Cry for Eternity

by asylum1388


Chapter 13

A/N: To be honest, this chapter was just about done before the last was released, but one of the guys needed a week off, so it didn't go out until a few days ago. Also, I screwed up a rather important part due to my complete lack of knowledge in child psychology. Piquo had to boot my ass back into shape with that.

Secondly, Reignbow is now with us full-time!

Editor: Pissfer
Pre-readers: PiquoPie, f0xhole, and Reignbow.


Twenty-nine days since the coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle.

“We’re getting closer,” Twilight giggled as she dragged Fluttershy out of a large stack of pillows by the tail. “She almost let you touch her that time. You just need to be patient.” She glanced across her candlelit bedroom and gave Luna an apologetic smile.

“I would like to believe that I am being patient,” the other princess grumbled, shooting an annoyed stare at the pegasus who had just buried her face in her forelegs.

“Yes, yes you are, but she’s always been skittish,” Twilight replied affirmatively. “I’m sure that the two of you will get along perfectly, once she gets used to you.”

“I’m sorry, Twilight. I’m trying! I really am,” Fluttershy squealed through her hooves.

“Don’t apologize to me; apologize to Luna,” Twilight instructed comfortingly.

“...I’m sorry, Princess Luna, I’m trying.

“I can see that, Fluttershy, and I truly appreciate your efforts. I understand how difficult it can be to overcome one’s nature,” Luna murmured in what she hoped was a reassuring fashion.

“Okay, that’s good. Much better,” Twilight replied, feigning enthusiasm. She got behind Fluttershy and pushed the trembling pony so that she was sitting just across from Luna. “Let’s try something a little simpler this time. Maybe you two could just touch hooves?”

“That seems like a fine idea,” Luna nodded, carefully offering Fluttershy her jeweled hoof.

Fluttershy opened her mouth to respond, but all that came out was a breathless ‘squeak’ as she raised a shaking hoof in kind. The pair gently reached towards each other, but the instant before they touched, a blinding flash sent Fluttershy diving for cover once more.

“Oh for the love of... what was that?” Luna groaned, glaring at nothing in particular as she watched Twilight trot over to one of the room’s massive windows.

“It’s a sonic rainboom,” Twilight muttered. “What the hay has got Dash worked up so much that she'd be making one, much less at this hour?”

“She seems to be the common denominator when it comes to myself being unable to not frighten your friends,” Luna growled stomping the floor angrily.

“At least she didn’t do it on purpose this time,” Twilight sighed. She turned around and let her gaze linger on the quivering bundle of pillows and blankets that hid her yellow friend. “Maybe we should take a break? Let me think about this for a bit...” Without waiting for an answer, she trotted out and closed the door behind her before screaming in frustration.

Twilight loved Fluttershy, but sometimes her timidness was just too much to handle. Sure, she had gotten much better at standing up for herself, but sometimes she slipped back into her old habits — giving into her fears — no matter how unreasonable. Twilight honestly couldn’t understand why Fluttershy was still so afraid, especially since Luna had willingly reformed herself, unlike some of their other former enemies.

Maybe she was going about this the wrong way. Encouragement wasn’t working, so maybe what Fluttershy needed was a lecture...

Turning around, she shoved through the door with an air of command and confidence. “Alright, new plan,” she asserted. She stomped over to Fluttershy’s hiding place, magically flung the pillows into the far corner, and sat down pointedly in front of the wide-eyed mare. “Alright, Fluttershy, listen up. I don’t think you’re being very fair to Luna. First off, Nightmare Moon and Luna are two diff—”

“Twilight?”

“Not now, Luna,” Twilight sighed. “Anyway, as I was saying, they’re not the same pony. And even if they were, Luna has more than made up for her sins—”

“Twilight!”

“Hold on, Luna, I’m almost done! Now where was I..? Oh yes—”

“Twilight, the window!”

The panicked tone of Luna’s voice was enough to make Twilight whip her head around, and she felt her heart skip a beat at the sight. She reached out magically and tugged the window open just in time for a chromatic blur to streak through and crash into the stack of pillows.

“What the..? Rainbow, are you okay?” she screamed, bounding to the fallen pegasus.

Rainbow spat a scroll out of her mouth and coughed several times before wheezing out a few words. “Ugh... Message... Rarity... important...”

“Did you seriously just fly all the way from Ponyville at rainboom speed?” Twilight choked incredulously. “How are you..? We need to get you to a doctor, you probably hurt something!”

“...Be okay... read the stinkin’ letter,” Rainbow groaned. She rolled over onto her side and closed her eyes. “Using these pillows. Thanks.”

Twilight opened her mouth again, but was cut off by a loud snore from the stubborn mare. “Oh, fine. I guess I had better find out what’s so darn important,” she sneered, picking up and unfurling the scroll with her magic.

