel the heat radiating from the dragon that held him growing stronger with each passing second.

His heavy eyelids soon closed and he nuzzled into the dragon's chest. The heat they gave off felt wonderful to Spike's cold and tired body. The memory ended as Spike's eyes closed.





"Get up D-1043," a pony researcher ordered. To which the young lilac dragon moaned in pain. Not only was the coldness that the dragon felt was nearly unbearable, but the lightning spell that he had just endured took all the strength he had. "If you don't get up within the next five seconds you're going to be punished." Spike pushed his already tired body to its limits. He tried to even move his body even an inch but to no avail. It should have been obvious that the baby dragon was struggling to even stand on his feet, but the researcher didn't see it that way.

Another jolt of lightning was sent through Spike's body. The baby dragon slumped down to the floor, unmoving. His entire world had turned black and the memory faded.





"You shouldn't be using that kind of language in front of children," stated a researcher.

"And you shouldn't be using children for your weird experiments," retorted the purple dragoness that held Spike close to her. 

"Listen, I just need to take D-1043 so we can fix his collar. We're trying to save his life, but if you want to do this the hard way can have him taken by force again if need be." This got a growl from the dragoness. Spike looked up at the dragoness that held him. Her dark emerald eyes held a fire in them that he couldn't dream of obtaining. He admired her for that. But he also didn't want her to get hurt again because she was protecting him.

"It's fine sis. Just let me go," Spike said. Which earned him a confused look from his older sister.

"They've almost killed you twice now, Etseon! You can't be serious about going with them!" she complied.

"I am serious, Emory. It's better than them hurting you to get me." Spike stated blankly.

"Huh, I didn't expect the kid to be the sensible one here." commented the researcher. Emory looked towards the researcher than back toward Spike before huffing.

"Fine," she said reluctantly as she released her hold on Spike, "But if you die, you're telling mom and dad that it was your decision!"

"Of course," Spike chuckled before leaving with the researcher.





"Beginning phase two of Project Black Dragon. Test Subject D-1043 are you ready? This procedure will be quite unpleasant." spoke Director Starlight. Spike looked at the mare with a blank stare.

"Do I even have a choice at this point?" he inquired. Starlight ignored the dragon's question. Instead, she continued on with the experiment. Her horn began to glow a sickly purple as the whites of her eyes turned a putrid shade of green. Something inside Spike told him to run. It told him to get as far away from this pony as he could as quickly as he could, yet he still remained where he stood. There was nowhere for him to run. He was stuck in this room until the testing was complete so whatever was to come next, he would have to endure it.

Though he could not prepare himself enough for what Starlight had planned. A beam of purple magic was shot from her horn and hit Spike directly in his chest. At first, Spike could barely feel anything. The beam had a force behind it, but it wasn't strong. It felt like a spout of water trying to push him back. Though soon enough Spike began to feel the effects of the spell.

His eyes widened as he felt the magic start to ebb its way into his being. Its cold menacing presence shook him to his very core. It continued to borrow its way into him until Spike felt it touch his fire. Or at least, what was left of it. What was once a healthy fire that burned strong was now nothing more than a couple of embers of a dying campfire. The magic engulfed the embers nearly putting out the remnants of his internal fire. 

Spike finally released the breath he didn't know he was holding. His body was growing cold, too cold. His limbs were like stone and his breath started to slow. He felt his heart start to slow its rhythmic beating until it was so slow Spike thought it stopped completely. Spike fell to the ground. Darkness encroached from the corners of his vision. 'Forced hibernation,' Spike thought, 'At least I'll die sleeping.' The baby dragon closed his eyes. He was ready to face the end of his story.

But the spell was not done with him. The magic that had engulfed the embers of flames began to strengthen them. The embers soon turned to a small flickering flame. A minuscule light in the vast darkness that surrounded it. But soon the flames began to devour the darkness, growing ever more powerful by the second. The menacing magic became infused with the emerald flame. Spike's eyes shot open as he felt the heat of his fire began to grow stronger. His breath quickened and his heart rate returned to normal. His body no longer felt like stone, but it now felt as if he was burning from the inside out.

