//------------------------------// // Accident // Story: Spike: The Last Draconian // by Maneiac //------------------------------//         “I’m going to be so late,” Medium-sized purple claws tapped against the train’s linoleum flooring in a rhythm only the dragon understood. It was a nice morning, roughly about 6:00 A.M when the dragon belched a scroll from the recesses of his body. Needless to say, it was a very abrupt way of waking him up. The aged purple-scaled body seemed to shiver in dread at whatever the scroll said, “I can’t believe Twilight’s finally completed her life’s work at such a young age and I’m going to miss her ceremony because I overslept!!! Gah, I’m such a buck-up!” The dragon slammed his fist into the wooden and steel wall of the train, punching right through it on accident and startling other ponies who were riding in the same car. “Whoops! Yeah, that’s completely my fault you guys,” He pulled his embeded claw out of the wall and held both his claws up, indicating that he didn’t want any trouble. The ponies on the car dropped their surprised faces and went back to whatever they were doing, only taking minor glances back at the dragon who was riding with them unbeknownst to him. The dragon exhaled through his nostrils as he gazed out the moving train’s window, eyeing the approaching town with anxiety in his emerald eyes. He made a quick mental checklist at that moment in order to explain why he was late to his friends and more importantly-he gulped-Twilight. “Step 1: Feign Ignorance of her Ceremony and claim you stayed up overworking the library because there were too many customers.” He shook his head, trying to eject the surely doomed lie out of his thought process. Ponyville had little to almost no one come in and check out books. Scratch that, Ponyville had one individual who would check books out of the library and it was one of his long-time friends. A smile emerged from the depths of his consciousness as he thought of that certain pegasus with a cyan-coat. Her prismatic mane whipping in the wind resistance of her flights all around Ponyville, all day and every day. To think, the local ‘cool’ mare stopped in the library to read a child’s book. Daring Doo: Raiders of the Lost Lark , was the last book she checked out and must still have it based upon his memory. His moment of reverie, however, was not meant to last as the dreaded sound of screeching metal wheels snapped his thoughts in two. He fumbled from his seated position onto the floor as ponies began gathering their things with their mouths, magic, or hooves. He placed his fore claws onto the ground and pushed himself back onto his knees, taking a moment to rub his injured snout. Some of the linoleum had been torn to shreds due to his claws. “Dang it! Now I’m gonna have a serious case of the Sneezies while she gives her speech!? Today’s just not my day!” He looked around the car for the exit as he stood back on his two feet again. He wondered why he wasn’t like other dragons his age, being able to walk on all fours. He felt different, and as many times as Twilight told him that it was a good thing, he couldn’t help but acknowledge that little niggly feeling in the back of his mind. “What if I’m too different?”  He stood up and walked towards the exit of the train, taking just a split second to eye the amount of destruction he did to the train car. “Let’s see...That’s fifty bits for the hole in the wall, and another thirty to replace that linoleum I tore up.” He got off the train and pulled eighty small gold coins from a brown pouch with a yellow string he took from a fold of skin on his tail. The dragon then began to walk briskly up to the conductor of the train who had stepped off some point in the past. He was calling for ponies to grab this train from Canterlot to a city called Fillydelphia. Spike had always found the names of some cities to be humorous, especially with so many blatant equine puns located in their names. “Excuse me...Sir?” The dragon asked nervously even though he was twice the stallion’s size. Two things happened, one was that the stallion didn’t acknowledge the seven foot tall dragon looming over him and proceeded to walk closer to the station and away from the boarding platform. This caused the second of the two things to happen, Spike blew his fuse. A roar that shook the ground, caused unbolted objects that were standing to fall and glass to break all around the station. The conductor stopped in his tracks, completely frozen in a plethora of emotions. Ponies that were enjoying the normal Canterlot morning froze in fear and looked at the dragon with saucer-eyes. The dragon stomped his way up to the conductor and turned him around with his tail, causing the conductor to look at him face to face. His emerald-colored