//------------------------------// // 10 - Harsh Truths // Story: Past, Present, and Future // by DragonShadow //------------------------------// Chapter 10: Harsh Truths Twilight Sparkle’s hooves clopped over the solid ground as she finally approached the town of Fillydelphia. It had taken the better part of a day to get there. Surely by now Spike was in the dragon lands, but she didn’t care. Let him go where he wanted, Twilight wasn’t about to worry about what Princess Celestia wanted anymore. She’d sent them to find a dragon that wanted to destroy them, what else was there to say? How could she believe anything Celestia ever said again? As she approached the town limits several ponies looked up in surprise, watching her approach with her wings spread open. They dropped to the ground in a deep bow as she approached. Twilight shook her head, her voice weak and wary as she spoke. “Please don’t bow to me, just help my friend…” She turned to look back, where Zecora lay unconscious across her body. “Of course, Your Highness! We’ll take her to the doctor at once!” Two stallions rushed forward to take the burden from Twilight’s shoulders, carrying Zecora quickly into town. Twilight followed right on their tails, ignoring the rest of the citizens who bowed respectfully at her passing. It wasn’t long before they reached the doctor’s clinic, a small building in a big city, but the doctor within had the look of a pony who had seen much, and knew even more. He whirled on the door the moment they entered, his eyes immediately finding Zecora’s unconscious form. Twilight spoke quickly. “Please help her, doctor, she won’t wake up…” “Did you just come from the northern mountain?” The doctor asked as he approached to look over the unconscious zebra. “What? Well… yes, actually.” Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise. “Is this common?” “Lay her down on the bed so I can have a look at her.” The doctor nodded to the two helpful stallions. They quickly laid the zebra down on the small hospital bed and stepped away so the doctor could approach; running his hooves over her head and pulling her eyes open to have a look at them. He nodded every once in a while, but he kept his thoughts to himself until turning back to Twilight. “I’m afraid it’s as I feared. In this town we have a condition we call Exposure Syndrome. Nopony knows what causes it, but every once in a while a pony will be found on the mountain, or stumble down from the mountain with it.” Twilight hesitated to even ask, but she had to. “What happens to those ponies? Are they okay?” “They’re fine. They always make a full recovery.” The doctor cleared his throat. “But there is one lingering effect…” Before he could finish Twilight’s attention was drawn away from a twitching on the hospital bed. After several long hours, Zecora was finally beginning to stir. “Zecora!” Twilight rushed to her beside and reared up to place her hooves against her shoulder. “Oh, thank goodness you’re okay… you are okay, aren’t you?” Zecora groaned as her eyes fluttered open. They were glassy and unfocused at first, but after a few moments they looked up at Twilight. “Oh… uhn…” “Zecora.” Twilight smiled broadly. “I was so worried about you.” “Zecora?” The zebra grunted in surprise. “Is that my name?” Twilight’s eyes widened and she whirled on the doctor, who was watching with a sad smile. “The final symptom of Exposure Syndrome. Complete amnesia… I’m sorry.” “What? But… no.” Twilight turned back to Zecora, looking into her soft, but confused eyes. “Zecora, you… you don’t remember me? It’s me, Twilight Sparkle.” “I’m sorry… I don’t.” Zecora shook her head. “Are you my friend?” Twilight blinked slowly, trying to force a smile through the tears that threatened to fall, but she couldn’t even fake a smile. “Y-yes… I am your friend.” She threw her hooves around Zecora in a tight hug. “And I always will be, I promise…” “Oh…” Zecora hugged her back more softly, patting her back. “That is good to hear… I’ll try to be as good a friend.” Twilight choked up a bit. “Y-you already are…” She turned away from Zecora quickly to march back to the doctor. “Does it ever come back? Will her memory return?” The doctor shook his head sadly. “Nopony with this affliction has ever regained their memory. Some have had family show up and find them… but some simply settle here to start life all over again. Where did you find her? Did you actually see her when it happened? That would be a great help in identifying the cause.” Twilight stared at him for a moment, then glanced back at Zecora, who was now resting in her bed with a wary look in her eye. “I think I have an idea what causes it… but I need to confirm it first.” She turned back to the doctor. “Please take care of her for me. I’ll come back for her soon.” “You have my word; I’ll do my best to care for her.” The doctor nodded solemnly. “Thank you.” Twilight turned to march back outside. “I’ll make sure this Exposure Syndrome never happens to anypony again…” She left the hospital and turned back toward the mountain. She was still tired, but she forced herself into the fastest trot she could