Applejack kicked at the gray lump in front of her. “So, just ta be sure, this thing’s dead, right? One hundred percent, sure as sunshine, dead?” For all the orange dragon’s hulking mass, she only stood slightly larger than the remains of the first creature. She looked over at the smaller, Spike-shaped creature. “And what about that one? Fer that matter, what are these things?” Nearby, Fluttershy checked the fake pony’s neck for any sign of a pulse. Until they were sure it was dead, they weren’t going to take any chances. “Hey, pony-boy, you got any idea what this big thing is?”
Spike sighed softly as he finished tying a rope around Rarity’s tail. “It’s nothing.” Five dragons watched in concern as Spike pulled a pot of boiling water from a nearby fire. From the water, he pulled a large cooking knife. He checked the tourniquet one last time, and made sure that the bandages were nearby and ready. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I’m so sorry.” He brought the knife down in one quick motion, severing the damaged portion of her tail. The sleeping spell kept the dragoness from feeling anything, but that didn’t make Spike feel any better about what he just did. He quickly set about bandaging what was left of her tail, making sure that the bandages were tight enough to control any bleeding, but not too tight to interfere if the tail started to grow back. He could only hope it would, because his knowledge of medical magic was limited to basic first aid, and the creature’s teeth damaged her tail far beyond that.
“How can you say that?” Rainbow Dash stepped forward, tears streaming down her face. Spike didn’t look back until he was done securing the bandages and removing the tourniquet. “That thing nearly killed her.” The blue dragon’s voice was little more than a harsh whisper. Without warning, Rainbow’s claw shot forward, grabbing the pony and lifting him into the air. “YOU SAID YOU LOVED HER!” She held him directly in front of her face, claw shaking as she fought the urge to close her grip on the smaller creature. “How can you see her laying there like that, and call it nothing?! Don’t you feel anything?!”
Spike glared at her. There was no fear in his eyes, only anger and tears. “I JUST CUT OFF HER TAIL! HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL?!” He didn’t squirm against the dragon’s grasp, or make any attempt to escape, he just stared at her, unflinching, unmoving. “I said it was nothing, because that’s what it is.”
There was movement behind Rainbow as Applejack stepped forward and placed a claw on the smaller dragon’s back. “Calm down, Sugarcube.” Rainbow looked back and up, but didn’t release Spike. “We’re all upset, but she’s alive, and that’s what counts. Ah think ya oughtta let him explain himself.” Rainbow clenched her jaw as she looked back at the pony in her claw. “Put him down, Rainbow.”
The brightly colored dragon dropped Spike immediately and stepped back. “Y-you’re right.” Rainbow closed her eyes and sniffed loudly. “I- I’m sorry, I don’t what I was thinking. You didn’t do anything, and you had to fight off that other creature.” She walked over to the edge of camp and paced along the treeline. “I- I shouldn’t have done that.”
Spike turned back towards Rarity to gather up the medial supplies. The moment he took a step, he felt something warm and soft squish against the bottom of his hoof. He didn’t look down. He didn’t need to; he already knew what it was, that there was only one thing it could be. His gut twisted and he fought back the urge to heave. He ran for the edge of the campsite, but only made it halfway before his stomach caught up with him. With loud retching noises, the pony purged the contents of his stomach. The day’s lack of food left him with little to expel beyond bile, but he didn’t let that stop him. After getting his stomach back under control, Spike looked away from the ground in front of him and took several deep breaths to calm himself. “The original name for these creatures is unpronounceable, but it translates to ‘nothing.’” He walked over to Rarity and sat down near her. With a flick of his head, he used his magic to toss the severed portion of her tail into the fire. Then he took the medical kit and started treating his own injuries.
Fluttershy stepped away from the creature’s corpse and walked over towards Spike. With almost supernatural grace for her size, she took the medical supplies from Spike and gently nudged him to lay down next to Rarity. “As far as I can tell, the large creature is dead. There’s no pulse or autonomic responses, but I’ve never seen anything like this, and I don’t know what I’m dealing with.” She glanced back at Rainbow Dash as the colorful dragin stomped over to a nearby tree and swiped at it with a claw, tearing away half of its trunk in frustration. “Please don’t blame her,” she looked back at Spike, “her friends are important to her. Well, all of us are important to each other, but Rainbow Dash is a little different. She came to Dragonspire from a place called Casull when she was pretty young. I don’t know how old she was, but I think we’re about the same age. The first thing she did was pick fights with everydragon she could. She only stopped after she fought with Rarity.”
“Why?” Spike hissed in pain as Fluttershy tightened a bandage around his injured leg. “Why did she stop? And why was she attacking everydragon in the first place?”
The yellow dragon shook her head. “I don’t know. I only know that it ended after the two of them fought, and Rainbow apologized to everydragon and promised to make it up to them.” Fluttershy looked at Twilight to make sure she was still asleep and leaned closer to Spike. Then she spoke in a whisper, “do you know about Rarity and Twilight’s magic?”
Spike nodded. “For some reason, they’re incompatible. Rarity told me about it, and she showed me the scar.”
“She did?” The yellow dragon glanced at her sleeping friend. “She never shows that scar to anydragon. Applejack and Pinkie only know she has it, and Rainbow and I are the only ones who’ve seen it. Rainbow’s the one who found her.” Fluttershy dipped a cloth in the hot water and started wiping away the blood stains on Spike’s coat, keeping an eye out for additional injuries. “Since then, she’s been a bit overprotective of us, Rarity especially, and you’re taking a little bit of that away from her.” Once she was done with the cloth, she dug a bottle of alcohol and poured some over another cloth. “I think she just needs some time, you should probably talk to her later. In the meantime, I was wondering, how do you know about that creature?”
