“Spiiiiike! Spiiike!” Twilight yelled aloud.
“Spikey-wikey! Spikey wikey!” Rarity also called out his name.
Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Starswirl, Stygian, Rockhoof, Mage Meadowbrook and Mistmane were by the unicorn´s and alicorns´ side.
So far, their search hadn´t been successful. No matter how much they yelled or walked, Spike wasn´t anywhere. Despite having been seeking for hours, Twilight wasn´t going to give up. Her little brother was her main priority. More important than eating or resting.
Her eyes filled with hope when she saw Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Somnambula and Flash Magnus flying in the sky.
“Did you find anything?” she asked anxiously.
“We looked throughout the whole forest.” Fluttershy replied.
“But there´s no sign of him.” Rainbow followed.
“But we´re willing to search again if necessary.” Flash Magnus added, raising his hoof on his forehead.
“If we are lucky, maybe the draconequus has found anything.”
After Somnambula said that, Discord appeared in a flash next to the pegasi.
“My name´s Discord, ma´am. You don´t have to name my species name everytime. As for Spike… No news.” he informed.
“Couldn´t you snap your fingers and take us to where he is?” asked Stygian.
“First, I need to know his location, genius!” Discord snapped back.
After Discord´s reaction, Stygian decided not to ask him more questions.
Twilight sighed.
“It´s ok.”
She looked down to the floor.
“Twilight.” Applejack approached to Twilight. “I´m as concerned about Spike as you, but I think you need to rest. You haven´t eaten anything!”
“I´m not hungry.”
Starswirl patted Twilight´s back.
Rockhoof stroked his beard. He gasped when he came up with an idea.
“Remember that time I was looking for my place in Equestria? Because I remember that I had to deliver something to a zebra that lived in the Everfree forest. Maybe we could stop there to rest and ask her if she has seen your dragon?” he suggested.
“I think that´s a great idea.” Meadowbrook agreed.
Although they didn´t say a word, Twilight saw in their faces that they wanted to rest desperately. Although would rather keep on searching, she was also worried about her friends. After all, they made the sacrifice to help her on this long search. With no choice, she accepted.
“I.. guess we can stop for a moment.” she simply said.
Everypony sighed in relief. Even though they were eager to help Spike, they were very tired. So having something to eat and rest their hooves was a blessing.
As they were heading to Zecora´s house, Starswirl accompanied Twilight.
“I´m so sorry about what happened.” he told her sadly.
Twilight sighed sadly.
“It´s not your fault.”
“I know this won´t help much, but I´m one hundred percent sure that you´ll find your little dragon,. If Stygian, my comrades, and I could come back after a thousand years, I´m sure Spike will also return. Even though it might take a while, at least it won´t be thousands of years!”
Twilight gave out a little smile. She looked at the sky reflexive, staying quite for some time.
“You told me that Spike was like Scorpan in some way. Were they close in personality?” she asked curiously.
Starswirl nodded.
“Celestia and Luna were very young by the time he came. He was close to their age, so he acted in an inexperienced way. He got so nervous when he had to talk to somepony.” he chuckled at the memories. “But much like your young dragon, he was always willing to help every creature, and despite his shyness, he made friends easily. And most importantly, he was the most loyal creature I´ve ever met, which I mentioned when I talked about him in our meeting. No matter what, he always stood on a loved one´s side. Unfortunately, that couldn´t be possible when his brother was blinded by greed. But at least he was loyal to what he thought was right, and if I´m lucky enough, he´s still loyal to me.”
Twilight thought about it. Spike was also always by her side, even when she fought with her friends. Spike was her most loyal friend.
“Spike´s is a good dragon.” Starswirl continued. “He´ll stay in that path. You are good Twilight, so he´ll eventually stick to you. You are his path.”
Twilight drew a happier smile in her face. She hugged Starswirl.
“Thank you.”
She giggled a little.
