//------------------------------// // The Final Straw // Story: The Storm Dragon // by ShowShine //------------------------------// Spike sat on a train, kicking his legs off of the side of the seat. He looked out the window to see the trees blurring past. “You’ll love the Changeling Kingdom, it’s really a nice place and is peaceful. You get to meet my family too! They’ll love you.” Twilight stated happily. Spike gave a weary smile, trying to make it look genuine. “It sounds like I’ll like it.” Spike said with a forced smile. He looked back out of the window and hid his frown. He still felt incredibly guilty about sharing information about his new friends. The train came to a stop, snapping him out of his daze. “We’re here!” Twilight exclaimed excitedly, hopping off of her seat. Spike slid off of the seat and followed Twilight off of the train. Spike looked around to see the the train station was in a field like area. Their was grass and flowers surrounding them. “The Changeling Kingdom is that way.” Twilight said, pointing to a large pointy rock. It was covered in moss and flowers. Spike squinted to look at it and could see a few figures flying around. Spike let out a slow exhale and started to walk towards the large rock. Spike entered the Changeling Kingdom, looking around at the new environment. There were brightly colored changelings walking around and talking to each other. “Changelings sure are different from what I remember...” Spike muttered to himself. He had fought a few changelings in his lifetime and this was not what they looked like. “Cadance!” Twilight exclaimed, flying past Spike. She flew over to a pink alicorn, who looked at Twilight with a wide grin. “Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake!” Both alicorns sang out while doing a dance. They both giggled and hugged each other. “Twilight, how are you?” Cadance asked with a big smile. “Everything’s been a lot better since I got an assistant. This is Spike, my new assistant!” Twilight said, pointing to Spike. “Hi, I’m Spike, it’s very nice to meet you.” Spike greeted politely. Cadance let out a giggle. “It’s nice to meet you too. I’m Princess Cadance.” She greeting, shaking Spikes hand. A white unicorn walked up, holding a pink alicorn foal in his arms. The foal grinned when she saw Twilight and reached her tiny arms out towards her. “Hello my favorite niece!” Twilight exclaimed, picking up the foal. The foal let out a giggle and placed her hooves on Twilights face. “This little cutie is my niece, Flurry Heart. That’s my older brother, Shining Armor.” Twilight said, pointing to the unicorn. “Hi I’m Spike, I heard that you are the leader of the Royal Guard. That’s super cool!” Spike said in fake flattery. He knew for a fact that Storm Kings army was much bigger than the royal guard. He was partially in charge of Storm King’s army since he was third in command. “Thank you, it’s very hard work.” Shining Armor responded, putting his hoof up to his chest. Spike looked around a bit. He had never been in a Changeling territory before. “Is it okay if I look around by myself?” Spike asked. Twilight smiled and nodded her head. “Sure thing, just meet back here in three hours.” Twilight stated. Spike nodded his head and walked past Twilight, ready to explore a new place. Spike walked through the streets of the Changeling Kingdom, looking around. Their were pretty flowers and plants growing out of every crack and crevice. Multicolored changelings flew and walked around, having fun. “I can’t believe Queen Chrysalis allowed this.” Spike thought out loud. He knew enough about Queen Chrysalis to know that she hated stuff like this. “Chrysalis isn’t out leader anymore.” An orange changeling said. He had a flower crown on his head and he looked very happy. “We have a new leader, his name is Thorax. Would you like to meet him?” The changeling asked. “That sounds lovely.” Spike said politely, trying to get on the changeling good side. The changeling gave Spike a genuine smile, catching him by surprise. Changelings were usually cruel. He followed the changeling wearily, making sure that he wasn’t being tricked. Soon, they entered a room with a large throne made out of broken branches and grass. Near the throne, there was a large green changeling reading something. He had two large orange horns on his head. He looked very dangerous and powerful. Spike assumed that Thorax. “Your Majesty, there someone here to see you.” The orange changeling said, making Thorax look up from his paper and gave a big smile. