Not a single cloud filled Ponyville’s sunny skies as Spike walked around the library, dusting the books and straightening the shelves. For what purpose, he didn’t know. Recently, the library had an increase in visitors when everypony wanted to hear the ascension story of Equestria’s newest princess, but since she wasn’t even there at the moment, the library hardly had any visitors. What a surprise, hardly anyone in Ponyville actually read anymore. Sometimes, it even seemed that the only books in the library were those that had some specific solution to whatever problem they were facing that day.
That was life for him in a nutshell. One of his friends messed something up, so he had to drop everything to end up doing almost nothing to help solve the problem. Not to mention that when it was him with the problem, he usually had to find the solution by himself. It may be a complicated life, but it was his, and he was pretty happy with it.
Until recently of course, when the most important pony in his life told him that he would never get the chance to really prove himself because he wasn’t tough enough to handle the danger. Even though he tried to be as useful as he could be, he’s never really helped solve a major crisis like his friends seem to do every other weekend. The Crystal Empire incident was the only exception, and that was mostly Twilight’s victory anyway.
Why does Twilight always judge him like that anyway? He isn’t the baby dragon she believes he is. He won’t start crying when things get dangerous if that’s what she’s thinking. Surely whatever Twilight and the others are doing, it can’t be too dangerous...right?
Typical, it’s only been a day since the fight happened, and he’s still mad about it. He wasn’t actually a baby, but he was still a kid. Nevertheless, he needed to find something to do besides think about Twilight. Maybe he would just go hang out with Owlowiscious. He still owes him an apology for leaving him alone in the library yesterday.
Walking upstairs, Spike looked around for his nocturnal friend, but found there was no need because he was were he’s been since yesterday: on top of Twilight’s bed. His head was turned to the wall, away from Spike, so it looked as though he was sleeping. It wasn’t a ridiculous thought since it was still the early afternoon, but Spike could that he was awake.
“Is this where you always go when Twilight’s away?” Spike asked, lightly tapping the bed.
Owlowiscious refused to respond, he just kept staring at the wall. That was fine with Spike, he didn’t need a talker as much as he needed a listener, so he just began the tirade he was holding in.
“What is it with Twilight anyway?” Spike said with as much spite as a baby dragon could manage. “I mean, I almost got killed by King Sombra and she’s telling me how dangerous it is to be on a mission? When was the last time her life was in actual danger on a mission?”
Owlowiscious still hasn’t moved a single inch. Was he just really missing Twilight? Was him talking about Twilight making it painful for the poor owl?
“Uh, sorry if I’m just making you miss Twilight more, Owlowiscious,” Spike apologized. “I guess I’m just trying to not let her words get to me. What if I have to wait until I grow up into a dragon to go missions again? What if I can’t get big enough? What if I have tiny claws forever? Can that happen? Does that happen? Help Owlowiscious! I think I’m freaking out!”
Now that Spike has screamed his name, the owl finally turned his head to face the dragon. His eyes were closed until he slowly pried them open.
“Who?” Owlowiscious drowsily said his only word.
“Oh, were you actually asleep?” Spike asked, putting two and two together. “Uh, sorry, you can just forget about the conversation we just had. It wasn’t important. I think I’m gonna go take a walk. You just...go back to sleep or something. Sorry again.”
Spike awkwardly walked down the stairs, smacking his face with his palm as he did so. Great, now he had to get out of the library. Couldn’t he just go one week without ruining somepony’s day? Opening the door to the outside, Spike took in the clean Ponyville air. He told himself that today would be different from all his other day offs. Today he prove that he’s not some useless baby dragon. He’s Spike the useful dragon assistant!
Taking the first step out of the library, he immediately wondered how he would prove that he’s capable of facing danger. Ponyville wasn’t very dangerous at all, it was mostly the areas surrounding Ponyville that were dangerous. There was the Everfree Forest, but he would prefer staying out of there unless he had a reason to go in.
Suddenly, he felt a familiar burning sensation in his stomach. The feeling he got whenever he was about to burp fire. As if on cue, a torrent of emerald flames forced it’s way out of his mouth, leaving behind a single scroll. Was this a last minute message for Twilight? In fact, how was Twilight going to receive letters without him? Didn’t think of that, did she?
Promising to laugh at Twilight’s misfortune later, Spike unrolled the scroll and read aloud it’s contents:
Spike,
You are still in Ponyville, correct?
Princess Celestia.
What a short, specific and surprisingly informal letter from Princess Celestia. Spike had a bad feeling about the letter. Sometimes she did write casual letters, but only if it wasn’t a very important subject. If he responded and this came from somepony else, it could start a terrible series of events that could become the end of Equestria. The worst part of being a kid is using your imagination to blow things out of proportion. Sighing at himself, Spike wrote short reply to the letter.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Yes.
