//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: It Could Have Been Mine // by shattered_sky //------------------------------// Twilight would always remember that day, one of many in fact that led her down this road. Spike was her oldest and most faithful friend. Only after losing him did she realize how much she cared. That cursed request. Her own hubris. It was a normal day at Manticore Sting. She’d just received her Gold Rank plate, which gave her more benefits. Namely the free health potions and access to more prestigious quests. She would never say it out loud, but it went to her head, and someone else paid the price. “Are you sure?” The bartender asked, the red feline halted his current task and held the request. He adjusted his spectacles and peered down at the irritated lavender mare. At her continued glare he coughed into his fist. “Twilight do not-“ “Look, I’m sure. Just approve it please.” She growled impatiently. “Alone?” The bartender raised an eyebrow. “Hey!” Spike complained, crossing his arms and pouting. “Ah yes, Spike.” The bartender smiled as he glanced at the little drake. Turning back to Twilight he sighed. “At least bring Dash and Diane, this mark is dangerous. An unnamed creature had been a plague on small settlements, its voice causing severe damage to property and life. Attacks by villagers have proven that the creature is extremely durable and it has immense physical strength. Mark has been last seen near White Tail Village. It is a pony stallion with reptilian features, black and orange in coloration Reward is a hundred thousand bits. “A simple silence spell would hinder its most useful ability. And Spike’s larger form would be able to subdue it. Furthermore, according to civilian accounts, magic has an effect on the creature.” Twilight floated out a large binder and set it on the bar. She gave a smug smile at his surprised expression. “My magic would be able to handle this. So don’t you worry, I’ve got this.” “For such research, for me it seems you’re rushing head on.” He observed. “How many you think saw this request?” He blinked. “The request arrived this morning-“ “Thirty. Seven. Minutes ago.” She leaned forward. “A bunch of rookies from all over have heard about this by now. And some already on their way. I’d just happened to hear about this in advance, giving me enough time to do my research.” Knowing that he couldn’t stop her he relented. “Ah, after the worm then, very well then.” He signed the paper and Twilight stamped her cutie mark, Spike climbed up the bar and scribbled his name. “Happy hunting Twilight. But are you sure you don’t need any more assistance?” “Of course not, I’ve handled worse.” She confidently answered. “Yeah, what the worst that could happen?” Spike asked. Of course something horrible. The guild became silent for a bit except for a sound of a glass breaking. “Oh ho ho ho. You shouldn’t have said that Spike.” Andromeda teetered over to the two. “You jinxed it. And shan’t ‘posed to do that! “She belched loudly. “You need somepony responsible to go with you kiddos!” “You’re responsible?” Twilight scoffed. “You’re an adult?” Spike asked. “Look Twibright Spakle-“ “Twilight Sparkle.” “That’s what I said, Midnight Spookle.” Twilight ground her teeth in frustration, but she knew correcting the mare would be a fruitless endeavor. “But lemme tell you something…” Andromeda leaned forward and she became the very image of serious sobriety. “One day, your arrogance will cost you. Dearly. You play with forces you don’t understand and you overestimate yourself.” Twilight and Spike took a few steps back at the sudden shift in tone. “It might not even be you who pays the price. Somepony you hold dear…. Precious few remain.” The lazy grin returned. “Yesh. But what do I know?” She chuckled and walked away. Occasionally the mare could be quite frightening or insightful. Spike clung to Twilight’s leg, shaking. Twilight was left staring straight ahead for a few moments, she eventually shook it off. She rolled her eyes as she saw how terrified he was. “Please Spike, just stick to the plan and we’ll be fine.” And so they went on. Twilight had managed to pinpoint the monster’s location. Caravans were attacked by this creature, caravans from Appleloosa, White Tail Village, Rockopolis and Dogsong. Cargo the creature targeted were gemstones. Rockopolis and Dogsong primary exports are high quality gemstones and ore. From accounts she gathered the creature was intelligent and vicious. Its gem eating habits would suggest it was a dragon, but it wasn’t capable of flight. Sketches made by an artist showed that it was a pony/dragon hybrid of some sort. She concluded that it must not be natural, that somepony made it. Taking the abandoned rails from Ponyville to Applewood she decided to wait for the creature near one of the routes. “Okay Spike, I’ll run the plan-“ “I got it Twilight! You use that magic thingy to shut it up. And I turn big and show it up using my rad wrestling skills.” Spike flexed, and kissed his muscles. Twilight stared at him. “You’re spending too much time with Dash.” She pulled out a block of silver, with purple lines running through it. “This is not a magical thingy. It’s a spell anchor. Got it?” She irritably demanded. “Geez you’re going to catch stupid.” “You can’t catch stupid” “Very good Spike. What I meant that prolonged exposure to Rainbow Dash – or ninety-two point seven percent of our guildmates for that matter – can cause a severe drop in IQ.” She explained with a smug smile. “Really?” Spike asked in disbelief. “Why yes! I’ll even show you my research later on.” She took on a more excited smile. Spike shrugged and pulled out a pair of binoculars. “Are we in the right place? They’re so far away.” He pointed, spying the caravan. Twilight shook her head. “You’re holding it the wrong way.” She