Spike swiftly stepped down the cobblestone paths of Canterlot. The train ride took a bit longer than he had hoped for, and the sun was already getting ready to set in the sky by the time he got there. He hated being anywhere at night. Nighttime was for sleep and comic book nights with Starlight. To put it bluntly, he wasn’t much of a night dragon.
He wasn’t much of a morning dragon for that matter, either. He really needed to take Twilight’s advice about figuring out more ways to be a productive member of society. However, the inner turmoil and self-discovery would have to wait for another day. Right now, he had more pressing concerns... like the one he was holding in his claws. It was a letter from Celestia, one that made his heartbeat pick up as he scanned over it. The words on the page gave him a deep-rooted crisis of faith he never knew he had. Even now, glossing over the words made his charisma and intelligence scores drop by two multipliers.
Dear Spike,
Please come to Canterlot immediately. There is a matter of grave importance that must be discussed in person, and I need to speak to you as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
P.S.: Please, for the love of all that is good and holy, don’t tell Twilight about this.
“Yep, I’m screwed.” Spike rolled up the letter and put it back in the satchel he was carrying.
Sometimes you know when you’re in trouble. Perhaps it’s a look your parents give you. Or maybe it’s the tone of voice your teacher uses when she addresses you in front of the class. In fact, according to the most basic laws of the universe, anytime anybody uses any form of the term ‘we need to talk,’ it means you’re in big trouble and probably getting dumped after a living room argument that ends in heartbreak and overeating.
He wasn’t sure what he did, but he knew it must’ve been something serious for Celestia to want to talk to him about it in person. His fingers trembled a tad at the thought of what form of repercussion he might face at the castle. He did accidentally make a joke about the Yak gods on his last ambassador trip to Yakyakistan. And, of course, there was the time he managed to offend the sea ponies by saying he was allergic to their seaweed casserole in a poor dragon’s attempt to avoid having to eat it. Suffice to say, they saw right through his ruse.
The list of possible offenses grew in his mind with each step he took toward the castle. He needed a fallback option to buy him some remorse.
He scanned his eyes around the town square. There was a surprisingly small number of ponies around for a Saturday evening. In fact, there were only two he could see, plus Daisy the flower mare about to close up sho—
“That’s it!” Spike darted over towards her. “Daisy! Please! I need flowers! It’s a national emergency!”
The mare looked around for a moment before she caught sight of the dragon barreling towards her. “Oh, hello Spike. You caught me right on time.”
Spike panted, attempting to catch his breath. “Yeah… Thankfully. I’ll be quick so that you can get back home.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” she said with a slight sigh. “Business wasn’t exactly booming today. You’d be my first customer in the last hour.”
“Really?” Spike looked around at the now completely barren square. “Yeah, it seems pretty dead today. I wonder why?”
Daisy shrugged. “I’m not sure. I heard some talk around town about weird magic or something like that, but that’s about it. Did you hear anything back home in Ponyville from Twilight about something going on?”
The dragon shook his head. “Nope. It might just be one of those weird things, no rhyme or reason. Anyhow, can I get like five white roses? Ooh, and put ‘em in a blue wrapper if you could.”
“Got it,” she replied, fetching the flowers immediately. “I hope these aren’t for Roseluck. We know it wasn’t your fault, but after you caught half of her mane on fire on your guys’ first date, she’s not planning on having a second.”
Spike rolled his eyes. “Hey, fire burps are not something I could control at the time. Add in the spicy food we were eating; it was a losing deal all the way around. Besides, her mane grew back… eventually.”
Daisy chuckled. “Well, these are the best roses I have, so hopefully they’ll put a smile on some mare’s face.”
“I’m crossing my claws,” Spike said with a grin. “I’m about to visit Celestia, and I’m pretty sure she’s upset with me about something. These are her favorite flowers, so I’m hoping they’ll at least give me a head start before I start wallowing in disgrace.”
“They won’t hurt,” she replied with a smirk. “Anyhow, that’ll be five bits.”
Spike reached into his bag and pulled out the change, throwing a few extra on the cart. “There, that’s for staying late to put up with my nonsense. Wish me luck!”
“Will do.”