Spike.
Summoning his flames, he sent the letter off to who he hoped was Princess Celestia. It probably should have bothered him more that Celestia seemed to know that Twilight left him behind, but he was too focused on figuring out what to eat for the next few days. Finally, his flames returned, bringing another letter along with them. Unrolling it, he prepared for a message from Queen Chrysalis saying that he had confirmed Ponyville’s location and that she was coming to take it over. Instead what he got was:
Spike,
Oh, thank goodness. Spike, I have an important task for you to accomplish. In order to account for a factor I forgot about, you must venture into the old castle located in the heart of the Everfree Forest. Located deep in the ruins is a special stone in the shape of a star that you must recover. Once you have it, take it back to the library and keep it safe for the future. Try to have someone responsible and trustworthy accompany you. I’m putting a lot of faith into you, please don’t let me down.
Princess Celestia.
Closing his mouth even though he didn’t know he had opened it, Spike reread the letter to make sure that she was saying what he thought she was saying. It was true! Celestia had actually entrusted in him a task that was super important! If he actually did succeed, then Twilight would have to admit that he was totally ready to face all kinds of danger! Even Rarity would think that he’s awesome!
Completing this quest as soon as possible was one his number one priority. He rushed inside to prepare. He didn’t want to lug a big bag across the Everfree Forest, so he couldn’t actually pack anything. Instead he quickly cooked up some scrambled eggs to eat so that he wouldn’t be hungry later. He ignored the creeping thought of what happened last time he scrambled and scarfed them down in a hurry. Finishing his eggs, he hurried upstairs to tell Owlowiscious.
“Owlowiscious!” Spike shouted, practically soaring up the stairs. “I’m going on an adventure by myself, well, me and someone else, but mostly me. Listen, I’m gonna be gone for a while. You know where the food is right? Good, because I’m closing up the library, see you...later?”
It didn’t even occur to him that the owl was still asleep until he finally reached the top stair. Sure enough, there he was; sleeping the day away. Spike felt his face growing hot from being indirectly ignored for the second time that day and simply told himself that the owl would figure it out on his own.
Nearly stumbling down the stairs, he checked off a list in his head to make sure that he wasn’t forgetting anything. He had a full stomach and himself...yeah that was everything. The only other thing he needed was someone to go with him. Since none of his friends were around, he would have to improvise.
Unfortunately, he didn’t many ponies who knew anything about the Everfree Forest. Not even he knew that much about it. In fact, when was the last time he went in there? Yeah, he would definitely need some backup. Except, he still didn’t know anypony who knows anything about the Everfree Forest. Wait, he didn’t know anypony, but he did know a zebra.
Of course! Why wasn’t Zecora his first choice? Not only did she seem to have a solution for everything, which made her an awesome ally, but she actually lived in the Everfree. Now that he had his partner in mind, he could finally set off on his Spiketastic adventure!
He confidently opened and closed the front door of the library. He eagerly marched through the Ponyville market, letting his confidence show in his strut. Even though his eyes were closed for extra effect, he could feel the eyes of the surrounding ponies on him. If he’s lucky, he might even become the talk of the town.
Did you hear about what Spike did?
So brave!
I wish he was my number one assistant.
Yup, he would easily become a superstar by dinner. Of course, Zecora would get some credit too, but it was still his quest. On second thought, he wanted to know what they thought of him right now. Opening his eyes wide, he scanned his surroundings for any unblinking eyes. To his great disappointment, he found none.
He was about to go on a potentially life-threatening hike through the most dangerous forest in Equestria and nopony cared? Wait a minute, they didn’t care because he didn’t tell them yet. He knew he was forgetting something. Well, he was pretty good at narrating things, he was even considering listing it as his second job. He positioned himself on a wooden log and cleared his throat.
“Citizens of Ponyville,” he yelled as dramatically as he could. “I, Spike the dragon, am embarking on a life-threatening mission located deep in the Everfree Forest. Don’t worry, I’m not throwing my life away, this one comes straight from Princess Celestia.”
He knew that throwing the princess card would guarantee some gasps. Although from whom, he didn’t know anymore because nopony even seemed to have heard him. They were still going on with their ordinary lives even though something not ordinary was happening to them right now.
“Did everypony hear me?” Spike asked, his voice laced with confusion. “I said—”
“We know, Spike,” said Mr. Cake, bags full of fresh groceries hanging from his mouth. “It’s just that you guys go on some crazy and random adventure every other weekend don’t you? It gets kind of stale after a while, y’know?”
“Oh,” Spike said, lowering his head until his eyes met the floor. “I see.”
“Don’t let it discourage you though, I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun on your journey.”
“It’s not supposed to be fun.”
