Request a dragon's name, receive only epitaphs ~ Unknown
Twilight awoke with a gasp and a tangle of blankets. Grumbling, she went about extracting herself only to nearly jump when a book slammed onto the floor with a loud bang. She sighed, realizing after a moment of heavy breathing that she must had fallen asleep reading. Memories of the night before came crashing down on her when she noticed that it was an album not a book. As she picked up the album she idly wondered if it wasn't memories but a dream. It had to be right? There was just no way that Spike... that Spike...
*sniff*
*sniff*
Something in the air smelled good, really good. The guard cooked and ate at their barracks and at the moment she had no students or other staff staying at the castle so who was cooking? Did Pinkie Pie break into the kitchen again? Not that she would complain too much... Pinkie's cooking was always the best...
When Twilight made her way into the kitchen she found herself unable to do anything but stare. Spike, still wearing his cloak and armor, was busy at the stove. No surprise there as he had always enjoyed cooking. No, it was seeing eight of her guards including Captain Wild Spark scarfing down food that shocked her. They never ever accepted food from the castle while on duty even when Pinkie Pie was cooking (something about professionalism) and to have it happen with Spike?
"Ish soo goood." Private Wing Blade moaned, looking up at her before messily diving back what looked like a bowl of oatmeal. Several of the other guards nodded in agreement.
Twilight couldn't help but giggle. It was then that it occurred to her that maybe this was Spike's way of apologizing to them, and, if so, then all the better...
A rainbow in the night...
Once again, Twilight found herself stunned, her jaw nearly dropping, as Spike started to sing. Given the way he had talked last night she was not expecting singing, and not singing this good, but the voice that was coming out of his mouth was a clean and clear tenor with a gentle vibrato.
And don't it feel right?
As we sing of bonds that bind us
An' the lights swirl around us grow
And don't you notice the warmth
That comes with the glow?
Come, see the sun rise
With a warming breeze
Oh that harmony, let it grow
Shout to the dark that we survived
Filling all hearts to the brim
So don't let it end
Spike voice faded into humming as he reached out and snatched toast as it popped up from the toaster.
The harmony grows an' grows
Filling all hearts to the brim
So don't let it end...
So don't let it end...
Never let it ever end!
"Morning, Twilight Sparkle." Spike smiled down at Twilight as he placed in front of her a stack of three pancakes, a heaping pile of scramble eggs, haybrowns followed by toast and a glass of orange juice. It looked and smelled delicious but she frowned when she noticed the rainbow jam spread on the toast.
How and where did Spike get fake zap apple jam? There wasn't a single jar of the real jam left in all of Equestria! She checked! And given there hadn't been a single zap apple harvest since... since... one couldn't make more. Furthermore, no sane business pony would sell anything that even remotely looked like it in Ponyville, not even as a joke. She idly wondered if being shaved bare and dropped into the middle of the Canterlot market with obscene tattoos would be enough to scare two particular ponies out of the scamming business once and for all, or at least never setting hoof in Ponyville again...
Twilight debated for a moment to tell Spike about the jam but decided against it. He had clearly put a lot of effort into making the food and she doubted Spike would have known that it was fake... how could he, having been gone as long as he had? So not wanting to be impolite she took one of the slices of toast and...
Impossible. She nearly choked in surprise as the flavor of the jam exploded on her tongue. It just couldn't be. Either this was the best counterfeit zap apple jam she had encountered or... Applejack! She needed taste this! In a flash she teleported to the Acres.
Twilight was really beginning to panic, as no matter where she looked, she could not find anypony and there was always somepony at the Acres. It wasn't until the forth time she pounded on the door of the Apple's home with no answer that she suddenly realized why no pony was home. Everypony must be in Ponyville at their various seasonal jobs with AJ in particular at the Ponyville Post Office helping with the increase volume of letters and packages that always occurred during the month before Hearth's Warming.
A single teleport later Twilight found AJ exactly where she had surmised, pulling a crate of packages in the sorting room of the Ponyville Post Office. "How-" Was all AJ got out before Twilight pulled her close with her magic and teleported them both back to the kitchen of the Friendship Castle.
"Sugarcube," AJ grumbled as she shook off her disorientation. "I am in the middle of my shift! Ma boss understands tha' ah might get called away to save Equestria or for the map bu-"
The rest of Applejack's protest was choked off by Twilight shoving a piece of the zap apple jam covered toast into her mouth. AJ dropped onto her hunches in stunned shock, pieces of toast falling out of her opened mouth. "It's... it's..."
"Real, I know... I thought it was fake too."
"Where did ya-" AJ started but stopped mid word as she spotted Spike. "Sugarcube, there had bettah be a good reason for a dragon tah be here."
"Uh..." Twilight blinked a few times, wondering for a moment how AJ couldn't tell that the dragon was Spike. It was quite clear to her that he was Spike. But then again, he had grown quite a bit... "Spike, do you remember Applejack?"
"Stop. Calling. Me. Spike." Spike's reaction to her question surprised her as he seethed, a bit of flame leaking out of his clenched jaw.
