All of the ponies readied themselves in silence in the foyer as they waited for Sarlaka's, if she should still call him that name, tale. Applejack and Rainbow had already pulled a dozen or so pillows out of the guest bedroom for them all to rest on, and they were just started to settle in. Rarity had to admit, it was somewhat strange that after such a short amount of time between the two events, they had all mostly gotten over how Rainbow had quite literally died and then came back from the dead. It was most likely the sudden revelation that Fluttershy and she were in some kind of romantic relationship, whether official or not, that distracted all of their attention.
The alabaster mare rolled her eyes; of all of the ponies to get together, she never would've suspected those two. They were night and day, north and south, hot and cold, and regardless of what all of those magazines tried to say about 'opposites attracting,' it didn't tend to work out. If Rarity knew before that those two were interested in mares, something that actually came as a little bit of a shock to her, she would've assumed that Applejack would've been in the cyan mare's eye.
Looking over at where the two pegasi were snuggled up together however, Rarity sighed, and smiled slightly. She wasn't one to judge, and if the two wanted to get together, she would support them to whatever end she could.
Thinking about those two really put her mind into overdrive on what other romantic pairs might spawn from their little group. Applejack, for all appearances, wasn't interested in any relationship at all with anypony, or at least one with one of them. Sure, the mare was much more friendly to her friends, but that was just the way Applejack worked. Twilight was acting a little weird recently, and Rarity wasn't quite able to place what the mare was thinking, but maybe it was knowing a thing or two when pertaining to certain secrets of their dragon host that was irking her. If nothing else, Twilight didn't outwardly seem to have her eyes on anypony.
Pinkie Pie... now that was a pony that Rarity could say a few words about. The mare obviously had something constantly on her mind, and it was causing her to be in quite a funk recently. Normally, Rarity would've attributed it to the traumatic episode that the mare went through a few weeks ago, but that probably wasn't it. Pinkie, as downtrodden she looked when it was mentioned, wasn't showing any typical signs of lingering depression as a result of it. In fact, the mare had appeared to have returned to her usual peppy self, with the few exceptions all taking place after Sarlaka came back from killing Lord Xavier.
Her thoughts were drawn back to the dragon laying slightly on his side in front of her. She knew that the story he was about to tell would be an interesting one to say the least, especially if Rainbow's claim of his real name was true. All signs did point at it, and assuming it was true, Rarity wasn't sure what the result of it would be. Would they continue as the two normally have been over the past few encounters: a mutual respect? Would he open up more with the girls, treating them more as friends and less as, as Fluttershy bluntly put it, tools for his use?
Would he open up more with her, assuming he still felt the same way for her as he did centuries before?
Thankfully, the thought provoking creature interrupted her mental process, a claw slightly playing with the eyepatch he was now sporting, “Thank you both, Magic and Kindness, for the bandage job. I really don't think black goes really well with my scales, but it'll have to do. That said, Laughter... where in Discord's name did you get an eyepatch large enough for me?”
Pinkie, who had settled beside Applejack on a pillow, smiled, “Oh, I leave them around in case of emergencies of course!”
The dragon blinked, “I... I’m not even going to question that one. Anyways,” he settled a little more atop his hoard, and with Twilight nestled up against his stomach, he looked up, “where should I begin?”
Applejack immediately spoke up, “Ah reckon ya should start at tha beginnin'.”
He smirked, “Fair enough. I'll start... well... how about I start right where you all left off.. so to speak.”
Spike watched in absolute horror at what he had just seen: his surrogate mother and five of his best friends were turned into nothingness by the god of chaos. As he blinked in terrified awe, Discord's voice filled his ears, “Well that's not what I wanted to happen. Oh this is simply marvelous! I love it when I surprise myself! It's not every day that I get to cause chaos and mischief against me! I should tell my favorite princesses of my wondrous discovery. I'm sure they would love to hear it. Though the only question now is what color accordion I need.”
With a snap of the fingers, Discord quickly teleported away, and left the rest of Ponyville to crumble under the lawlessness he had created. For a few minutes, Spike just stood there, silently hoping that what he was witnessing was merely an illusion, and that some kind of trick would unfold, and the girls would end up perfectly fine. That's what always happened to them. They always started off poorly, but things ended up alright in the end. That's what was going to happen now... right?
Slowly, his small arms trembling at his sides in fright, he stepped forward, “Tw... Twilight?” He softly stuttered, his voice cracking heavily. The only signs that the girls were ever there were the six pieces of jewelry on the cobblestone road.
“Twilight?” Spike again said. The dragon looked to all sides of him in a frantic fashion for no real reason; the panic starting to seep into his voice as he started to assume the worst out of what happened to the mare. Slowly, he finally made his way to where the Elements lay, and with heavy emotions spilling out of his eyes, he fell to his knees. Trembling heavily, as he picked up the golden tiara that was before him, the headpiece perfectly pristine as normal.
Finally, the emotions filled his voice, “TWILIGHT!?”
For several seconds, the dragon knelt on the ground, his mind completely blank of any thought except for what happened to the lavender mare that was stolen from him. However, his instincts finally kicked in, and with haste, he moved to run away, far away, from this terrifying place.
Just as he took his first step, he stopped, and looked back behind him. Sitting on the ground still, were the other five pieces of the Elements of Harmony. With a flash of brilliance, or at least some form of intelligence, the baby dragon came up with a course of action. Hot tears burning out of his eyes, he quickly ran back and gathered up the scattered pieces of jewelry. It was hard to hold all six of the artifacts in his tiny claws, but considering the possible implications of just abandoning them, he couldn't just leave them in the middle of the road.
Finally, with all of the elements in his claws, he turned around, and with no real destination in mind, he ran away in the slim hope that somepony could help him out. Of course, against the God of Chaos, who could help any of them now?
“So...” Rarity interrupted, the mare slightly fidgeting with her forehooves, “you really are Spike... aren't you?”
The dragon nodded, “I used to be him, yes. However, if it is alright with all of you, I would prefer that you refer to me as Sarlaka still.”
Rarity continued to fidget with her hooves, “But why would you call yourself that, even to us? If you just told us who you were, we would have trusted you, if you had told us who you were... we said so many awful things to you. I said so many awful things to you! If you had just told us you were Spike, we would've trusted you.”
“Maybe that is true, but after all the things I have done, all the ponies I have killed, I never wanted you to see your Spike like that. I never wanted you to see Spike as a monster,” the depressed dragon lowered his head to the ground, “... like I am.”
There was a minute of silence where nopony knew what to say. Rarity couldn't see the other four ponies to her left, but Twilight was hiding her eyes in Sarlaka's side, as if she was upset or ashamed with some unsaid point. Either way, it was up to her to say what they needed to say... what she needed to say. Slowly she stood up, and with the calmest and most elegant walk she could muster, made her way to where Spike held his scaled head, the mundane battle wounds on his snout from a few days ago barely visible even after the short amount of time.
Finally, with his single eye tracking her progress, she moved to where the tip of his snout was, and with a soft smile, placed a single forehoof on his nose, “I could never see my little Spikey-Wikey as anything but the kindest and most noble of dragons.” With Spike thoroughly stunned, she trotted past his snout, and headed next to where Twilight lay. With a beaming smile on her face, she slowly settled herself down, and rested her head on his belly, the dragon's scales warmer than she was suspecting.
“So wait a second,” Rainbow interjected, somewhat ruining the touching moment she managed to create, “let me get this straight. You just ran away?”
Spike narrowed his eye slightly, “I was but a baby who had just watched his mother and best friends get utterly destroyed right in front of his very eyes. What would you do if the same thing had happened to you? Kick Discord in the face? Go ahead and try that, and let me know how it goes, you know, if you aren't turned into a piece of candy first. I at least had enough sense to grab the Elements before I ran. Any questions?”