“Nonsense. If there’s one thing living with Pinkie Pie has taught me, it’s that you can find fun in anything. Even something as mundane as, heh, getting the groceries.”
“Yeah, thanks Mr. Cake,” Spike said, sadly continuing his walk. “See you later.”
“Remember,” shouted Mr. Cake as he waved goodbye. “Have fun!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Spike murmured to himself.
Have fun? Yeah right. Hiking through the Everfree Forest with a zebra who could only speak in rhymes wasn’t exactly his idea of fun. Maybe he would finally be able have some action. A little dragon punch there, and reptile kick there; maybe it wouldn’t be as boring as he thought.
Finally, he approached the outskirts of Ponyville. The Everfree Forest was directly in front of him and it was even creepier than he thought. Glancing behind him, he decided to take one more look at Ponyville. The friendly little town really did feel more like home than Canterlot ever did. He wondered if this was Twilight felt when she left. Deciding to put that behind him for now, he took a deep breath and began the long trek into—
“Hey, Spike,” said a familiar voice followed by the screeching of wheels.
“Oh,” he said, turning around. “Hey, Scootaloo.”
As usual, Scootaloo was riding her signature scooter, helmet on her head and for some reason; she was also wearing a sad look on her face. Normally Scootaloo looked like she was ready to take on the world, but now she just looked like she urgently needed to see Dr. Pinkie Pie for a dose of happiness.
“Sheesh, what’s wrong with you?” Spike asked, realized too late how rude it actually sounded.
“Nothing,” she muttered, shrugging. “It’s just that Applebloom is busy at Sweet Apple Acres and Sweetie Belle is trying learn how to make dresses.”
“Sounds like Applejack and Rarity,” Spike commented.
“Exactly. Since their sisters are away, they think that this is their chance to really ‘prove themselves’.”
“What about you?”
“Yeah, like I’m really gonna prove myself by doing all of Rainbow Dash’s jobs. All I need is the ability of flight. Nothing to it. At least she trusted me with Tank right? That’s...something.”
“Is he chilling at your house or something?”
“Yeah, my parents are watching him. I gotta get back, I just wanted to clear my head with a scooter ride.”
“I don’t think it worked.”
“Whatever. Why are you heading towards the Everfree Forest anyway?”
“Princess Celestia trusted me with a mission that takes place deep in the Everfree Forest. I’m on my way to ask Zecora to help me out.”
“What? Why do you get to go on an awesome mission and all I get is turtle duty?”
“Sorry, maybe next time.”
“Oh c’mon, there’s not gonna be a next time! The next time Celestia has a mission ready, she’ll give it straight to Twilight. You gotta take me with you.”
“Whoa, whoa...whoa,” Spike said, emphasizing each word. “First of all, you’re way too young for this kind of mission—”
“You realize you’re still classified as a baby dragon, right?” Scootaloo smugly interrupted.
“Second of all,” Spike said, ignoring her. “You said it yourself: You’re stuck with turtle duty.”
“I said my parents are watching him,” Scootaloo said, practically whining at this point. “They won’t mind watching him for a few more hours.”
“Third—”
“No,” Scootaloo interrupted again. “I’m going, end of story. Besides, the Everfree gets worse at night, so we gotta get going!”
Spike opened his mouth to say something, but Scootaloo zoomed past him, effectively knocking him off balance. After picking himself up, immediately saw where this could go wrong. Thanks to Twilight, he had a not well known sense of responsibility, but Scootaloo seemed to entirely go off her instincts. Exactly like Rainbow Dash.
“I said we gotta get going!” Scootaloo shouted, already looking happier than she did a second ago.
Great, she thought this was going to be fun. When was the last she entered the Everfree Forest? It didn’t matter what Mr. Cake said, finding fun in anything didn’t really apply to a terrifying and crazy dangerous forest. He jogged to catch up to her, but as soon as he got close, she zoomed ahead again.
So this was it was going to go.
“Sorry,” Scootaloo apologized, laughing as she did so. “I’ll stay still this time. Come on.”
Not even bothering to respond, Spike jogged up to her once more. Once again, she scooted ahead at high speed.
“Got you again!” Scootaloo exclaimed between laughing fits.
“Scootaloo!” Spike shouted. “If you keep messing around like this, then we’ll be goners for sure!”
“Uh, Spike?” Scootaloo said tenderly, gesturing around them.
Momentarily forgetting his frustration, Spike turned in a circle, getting a view of his surroundings. He realized that in his haste to keep up with her, he’d already brought them deep into the Everfree Forest. It was just as spooky as last time, complete with the same scary trees, horrible noises, and the suspicion that no matter what, they were being watched.
“Don’t you know better than to raise your voice in the Everfree Forest?” Scootaloo gasped in fake surprise. “The monsters might hear you.”
“Ugh, whatever, let’s just get an actual move on,” Spike groaned.