“I’ve read descriptions of these things in the royal archives.” Spike gasped in pain as the yellow dragon started disinfecting the various cuts he endured during his fight with his doppelganger, but gritted his teeth and continued his explanation. “In some of the surviving journals from the banishment, soldiers wrote of creatures in the employ of Jorgmungandr; fierce unnatural beasts, all gristle and sharp ends, untouchable by even the strongest magics. They existed, but they didn’t. If you ate one, you would go hungry, if you set it alight, not even ash would remain. They were known as ‘Nothing.’” Spike shook his head slowly. “Up until today, I thought they were merely legend, and that’s coming from a pony.”
Fluttershy finished disinfecting the wounds and moved on to bandaging them. “If those things exist, and they’re in the forest, then Dragonspire could be in danger. How did the soldiers fight them if magic didn’t work?”
Grumble looked down from his vantage point atop a nearby tree. “Hey,” he called down, “I took one out, remember? They can be killed just like anything.”
Spike sighed and looked up at Fluttershy. “Despite his lack of tact, Grumble’s right. Despite their size and magical properties, they are still just wild animals. But from the descriptions I’ve read, they go after magic-type dragons, who aren’t usually as big as earth-types, and don’t have the mobility of a flying-type. To combat this, the Pentarch squad structure was created. The Pentarch was allowed to pick five dragons for his squad, but the squad had to contain two of each dragon type. Magic-types and smaller dragons were also given specially designed weapons that operated on mechanical and chemical principals. Training with these weapons is still a military requirement, but their usefulness is rather limited.”
“Yeah,” called out Grumble again, “not to mention, they’re freakin’ loud as all get out!”
“Yes, thanks for that, Grumble.” Spike rubbed a hoof against his head. “Also, they can be difficult to use, depending on body type. I was barely able to operate one without the use of magic, but I was able to create a series of spells that mimicked them. According to what I read about these creatures, I assume there is a radius around them, in which, magic will not work. If this is true, then my spells would have been effective. But I could sense that creature by its magic, and I can’t sense anymore. Dragonspire should be safe, but I’m going to try a wide-range magical search from the top of the mountain to be safe. And, as a backup, I’ll also request that a supply of weapons and a qualified trainer is made available to-”
A large, dragon-sized, pink ball fell out of a nearby tree and bounced along until it came to rest against Applejack’s tail. “Done, and done!” Pinkie’s voice was muffled, but still audible. “I’ve got plenty of ‘em, and I’m totally certified with the military and DCA.” Pinkie unfolded slowly and found herself standing right side up. She immediately started hopping up and down with a smile on her face. “Yes! Ha-ha I got it right!” She stopped hopping just as quickly as she started, and turned to face Spike. “I’ll do whatever I can to protect my friends,” her smile was still there, but her voice held a serious tone that Spike didn’t expect from the pink dragon, “and make sure they can always smile.”
“Yeah,” Spike started laughing, “I like that.” Spike sighed. The situation hadn’t changed, but it felt different now that he wasn’t focused on what already happened. Pinkie wasn’t dwelling on the past, but looking at what needed to be done. Spike forced himself to his hooves. The only thing that was important right now was that they were all alive, and they were going to stay that way. “All right! Listen up, everydragon, I need your help. Rarity and Twilight need your help, and Dragonspire needs your help.” Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie all lined up in front of him. Grumble remained at watch from the treetops. “Rainbow Dash, at first light, I need you to make your best time to Dragonspire and tell the mayor what’s going on. We can’t distribute the weapons until we get Pinkie back, so a warning will have to do.”
Rainbow scoffed. “I’ll just carry her. I can do it now, it’ll take about ten minutes.”
“Of course you can.” Spike shook his head. “I don’t think there are any more of these monsters , but if there are, they could go after the two of you. You won’t be able to land under any circumstances, and you have to be ready for one or more following you to town.”
“Got it! Ready, Pinks?” Rainbow moved away from the tent-like shelter, spread her wings, and started stretching. “I’m gonna go all out, so you better hold on.”
Pinkie gave the colorful dragon a salute. “Roger!”
“Huh?” Rainbow’s eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “Who’s Roger?”
“Nevermind that.” The pink dragon ran towards Rainbow and jumped on her back, wrapping her claws around the larger dragon’s neck for stability. “Onward!”
“Gack!” Rainbow grabbed at the claws around her neck. “Pinkie! Choking me!”
“Oh!” Pinkie loosened her grip quickly. “Sorry.”
Rainbow coughed and cleared her throat. “No problem.” Rainbow cleared her throat again and started hopping in place, figuring out her passenger’s weight before taking off. After two hops, she stopped and looked back at the smaller dragon. “Pinkie, what have you been eating? You’re like, twenty percent heavier.”
“Um, well-“ The pink dragon blushed, and responded quietly, “Grumble’s cooking is really good.”
Rainbow blinked. “Grumble’s cooking? He’s been cooking for you?”
“Not like that!” Pinkie blushed even harder. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake are letting him stay in the spare room at Sugarcube Corner, and he’s been cooking in return.”
“Uh-huh.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “You mean that spare room with the two couches, don’t you?” Pinkie looked away quickly, but didn’t answer. “The one you live in?” The pink dragon remained silent, effectively answering Rainbow’s question. The larger dragon sighed and spread her wings. “Hold on, I’m about to take off.” She leapt into the air and started flapping, with her large wingspan providing more than enough lift to keep the two airborne. Once she was above the treetops, she could see Grumble sitting at the top of a tall pine, keeping watch on the clearing below. He waved to Pinkie when he saw the two dragins. Rainbow snorted in annoyance and started heading towards Dragonspire. “That’s three of my friends in a week! What am I doing wrong?”