Rainbow slunk back, “Nope... I’m good.”
“Good.” The dragon took a deep sigh, the dragon's stomach now pressing up against Rarity as he took in a large amount of air into his lungs. Finally, he released the breath with a little puff of smoke, “Anyways, where was I?”
Rarity felt Twilight slightly nudge him, “You had just ran away with the elements in your claws.”
“Right! Anyways, so there I was, running out of town like the little baby dragon I was...”
Spike sprinted through the center of town, avoiding ponies, sheep, and floating house debris alike. His heart was thumping against his ribs as he ran, the complete set of the Elements of Harmony in his arms. Several times, he had nearly tripped over his own two feet, but thankfully, he was able to get his balance back each time. The small dragon imagined to himself that if he tripped, Discord would be right there to catch him, take the elements, do something terrible to him, declare victory, and then laugh like every villain tended to do.
He wasn't sure where he was going, but wherever it was, he wanted to make sure that it was away from Ponyville. Maybe he could hide out with the Apple family, though that was still probably way too close to Ponyville for comfort. Zecora was in the Everfree Forest, and nopony ever went there unless they had a really good, or really bad, reason. Of course, Discord wasn't anypony, and considering who he was, how likely would it be that he would just waltz right into the forest, burn everything to the ground, take the two of them, and make them dance to disco for their entire lives? No, the Everfree was still too unsafe. Maybe he could run away to where the griffins lived? Sure, they were a pretty nasty race, memories of Twilight's iteration of the friendship report inspired by Gilda's visit coming to mind, but maybe if he went to their nation with the Elements of Harmony, he would be treated better.
Either that, or he would be the main course of the Empress' dinner that night.
He closed his eyes, and tried to think of something that would help. The Buffalo weren't very organized, but they were very strong and incredibly loyal. Maybe he could hide out with them! No... they would just all be caught in the crossfire. He couldn't take the Elements to any of the major cities of Equestria; doing so would only cause the cities to be wiped off of the map or turned into jello or something. The various dragons of the world didn't have a nation to speak of, but maybe he could go to them? Sure, the last dragon he'd seen was a little less than keen to interact with him, but maybe if he instead of eating the gems, he offered the Elements as part of his hoard? Of course, if he did that, how would he get the-
“Oof!” Spike, with his eyes closed, ran into somepony. Completely caught off guard, he tumbled forward, taking the small pony that he tripped over with him. Together, the two rolled on the ground for a few more hooves of distance, before coming to a stop under whoever he tripped on. He heard a groan coming from the pony on top of him, but right now, his thoughts were on the Elements and their safety.
Quickly, he started struggling to get out from under the pony on top of him, eliciting a yelp of pain from her, “Hey! Watch those claws Spike! That hurts!”
“Huh? Sweetie Belle?” Spike stopped struggling to look into the filly's bright green eyes. As soon as he got back to his senses, he started struggling to get out from under her, “Sweetie Belle, could you move? I’m kinda stuck.”
“Oh! Sorry Spike,” the white filly rolled off of him, and after standing, pawed at the ground timidly, “I was just trying to find-”
“Sweetie Belle!” Spike heard another filly's voice, this one's much rougher than Sweetie's, come from behind him. Without even turning to look, from the tone of voice, as well as the distinct squealing of wheels, he knew that it was Scootaloo, “There you are! Hey Spike! What's going on? What are these?”
Spike's eyes grew wide, “Don't touch those! Those are-”
“Scootaloo! Sweetie Belle! Oh, Hi Spike,” a third voice cut through the noise, alerting Spike to the final Crusader's appearance.
“What are you girls doing out here?” Spike started to gather up the jewelry that he had dropped from his impact, “Don't you know how dangerous Ponyville is right now?”
“You don't have to say that twice.” The orange pegasus rolled her eyes, “I just had to run away from my family, or should I say a bunch of dancing buffalo wearing tutus. Seriously! What's going on? Hey!” Scootaloo hopped over to where Rainbow's element lay, “Oh my gosh, this one has Rainbow Dash's cutie mark on it! Is this her's? Can I have it!?”
“No!” Spike snatched the element away from Scootaloo, “This is very important!”
“Are those the Elements of Harmony, Spike?” Sweetie Belle cocked her head as a fish flew by behind her.
Spike blinked, “You... you know what the Elements of Harmony are?”
“Of course! Rarity told me all about how she used one of them to defeat Nightmare Moon!” Sweetie beamed. However, a second later, her face fell slightly as she looked to either side, “Say, where is my big sis anyways?”
“Uhh... that's not important right now.” Spike looked at the three fillies around him, “What is important is that I need to get out of Ponyville with these things.”
“Why do ya gotta get outta here, Spike?” Apple Bloom cocked her head to match Sweetie Belle's position.
“Who cares!? If you need to get out of here quick, hop on!” Scootaloo ran over to where she had stopped her scooter, and strapped on her helmet, “Get in the wagon, and I can take you wherever you need to go.”
Spike was about to object when he heard a titanic explosion rock the earth under him. All four of them turned towards where the explosion came from, and gasped as they saw Canterlot Castle, always known as a symbol of the Princess’, now Princess's, power, shatter under a powerful shockwave. The entire structure now nothing but rubble, fell from the sky, and made its way towards the bottom of the waterfall below. The rubble suddenly scattered and broke up again, a second earth shattering explosion rocking the earth several seconds after.
“Alright,” Spike ran over to the wagon, “lets get out of here.”
“Yeah...” Sweetie Belle squeaked, “That's probably a good idea.”
Apple Bloom jumped into the wagon shortly after the other two, “Ah secon' tha'.”
“Alright! Hang on everypony, because we are about to turn up the speed! First stop, anywhere but here!”
Just as they were about to take off, Spike's eyes widened, “Wait! We need to stop at the library really quick. I have to pick up a few things!”
“Ugh. Alright. First stop, the library.” Scootaloo, even through everything that was happening, rolled her eyes, “Just letting you know, that line doesn't sound nearly as awesome as the first one.”
Scootaloo's little wings picked up speed, the feathered appendages buzzing in the air, and with a release of the scooter's break, the group of four rocketed off in the direction of Spike's home: Ponyville Library.
“Wait up, hang on a sec,” Applejack interrupted as she waved her forelegs in the air frantically.
Spike rolled his eye, and looked down at Rarity and Twilight, “I'm going to have to get used to these interruptions, aren't I?”
“Listen to the dear. She might have a valid reason.” Rarity softly chided, a smile on her face.
Spike chuckled, “Alright alright. What is it, Honesty?”
Applejack put her forelegs down, and went to straighten her hat. Of course, her hooves met nothing but air and blonde hair, so after grumbling for a second, she started, “Alrigh', so you and the Cutie Mark Crusaders jus' off an' left Ponyville withou' tellin' anypony? Why didn' ya tell any of their parents or family? Ah understand you were a baby back then, bu' Ah know ya weren' stupid. Not tellin' nopony is jus' downrigh' irresponsible.”
“Lets see,” Spike started, “Scootaloo's family, as I told you, were turned into a bunch of tutu-wearing dancing buffalo, so there no point in trying to tell them that we were leaving. Sweetie Belle's parents were out of town somewhere, and I doubt they ever made it back to Ponyville. Considering Rarity was her guardian at the time, she had nowhere to go and nopony to take care of her anyways. As for Apple Bloom, her older brother had the mind of a dog, quite literally, and her grandmother was too busy tap dancing to take care of anypony. If you really want to nitpick, I guess I didn't ask your dog or Rarity's cat, but I’m sure that they were in better hooves not being in the care with those two.