manage. That dragon hadn’t been trying to kill them; it had been trying to erase their minds, just like all the other ponies with this Exposure Syndrome. But why? Why would it do this? Why was its presence here such a big secret? Why was Celestia allowing this to happen? There was no way she didn’t know, considering she’d sent Twilight here to see this dragon. She needed answers, and there was only one place to get them. Perhaps the dragon hadn’t just been trying to coax her out into the open when it had started speaking… It took her less time to reach the mountain than it had to reach Fillydelphia, but the sun was just beginning to set by the time she got there. Thankfully, after resting her horn somewhat during her trot, she was feeling much stronger, so she kept a sharp eye out for flat ledges she could teleport onto that would be within easy range. Teleporting was somewhat tiring at the best of times, especially with company, but going short distances was simple enough. She flashed from corner to corner, leaping her way magically up the mountain until she reached the bottommost cave entrance that opened into the mountain, and was met with a stunning sight, and a startled squawk. “Philomena!?” Twilight jerked back in surprise. The majestic phoenix had taken flight the instant she appeared, but the fiery girl soon settled back down on the rock again with a soft, relieved cooing noise. “What the hay are you doing here?” “She is here for my letter to Celestia.” Twilight whirled at a much softer voice from inside the cave. The dragon from before was approaching, but at a slow, methodical pace. The creature stopped before moving into the light, staying hidden in the shadows. “I’m glad you returned, princess. I’m sorry for what happened earlier.” “If you’re sorry, then undo what you did to my friend.” Twilight whirled on the shadows angrily. “She’s a good friend, she doesn’t deserve that! And neither do any of the other ponies I presume you did the same thing to.” “A necessary evil, normally.” The dragon nodded. “Though I did not realize who you were, or I would not have acted as I did.” “I don’t believe in ‘necessary evil’. Why would you do that to innocent ponies?” “Because I must remain hidden. Any pony adventurers who wander into my caves and discover me must not be able to tell where I am… so I erase their minds. It allows me to remain hidden, and allows them to continue living. It’s the most positive solution to the problem.” Twilight bit her lip. “Still, you can undo it, can’t you?” “I’m afraid I cannot. The mind is like a painting on a wall. Once it is erased, it cannot be restored. Only redrawn.” Twilight was practically shaking in rage, her horn flaring to life, even though she knew it was useless. The last assault had just bounced right off. “How dare you… you have thirty seconds to explain what this is all about! Tell me now!” The dragon nodded slowly. “Celestia sent you to me to discover why Spike going to the dragon lands is a bad thing… it is because, as far as the denizens of the dragon lands are concerned, he does not exist. None of the dragons in Equestria exist.” “What?” Twilight’s wings flared. “Explain!” “It would take far too long to start from the beginning. Time is of the essence. The short story is that the Patriarch of the dragon lands believes dragon kind to be superior to ponies. To be their rightful rulers, and through the fear they create, to be entitled to the servitude and… respect… of the lesser beings. It is an ancient truce that keeps them out of Equestria.” “What does this have to do with Spike? If the dragons don’t like ponies and are supposed to stay out, then where are all of the dragon eggs coming from in the first place?” “The dragon eggs came from me.” The dragon nodded. “They are my eggs, and I gave them to Celestia.” “You?” Twilight’s eyes flew open in shock. “You’re the mother of all the dragons in Equestria? You’re Spike’s mother? B-but… I don’t understand, if you willingly gave the eggs to Celestia, then why would this Patriarch mind if they’re here? They weren’t stolen, so why all this secrecy?” There was a bitter tone in the dragon’s voice as she spoke. “You are thinking like a kind-hearted soul, princess. The Patriarch does no such thing. Can you imagine what a being who believes his kind superior would think if he discovered that members of his kind were being taught by his lesser? Being raised to think, to feel, to act like ponies? An entire race of dragons who have been raised from birth to be inferior to him? A race that’s been… corrupted? If he learns of Spike’s origin, he will suspect, and he will eventually piece it all together.” The dragon’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “I know the Patriarch well. He would take it as an insult to his kind, and his rage would engulf this land and every living thing in it. The wrath of all the dragons in the dragon lands would come down on Equestria at his command, and you would all burn.” Twilight couldn’t suppress a shudder at the very thought of it. It was so terrifying she couldn’t even speak, so the dragon continued. “I remain a secret