“Yeah, I’ll be serious now,” Scootaloo promised, scooting next to Spike. “Do you know where we’re headed?”
“Yup, if we’re gonna actually survive this trip, we’ll need Zecora, so let’s stop by her hut.”
“Cool, where afterwards?”
“The old castle.”
“Awesome! My school was gonna take us on a field trip there, but it got cancelled because it was way too dangerous.”
“Too d-dangerous?” Spike repeated, biting the tips of his claws.
“What’s wrong, don’t like danger?”
“I don’t like being in danger.”
“Then you’re in the wrong forest, bud.”
“That’s why we need to get Zecora, she knows this forest like the back of her hoof.”
He was certain that having Scootaloo around would get him into some sticky situations, considering her love of danger, but so far they were getting by. True they’ve only been traveling for a few moments, but in this time he could’ve easily gotten lost or eaten. In fact, Scootaloo seemed to know exactly where she was going. How many times has she been to Zecora’s place?
The solid ground helped take his mind off how they were in constant danger. It just calmed him to know that at least he the ground’s support. With nothing else to think about, he felt his mind drift back to Twilight. He wondered how they were doing on their quest. Did they run into any complications along the way? Were they all doing okay? What if something terrible happened to them? Then again, if anything bad happened, Twilight would certainly be the most collected one. Surely the others would follow her calm lead. Yes, they were doing just fine.
He had to keep in mind that doing this mission and bringing back the stone would prove to Twilight (and impress Rarity) that he was capable of doing dangerous things like they were. Then again, maybe Twilight had a point all along. He wouldn’t have been very useful on their quest if there was a lot of fighting involved. He was even relying on Zecora for a mission that asked for him! Maybe he should give this more thought later, right now he had to convince himself that stars couldn’t blink.
“Wait, what?” Spike mumbled, doing a double take at the bushes.
“What is it?” Scootaloo asked, stopping her scooter.
“Am I crazy, or are those stars blinking?” Spike asked, pointing at the stars hidden by the bushes.
“You’re not crazy for thinking those stars are blinking.”
“I’m not?”
“No...you’re crazy for thinking that there are stars out. It’s still like 3:30,” Scootaloo stated, looking slightly scared herself.
Taking a long look at the bushes, Spike saw the stars seemed to be kinda clustered together to form something. And was that a star-patterned scorpion tail? He slowly backed away and rubbed his eyes to try and convince himself that it wasn’t real. The figment of his imagination slowly walked out of the bushes, revealing it’s disturbing body. It seemed like a giant scorpion but with small white stars all over it’s black body and soulless white eyes without pupils.
“W-what is t-that?” Scootaloo asked, fear finally showing on her face.
“The most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen,” Spike quietly said more to himself than her.
The Star Scorpion let out a loud screech, effectively silencing all the other spooky noises of the Everfree. It seemed to gain pleasure from intimidating the rest of the forest, then again, it was hard to tell from it’s deadly white eyes. It slowly stalked towards them, but Spike was too terrified to move. The closer it got, the less he felt like getting out of the way. It was almost as if it were talking to him. Once it was directly in front of him, staring down with a wicked gleam, it raised it’s starry tail, prepared to strike. It didn’t matter to him, he was already dead.
I’m sorry, Twilight.
“Spike!” Scootaloo shouted, the sound of screeching wheels followed her voice. “Hold on!”
He wondered what she meant with the side of his brain that wasn’t paralyzed with fear. Suddenly, he was swept out of the way by a scooter passing by. Once the fear wore off, he realized that it was Scootaloo who saved him. Holding onto her for dear life, he released a breath he didn’t know he was holding in.
“What do we do?” Spike asked. His voice was still laced with fear, but he didn’t care.
“You’re a baby dragon and I’m a school filly. What do you think?” she began buzzing her wings, which made it hard to hold on, but considering his only other option was death, he found a way. The monster let out another screech, which was apparently Scootaloo’s cue to go because she immediately zoomed forward at high speed. They barely missed it’s tail as they sped past it. Hearing the earth break beneath it’s strike was motivation enough to go faster.
They were going at a pretty good speed considering they were on a weighted down scooter powered by wings. He glanced behind him and immediately regretted it. Somehow the scorpion was keeping up with them, and it didn’t look like it was going to give up anytime soon.
“Scootaloo,” Spike shouted over the rush of the wind. “It’s gaining on us, and it’s not giving up.”
“Don’t worry,” she shouted back. “We’ll use our sharp wit and intelligent brains to outsmart it.”
“We’re doomed.”
She sounded like she had a plan, but she continued to weave through the trees, avoiding their pursuer. It was a high speed chase, and they were the ones being chased. It wasn’t a good feeling. It felt like they were at their top speed, but the scorpion seemed like it could only get faster. Scootaloo now seemed to be going on a very specific path through the forest. Did she even say how many times she’d been here?