In the clearing, Spike started to sway on his hooves. “Ok, I think I’m going into adrenaline withdrawal.” His hind legs gave out, and his rump hit the ground with a dull thud. “Ow, ok,” he rubbed at his face, “in the morning, I’ll release the sleep spell on Rarity, and we’ll see if she’s up to traveling back. If not, we stay here until she is. Once everydragon’s back in town, I’ll head to the mountain and conduct a long-range sweep spell. With it, I should be able to detect any remaining creatures.”
“Speakin’ a’ which,” Applejack lifted the brim of her hat to scratch her forehead, “what’s that little critter s’posed ta be? Ah ain’t ever heard a’ nothin’ that can make itself look like somethin’ else.” She tilted her head to the side for a moment, looking off into space. “Unlessin’ ya count those chamelens mah brother bought fer Applebloom’s hatch-day a few years back. Durn critters’re still runnin’ wild ‘round the farmhouse.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Not to mention the fact that Grumble said it was stronger than the, um, Nothing.”
“In terms of magic, it was.” Spike looked over at his fallen duplicate. “Its magic reminded me of the monsters I fought in Tartarus, with a little of my own magic thrown in for good measure. But more than that, it wasn’t a monster, or a wild beast. It was an intelligent, thinking opponent.”
Applejack scratched her head again. “But, it’s dead, right? We don’t have ta worry none ‘bout it tryin’ ta replace ya in yer sleep?”
Spike looked up at her. “I thought you could see through its illusion?”
“Ah can, Ah mean, Ah could, but right there near the end, it did somethin’.” Applejack shrugged. “Don’t ask me what, but now, Ah can’t tell the two a’ ya apart.” She glanced back at the creature. “Ya know, aside from the bein’ dead, and the layer a’ crusty ol’ green goo it’s coatin’ its sides.”
“It sealed itself.” Spike looked down at his hooves. “After my last attack, I think it knew it was dying. After it spit in my face, it used the last of its strength to physically change its form.” Spike sighed sadly. “An act of pride; even if it dies, the transformation will remain, the last act of a fighter who refused to acknowledge defeat.” Spike rested his head on his hoof. “What was it? What did it want? Why didn’t it just try to communicate?” He let out a loud groan. “Now we’ll never know.”
“Um,” Fluttershy tapped her claws together, “what if it doesn’t die? Is transformation still permanent?”
“I have no idea.” Spike took a moment to run through some magical formulas in his head. He could use some illusionary spells, but transformative spells were hard for him. Changing things into something else was Discord’s area of expertise. Screwball was pretty good at that too. Like father, like daughter, Spike guessed, but she preferred claws-on solutions over magic. “I guess it would depend on whether or not it knew how to undo the spell. Why do you ask?”
“Um,” Fluttershy glanced back at the fallen creature, “because, I think it’s recovering.”
“What?” Spike got up, wincing as pain shot through his injured leg. He hobbled over to his doppelganger. “Are you sure?” He leaned down, placing his ear to the creature’s chest. It was still breathing! The fake pony’s shallow, rattling breaths were barely audible, but it was undeniably alive. “Get the medical kit!” Spike scanned the creature with his magic, trying to determine the extent of its injuries and how to treat them.
Fluttershy brought the medical kit over to Spike and set it down next to him. She opened it up and checked the contents. “What should I do? I don’t know its basic morphology, so I don’t even know where to begin.” The pony didn’t answer. Fluttershy looked over at him. It was a little odd to see him standing over his own body, but what caught the yellow dragon’s eye was his expression. He was squinting at the creature, both eyebrows pulled together and lips slowly moving as he mouthed silent words. “Um, Spike? Is something wrong?”
“What the- How is this even possible?” Every second he spent scanning the creature only added to his confusion. Its internal structure was almost exactly the same as his, one heart, one stomach, two lungs, and pretty much everything else in its proper place. It was missing the Lacobus, a magic-sensing organ found in magic-type dragons. Spike had one too, so he assumed it was common to anything that used magic, but this thing didn’t have one. It also seemed that this creature was actually female, but Spike was more worried about the creature’s heart and lungs at the moment. The pony’s last attack cut through the heart and right lung, leaving both organs in two pieces, but they were repairing themselves, each half joining with its match to become whole again. The cut was clean, and the organs stayed in place, but this level of healing shouldn’t have been possible. As Spike watched through his magic, the heart finished sealing itself together and started beating. Somehow, this thing not only survived without its heart, but was able to recover. Spike looked over at Fluttershy. The yellow dragon was waiting with the medical kit, ready for instructions. “Put it away,” Spike looked back at his double and shook his head, “anything we do would just interfere.”
“Whatdya mean?” Applejack leaned down, trying to get a good look at the creature around the pony and smaller dragon. “Ya ain’t gonna help it? What’s goin’ on?”
“It’s recovering on its own.” Spike got up and walked over to a fallen tree. Using the same spell he used against the creature, he cut off a piece of the trunk. He used the spell three more times to cut a pair of planks from the center of the log. Both planks were a bit longer than he was and about as wide as he was tall. He walked back towards the creature with both planks in tow. “We can use these as stretchers. I’m heading for the mountain in the morning, and I’m not letting this thing out of my sight. When Rainbow Dash gets back, have her take Rarity and Twilight back to town. The sleeping spell will wear off in four or five days, but I’ll be back long before that, and I’ll undo the spell.”