“And while yes, I guess we could have told somepony, I think almost every single pony in that town was completely insane by that point.” Sarlaka reach a foreclaw around to his side, and started to stroke Twilight’s back lightly, “Regardless, at the time, I was scared that Discord would realize he left the Elements of Harmony in the middle of the road and come back to get them. I was also afraid that if we told somepony where we were going, that pony could tell the God of Chaos where we went. Granted we weren't sure where we were going, so there wasn't much we could tell anypony, but my point remains.”
“Well,” Applejack crossed her forelegs, “Ah still don' like it.”
“Come on Applejack, this story is boring as it is,” Rainbow groaned as she leaned up further against Fluttershy and yawned. “Don't make it any longer than it has to be.”
Fluttershy nudged her unofficial marefriend, “Be nice, Dash.”
“... alright, but only because you said so.”
“Anyways!” Spike said loudly, drawing all of the other pony's attention to him. “Am I allowed to continue?”
Twilight nudged Spike, “Be nice, Spike.”
“... only if you call me Sarlaka.”
“Be nice... Sarlaka.”
“No. Anyways, as I was saying. We got out of the town, and were traveling through the southern part of the Everfree Forest to try and get to the Princess's old palace to hide in. Before you ask, we didn't have any reason, except that it was somewhere to go. While we were traveling, we continued to hear explosions coming from Canterlot, but we couldn't see the city after a few minutes of leaving the town. After a few days there was one final, and much louder I might add, bang, then everything went quiet. We knew something had happened, but without seeing the city, we weren't entirely sure what it was, so we continued on without stopping.”
“I'm so bored!”
“Sweetie Belle, if you don't stop complaining, I’m going to tie you up, and leave you here!”
“But I’m bored! I thought this was going to be a fun adventure, not a lot of walking!”
“I don't care what you thought it was going to be, I’m grabbing the rope!”
“Scootaloo, you couldn't fasten a knot if your life depended on it.”
Spike groaned as he brought his free claw to his face, the other claw pulling along the wagon, “Do they always argue like this?”
Apple Bloom sighed as well, the filly having to trot every so often to keep up with Spike's determined pace, “No. They usually get worse and start wrestlin'.”
“I just wish that scooter didn't break so quickly. If only Scoots actually took care of the thing.”
“I'm so hungry!”
“That's it! Sweetie Belle, get over here!”
“No!!!”
“Ugh,” Spike started to rub the bridge between his eyes, “What I would give to be able to cast a silence spell right now.”
“No kiddin'.”
Before either of them could do anything about the now tumbling fillies behind them, Spike heard something shattering the trees above them. The violent crashing sounds silenced the fighting fillies long enough for them to get up, and approach Spike and Apple Bloom. All around them, there were rustling noises from the treetops.
The small dragon attempted to take a step back, only to find his path blocked by the three frantic fillies behind him. Swallowing his fear, he did his best to at least look as brave as he could. He couldn't be there for Twilight, Rarity, and his other friends, but at the very least, he could be there for these three. Of course, the Elements of Harmony in the wagon were the number one priority, but the fillies were a close number two.
“Girls,” Spike said as he spread his arms wide, his voice containing a slight waver, “Whatever you do, stay behind me, alright? I'll do what I can to protect you. If all else fails, grab the elements, and run as I hold it off.”
“What!?” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “You can't take on an Ursa Major!”
Scootaloo lowered herself lower, “Or a dragon!”
Apple Bloom did her best to cower behind the other two girls, “Or a hydra!”
“Quiet! Its not nearly as big as any of those. We should be fine, as long as we stay quiet, remain calm, and-”
A sudden crash from their left caused every one of them to jump in startled fright. As quickly as they could, the fillies behind Spike scrambled to place him between them and the sound. Spike took a step forward, and growled at whatever was behind the bushes, trying to look as menacing as possible. He might not have been the most intimidating of dragons, but he would make sure that whatever was behind those bushes would pay for anything that it would do to hurt any of them.
The creature behind the plants burst forth, and Spike had to do his best not to abandon the fillies right then and there, for out of the bushes was none other than... than...
“NIGHTMARE MOON!!!!” the three fillies behind Spike yelled at once, and with more fear than the little dragon thought was possible, bolted away from the ancient evil in front of them.
Spike, even though his heart will filled to the brim with terror, leaped at the creature before him. The purple dragonling charged, yelling a battle cry as he knew he ran towards his death. A few steps away from the navy blue alicorn, and he jumped at her.
His desperate attack never landed, for he suddenly found himself being levitated off of the ground just short of his target. He knew that his time was up, and even as he struggled, he watched as his life flashed before his eyes. It was sad that there wasn't much life to view, but distinct moments came to pass: the first memory of Twilight, the day he learned how to breathe fire, how happy Twilight was when she graduated from the university, the moment he truly considered Twilight his mother, leaving for Ponyville, meeting Rarity and the other girls. All of them cherished memories. Sure, the Elements were still in the wagon behind him, but at least the girls had gotten away safely.
But... there was something off. Something weird. Instead of rending his flesh off his bones like he was expecting, she was just standing there, eyes fluttering closed before they opened again. The princess' appearance was completely off. Instead of the jet black coat and snake-like eyes, she bore a navy blue blue coat with completely normal eyes. Her breathing was ragged, and while Spike couldn't see it, he had been subject to enough of Twilight's spells to feel that the alicorn's magic was incredibly weak, to the point that every so often it would flicker out of existence for a brief moment. The final clue that something was up was that Nightmare Moon kept having to catch her balance.
The dragon looked on as the princess of the night staggered once more, “Please... help us...”
Releasing her magic, the alicorn abruptly dropped Spike, collapsed onto her side, and slipped into unconsciousness.
“Wait a second,” Twilight looked up, “you met Princess Luna?”
Spike smiled, “At the time, we had forgotten that she was good, and we thought she was Nightmare Moon. Of course, when she collapsed in front of me from the battle with Discord, I began to suspect that she wasn't as evil as we thought. It was quite a pain to convince those three Crusaders of that fact, but once I was able to find them, and get them to talk to the Princess, they came around. Of course, the fact that Luna tended to yell everything she said and refer to herself as 'we' didn't help.”
“Wow...” Fluttershy thought to herself, “I never would've thought you would've met her...”
“How else would have I known what exactly happened in the battle over Canterlot?” Spike smirked.
“Oh... I just... I mean...”
Spike waved a claw dismissively in the air, “It doesn't matter. Regardless, it was her that first suspected that you six weren't actually dead. Of course, she initially thought that you were merely teleported to another part of the planet, and so dedicated herself with trying to both find you six and reconnect you with your Elements, as well as evading Discord the entire time. Meanwhile us four were charged with keeping the Elements of Harmony safe for when you all returned to us.”
“Oh my,” Rarity brought a forehoof to her mouth. “That doesn't sound very safe for any of you, especially with Discord after the Elements. I cannot believe she had a bunch of children do that.”
Spike brought the claw that was petting Twilight's back, and began stroking Rarity, the calming pets putting a small smile on her face. A deep, yet friendly voice entered her hears, “Actually, we were safer than you'd think. First off, Discord was after Princess Luna, the monster most likely thinking she had the Elements. Second, she placed a lot of long lasting enchantments on us to hide us from any magical locators and spells. I suspect without those, Discord, or in the later years his agents, would've found us without too much trouble.
“Regardless, it was five years until we saw the Night Princess again, and when we-”
“Five years!?” Rainbow sprang to her hooves, sending Fluttershy toppling to her side in surprise, “You were traveling around for five years!?”
“Much longer actually. It was around five years until we just saw Luna again, and told us that she had not found you six. She had done everything in her power that she knew, from casting the most powerful locator spells she knew, to actually trying to physically search, but always came up short. Of course, this was because you weren't in existence, but she didn't know that. At the time, her only conclusion was that you all had been killed. She had actually gotten over the whole yelling thing by that point, but... well... lets just say that she didn't sugar coat the news any.”