“You know? It´s just a silly thought, but… what if Spike and Scorpan are connected? The same way our elements are connected! Or how the rest of the pillars are connected to my friends. The same with Starlight and Stygian.”
Starswirl smiled warmly at Twilight.
“Maybe.” he said.
He put a hoof on her shoulder.
“We´ll find him. I promise.”
“Guys! Guys! I see Zecora´s house from afar!” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly.
Somnambula, who was flying next to Rainbow Dash, saw a treehouse beneath her.
“Is that your friend´s house?” she asked, pointing at the treehouse.
Rainbow Dash nodded. The two pegasi landed next to her friends, Somnambula near Meadowbrook.
“It looks like your house.” she told her. “I reckon you two are going to be good friends.”
Meadowbrook blushed.
Zecora served everypony some soup, helped by Meadowbrook, who also assisted her on cooking.
“So.” Zecora said to Twilight, trying to understand the problem. “Spike and you had a dispute, which caused him to flee and leave you confused. If I´m not wrong, you suspect that into the Everfree forest he has gone.”
Twilight nodded.
“Have you seen him?” Applejack asked.
“I´m afraid not.” Zecora answered sadly, while shaking her head.
“Wow. He must have crossed the whole forest by this point. He isn´t anywhere!” Rainbow commented, looking at Applejack before taking a spoonful of soup.
“If that´s the case, that dragon sure has a lot of stamina! I mean, he must have been the whole night awake!” Flash Magnus added.
Somnambula and Rockhoof nodded in agreement.
“Poor Spikey Wikey!” said Rarity. “He must be tired, so hungry and alone!”
Her eyes turned into the ones of a puppy.
“Don´t worry, dear.” Mistmane reassured Rarity. “As Flash has mentioned, Spike is a tough dragon despite his size.”
“I wonder why that is.” Starswirl said, taking a glance at Twilight.
Twilight smiled a little.
“I agree with Mistmane.” Fluttershy commented. “Besides, the forest is friendlier than before. I don´t think he´ll face much danger.”
Discord nodded in agreement.
“He still needs to be careful.” Zecora warned her. “Being alone in the forest is quite stressful. Specially when a chimera is roaming around.”
Everypony gasped. Twilight bit her lip nervously. Pinkie, who drank all the soup in a gulp, spit it all away.
“Please tell me it´s not the same chimera that tried to eat my sister.” Applejack begged
“Forget what I just said.” Fluttershy muttered.
“Well, maybe it´s just roaming around.” suggested Pinkie, trying to look on the bright side. “Just because it´s around here, doesn´t mean it´s hungry!”
“I´m afraid that´s not case.” corrected Zecora. “He must have not eaten in days, which would be the reason why he ended up in this place. A hungry chimera is dangerous.”
“Ha!” Discord laughed aloud. “He might be bigger than Spike, but when it comes to intelligence... Let´s just say that for having three brains it´s not very bright.”
Fluttershy giggled at Discord´s commentary.
“Besides, he´s a darn dragon! With just one flame, I repeat, one flame! The chimera runs away. He doesn´t need to burn it.”
“From what Ember told us, in order to do that, a dragon needs to be in good conditions. And I´m pretty sure that Spike hasn´t slept the whole night…” Stygian contradicted.
Discord shrugged.
“I still think he can handle it.”
“But imagine if he´s unconscious. The chimera could take a chance to attack or eat him.” said Meadowbrook.
Twilight got more nervous the more her friends talked about Spike. Every possibility was wondering throughout her mind. She was truly worried about her little brother.
“Why did I tell him that? Why?!” she thought desperate.
She was about to have a panic attack. All that she wanted to do was to run away to cry somewhere her friends didn´t see her. But bursting out in tears and panicking wouldn´t help. So, before she exploded, she begged to stop talking and follow the search.
“Can we just-“ she inspired before continuing. “Can we keep searching for him, please? I don´t feel quite comfortable talking about what could happen while he´s out there alone.”
