//------------------------------// // Episode 45: Old Foes or New Friends // Story: The Drake Six // by JNKing //------------------------------// With the return of Lord Shade Fang and the possible return of Queen Chrysalis on his mind, Spike found himself extra jumpier than usual.  So, when he overheard Starlight saying, “I’ll just force friendships by magically enslaving the entire population of Ponyville!” he acted without thinking.  Bursting into the room, he tackled Starlight to the ground, making sure the gem on her horn was draining her magic.  “KIDDING-KIDDING-I’M KIDDING,” Starlight yelped in fright. “DON’T BEAT MY FACE IN! I JUST GOT MY MAKEUP PERFECT!”  Spike seethed. “Do NOT joke about that!” he snapped, as the rest of the Drake Six ran in. “I heard someone fighting, is someone fighting?” Jackknife asked.  “They better be!” Night Fire growled darkly. “They’re interrupting something important?”  Diamondback rolled her eyes. “Another love letter to your liaison?”  “S-Shut up, DB, it’s not like that,” Night Fire barked, though she was blushing.  As the others argued, Phoenix sighed and plucked Spike off Starlight. “False alarm?” Phoenix asked.  “False alarm entirely,” Starlight stammered, still shaking in her hooves as Twilight raced over and helped her up.  Spike wrenched himself free of Phoenix and glared at the unicorn and alicorn. “What are you guys doing anyway?” Swift asked. “Princess Celestia is joining us tomorrow night to see how the friendship lessons are going,” Twilight explained. “I was just telling Starlight how she’d really impress the Princess by bringing a new friend.”  “But I just can’t choose,” Starlight noted. “I like all your friends.” She chanced a glance at Spike. “Or, at least… some of them.”  Sighing, Phoenix looked to Twilight. “I could join her, if that’ll make things easier.”  Twilight grimaced. “I mean… that would work, but… everyone knows how much you two like each other. I was kinda hoping she’d bring a ‘new’ new friend, you know? Show how far she’s come.”  Phoenix grimaced, and Starlight whimpered nervously.  “Well, as long as she’s not planning any returns to villainy,” Swift noted. “I’m still nervous about that changeling we saw outside the Crystal Empire. And on top of that, I’m pretty sure there’s someone else we have to deal with.”  The Drake Six turned to him. “Who?”  Swift looked down at a scroll he had brought in with him, and motioned for the others to follow him, leaving Starlight and Twilight to their planning. “Well, there’s been a new arrival, and the other ponies are giving her a bit of a wide berth.”  “A former criminal?” Phoenix asked nervously.  “A new terror come to town?” Jackknife asked eagerly.  “I’m thinking the former,” Swift said. “I asked around, and they said that this pony - The ‘Great and Powerful’ Trixie - apparently went cuckoo after she found some sort of amulet that let her take over the town.”  Spike went stock still. “She… took over the town? When?”  Swift checked his scroll again. “Um… it looks like it was right around when we were dealing with Hawke and those slavers.”  Spike nearly fell back in guilt. While he had been off fighting battles and going on adventures, Twilight had needed him, and he had no idea.  “Hey, take it easy, Spike,” Night Fire assured him. “She’s not running things now, so Twilight handled it.”  “But now this psycho pony’s back,” Swift noted.  Spike nodded, getting back up. “And now’s our chance to make sure she doesn’t threaten these ponies again.”  ## A short while later, the dragons had split up to try and find this pony. Though finding her wagon proved easy enough, Trixie herself had gone somewhere into Ponyville. And none of the ponies had dared get close enough to her to find out where.  The thought filled Spike with dread. It wasn’t enough that Shade had almost taken over the dragons or that Chrysalis was probably planning some sort of revenge attack on Cadence? Now, they had another pony with a vendetta against Twilight.  “Someone needs to make sure Starlight doesn’t meet up with this Trixie,” Spike noted as he, Phoenix and Swift searched one of Ponyville’s districts.  Phoenix sighed. “Spike, when are you going to accept that Starlight’s trying to be better?”  “When she actually proves that she is better,” Spike replied. “And newsflash; joking about magical enslavement isn’t helping her.”  “He does have a point, Phi,” Swift pointed out.  Phoenix sighed. “So… if you had known what I had done in the past - known the stuff I put my diamond dogs through… would you have left me to suffer in that cave?”  Spike’s pace slowed. He had never considered that.  