eyes and spikes flared out in pure untainted anger. “Your train,” The dragon hissed in the conductors face, causing the chestnut-fur between the stallion’s back legs to grow damp. “W-What about i-it???” The conductor began to back up, but was halted by a long purple appendage with sharp spikes that coiled around his body holding him in place against his will. The dragon opened his mouth really wide and moved his tongue around in a snake-like manner, this was an obvious yawn. The conductor had other thoughts though. The conductor was still trying to scream and wriggle free even though the dragon had released him a couple of minutes ago, the little brown bag still shoved in his mouth muffled his screams all the while. The dragon was looking at the fit the stallion was having with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. He even began tapping his foot to an unheard beat. Once the stallion regained his senses, he spat out the pouch and opened it. “That...Is for the damage I have done to one of your cars. It might not be enough, but that is sadly all I have with me and I know it will go towards a greater use with you. Take care,” The dragon waved at the scared manure-less conductor as if nothing happened. He ran off in a mass of bounding purple and green. The conductor merely dropped his jaw at the juvenile act that was just performed by one of Equestria’s most dangerous predators. “By Faust’s Crimson Locks!!! I thought he was going to devour me!!!” The conductor gulped as he stood back up on his four legs and adjusted his uniform. A chilling breeze washed over his back legs and made him shiver. “It's the middle of summer! It’s not supposed to be this cold out!”  He walked briskly into the ‘warmer’ train as the doors closed behind him. “Oh it was one day too late when I saw her~,” The dragon walked the cobblestone streets towards his destination quickly. He was already late, which was sure to make Twilight mad. But, if he was late for her panel, then he might as well kiss his scaled-flank good bye. It was odd, but his voice sounded good when he was singing. It helped him relax his nerves and calm him down from his earlier fiasco with the conductor. The slapping of his bare feet felt good as he ran the remainder of the way to his destination, The Royal Castle. He picked up the pace in desperation as horns announced the arrival of one of the two rulers of Equestria. “Horseapples-Horseapples-Horseaplpes-Horseaplpes!!!!” The dragon skidded to halt, burning the heels of his feet as a clod of dirt rocketed from his halted position. Two burly Royal Guards with stoic expressions blocked his way into the castle. They stared at the dragon with cold faces before speaking. “Halt-” “Yeah, I kinda did that already doofus!”  Spike snapped in an agitated manner. “What’s your purpose at the Royal Castle this early in the morning? State your name and where you’re from!” The guard on the left bellowed as they both extended a right and left wing, blocking the entrance to the castle door. A sound like swords being clashed resounded through the air. Even after living in Equestria for twenty years, Spike still didn’t understand how that sound was possible. “My name is Spike and I’m the assistant to Princess Celestia’s Protege Twilight Sparkle. I’m here for her panel on her life’s work, Future Sight through Harmony! Also, I’m really late so I need to get in now!!!” Spike made to push the guards out of the way, but was held back by two burly hooves in gold shoes. “Do not try to force your way inside, dragon! We must see if you are telling the truth, so please remain here with my fellow guardsman while I go confirm your claim.” The dark-grey furred guard retracted his fully erected wing and opened the large oak doors with ease as he slid inside. “CONFIRM!!!? WHAT’S THERE TO CONFIRM!!!? I’M THE ONLY DRAGON IN BUCKING EQUESTRIAN SOCIETY!!!” Spike coughed vigorously after his little bout of yelling for he strained his throat too much. The guard left with him broke his composure for a split second to wince at the sudden outburst from the adolescent dragon. Feeling no need to sit and wait, Spike acted immediately by wrapping the guards pony in his tail and then setting him aside like a valuable object, before ramming the door open and running inside. “HALT!!!” The guard screamed through the doorway as he flew inside, now in hot pursuit of Spike. The dragon looked to his left and saw the guard who went to confirm his claim grabbing a cup of coffee from a maid. “Geez! What a complete plothole!!!” Spike broke out into a full sprint after the guards pony spat out his coffee in disbelief at the dragon running through the foyer. The maid was not happy about her sudden coffee shower as the guard took off to join his friend in the pursuit