Twilight ran giggling through the Palace Gardens, looking for a place to hide from the scary dragon chasing her. She paused under a big oak tree, leaning against it to catch her breath. She looked around endlessly, searching for her pursuer, her heart racing. Suddenly, small claws slid down the back of her neck and her heart jumped out of her chest. She yelped, and ran away from the claws. She stumbled and fell, looking back at the purple dragon approaching her, an evil looking grin across his snout.
“Oh, please don’t eat me, mister dragon!” the little filly cried out.
“Oh, I’m not going to eat you, little pony. I am going to have so much fun with you.”
“Like what?” she said, voice wavering slightly.
“Like this,” the dragon said as he wrapped his little arms around the fillies neck, giving her a big hug before laughing. “You should have seen the look on your face, Twilight.”
“You have no idea how scary it is to suddenly have claws go down your neck?!” Twilight exclaimed, returning the hug, before joining him in the contagious laughter.
“Twilight?”
“Yes, Spikey?”
“You’re it, by the way.” he said, running off through the gardens, giggling madly.
--------------------------------
Twilight sat on the balcony, looking up at the sky and glancing at a book on constellations. Beside her was Spike, leaning into her side and staring blankly at the sky.
‘Hey Twilight?’
‘Yes, Spike?’ she responded, not looking at the little dragon.
‘Can we read a story together?’
Twilight looked at the young dragon, who was staring intently at her. She was surprised, but quickly smiled warmly at him, ‘Sure thing, Spike. Let’s go inside, we can read ‘Daring Do and the Golden Scale.’”
They got up and walked inside, Twilight levitating the astronomy book to the desk and getting her ‘Daring Do’ book. Spike hopped up onto the bed, getting comfortable, with Twilight crawling up beside him. Within moments, the pair were comfortably snuggled up, ready to start reading together. The little filly and the young dragon spent hours reading aloud together, alternating chapters. Sometime during Twilight’s chapter, Spike fell asleep, leaving Twilight in silence when she finished her chapter.
Looking down, she saw Spike pressed against her side, his muzzle pressed against her coat. Smiling, she closed the book and lightly tossed it aside and turned to face the little dragon, who immediately wrapped his arms around the filly in his sleep. Twilights smile widened and she kissed the top of his head and wrapped a hoof around him and laid her head next to him, nuzzling him softly as she drew a blanket over them.
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Twilight sat in front of Princess Celestia in a state of euphoria. Celestia was talking, but she wasn’t paying attention. In the last hour, she had gotten her cutie mark, hatched a baby dragon, and became the Princesses personal student. She suddenly realized that the Princess had gone quiet, and was about to speak up when she heard a shout behind her.
‘Hold him still, we still need to examine him!’
Turning to look at what was going on, Twilight saw the baby purple dragon push its way through a dozen researchers, trying to get past them. The little guy pushed past the last researcher and ran to Twilight, wrapping its arms around her chest before curling into a ball against her and going straight to sleep. She sat there in awe, her mouth hanging open, staring at the dragon that had been giving the grown ponies trouble for the last hour, and had just wanted to come sleep against her.
‘Well, that sure is sweet, don’t you think so, Twilight?’ Princess Celestia said, sitting next to Twilight
‘Princess? I don’t understand.’ she responded, not looking away from the dragon.
‘Maybe you will, in time. How does it make you feel?’
‘I think I know what it feels to have your heart melted, Princess.’ Twilight said, lowering her head down and nuzzling the sleeping dragon gently.
‘How would you like to take care of him?’
‘What?!’ Twilight exclaimed, looking at the Princess with wide eyes. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Yes, but only if you promise to treat him like anypony else, never make him feel unwanted or different.’ Twilight nodded vigorously. ‘Very well then, what will you name him?’
Twilight turned her gaze back to the dragon and ran her hoof along his head, tracing the spines going down his back. ‘Spike. I will call him Spike.’
Celestia smiled and watched as Twilight stroked Spike’s scales. ‘Well, I believe there is nothing wrong with you keeping him, Twilight.’ Twilight was about to shout for joy, but was cut off by Princess Celestia’s hoof. ‘Now now, Twilight, you don’t want to wake him up, do you?’ Twilight gave a sheepish grin. ‘Now, I will leave you two along, good night, Twilight Sparkle. And goodnight to you, too, Spike Sparkle.’
‘Good night, Princess. And thank you.’ the young lavender filly said, resting down next to the dragon, curling her body as much as she could around him. She lay there, watching him and slowly stroking his scales for hours, smiling. She eventually joined the dragon in sweet, blissful sleep.