Fluttershy pleaded with Rainbow with her eyes, nudging the cyan mare slightly with her head. The prismatic pegasus looked down, and with a smile, settled back to laying next to the yellow mare, and let the timid mare lay her head back down on her cyan neck. Rainbow nuzzled Fluttershy lightly, “Sorry 'bout that.”
Applejack looked down in despair, “So... wow... how did Apple Bloom take it?”
Rarity looked down as well, “And Sweetie Belle...”
Spike never stopped his comforting strokes against her back, “About as well as you think. Even Scootaloo took the news hard. Apparently she was really fond of you, Loyalty; more than you think. Platonic of course, but still. They were all in shambles for a long time. I’m not entirely sure why, maybe it was because I had subconsciously accepted Magic's death long ago, but I was not nearly as broken up as the girls were. I was sad of course, but I was able to be there for them. I was their rock...”
The purple dragon looked behind him, and gazed at the back wall, “And they were mine.”
Rarity turned her head, and saw what their guardian was looking at: a large and heavily worn painting between the two locked back doors. It appeared to have been a masterpiece at one point, but with the years that it had been neglected, the main colors and many of the major lines faded with time. From what she could see, there was a pegasus, a unicorn, and an earth pony all gazing into the distance at some unidentifiable object. However, with the connection that was just made, it was obviously more grown up versions of the fillies, the three memorialized in the painting for possibly the majority of Spike's lifetime.
Rarity laid her head on the dragon's massive side once again.
There was a few more seconds of silence before Spike turned back around, and faced the rest of the ponies. With another heavy sigh, he continued, “Anyways, after Luna broke the news, she told us that she was going to go searching for the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony. As she carried out that task, us three were charged with hiding the physical jewelry. We really weren't sure what or how we should do this, so we were sorta guessing how to do it. Regardless, we thought that even if we didn't know how best to hide them, we might as well at least hide one of them. So only about a month after Luna gave us the task, we found a nice spot for the first one.”
Spike looked straight up, “You have got to be kidding me.”
Scootaloo merely beamed back at him, “No! Seriously! Its a great spot. There's a cave up there that is crazy deep! In fact, it looks like that somepony had dug out most of it already, so it goes a long ways down. It's absolutely perfect!”
To respond, Spike pointed skyward, “Do you see how gargantuan that plateau is? Its not particularly inconspicuous.”
“Great,” Scoots rolled her eyes as she fluttered her orange wings in annoyance, “it looks like somepony has been listening to our little dictionary a little too much.”
“Hey! I take offense to that!” Sweetie Belle took a few steps closer, standing nose to nose with Scootaloo.
“You should!”
“Alrigh' alrigh'! Lets not get our horseshoes in a bunch,” Apple Bloom used her forelegs to push the two parties apart. After the two separated mares grumbled for a second, the farm pony took a few steps forward, and looked at the massive natural wonder in front of her. A few moments past before she sat down on her flank, “Considerin' tha' nopony lives 'round here, ah reckon this is as good of a place as any. How are we gonna go 'bout makin' sure tha' it can' jus' be found with spells an' such?”
“Well,” Sweetie Belle got out of her little moping session to step forward, “I've been working with a few of the spells that were in Twilight's books that you grabbed from Spike's house a few years ago, and I think I've figured out one that can make it so that it'll make the cave undetectable magically to anypony except Luna and an Element Bearer... assuming that she's a unicorn."
Apple Bloom raised her eyebrows in surprise, “Ya can do tha'?”
“I think I can. Fairly certain at least.”
“That's... actually pretty cool.” Scootaloo fluttered her wings agains, this time in excitement.
Spike looked down from the mesa and smiled, “Sounds like a plan to me. So... which should we put here? Rainbow's?”
“NO!!”
The purple dragon had to take a step back from the intensity of the the yell that Scootaloo threw at him. The orange pegasus' eyes were wide in a generous amount of fear, the mare clutching the necklace that she wore around her neck. The lightning bold jewelry was as pristine as it had ever been as it hung on the pegasus, “It's... it's all I have left of her...”
The group was silent for a few seconds as the mood around them turned south. However, Apple Bloom nipped it in the bud fairly quickly, “Fluttershy's would work just as well here.”
Unfortunately, Spike couldn't let the subject drop that easily. Looking at his chest, he held the tiara that he had fashioned into a necklace, “You know, it is our task to hide these things... and we'll have to give them up eventually...”
All four of them, ponies and a dragon, looked down at the pieces of jewelry they were wearing. Each had their special significance to each. Spike was wearing what used to be his mother's element, the Element of Magic, the magenta star adorning the headpiece standing brightly against his green scales. The Element of Loyalty was in the charge of Scootaloo, who wore the bright red bolt of lightning as if it was her own. Apple Bloom wore the Element of Honesty, the orange apple gem bringing the mare memories, both good and bad, of her innocence years ago. Rarity's former element, the Element of Generosity, adorned Sweetie Belle's neck, her snow white coat making her look so much like her sister. The final two elements, Kindness and Laughter, were possessed by Spike, who had made the initial promise to keep the elements safe.
Taking a few quick steps towards Spike, Scootaloo smiled, “Let's not worry about that right now. I still have to show you girls this wicked awesome cave.”
“Scootaloo, what are yoouuuuuuuuuauaaaahhhh!!!!!!”
With a pair of powerful wings, the spontaneous pegasus took off, and with a screaming dragon on her back, tore through the air, making her way towards the top of the mesa.
“So squirt finally learned how to fly,” Rainbow smiled warmly at the thought. “Thought she never would. That filly always had the smallest chicken wings.”
“At twelve years old?” Spike snorted a little bit in humor, “I hope every filly knows how to fly when they are that old.”
“Wai',” Applejack thought out loud for a second before replying, “You said tha' at tha' point it was five years since ya'll left Ponyville?”
Spike nodded, “That is correct, Honesty.”
“Wow... she's two years younger than Apple Bloom.” Applejack chuckled.
“Two younger than Sweetie as well,” Spike stroked Rarity's back a little harder. The purple dragon looked off into the distance, his mind in the past, “Scoots and Sweetie were always gifted ponies. Scootaloo had a knack for flight, just like her heroine, while Sweetie Belle was the most gifted unicorn I had ever seen with magic. Well, second best unicorn,” the lavender dragon looked at Twilight, a cheerful smile on his face.
Rarity looked up at the massive dragon's face, “Sweetie Belle, my Sweetie Belle, was that skilled in magic?”
“Incredibly. There were a few instances that I would like to forget of course, the filly liked to use us as test subjects, but she was very skilled indeed. In fact, unless I was specifically talking about Magic, every time I mentioned a unicorn to you, like the one that knew about unicorn horns, I was referencing that mare.”
“Oh! I almost forgot!” Rainbow's happy smile turned into a devious grin, “A certain orange pegasus told me to ask you about a certain embarrassing incident that you had with her.”
Spike whipped his head around to face Rainbow. Reflexively, Fluttershy ducked her head down under his eye, but with the cyan mare to lay next to her, she stayed steady. With a slight amount of urgency in his voice, the dragon stuttered, “You... you saw her?”
Rainbow nodded, “Talked to her too. How else would've I known about all of this stuff?”
“How is she? How are the other girls? Are they alright. Do...” Spike looked down slightly, and lowered his voice, “do... do they know what I've done?”
The mares all around him were silent. It was a few seconds before the chromatic pegasus replied to the dragon, “They're all fine, but... I don't know about that last one.”
“I... see...”