Everypony stared at her, feeeling a bit guilty for saying those things around her.
“Actually, you´re right.” Applejack said apologetically. “We´re sorry.”
“What´s more, I don´t know about you, but after having a beauty rest, I have more energy. I think we can continue our search.” Rarity confidently got up from her seat.
Everypony agreed by nodding.
“I know you´ve been to the forest before, but to save you from a carnivore, I think I can serve as a guide. That´s of course if you don´t mind.” Zecora added
“Any help is accepted.” Meadowbrook said, holding Zecora´s hoof.
“Off to the forest!” Pinkie exclaimed.
Everypony left Zecora´s treehouse. As they did so, Twilight looked at the sky, thinking about Spike.
“Don´t wory, Spike. I´ll find you. I´ll take you home.”
Spike opened his eyes slowly. At first, his vision was blurry, however, after some time, it turned clear. He found himself in a different location. It seemed like the inside of an old cottage. Its walls were made of wood, the roof were various sticks attached together. As he glanced around the room, he saw a familiar figure. It was a small zebra filly stirring something with a spoon on a bigger pot than her. That was the reason why she stood on a tall stool. She was familiar to Spike but he couldn´t remember why. His head ached so much to do so.
Since he felt too nervous to talk to the zebra, he tried to pretend he was asleep, just in case she turned around. But a small drop of water fell on his nose, making him sneeze and call the zebra´s attention.
“Oh, I see you´re awake after a much deserved break.”
Spike rubbed his nose.
“What do you mean?”
The zebra kept some liquid in a bottle.
“It´s a pretty long story, I´ll tell you, don´t worry. It all began when I was being chased by a chimera, a creature from an ancient era. I was lucky enough to find you, because at that moment I had a creature to look up to. But you made yourself look like a fool.”
“What? Why?”
“Fire is your tool, isn´t it? You couldn´t use it!”
The image that the zebra described came to Spike´s memory. All the embarrassment that moment brought came back quickly to him. He looked down in shame.
“But to me you were very brave.” she said to make him feel better.
Spike upheld his head.
“Since I was slowing you down in your flight, you suggested to go on separate ways, and you were right! Thanks to your wise advice, we got out alive!”
Spike slightly blushed.
“Next time make sure that you don´t turn yourself into a bait. And check you wing if you don´t want it to aggravate.”
Spike widened his eyes. Then, he quickly looked at his left wing. He shivered when he remembered how sharp the tiger´s claws were.
“Don´t remind me that please.”
The zebra covered her giggle.
“The chimera had you at its claws. But according to nature´s laws, they weren´t the strongest creature. That´s because he came into adventure!”
Spike remembered a big brown silhouette attacking the chimera but the image in his mind wasn´t very detailed, as his vision was blurry at the time.
“That brown thing, right?”
The zebra nodded.
“Then, you became unconscious. Since I was a little anxious, we took you here to heal you.”
She approached Spike, carrying a tray with her mouth. She left it in front of him to open the bottle and spill some liquid on a cup.
“Drink.” she ordered.
Spike took the cup.
“What is this?” he smelt the scent it released. He wrinkled his face in disgust. “It doesn´t smell really nice.”
“Your medicine.”
He smelt the scent it released. He wrinkled his face in disgust.
“It doesn´t smell really nice.”
“I don´t care what you think. You should take that in.” she advised firmly. “It will help you recover your energies.”
Spike doubted for a second.
“Do I really have to?”
The zebra growled as she frowned.
“Never mind.” he gave out a sheepish smile.
He gulped before drinking. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and drank the medicine. It tasted as horribly as it smelt. Even though the urge to spit it was huge, he swallowed it slowly. He still tasted its awful flavour in his mouth, which gave him nausea, but he retained it inside. He sighed defeated. The little zebra laughed.
“I know it doesn´t taste good, but you have to get better by any means. Now that you´re in the mood, what´s your name?”