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Twilight woke up smiling to herself, tears rolling slowly down her cheek. She had her eyes closed, reliving the moments in her dreams, feeling like somepony had wrapped her heart in a blanket. Yawning, she pushed her face into her blanket, only to meet the warm fur of her mentor. Opening her eyes groggily, she seen Princess Celestia looking out the window, her wing still spread out and embracing Twilight.
“Good morning, Princess Celestia.” she said quietly.
“Good morning, my dear student. Have a good nights rest?” she said, turning her head to look at the sleepy lavender unicorn, who nodded. “Now, may I ask why you are here? It’s nice seeing you here again, but I doubt you were feeling nostalgic.”
“What, I need a reason to come visit my teacher?” Twilight giggled. “I admit I didn’t come here for this, but I feel oddly enlightened.” she looked at Celestia, a serious look on her face. “I came to try and find out something about restoring memory.”
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Obsidian walked slowly away from Sweet Apple Acres, his body protesting, every muscle on fire. Working the fields all day was a great workout, and today he had worked more than he usually would, perhaps too hard. Rainbow Dash had come and ponynapped Applejack back to the barn, leaving Obsidian to work the fields alone. He sat down under a small tree, groaning. He had foolishly decided to do the work of both him and Applejack, and he was now regretting his decision.
He looked up at the tree and seen a small basketful of apples right above him. He attempted to reach for one, only to moan and relax his sore muscles again. His ears twitched at the sound of small wings buzzing. He only had a moment to wonder where it was coming from and why it was getting closer before hearing a small shout.
“Hi-yah!” came from three different fillies behind the tree, followed shortly by a thud. He watched in horror as the apples fell down and pelted his already sore body. He didn’t cry out, he just winced and whined at the pain. The three fillies responsible for his misery crept out from behind the tree, giggling. They looked at the stallion laying on the ground, whining.
“Ah think we killed him.” one of them said.
“Oh, he’s just a big sissy.”
“He probably don’t want to talk to us after that.”
Sure enough, Obsidian wasn’t saying anything. He closed his eyes and imagined being home on his nice, soft bed, not having to move, when he felt a pair of hooves grab his legs and start pulling him.
“Well, lets go an’ bury him. We done killed him, so we should pay our respects.”
“Yea, like that one time we played Dragon Slayers with Spike!”
The three little fillies managed to drag Obsidian to their scooter and wagon and loaded him onto it. He grunted and groaned the entire time, letting out a small, pained moan whenever he was moved too fast and when they lifted him onto the wagon. He closed his eyes and wondered if this was his chariot into Tartarus as they pulled him along to Celestia knows where. Somehow, he managed to fall into sleep on the ride, and woke up as he was picked up and placed on a low table.
“Here is Obsidian Heartfire, hardworking stallion that lives in a library. Worked himself to death after getting a marefriend.”
“Ah remember it like it was yesterday.”
“Applebloom, it was only 10 minutes ago.”
“Hush, Sweetie Belle, yer ruinin’ the Cutie Mark Crusaders Funeral Specialists.”
“More like Cutie Mark Crusaders Torturers.” came a low reply from the black stallion
“Oh no! It’s a zompony! Quick, Cutie Mark Crusaders Zompony Hunters!”
“Oh dear sweet Celestia, don’t...” he said, opening his eyes. “Ugh, why do I have the misfortune of being tormented by you three today?”
The three fillies, an orange Pegasus with a cutie mark of a scooter with wheels of fire, a yellow Earth Pony with a hammer and saw cutie mark, and a white Unicorn with a musical note inside a heart, all sat there giving him cute, devilish smiles. They were known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and were infamous for terrorizing Ponyville.
“We were just out playing, seen you all alone under that tree and unable to reach an apple, so we decided to lend a hoof.” the pegasus, Scootaloo, said
“Ah thought you said we were gonna prank him?” the yellow earth pony said.
“Hush up, Apple Bloom, you definitely aren’t a Cutie Mark Crusader Fibber!”
“I have a silly question,” Obsidian said. “Why do you continue crusading? You already have your cutie marks.”
“Because it’s fun!” exclaimed the unicorn, Sweetie Belle. “And we have a promise to keep with our friend.”
“A promise?” he asked.
“Yea, we had a promise with a little dragon that we played with to always crusade after he helped us get our cutie marks, and we intend to keep it, especially after he left.” Sweetie Belle explained, looking a little sad at the end.
“No fair, he helped y’all get yer cutie marks, but not me.” Apple Bloom pouted.
“Well, he ‘helped’ me by having a bet, which I lost.” said Scootaloo.