A patch of sand appeared up ahead. It stood out among all the green grass, making it very obvious for anypony who was paying attention. But not every scorpion. Narrowly swerving around the sand, Scootaloo stopped and waited. If the sand was what he thought it was, it could work, but if not then they really were doomed. The scorpion rushed towards them, unaware of the pit of sand in front of it. It was only feet away. Spike closed his eyes and waited for the end to come if the plan didn’t work. Before he clamped his eyes shut, he saw Scootaloo’s look of confidence and wished he could put on that kind of look in serious situations.
He heard a large squishing sound followed by a small roar. To him, that was the cue to open his eyes. Squinting at first, he only saw the scorpion in front of him, struggling viciously. Opening his eyes all the way, he saw that it’s creepy leg things were utterly stuck in the quicksand. It tried to get out, but it’s attempt was in vain, much to Spike’s relief.
“It worked?” Spike asked surprised.
“Yup,” Scootaloo stated confidently. “The more it struggles, the faster it’ll sink. Since all of it’s legs are moving separately, it’ll probably sink pretty fast.”
“It’ll just sink?”
“Not completely, but enough for it not to bother us anymore.”
“What if there are more?”
“Right, Spike, the extremely common breed of Star Scorpions are often found in forests. Besides, this is your quest after all. You ready to move again?”
A simple nod yielded the answer. With the buzzing of wings, they were off again. That was way too close for comfort. He hated being a defenseless baby dragon. If he was even a normal sized dragon then he would’ve easily beat the scorpion in a fight. If it wasn’t for Scootaloo....
“Hey, Scootaloo,” Spike muttered. “Thanks for saving me. I owe you one.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Scootaloo replied, grinning against the wind. “The most important lesson I ever learned was that you gotta do anything you can to help your friends. Even if it means putting your life on the line for them. And I learned it from the most important pony in my life.”
“Rainbow Dash?”
“Yeah.”
It seemed that Rainbow Dash was a lot smarter than everypony gave her credit for. Then again, her closest friends already knew that. Sounds like that included Scootaloo. He wished he had a dragon sibling to look up to. He had Twilight, but she wasn’t a dragon and eventually that would come with consequences.
“Shouldn’t be much longer. We’re close to Zecora’s,” Scootaloo said, eyeing the distance.
Scootaloo’s knowledge of the Everfree bugged him once more as he never said where Zecora’s hut was. Maybe Applebloom showed her around one day. No, she knew too much to have learned it from one or two casual visits.
“Hey Scootaloo. How do you know so much about the Everfree?”
“What?” Scootaloo shouted. “I can’t hear you over the wind.”
You didn’t have any problems hearing me earlier, he thought.
“Never mind,” Spike groaned.
“Okay.”
Seriously?
Nevertheless, he could see Zecora’s hut loom into view. Finally he would have an adult accompany him. Hanging with another kid was too chaotic for him. Even if Scootaloo ended up saving him, and was nice to him, and was smarter than she seemed. What would Scootaloo do in a second? Would she go with them all the way to the castle? A part of him hoped so, but another part reminded him that Scootaloo would lower his chances of completing the task. Another part wondered if he would survive without her. The final part concluded that she would just get in the way.
He practically hopped off the scooter once they were directly in front of the hut. Scootaloo gently laid the vehicle down and put her helmet on top. She treated it like it was a part of her, which it kind of was. He knocked three times on the wooden door, eager to continue his quest as soon as he could. He practically hopped in place, but Scootaloo didn’t seem happy at all. It reminded him of how she looked earlier, and he didn’t like it.
“What’s wrong?” Spike asked her.
“Well...it’s nothing,” she responded, her dishonesty showing in her eyes.
“Don’t forget which one of us lives with Twilight. Lies don’t work on me.”
“Fine, I’m just kinda afraid that you’ll just tell me to go home when Zecora agrees to go with you.”
She basically just asked the question on his mind. Would he send her home? Clearly she didn’t want to go, but Celestia only said that he bring one person. He realized that it was a pretty lame excuse, but it was true! He couldn’t bring himself to come forward and say that he wasn’t sure if he would, so he mentally willed Zecora to answer the door quicker.
Come on, come on, come on.
“Ah, Spike and Scootaloo,” Zecora said cheerfully as she opened the door. “What can I do for you?”
Thank you, he mentally thanked her for actually answering the door quickly.
“Zecora, thank goodness,” Spike said a little too happily. “Princess Celestia told me to go retrieve this stone from the old castle deep in the Everfree and I need your help to do it. Scootaloo’s been helping me out so far, but I need an expert to finish the job.”