Again, the group were sent into an uncomfortable quiet, the mood of the room souring at the dragon struggling with his emotions. Rarity pressed herself a little harder against Spike's side and nuzzled his hard scales. It was an interesting feeling, his hardened and course scales against her soft cheek, but in a way, it was comforting. The fire in him warmed her core, and pleasantly relaxed all of her muscles. In a way, it was like-
“Hey!” Rainbow cut off her thought process. With an accusatory forehoof, she pointed at Spike, “You got me off subject! Scoots told me you'd try that. So like I said before, spill the beans!”
Obviously thankful for the change of subject, the purple dragon cocked his head, “Which incident are you talking about in particular, little one?”
“I'm... umm... I’m not sure...” The cyan mare blinked a few times, before pointing at Spike with renewed vigor, “She said it was embarrassing though, and that she apparently lied about what she said. Scoots told me to say to you that... well... it was awesome.”
“What? What was-” Spike stopped for a moment with his jaw hanging, before groaning and shaking his head, “Geez. Even from beyond the grave, that mare knows exactly what buttons to press to get to me.”
Pinkie cocked her head, her poofy hair bouncing slightly in response, “Whatcha mean?”
Spike brought a foreclaw to his face, and pinched in between his eyes, “I'm definitely going to regret telling you ponies this, but after we hid the first Element, we realized that we weren't going to be so lucky with where we would hide the Elements every time. Not only that, but it was not a very good idea to hide all them in easy to find landmarks, just in case they were found. At the same time, we had to make sure that the bearers, or at least Princess Luna, were able to find the necklaces we hid.
“With that, Sweetie Belle found a spell that could most likely be repurposed into a sort of... magnet for you ponies. We could hide the Elements wherever we wanted and as hard as we wanted, put this spell at the entrance, and as long as the bearer of that particular artifact was near, you would almost be forced into the cave.”
Twilight perked up, “That's an amazing idea!”
“Indeed. However, while on paper the spell was flawless,” Spike winced slightly, “the first field test was... interesting...”
Spike sat next to Scootaloo on a fallen tree, both him and the orange mare furiously blushing in embarrassment. The dragon wasn't sure what to say about what had just happened, except that it was easily the weirdest thing that had happened to him in his entire life. If it wasn't for the fact that the mare next to him remembered the same incident as well, judging by the completely beet red face of the pegasus next to him, he might have passed it off as some sort of illusion or implanted memory.
No, this was the real deal.
“I said I was sorry!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. Quickly, the mare pulled an open book in front of her face, quickly reading the script inside, “When I tried to hit the rock, I didn't imagine that changing the focus, range, intensity, and duration of the spell would make the targeting weird!”
Shakily, Spike nodded his head, “Okay...”
Scootaloo nodded as well, “Right...”
“Instead of being all mopey and stuff, you should be thanking me really.” the curly maned mare forced a smile. When neither Spike nor Scootaloo replied with more than more stares at the ground, Sweetie's smile faltered a little, “At least I reversed it when I did... right?”
His blush even deeper, Spike scratched the nubs on his back, the spots where his wings were starting to punch through. “Yeah... that's...” the purple dragon fidgeted slightly, “... that's... yeah.”
Scootaloo brought one of her outstretched wings to her side, and with a single hoof, began trying to fix her feathers. As soon as she made contact with the feathers though, she shuddered, and pulled her hoof back to her lap, “Did you... you know... at least figure out what you needed... because... I’m not doing that again.”
“I think so,” Sweetie Belle thought to herself. Immediately, she went from a near frantic concern for her friends to a more academic pondering, “With what information I was able to gather, which was a lot considering the situation, I think I know what I need to do to adjust the targeting parameters. Maybe if I were to interweave it with a Farsight spell, I can counteract the chaotic nature of the spell.”
Spike nodded,“Sounds like a good idea...”
“Of course, if I do that, I might have to augment the power, though considering how powerful the Want it Need it spell already is, I don't think I'll need to make it that much more powerful, especially after what we saw it did to you two...” Sweetie Belle pointed a hoof at the heavily blushing pair sitting on the log before her.
Spike peeked at Scootaloo for a moment, before quickly averting his eyes again, “Yeah... sounds like that makes... sense...”
Scootaloo nodded, “Yeah...”
For a time, the three stayed where they were, caught in the center of a maelstrom of awkwardness. Sweetie Belle had an awkward smile on her face, as though if she held the smile for long enough, it would result in a complete change in the mood around them. As the snow white mare stood before the two, Spike could just feel the orange mare to his right fidgeting at the most uncomfortable thought processes. He knew that from the way that she would, ever so often, peek at him when she thought he wasn't looking. Furthermore, she, for the fifth time since Sweetie Belle broke the spell, reached for one of her outstretched wings to try and fix the rustled feathers, only to pull her hooves away at the slightest touch.
As for the little dragon, he was in a very similar situation as Scootaloo, at least in mood. He looked down at the log next to him, and with a single sharp finger, started to carve a senseless doodle on the slightly rotting tree. Several times, his mind was drawn to what happened just a few minutes ago, but every time, he changed the design in a way so that he had to think about it yet again. Even while his mind was taken off of that... mortifying memory, he couldn't help but to be completely aware of the two lumps on his back that seemed to itch more and more every second.
“So yeah, I just wanted to let you two know one thing,” Sweetie Belle's voice cut through, a devious tone in it. Spike looked up slightly, and saw a sly grin on the mare's face, “You two making out like that? Cutest thing ever!”
Instantly, both Spike and Scootaloo looked up, furiously red faces fully restored on each of them as they shouted together, “Shut up!!”
Sweetie's grin never left her face, “Although, I do have to admit that my favorite part was when Spike started to run his claws through your wings. The noises you made Scoots were totally hot.”
“Shut up!!”
“And it was soooo adorable when you tried to do the same to Spike, but he didn't have any wings, I just wanted to squeal!”
“SHUT UP!!!!”
“Seriously, it's a match made in heaven!” Sweetie's voice squeaked slightly like it did when she was younger. An even larger grin formed on the torturer's face, “I can't wait to tell AB all about it.”
“IF YOU TELL APPLE BLOOM, I'LL KILL YOU!!!!” Scootaloo yelled, wings flared now in agitation and fury.
“Tell me wha'?”
“GAH!!” Both Scootaloo and Spike turned quickly to look behind them, only to both lose their balance on the log, and tumble to the ground in heap together. As Sweetie Belle howled in laughter above them, the two tangled up friends looked into each others eyes, blushed furiously once more, and quickly, albeit clumsily, got to their feet. The two looked at the red maned mare in front of them, the mare showing her incredible confusion by way of a tilted head and a furrowed brow.
A few seconds later, Apple Bloom closed her eyes, and shook her head, “Ya'll ponies are crazy. Here ah thought Spike was tha only sane one here other than me, but Ah guess Ah'm wrong on tha'.”
“Aw, don't mind them, AB,” Sweetie Belle cheerfully trotted up to the completely confused mare, and with a singing laugh, placed a foreleg around her shoulders. “So, did you find anyplace that looks nice?”
The yellow mare's former confused face quickly changed to a much happier one, “Eeyup! There's this nice cave with a gian' hole in tha ceiling. It's absolutely perfect!”
“Great! Then lead the way!”
As the two mares began to trot away, Apple Bloom's voice cut through, “So Sweetie, did ya figure out tha' spell?”
Spike swore she saw pure evil in the white mare's eyes as she peeked at him and the pegasus standing way too close next to him, “Oh yes. Definitely.”
Very soon after, the two mares in front of them walked off, leaving the mortified pair alone. The two looked at each other at the same time, met eyes, and quickly turned away with an even heavier blush. Slowly, Spike began to make his way towards the direction that his other two companions, and began debating how to get revenge on that accursed unicorn. Of course, that thought process was cut off by a question that was hounding the dragon for a while now.
“So... umm... Scootaloo?” When Spike didn't receive an answer, he whispered a little louder, “Scoots?”