“What, mad that you were seen dancing like a little filly after winning that competition with your eyes closed, Scoots?” Sweetie Belle teased, resulting in a wrestling match between the two.
“So, uh, what about Sweetie Belle?” Obsidian asked Apple Bloom.
“Well, she couldn’t figure out what to get her sis, Rarity, for her birthday, and Spike, our friend, told her to sing a song, and Spike played the piano for her song.” Apple Bloom said, “And ah got mine from fixing this clubhouse and our farm. Hey, stop that wrestlin’ before ya break the clubhouse. Again.”
“So you three were really good friends with Spike?” Apple Bloom nodded and the ball of white and orange pony agreed. “Everyone else seems to regret having done something to him, what about you?”
“Only thing ah regret is seein’ him depressed whenever mah sis and her friends went on an adventure and left Spike all alone.”
“Yea, have you ever seen a depressed dragon? It’s disgusting.”
“Scootaloo! That’s not very nice!” Scootaloo stuck her tongue out at Sweetie Belle. “I wish I had gotten to thank him properly for helping us get our cutie marks.”
“So, you are telling me the three of you, who torture innocent stallions, had a dragon for a best friend and cheered him up?” the three nodded “Wow, explains why you are so evil.”
“Well, since ya put it that way, Cutie Mark Crusaders Stallion Tormentors commence!” yelled Apple Bloom, who jumped on top of Obsidian, followed closely by the other two crusaders.
Obsidian grunted and groaned as three sets of hooves playfully hit him and tickled him. “Stop that, or I will go find this Spike and tell him to come eat you for being a pain in the flank.”
“If it brings Spike back, we will continue!” shouted Sweetie Belle. The three fillies attacked him relentlessly until they all fell onto the floor, with Obsidian letting out a long, pained groan.
“Awe, ah think we broke him.” Apple Bloom said, nudging him with a hoof.
“Think we should help him back to the library?” Scootaloo questioned.
“No! That is perfectly alright. Now, if you girls don’t mind, I have a date with the bathtub, and I intend to keep it. And then I will go die on my bed.” he said as he got up and slowly made his way to the door.
“Hey now, don’t go cheat on my sister!”
“I don’t know, the bath promises to be very relaxing, I may just fall in love with it.” he replied, causing little giggles to come out of the fillies, who waved at the retreating stallion.
Obsidian slowly trudged home to the library, wondering to himself about this young dragon. He had it rough from the sounds of it, and yet, all the ponies missed him, even if they regretted what they did to the dragon. Obsidian also couldn’t help but feel like the name was familiar to him.
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“What do you mean, nothing else will work? I’ve already tried this spell, and 364 variations of it!”
Celestia frowned at her student from her outburst. The two of them had spent the last two looking through the archive and discussing amnesia. They had gotten nowhere, however, as it turned out her student, Twilight Sparkle, had already tried the only spell that had been found that helped. And apparently tried 364 variations of it. That she had yelled at Celestia three times so far.
“Twilight, if you try to force this issue any more than you have, you may end up damaging the young ponies mind. Obsidian Heartfire, you said his name was?” Twilight responded with a downtrodden nod at the scolding. “Now, Twilight, I think you should get some rest.”
Twilight sighed, her head hung low. “I guess you are right, Princess. Thank you for helping me.” she said, walking slowly towards the door.
Celestia walked up beside her student and nuzzled her side. “Twilight, don’t be so upset. Just because he can’t remember his past doesn’t mean he can’t have a wonderful future. Now, I think you should go back to Ponyville tomorrow. If I remember correctly, you and your friends have a celebration in a couple days.”
Twilight’s face brightened up. “You are right, Princess! How could I forget the day we all got our cutie marks!” she nuzzled her mentor back. “I promise to visit again soon, Princess Celestia, and for a better occasion.”
“I hope you will, Twilight.” Celestia smiled at the unicorn as she trotted away to get a good nights sleep. Turning her thoughts elsewhere, Celestia made her way outside the castle slowly. She looked up at the moon, feeling the cool nights breeze flow over her. Spreading her wings, she took off for a relaxing flight in the cool night.
She flew for well over an hour over Canterlot and the surrounding area, and eventually made her way back to the Castle, landing on a balcony on one of the towers. She trotted down the stairs and through a labyrinth of hallways, pausing in front of a door. She gently pushed it open with her hoof and walked inside.
“Luuuna, where are you?” she cooed. The night Princess looked up at the door from her bed, looking slightly puzzled. Princess Luna stood up and walked to her sister.
“What is it sister? Is something-” Luna was interrupted by a pair of forelegs were thrown around her, drawing her into an unexpected, but not unwanted embrace.