As she read it, her expression quickly changed from one of annoyance to one of uncertainty and worry. She glanced once at Luna, then at Fluttershy before trying to speak, but only gagged on her words. She spun around and threw herself out of the open window, taking flight, before teleporting with a ‘pop’ and a flash.

Luna stared at the spot from which she disappeared for a moment before seizing the offending missive in her own magic and holding it up to inspect. The Princess was barely able to register the presence of Fluttershy looking over her shoulder as she read the words for herself:

Twilight, we found Spike in the library. Get here NOW.


Twilight landed hard on her side. Bouncing off the ground, her momentum carried her a short distance before she slid to a stop in front of the Golden Oaks Library. Lacking the time to berate herself for not teleporting with more control and precision, she stood up, ignoring the sharp pain in her ankle, and galloped towards the door; half-heartedly shaking the dust from her feathers along the way.

She barreled through the doorway, her panicked eyes flicking upward to the second-floor landing, where a sliver of light shone through the darkness. She staggered over to the stairway, climbing it three steps at a time. Upon reaching the top, she wrenched open the door and stumbled into her former bedroom, only then stopping to catch her breath.

Gulping down air, she looked up from the floor and suppressed a gasp when she noticed four pairs of eyes locked on her. She noticed four, but only cared about one. The pair staring at her from the room’s only bed.

“Spike...”

“What do you want?”

Twilight took a quivering step forward, hoping to look more confident than she felt. “I-I came for you. I wanted to talk to you...”

“Well you can just go back to Canterlot, because I’ve got nothing to say to you,” the dragon snarled, turning his back to the target of his anger.

Twilight flinched at the venom in his tone. She tried to blink the tears from her eyes, hanging her head guiltily. She felt a gentle touch on her shoulder and turned, finding Rarity’s concerned gaze.

“We’ll wait outside,” she whispered, motioning for Pinkie Pie and Applejack to follow her out.

Twilight waited for her friends to leave before turning back to Spike and stepping forward carefully.

Spike didn’t turn around, but still slid away at the sound of her approach. “Go away! I told you that I’m not talking to you.”

“T-then don’t talk, Spike. I just want you to listen,” Twilight stammered. She had no plan. She had thought of a thousand different things to say while brooding up in Canterlot, but now that she was here, she couldn’t remember any of them. Still, here she was, and there was no turning back now. “I-I miss you, Spike. I want you back.”

“Oh, yeah... Like I believe that,” he growled sarcastically. “You didn’t want me around before, why would you want me now?”

“But I-I did want you around Spike!” Twilight sobbed. “I really did!” Twilight felt a fleeting moment of encouragement when she noticed Spike tremble slightly. “ I still do...”

“No you didn’t. First, you ‘forgot’ to ask me if I was okay with you becoming a Princess and moving back to Canterlot; then you didn’t even bother to ask me to move back with you!”

“No, Spike, that’s not how it happened! Well, not exactly,” she moaned, trying to regain even a small piece of her lost composure.

“Yes it is! You abandoned me!”

“Abandoned..?” she whispered, falling to her haunches as the full magnitude of her mistake washed over her. “No! Spike, please, just hear me out. I’m begging you...” As Spike went rigid — folding his arms in front of him, and pointedly ignoring her— Twilight felt her heart breaking. “Please..?”

“No. Go away!”

“I-If you won’t do it for me, would you at least do it for our friends?”

He coughed and sputtered as his body shook with fury, before taking a deep breath to calm down. “That’s low, Twilight... Fine. You win, like always.”

“No, that’s—” she cut herself off, desperate to stay on track. She paused for a moment before continuing quietly, just loud enough for him to hear. “Spike, I did a horrible thing to you... I didn’t mean to, but you’re right, I guess did abandon you, in a sense. You needed me, but I was only thinking about how much I needed you.”

She paused again, hoping for a response. When she didn’t get one, she pushed herself to her hooves and began speaking again. “Before Princess Celestia died, you had been acting so responsible, so mature, that I forgot that you were still technically a baby. You looked up to me, and I completely failed you.

“After she died, you were so good. You helped take care of me when I was at my worst and didn’t once complain. When you confronted me after the coronation, I didn’t understand why you were so angry. I thought you were upset that you’d have to leave Ponyville, so I tried to give you a little independance; but all I ended up doing was pushing you further away.”

She sighed, letting her regret fuel her words. “I should have realized that I hurt you by not talking to you before I agreed to take Celestia’s place. If there’s one creature in the world that deserved to have a say in the matter, it was you. I know that I don’t really deserve your forgiveness, but I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry.” She paused once more, cringing at the deafening silence. “I-I guess that’s it. I’ll just... go, I guess...”

Defeated, she slowly turned around, dragging her hooves across the floor as she made her way towards the door. “Twilight, wait...” She froze as he spoke, swiveling her ears around, but not daring to look. “If you really mean all that, then why didn’t you want me to stay with you?”

