//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: A snip of Ribbon 
// by Dddrgn 
//------------------------------//

.


A Snip of Ribbon
By Dddrgn

~Part 1~

My magenta scales shone dully in the sunlight as I walked along, wagon rolling along behind me. My eyelids half drooped, but still open, my mind was on other things. That white pony elegantly strode beside me, smiling excitedly. 
“ This is absolutely wonderful Spike, thank you so much for helping me find these gems, it would have been a disaster if I didn't find them” came her melodious voice, almost singing. “ With all these gems, I won't need to come out and stock up for Months!”. My face turning flush red, I stopped at the entrance to Rarity's boutique, quickly opening the door with my small claw, holding it open for her.
“ Oh spike, you are such a sweetie” her voice breathed the sound of an angel descended from heaven. “ Who knows where I would be without you, probably still out there digging in the mud”. Rarity made her way into the boutique, pausing momentarily, kissing me lightly on the cheek, then progressed inside. I continued to stand, frozen until the door closed, then I fell to the ground, letting out a deep sigh of content. Or was it Happiness? Love? Whatever it was, I wanted to drown in it. 
My heart pounded beneath my chest, playing a beat, a tune. It seemed to be trying to grab my attention. I didn't care though, it was odd, something I had never felt before, but who said it was bad? My love's voice echoed through my head, repeating over and over again: “ Spike, you are such a sweetie”. For the moment, everything was perfect, and I was at rest. 
I can't entirely explain what happened next. A high pitched shriek impaled the silence I was holding so dear, and the beat In my heart stopped. A new beat started to replace it, a hectic and rapid one. Something was horribly wrong. I threw myself onto my feet, claws digging into the soft soil. “ I'm coming my love!” I screamed involuntarily, sweat beading down my scales. 

The front door of the boutique slammed open, and I dashed quickly inside. I scanned the room with my eyes, searching for anything wrong. In the middle of the room, Rarity stood, eyes wide open, mouth agape. Sprinting to her, I started to stammer in an anxious voice, 
“ Rarity! Are you alright? Are you hurt? What's wrong?” I panted, barely able to breath. I was terrified for her life, what if something had happened to her? 
“ This...” She said, her voice growing louder. “ This is the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!” The white pony threw herself onto an intricate velvet couch dramatically, throwing her mane over her shoulder. Kneeling down in front of the couch, I looked her straight in the eyes. 
“ What's wrong? Are you hurt? Did you die? Are there... ZOMBIES?” I screamed the entire time, out of sheer fear for what could have happened. She looked up at me, batting her eyes over-dramatically. 
“It's just the worst thing! I...” she paused in thought, forming her words carefully. “ I lost my favorite ribbon that I was going to use on a new dress I am designing! I have looked everywhere! I think it's been stolen!” I stared, looking closely at every detail of her. She was a perfect pony, there was no way she could be wrong about this. I was convinced, I would find her ribbon if it killed me. 
“ Don't worry Rarity, you have nothing to worry about! Spike the number one assistant at your service! I will find your ribbon for you if it kills me!” Boy did I sound cheesy, but I guess that was the best way I could tell her what I was going to do. My love slipped off the couch, walking over to her bag, lying on the floor near the exit. Reaching a hoof into the bag as I watched her inquisitively, she pulled out a small photo, shoving it into my hand, then pushed me out of the boutique. 
Staring down at the the small photo in my hand, I saw a picture of a very bright purple roll of ribbon, very slightly encrusted with gems. 
“ Why in Luna's name would Rarity have a picture of ribbon?” I began to ask, but then shrugged it off. She had obviously prepared for a situation like this, she was after all, the most perfect pony in Equestria. She couldn't get anything wrong. Slowly making way for the center of Ponyville, I began to wonder where I could find her ribbon, and why was it so important to her? I knew one thing for sure though, if it was that important to Rarity, then it was significantly more important to me. 
Standing under a small tree in the town center, I pondered over where the ribbon could be, and then I suddenly knew. The Diamond Dogs. They were always trying to find more gems, and gem encrusted ribbon would be one prize that they would surely try to steal. I headed straight for the underground tunnels that I remembered from when I had saved Rarity, I was scared out of my scales, but I had to do this for her. 
My claws shook nervously as I walked through the dirt field, mounds of mud piled around me. If I remembered correctly, then one of these holes would still be open. Finally finding the large pit in the ground, I stood at the edge peering down. 
“ Come on Spike, you can do this, for Rarity,” I told myself, taking in a deep breath. I kicked a small pebble down the hole, listening for an echo, counting how long it took to reach the bottom. I counted a total of ten seconds, and deciding that it wasn't too far, hopped into the hole. The fall felt endless, and my stomach turned, flipped inside out. 
Picking myself up off the stone floor of the eery cave, I wiped the mud off my scales. Everything around me was dim and, even the walls in front of me were indistinguishable. I vaguely remembered the direction we went when I saved Rarity, and I felt my way around for any cave to follow. If the Diamond Dogs would be anywhere they would be where the most Diamonds were, so I started to dig for diamonds. 
Holes were created all around me, but I found no Diamonds. Everywhere I looked were empty holes,  and piles of dirt sitting next to them. Finally deciding to just go anywhere, I breathed a small amount of fire, giving just enough light for me to see the caves surrounding me. I started down the closest cave, breathing more fire every few seconds in order to see, pausing at a sudden scattering sound. 
I froze, the blood in my veins seizing to flow. Only my eyes moved, scanning the few feet ahead of me that I could see. Everything seemed alright, so I started walking forward again, taking a few steps then freezing. The scattering sound came back again, close behind me. I paused again, rolling my eyes back to try to see anything. Nothing. All I could her was the ragged sound of my own soft breathing, the paper-thin air sat still around me. 
The scent of stale sweat filled my nostrils, and I could just feel a few taps followed by a short whisper, a curse of some sort, behind me. I twisted around, but was unable to see anything thanks to the deathly black darkness.  Stepping backwards a few steps, a sudden white flash began to onslaught my brain and my senses went numb. I became unaware of my surroundings, and I felt as if I was floating through my own little world. Scratching and mumbling seemed to echo around me, but I payed it no mind. I was flying through white empty space, it was like nothing I had ever felt before. But then suddenly I was falling, falling, falling endlessly. My eyes snapped open and I tried to scream, but no sound escaped from my throat. My life was over.
~Part 2~
I couldn't take in my surroundings, but my eyes devoured every detail. None of it made sense. I could vaguely make out thick iron bars jutting out of the ground, ending in razor sharp teeth at the top, making sure whatever it held captive was stuck. Beyond the depths of the cell, strange shadows lurked against the rocky walls, digging random holes here and there, piling mounds of dirt around. I tightly squeezed my eyes together again, hoping that all this was a dream, and that it would disappear in seconds. 
I opened my eyes quickly, clinging to the thought that I may be home in the treebrary, twilight reading her books next to me. A grotesque face leered into focus, snarling and gurgling as I looked around. It's eyes tinted yellow, his rancid breath wafting into my nostrils. Scales twitching, I shot onto my feet. “ yesh... the dragons ish awake!” the strange creature hissed. Rubbing my eyes for clarity, the dog became easily visible, but also uncomfortably close. 

