Time Stops For No Dragon
Chapter 22-Me, Myself, and I
So, Spike set out to track down his double, starting the search in Ponyville. After walking for a while, he spotted a trail of footprints and ran over to them, believing that he had finally found a clue. He frowned, disappointed when he realized that those were his tracks from earlier.
"Oh, come on! I already searched this area! I had no idea how hard it would be, to find Future Spike…er, me!"
A few ponies looked his way, surprised from his outburst, but they soon went back to minding their own business. Spike heard a scream coming from the next street over, so he ran around the corner to see who it was. He was just in time, to see his double grab Pinkie Pie by the tail and toss her into the sky. This enraged the young dragon, not appreciating when someone hurts his friends.
"Don't you dare hurt her, you monster!" Spike shouted, charging at his future self, his fist prepared to punch.
Without even looking at the approaching dragon, he caught his fist with one hand, tossing him to the side. Spike let out a cry of surprise as he was flipped over, landing on his back in the dirt. He watched as his double caught Pinkie and set her down.
"Whee! That was fun!" She exclaimed, before running off to Celestia knows where.
Future Spike cast a sidelong glance at his past self and snorted at the shocked look on his face. "Did you really think I wouldn't know what my past self was going to do? I AM you, after all. They may have forgotten you, but there's no way for me to do the same."
Spike sat up in the dirt he had landed in, staring at F. Spike. "You shouldn't be here." He said, in a way that implied he was sure of what he was saying.
F. Spike shook his head. "Actually, YOU shouldn't be here. This timeline believes that I'm the real Spike. You aren't supposed to exist here, yet here you are." This resulted in a silence that neither dragon could figure out how to end. "Nice jacket, by the way." F. Spike commented, after a considerable amount of time had passed.
"Uh, thanks." Spike replied, unsure where he was going with this conversation.
"This is all your fault, you know."
"Starswirl said that, too. What's THAT all about?" Spike asked.
"If you hadn't tampered with the past, we wouldn't be here. The way I see it, this is the only answer that makes any sense."
Spike racked his brain for any other sense-making answers, but he couldn't come up with anything else. "Wait a minute! If all the others lost their memories, shouldn't you have lost yours, too?"
F. Spike chuckled. "It's simple. Why haven't you, lost yours?"
"Hey! Don't answer my question with a question! That just makes it confusing!" Spike protested, wondering how F. Spike could be taking this so lightly.
He thought he recalled reading one of Twilight's books, which said it would cause something called a 'paradox' to happen, if you met yourself in another time. A paradox would supposedly destroy all of reality, which was obviously in no way a good thing. Shouldn't they be exploding twice by now or something? Spike had never understood how somepony could explode more than once, but maybe, this was how it happened.
"Fine, I'll tell you. You didn't get affected, because you're the one who changed everything. I didn't get affected, because by some extension, I'm you. You still following me?"
Spike nodded in understanding. "I was just wondering…How have we not destroyed everything, just by meeting?"
F. Spike smiled slightly in amusement. "This isn't like some bad science fiction movie. And, even if that was true, these aren't exactly ordinary circumstances. Timelines don't usually merge, but I figure that since this happened, it must be for a reason."
Spike hummed in thought. "I suppose, that makes sense. Well, I guess, I'd better get started on finding where Starswirl is hiding. I might see you later, but I don't exactly have all the time in the world." He walked off down the road, intending to search for more clues.
"Wait!" F. Spike shouted, stopping the young adult dragon in his tracks, long enough for him to catch up. "Don't you think that since we're stuck in this mess together, we should help each other out? I mean, I want to do all that I can to help get Fluttershy back. You don't want to go through what I have. I don't care what we have to do to prevent my future from being real, I'll do it. Whatever it is, we haven't done it yet, because I'm still standing here."
Spike gasped. "I don't want you to die! You're like me, only 20% cooler!"
F. Spike smiled, sadly. "Thanks, but there's nothing left for me here. I'm just here, to take your place."
Spike wasn't really happy with his decision, but he didn't really have a choice. "Okay, but if we're going to work together, I need to call you something besides, 'Future Spike'."
"All right. Call me…Thorn. That's my real name or at least, what I changed it to. I wanted to forget my past."
"Nice to meet'cha Thorn." Spike smiled. "I've heard so much about you!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
After a while of searching, Spike huffed and threw his hands in the air from frustration.
"Man, this stinks! This would be so much easier if I could use a locator spell to find Starswirl, but I don't have the artifact anymore! All I can do without it, is light candles." To prove his point, a small flame flickered and danced along the surface of his palm, before he snuffed it out, by closing his hand into a fist.
Thorn spoke up, causing the young dragon to look over at him. "That's not true! You can actually still use magic if you have an enchanted conductor."
"I know that, but I don't have the artifact, or any other magically enhanced item!"
Thorn made a sound, akin to a buzzer when one gets an answer wrong. "You DO have a magical item on you. In fact, I have the same one. This jacket we're wearing allows you to channel the natural magic inside you through it, giving you an easier time of casting spells. I can show you how, if you want. It gives you all sorts of powers."
"I don't know…" Spike hesitated, not so sure that this was a good idea.
"The alternative is that you'd be really popular at birthday parties!" Thorn smirked, enjoying messing with him.
"No thanks, I'd rather learn about magic powers!" Spike protested, chuckling a little.
"All right. Only if you're sure, man."
Thorn walked off, leaving Spike with no choice but to follow.