here, hidden away so that word can not reach the Patriarch that I still live. That there is a dragon here actively helping to create this ‘corrupted race’. Celestia would not… could not… tell you the truth because I made her vow not to ever reveal my existence. To the sun princess, a vow is as unbreakable as a mountain, and I believed that her truth and honesty would someday lead her to mistakenly speaking of my presence. It seems I made a mistake, forcing that vow on her. If she could have told you the truth from the beginning, all of this could have been avoided. I am sorry again...” “B-but there’s still so many questions.” Twilight finally managed to speak in a quivering voice. “What is the goal of all of this? Why would Celestia put all the ponies at risk to raise the dragons here? Why would you want the dragons raised here in the first place? How do you keep all the dragons here and keep the dragons of the dragon lands from finding out? Why-” The dragon raised a foreclaw to silence her. “You have many more questions, but they are best left for another time. For now you must retrieve Spike and bring him back. I would hunt for him myself if I could leave this cave, but I cannot risk being seen.” Twilight gulped. “I… I’ll find him.” “Thank you, princess. I deeply regret what I did to your friend. Celestia sent word that a princess would be coming to speak to me about this, but she said nothing about a companion, nor did I expect you to arrive so quickly.” Twilight took a shuddering breath. “It’s not okay… but we’ll deal with that once Spike is safely back home.” “Fair enough.” The dragon nodded. “Good luck, dear princess.” Twilight turned away from the dragon, trying to be strong, but she couldn’t stop herself from shaking. Celestia hadn’t been lying… she had to find Spike, and soon. She just hoped she found him before he reached the dragon lands… ___ The wind was blowing strong into the mainsail, carrying Captain Hoofbeard, his crew, and his passengers along at a rapid clip over the ocean waves. He had said at such a pace they would be at the dragon lands by nightfall, and Spike couldn’t wait to see land come into view over the horizon. It couldn’t be too much longer now. Then how were they still sailing at full speed over a day and a half later? “I know we be goin’ the right direction.” Captain Hoofbeard pounded a hoof on the map in front of him. “We should have arrived hours ago.” Jewel sighed from the bottom of her water tank, a small stream of bubbles wafting towards the surface. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I am beyond bored…” “Maybe whatever stopped us before is holding us back,” Pyralsprite suggested helpfully. “But how would they do that without any of us noticing that we’ve stopped? We’re obviously still moving.” Spike leaned against the side of the ship. His enthusiasm was quickly beginning to dry up from this unexpectedly long voyage with no end in sight. “Maybe I’m simply not meant to go to the dragon lands…” “Oh shut up.” Pyralsprite slapped him in the side with her tail. “You are not a quitter.” Spike took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m not quitting, we’re going to get there eventually.” “Uuugh.” Jewel broke the surface of the water and swished some of the liquid from her hair. “I think I’m going to see how far we have left to go. I’m faster than the boat, and I’d at least like to know how long it’ll be.” “A fine idea, Jewel,” the captain replied with a bright smile. “Just don’t go messin’ with any big beasties on yer way.” “As if they could catch me.” Jewel threw herself out of the water tank and flew into the ocean, shooting like a bullet straight ahead of the ship. Spike smiled. “At least we’ll find out how much longer we have to wa-“ He was cut off when they heard a sharp thump from the back of the boat, followed by a voice cursing and mumbling. “Ow, sonuva…” “Jewel?” Captain Hoofbeard and the dragons approached the back of the ship to see Jewel floating in the water behind them, rubbing her head gingerly. “Jewel, didn’t ye head off in the other direction?” “Of-of course I did!” Jewel flushed in embarrassment. “I must have gotten turned around!” Jewel darted away from the back of the boat, heading around it and shooting off into the sunrise again. And again. And again. Spike could only gawk in shock as the mermare kept passing them by, shooting through the water as straight as an arrow only to come right back from behind them thirty seconds later. It was like she was swimming clear around the world over and over again. She was certainly fast, but not nearly that fast. “Is it me…” Pyralsprite mused with pursed lips. “Or is this the weirdest thing ever?” “This be some wicked magic.” Hoofbeard nodded his agreement. “We be goin’ ‘round in circles here. Jewel! Just-just stop!” Jewel finally came to a stop beside the boat, panting softly after her quick swim. “I don’t understand it… it makes no sense…” “You’ve got that right.” Spike marched to the front of the boat with a claw on his chin. “It’s as if going past a certain point, you somehow end up further back automatically. Twilight’s