Applejack looked over where the white dragoness and purple hatchling lay sleeping. “Ah think we should wait ‘til mornin’ and ask her.” She looked back at Spike. “Aside from mah brother and Rainbow, me and Shy here are the two strongest dragons in Dragonspire. Not to mention, ya ain’t exactly a pushover yerself. We can keep’em safe.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I agree.” The yellow dragon quickly blushed and looked down at her claws. “But,” she said softly, “I’m not really that strong. I’m sure there are plenty of stronger dragons in town.”
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Ignore her, she’s just too modest for her own good. I bet she could lick me in a scrap without givin’ half a crack at it.”
Spike stared up at the orange dragon and tilted his head to the side. “What?”
Applejack nodded. “Hard ta believe, Ah know, but it’s true.”
Spike shook his head. “Not what I meant, but I’ll take your word for it.” He sighed and looked around the campsite. “Ok, we’ll wait for morning, but I want two pairs of eyes on that thing at all times.” Spike looked up towards the treetops. “Grumble?!”
“Over here, boss!” The brown drake waved from a tree in the opposite direction from where the pony was looking.
Spike looked over, scanning the trees until he saw his friend. “You up for keeping watch?”
“Sure.” The drake climbed down the tree, stopping about halfway and perching on a sturdy branch. “You need rest, so I’ll stay up. That way, Applejack and Fluttershy can take shifts, and you can recover.”
“Thanks, Grumble.” Spike looked at the two dragins near him. “Is that ok with you two?”
Applejack tilted her hat back. “Sure thing, Sugarcube.”
“Yes.” Fluttershy nodded slightly. Then, she glanced over at Applejack. “Do you want the first shift, or should I take it?”
“Ah’ll take it.” Applejack stretched her neck and laid down, looming over the recovering creature. “If this thing so much as twitches, Ah’ll give a holler.”
“Thanks, AJ.” Spike looked over at Fluttershy. “Before you go to sleep, are there any more cloths? Maybe a towel, or something?”
“Um,” The yellow dragon scratched the back of her neck as she ran through a mental list of supplies. “Rarity usually keeps a bath set for Twilight, in case she gets messy. There should be a towel, soap, and a few other things.” She walked over to the camping supplies and started looking around. “I think it’s in a blue bag.” After a little digging, she found the bag and held it out to Spike. “Here it is.”
“Thank you.” The pony walked over and took the bag in his mouth. When he did, he noticed that the yellow dragon was looking up at the sky. “Fut is it?” Spike looked up. “Foo you fee fumfthin?” Then he noticed a rapidly approaching light blue shape. “Vhoa, fat vus fast.” Rainbow landed nearby and walked towards the campsite, rather than try to land near or under the tent. Around her neck, there was a package tied with ropes. “Vut did uh mayor fay?”
Rainbow snickered at the pony. “Dude, didn’t the princess ever teach you not to talk with your mouth full?” Spike raised an eyebrow at the brightly colored dragon. Then, he turned around and walked over to Rarity. He set down the bag and levitated the pot of water over to him. Rainbow rolled her eyes, walked over, and sat next to him. “Fine, excuse me for having a sense of humor.” She pulled the package free from her neck and tossed it over with the supplies. Fluttershy and Applejack exchanged glances, but remained silent as Rainbow sat awkwardly next to Spike. The colorful dragon glanced around the campsite as the pony opened the bag and dug out a towel. After a few moments, she started tapping her claws. “Look, I’m sorry, ok? I didn’t mean to insult the princess back there.”
“What do you mean?” Spike’s tone was quiet and even as he dipped the towel in the pot of water and started to wring it out. To Rainbow, his voice sounded sad, and more than a little tired. “She never taught me not to speak with my mouth full, and even if she did, you wouldn’t know.” He lifted the towel to the side of Rarity’s neck and started scrubbing.
Rainbow let out a surprised gasp when she realized what he was doing. “How did you know? Did she tell you?”
“Yes.” Spike sighed as white paint started to wipe off her scales. “The other day, she showed me the scar, and told me what happened. From what Grumble told me, something similar happened today. I figured it would be best to make sure there wasn’t too much additional damage.”
Rainbow watched as Spike wiped away the last traces of paint and dried off any left-over water. “You care about her, don’t you?”
Spike glanced up from his work for the first time. “So do you. Is that why you dislike me?”
“It’s not like that, dude.” Rainbow rubbed at her face with a claw. “I don’t dislike you. It’s more, like… I don’t know you enough to trust you. But, she trusts you, so I’m trying to let that be enough for me too.”
Spike wrung out the cloth over the pot. “I’m guessing it’s not.”
The colorful dragon shook her head. “Nowhere near it.” She watched as Spike held the towel stretched out over one of the nearby fires, drying it out. “You getting upset about my tasteless joke actually did more for your case than Rarity could.”
Once the towel was dry, Spike folded it up and put it back in the bag. “I’ll just pretend I understand what you meant by that.”
Rainbow grabbed the bag from Spike and tossed it towards the other supplies. She then dropped her head to the ground, flipping the pony onto the end of her snout, then tossing him onto her back. “Hold on.” She ran out from under the tent and took off, flying straight up. The three dragons keeping watch saw them go, but didn’t follow. Spike adjusted his breathing to try to adapt to the sudden change in altitude, but still ended up feeling a little light-headed. After a few seconds of vertical climb, Rainbow straightened out and landed on a nearby cloud. Spike immediately hopped off her back. He barely managed to hang on to her crest by his teeth, since he didn’t have claws, and he didn’t want to risk her flying off again. Once he was safely on the cloud, he turned around to face her. Before he could demand an explanation though, she flopped over onto her back, staring up at the night sky. “The moon looks beautiful from up here, doesn’t it?”