“I know I don’t say this nearly enough, but I love you, Lu-lu.” Princess Celestia said quietly.
Princess Luna smiled and returned the hug eagerly. “I love you too, Celly.”
“Luna, do you want to go fly around, spend some time together, and annoy officials like we used to?” Celestia asked, breaking off the hug and taking a step back.
“I don’t know, Celestia. I am quite busy, um, reading books. But, I guess I can make time for you.” Luna stuck her tongue out at her big sister. “Since you asked nicely.”
“Is there anything you wish to do first, Luna?” Celestia asked.
“I will let you know when you catch me!” Luna shouted, already running out the door and down the corridor. Celestia was momentarily shocked before grinning to herself and giving chase to her sister.
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Obsidian sat at the table in the library, eyes closed in concentration. He was levitating a large number of books around him, opening them, spinning them around in mid-air, trying to improve his levitation. Other than a strange ability to catch half of the library on fire, the only magic he could really perform was levitation. He let out an exasperated sigh as all the books came tumbling down. Straining, he picking the books up one by one and repeating the process.
Normally, Twilight Sparkle would help with his practice, but she was currently in Canterlot, visiting her mentor, Princess Celestia. As soon as his thoughts turned to the purple mare, the library door was flung open and the culprit was none other than Twilight herself. Obsidian jumped off his chair, dropping all the books, a few of them conveniently on his head, and giving a little shout. “Aah! I didn’t cheat on you with my bed, I swear!”
Twilight gave the hiding stallion an odd look before replying, “How do I know you didn’t do anything with the bathtub?”
“No! I wouldn’t cheat on you! You’re beautiful!” he said, hiding under the books and his own hooves.
“Maybe I should go tell Rarity what you think of me, Obsidian.” Twilight giggled.
“Wait, what?” he asked, puzzled. He peeked out from under his hooves and seen the purple unicorn giggling at him. “Um, right. I’ll just.. Go bury myself now..” He slowly crawled backwards until his flank bumped the wall. He slowly levitated a nearby bookshelf to hide him from his roommate with a twisted sense of humor.
Twilight levitated a few heavy tomes and dropped them behind the bookshelf, ignoring the grunts that resulted. “Hmm, I don’t remember rearranging the bookshelves, but it is a nice place to keep all these huge books.” she walked towards her desk and set down her saddlebags, constantly dropping a heavy book behind the shelf.
Obsidian groaned and crawled out of the crushing weight of knowledge. “I said ‘bury myself’ figuratively, not literally.” he said, collapsing on the ground beside the bookshelf.
“Oh good, you are here.” said Twilight offhandedly, “I thought of a spell that you can try. It involves your odd ability of fire, and involves using some elements of levitation.”
“Um, Twilight? Could I at least have a moment to rest?” he asked.
“Hmm, and perhaps I should tell Rarity that you are also a lazy unicorn who just lays on the floor, unwilling to move?” she said with a hint of laughter in her voice. “That’s fine, I need to go put away some things upstairs anyway.” she said, carrying a small package from her saddlebags with her up the stairs.
Obsidian watched the mare walk up the stairs and turned his attention to the deathtrap of tomes he crawled out of. He got up and walked to the bookshelf, a frown on his face. Placing his forehooves on the bookshelf, he pushed it with a grunt. It slid slowly back into place, the heavy books behind it threatening to topple over onto the stallion. After he pushed the bookshelf where it belonged, he stacked the books up for sorting later.
His ears perked up at the sound of hooves coming down the stairs and turned to see Twilight walking down slowly. Looking closely, he noticed her eyes were a little red and puffed up. He almost asked about it, but snapped his muzzle shut.
“So, this spell is odd, and I can’t do it because I am not very good at fire magic. You, however, are very keen at it. Now, take this scroll, catch it on fire, and imagine it levitating to me.” she explained, giving him a stack of scrolls before walking to the other side of the room.
Obsidian concentrated on the scroll, catching it on fire and then tried imagining it levitating it towards his instructor. All he managed to do, however, was cover the floor in ashes. He tried having it levitate part way there before catching it on fire, and he tried doing both at the exact same time.
Hours, countless scrolls, an exhausted stallion and utterly frustrated mare later, the library floor was covered in ashes and partially burnt pieces of parchment. Twilight wasn’t upset so much at the mess, but rather, their lack of progress. Stomping her hooves against the floor, she screamed, releasing her frustrations. Obsidian nearly jumped out of his skin, and watched with wide eyes as Twilight stormed out of the library.
Just as she was walking out the door, there was a bright green flash right in front of her, and a scroll materialized. “Spike?!” she called out, startled. She grabbed it with her magic and looked at it. The scroll was just like every other blank scroll that her and Obsidian had been burning for hours. She turned towards the stallion, who had his hooves on his head, and a grimace plastered on his face.