of Spike. The dragon had no problem navigating the many twists and turns of the Royal Castle seeing as how he was raised here most of his life. Door after door passed him by as the sound of wingbeats caused him to sprint even harder. He could feel his chest heave with fatigue and pain as his muscles strained to keep his six hundred pound frame moving. “These guys just don’t know when to give up! All I need to do is reach the Royal Gardens before they catch me!” “...As you all may know, Twilight Sparkle: My Protege, Element of Magic, Savior of Equestria and Endearing Friend to Others has finished her supposed life’s work in only twenty years!” At the proclamation from the Princess, many ponies stomped their hooves in grand appreciation of the lavender unicorn’s achievements as she stood next to her mentor. Twilight had a purple and pink highlight going through her hair and gave off a genius aura. Celestia craned her head down to nuzzle her protege as Twilight nuzzled her back. “Without further ado I give you Twilight Sparkle’s Panel, Future Sight Through Harmony!!!” Celestia raised her hoof into the air after her rant was over, earning an even louder response from the crowd than before. Twilight took this opportunity to invite her friends on top of the white platform she was standing on with the Princess of the Sun. An alabaster colored unicorn mare with deep purple mane and diamond colored eyes took the stage first, followed by a buttery-yellow pegasus with bubblegum pink mane who radiated a shy aura. Following the seemingly timid mare was a cyan-colored mare with a prismatic mane that seemed to boast her skills at flying even though she wasn’t doing anything. Lastly, two Earth Pony mares took the stage. One had a pink coat with a deeper pink mane that hopped up from the ground, completely jumping the thirteen step difference in height with unrealistic ease. An orange mare with a stetson climbed the steps slowly, her green eyes full of nervousness. “Everypony, please give a stomp of applause to the Elements. Of. Harmony!” Twilight exclaimed as the force of the crowd hit her like a ton of bricks, nearly toppling her friends along with herself off the platform. Celestia called for quiet, and it was so, as Twilight began her speech to open her panel. “It’s with a great smile and even greater happiness that I introduce the other Elements and close friends of mine. Rainbow Dash-,” the mare in statement zoomed around in a circle above Twilight’s head, creating a rainbow colored wheel in the air. When she stopped, her cyan-coat matched her mane for up to five seconds before evaporating, earning cheers from the crowd again. “Ahem, her head has always been above the clouds. She also happens to represent the Element of Loyalty, because she’s been a friend even when circumstances could drive her to be otherwise.” Twilight beckoned for her friends to form a line next to her as she handed out the necklaces symbolizing their Element. She slid the necklace onto Rainbow Dash, who was hovering in the air, with her magic and motioned for her to flap to the back of them. “Pinkie Pie, local baker and Element of Laughter has always been the comedic flare of the group. There were times when it seemed pointless to smile, but she certainly does know how to turn a frown upside down.” The pink mare bounced across the stage and allowed the necklace suspended in Twilight's magic to be put around her neck. “Ooh! I’m also really good at making cakes!!! Oh, and cupcakes-parties-Pin the Tail on the Pony-bowling-fishing-pranking-bouncing-bobbing for apples-water polo- regular polo-,” Twilight -much to the relief of everyone attending- plugged Pinkie’s mouth with her hoof. The pink mare’s rant still continued even though her mouth was plugged which caused Twilight to turn her head away from the microphone. “Thank you for sharing Pinkie. Would you please move to the back so I can finish?” The Pink mare stopped talking and bobbed her head up and down really fast, shaking Twilight to the point where she almost fell before bouncing to the back of the platform without Twilight’s hoof in her mouth. “Even after twenty years she still hasn’t learned...” “Next, we have the lovely Fluttershy! Expert animal caregiver and Element of Kindness, she has proven that even the most dangerous of foes need to be given a chance.” As if allergic to praise, the shy mare ducked to the ground and shivered behind her mane with a squeal. Twilight smiled bashfully in repentance for letting her friend’s naturally shy behaviour slip her mind. With small and quiet steps, she approached the shivering mare and coaxed her out of her hiding spot.            “Um...Thank you everypony.” Twilight gave a look that told Fluttershy her tone of voice wasn’t really acceptable. Fluttershy tried making herself smaller behind her mane again but Twilight nudged her from the front with a reassuring hoof. With a smile that seemed so confident that it could kill, Twilight helped the timid mare onto her hooves and instructed her to wave. Fluttershy did so very, very slowly. The crowd simply nodded their heads instead, making the mare more comfortable all the while. After the necklace was slipped over Fluttershy’s head, she stepped back to join her friends and let Twilight continue her panel. “We now have the Queen of Fashion herself, the lovely Rarity! Representing the Element of Generosity, she gives half of all proceeds to charity!” There was a section in the crowd marked with a red banner representing all the charities the alabaster-unicorn donated to as she stepped forward. They were the loudest ones in the next cheer and Rarity tried her hardest to keep the tears down. “Thank you all~! I’m very honored to help all those ponies less fortunate than I, and I will continue my plans to open up that orphanage this coming Summer Sun Celebration!!!” Twilight and the rest of the Elements had to plug their ears with their hooves to block out the roar of applause. Quickly sliding the necklace around Rarity’s neck, Twilight ushered her to the back before returning with the same vigor. “Lastly, but certainly not least, we have the ever-reliable Applejack! Symbolizing the Element of Honesty, she has never withheld the truth from us without a reason! She is one of the proud owners of Ponyville’s Sweet Apple Acres, where a whopping thirty percent of all apples in Equestria are grown!!!” The farm mare in the stetson walked forward and nuzzled Twilight, earning small sounds from the audience. After the nuzzling stopped and Applejack nodded to all of her friends, she stepped forward to the microphone with less nervousness than when she arrived. “Mah friends have always been there for me, and ah can’t thank them enough. One of us has to be the sturdy rock ta’ cry on, but it ain’t always like that. Even a rock needs some comfort at times.” Applejack smiled as the crowd erupted into cheers again and her necklace was donned on her by Twilight’s magic. “Now, without further ado, we will begin the spell!” Twilight donned her own piece of the set, a gold tiara with a purple star at the top. The Elements joined each other on center stage and closed their eyes, trying to feel the bond they shared with one another. A pair of midnight-blue wings ripped through the air silently as Princess Luna flew down from her tower to her sister in their specially reserved seats at the front of the crowd. They nuzzled before Luna spoke. “Dear sister, are we tardy for the spell that thy protege was supposed to manifest?” Luna sat next to her sister whose only response was turning her head and then shaking it back and forth. Luna smiled as she watched the Elements gather their magic of friendship in a rainbow of bright colors. A whirring sound, like a tornado, whipped about the Royal Gardens as ponies tried to keep their many accessories from flying about. Once the sound escalated to painful levels, a rainbow beam shot forth from the bunched together Elements and rocketed into the sky. The beam dissipated some clouds before it looped and came back down just to the left of the Elements. The energy of friendship swirled into a rainbow colored vortex that did not have gravitational pull. The Elements opened their eyes and shook themselves, for that spell was very taxing. A stomp of applause and cheering was heard as the Elements smiled at each other, wrapping themselves in a group hug. Rainbow Dash spoke first. “Hey; even after twenty years, we still got it!” This earned a disapproving glance from Rarity. “Please darling, it’s not like we're old mares! If anything, our friendship has grown stronger since these years past!” Rarity smiled at her friend who proceeded to noogie her head. Rainbow Dash laughed as Rarity ground her teeth together in irritation. ”Woah there, Rares! Don’t want you chipping a tooth or something.” The rest of the Elements stifled a snicker from the fashionista’s and athlete’s exchange of words. Twilight broke the hug and stepped forward to explain her theory. “This whole spell started making it’s way to fruition after the two times we used it against some of the greatest evils Equestria has faced. Discord, the Spirit of Disharmony was one of them. Then, there was the powerful Nightmare Moon,” The ponies in the crowd gave murmurs of understanding during Twilight’s pause. One of the crowd members, a certain midnight-blue alicorn, lowered her head in what appeared to be shame. Luna knew all too well about Nightmare Moon, for the Mare in the Moon and herself were one in the same. Nightmare Moon was the living embodiment of her