“Huh?” Spike glanced up at the shining lunar body, wondering if the dragon was going somewhere with this. “I guess so.” Then, the pony looked down. The clouds around them caught the moonlight, glowing pale blue against the dark sky. It was so different from seeing the clouds from below, or during the day. Spike looked down at the cloud he stood on. It glowed in moonlight just like the others. He scooped up a little bit of the cloud in his hoof, watching as the twisting tendrils of water vapor wrapped around his hoof before fading into nothing.
“On nights like this, I can’t help but think.” Rainbow stretched out a claw towards the moon, as if she wanted to touch it. “We have a princess of the sun, so why isn’t there one for the moon? If anything, the moon is more deserving of one. It’s beautiful, but not as harsh as the sun. The sun is all, ‘I’m here, so I’m gonna make sure you know it!’ But, the moon is just, ‘whatever.’ It doesn’t need to be noticed, it’s there, and it knows, and that’s enough.” Rainbow let her claw drop. “You can also look at it without going blind.”
Spike found himself staring up despite himself. With a sigh, he laid down on his back and decided to indulge the colorful dragon’s odd line of conversation. “According to legend, there was a princess of the moon.”
“Really?” Rainbow rolled onto her side and looked down at the pony. “What was she like?”
Spike shrugged. “I don’t know. There were legends, and I’m sure Celestia could have told me more about them than was ever written down, but I never asked her about it.”
Rainbow’s jaw dropped. “Why not?!”
Spike scratched at his forehead. “Because she wouldn’t smile.”
Rainbow rolled back onto her back. “Now it’s my turn to pretend I understand.”
Spike sighed. “I was really young at the time, probably only a bit older than Twilight is now, and every night, I would bug her for a bedtime story. I would give her a book and she would read it with a big smile on her face. She even did funny voices for the characters.” He smiled up at the sky as he remembered, but the smile soon faded and he looked down at his hooves. “One day, I brought her a book, and she smiled at me when I gave it to her, just like she did every night. But, once she picked it up and looked at it, her smile disappeared. She told me she would read it, but that she had something to take care of first. She left, and it looked to me like she was about to cry.” Spike shook his head slowly. “When she came back, I was in bed, pretending to be asleep, and she whispered something about not being ready for me to find out. She slept next to my bed that night, with her tail laying over me.”
Rainbow looked over at him. “What was the book about?”
Spike shrugged. “I don’t know. The title was ‘The Destroyer’s Seal’, but when I tried to find it the next day, it was gone. I never asked her what it was about, and I never asked her for another bedtime story.” Spike rolled over until he was laying on his hooves. “I actually found a copy of the book a few months back. It’s been sitting in a chest in storage since then. I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to read it, but-“
“But, you don’t want to see her like that again.” Rainbow rolled over and sat up. “To you, her feelings are something worth protecting.” She looked at the sky once more before looking at Spike. “You know what it’s like to fight for something, to fight to protect others. Do you know what it’s like to fight? To just fight, for no reason, no purpose other than your own anger and vanity?”
Spike shook his head. “I can’t say that I do.”
Rainbow looked up at the moon, spread her wings, and run a claw along her left side. “Then you’re lucky.” Spike moved closer to the dragon, looking at the spot where her claw rested. He could make out the faint line of a large scar under her fur. “It’s addicting. It makes you feel powerful, like you matter, especially when you win. Even if you lose, as long as you survive, you can always tell yourself that you’ll win next time.” Rainbow looked down at Spike. “You can see it, right? I got this scar from my first fight. The other guy was some big, ugly bandit, about three times my size. I was a bit younger than Twilight, not even able to fly, but I beat that miserable little thief.” She folded her wings and held out one of her claws, the last digit didn’t sit even with the rest. “Got this smashed the next day by some of his buddies. I’ve been fighting ever since.” She flexed her claw, and a painful sounding pop issued from the deformed claw. She set her claw down and sighed. “I grew up in the right place for it.”
“Casull?” Spike kicked himself mentally for his slip. He didn’t mean to reveal what he knew, and he could only hope the brightly colored dragon didn’t ask how he knew.
To the pony’s surprise, she laughed quietly. “Did Fluttershy tell you? She’s the only one who knows where I’m from.” Spike opened his mouth to speak, but Rainbow stopped him with a wave of her claw. “Don’t worry about it. Did she tell you about what I did when I first came to Dragonspire?”
Spike scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, she also told me that you stopped after fighting Rarity, and that nodragon really knows why.”
Rainbow put a claw to her chin. “How much do you know about Casull?”
“Sorry,” Spike shook his head, “I’ve never heard of it before.”
“Not surprising.” Rainbow nodded. “It’s a small town, ancient by most standards, and located far beyond Draconica’s official borders. It’s a miserable wasteland, and I’m glad to be rid of it. The only reason I stayed, was because there was somedragon there that I couldn’t leave behind. At first, he was just one in a long list of dragons I wanted to fight, but as time went on, things became more and more complex.” Spike noticed that her voice was starting to waver. “He left a few years ago, and I don’t know where he went. He never even told me he was going to leave.” A single tear fell from her eyes, catching the moonlight as it fell to the cloud and was quickly absorbed. “That day, I just picked a direction and started flying.”