It's call attracted the attention of more of the many dogs scurrying through the tunnels. As my eyes grew more used to the extreme darkness, their features became more unbearable to look at, every scratch and gash stood out, untreated, scabbing over and picked at. “ now we can use it! The dragons will show us all the pretties diamondses!” screeched one of them, tumbling onto the ground in it's own filth. Several more joined in, whispering their approval of the previous dog's statement. 

~Part 3~
Rarity paced back and forth in her bedroom, anxious, hoping Spike would return soon with her ribbon. If he didn't... She shook her head violently, not wanting to imagine what would happen if she couldn't finish this outfit for this client. As she paced, her hoof caught on something, and she fell in a pile to the ground. Groaning, Rarity looked down to her feet only to spot her Ribbon! It had been here all along! “ but... oh no” She muttered to herself. “ If my ribbon is here, then Spike is running around for nothing!!” Smoothing her mane to calm herself down, Rarity shuddered. “He will probably be back soon anyways, yes that's right. “ she told herself. 
Minutes turned into hours as Rarity moped around her room. Something was definitely wrong. Spike should have been back before dark, and the moon was gleaming high in the sky. Why was she worrying about this? Spike was always just... there. No matter what she was acting like, Spike was there for her. A knot began to tie in her gut, a wrenching feeling began to pull at her. Rarity decided unconsciously that she had to do anything she could to find Spike. 
Twilight Sparkle looked up from her book, startled by a shrill voice screaming outside of her treebrary. “ Is that... Rarity?” she wondered, closing the dusty book. “ I wonder what's wrong with her today. oh, I hope she's okay” Twilight muttered to herself, walking slowly to the door. Rarity burst into the treebrary before Twilight could even reach the door, wailing and crying. “Rarity! What's happened?!” Twilight said, shutting the door behind Rarity. 
“ Twilight! It's horrible! It's the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!” Rarity shrieked, throwing herself dramatically onto a couch, rolling in her tears. “ YES?!?” Twilight said, eying the mess of a pony. “ It's Spike! I sent him out to find some Ribbon I lost, and now he's gone! It's been since this morning! I found my ribbon in my boutique, but Spike is nowhere to be found!” Rarity sobbed and threw her face down into the couch's cushions. “You WHAT?! Twilight exclaimed, shoving her hoof into her face. “ Why would you send Spike out to do something like that! He never gives up, especially for you! He could be out there for Days!” Rarity rolled towards Twilight, eyes still full of tears “ I know, and it was selfish, but what do I do now?! The white pony curled into a ball, moaning. 
“There is only one thing we can do Rarity” Twilight said, trying to comfort her. “ We will look as much as we can, and we will find him! He can't be far, probably just wandered to a street that he doesn't know. We will have spike home in no time!” Twilight put her hoof around Rarity, giving her a enormous hug, almost squeezing the life out of her. “ Don't worry one bit Rarity!” 