The heat grew stronger and strong with each minute that passed. Spike was so hot that he started to melt the floor he was laying on. Spike tried to speak, but only emerald and purple flames erupted from his mouth. Sudden bursts of the green and purple colored flames erupted from his body. The flames that had once nearly been extinguish was now a blazing inferno that Spike had no control over. 

Spike roared as the heat soon pulled itself into his arms. It felt as if the sun had infused itself into his limbs. It was then that his arms were enveloped by a raging purple fire. Spike gazed in scared amazement at the haunting purple flames and, to his horror, the flames gazed back. The last thing that was heard as the memory ended was the screaming of Spike and cornucopia of random voices that seemed to scream alongside him.






"EnOugh... Enough... enough"


Spike panted heavily as the voices repeated the same word over and over again. All of them seemed to be just as tired as he was. He looked at his surroundings and found that he was in the other room with a sleeping Little Fang on his arm. 

"... can't stay mad at me forever, Moondancer," stated Twilight, "I've already apologized. Can't we just move on from this?"

"I'm sorry if I'm being difficult, Director, but I'm just a guard dog. I don't know if I would be able to help you with your research," retorted Moondancer. Her gaze never once met Twilight's. Twilight sighed to herself as she rubbed her temple. She struggled for the right words to say and failed. She returned to the papers on the table and began writing her findings.

There was a silence that filled the room that no one dared to break for what seemed like forever. Moondancer was the brave soul that finally broke the silence after so long. "Why did you become the director, Twilight?" she asked.

"Why did you become a battle mage?" Twilight quickly rebounded, "We were given orders Moondancer. Orders that we have to see through to the end whether we want to or not. Orders that some of us have to deal the consequences in our own ways." There was another short silence.

"Can you, at least, slow down on the drinking? I don't want to tell your parents that you drank yourself to death."

"I'll try Moony," Twilight sighed as she finished her notes, "It's getting late. Let's get these two to the cafeteria."

"We still have five and a half hours until dinner time," complained Moondancer.

"Moony, I think I speak for all of us when I say that the last two hours and a half have been mentally and emotionally taxing. I've got some information that I can work with so I'd say this calls for an early dismissal." Spike pretended to be asleep while Twilight trotted over to get them.

It didn't take long for the four of them to reach the cafeteria. Spike and Little Fang sat next to each other while the two ponies at further down the table. Little Fang laid her head on Spike's lap and tried to go back to sleep. Spike looked down at her and the image of her face from before was still on his mind above all other things. "Little Fang?" Spike started, "Are you okay?"

"I think we both know the answer to that, Spike," Fang answered quickly.

"You want to talk about it?" Spike asked.

"... not right now. Maybe some other day."

"Alright, but just so you know I'm here if you ever want to talk."

"Heh, since when did you get so sentimental all of a sudden?"

"Well, you said it yourself, didn't you? Us dragons are in the same boat here. We should at least care a little about each other." Spike had a smile on his face as he looked down at the rustic dragonette who in turn started to smile too. The two shared a light chuckle before the two took a quick nap before dinner, seeing as to how they didn't anything better to do.

Within time, the rest of the dragons came into the cafeteria and found the two sleeping baby dragons. They had more than enough fun teasing the two throughout the whole duration of dinner and they would most likely continue for who knows how long. Jet was probably the only one who didn't tease them about being mates for life or something to that effect. Though it was probably due to the fact that they had already received enough teasing by the time he got to them, but it was a relief none the less.

Spike took a moment to look at Little Fang trying to cut some of the teen dragoness who tried to give her some tips about dating males with a plastic knife. He then turned to Jet who sat laughing his tail off at the little dragonette's attempt at murder. Spike chuckled a bit to himself as he ate the rest of his dinner next to Jet and watched the little dragonette go. Today had been a long day, but it was over now and tomorrow would certainly be another long day. So he decided he wanted to live a little for today and enjoy himself even it was for a moment.