grabbed it using her magic and turned it the other way. “Oops! Sorry…” He spied three wagons, eight earth ponies present. He relayed the information to Twilight. “What are they pointing at?” He asked himself. He followed their direction and he saw a blue and white ball rolling towards them, kicking up a cloud of sand. “It’s uhhhh… A blue and white rabbit squirrel thing?” Twilight opened a book, flipping through the pages she came up with a matching image. “Ah! That’s Shaun, known as The Big Wave. He’s a powerful hydromancer who can summon rain and incredibly strong blasts of water. Former citizen of Friendship City, currently residing in Rockopolis.” “He looks like a stuffed toy.” Spike laughed at the thought. Twilight took the binoculars from spike. “Even Hellbats try to avoid him Spike. He’s no joke.” Spikes jaws dropped at that. “He’s been defending caravans going Appleloosa and Dodge City. He’s not on his normal route. Must be bigger losses here.” “He’s not an adventurer right? Which means we split the reward?” Spike’s eyes gleamed as he thought about it. She couldn’t help but smile. “Of course, we took the contract. If he chooses to help – and he will – he legally has no rights for the money. “Yes!” “Get ready Spike. Our target will show up any minute.” She floated out to earmuffs out of her bags. “These are designed to block out any loud noises. These still allow the wearer to hear smaller sounds and amplify them.” She made sure Spike wore them before returning to watch their bait. “According to my cal- What’s happening?” The ponies were on the ground, their ears bleeding. She gasped. “My calculations were off! It’s attacking right now!” She pocketed the binoculars and walked beside Spike. “We’re going in!” “Wait what!?” Twilight teleported the two of them beside the travelers. Shaun was pulling down his ears and closing his eyes. As he saw the two he said something. The ground then shook as the creature landed, kick up sand everywhere. Twilight cast a small shockwave, blowing it away from the pair. Now that she had a look at it, it was a little disappointing. A little larger than your average stallion. It had fins on its head, back and tail. It had black and orange scales, it barred its teeth and let out another roar. Twilight threw the cube in the air and it covered them in a transparent bubble. The creature looked utterly confused, at the lack of damage. Spike closed his eyes and slowly grew to twice the creature’s size. He let out his own roar as a challenge. He blinked and smiled sheepishly at Twilight. Spike then charged the monster and grabbed it around the barrel. He held the flailing and roaring monster up high, and performed a German Suplex. Twilight blasted the thing over and over again while Spike kept on kicking it. Shaun joined in, firing a few beams of ice. Its thrashing slowed and Spike grabbed it by a leg and slammed it repeatedly into the sand. Spike dusted his hands and yelled. “AND THE CROWD GOES WILD! OOOOOHHH!” Seeing Twilight could not hear him he repeated it more quietly. “And the crowd goes wild. Wooooo.” He cheered. She couldn’t help but giggle at his antics. “Spike look out!” The creature smirked and fired a blast of fire at the cube, destroying it. He then roared again. Twilight crouched low, to balance herself. The sand blew and the wagons were blown away. She heard pops and refused to look at the ponies around her, looking straight at the monster. Shaun still stood, but he was screaming, blood trickling down his ears and eyes. Spike dug his claws in the sand, futilely trying to get a grip Twilight summoned arcane chains and bound the monster, shutting him up. Spike charged and ripped it in half. Twilight shielded herself from the spray of blood and gore. Spike was panting from the exhaustion and bloodlust, he took a few minutes to calm down. He then turned to look a Twilight. He saw the bodies behind her and he voided the contents of his stomach right there. Shaun shook, looking at his compainions. He knelt on the ground, and it began to rain, tears falling with the drops of water. Twilight’s smile faltered, this didn’t feel like a victory. Something in the sand gleamed, it caught Spike’s attention and he reached for it. It pulled him into a trance, he disregarded the blood and sand and held it over his gaping maw. Events flashed by Twilight’s eyes, reminders of bloodier things. She composed herself and her eyes turned cold. “Things like this happens all the time. You’ve seen worse Twilight.” After that she turned to check on Spike. “Spike are you okay?” She was too late. He swallowed the gem. She immediately rounded on him, pulling off their earmuffs. “What did you eat Spike!?” She demanded. He shook his head and blinked. Seeing her intense expression sweat trailed down his head. “I-I don’t know, it was there!” He then paused and pointed to his stomach. “Or here by now.” Twilight’s blood froze. “Spit it out. Spit it out right now!” She demanded, squeezing him with her magic. She was too late however. Spike knocked her away and began screaming. He clutched his head and fell to the ground. His claws dug furrows into his head as he writhed on the ground. “Get out of my head! Get out of my head!” His scales darkened, taking on the same pitch black and orange that the beast had. When he opened his mouth again, his voice was distorted and echoing, as if countless voices could be heard along with his own. “GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” He then let out a mighty roar, knocking away the remains of the caravan and large clouds of sand. Twilight shielded herself, an immediately a spider web of cracks appeared. She poured more power into the spell. A white ball of energy nailed Spike in the face, shutting him up. This was followed by a large wave of water knocking him down. For a few moments Twilight stared at the scene in shock, wondering where Shaun had gotten that much water. Remembering the situation she was in she put that file away (for further research) and charged up her spell. She’d had to deal with situations similar, where she had to suppress Spike when he got out of control. A stun spell that could knock out dragons, of course she was pressed for time so she quickly charged up the spell. “This is going to hurt a lot.” Another glow overlapped the first and a pink sphere hit Spike in the head. Twilight and Spike both collapsed. Half of Twilight’s horn was black and smoking. She gritted her teeth and blinked her tears away. “To-do, item number 59, craft a spell gun to cast the spell. Certain circumstances might require it.” She muttered to herself. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I need an Exorcist.” Spike was still conscious. “Oh no.” She muttered. “Twilight… I don’t feel so good.” He moaned. “That’s what you get for shoving things into your mouth.” She scolded. She shook her head. “I think you learned something. Now I’ll have to drag you back to the guild and fix this.” She snorted. “Guess Octavia is going to get a hoot out of this.” Spike shuddered and shook his head. “No! You don’t understand! It wants to hurt you!” He spoke in a fearful voice. “You need to get away.” “Please. I can handle this.” She confidently replied. Spike grit his teeth and groaned. Then his eyes rolled up and a sneer was placed on his face. “How adorable. It’s happening all over again.” He spoke in a mocking tone. “Poor, poor Spike. And it’s Twilight’s fault all over again.” He laughed as he rose. “What are you talking about Spike!?” She then realized it wasn’t Spike. Twilight prepared a spell, but her reaction time was severely reduced by the creature’s words. He grabbed her, she let out a scream as cracks could be heard. “Foolish ponies. I’ll have to get rid of- ARGH!” He dropped Twilight and clutched his head. “I can’t. Hold him off.” His voice wavered as Spike tried to reassert his control. He stared at the broken body of Twilight in horror. “No… Twilight.” He shook his head and turned away. The ground quaked as he ran away. “I’m not safe. Twilight’s not safe. I have to get. AWAY!” Twilight lay there, her eyes unseeing. Her mind had shut off due to all of the injuries. She later found out that Shaun had dragged her back to his town. She had to wait in the town for months before she could be safely moved to her guild. Her recovery took a year that was expected. What she didn’t expect was the feeling of her mind and heart being torn apart. She’d seen so much horror, experienced lots of pain, lost so many people. She thought she was past the point of caring, but losing Spike opened up the countless wounds of her heart. It was a reminder of how far gone she was. She’d make all of it right. For the countless bodies behind she had to. She asked herself, ‘what’s another body, it’s only because it had a face’. She thought her heart turned to stone that day. It was the logical action to her, she couldn’t get hurt if she no longer got attached. The only face that mattered now was that of the Sun Tyrant. That’s what she thought. Then she decided to indulge herself of her fantasy once more. ****** She couldn’t remember how she navigated out of the room and found herself in an alley. She did remember to hide her other self in her pocket dimension. It would be problematic if she was found out. She was still dizzy from the excitement. She could live a normal life. All she needed was more information “Twilight!” She froze as she heard a voice long gone from her life. “There you are! I was so worried.” The little dragon rushed over to her. He panted for a moment before talking again. “So, did you find it?” She grabbed Spike and hugged him tight. Tears streamed down her face as she embraced him. “Are you… Okay?” He carefully asked. Twilight wiped off her tears and smiled. “I am now.” She smiled as he ruffled the fins on his head. “Hey!” He complained as he knocked her hoof off. He flinched as he saw the sad look in her eyes. “Is everything alright?” He asked in concern. “I’m just a little disoriented Spike. I found Nathan’s private study but he placed some warding spells.” She shook her head and groaned. “I missed a few. Could you fill me in on what was going on?” Spike went on to explain that Nathan was frequently disappearing. He would be gone for days and back without any word. He reminded Twilight that Nathan spoke of a private study of his and that there was something she wanted to find out. So they went to Canterlot to find it. Twilight disappeared and came back after half an hour. “So did you find what you were looking for?” Spike asked. She nodded as she processed this. “Wait, Canterlot?” She asked incredulously. “Uhhh, duh.” Spike shrugged. Twilight rushed out of the alley and gazed at her surroundings. Everything was much brighter than what she was used too. The light grey cobblestone roads, the bright towering buildings and the many ponies going on with their lives. She earned a lot of upturned noses and jeer from the Canterlot elite. She was looking quite haggard after all. The atmosphere was really different. Only the Manehattan Twilight knew was so busy. And Ponyville was almost a ghost town. She was snapped out of her musings by Spike snapping impatiently. “Equestria to Twilight.” “Huh?” “You look horrible.” Spike said bluntly, this elicited a chuckle from Twilight. “Not to mention you’re acting strange. What happened to you?” “Well… I have the worst migraine right now.” Truth be told she did have a headache. Everything was too much. “Maybe you’re just hungry Twilight. Why won’t we head over to Pony Joe’s? We haven’t gotten donuts in forever.” Spike suggested. Twilight smiled. “You know what Spike? That’s a great idea.” She warmly agreed.