She waved goodbye as Spike resumed his course toward the castle. He wasn’t sure what awaited him, but there was no sense in delaying the inevitable. He was going to face his problems head-on and with dignity. He was an adult now. Heck, he even stood at least a foot over most ponies. He was mature and confident. He was a dragon!
He had this in the bag!
“Okay, look, I will give you thirty bits if you tell Celestia I got in a freak flying accident on the way here.” Spike shook the bag of bits he was carrying in front of the castle guard’s face. “You won’t get a better offer than that.”
The guard in question rolled his eyes as he continued to lead Spike down the corridors of the castle. “I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.”
“Curses!” Spike let out a long-winded sigh. “Then can you at least give me a clue as to what she wants with me? This whole situation is giving me an anxiety disorder I didn’t even know I had! Is this what it feels like to go to public high school? Because it is not pleasant.”
“I’m sorry, Spike, but not even I know the details.” The guard was doing an incredible job of keeping his professionalism despite the onslaught of nonsense he was receiving. “I was just told to stand at the front doors and lead you back to the war room chambers whenever you arrived.”
Spike gulped. “War room? Oh, sweet baby Tirek! This is worse than I thought.”
“I’m sure the Princess has more pressing matters at hoof than to scold you about some trivial matter, Spike,” the guard said.
“What do you mean by that?” Spike asked with a raised eyebrow.
The guard shook his head. “I don’t have enough information to say anything, and it’s not my place. She will tell you everything you need to know.”
“Fine, fair enough.”
Spike continued to follow the guard closely as they weaved their way down the many halls and corridors the castle had to offer. Before long, they finally reached a large wooden door. The handle was made from sturdy blackened metal, as were the ornately shaped hinge plates and steel bracing. A room built for important business.
The guard reached under his armor and pulled out a large set of keys. He flipped through them briefly before he found the correct one and turned the lock.
Locked from the outside. That’s not a good sign, Spike thought.
“Wait here just a moment, please.” The guard cracked the door open and stuck his head inside. “Ma’am, Spike has arrived. Do you want to speak with him now?”
Spike waited a moment before tapping the guard on the back. “Am I good to go in?”
The guard quickly flipped around. “Alright, head on in. They’re waiting for you.”
“Alright, here goes no— Wait, ‘they’?” Spike received no response as the guard shoved him into the room and locked the door.
Well, this is how it ends, I guess…
“Good evening, Spike,” he heard Celestia say. “Thank you so much for coming on such short notice.”
Spike had to compose himself upon entering the room. His eyes raced around, identifying the creatures greeting him. There were four of them. Four he recognized quite well. The princesses, Discord, and Starswirl. His chest tightened.
Under normal circumstances, he’d be entirely comfortable in this situation. He was quite close to the former three and associated multiple times with the fourth. But these were not ordinary times. No, these were troubling times, and now he felt like an insect under a magnifying glass that was about to catch on fire.
Play it cool, Spike. You can do this. Just be calm, mature and collected like you usually are…
“Celestia, I swear I didn’t know the Yaks would get offended when I said their God probably invented whack-a-mole!” He took a few steps forward, pulling the flowers from his bag. “On a separate note, I found these flowers on the way here and— AH!”
It was at this moment that Spike decided to give the laws of motion and physics a run for their money as his foot managed to collide with his tail, sending him faceplanting onto the floor. The flowers, on the other hand, separated from their wrapper and skidded across the table toward Celestia, leaving a trail of petals in its wake. By the time Spike rose back to his feet, and the flowers came to a halt, Celestia was gifted with nothing but barren green stems.
Discord let out a sigh. “And we’re trusting him to save the world? I can’t wait to see how this turns out.”
Spike gingerly dusted the shame off himself the best he could before addressing the now wide-eyed group sitting around the table.
“Well, we’re off to a great start…” he said. “On that note, I tried to give you flowers, Celestia, but well, you have stems now. So, you know, have fun with those.”
Celestia politely brushed the damaged goods off to the side and stared straight into Spike. “I do appreciate you bringing me my favorite flowers, or at least attempting to, but don’t worry, Spike. You’re not in trouble.”
