//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: The day of slightly less change that becomes more change anyway. // Story: Growth Spurts and Hypnotic Face Lasers // by HyperRandomness //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash had no idea what to do. Here was her friend, Spike the Dragon, whom she had just brutally beaten and was losing his life right before her eyes. What was she doing? Standing around like a foal. Without a second thought, she bolted to the sky and flew as fast as her wings could take her. She headed off to the Ponyville hospital to get help. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Having not noticed Rainbow Dash had gone out of her way to beat the tar out of Spike, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were still trotting along a path away from the Library, until Pinkie heard shouting. She turned around in time to see Rainbow soaring away, then turned to see what she was flying from. She noticed a cloud with a peculiar purple-and-green tail sticking out of it. “That’s funny! Clouds don’t usually have tails, and when they do, they’re always cloud tails! Hey, Fluttershy! Look at the funny cloud!” Pinkie said, giggling, then bringing Fluttershy’s attention to the unusual cloud. With a gasp, she automatically recognized whose tail it was. More importantly, she noticed the marks on his tail that indicated some form of rough-housing. From what she could gather from that distance, his tail looked like somepony had pulled it quite hard. Her motherly instincts kicking in, Fluttershy zoomed up to the cloud to get a better look, then realized why Rainbow Dash had flown away so fast. One shriek and the sound of sirens later, his body was quickly retrieved from the cloud and carted away. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The funeral was short. Not many ponies showed up, but not many needed to. Few words were spoken, but the thought was really what mattered. Many tears were shed, many ponies lost composure of themselves, and few remained straight-faced. Spike himself stayed sullen as stone the whole procession. Who could blame him? Strangely enough, Rainbow Dash seemed the most broken up about the death. She was in tears the whole time, and when she was called up to make a speech, she couldn’t form any words and was escorted away by her friends. Twilight, curiously, had not shown. She hadn’t left the library since she heard the news. Figuring it was for the best, her friends left her to be by herself for a few days. It wasn’t the same without her, but it would have to do. Even the Wonderbolts had made an appearance to show their respect. They even performed a few tricks in honor of the recently deceased. Most surprising of all was the arrival of Princess Celestia herself. Stating that Luna would have shown had she not been busy shocked the ponies more than the arrival of the first, but attitudes all shifted to that similar to depression as the ceremony carried on. The Princess had even read a prepared speech. Anypony who had kept their composure at this time completely broke down into tears, all aside from Spike, who remained almost completely stone-faced. The time had come to lower the coffin into the ground, and final goodbyes were said. Rainbow Dash had remained in tears the entire time, much to the amazement of many ponies. Even the Princess herself had shed a tear as the coffin was buried. As the ceremony ended, one lone figure stood over the gravestone, which read: Here lies Nitrous Oxide. Member of the Wonderbolts, Fast Flier, Optimist, Companion, and a great Friend. May she forever Rest in Peace. A cutie mark of a splash of green liquid, half of which was on fire, was emblazoned upon the Tombstone below the words. Tears stained the ground below a Technicolor Pegasus mare, before a reassuring clawed hand was placed on her shoulder. Without opening her eyes, Rainbow turned and pulled Spike into a big hug. He returned the embrace silently, letting Rainbow get it all out. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It really was a sad moment for Nitrous to go out in such a way. What many ponies had assumed was a skydive became a moment of horror as a speeding body crashed into the ground. A sickening CRUNCH echoed through the stadium as medical ponies rushed to aid the downed Wonderbolt, but they were far too late. The doctors didn’t even get her off the field before announcing that she had passed away. Many heartbroken and tear-stained fans walked away from the stadium that day, leaving just a few saddened members of the Wonderbolts left to cope with their loss. It had only been her first performance, and they had known she wasn’t ready. They pushed her to strive for the best, but her best wasn’t good enough. Some questioned how she got into the Wonderbolts in the first place. Some said it was luck. Others said it was fate. Others still credited it to her ability to light the very air on fire with her spectacular stunts. Any way you cut it, she must have been destined to die that day. She tried hard. A little too hard, actually. During a loop-de-loop, she had accidentally hit her head on a cloud while moving quite fast and had knocked herself unconscious. The other members of the Wonderbolts watched as she fell but, just like the crowd, they had assumed she would pull up at the last second in a spectacular, death-defying stunt. They were horribly, painfully wrong. Thanks to their misjudgment, a good pony was lost that day. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, everypony was feeling the weight of their mistake. In particular, Rainbow Dash. Spike comforted her as she cried. It was not just for the death of Nitrous, but also in fear. She had nearly gotten accepted into a spot for the Wonderbolts. What if that had been her? What if she died that day, and not Nitrous? It was simply too much to bear. The very thought horrified her, but her own conscious got to her first. What are you doing, Rainbow? You’re crying for your own safety when the Wonderbolt who got the spot died? Quit pitying yourself! She began to feel enraged at herself. Here she was, just after a funeral session, and she was concerned for herself. It almost disgusted her, but she forgot all about it as Spike consoled her regardless. “Shh...” he whispered, gently stroking her mane as he took her up in his arms, “There, there, Rainbow. Everything’s going to be alright.” She looked up into his big, green eyes as they stared right back at her, comforting her with a look of kindness. For a moment, she felt as though everything would be okay. She shifted herself in his arms and nuzzled close, giving a content sigh as she shoved the negative thoughts from her mind. Spike simply sat and held her, ignoring the pain under the many bandages across his body, hoping and praying that he could alleviate her pain for good. He knew these prayers would be to no avail, but at least, for now, she was calmed. To Spike, that’s all that really mattered. It was not until the sun shone no longer in the sky that Spike flew to the Library, carrying a sleeping bundle of color in his arms. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- During all of this, Twilight had been furiously working with no regards to her personal needs. Why? Well, let me tell you. After having sent a letter to the Princess, she had gotten a letter back stating the utmost of important tasks. Dear Twilight Sparkle, It is interesting to hear that Spike has hit his growth so early. In light of this news, I am sending two professionals of Draconic knowledge over to the Library to discuss manners of utmost importance. They will be arriving shortly via carriage. Please listen to every word they have to say, as this is an extremely important task. With hope, Princess Celestia Twilight, for one, was quite surprised. She had no idea that Spike’s growth spurt would incite such a reaction, nor did she know why the Princess was sending over to experts on Dragons. There was clearly a piece of the puzzle that she did not have, and she needed to know what it was before anything bad happened. As one might guess, Twilight immediately started to jump to conclusions. Maybe they know something about Spike that I don’t. Maybe he is going to become a monster again! Maybe it’ll be worse than last time! What if they have to take him away from me? What if they have to k- Twilight immediately cut her last thought off, and tried to shake it from her head. Now, Twilight, you’re just being silly! They wouldn’t have to do that to Spike! ...right? Twilight nearly jumped ten hooves in the air as a loud RAP RAP RAP! was heard from the front door. She quickly answered it and greeted two stallions outside the door, who introduced themselves as Rational Thinking and Itmen Siofmea. Twilight was confused at the last name, but Rational quickly explained that it meant ‘Bright Thought’ in Draconic tongue. They hurried inside and immediately began speculations. For starters, they stated that the entire Library was unsuitable for a growing Dragon, as he would need to master his fire-breathing. Since there were a lot of flammable books in the Library, combined with the fact that it was a tree, it was deemed a very dangerous environment to keep Spike until he learned to control his fire. Twilight interjected by saying he could already do just that, but they assured her that it would likely grow out of control quite soon. They also speculated that, at Spike’s growth rate, he would likely need larger accommodations, so they would need to find a more suitable living space for him. Twilight was horrified. They’re gonna take Spike away?? She thought in a panic to herself. As the duo thanked her for her time, they turned to leave. The door in front of them disagreed as it slammed shut, enveloped by a certain Unicorn’s aura. “Hold it. Are you saying you’re just going to take Spike away?” she asked menacingly as the two turned back to her. “Well, yes,” Itmen stated, “It would be hazardous for him to remain in this current establishment anyhow. He would have no room to grow, practice with his magic fire breath, or relieve his temper.” “Wait...” Twilight started, “What do you mean, ‘relieve his temper?’” She took on a quizzical look. She did remember Spike snapping at her, but that was all. Oh, no. He isn’t going to get worse, is he? She thought, a look of combined excitement and fear portrayed across her face. “When I said relieve his temper, I meant relieve his temper! A growing Dragon has to deal with severe mood issues until they can be quelled, which won’t be for quite some time. Speaking of, I hope you’ve got a close eye and tight leash on him. For all we know, at this stage of development, he might start having some pretty bad mood swings.” On that note, he added, “Me and my colleague will return tomorrow to discuss other important matters. For the time being,” He pulled out a pocket watch and examined it, then put it away. “We must depart. Farewell, Twilight Sparkle. Have a good evening.” The chatterbox Draconic specialist and his colleague departed shortly thereafter, leaving Twilight alone to her thoughts. It was right about then that she had an idea. If she could just meet Spike’s needs, then she could keep him around instead of having anypony take him away! A crazy grin spread across her face as ideas flooded into her mind. Paying no mind to the new knocking at the door and loud voices, she got a quill, ink and parchment then got right to designing. Curiously, the sound of an opening window upstairs and heavy steps didn't disrupt her work either.