Rainbow sat silently for a moment before continuing. “After about a week of flying, I ended up in Dragonspire, and started picking fights. After the third or fourth fight, I came across a dragon fishing near a lake. She was alone, and she had a large stringer of fish with her. I was hungry, so I took it from her, and she chased me. I could’ve outrun her, but I was looking forward to another fight. I toyed with her, letting her catch up then leaving her behind, basically running her to exhaustion. When she finally caught up to me, I laughed at her. She was out of breath and barely standing. I attacked her, expecting an easy win, but she beat me in ten seconds flat; her magic was just crazy powerful.” Rainbow rubbed at her neck. “I was halfway buried under a pile of rocks when she was through with me. I watched her go over to the stringer of fish and-“ She shook her head. “I don’t know how, but this little purple hatchling was caught on one of the ropes. I didn’t even notice.” Several more tears fell to the cloud below. “At that moment, I realized… I had become that rotten thief I fought all those years ago.”
Rainbow slumped down, burying her face in her claws. “She freed the hatchling from the ropes and held on to it while it cried itself to sleep. Then, she set it on her back and started to walk away.” Rainbow lifted her head and looked down at her claws. “Before she left, she moved the rocks, not all of them, but enough of them that I would be able to free myself after a while. After that, she left. She didn’t even bother to take the fish back with her. She didn’t even care about them, all she cared about was saving Twilight.” Rainbow tried to wipe away the tears running down her face. “I wanted to be like her. She was strong, stronger than I could ever hope to be, and not just because of her magic, but because she had something worth fighting for.” She took several deep breaths to calm herself before looking back at Spike. “When I look at the two of them, I see the family I never had, and seeing Rarity hurt just kind of got to me. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
Spike walked over to the edge of the cloud and looked down at the campsite below. “Fluttershy told me that you were the one who found Rarity and Twilight after the first-“ Spike shook his head and scratched at his mane. “I don’t know what to call it, accident?” Spike sighed. “Knowing that, and having heard your story, I can sort of see why you did what you did."
“Good.” Rainbow sniffed and wiped at her eyes one last time. She then stood up and walked over to Spike. “I’m not going to bother asking for forgiveness, but I want you to understand what my friends mean to me, and what I’ll do to protect them.” She lowered her head and gave it a small bob, gesturing for him to get on. “If you’re gonna stick around, then that’ll include you. On one condition.”
Spike climbed on and walked back towards her crest. “Name it.”
Rainbow leapt from the cloud, barely giving her passenger enough time to take hold of her crest. “Take care of Rarity. She gives everything she has to take care of others, it’s about time someone did the same for her.” The trip back to camp was about as sudden and jarring to Spike as the trip up had been, and he was glad when it was over. As soon as he was off Rainbow’s back, she flew back up into the sky, most likely to hide the fact that she was crying from her friends.
Spike sighed as he watched the blue speck disappear among the clouds. He could certainly relate to being alone; the concept of friends wasn’t new to him, but he had very few over the course of his life. When he was young, castle workers treated him as part of their job. After joining the military, he was mostly avoided as an oddity. He had a decent relationship with some of the higher ranking military members, the generals and some of the other centurions, but that was mostly a professional, working relationship. Up until he came to Dragonspire, Grumble was probably the only real friend he had, and that was only in the last two years. He shook his head slowly and started walking over to the camping supplies. It was interesting to him that Rainbow came to Dragonspire and met her first friends around the same time-
Spike stopped in his tracks. He just passed Rarity on his way to the camping supplies. He turned around to double check. Rarity was laying there, sleeping, just like she was earlier. One problem though, he only saw Rarity, Twilight was nowhere to be seen. Spike’s heartbeat shot through the roof as he came close to screaming in panic. His head turned frantically, searching for any sign of the little, purple hatchling. “Calm down, calm down!” Spike smacked a hoof against his head. “Panic isn’t going to help anything. Think!” He needed to find Twilight. Locator spell! The same thing he used while hunting earlier! Normally, it didn’t pick up dragons, because their magic was different from wild creatures, but with a little modification, the spell could work. He cast the spell, sending out a ring of magical energy that would react to a dragon’s magical presence. It would follow the ground until it reached something, or until its energy spread too thin to hold together. The signal responded to several magic presences in quick succession; one directly in front of him, that was Rarity, one off to the right, that would be Applejack, who was keeping an eye on the creature. There was another off to the left, but when he looked over, he saw that it was just Fluttershy, sleeping on a makeshift bed of broken tree limbs. Grumble and Rainbow wouldn’t show up, because they weren’t on the ground, but why wasn’t there a signal for Twilight?
Spike sent out another spell, centering on the magical frequencies of wild creatures. It returned two signals; one near Applejack, that one belonged to his doppelganger, and a faint afterimage of the dead creature that attacked Rarity. It was normal for a magical signature to persist, even after death, but why wasn’t he able to detect Twilight? In desperation, he poured as much magic as he could into his horn, preparing to launch the spell again. This time, he would use a spherical spell pattern to search upwards as well, and he would search on his own frequency range. He had never done this before, mostly because it wasn’t usually necessary. Dragon magic was usually constrained to a specific set of wavelengths, determined by their abilities, but Spike’s magic, and that of a few dragons, namely Celestia and two of the generals, covered a much wider range. This spell would take a lot of power, and be much slower than the others, but it would find every living creature, and expand for as long as Spike could power it.