“Sister, I told you that you shouldn’t have sounded so grave in the letter.” Luna looked sternly at her sister before turning to Spike. “Our apologies for the confusion, Spike.”
The dragon blinked a few times. “You mean I’m not in trouble?”
“No, of course not,” Celestia replied, a gentle smile on her lips.
“Oh, good!” Spike rubbed the back of his head. “And to think I got all panicky and stuff for nothing. I thought something important was going on and—”
“Can we please get to the point of this conversation?” Starswirl cut in. “It’s not as if we have all the time in the world to chit-chat.”
“Yes, of course,” Celestia said. She quickly turned her attention from Starswirl back to Spike. “You’re not in trouble, but we did bring you to discuss something of extreme importance.” She gestured to the row of chairs in front of him. “Please have a seat.”
Spike looked for any sign of relaxed humor or cheerfulness about the situation in the eyes of his supposed interrogators, but they all just watched him intently. Even Discord dared not blink.
This was serious.
Spike pulled out the closest chair to him, directly across from Celestia and Luna. “Okay, what’s up? Not gonna lie, you all are kinda making me worried.”
Celestia spoke up first. “Spike, something is happening to Equestria, and quite frankly we don’t know what to do. Therefore, we brought you here.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Something? Like a new monster or villain we’re destined to reform with relative ease?”
“No,” Luna replied this time. “‘Tis not the usual fare this time, I’m afraid. We fear it’s something far greater than a simple mon—”
“Let’s not sugarcoat it,” Discord cut in with a yawn. “Listen here, Spike, my boy. The world is about to break into a million tiny fibers and rip itself into pieces, and we need you to go back in time to stop it from happening.”
The dragon blinked. “Um… what?”
Discord released a drawn-out sigh. “Ugh. Remember the third arc of our last Ogres and Oubliettes campaign where High Priest Marky Mark and his Funky Bunch hoard cast that spell to remove the Land of Spiratica from ever existing, so we had to destroy his magic wand and bring order back to the realm?”
Spike nodded vigorously. “Oh, heck yeah! One of our finer adventures, I must say.”
“Well, it’s that.” Discord slouched back in his chair and pointed a talon at the dragon. “Except you are the only one that can stop it from happening.”
Spike remained silent for a second. “Wait a second. You’re saying a pony is trying to cast some time spell to destroy everything?”
All of them nodded, and Starswirl spoke first. “Yes, Spike, that is exactly the case.”
“Umm, okay.” He shrugged. “I guess it’s not that hard to believe given all the other crazy things that happen around here. But, just for the sake of my curiosity, why are you asking me? I mean, I’m flattered, but shouldn't you tell Twilight or somepony about this? She kinda has the market cornered on wrecking bad guys.”
“You see, that’s where things get a little more difficult.” Celestia shook her head.
“Oh boy, something tells me this isn’t going anywhere pleasant,” Spike said. “Give it to me straight. But wait, let me guess first. The bad guy is somepony I know and love? No wait, it’s a dragon, and I have to go on some self-discovery mission to take it down?”
“You’re not far off on that second one,” Discord said with a snicker.
“Unfortunately, it’s more serious than that,” Celestia stated. “Whoever cast this spell is already gone. They’ve been gone for over a thousand years. We need you to go back in time and stop it from ever happening in the first place.”
Spike’s jaw was held agape. “I uh… you see… just umm… huh?”
Spike had to take a moment to process what they were saying. A magical force destroying Equestria? He could believe that. It was a yearly tradition at this point. Having to go to the past by over a thousand years? That was a new one. And more specifically himself being asked to do it? This was uncharted territory.
“Look,” Spike spoke up again, shaking off his confusion. “I’m not even sure what to say about this whole thing. I believe what you’re saying, but with all due respect, I haven’t seen anything magical or whatever destroying stuff. Is it possible that there’s something else going on that’s much simpler to stop?”
Luna shook her head. “I’m afraid not, Spike. The destruction most likely just hasn’t reached your home yet, but we fear it won’t be long. In the meantime, ponies are disappearing, and our land, I fear, won’t last much longer.”
“It’s true,” Starswirl chimed in. “We’ve looked at all the possibilities, and there’s no other way to stop it than to keep it from happening in the first place. We’ve exhausted all other options.”