jealousy towards her sister and her sun. That very emotion consumed her and morphed her body into one of a grown mare that wanted nothing more than to shower the world in Eternal Night. A loving nuzzle from her sister reassured her that everything was alright, and that she was forgiven. Forgiven: that was the word she thought would never come to hear after her actions. “After the Magic of Friendship purified these two, we yielded different results. One was a dome-shaped blast of magic that turned Discord to stone and made all his chaos magic disappear from Ponyville. Another was a arcing rainbow that swirled around the body of Nightmare Moon, eliminating her negative emotions and returning a filly Princess Luna. Now my question was: ‘Why are the two beams different?’ Well, that question was sort of answered when I formed my hypothesis.” Twilight magicked a green chalkboard with wheels onto the stage from the ground and levitated a piece of chalk in the same aura. She wrote a couple words on the board that shocked nearly everyone. The words read, “Is it the Will of Equestria itself?” Celestia quirked her head to the left and tried reading that again. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes after the words didn’t change. The crowd elicited a confused response as well. “Why would Equestria have a will?” Luna didn’t even realize she said that as her sister regarded her with a quizzical expression. Catching the hint that her sister didn’t know, the siblings doubled their attention back to the lavender unicorn on the platform. “I know that you guys must think I’m crazy in the coco, but hear me out on this. Equestria was formed by the magic of alicorns in the distant past if my teachings from Celestia are true-,” Twilight looked at Celestia and everyone’s gaze followed. This put Celestia at the center of attention in a crowd of almost five hundred thousand ponies. “Thanks a bunch Twilight.” Celestia gave a faux smile and responded with a curt nod, sending the attention back to Twilight. This earned a happy smile from the unicorn and she continued on with her lecture. “Then Equestria should have a will of it’s own. Yes, my fellow ponies, this means that the soil you are standing on is alive!” The sound of dropped jaws exploded throughout the congregation as all the eyes looked at the ground for signs of life. Twilight whistled to grab everypony’s attention, then smiled sheepishly for the immediate response came as a surprise to the well-learned mare. She gave the crowd a moment to recollect themselves before Luna spoke out. “Be this a jest, Twilight Sparkle? If not, then please infer on thine reasoning behind such a statement.” Luna watched Twilight with curious eyes as the unicorn smiled heartily. “No offense intended Princess Luna, but my reasoning for this is quite simple. The reason Equestria is a living and breathing organism is because of magic. That’s right, the magic we use is alive and everywhere. Even inside all of us. So I tested this hypothesis by using my magic directly on a dead tree just in front of the Everfree Forest. The tree is currently housing over five families of squirrels as I speak to you all.” Everyone was confused at the mare’s reasoning, even Celestia who was the wisest of them all. “Would you mind explaining the will of Equestria to us all, Twilight? I can’t fathom how a tree near the Everfree Forest being rebirthed could fall into the will of our-,” Celestia’s mouth stayed open as she cut off her own sentence. The answer was in front of her the entire time, but she was so busy trying to make sense of it that the answer eluded her. But now, she had found it. “It’s because the Will of Equestria is Life.” Twilight nodded happily at her teacher’s realization. “Indeed it is Princess! Equestria want’s nothing more than to create life from its own life, meaning that our magic is the the offspring of the ancient alicorn’s will. The Will of Equestria was the will of the Ancient Alicorns.” The crowd gave a mixed response to that, but the Elements walked forward and joined Twilight on center-stage. They already heard this from the unicorn, and the twist at the end was going to leave a lot of open faces. “In short, Equestria is a living, breathing land that wants nothing more than to prolong our lives. It goes without saying, but the Elements of Harmony symbolize the greatest strand of Equestria’s Will. In saying this, all of us earn our special talents according to what will give us a great life! Isn’t that cool? Equestria has safeguarded pony kind for one thousand years, and we never even knew. The fact that Luna and Celestia raise the sun and moon were talents bestowed upon them by the Will of Equestria, which is the same for all of us. Now, the Will of Equestria has an embodiment!” At that word, a white leg stepped out from the still swirling vortex next to the elements until a transparent body of an alicorn mare regarded all the ponies in attendance. The mare had crystal-blue eyes and red bangs that rested just above her eyes. She looked around the congregation of assembled ponies and laid her eyes on the Royal Sisters for a long time. “Have they forgotten about me? I’m not too worried though, they’ll remember me in a little bit.”  