He launched the spell as soon as he gathered enough energy for the initial burst. It immediately returned two signatures, a fly on his back, and a beetle near his hooves. He ignored them. A second later, it returned another signature, a moth flying towards the fire. He ignored. A second later, the spell reached Rarity. Spike’s concentration almost broke. He sensed her energy the first time he cast his spell, but he realized now, that he only saw a fraction of it. What he saw now was different, it was soothing, for some reason. It felt right, like something he should know. He almost missed it when the spell reached Fluttershy, there was more to her magic as well, but it was familiar in a different way, sort of like seeing someone who reminds you of someone else. The spell then reached Applejack. Her magic was strong, but simple, plainly visible for all to see. The duplicate was next, her magic felt odd to Spike, it felt like… feelings? Anger and fear, mixed with sorrow and confusion. The next presence, Spike wasn’t able to identify, it was small and frail, like a thin shell, but Spike could sense something else within. He pushed a little more power into his spell, and focused it towards the shell-like presence. As his own magic pressed against it, it started to bend and give, almost like a bubble. Just when it seemed like the bubble was about to burst, Spike’s magic slipped right through and he screamed.
Heat exploded in his mind, burning away all sensation but pain. It was pushing him, pushing him back, but at the same time, it was pulling him, threatening to tear him apart. No, it wasn’t pushing, it was just pulling, pulling in multiple directions, towards countless places at once. It was wrong, it was unbalanced, it was two forces that must coexist, but are never meant to meet. Spike struggled against the forces pulling him, pouring his energy into fighting, but what was he supposed to fight? He was being pulled in so many directions. Balance. Spike didn’t know why, but that one word was the only thing that cut through the pain. Balance. Balance what? How are you supposed to balance being pulled in a million directions? Spike suddenly realized that he couldn’t, and that he shouldn’t even try to. He turned his magic inward, letting the forces around him pull as they may, but forcing himself together, forcing himself to be strong enough to withstand it.
Spike opened his eyes. He didn’t realize he had ever closed them, but it seemed that he did. The pony stared up at the night sky. Something was wrong. He was at the campsite before, under a tent. Spike looked around. There was nothing, nothing but the night sky. Beneath him, dark, barren rock stretched as far as the eye could see. Spike started walking. He didn’t know why, or where he was going, but he had the sense he was going to get there far sooner than he should.
“Balance.”
Spike spun at the sound of the voice, trying to see where it came from.
“Everything’s out of balance.”
Spike sat down. The voice was coming from everywhere. He looked up at the night sky, noticing something about it for the first time. “It is out of balance.” The sky wasn’t a night sky at all. There was no moon, and somehow, Spike could tell that there was no sun. All that existed were the stars above and earth below.
“How are we going to fix it?”
“Why are we the ones who have to fix it?” Spike’s response worried him for a moment, mostly because he responded at all; he was having a conversation without knowing why.
“Because it was broken for our sake, and those who did it are suffering.”
Spike looked to his right. There was no reason he should have, since the voice was coming from all around, but he just felt like he needed to. He saw Twilight there, standing on what looked like a small star and staring up. She looked over at him. “Spike?”
“Huh?” Spike blinked. Twilight was standing near the campfire with a notebook in her claws. She was looking up at him, but kept glancing down. Spike looked down at his hooves. They were glowing with magic and that glow was seeping into the rock below, spreading tendrils of green magic across the landscape. Slowly, the glow faded, and the tendrils slowly danced off into the distance. It may have been his imagination, but for a moment, Spike thought he saw a few tendrils of purple mixed in. He shook his head. All the pain was gone, so was the landscape he was traveling earlier. He was back under the tent, in almost the exact same spot where he cast his locator spell. He looked around. Except for Twilight, nodragon seemed to be reacting to the multiple locator spells, or to the odd green tendrils that were fading off into the distance.
The hatchling touched Spike’s leg, standing close to him as she watched the green light disappear into the distance. “What type of spell is that?”
Spike looked down at the hatchling. She was clutching her notebook to her chest, and kept glancing up at him. She looked nervous, and Spike put a hoof around her shoulder in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. “I don’t know, Twilight, I really don’t know.”
Twilight moved away from Spike so she could look up at him. “Why not? Didn’t you cast it?”
The pony laid down so he was at eye level with the hatchling. Was that her voice earlier? “I was looking for something, but I found something else. I’m not sure what happened after that.” Twilight quietly sat down next to him, and Spike nudged her notebook with his hoof. “What about you? What are you doing with that?”
Twilight looked down at it and removed the pencil from its spine. “I was finishing up a letter.”
“A letter?” Spike rested his head on his hooves as the hatchling opened her notebook. She didn’t seem to know what was going on, so she probably didn’t see any of that earlier. “Who to?”
“My parents.” Twilight flipped through the notebook before tearing out one of the pages. “I know I can’t send them, but it still makes me feel better to write a letter to them every so often, like when something important happens.”
Spike watched as she folded the page in half a few times. She stared at it for a moment, and Spike wondered what she was going to do. He saw her take a deep breath, and hold it for a moment, but she let it out slowly. She took another breath, and held it like the first one, but she shook her head and let it out slowly. After the third breath, the hatchling was nearly in tears, and Spike realized what she was trying to do. He lifted his head and put a hoof on the hatchling’s shoulder. “How about I write a letter too, would that be ok?”
Twilight nodded and handed him her pencil and the open notebook. Spike took both items in his magic and set the notebook on the ground in front of him. By the firelight, he could see the impression of writing on the page. He could only assume it was from the page Twilight tore out. He glanced over at the hatchling as she leaned up against his side. Something was making her very sad, and he wanted to know what. His horn was already lit, so he wouldn’t draw any extra attention if he used another spell. Using his magic, he grabbed some ash from the fire. He spread it in the air to cool it off and make it look like normal smoke. Being careful to use very small amounts of magic, he guided the ash over to him and spread it across the page. The dust filled the impressions, letting Spike make out the words.