“Obsidian?” she called, walking towards the stallion. When he didn’t respond, she walked next to him and nudged him with a hoof. He responded with a groan. She sighed and got to cleaning up the mess all over the library. She threw the ashes out the window, letting the wind scatter them. She sorted the books Obsidian had stacked up, and with a small nudge with her magic, made sure the bookshelves were all in proper order.
Yawning, she sat down at her desk and pulled a book from her saddlebags. She opened the book and started looking through it. It was an old picture book that was left in her room in Canterlot. The beginning of it was mostly of her as a little filly, showing her as a baby, to her first birthday, to her playing with Cadence and other times, her brother Shining Armor. About a third of the way through, there was a picture with her and the newly hatched Spike, cuddling together on the floor, both fast asleep.
As she slowly looked through the picture book of her life, some happy, and sad, tears drifted down her cheek, and she became aware of another pony next to her, but the intruder said nothing, and neither did she. She paused at a picture, showing her and Spike sharing an ice cream cone when they visited Twilights parents. The little dragon hadn’t learnt how to properly speak yet, but Twilight had been able to tell he was sad that Twilights parents had only given her some ice cream. When she had noticed him sulking, she had immediately trotted over to him and offered the dragon to share the cone.
“Is that Spike?” the other pony, Obsidian, asked quietly.
“Yes, it is.” was all Twilight said in response.
“Who was he, exactly?” he questioned.
“An assistant, a friend, the very best friend..” she choked back a light sob. “Most importantly.. He was my little brother..” she said, placing a hoof on the picture. Several moments passed before either of them made a sound.
“I was asking others about Spike, and I have a question.” Obsidian said softly. “You and all your friends appear to have enjoyed Spike, but you rarely had him around with you on your adventures. The Crusaders said he was always sad when you girls left him all alone.”
“What?” Twilight asked, looking at him, tears in her eyes. “They really said that?” Obsidian nodded. “Well, that makes me feel worse...”
“Sorry,” Obsidian said, “I didn’t mean to cause any pain.” he slowly backed away from the silently crying mare, heading towards the stairs.
“Wait. I don’t want to talk about it right now, but maybe you could come with me and the girls tomorrow?” she asked, looking at him. “It is kind of a special occasion for us, but I don’t mind it, and I am pretty sure Rarity wouldn’t.” she said with some semblance of a smile on her muzzle. “It’s the day we all got our cutie marks, and it is also the birthday of Spike. I might be able to talk more about it tomorrow, and maybe even the rest will talk about him.”
“Alright, Twilight. I will be there. Thanks.” he said “Goodnight, Twilight.”
“Good night, Obsidian.”
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Rarity hummed to herself as she headed towards the Sugarcube Corner, ready to meet her friends for their annual get-together to celebrate their acquisition of cutie marks. She was a little upset that her new stallionfriend hadn’t visited her in two days, but she put that aside and wouldn’t let that get in the way of things today. She let a smile out as she approached the gingerbread house that was the Sugarcube Corner, and did a double take when she saw Obsidian walking silently behind Twilight Sparkle into the confectionery shoppe.
She trotted the rest of the way to the bakery and quickly entered behind them. “My, Obsidian left me for Twilight?” she accusingly mocked.
“Well, he did call me beautiful..” Twilight added in hastily, a hoof brought up to her chin.
“It’s not what it seems like!” the stallion exclaimed, his forehooves up in surrender.
“Hmm, well I’m not sure I’m convinced, darling.” Rarity said, pressing the black stallion. She walked right in front of him, her muzzle mere inches away from his and whispered, “Convince me.”
Obsidian moved in to give her a small kiss when a big pink blur appeared out of nowhere between them, startling the both of them. Both the mare and stallion jumped back, only to be pulled into a big hug from the party pony, along with Twilight Sparkle and the newcomers, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy walked in and was frightfully dragged in by an odd hoof.
“Hello, everypony!” the pink pony, aptly named Pinkie Pie, said excitedly. When she let go, all the others stumbled away from the epicenter and settled on a more casual gathering. The group of friends chatted merrily, eating some sweet breakfast snacks. Obsidian seemed so out of place he might as well not even be there. He talked a little bit with Twilight and Rarity, had a conversation with Fluttershy that could have been the record for the most awkward conversation in Equestria. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were busy hoofwrestling to be bothered, and Pinkie Pie was never anywhere to be found when you actually looked for her.