~Part 4~
The six ponies stumbled into the Treebrary, exhausted and tired from an extremely long week. They had looked everywhere, but no matter what they did or where they searched, Spike was absolutely nowhere to be found. Twilight hung her head low, a faint purple glow pulling her scarf off and hanging it on a small metal hook near the door. Rarity's mane was unkempt and messy, and her eyes drooped. Everypony had an aura of exhaustion and depression hanging over them. “ I don't know girls... “ Twilight said, staring at the floor, obviously holding back tears. “ I don't think we will be able to find Spike.” Fluttershy sighed, falling to the floor. “ I just don't understand where he could have gone.” Rarity said quietly, playing with her mane. “ It's been an entire week of searching. We are never going to find him you guys!” Rainbow Dash said, ruffling her wings then sitting on the hard-wood floor. A purple glow pulled a map from twilight's bag in front of her, scarred with many large red X's. “ We have looked everywhere in ponyville, and he couldn't have left the town... maybe he...” “ Stop it, We can't keep lookin' randomly like this!” Applejack interrupted. “ Ya'll need to look at the obvious! Spike ain't comin back, n' there is nothing we can do bout it.” Taking her hat off slowly, Applejack put her hoof around Twilight. “ Ah' know how ya' feel sugarcube, but we can't go on wild goose chases like this”. Gently pushing Applejack's hoof off of her, Twilight slumped to the ground. “ well what else can we do? We can't just give up...” her voice faded to nothing, covered by sobs. “ It's our only choice Twi, there ain't nothing left ta do.” Applejack nuzzled Twilight gently, trying to calm her down. “ We will say one last goodbye and let it be after that.” The six friends gathered close together in an enormous group hug, tears puddling onto the ground beneath them. “ at least we all have each other” Fluttershy whispered. 
–
I fell to the ground, cringing in pain as shrieks echoed around him. A sudden shot of pain blasted through my spine. “ Get up Dragon! You dig diamondses!” screamed a hideous voice into my ear, the horrid breath forcing me to cough and sputter. I struggled to pull myself back up, looking down at my bloodstained scales. Another blow struck me down, and I yelled out unconsciously. “ I said dig diamondses!” the dog howled, staring at me with his big, yellow eyes, smirking at my pain. The dog kicked me, and I flew into the wall, everything once again turning black. This happened far too often now. The past week flashed before me, all of it going extraordinarily quickly. I watched as I was tossed out of the spiked cage, dogs surrounding me. I put up a fight, and the dogs were not too happy about it. They immediately assigned a dog to guard me, and he often enjoyed whipping me while I attempted to work. I watched as my scales slowly detached from me, loosened and worn from my body. Every diamond I dug wearing me even more thin. As I lay in the dirt and mud, I could barely make up scuttering around me, and voices echoing around, voices I could not make out. “ The dragonseh... he ish... ish he?” one dog whispered. I could barely make out the dogs standing above me, one of them nodding his head to the others. I knew it was done, I knew I was gone. One last thought came to my mind as I lay, bleeding on the ground, and I my lips barely moved. “ I'm sorry Rarity...”

~part 5~
Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack all stood in silence around a small hole dug in the ground, all of them looking almost gray in contrast the the overcast day. An aura hung over all of them, a single emotion, only Rarity stood out among them. Rarity, her colors more faded than anypony else in the grassy field, still cried. Twilight walked into the field, her horn glowing faint purple, and a small wooden casket trailing behind her. Twilight stopped shortly before reaching the hole, lowering the casket into the grave with her magic. “ We bury this casket in honor of our number one assistant, our friend, and our family.” Twilight said, both loudly and clearly. “ Spike was only a baby dragon, but he was the best dragon I ever knew. He was always there, no matter what, to support me and care for me no matter how ridiculous I was being. We don't know what happened to you Spike, but please forgive me for being unable to save you from whatever has happened...” Twilight started to lift a small shovel with her magic, but Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder and shook her head. Clearing her throat and smoothing her mane, Rarity stood up. 
“ Spike was more than a friend.” She said, holding back her tears. “ he was family. He was like a brother to me, always helping me, whether I wanted him to or not. He refused to give up, even when times were tough. He charged into save me when the Diamond Dogs kidnapped me, and he gave me a beautiful gem, even though it was his birthday. I cannot think of a more sweet, loving, and amazing creature than Spike the dragon. I wish deep down in my heart that he had returned, and I was selfish for sending him out such a pointless errand. Spike, I hope you don't forget me.” Rarity reached into her bag, pulling out small, sparkling roll of ribbon. Cutting of a small snip, she lowered inside the casket, then continued to bury it. As she stepped down, her five friends looked at her in awe. Rarity completely disregarded them, staying after everyone had left. The sun was setting, and the time she could stay was short, night was far too dangerous. “ I'm sorry Spike” she whispered. “our love never was able to burn true, but it still lives in my heart.”