“Dear Mom and Dad,
I’m sorry, but this is going to be the last letter I send. I know you’re going to wake up someday, and I can’t wait to see you again, but until then, I have to move forward. I can’t hang on to you if you aren’t going to be there.
Something bad happened today, and Rarity got hurt. She was trying to protect me. Since Grandpa died, she’s been taking good care of me, but I’ve already told you that. She’s like you mom, but sometimes, I can’t even remember you, or dad. I’m sorry, but Rarity’s my mom now.
Goodbye,
Twilight Welkin Sparkle
P.S. I told you about Spike, right? I think he would make a good dad.”
Spike blushed furiously as he read that last part, and he suddenly found himself hoping his hunch was wrong. He sighed heavily, blowing the ash off the page before starting to write his own letter.
“Hey mom,
How long has it been since I called you that? I know it’s been at least two years, but I think it’s closer to three. We didn’t exactly get to spend much time together that last year.
I’ve met Twilight, but I’m guessing you already know that. And if you receive this letter, then I know how you found out about her. It probably wasn’t very nice of me, but I read the letter she wrote. The ‘bad’ thing she referenced was an attack by a creature called a ‘Nothing.’ I’ve read about them in some of the old journals in the library. It injured a dragon named Rarity, but may also have saved her life. I will explain in more detail next time we meet. I was also attacked by a creature that was able to assume my form. The ‘Nothing’ is dead, but the other thing isn’t. It is, however, badly wounded.
Something else happened as well, something I’m not quite sure how to explain. The best I can do is ask you a question. Does the phrase, ‘Everything is out of balance,’ mean anything to you? I don’t know why, but I get the feeling it does.
I also need to ask you another question. There’s a sun, why is there no moon? I’ve been keeping a secret from you, just like you’ve been keeping one from me. There’s a blue key hanging from that old mobile in my room. Take it, and go to Sylock’s Self-Store, on Magma and Vine. In locker number 459, there’s a blue chest and a red one. Unlock the blue chest, then open the red one. I want you to know, I haven’t read it, and it’ll be up to you if I do or not.
Love you,
Spike
P.S. Thank you for sending me here. I’ve made some friends, and had a lot of fun. One of these days, I hope to introduce them to you, especially Twilight, I think you’ll like her. Just remember, she’s a hatchling, and may be jumping to conclusions about certain things.”
With his magic, Spike ripped the page out of the notebook and folded it up. “Here you go.” He floated the letter over to Twilight. She took it and held it up with hers. She hesitated, lowering her claw as she glanced over at Spike. He smiled and nudged her claw up with a hoof. “Go ahead. And no peeking.” The hatchling managed a small smile, though she still seemed a little sad. She held the letters up and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and released it with a small burst of purple flame. The letters burst into flames and Twilight let go of them. They burned to nothing before they hit the ground. Spike didn’t watch that though, he kept his eyes on the smoke. It was traveling against the wind. Spike sighed as he watched the puff of smoke shrink into the distance. There was no telling what Celestia was going to do next, but he knew there would be a reason for it, just like there had to be a reason he was here in the first place. “Now,” he looked over at Twilight, “why don’t you get some-“ He shook his head and laughed quietly. The hatchling was already asleep, curled up against his side. “Good night, then.” He tossed his tail over her and laid his head down on his hooves, not sure if he would be able to sleep after everything that happened.
The palace gardens were quiet as Celestia read the second piece of paper. The only sound was that of the nearby fountain. She wished she was reading it wrong, but the carefully cultivated luminescent mosses and fungi provided plenty of light. “The earth and stars, so young and frail, save sun and moon from ether’s veil.” She sighed softly. “I thought I would have more time.” She incinerated the second piece of paper with a burst of magical energy, reducing it to dust. She left the first piece in the pages of the book she had been reading and left the gardens.
The door to the garden caves opened into the same hallway as the audience chamber, and at any time, there was likely to be somedragon waiting for an audience, either for something official, or just wanting to meet the princess. Right now, thankfully, the only dragon in sight was one of the palace staff, a small, pudgy, pink dragin. Unfortunately, that dragon started waving at Celestia the moment she saw her. “Princess!” The little dragon yelled in a squeaky voice and started running towards Celestia. “Thank goodness you’re here!”
“What is it, Flame Song?” Celestia didn’t stop when the smaller dragon caught up to her, forcing the dragon to turn around and start running alongside her. “It better be important, I’m not really in the mood for trivialities.”
“Oh, well,” The little dragon sped up, pulling ahead so she could stop and speak without being left behind, “your 1 o’clock appointments have arrived, and they’re waiting in the throne room.”
Celestia shook her head, but kept walking. “I thought I told you to bring them to the banquet hall.”
“I’m sorry, but,” the little dragon was starting to pant from the effort of keeping up with the much larger princess, “lord Greyscale insisted on meeting in the throne room.”
“Pfft.” Celestia stopped and looked down at Flame Song. “The last dragon lord died before I took the throne. You don’t take orders from that little poser, and next time you hear him use that title, I want you to slap him, or find somedragon larger to do it for you.” Celestia turned and started walking again.
The smaller pink dragon didn’t follow her, she was too worn out from running. “But what do I tell your guests?”
“Tell them I’m busy, and that they’re welcome to wait, or comeback later.” Celestia kept walking, heading for the palace exit. “And tell Greyscale, any dragon caught following me will be lucky to survive.”