Obsidian started to wonder if his morning would be better spent doing anything else. He was sure the others didn’t mean to make him feel this out of place, and he knew that today was special for them. He sat down at a table and looked out the window for a while before starting as a white unicorn sat across from him, a small grin on her face.
“You still haven’t convinced me, darling.” she laughed. “Come on, we are going to go on a picnic.” Obsidian jumped up and offered a hoof to Rarity, who took it giggling lightly. “Well, I suppose that convinces me a little.”
Twilight led the way, carrying a picnic basket, followed by Applejack and Rainbow Dash constantly having small arguments along the way. Fluttershy was going along, quite as usual, and Obsidian and Rarity were walking together. Pinkie Pie was constantly bouncing around the group, being her usual bubbly self.
“So what is today about, Rarity?” Obsidian asked quietly.
“Well, it is the day all of us got our cutie marks. Every year, we get together and have a little fun. It is also little Spikey’s birthday.” the white unicorn said.
“You still celebrate his birthday after three years?” he questioned.
“Yea we do, even though he is a big super-meanie-pants for leaving us!” Pinkie Pie said, interrupting the two. “I mean, what kind of friend just leaves everypony sad?”
Obsidian felt a sharp pain inside his skull as Rarity spoke up, “Well, it was my fault for him leaving.”
“What are you talking about, Rarity? It was my fault, I broke a promise to him.” Twilight interjected, having slowed down to join the conversation.
“Now don’t go blamin yerself, Twilight. Ahm sure we all did somethin that made the poor guy feel down.” Applejack said.
“You don’t understand. I promised him I would always be there for him, and yet, where was I? Off with you girls, having fun, leaving Spike all alone and hurt.” Twilight said, eyes becoming moist, looking down at her hooves as they walked.
“Twilight, dear, I think me letting the guy down after he so clearly stated his feelings for me would be worse to him than that.” Rarity told Twilight.
Rainbow Dash spoke up, “To go and just leave because he got rejected? How lame can he be?” Pinkie Pie nodded.
Fluttershy was the only pony not taking part in the small argument, and was feeling very nervous. She looked at Obsidian, who kept wincing. “Um, Obsidian? Is something wrong?”
Obsidian shook his head. “Nothing. Just a headache.” He visibly cringed as the debate continued. “A very bad headache.”
“Is there, um, something I can do to help?” she asked meekly, and watched how the stallion appeared to hurt more as the other girls continued shouting. “Um, girls? I think you should stop fighting now. Girls? Girls?!” she let out one of her rare shouts, and everypony turned their gaze towards her and she sank back down into her usual, shy self. “Would you, um, stop fighting? If you wouldn’t mind, that is... Obsidian has a bad headache.”
The mares all looked at Obsidian, who had a hoof to his temple. “Are ya alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, concerned.
“I’m.. Fine. Let’s just go have that picnic, and stop arguing?” Obsidian said, giving a small, pained smile.
“Are you sure, dear?” Rarity asked and got a nod in response. “Well, it’s a good thing we are here already.”
Their picnic was in a large meadow with a couple trees, and the group waited while Twilight spread the large blanket out under one of the trees, and then the small feast on top of the blanket. They all lay down scattered across the blanket after gathering food consisting of daisy sandwiches, a salad, some muffins, and apple pie.
The picnic went along quietly, a drastic change from the debate just minutes earlier. Pinkie Pie had just finished eating all the pie when a bright flash appeared in front of Twilight, materializing as a scroll. Twilight immediately grabbed it with her magic and read it, and looked up at the group, eyes open wide.
“We got another dragon going into slumber. Princess Celestia wants us to take care of it, since we did such a good job with the one before.” she declared. “And she wants us to go as soon as we can.” she stood up and stretched. “Who’s up for an adventure?”
Pinkie Pie jumped up and was ready in the blink of an eye. Everypony but Fluttershy got up soon after, and the poor yellow pegasus looked like she wanted to go hide.
“What’s wrong with Fluttershy?” Obsidian wondered.
“Oh, she’s just afraid of dragons.” Twilight said, walking to the cowering mare. “Come on, Fluttershy. We could probably use your help again.”
“Yea, sugarcube. It’s gonna be alright.” Applejack said to both Obsidian and Fluttershy, reassuring them. “Come on, we need to go get ready.”
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After a couple hours of persuasion, packing, and travel, the group of ponies made it to the cave holding the dragon. Fluttershy was trying to hide behind everypony despite how much encouragement Twilight was giving her. Obsidian wondered about the whole event, and was worried himself, despite the encouraging. A big, live, dragon? And they were supposed to get it to leave? Obsidian hesitated as the group walked into the entrance, and watched curiously as Fluttershy tentatively took the lead, after some nudging from Rainbow Dash.