He knew that Phoenix had done some bad things, but he never saw them first hand.  “But… that was different,” he said. “You’ve always felt guilty about it. You never joked about what happened, because you recognized that it was bad.” He looked back. “I don’t know if Starlight understands that.”  Phoenix looked down with a sigh, before a frightened squawk from Swift drew their attention.  “S-Speaking of Starlight…” he stammered, pointing.  Spike and Phoenix followed his gaze, seeing Starlight walking out of the spa, laughing and talking with a bright blue unicorn mare with a lighter-blue - almost white -mane.  The dots came together when Swift showed a photo of what Trixie looked like.  ## It took Phoenix all she had to stop Spike jumping Starlight and Trixie right then and there. She tried to get him to think rationally, but all Spike could think was, Pony that took over Ponyville. Threatened Twilight! Gotta act!  When Phoenix outright blocked Spike with her own body, he did the next best thing: he pelted full tilt back for Twilight’s home. “TWILIGHT!” he shrieked, bursting back into her room. “TWILIGHT, STARLIGHT’S MADE FRIENDS WITH TRIXIE!”  Twilight gaped in shock. “T-Trixie? THE Trixie? The one who…? “Eeyup!” “With the…?” “EEYUP!”  “And she’s…?” “EEEEEEEEYUP!!”  Phoenix burst in in time to see Twilight’s eyes widening in horror. “No, Princess, it might not be that bad.”  But Twilight teleported past them both, appearing in a burst of magic right as Trixie and Starlight were about to enter her library.  “TRIXIE?!” Twilight stammered.  Starlight backed up, unnerved by Twilight’s unnerved state. “Y-You know each other?”  It took all of Twilight’s self-control not to scream, so Spike rushed in and did for her.  “She took over Ponyville!” Spike said. “She used black magic to enslave the town.”  Trixie flinched down with a sheepish grin. “We… had our differences,” she admitted. “But what mattered was that Twilight gave me a second chance.” She batted her eyes at Twilight. “And I appreciate it.”  Twilight glowered at Trixie, and with Spike crossing his arms behind her like a bodyguard, the smile didn’t stay long on Trixie’s face.  Phoenix carefully interjected. “So… what brought you back, Trixie?”  Trixie cleared her throat. “The Great and Powerful TRIXIE has come to perform a new stage show of grand illusion! I am calling it ‘The Humble and Penitent Trixie’s Equestrian Apology Tour.”  “That’s kind of a mouthful,” Starlight noted.  “It’s a working title,” Trixie admitted.  “Starlight?” Twilight asked. “A moment? Over here?” She dragged Starlight away, leaving Spike and Phoenix with Trixie.  Trixie nudged the ground with her hoof for a moment, glancing away. “So…” she noted. “Twilight’s dragon came back, huh?”  Spike snorted smoke at her. Trixie coughed and waved it away with a hoof.  “You know,” she noted. “When Twilight gave me a second chance, I thought it would come with a little more… ‘acceptance.’” She sighed dramatically. “I guess deep down, no one will ever forget.”  “And why should they?” Spike asked. “Especially if you can act so flippant about it.”  “It’s in the past, isn’t it?” Trixie asked. “Water under the bridge?”  Phoenix squirmed uncomfortably, but Spike gave her a look before returning his gaze to Trixie. “And it better stay under the bridge.” He leered at her. “I wasn’t here when you pulled that stunt on Twilight, but I am now. And I’m warning you; if you have some sort of plan to hurt Twilight…” Trixie flipped her mane at him. “Yeah, Starlight mentioned you’ve become a rather violent dragon since you left to find out who you really are.” She hummed. “Maybe being violent is just in a dragon’s genes.”  Spike tensed, almost feeling sucker-punched by that line. Hadn’t it been his impulsiveness that had resulted in a timeline where dragons and ponies were at war?  Before he could overcome his dark thoughts, Starlight and Twilight seemed to finish their conversation.  “You’re right,” Twilight admitted. “I trust you. Just be back in time for the dinner.”  “Thanks, Twilight,” Starlight said happily, racing back to Trixie. “You won’t regret this.”  Twilight watched them go worriedly. “I better not.” She glanced at Spike. “Spike, can you keep an eye on them?”  Spike nodded. “If Trixie’s planning something, we’ll figure it out.”  Phoenix gave him another worried look that made his guts squirm, but said nothing else. ## His worry over his own temper contributed to Spike’s nervousness, as despite watching Trixie like a hawk (or more accurately, a swift, since Swift was right next to him) neither of the two dragons saw anything nefarious or malicious.  