The ghastly alicorn stepped forward and flexed her wings, causing the ground to shake. Ponies became scared at the sudden earthquake and looked to the platform, giving the unknown alicorn their full attention. “Greetings, my little ponies. For years I have been working behind the scenes, protecting and ushering all of pony kind into an era of peace. These six mares; the Elements of Harmony, have harnessed enough energy to summon me from my plane. My name, is Light.” The alicorn bowed her head as Celestia and Luna quirked eyebrows up. “Celestia, hast thou heard of Ms.Light before? She resembles somepony quite familiar, but thou know how we are with faces.” Luna nudged her sister when she didn't respond immediately. The next thing that happened elicited gasps from everyone in attendance. The Garden doors burst open with a medium-sized dragon sprinting for his life, followed by a plethora of guards chasing him down. “Oh Horseapples, I’m already late!” Spike rammed through two evergreens that were blocking his path, shattering them on contact. He spotted the platform in the distance and pushed himself past his fatiguing body. Twilight turned around in a heartbeat once she heard the trees break and took a step forward in confusion when she saw Spike being chased. “Twilight! I’m sorry I was late, but can you tell these guys that I’m with you!” Twilight felt a presence on her shoulder and turned her head in order to see a transparent hoof there. Light was touching her for some unknown reason, but the feeling was so forceful that it felt like she was being- WHOOSH~ Twilight was pushed out of the way as Spike jumped onto the stage in a rush to get away from his burly pursuers. The fact that he phased right through the alicorn caused him to look back and see if what he just did actually happened. “WOAH!!” Turns out, you really do fall while you run if you’re not looking at where you’re running to. Spike slipped on his right foot and went face first into the portal. The guards stopped pursuing and put on worried expressions as they stared intently at their mistake. “SPIKE!!!” Twilight yelled with an outstretched hoof towards the portal. The other Elements joined Twilight in her worrying and Fluttershy began to cry. Light turned her transparent body around and eyed the portal with a curious expression. The Royal Sisters eyed the mysterious alicorn as if she were going to reveal her true self and turn out to be a villain. “Everything is alright, my little ponies. The young dragon simply fell into the Portal of Future Sight. Think of it as a projector. We will get to see Twilight’s experiment with no hassle in selecting a volunteer. Still thy worry and watch the portal become a scrying glass before your very eyes.” Almost as if on cue, the portal began to paint itself the colors of green and purple, before going completely colorless. Then, in a bright flashing light, Canterlot was shown. It was a beautiful noonday with nary a cloud in the sky. Ponies were milling about the streets in regular commerce, enjoying the beautiful noonday temperature. This brought a smile to everyone’s faces, save the still worrying Elements and Light. Something didn’t feel right to the transparent alicorn, and her concerns were finalized as the sky in the portal began to darken. Two dragon-like creatures that stood on two legs loomed over Canterlot, giving off magical auras. One was a sinister yellow that seemed like it could kill somepony with a single touch. The other was a disgusting green that seemed to rot the mountain they stood upon. They were both silhouetted in darkness with nothing but the colors of their eyes glowing. The greying clouds began to swirl into a vortex of flashing green lightning that struck the Royal Castle, setting it ablaze in green flames as the dragon-like creature with green eyes flew to the highest tower in the castle from the mountain. Then, from the very depths of its diaphragm, a guttural roar of triumph ushered forth from its mouth. It shook the land and caused certain buildings in Canterlot to crumble and collapse almost instantly. Another lightning flash caused the entire audience to ring out in pure shock, for it revealed the face of everyone’s favorite residential dragon...Spike. His eyes were glazed over and emanated a feeling of loss and despair. His obsidian armor