AJ stared at Spike for a moment before grabbing Twilight and dragging her outside the kitchen. "Pardon us a mo'."
"Sugarcube, Ah get yah, Ah really do."' AJ spoke as she pulled her stetson down onto her chest. "Ah still miss Granny and there are times that Ah... Ah understan' wha' you hope for with all mah heart but wha' if this all a lie? Wha' if this is like... like wha' was tha' dragon's name again? The one that fooled Spike into thinkin' he was his father?'
"Sludge." Twilight sullenly answered, bitterly remembering how much Spike had been hurt by that lying dragon.
"Or a changelin'?" AJ pressed, much to Twilight's growing irritation. "This could be a repeat of when Chrysalis impersonated Princess Cadance..."
"And what if Šizra messed with his head like Sombra did to the Crystal Ponies?" Twilight countered, the words that Spike spoke the night before echoing in her mind.
'Memories from... before... are hard... fuzzy... missing.'
"Then you an' Ah will do everythin' possible tah help." AJ answered as she pulled Twilight into a hug. "Ah hope, Ah really hope with all mah heart tha' Ah am wrong..."
"Now," AJ pulled back while slamming her stetson back on her head. "Ah have some questions for 'Spike' abou' that jam..."
"Ah have one question for yah." AJ said the moment they were back in the kitchen. "Where did yah get that there jam?"
"I... made it... myself." Spike answered blowing a small bit of green flame over a sapphire before crushing it onto a bowl of oatmeal and what looked like blueberry preserves.
"Yah made it yahself?"
"Yeah..." Spike muttered, rubbing the spines on the back of his head. "Was a pain in the arse..."
"Spike! Language!"
Spike glared at Twilight, growling angrily.
"Then yah must know what's wrong with mah zap apple trees!"
"I... don't know... about care of... zap apple trees! Know how make jam. Sort of..." Spike waved his hands, backing away from the now ranting farmpony, his voice becoming strained reminding Twilight of the way Spike first spoke the night before.
Sort of? She wondered. She thought it was it perfect, at least as far as she could tell. But it had been nearly ten years since she last tasted the jam, so it was possible that her recollection was a bit hazy.
"Well, at least tell me yah got some seeds!" AJ looked like she was about the shake Spike in desperation. Spike looked like he was about to bolt in a panic. "Or at least know where Ah can get some!"
"Trees belong to... Hermit Sage..." Spike's speaking had slowed down even further and was dipping down in volume to barely above a whisper. "Doubt... part... seeds..."
"Hermit Sage?" AJ questioned.
"Taught me.... past fives years... ever since..." Spike's voice then fully faded away, his eyes glazed over as if he looking at something afar off.
Twilight frowned. She could take a single guess as to what Spike was about to say. That five years ago he had somehow managed to escape whatever Tartarus Šizra had subjected him to. But why did he take so long to return home?
'Memories from... before... are hard... fuzzy... missing.'
Was the loss of memory the reason he waited five years? Was the trauma that bad?
"I knew it! I knew it!" Twilight yelped and nearly hit the ceiling from the sudden and very loud appearance of Pinkie Pie. Even after all these years she still found herself getting startled by Pinkie Pie's antics. "Itknewithadtobeyou! LastnightIfeltacombo Eyeflutter, thenearflop, thenitchyback. Arareone. Asuperduperrareone. SosuperduperrarethatIhadtolookitupinmyPinkieSenseIndex: returningfriendlongthoughtlost. SoIsaidtomyself 'Pinkiewhocouldbeareturningfriendlongthoughtlost?' Ithoughtandthoughtandrackedmypinkiebraintothelimitandonlyonepony, welldragoncametomind: Spike. Here is your 'WelcomebackhometoEquestria' partyinvitation. Castlediningroomsevenp.m. Don't be late!
Twilight blinked as her mind attempted to understand what Pinkie Pie had just said. Not only was that one of the longest Pinkie Pie single breath rants she had ever heard it was also so fast and jumbled that the only part that she was sure that she heard was at the end when Pinkie mentioned a party in the dining room at seven p.m.
"Uh oh! double pinchy knee!"
Wait, what was double pinchy knee again? Twilight wondered not even blinking as Pinkie Pie disappeared in typical Pinkie fashion: a cloud of pink powdered sugar and confetti.
However, her pondering came to a screeching halt as she saw that the guards had stiffened with Captain Wild Spark's horn softly glowing. Twilight turned to where they were staring and gasped. Spike had unsheathed his two swords and was holding them in front of him in a pose that screamed to her that he was preparing to attack. On one of the swords there was a piece of paper stuck halfway down. Spike stood stock still for a moment longer before slowly pulling off the paper and sheathing his swords once again.
"Thought she was... going assault me with cake again..." Spike muttered as he looked over what Twilight now realized must be a party invitation.
"Again?" Applejack echoed, confusion and concern etched on her face.
Twilight shook her head to rid her self of the images of an nearly impaled Pinkie and shrugged. She wasn't sure why Spike said what he said. The only thing she could think of at the moment was that Spike had just experienced a flashback of one of Pinkie Pie's many cake and cannon mix up mishaps. Thank Celestia that Cheese Sandwich wasn't as bad... most of the time...