“Spike.”
“Mine´s Punja. I want you ask you something, mind ya?”
“Go ahead.” Spike accepted.
“Why were you alone in the forest?”
Spike fidgeted his fingers nervously.
“It´s ok if you don’t want to tell.” she said to calm him down. “Some creatures prefer to stay in their shell.”
Spike sighed as he put his arms around his legs.
“I had a fight with my family.”
Punja clenched her teeth.
“Oh..” she muttered.
“I told my older sister horrible things and she also did in response. I don´t blame her, though. It´s all my fault, I let all my anger on her. I want to go back, but…. I don´t know if she still loves me after doing such thing.”
“Of course!” Punja exclaimed confidently, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “Love is a great force. It has the power to forgive every creature. I admire dragon´s nature, I must say. You must have been flying for days, am I right? To come from the Dragonlands to here… That´s a pretty long flight!”
“Actually…” Spike interjected. “I come from Ponyville…”
Punja widened her eyes in surprise.
“How so?”
Spike massaged his temples.
“How is it that I always have to tell a stranger my biography…” he mumbled frustrated. “Um… You see… I have been raised by ponies.”
Punja blinked.
“Ok.” She simply said.
“Wait. You´re not surprised?”
“I was raised by a gargoyle myself, so that´s not a surprise itself.”
“A gargoyle?”
Their conversation was interrupted when a creature opened the door. Both Spike and the creature stared at each other for some time. Spike observed his monkey-like face and body and his leonile tale and mane. It was then he remembered Twilight´s description of Tirek´s younger brother.
“He´s a brown gargoyle. There are various types of gargoyles but from the pictures Celestia and Luna showed me, he looks like a mixture of a monkey and a lion.”
He looked exactly like Twilight had described him! If that creature was really Scorpan, he could help Twilight. That could bring a smile again after the horrible thing he´s done. He jumped excitedly from the bed, flapping his wings.
“I know who you are!” he exclaimed while pointing at the newcomer.
Immediately after, he complained in pain. He shouldn´t have flapped his wings like that, considering that one of them is hurt.
“When one is sick, they need to rest, not jump like a baby bird trying to leave the nest!” Punja scolded Spike.
“Hold up, hold up.” the creature said while waving his hands. “You know who I am?”
“You´re Scorpan! Tirek´s brother.”
Scorpan closed his eyes while sighing, his heart aching at the memory of having to betray his own brother. Spike covered his own mouth.
“Sorry, I shouldn´t have been too cheerful about that. But it´s just I´m surprised and relieved to see you here. I thought you were the king of the Kingdom of Midnight.”
Both Scorpan and Punja bit their lips.
“My kingdom… is no more.”
“What?”
“It was destroyed, ok?” he said, getting nervous just by remembering it. “Look. I don´t want to talk about it.” Scorpan answered, trying desperately to change the conversation.
“But Starswirl is going to the Kingdom of Midnight to see you!” Spike protested.
Scorpan and Punja gasped.
“No way…” mumbled Punja.
“S-Starswirl?” Scorpan asked stuttering. “I- It can´t be! It´s been a thousand years. He must be dead by now!”
“Wrong again, my friend. Not so long after you left, Starswirl and the pillars confronted the Pony of Shadows, and for that they were trapped in Limbo. But thanks to Twilight and her friends, they were brought back to Equestria, but the Pony of Shadows also returned. It turned out that the Pony of Shadows was Stygian an old friend of the pillars, who took their artefacts to be as powerful as them, but Starswirl mistakenly thought he stole them, casting him out and causing him to become the Pony of Shadows. And just when we were about to throw him back to Limbo, Stygian tried to get out of his shadow, But luckily Twilight, her friends and the pillars sent the shadow away and freed Stygian. So yeah, all the pillars are pretty much alive by this point. Any questions?”
Scorpan was perplexed and confused. Punja, on the other hand seemed to have loved the story.