Zecora didn’t seem to be interested in this information, instead she seemed more interested in them. She eyed him and Scootaloo for a good minute, Scootaloo especially. It quickly became uncomfortable for Spike, but he kept his mouth shut anyway. Maybe she also thought that Scootaloo should go home and she was considering how to break it to her. That was a possibility, right?
“You think my help is what you need,” Zecora finally said. “When you really should be conquering your greed.”
“Greed?” Spike repeated, confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Your selfish ways cloud your sight, from doing what you feel is right. You know that the right thing to do, is to bring along Scootaloo. I must deny your offer of partnership, so that you’ll discover true friendship.”
“So, you won’t go with us?” Spike asked slowly.
“No,” Zecora stated simply.
“Aww.”
Zecora’s words had truth to them, he did feel that leaving Scootaloo behind would higher the success rate of the mission. In the process of thinking that, he forgot that Scootaloo needed this mission to feel good about herself. What would she do if he sent her back, hang out with Tank while Applebloom and Sweetie Belle followed their paths?
“Well, if you won’t help us, how are we gonna complete the mission?” Spike questioned.
“Rely on each other, if you wish to progress further,” Zecora informed them.
His eyes met Scootaloo’s and in that moment; he could feel the sadness radiating off her. The only reason it wasn’t apparent was because it was being masked by newfound happiness. Could he really bring himself to risk what was currently the most important task of his life, all for the happiness of his friend?
“What do you say, Spike?” Scootaloo gently asked, rubbing her eyes as she did so.
Suddenly, his mind was made up.
“I guess so,” Spike muttered to the ground.
“Yes!” Scootaloo shouted triumphantly, her smile shining bright like a star. “You won’t regret it, I promise!”
“I hope not,” Spike said quietly. “Well, if we’re done here, then we have a stone to find. See you later, Zecora.”
“Beware young ones,” Zecora warned. “The prize you seek is second to none. Be true to yourself and follow your heart, unless you want Equestria to be torn apart.”
Before either of them could think, Zecora quickly closed the door.
“What was that supposed to mean?” Spike thought out loud.
“Who cares?” Scootaloo cheered happily, picking up her scooter. “We’ve got a stone to find!”
“Yeah,” Spike said weakly. “I guess we do.”
Even if he was technically okay with Scootaloo going with him now (technically because he didn’t really have a choice), he still would’ve preferred Zecora. The abandoned castle was abandoned for a reason. There could be anything in there, and the idea of two kids facing those unknown horrors was a terrible idea in anyone’s head.
Not to mention that they were currently being pursued by strange star creatures. They may have outsmarted the scorpion, but if they came into contact with one of those again, they would be in trouble.
Looking up, Spike saw that the sky had finally turned dark. It wasn’t too dark though, so it was probably only around six at the least. As if on cue, the spooky sounds coming from the Everfree seemed to increase in volume. They still scared him, but for now, he didn’t really care. His priority was the task at hand and nothing else. Except resting his eyes for a moment...
“Okay, something is wrong here,” Spike stated, staring out the window of the library. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the grass was green. He didn’t know why something felt...off.
“You’re right, Spike,” said Twilight, walking down the stairs. “Something is wrong here. You’re not in Canterlot, where you’ve been reassigned to.”
“What?” Spike asked, panicking as he did so.
“We’ve been over this, now that I’m a princess, I don’t need some useless baby dragon as my assistant. I could have anypony in all of Equestria. Or at least I will, once you’re gone.”
“That’s...impossible,” Spike said, looking down at his trembling paws. “You would never send me away because you thought I was useless...right?”
“Wrong,” Twilight spat. “You’ve never done anything that somepony better couldn’t do. If that isn’t useless, I don’t know what is.”
“No, you’re wrong,” Spike said, stepping forward. “I’ve been something to you that no ordinary assistant could ever be: a friend.”
“Yeah right,” Twilight cruelly laughed, her voice becoming harsher. “I have plenty of friends already, I don’t mind losing one.”
“Our bond goes deeper than the title of ‘friends’ Twilight. We’re family. Nothing and no one will ever change that.”
“Ugh!” Twilight groaned in frustration, her voice no longer her own. “I’m sick of your nonsense! It’s time for you to leave. Right now!”
Without warning, Twilight leapt at him. He would’ve shielded himself, but he knew that Twilight would never harm him. Just before she reached him, she burst into a ball of brilliant light. The light floated down to the ground, hovering an inch above it. It gave off a nice, warm feeling that reminded him of how the real Twilight made him feel. Without hesitation, he walked straight into it without looking back.
“Spike, psst, Spike! Wake up already! Sheesh, you’re harder to wake than Rainbow Dash after work!”
“Huh, wha...?” Spike drowsily groaned. Quickly trying to remember what happened, Spike looked around and saw that they were still in the Everfree Forest. His arms were wrapped tightly around Scootaloo. He quickly unwrapped them and made a note to never sleep around ponies.