Twilight nervously paced in the hall outside the dining room. In a few minutes Spike's Welcome Back to Equestria Party was going to begin, the sounds of conversation and music was already seeping through the closed doors. She took a few cleansing breaths, just like Cadance taught her all those years ago, and opened the doors. To her surprise though the dining room was, for Pinkie Pie at least, lightly decorated and outside her friends and their families the only ponies present were the Cakes and Scootoloo. This was not what Twilight had imagined for Spike's Welcome Back Home Party.
The conversations that had been going on stopped for a moment as she stepped into the room. As Pinkie Pie looked at Twilight her mouth seemed to form the words 'double pinchy knee.' Twilight stared back for a moment before she nearly exclaimed out loud her sudden understanding. It was as she had thought. When Pinkie Pie appeared out of nowhere shouting incoherently Spike had flashbacked to some traumatic experience and in his fright thought he was in a fight for his life even though he was in no real danger. Double pinchy knee meant that it was best for Pinkie Pie to 'skedaddle' until who ever she accidently scared had calmed down. It was probably why the party was toned down as well.
"Hey Twi, where's Spike?" Rainbow Dash asked her as she walked towards the back of the room where Pinkie had set up a table with snacks and punch. A sheet cake with the words 'Welcome Home Spike' written on in purple and green frosting was on the far end.
Twilight shrugged as she poured herself some punch to calm her nerves a bit more. After Applejack had returned to her job shortly after the incident with Pinkie Pie given that there wasn't a map or potential Equestria ending emergency Spike had insisted that he needed some time alone. In a way she understood, he probably was feeling overwhelmed especially after the one two that was AJ's interrogation and Pinkie Pie's verbal 'attack,' but she was unsure if it was wise. In the end she let him go wandering off alone when he promised to return for the "Welcome Back Home Party." She had not seen him since.
"Twitchy tail!"
As one, the entire room scrambled to find cover while looking up for falling objects. Twilight, herself, slid under the table along with Rainbow Dash and Rarity. It was when she looked around for the falling object that she saw Spike perched on the top of one of the columns like a stone gargoyle staring down at her, but before she could call up to ask what Spike was doing he jumped. His cape bellowed around him as he fell before landing gracefully with a three point landing. For a splint second he reminded Twilight of the comic book character Batmare.
"That... was... awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed leading Twilight to facehoof. She just knew that Rainbow would recklessly try and replicate the maneuver.
"What an exquisite cape." Rarity added with a dreamy sigh. "I must ask him where he got it."
Twilight nodded in mild agreement even though she was more interested in the leather like armor he wore. It was a bit strange to her for Spike to wear such armor much less leather armor as dragon scale was extremely tough to begin with. However, the embroidery of the fox like creature with nine tails on back of Spike's cape had piqued her interest enough for her to check The Complete Compendium of Equusian Creatures. Unfortunately, she could not find any creature listed that matched what was on the cape.
"Welcome Back Home Spike!" Everypony shouted with Pinkie Pie, of course, leading.
Spike stood stock still for a moment before he grumbled. "What is with everyone calling me 'Spike?'"
"Because it's your name silly." Pinkie Pie answered as she reached out and attempted to pull Spike towards the snack table, most likely to cut the 'Welcome Home Spike' cake.
"No, it is not Sp-" Spike growled out.
"Wwweeeeelll... I suppose we could call you Spikey-wikey, Spikey-poo, Spikey-boo," Pinkie Pie began to rattle off, obvious to the increasingly annoyed look on Spike's face, "Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious if you like to run out of breath or ink... Sparkle-warkle... Although that last one is I think an insult..."
"I am a dragon not someone's... pet!" Spike spat the last word with extreme venom that Twilight was afraid that he was going to attack Pinkie Pie. He had nearly attacked her once already, if only accidently, and she could see the building rage on the dragon's face.
"Of course not Spike-"
"FOR THE LOVE OF THE VOICE! I AM NOT, NOR HAVE I EVER BEEN SPIKE!!!" Spike roared before furiously stomping out of dining room.
"Oh dear..." Rarity muttered as Pinkie Pie's mane instantly flattened.
Twilight rubbed her eyes trying to wrap her head around the paragraph she had just read for the third time. She trying find answers to Spike's amnesia (whether trauma induced or magical in nature), the alternative was too painful to consider. That AJ was right and Spike was an imposter. Twice he had resorted to violence. First with the guards and then with Pinkie Pie morning after. And then there his volatile verbal reaction to his name at the party... All of it together was sending her mind into a spiral. Was she being led on by a barely retrained murderous dragon that that merely looked liked an aged up Spike? Or was Spike merely struggling under the weight of missing memories and trauma?
Her head began to bob as she fought the urge to fall asleep. She had to keep going! Suddenly she felt something sharp pressing against the side of her neck waking her in an instant. Her blood ran ice cold as she, without moving, looked down to see a sword pressed against the side of her neck. A sword that was burned into her nightmares.
Leafcutter!
"I strongly advise you to end this line of inquiry."