“I always wanted you to stay in Canterlot with me. I-I just wanted to give you the chance to make your own decision. I’d never try to send you away,” she murmured, struggling to keep her voice steady. “Never...”

“Then... why didn’t you say that?” he sniffed, his voice weak and heavy. “If you wanted me to stay with you, why didn’t you ask?”

“Because I didn’t want to make you feel pressured,” Twilight burst. “I-I didn’t want to force you to come to Canterlot if you really wanted to stay in Ponyville, and I was afraid that if I asked you to come with me, you’d feel like you had to. I know you’d probably rather that we both stay in Ponyville, but that just isn’t feasible.”

Carefully crossing the room so she was directly behind him, Twilight gently laid a hoof on his back, feeling much of the weight lift from her heart when he turned his head to look at her over his shoulder. “I just don’t know what to do, Twilight. I want to stay with you, but all my friends are here...”

“There’s nopony saying you have to choose one over the other,” she replied desperately. “If you want to jump between Ponyville and Canterlot every week, we can do that. If I need to pay for a carriage with my own money, or even if I have to fly you back and forth myself, I-I’ll find a way to make it work! I promise!” She leaned in as close as she dared. “I just want my little brother back... I love you, Spike.”

Twilight caught the shimmer of a tear in his eye as he shuddered for a brief moment. Then, with a loud sob, he spun around and threw his arms around her midriff. “I love you too, Twilight! I’m sorry for acting like such a jerk.”

“I’m sorry too, Spike,” Twilight replied, grinning through her tears and throwing her hooves around him, pulling him in tight. “I rushed into this without thinking about the consequences, and I didn’t even consider asking you how you felt about it. That was wrong of me, and I’m really sorry. I promise I’ll make this up to you, even if I have to spend the rest of our lives doing it.”

He gave her one last squeeze and pulled away. “I really missed you,” he murmured. “I haven’t been happy here. Ponyville isn’t the same without you...” He gave one last shuddering sigh and glanced around the room awkwardly. “Twilight, I’m really sorry. I know I was mad, but I shouldn’t have flipped out on you like that. You taught me better than that. And I’m sorry for making you worry about me.”

“Stop apologizing, Spike. You had every right to be angry with me. Sure, you may have overreacted a bit, but you’re still a baby, and this was all my fault to begin with. I neglected you, and I’m sorry,” Twilight smiled, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “Though I’ll admit that I wasn’t too worried. We have really great friends, and I knew that they wouldn’t let anything happen to you; no matter what.”

”Yeah, they really took care of me,” Spike sighed, cracking a smile of his own. “And speaking of our friends, we might want to go out and let them know that we’re okay now; they were really worried before you showed up.”

“So we’re ‘okay’ now?” Twilight murmured hopefully.

“Well, yeah; I think so,” Spike replied thoughtfully. “I mean, I guess we still have some stuff to talk about, but I think we’re okay.”

“Well, okay then,” she giggled. She gently dropped him onto her back, before trotting to the door and sticking her head out. She found her friends sitting on the ground floor, whispering amongst themselves, all three heads swung her way as the door opened, eyes overflowing with trepidation.

She smiled and stepped out onto the landing in full, breaking into a fit of giggles as her friends were immediately upon her, enveloping Spike and herself in a group hug.

“This is great! Everypony’s happy again and... Oh no!” Pinkie squealed, leaping out of the pile.

“Alright, Pinkie Pie, Ah’ll bite,” Applejack sighed. “After not seein’ each other for weeks, Twilight and Spike’ve made up, which is exactly what we’ve all been wantin’. What could you possibly find to say ‘oh no’ about?”

“If Spike goes back to Canterlot with Twilight, then she won’t be lonely and sad anymore, and then she won’t need us to come keep her company, and then I WON’T GET TO VISIT HER!” Pinkie screamed dramatically.

Applejack opened her mouth with a retort ready, but Twilight cut her off with a shake of her head and a wave of her hoof before turning back towards Pinkie Pie. “Hey Pinkie? Would you like to come visit me in Canterlot next week?”

Pinkie lept into the air, releasing one of her signature gasps. “WOULD I EVER?! Oh, I better go let the Cakes know! They’ll need to find somepony to fill in for me! And what am I still doing here? I need to go pack!” At that, she was off like a shot, through the front door and outside before anypony even realized that she had finished speaking.

“Ah better go calm her down,” Applejack sighed. “‘fore she figures out some way to cram all’f Sugarcube Corner inta a suitcase...”

“I should go, too,” Rarity murmured. “I think you two have a lot of catching up to do.”

Twilight and Spike watched the two ponies leave before turning back to each other, smiling sheepishly as a silence took over.

“Twilight, can we go home now?”

“Actually, why don’t we stay here tonight? For old times sake.”

“Yeah... I’d like that.”