talked about spells that can open doors between two places in space, but one big and invisible enough for an entire boat to go through without knowing? That’s just insane…” Pyralsprite walked up behind him. “If this is that kind of door spell, then you know how it works. Do you think you can counter it with your magic?” “I’ve never tried before, but I guess I’ll have to try now. Of course we have to find it first…” Spike jogged back to the side of the boat. “Hey Jewel! Do you think you could go just ahead of us a ways? When you disappear we’ll know exactly where the door is, then you can catch up to us.” “I’m on it!” Jewel pushed herself ahead of the boat, keeping pace with it this time instead of charging ahead. Captain Hoofbeard turned toward his crew. “Ready the anchor! We’ll be needin’ ta drop it at a moment’s notice!” Spike stood at the front of the ship, keeping a sharp eye on the mermare cutting easily through the water ahead of them. Everything looked normal for quite a while. He was starting to think maybe he was mistaken when suddenly Jewel’s water wake faded into nothingness. Spike whirled to shout, “drop the anchor!” The anchor slammed into the ocean’ surface with a strong wave, bringing them to a halt. They didn’t see Jewel ahead of them, which Spike hoped meant they’d stopped fast enough to keep from going into the barrier. Now he just had to figure out how to counter an incredibly powerful magic spell for the first time in his life. Spike climbed up onto the railing of the ship as close to the front as he could get. Now that he was really focusing and looking, he could see the faint sparkle of magic in the air in front of him, so subtle they must have missed it at least a dozen times. It would take magic beyond even Twilight to make this happen, what chance did he really have of dispelling a force like this? He glanced back over his shoulder, seeing Pyralsprite standing on the deck of the ship right behind him with an expectant look on her face. She didn’t seem to have any doubt he would succeed… and he wouldn’t let her be wrong. He faced forward again. He tried to focus on the fire boiling inside of him, rolling back and forth through him with every deep breath. Shaping the flames, trying to turn them into the magic that he wanted. It was easy to shape it, but he really had no idea what to shape it into to make it do what he wanted. He was mostly going on things Twilight had told him, but seeing as she was the most magically gifted unicorn, and possibly alicorn, in Equestria, he couldn’t have asked for a better teacher. He took one last breath, then began to let it out in a stream of emerald fire that ended suddenly when a goat head with mismatched antlers popped out of thin air in front of him. “Boo!” Spike’s gasp pulled the fire right back into his chest, and he rolled off of the boat’s railing with a heavy plop, coughing and gagging up smoke on his way. “Aaaagh! Hack! Gaaahhh!” “Well, that was more fun than I thought it would be.” The head’s body materialized more slowly, lounging in thin air in front of the ship with a bemused smile on its face. “Spike!” Pyralsprite leapt to his side to pat his chest worriedly, then growled up at the intruder. “You stay away from him you… you… thing!” A metal slashing sound echoed through the air before Hoofbeard approached with his blade at the ready in one hoof. “Are ye responsible for this sorcery?” “Arrrr! Me be responsibly fee thee sorcery matey!” The creature bust out laughing suddenly as the blade of Hoofbeard’s sword simply melted from his hoof, dripping to the wooden deck like a pile of melting ice-cream. “Don’t wave that thing around at me. You may put somepony’s eye out.” He plucked his eye from its socket and flung it at the captain, where it bounced off of his head and plopped to the floor at his hooves. “Ewe, what kind of monster are you?” Pyralsprite demanded. “He’s… Discord.” Spike finally managed to clear the fire and smoke out of his lungs enough to speak and sit up. “Master of chaos…” He pounded on his chest to send the last plume of smoke spiraling into the air around him. “Question is… what is he doing here?” “I’m doing my civic duty to the crown! Because I’m reformed!” Discord batted his eyelashes for a moment before abruptly vanishing, reappearing beside the two dragons in a body the same size as theirs. He leaned his shoulder against Pyralsprite’s and wiggled his eyebrows. Pyralsprite took a step back, but he floated easily along with her. “Are you telling me Princess Celestia ordered you to stop me?” Spike rose to his feet. “Why would she do a thing like that?” “I assure you I have no idea, but it is rather difficult finding ways to stop you without directly moving you… or getting you eaten.” Discord ran one finger under Pyralsprite’s chin. “So I thought I would try… eugh… reason, instead. You have quite the girl here, couldn’t you just go back to Fillydelphia and spend some quality time with her?” “No, and stop touching her like that, she obviously doesn’t like it.” Spike glowered. Discord clicked his tongue. “Oh come now, are you telling me you’re not enticed by these