“Y... yeah Spike?” a trembling voice replied.
The little dragon took a deep breath to calm his nerves, before he closed his eyes shut, and spoke, “Umm... I was curious if... well... was my kiss... I... well... my kiss was... you know... good?”
A sudden shouting startled the lavender dragon, “What!? No! Ew! Just... No! Don't even! Blegh!!”
“Phhhahahaha!!” Rainbow rolled onto her back, her forelegs holding onto her ribs as she rolled around the floor next to the cushion. “Was I good!? Oh that's... that's too rich! ”
“Ra... Rainbow,” Fluttershy attempted to chastise the mare, only to fail at containing a laugh or two of her own against a muffling forehoof.
Spike rolled his eye, “Yes yes, laugh it up. It's not like that blasted unicorn didn't at every chance she could. I still don't know how AB didn't find out. Of course, at least now I know I’m awesome at kissing. I may die content now.”
However, the dragon's words fell on deaf ears as Applejack and Pinkie, winking at each other, began singing, “Spike and Scootaloo, sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
“Oh, for the love of Discord no!” Spike coughed as he waved a claw frantically in the air. “Please, those girls were like sisters to me! Just the thought of that... incident, let alone anything further...” Spike stuck his forked tongue out of his mouth as he made a 'blegh' sound.
“Come on girls,” Rarity said in the most elegant voice possible, “let us not focus too much on accidental incidents in his... his...” the alabaster mare lowered her head, and giggled into a forehoof, “oh Celestia, I almost got through all of that without laughing.”
“Anyways!” Twilight tapped a hoof on a particularly large gemstone. “As much as I want to hear about his... romantic adventures, I think there are important matters to talk about.”
Spike nodded his head, “Right! So let's be done with this subject, forever.”
It was a few seconds before all of the other mares, save Twilight, were able to settle down enough so that a proper decorum could be restored in the room. Granted it was partially Rarity that caused such a ruckus, but the opportunity to take a small jab at Spike, even if it was something so juvenile, brought back memories that, while so fresh, were actually centuries past. Just seeing the dragon she was leaning on squirm at their teasing brought a sense of calm and normality to the mares. Rarity especially appreciated the comforting teasing, the jests being her way of bringing the two closer after so many divides had been erected between all of them.
The alabaster mare leaned her head back against the dragon's side: closer emotionally at least.
“Ah gotta ask,” Applejack spoke up, the first of the mares to pull herself together enough to form a proper thought and speak it. “Ya were hidin' Pinkie's element righ' there, righ'?”
Spike nodded, “Very astute, Honesty. Yes, we were hiding the Element of Laughter.”
“Tha's wha' Ah though', but when we got there, the door tha' was on the ground was wrong. Pinkie's cutie mark was tha wrong colors, an' the design wasn't righ'.”
Spike, from his laying position, shrugged the best he could, “It had been a long time, and while I knew Laughter a little bit, the other girls weren't especially close to her. Furthermore... well... I'll just come out and say it: we forgot exactly what it looked like... no offense Laughter.”
“Psh,” Pinkie rolled her eyes, “I sometimes forget what it looks like myself!”
“Umm... Mr. Sarlaka,” Fluttershy whispered, ducking her head down.
The large dragon lowered his head until it rested on the ground, and did his best to smile, “Yes little one?”
Rainbow placed a comforting hoof on the yellow mare's back, and with a sigh, asked her question, “I was just wondering, if you don't mind, why you put my Element with a basilisk?”
“A very good question, to which I do not have a very good answer. Short answer? We didn't mean to. There wasn't a basilisk there when we got there, so my best guess is that sometime before, or shortly after, we planted the Element at that mesa, a clutch of basilisk eggs was laid, and from there, the beast you were forced to fight a few days ago was born.”
“I see.” Fluttershy smiled, “Thank you.”
Applejack tapped the ground, “An' wha' 'bout tha timberwolves?”
Spike shrugged, “Must have moved in sometime between the door collapsing and you getting there.”
Pinkie raised a forehoof, “Ooh! Ooh! What about the weird puzzle thingy!? And the big mean metal monster diamond dog steam thing?”
“Slow down Laughter, one question at a time,” the purple dragon chuckled. Slowly, he began using a claw to pet both Twilight and Rarity, alternating between the two mares every few strokes, “Both of those were AB's design. That mare was a genius when it came to building things.”
The alabaster mare tapped the dragon's side, “And what about that dreadful ursa major?”
Spike sighed and rolled his eye for what must have been the hundredth time, “That was all Scoots' and Sweetie's doing.”
All of the mares just blinked that response. It was hard to judge which mare was the most stunned at the strange revelation. Even Pinkie Pie, a mare that tended to live on the wild and spontaneous side, had her mouth slightly agape at that response. Several times, Rarity tried to figure out how to voice her confusion, but every single time she thought she figured out a way, those seven words the dragon said would come back to her mind, rattle her brain around, and leave her stunned every time.
Finally, the yellow pegasus, leaning on an equally confused cyan pegasus, squeaked, “Wha?”
“Hmm,” Spike hummed, “of all of the ponies that would come to her senses first, I’m surprised it was you. I would've bet on Laughter over there, but I guess I was wrong. Just goes to show that you should never bet bits on anything that you aren't completely certain of. Anyways, I’m getting off track.”
The massive dragon cleared his throat, “It was another four years until we found a suitable position to hide another element. Of course, this would be the very first element that was of a pony that was incredibly dear to us... err... no offense Laughter and Kindness. Anyways, Sweetie Belle volunteered to give her's up and hide Generosity's element, said that it was fitting to willingly give up the Element of Generosity. At first, Sweetie had planned on a simple few traps like the last cave, but Scootaloo and Apple Bloom really wanted to go nuts. While AB began to set up the craziest trap-puzzle I have ever seen, Scoots wanted to do something... well... original...”
“This... is a bad idea.”
“Come on Spike! You say that about every idea I have!”
The dragon sighed as he walked down the path with the three other ponies. Once again voicing his reservations, his voice slightly cracked as he spoke, “No Scootaloo, I don't. When you decided to try and make a snowball out of powdered sugar, I said it wouldn't work, but go for it. When you wanted to try and surf on top of a river serpent, I said you better be careful, but go for it. When you insisted to try and teach me to fly with these two wings that aren't even the size of my hands, I said you better be there for when I fail, but let's go for it. No, those ideas might have been flawed, but this... this is a very bad idea.”
“No way! This is better than a bad idea. This is the best idea I've ever had!”
“I concur!” Sweetie Belle skipped alongside her three friends, her horn brightly shimmering with a pale blue aura as she levitated the object behind her.
Spike looked at the white mare, “Umm... with what point?”
“That this is a good idea of course!” Sweetie Belle beamed.
Spike turned towards Apple Bloom, who was eying the creature behind them carefully as she walked, “AB. Please help me talk some sense into these two fillies!”
Apple Bloom looked back towards Spike, then back at the creature, then at Spike, then at the creature one final time, before she sighed, “Spike, Ah gotta agree with Scoots and Sweetie.”
“What!?”
“Ah know Ah know, but jus' look at him!” Apple Bloom pointed at the ursa minor that was tailing the four, the normally ferocious creature slowly and happily walked along the path as the ponies and dragon walked in front of it. In any normal day with normal circumstances, the ursa would've taken a swipe at the group long ago, doing its very best to snuff out the four's collective existence. However, there was one difference in the situation that changed the entire nature of the encounter, turning the monstrous creature into the most docile of pets.
Sweetie Belle hopped a few times in excitement, “I still can't believe that all it took was some good ol' extra cheesy mac and cheese to get this guy to be so sweet!”