“You fell asleep on my back,” Scootaloo explained. “I didn’t notice ‘til you started snoring like a hydra.”
“What?” Spike gasped. “I do not!”
“Oh really? Would Twilight agree with you or me?”
“Obviously me, because I’m right.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Playfully shaking his head at their banter, he strained his eyes to see how far away they were from the castle. Thankfully, they weren’t all that far, all they really had to do was cross the bridge and they were home free. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he tried to remember the dream he just had...
“Huh, do you hear that?” Scootaloo suddenly asked, stopping her scooter.
Focusing on the sounds he’d been trying to ignore, Spike did hear something that was slightly different from the others. It even sounded familiar, but in a bad way, like a bad memory. It grew louder and more terrifying at the same time. His stomach dropped as he remembered what the source of the roar was.
“Timberwolves,” Spike whispered in fear.
“What?” Scootaloo asked.
“Timberwolves!” Spike screeched. The roar of the hidden Timberwolves grew louder to match Spike’s scream of distress.
“Where?” Scootaloo wondered, clutching onto her scooter for dear life. As if on cue, the distinct sound of roots being ripped out of the ground filled the air as a tree fell to their left.
“T-there,” Spike said through his chattering teeth. Another tree met the same fate as it crashed to the ground. And another, and another until finally the glowing light green eyes of a Timberwolf pierced the darkness.
Bringing one more tree with it, the Timberwolf finally made an appearance. It released one more roar and eyed it’s prey. One glance at Scootaloo told him that she was completely paralyzed with fear. Looks like it was just him and Timberwolf once again. The last time he’d faced off against one was when he was Applejack’s assistant. He defeated that one by throwing a rock into t’s throat, how would he defeat this one?
Taking charge, he switched Scootaloo and himself so that he was the one at the front. He had never driven a scooter before, but there was a first time for everything. It looked like all he had to was get them over the bridge and through the castle doors. Challenge accepted.
“Hold on!” Spike yelled, feeling the adrenaline coursing through his veins. Scootaloo weakly nodded in reply. Shoving his foot into the ground and kicking up, he launched them forward. The monstrous footsteps behind them told him that the Timberwolf was following close behind them. Kicking the ground again, he realized that he would have to pick up the pace if they wanted to live.
He found the scooter hard to control on account of his lack of experience with it and the fact that he was scooting for two people. As the steps grew louder, he began to doubt that they would survive this at the speed they were going.
“Scootaloo,” Spike shouted, getting a mouthful of wind in the process. “You need to buzz your wings so that we can get that extra boost!”
She still had an empty look in her eye from the blind fear, but she understood. Closing her eyes and hanging on even tighter, she buzzed her wings as fast as she could. It was a small boost, but it would probably save their lives.
Finally he approached the bridge. Too afraid of what would happen if he slowed down for even a moment, he sped forward not thinking of what would happen if he drove a scooter over an unstable bridge. The slightly spaced wooden panels made the drive bumpy and made the scooter even harder to control.
They were almost over when the Timberwolf finally caught up. One of it’s giant steps alone was enough to violently shake the entire bridge. He lost the control that he’d been working hard to maintain the entire journey and flew off the scooter. His back collided with solid ground, telling him that he’d at least made it over the bridge, but did Scootaloo? Tenderly opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was Scootaloo and the scooter lying next to her.
Standing up, he immediately turned and saw that the Timberwolf was struggling over the bridge. In a minute he’d be on them and now that he could compare sizes; he doubted that the castle doors could hold the beast back. Still being fueled by the adrenaline, he lifted Scootaloo onto the scooter and walked them up to the doors. Opening the doors slightly, he pushed them through and quickly closed them.
It was his turn to be the savior.
Walking slowly up to the bridge, he noticed that the Timberwolf was almost upon him. It was a good thing he had a plan in mind or he would probably just run around and panic for a few moment. Then again, he wasn’t that baby dragon anymore. Inhaling deeply, he put aside the thought that reminded him that he’d never officially attempted this. The Timberwolf was over the bridge and looked twice as angry as before. It’s howl was another indication of how annoyed it’d become.
Pawing at the ground, the wooden wolf sprinted at him, intent on blood. Letting out the breath he’d been holding, he took in another breath and waited. The Timberwolf launched itself at him, so ready to rip him apart, but he had no intention to let him.
Unleashing the held breath, he watched as the breath transformed into his signature emerald flames. The fire that poured out of his mouth now was the largest he had ever produced. And he couldn’t be prouder of himself for it. The fire consumed the Timberwolf whole and spat it out completely burned. It howled in pain and rolled around on it’s side to rid itself of it’s own nightmare, but it couldn’t undo the damage. Burned beyond healing it let out one last roar, launched itself over the bridge and ran back into the forest.