rock hard scales and creepy, sightless eyes? Oh yes I see what you mean…” Pyralsprite snapped at his hand, crunching it right off of his wrist before spitting it back in his face, where it connected with his cheek with a wet slapping sound. “Don’t touch me.” Spike chuckled and folded his arms over his chest. “You asked for that one.” Discord huffed as his palm slid down his cheek and back into place on his wrist, where it sprang back to life. “Someone is overly sensitive.” He stuck his tongue out at Pyralsprite before vanishing and reappearing lying on the air beside Spike again. “Listen, the truth is Princess Celestia doesn’t want you to go. Even if you can use your magic to bust down my magic, you’ll be going directly against her wishes. I daresay she won’t be very happy about that.” “O-oh…” Spike hesitated for a moment. Simply leaving Equestria was one thing, but he’d never actually defied the princess before. Maybe he was upset or disappointed with her, but to openly defy her wishes… “Spike, you want to go to the dragon lands.” Pyralsprite moved up beside him. “Don’t let her stop you, and don’t let this jerk stop you either. You’re a free dragon, you go where you want, and you call the shots.” Discord smirked with his hands on his hips. “Save your breath, eyeballs. He may be a free dragon but he was raised by ponies with pony values. He’s not going to go running off somewhere the princess doesn’t want him to. It’s just not in his nature.” Spike cast a glance at Pyralsprite, whose face was set in a determined, expectant expression. Then over at Discord, who looked self-assured, confident in what his final decision would be. Spike had walked away from Twilight Sparkle… but to walk away from Princess Celestia too, despite her explicitly ordering him to stay, and even going so far as to send Discord to stop him. It felt like a betrayal of everything he’d ever believed. Like abandoning the core of who he was… He looked back at Pyralsprite again, who looked just as confident as Discord, confident and almost adoring. She was teaching him so much, and giving him so much… how could he let her down? How could he let himself down? After all, she was right, he really did want to go. Staying just because Princess Celestia wanted him to wouldn’t be true to himself… His mind made up, he marched up to the front of the ship and took a deep breath, letting his emerald green flame flow out into the air in front of him. The sparkling strands of magic went up like a spider-web, the emerald flames spreading through the air in long tendrils that stretched as high into the sky and as wide into the distance as he could see. Slowly but surely the flames began to die away as the tendrils of magic gave out. In fact there, up ahead… “Land ho!” A crew stallion cried from the bird’s next on top of the mainsail. “Geeze, we’ve been this close the whole time!?” Pyralsprite whirled on Discord. “That’s just cruel!” “What? I thought it was funny.” Discord walked up to Spike as he dropped down from the railing. “You do realize this may mean there’s no going back. The princess will be quite unhappy.” “If she never wants to see me again just because I made my own decision… then that’s her decision.” Spike was shaking, but he stood firm. “You can go tell her that.” Hoofbeard grunted with a bright smile as he caught Jewel, who had just leapt out of the water into his hooves. He laid her across his back sitting sideways so he could approach the two dragons and draconequus. “Hoist the anchor and bring us in, we be docking to let our passengers off!” “Aye-aye, captain!” The crew went to work moving the ship towards land. Pyralsprite slinked up close to Spike with a grin. “Geeze, you just dispelled a spell like that… I was totally right about you.” “Hehe, thanks… I was just hoping it might work.” Spike slipped an arm around her, letting her lean up close against his side, but he suddenly noticed Discord hadn’t left. “Um, aren’t you leaving? You failed.” “No, I’m not leaving. I’m still on a mission after all, and besides, this is the most interesting thing I’ve done since being reformed. I kind of want to see where this is going.” Spike groaned. “Fine, whatever… just try to behave yourself, got it?” Discord gasped in horror. “As if you need to ask me to behave. I am a gentleman among gentlemen.” He pulled a suddenly-appearing monocle off of his eye to rub it against the fur on his chest. “My behavior will be a model for generations to come.” “Yeah, sure…” Spike grunted. “Oohhh, I can smell it!” Pyralsprite suddenly darted out from under his arm up to the front of the ship, leaning up against the rail and sniffing deeply. “Aaahhhhh… home again… just like I remember it…” “Oh yeah?” Spike walked up beside her, slipping his arm around her middle again as he looked across the little ocean that remained between them and the dragon lands. “Yeah, it does look beautiful too. It’s a lot greener than I expected.” “It’s a nice place…” Pyralsprite leaned against him with a wide smile as they both fell silent, watching the land draw ever closer. They had finally arrived at the dragon lands… To Be Continued