“Ah told ya tha' Granny Smith's ol' fashion cookin' would do tha trick!” The yellow earth pony giggled, “And here Spike though' tha' we were all crazy.”
Scootaloo did a quick flip in the air, “We should name him! How about... Midnight Thunder?”
“You three are crazy.” Spike rubbed the bridge of his snout as he spoke, the stresses of the day getting to him, “How about we get to the cave as soon as we can. From there, we can figure out about feeding him, naming him, and anything else then.”
The yellow mare did a single skip, “Ah'm sure Ah can think of somethin' for the feedin'!”
“Apple Bloom, you are a mad genius,” Scootaloo bumped her with her hip in excitement.
Spike was silent for a few minutes as he listened to the two mares jabber on about all these outrageous plans for that monster. Some were actually good plans, like making a slight scent of macaroni and cheese in the chamber so that it would see the cave as its home, while some... weren't as amazing. The dragon shook his head at the thought of trying to get that ursa minor to hang glide, let alone getting two dozen together to form the “Ursabolts.”
That last idea was Scootaloo's.
The purple dragon hung back slightly to get closer to where Sweetie Belle was. Softly, he whispered, “Hey, Sweetie Belle.”
“Yeah, Spike?”
“I'm just making sure that you know what you're doing. I know you have a Friend-Foe spell ready for when we get this guy in place, but this still seems... risky.”
Sweetie Belle, giggled, and shook her head, “Oh Spike, you worry too much! Of course the original spell wouldn't last that long, but Twilight made some notes and equations on how to augment the duration. It's not going to be a fun spell to cast, let me tell you, but I know I can do it!”
Spike sighed, “Sweetie, I know your plan, and looked at your notes. I don't think it's a good idea.”
The alabaster mare's previously happy-go-lucky demeanor changed instantly to a much more serious one. Her skip turning to a normal walk, the mare slowly took a deep breath, held it, and then released it, “Spike... I could say so many things about how you were going though my things, but I’m going to let that one go. That said, you saw yourself how meticulous I was with the calculations for spell's preparation. I thought of everything.”
“No, you didn't.” the dragon shook his scaled head. Turning his head fully towards Sweetie Belle, he looked right into her eyes, “You are assuming you are as powerful as Twilight was.”
She stopped walking, “... What?”
Spike stopped as well, “Sweetie, you are a powerful unicorn, the best, but Twilight was the freaking Element of Magic. For Luna's sake, her cutie mark was magic! No matter how powerful you become, I don't think you could ever match her power. You have to-”
Sweetie Belle held up a hoof to silence the dragon. On her face, a scowl was forming as the dragon's words entered her ears. A few moments later, her face as hard as diamond, she glared at Spike, “Two things. First, this is my sister's Element we are hiding. Not your sister's, mine. I will do what I please with that Element, and you sure as Tartarus won't stop me. Second, there is no way you can compare me to Twilight. Sure, Twilight was the Element of Magic, but we have no idea what my cutie mark was supposed to be. Maybe it's supposed to be magic as well! Besides, I think you would be surprised at how much power I actually have.
“So Spike,” The alabaster mare snorted a puff of air in anger, “While I love you more than anypony else, will you do both of us a favor, and shut the everliving buck up.”
Stunned, the dragon slowly nodded, and watched as the formerly cheerful pony trotted away in a fit of anger, the mare trying to catch up with her friends. The dragon wasn't sure what he was planning on doing while just standing there, but the sudden rumbling of heavy footsteps behind him made him quite aware of the creature they were practically towing behind them. With a heavy sigh, Spike got on all four limbs, and began to trot forward as well, the dragon making sure he caught up with his friends as quickly as possible.
“Obviously,” Spike shook his head and sighed, “and unfortunately, I was right, and the spell didn't last long enough. Don't get me wrong, I imagine that with how much power that blasted mare put into that spell, the Friend-Foe spell lasted a solid thousand years, and if you mares, or any other bearers if you were all dead, actually came to the cave within a reasonable time-frame, it would've been satisfactory. However, none of us expected it to be fifteen hundred years until you all decided to show up.”
“But... but why?” Rarity looked up at the dragon's emerald eyes, “I'm sure Scootaloo would try something as crazy that, but why would Sweetie risk doing that?”
“Because, little one,” Spike closed his eye, and took a deep breath, “it was the last and only thing she had left of you. While she was willing, if reluctant, to give it away, she wanted to make sure no enemies of ours came and simply took it.”
“That's... mighty noble of her,” Applejack nodded.
Spike opened his eye and nodded in kind, “Indeed. Foolish maybe, but noble nonetheless.”
“So you hid Fluttershy's element in the mesa,” Twilight closed her eyes in thought, “Pinkie's in that mountain cave, and Rarity's in the Everfree Forest cave. Which element did you hide next?”
The massive dragon stopped his backstrokes against both her and Rarity, and with a heavy breath, closed his eye. A few seconds later, he softly spoke, “It was eighteen years after we first left Ponyville. We were traveling through the White Tail Woods on our way to the coast. Scootaloo had this crazy idea that she wanted to hide Loyalty's Element in one of those high up cliff side caves she knew existed in that area. That mare had this crazy complex of traps and monsters and false doors that only the 'greatest and most awesome pegasus ever' could hope to navigate, never mind that we weren't sure if the new Loyalty would have been a pegasus or not.
“However,” Spike hung his head slightly, “there were... complications...”
The three ponies and one dragon were galloping through the forest under the hot afternoon sun, the sounds of shouting and yelling piercing the foliage behind them. Branches of trees and fronds of ferns blocked their path at every turn, and every time they came across another area that was a little too thick for them, the ponies would find their bodies a little more cut up than before. Even Spike, his scales starting to harden slightly more than they were when he was a child, felt a dozen cuts and scratches across his face as he ran on all fours, his short and only partially useful wings flapping as he ran.
“How did they find us!?” Sweetie Belle used her magic to throw up a few walls of vines and branches behind them.
Scootaloo took to the sky slightly, making sure to stay as close to the ground as she could, and flew over a particularly dense cluster of plantlife, “Maybe Luna's enchantment wore off, maybe that damned innkeeper five days ago sold us out, or maybe these freaks were just lucky today. Either way, I’m not staying to find out which.”
Gasping for breath, the dragon bashed his way through the wall of plants in front of them, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom following the path that he was clearing for them. His ears twitched, and he suddenly stopped, the sounds of hollering and laughing emanating from in front of their path as well now.
Spike's heart began to race faster: they were trapped.
It was obvious that at least the yellow pony heard as well, “They've got us trapped!”
“Then we'll just have to fight them off.” Scootaloo smirked as she lowered herself next to the white unicorn, “Been a while since we've been in a proper fight.”
Sweetie Belle merely nudged Scootaloo's side with her own, “Bet you I can get more than you.”
“One who has the least cooks for the next month?”
“Your on.”
Immediately, the pair tore through the brush in front of them, Scootaloo quickly taking to the skies while Sweetie Belle ran, a massive series of spells being cast on both her and the other two ponies as she did. Spike was able to identify them all, most pertaining to shields and perception, but a select few on Sweetie Belle herself the dragon knew would help her spell aim.
His thoughts were stopped as he felt himself pushed backwards, his body tumbling into a hole inside of a rotted out stump. As quickly as he could, he scrambled to his four feet, and saw Apple Bloom putting some sort of moss-like cover over the entrance. His eyes wide, he attempted to climb out of the crevice that he was placed into, only to have Apple Bloom forcefully shove him back again.
“AB,” Spike yelled, a small amount of tears forming in his eyes, “what are you doing!?”
The yellow earth pony never took her eyes off of her task, “I'm making sure that you don't get hurt, Spike.”
Spike took a few steps forward, so that he was nose to nose with the mare, “But I can help! I’m a dragon for Celestia's sake!”