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you.” Thorax greeted happily. Spike quickly changed his mind. There was no way he could be dangerous in any way. “Hi I’m Spike, it’s nice to meet you too.” Spike greeted back. “I just came into town and I don’t know anything about changeling culture. Do you mind showing me around?” He asked. That was completely true, he knew nothing about current changeling culture and really wanted to learn. Thorax smiles happily. “I would love to do that, it’s not every day that someone comes and asks for a tour.” Thorax said happily. He placed the paper he was reading onto his throne and led Spike out of the throne room. Thorax pointed to a table where changelings were drawing and molding clay. “That’s our arts and crafts section, that’s how we express ourselves. Since we don’t have to serve a queen anymore, we can do what we want.” Thorax explained. “Do you want to try it out?” He asked. Spike shook his head. “No thanks, I’m not really creative.” Spike explained. He never really tried to get into art and crafts because Storm King would destroy anything he made. It just made Spike give up on any type of art. Tempest tried to encourage him to do more but he refused to. “Well how about our theater department? Next week they’ll be performing Les Marébales.” Thorax said, pointing a stage. Two changelings stood on the stage, rehearsing for the play. One changeling dramatically put their hoof up to their head to faint, but slipped off of the stage and fell onto the hard ground. Thorax winced and looked over to Spike. “I’ll go help her up, feel free to join any activity you want.” Thorax said before rushing over to help the fallen changeling. Spike looked around to see things he was interested in. He saw changelings eating at a buffet. It was mainly consisting of bugs, nectar, and flowers. Spike looked around to see that there was nothing else in that room that interested him. “What’s over there?” Spike asked himself. There was a small room that shined peaceful lighting. He walked over to it and peaked his head inside to see a group of changelings sitting in a circle. There was a large hole in the ceiling, letting sunlight hit the middle of the circle. A dark green changeling with glasses, a brown headband with a daisy on it, and a purple shirt looked up at Spike and smiled. “Welcome to the Feeling Forum, would you like to join us in today’s session?” She asked. Spike shrugged his shoulders. He had never heard of a Feeling Forum before. “Everyone needs to talk about how they feel every once and a while.” She encouraged. “That sounds nice I guess.” Spike said, walking over to the circle of changelings. He sat in a free space between two changelings and placed his hands on his legs. “Since you’re the guest you start first. What’s been bothering you?” The changeling asked. Spike froze for a moment. No one had ever asked what has been bothering him. He usually just held in his emotions. “I’ve done some bad things in the past and I want to get better but I can’t.” Spike admitted, staring down at the ground. “Why can’t you change?” The changeling asked. “Well I have a...friend who peer pressures me into doing bad things. If I don’t do bad things he’ll hurt me.” Spike muttered to himself. A few changelings let out worried gasps and mutters. That wasn’t a complete lie. Storm King was far from Spikes friend but he definitely peer pressured him into things. It terrified Spike endlessly. “I think the best thing to do is to stop being friends with them. It’ll be better for you and everyone around you.” The changeling said. Spike let out a slow shaky breath. She was right, he couldn’t keep doing things like this anymore. It was hurting him and others and he hated it so much. “I think it would be the right thing to do.” Spike sat on his bed with the journal open in front of him. Patches laid on his lap, purring loudly. “Tempest, I’m not going to do this anymore. I’m tired of hurting innocent people.” Spike wrote down in the book. Within a matter of seconds, Tempest replied. ”Spike please don’t do that, you know what will happen. If you just finish this one mission then it’ll all be over and we won’t have to do this again.” Tempest wrote back. Spike shook his head as if Tempest could see him. “I would rather let Storm King kill me than hurt another person. Their are so many beautiful places out there that don’t deserved to be destroyed. Tell Grubber goodbye for me. By Tempest, I love you.” Spike wrote out before closing the book. The book started to vibrate as Tempest tried to write him back. He placed the book in the drawer in his night table, ignoring the vibration. Spike let out a sigh and leaned his head onto the headboard. He reached into his backpack and pulled out the teddy bear. “You’re not going to track me anymore.” Spike muttered to himself. He let in a deep breath and blew a gust of fire onto the bear. The teddy bear instantly turned into ash, scattering all over the bed and floor. “It’s all over, I’m free.” Spike said to himself. He broke out into a wide grin. It was the start of his new life.