“So, um, how do we get this dragon to leave?” Obsidian asked quietly.
“Well, last time Fluttershy scolded the dragon so bad it got scared of her and whimpered and cried and apologized and ran away.” Pinkie Pie exclaimed excitedly.
“Well, why is she so afraid of them, then? If she can scare off dragons, why is she afraid of-” he was cut off as a very loud roar resounded from the cave. “I guess that would be why..”
The dragon came into view, it was large, with dark blue scales covering its body and cyan stomach and spinal scales. It was still awake, and it wasn’t very happy to see the ponies.
“Woah, there. That’s a lot bigger than the last one.Ah hope we can take care of it.” Applejack said, a little worried.
Fluttershy quietly asked the giant dragon, “Um, mister dragon? M-my friends and I w-wanted to ask, um, if you could please move somewhere else for your nap. If you don’t mind, that is.” The dragon roared in response, and threw a giant claw at the pegasus. Fluttershy screamed as the claw moved towards her, unable to get away quickly enough. Her scream stopped suddenly as the claw hit her, sending her flying to wall, unconscious.
Rainbow Dash was the first one to respond, flying at the dragon and kicking his snout really hard, stunning him for a moment. The dragon quickly recovered and attacked Rainbow Dash, but was stopped by a magical shield cast from Twilight Sparkle. The dragon inhaled deeply and shot a large flame at the mare. She was tackled out of the way by Applejack as Pinkie Pie appeared out from behind the dragon, party cannon in tow.
Rarity was stunned at the sight of the attacking dragon and just watched as her friends attacked it. The dragon started to breathe fire again, but was stopped by a deep voice from within the cave.
“Siste, Nocto Draco.” Rarity looked to the source of the voice and saw Obsidian, eyes glowing bright green, as if they were on fire. The stallion walked towards the dragon, who started swinging at the mares again. “I said, STOP!” Obsidian shouted, his mane and tail glowing green shortly before it was consumed in green flames to match the color of his eyes.
The dragon spat out a blue fireball in the stallion’s direction, but Rarity realized that the fireball was aimed at her. The stallion jumped in front of the fireball just in time, the blue fire consuming his body. Rarity started running to the stallion as her friends stood stock still at the scene. The alabaster mare stopped just short of the burning stallion as she watched the blue flames turn green, growing larger by the second.
Obsidian shouted at the dragon again, the green flames covering his body growing almost as large as the blue dragon, and taking a semblance to a dragon. “Don’t you dare hurt these ponies anymore, Night!” Obsidian finished his statement with a charge at the dragon, covering the distance in a speed to rival Rainbow Dash. The dragon swiped at the charging stallion, only to miss as he dodged and planted a full speed kick to its midsection.
The mares all gathered in a group around the unconscious body of Fluttershy, too shocked to do anything to help, or to even say anything. Obsidian received his fair share of blows from the blue dragon, but it was mostly on the defensive. A large portion of the emerald flames shot out at the dragon, whose eyes grew wide shortly before being consumed, letting out another loud roar. As the flames receded, the dragon was no longer visible, and the stallion wasn’t visible inside.
Moments passed, all the ponies were stunned at what happened, just watching the flames go down slowly, their mouths all gaping. Rainbow was the first to break the silence, trotting as close to the fire as she was willing. “Obsidian? Are you alright in there?”
A response came seconds later, sounding deeper than Obsidian’s voice. “Yea, I’m alright, thanks for asking, Dash. Of all the time I have known you, I think this is one of the only times you have been concerned for me.”
“Well, there usually isn’t much to be concerned about you, we have only known each other for three months.” Rainbow Dash said to the shrinking flames moving slowly towards her.
“I want to say, you’re wrong, Dash. Don’t you remember not taking me to the Young Flyers Competition years ago, even though I really wanted to go?” the voice asked, a silhouette slightly larger than an average pony starting to appear in the fire. Rainbow Dash gasped, recognizing the speaker.
“S-spike? Is that really you?” she walked closer to him.
“The one and only.” came the response. The flames had just about receded fully by now, revealing the purple scaled dragon with folded wings standing on all fours, his eyes still burning bright green, with a purple tint in the center. “Who else could it be?”
Applejack and Pinkie Pie both took seats next to their unconscious friend, unwilling to meet the dragon at the moment. Twilight and Rarity, however, both had tears welling up in their eyes as they took small steps towards the drake. Twilight was unable to speak, her mouth moving slightly as the two unicorns walked. Rarity was the first one to talk.