There was a manticore, but Fluttershy had assured Swift they were relatively harmless if not provoked, and Trixie revealed the creature was only there for a magic trick she had planned out.  And ultimately, the worst Trixie had been doing was manipulating Starlight. Not even for any evil plans - as Spike had been worried for - but mainly just to one-up Twilight in some petty ‘contest.’  And as Spike watched Starlight run off in tears while Trixie desperately tried to cover her own sorrow, he found himself looking down in shame.  “Have I been…” Spike glanced at Swift. “Have I been angrier than usual?”  Swift shrugged. “You’ve definitely been more stressed,” he noted. “Between Starlight trying to get revenge and Shade almost getting the scepter and now Chrysalis possibly coming back…” Swift shuddered. “There’s a lot going on.”  Despite Swift’s words, Spike couldn’t help but look down in thought. He gazed at his arms, so muscular now when originally, they had been small and stubby.  He looked back from his hiding place, as Starlight ran into Phoenix, who was trying to comfort her. Spike looked down in shame. He always worried about not being enough of a dragon, but was it really worth it to be more ‘draconic’ if it also meant being mean and nasty to everyone?  Sighing, Spike stood, looking to Swift.  “Can you…?” Spike hesitated, feeling that asking him to still keep an eye on the devastated Trixie was still too mean.  Swift, thankfully, nodded in understanding. “I got this, brother,” he said. “Go.”  Nodding gratefully, Spike ran over to Starlight, who heard him coming and cowered against Phoenix’s side.  Phoenix gave Spike a warning look, but Spike raised his arms in a show of harmlessness.  “Easy, I’m…” Spike looked at his hands again. “I’m sorry.”  Phoenix blinked and even Starlight poked her head out in confusion.  “I haven’t been… who I want to be,” Spike admitted. “When I first left Ponyville… to find out who I was… I knew that I’d discover some things, and probably change. But sometimes, I worry I’ve changed too much.” He crossed his arms. “I’ve become darker… more angry… more aggressive… sometimes, I worry that Twilight will look at me… and fail to see the number one assistant I used to be.” He shut his eyes, holding back tears. “And yet… I’m scared too.” He looked up at them. “I’m scared that… if I don’t change… If I’m not aggressive… Twilight… the ponies… my family will get hurt.” He looked at Starlight. “They have gotten hurt.” He looked at Trixie. “Too many times.”  Starlight looked down in guilt. “What I did was wrong,” she admitted. “I know that, Spike. And… I don’t know if there’s any sort of apology or act of atonement that will ever make up for it.” She sniffed. “But… I wanna try. Because if I don’t… well.” she shook her head. “All I had outside of friendship was the desire for revenge. And all that led to was more suffering.” She managed a small smile. “Friendship seemed… so much better in comparison.”  Phoenix smiled gently. “It is, honestly,” she noted. “When you find the right ones.”  “Did I, though?” Starlight asked through fresh tears. “What if Trixie was really just using me to one-up Twilight?”  Twilight walked in at that moment, uncertain until they heard Trixie’s voice.  “Starlight?” she called from the stage. “If you’re out there… and you still want to be friends… let’s be great and powerful together.” She lowered her head. “Please?”  Twilight sighed. “From what I’ve seen… she’s the real thing. But it’s not my place to judge.” She gazed at Starlight. “It’s all up to you.”  Starlight watched, for a tense moment, as Trixie flung herself at the Manticore. At the last second, she ran forward, aiding Trixie in her magic tricks.  And as the fireworks boomed and the crowd cheered, Twilight managed a smile of her own, and walked after Starlight, intent on giving Trixie a proper second chance.  Spike sighed. “I guess we’ve been wasting our time on Trixie, haven’t we?” he noted.  Phoenix nodded. “She may be a braggart,” she noted. “But then again, most dragons are braggarts. Helps with the Greed, ya know?”  Spike chuckled, noticing Night Fire flying back towards the Dragon Lands. “Maybe ponies and dragons have more in common than we know.” “So… if Trixie’s not going to be an issue,” Swift noted, “I’d still like to know what that changeling was doing around the Crystal Empire.”  Spike nodded. “You and me both,” he admitted.  Yet, as he followed Swift away from the stage, he couldn’t help but look at his hands again.  If the changelings were planning something nefarious, Spike knew he’d have to defend his home.  But was there a way to defend his home without becoming angry and cruel again?