gleamed devilishly in the now pouring rain. His snout was no longer snubbed, but elongated with razor sharp teeth overhanging every few inches closer to the end. Then, the portal blanked out as Spike roared green fire towards the audience, sending the current Spike onto the stage with a loud flop. ALL eyes were on the dragon as he shook himself from his dazed state. He looked up and instantly thought something was wrong based on the looks of fear he was getting from everypony in attendance. He tried moving his arms, but they felt weighted down. Spike then settled on the idea to use his tail as a type of spring to propulse himself onto his two legs, which worked amazingly. He looked about the audience with fear in his own eyes, and the audience looked back at him the same way. One question entered his mind and he felt compelled to ask it. “Lovely weather we’re having today?” He ventured with worry in his voice as he asked his question. The crowd’s face did not change, in fact, it seemed to get worse as ponies started to back up from the podium in sheer terror. Spike was getting rather annoyed at the way he was being treated, for he stayed in the company of Equestrian Ponies all his life and now they wanted to show fear? Granted, he was much smaller back then but it makes no difference! “Hey, I might have grown up a little but that doesn’t mean I’m not Spike! It’s only been twenty years, and doesn’t that mean you should recognize me as a friend and not an enemy!!!” He stomped his foot on the platform in severe anger. Many ponies, at that show of anger, bolted to the castle in fright and left the panel immediately. In fact, all the ponies ran for the exit save the Elements and the Royal Sisters. The vortex was still spinning behind Spike as he watched his surrogate race run in fear. It hurt, knowing that the ponies he grew up with now possibly shunned him for something he didn’t do. That’s when he turned his anger on the alicorn and the vortex behind him. “You did this!!!” He roared in Light’s face, his spit phasing threw her body. She shook her head, presumably in pity, and replied in some words that Spike didn’t expect. “I pity you, Spike.” Light had gone through the portal and closed it, leaving Spike to his thoughts at her words. The Elements approached him cautiously, which he noticed threw the corner of his eyes. That, was the last straw. “Not you guys too,” He breathed with sorrow in his eyes as he turned to face his supposed best friends. “What did they see!!? Why is no one telling me what the buck they saw!!??”  “I don’t think I could take it if you guys felt the same as the others!” He pleaded with his friends. Rainbow Dash fluttered close to Spike’s face and grabbed it with both of her hooves, turning it roughly so they were staring each other down. “Spike, do you remember seeing anything while you were in that swirling-thingy?” Rainbow looked completely serious as Spike eyed her down. He clenched his jaw, trying to hold back the tears that were clawing their way to the surface of his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! Nopony is trying to tell me what was so bad; what could make them suddenly fear me,” He swung his claw more roughly than he meant to. It hit Rainbow on the hooves and caused her to faceplant onto the platform, shattering the wood where she made contact. The Elements jumped back in fright at the monstrous strength the dragon just exhibited as they eyed the unconscious form of Rainbow Dash’s body. “NO! Rainbow, I’m so sorry!” He picked up the unconscious body, holding it close to his chest as the tears he fought so desperately down came forth in an explosion. “Spike the Dragon, you must come with me. We have matters to...discuss.” That voice was laced with seriousness and a hint of malice. Spike was scared that one of his friends got that gruff. “Maybe it was Fluttershy!”  He thought in fear as he picked his head up and looked at the bunched together Elements, noticing Fluttershy cowering behind Applejack. If it wasn’t the pony who got tough when one of her friends was in danger, than who could it have been? “Turn around, Spike.” The gruff voice rocked him to the core as he did what he was told. He noticed a tri-colored mane billowing in an unseen wind ascend the steps before the regal figure of Celestia appeared before him. She loomed over his sitting down position with a turned up head, so that the eye hidden behind her bangs peered at him as well. Something about that second eye really made his blood cold. “That portal has revealed some rather, bothersome, facts about your future. I think it’s best if you followed me, ALL, of you.” “Today just isn’t my day....”  Spike smacked a claw against his face as he followed a good distance behind the ponies back to the Royal Castle.