Spike scratched his head. “But… I don’t know. I’m honestly having a hard time understanding all of this. You want me to go way back in time to take down some guy from casting a spell that’s destroying stuff now. Do we even know who it is?”
Celestia shook her head. “We do not. All we know is it must be a pony with incredible knowledge of magic.”
“Oh, well that’s helpful,” Spike said with a sigh. “So, I guess that leaves one question. Why me? Wouldn’t this normally be a job for one of the Princesses or something?”
Discord held up a paw. “Please, let me field this one.” He slithered around the table and sat next to Spike, placing an arm around him. “Let me break it down for you, dragon to draconequus. When I open that time portal to shoot someone way back in time for what’s sure to be a doomed mission, not just anything can go through. A pony would die from the magical stress, and I can’t go because I’m too important for helping here in the event you don’t make it back alive.”
Spike pushed Discord’s arm off his shoulder and turned toward him. “So, I have to go because I’m a dragon and expendable.”
Discord winked. “You got it.”
“Well, it’s nice to know where I rank in the grand scheme of things, at least.” Spike leaned back in his chair and turned his eyes toward Celestia. “Is it true?”
She kept her gaze from meeting his the best she could before taking a deep breath and looking at him, her eyes baring a sorrowful look. “It’s true. Not only are you the only creature we know and trust that could survive the trip, but we also recognize how dangerous the mission is and the fact that it may not be successful. Because of that, to be perfectly honest with you, we needed to send someone that we could, well, continue without if we have to carry on fighting against this magical force.”
“And I fit the bill, huh?” Spike said, folding his arms.
“Yes,” Luna spoke up. “After exploring every option we could, you were the absolute best choice for an assignment of such importance.”
Spike felt a shiver up his spine as he saw the wide eyes and slowly growing frowns on the Princesses faces. “I guess I understand.”
“Please, Spike,” Celestia cut in. “We didn’t simply ask you to do this because we only see you as an expendable piece of the puzzle.” She paused briefly, carefully considering her word choices. “We trust you, Spike. More than any other creature we could think of, and we have the utmost faith that if anybody could give our land a chance, it would be you.”
Spike smiled ever so slightly. “It’s the small victories, right? But, please, be completely honest with me. What are the odds of success? Good, bad, ugly?”
“There’s no way of knowing,” Starswirl said. “Without knowing our enemy, we can’t possibly predict what could happen. Not to mention there’s the whole butterfly effect that could cause unimaginable changes.”
“The butterfly effect,” Spike said. “I paid attention when Twilight taught me about that back in the day. Even a small change can have crazy effect and consequences elsewhere. Something like that, right?”
“Precisely,” the wizard replied. “So, with the limited knowledge we have, we can’t even begin to answer that question. Frankly, it’s more than likely going to be extremely dangerous.”
The other three nodded in agreement.
“Well, this explains why you didn’t want Twilight to know,” Spike said with a chuckle. “I’d probably be tied to my bed right now. She’s just a tad protective of me, even these days. Heh.” He punctuated his sentence with a chuckle.
“That’s an understatement,” Discord replied with an eye roll.
“Will you help us?” Luna asked. “We would never force you to do something you wish not to do.”
“Exactly.” Celestia bobbed her head. “The choice is ultimately up to you, Spike. But, time is of the essence.”
Spike closed his eyes, the cogs in his brain twisting and turning. He’s been called on by the Princesses before, but never for something this big. Typically, he was just there to help or to protect the townsponies back home when danger struck. Now, he was being asked to take the lead and save his home. The home he loved.
Any time Twilight was called upon to help her fellow citizens and friends; she did it without a moment’s hesitation. Why was he even having to debate it like this? The whole ‘life on the line’ angle may have something to do with it, of course. But no, it was his time, and he needed to step up to the plate. He needed to help his land. His friends.
It was time to be a hero.
Spike sat upright in his chair. “So, a mission in the past with unknown chances of success against an enemy we don’t know in a land where I’ll be a complete stranger. Does that sum it up well enough?”
All four nodded.
The dragon shrugged, setting his jaw in determination. “Just another day in Equestria. Let’s do it.”