With only a small amount of the hole left uncovered, Apple Bloom reached her head forward, and caught the dragon in an affectionate nuzzle, “Yes you are, Spike. You are a dragon, but you are still only a baby dragon, and I can't let something happen to you, so just stay here, alright?”
With hot tears streaming down his face, Spike pulled away slightly from the nuzzle, “No! I can fight. Please... let me fight...”
Apple Bloom shook her head, and with the sounds of yelling closer than ever, the mare leaned into the nuzzle again, “Just be quiet, and stay safe. We'll come and get you when we're done. I love you, Spike.”
Before the dragon could try and argue otherwise, the earth pony took one last patch of moss, and placed it over the last opening to the outside world. Soon after, as the sounds of yelling got closer yet, the patter of a set of hooves galloping away. The urge to call out to his friend again was strong, but the mare's final words filled his mind, and so as he backed away from the entrance, the dragon stayed silent. A minute later, the sounds of dozens of hooves galloping across his position filled his ears, his pursuers hot on his friends' trail. However, as much as he wanted to fight, he stayed where he was, and with a clamped mouth, heard the group run off into the distance.
All the while, a small and lonely dragon gripped his mother's tiara around his neck, and sobbed.
The room was deathly quiet for a full minute, the only sounds coming from the collective breathing of the various mares in the room, and the increasingly haggard breathing of the dragon in front of them. Spike had, at this point, lowered his head, and with the weight of the memories at the forefront of his mind, his former smile had turned into the deepest of frowns. Rarity was doing her best to try and comfort the titanic dragon, but considering what she was being told, salty tears were threatening to form in her own eyes.
In the corner of the room, the small yellow pegasus, the mare pressing herself deeply against her cyan counterpart, softly whispered, “So wha... what hap-”
“They never did find my hiding spot,” Spike interrupted. “It was many hours until I finally had the nerve to leave my hiding spot, the stupid coward I was. By then, night had fallen over the woods, and trying to find my sisters was next to impossible. Of course, when I finally did find one... well...”
“Scootaloo! Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle! Anypony there!?”
The purple dragon wandered around the forest, calling out for any of his lost friends. The darkness of the crescent moon night made seeking for the mares that much more difficult. Fearful that foes from the afternoon before might hear his calls, he was yelling much softer than normal, the dragon almost certain that nopony could hear his yelling if they were close. Still, Spike hunted for his mares, and prayed.
Signs of a massive series of battles were everywhere that the dragon looked. Every few minutes, he would find a scorch mark on the ground, a few crossbow bolts lodged in a tree, or maybe even a dead body of a pony or griffin lying on the ground. Fortunately, so far, while he had found about a dozen bodies of his pursuers, there was no sign of his friends. The small dragon hopped over a log, and hoped that his fortune would be strong, and he would find his friends were fine, and were merely looking for each other, and that was why they hadn't come back for him.
Out of the corner of the dragon's eyes, he noticed a strangely white object which drew his attention. Instantly, his heart sank, for lying on the ground was the form of a white coated and purple maned unicorn. As fast as he could, he sprinted to her form, tears flowing heavily down his face as he neared her body. Marring her coat were the wounds of dozens of cuts and scorch marks, obviously signs of dozens of glancing blows done to her. However, the only thing that the dragon was concerned about was how the mare's neck was twisted in a very... unnatural way.
“Oh no no no. Sweetie Belle!?” Spike wailed, teardrops falling from his eyes as he skidded to a halt. He moved to nudge her, but stopped when he saw her neck again. Instead, he cried out again, “Sweetie!? Oh Celestia, Sweetie Belle!? Talk to me, please!”
By some perverse form of luck, a soft and haggard groan emanated from the white mare's throat. Spike ran in front of the mare's face so that she wouldn't have to try and turn her head, and slowly but surely, her eyes cracked open. Pupils wide, her eyes settled onto Spike, “Hey Spike... Apple Bloom told me she hid you. Did the bad guys find you?”
“No...no they didn't...”
Sweetie Belle coughed lightly, a few speckles of crimson liquid escaping her mouth, “That's good. That means... that they didn't get... your element...”
“No they didn't Sweetie.” Spike leaned his head close to the mare, and gently nuzzled her, “Where are the others? AB and Scoots? Do you know... what happened to them?”
Tears began spilling out of the mare's eyes, but her voice remained level, “I... I saw Scootaloo get hit with a few crossbow bolts... and fell hard into the forest somewhere. I haven't seen her since. As for AB...” Sweetie Belle stopped for a second, her voice catching in her throat, “... I don't know... but I don't think she's in any better condition.”
Sweetie let out a sad chuckle, “Kinda fitting though, considering that we've been together from the beginning, I'll be staying with them.”
“Don't say that. Just... don't.” Spike felt his own tears streaking down his scaled face, soaking the white mare's facial hair, “You're going to make it, you'll get better, and we'll just hide again. Everything will be alright, just hold on.”
“Spike,” the mare sadly, yet calmly spoke, “I can't feel anything below my neck. I think... I my neck is... well...”
Sweetie Belle closed her eyes, “You have to go on without me. Run, hide, fight, do whatever you need to to make sure that your Element is safe. They probably have Scoot's and AB's Elements, but we can't... we can't let them have any more. But most importantly, keep yourself safe. Yes, you'll be forced to fight, and yes you'll get hurt, but please keep yourself safe. Don't do anything stupid, alright Spike?”
Slowly Spike nodded his head, and pulling away a little bit, he looked into those bright green eyes, memories of their last encounter before this terrible nightmare started coming to mind, “Sweetie... I’m... I’m so sorry. If only I was bigger, stronger, older, maybe... maybe...”
“Shh...” Sweetie Belle smiled again, “You have nothing to be sorry about, and don't you dare blame yourself. Just... do me a favor?”
“... Anything...”
Sweetie Belle's tears flowed much harder now, but she somehow managed to keep her voice even, “Can you... can you stay with me for a little while longer? I... I don't want to alone... when it happens.”
Spike settled down so that his face was up against her's, and placed a comforting wing over her body, even if she couldn't feel it, “Of course... my dearest friend.”
For the longest time, the two lay there, snuggled up together in a final embrace. Painfully slow, Sweetie Belle's breathing became shorter and more strained, the mare fighting for every breath that she took. For every minute that past, Spike's heart crumbled that much more, his entire life shattering before his very eyes. Slowly, the life in the white mare faded away, until there was almost nothing left of her.
Shakily, a voice whispered, “Sp... Spike...”
Spike nearly lost it with how weak the voice was, “Yes Sweetie Belle?”
With her final moments, the mare closed her eyes, and smiled one last time, “You... would have been... the best... brother-in-law...”
Rarity's mind was blank. What had she just heard? All this time, she had assumed that Sweetie Belle had had a long and happy life after she was zapped into the furture. Now... now that image was completely shattered. That sentiment seemed to be shared by all of her friends as well, the rest of the ponies as still as statues at the violent and tragic ending of the dragon's early history. There weren't any words that could describe what the mare was feeling right now, but something close to absolute shame and guilt over not being there for her little sister was one of them, and she was sure Applejack was feeling the same way.
“I'm sorry,” Spike suddenly rose, nearly sending both Twilight and herself onto their sides. His voice cracking slightly, the dragon turned towards the back of the room, “I... I need to lay down for a while, or plan, or something. I’m... I’m sorry...”
And as fast as the dragon could, he sundered over to the back of the foyer, and with incredible swiftness opened the magically locked door on the right. Without even taking a final wayward look behind him, he slammed the door shut, and left the six mares silent in their own thoughts.
A/N: I'm partly sorry about the super long chapter. I couldn't find a single good place to cut it shorter, so here you go. Next chapter will be a while considering how long this one was, so blah.