“Spike? That is really you, darling? This isn’t some trick?” she asked rather softly, her voice cracking. The flames around the dragon dispelled immediately, leaving behind the green scales running along his back.
“Of course it is, ‘Darling.’ Are you that upset from the show that you can’t believe I’m here? Why would you be upset, anyways? It wasn’t your heart that got broken!” Spike said, his voice growing louder, anger painted across his face. “Upset that your ponies didn’t accept you? That your dresses got burnt? Well, buck you, Rarity!” he shouted at her, smoke coming out of his nostrils. The unicorn froze in her place, visibly hurt from his words.
“Don’t you dare talk to her like that, Spike!” Twilight shouted back at him, matching his volume. “You don-” she was interrupted as he slapped her muzzle, leaving three shallow cuts along her cheek. Rainbow Dash had her mouth open as she watched the dragon smack his oldest friend, but even she was able to spot that it pained him almost as much as it did the lavender unicorn, perhaps even more.
“Don’t you try to talk to me like that, Twilight. Y-you don’t know what I went through! You’re worse than she is!” he said, voice cracking as tears of his own fell to the rocky cavern floor shortly before he ran out the cave and took off into the mid afternoon sky outside.
Rainbow started to chase after him, but was stopped by an orange hoof on her shoulder. “Hold it, Rainbow. Ah think Spike needs tah simmer down.” was her quiet answer to the annoyed look. “Ah also think we should take care of the rest of the girls, don’t ya think?” Applejack motioned her head to the two unicorns and one pegasus. Rarity had collapsed onto the floor, her face buried in her hooves as she cried, Twilight sitting next to her, laying a hoof on her shoulder.
Rainbow Dash went to the side of her best friend, Fluttershy, who was just now starting to regain consciousness, while Pinkie and Applejack went to comfort the crying unicorns.
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“Go to him, sister. From what you said, he could use some help, and not from me right now.”
“I planned on it, even if you told me not to. Even I could feel his pain from that little encounter.”
“I see. It’s personal, then?”
“Very personal. I believe I know some of what he is going through. However, I need some rest. That was very taxing and I am not usually up this early.”
“Very well, I am just glad that my prediction was correct.”
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Spike flew over the land, the cool air flowing past his scales and wings. The wind helped cool his blood, calming him down, and it also served to blow the tears from his face. He was right to be angry at the ponies, wasn’t he? The mare that he had longed after had so readily accepted a stallion that reminded her of him so readily, when she had rejected him after years of his help. So why did it hurt him as much to yell at her as it did when she rejected him? And why did it feel like he had beaten himself when he slapped Twilight?
Spike spotted Canterlot in the distance and tumbled a short while before regaining his composure as he remembered the city, mainly the Palace. All the games him and Twilight had played together as kids, the promise Twilight had made to always be there, and how she had eventually gone back on her promise, leaving the dragon alone. His thoughts turned to Celestia, how she had told him everything would be alright. He scowled, remembering how the Princess had told him that Twilight was going to treat him better. Twilight had, but only until shortly after arriving in Ponyville, when she started studying more and spending the rest of the time with her new friends.
He should have been happy for her, right? He had always wanted her to have more friends, but he still felt betrayed. He should be happy that Rarity had found somepony she could be happy with, but he still felt torn.
Sighing, Spike altered his course and headed towards the orchards near Ponyville. He wasn’t sure how to feel, he had felt saddened as the pony, Obsidian, learned about how everypony felt about Spike, yet he was also angered that Rarity had only chosen to be with him while he was a pony. Even though Spike was watching the whole time, wanting to comfort his friends, yet he was reminded of all his pains when he had the chance to do so.
He knew he should go back and apologize to everypony, but he didn’t want to set eyes on any of them. He started gliding downwards, and landed near a large tree. Even though he spent over three years away from the ponies he cared about, he still wanted to be alone at this moment. Alone, just how he always seemed to end up feeling.
Spike sobbed softly as he walked up next to the tree and curled up. Even though it was still only late afternoon, the young dragon slowly drifted off into slumber, visiting the realm of dreams. Unbeknownst to him, however, were three little fillies watching him from the window of their clubhouse.
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’I’ve got a lovely bunch of minotaur skulls, here they are, all standing in a row. Big ones, small ones, all- Oooh! A jellyfish!’
‘If you keep getting delayed, this will take forever. Must you get distracted at every little thing?’
‘What? I’m hungry. Can’t blame me for wanting to eat.’
‘Well, no. But do you have to eat everything you see?’
‘No, some things taste nasty. Ooh, is that new? It resembles a Kraken, but yet it’s different.’
‘I think that is an octopus.’
‘Is it related to Cthulhu? Looks tasty.’