“Huh.” Scorpan simly said. He couldn´t say more words due to his confussion and shock.
“I need to go to Equestria!” Punja exclaimed excitedly.
Scorpan knelt to talk to Spike´s level.
“So, you say he wants to talk to me?”
Spike nodded. Scorpan scoffed.
“You´ve gotta be kidding me.”
“What?” asked Spike annoyed. “Do you think I made all this up?”
“No, no! Many crazy things have happened during Equestria´s history, so this is not too far-fetched. What I don´t believe is that he wants to talk to me.”
“Well, he does. He came to Twilight, the princess of friendship, to ask her to help him look for you.”
“But why?”
“To apologize.”
“Impossible.” Scorpan said while shaking his head.
“This is getting more and more interesting as it goes. Just like how the wind blows.” mumbled Punja, quite invested in the news.
“Believe me! Twilight has made him change a lot. He´s more tolerant and forgiving than he was before.”
Scorpan sat on the ground. He put his arms around his knees. He looked down.
“He clearly stated that he never wanted to see me again. I don´t blame him, though. I didn´t tell him the entire truth about me.”
“The fact that you were Tirek´s brother and you were helping him steal magic, am I right?”
Scorpan nodded sadly.
“Well, at least he wants you back. I´m not sure if that´s also my case…”
Scorpan´s ears perked up.
“What happened?”
Spike sighed as he put his arms around his legs.
“I had a fight with my sister.”
Scorpan bit his lip.
“Yeah… I know how it feels. Did she send you away?”
“What? No! I ran away.”
Scorpan and Punja looked at each other.
“You two must have fought really hard.” Scorpan said.
Spike nodded.
“It´s all my fault. If only I hadn´t told her that hated her, she wouldn´t have yelled at me.” he sighed sadly. “If you went to the Kingdom of Midnight and made amends with Stasrwirl, she would be so happy.”
“What about you?” asked Scorpan.
“I´m sure she´s much better without me. It´s better if I didn´t come. I don´t deserve to see her after what I´ve done. I just-” Spike sniffed. “I just want to make her happy. I don´t care if she doesn´t forgive me. Her well-being is more important.”
Scorpan wrapped Spike with his wing.
“What you did to her was not as bad as what I did to Tirek. I had to betray him. A betrayal is way worse than an argument. An argument is just a sibling thing. You hate each other for some time after arguing, but minutes later you apologize and love each other again. Besides, from what you´ve told me, your sister seems to have a heart of gold. Those who are good-hearted are always willing to forgive.”
He dried his tears with his fingers.
“What I told you exactly.” Punja said as she elbowed Spike softly, making smile slightly.
“Besides, now that Starswirl´s willing to make amends, maybe I should take that chance now. I also miss my dear old friend a lot. And much like you, it would have never come up to my mind that he would be willing to be my friend again. Sure, the idea of returning to my destroyed kingdom isn´t very appealing, but hey, everything for Stasrwirl.”
“Woo! Sign me up too!” Punja added.
Scorpan got up and left the house. Spike and Punja followed behind. Scorpan was waiting for them outside, standing in four legs. He opened his wing so that they could ride in his back. Punja was the first to climb on his back.
“Let´s hope I remember the path to my kingdom.” Scorpan chuckled.
He observed that Spike was still on the ground, doubting a little whether to go with them or not. Scorpan winked at him, telling him that everything will be fine. Spike inspired and climbed to his back.
“Hold on tight!” he said.
And thus, as soon as Scorpan´s wings opened, they were soaring in the blue skies. At first, it took some time to adjust to Scorpan´s flying, since it was a bit different to his and Twilight, but he quickly got used to it. The cool breeze in the air made him feel calm. It reminded to his flying lessons with Twilight. Even though they were disastrous, they were also good a warm moments with his sister.
“Don´t worry, Twilight. I´m coming.” He muttered.
Scorpan heard the little dragon. He smiled warmly at him.