The fact that he had achieved such an amazing victory should have made him feel great, but he just felt extremely drained from the fire. Also feeling lightheaded, he stumbled over to the castle doors and pushed them open with his remaining strength. As soon as they opened, he immediately found himself being embraced by Scootaloo. He weakly hugged her back, happy that they were both alive.
“Spike, that was amazing,” Scootaloo exclaimed, pulling back from the hug. “I cracked the door open to watch and saw you spew that fire, that was so awesome!”
“Thanks Scootaloo, but I think I need a breather, can we just rest for a minute?” Spike drowsily said more as a statement than a question. Slumping into a sitting position, he sat against the door, rubbing his head.
“Okay,” Scootaloo agreed, sitting beside him against the door.
For once, the silence that followed was relaxing. Good thing too, because the last thing he needed right now was more excitement. He could use a good tale though; he enjoyed hearing those when he was tired. He realized that he still had a few questions for Scootaloo.
“Hey Scootaloo,” Spike said, “you still haven’t told me why you know so much about the Everfree Forest.”
Scootaloo’s face showed surprise at this question, as expected. She looked around and seemed to realize that there was no way out of this one. Looking down, she let out a sigh.
“Don’t tell anyone I told you, but sometimes I go into the Everfree by myself. Just to explore and stuff, you know? I guess I’ve been here more times than I can count and memorized everything by now.”
“You don’t go in with anyone? Not even Rainbow Dash?”
“No...because Rainbow Dash is the reason I go in.”
“Does she pressure you or something?”
“No, it’s because I...because she...”
Scootaloo took a deep breath and stared right into Spike’s eyes. Her eyes were filled with sadness, a look he’d probably perfected by now.
“A while ago, we went on a camping trip and I had terrible nightmares about a scary story Rainbow told me and I accidentally fell off a cliff. Rainbow saved me and told me that those stories scared her too and that’s when she agreed to be my big sister. Afterwards, the nightmares went away, but they only left because of Rainbow. I wanted to be strong enough to fend them off myself so I decided to spend my free time in the Everfree Forest to toughen me up. I thought it was working, but I just froze up when that Timberwolf attacked...now I’m a disgrace to pegasi and Rainbow Dash.”
“You’re not a disgrace, you’re a filly, it’s natural to have fears when you’re young. Trust me, I got a lot of them.”
Scootaloo let out a short laugh and relaxed her shoulders.
“Yeah, but you don’t have anything to prove to anyone. I gotta worry about impressing Rainbow Dash at everything.”
“Rainbow’s the spirit of loyalty, it doesn’t matter what you do, she’s still gonna like you.”
“I know, it’s just a feeling. I mean, don’t you ever feel like you’re gonna do something that’ll make Twilight not like you anymore?”
Finally remembering what his dream was about, Spike shook his head and chuckled.
“I used to, a long time ago. But not anymore. You should tell Rainbow about your Everfree adventures, she’d be proud. Not like Twilight, she steers me away from danger.”
“She only does that because she loves you and just wants you to be safe. After all, Rainbow isn’t too keen on me facing danger either.”
“I guess it’s impossible to have a perfect relationship with your sibling, right?”
“Yeah, I guess it is.”
Feeling a little more relaxed, Spike was suddenly glad that Scootaloo ended up coming along with him. It was nice to have a good friend that he could actually connect with on a younger sibling level.
“Do you find it as funny as I do that neither of us are actually related to our siblings?” Spike asked her, laughing to himself.
“Yeah, it’s even funnier that we’re even closer than most Ponyville families,” Scootaloo replied, sharing in the laugh.
“It feels like a curse to talk about family bonds in the castle that Nightmare Moon destroyed,” Spike said, rising from the floor. “We should probably find that stone already.”
“Yeah, let’s do that,” Scootaloo said eagerly.
The first rule for exploring ancient ruins is to not touch anything. Seeing how destroyed and dangerous everything looked, this was an easy rule to obey. The main problem would be having to actually locate the stone in the castle. Celestia didn’t provide any hints or directions so it shouldn’t be too difficult.
It would require some careful inspecting and probably some hidden stairways as well. The trick was that it couldn’t be somewhere obvious considering that if it was anypony could’ve made off with it. The best place to start would be the space in between the two staircases. This would be an optimal place to put a hidden stairway.
“Scootaloo, I think there’s a hidden stairway here,” Spike announced, gesturing to the wall.
“Here?” Scootaloo repeated, confused. “I dunno, it’d be too obvious.”
“Reverse psychology,” he replied, rubbing the wall. “There should a hidden panel around here somewhere, we just gotta find it.”
“Like this?” Scootaloo asked, copying his movements.
“Yeah.”
Together, they awkward moved around the wall, trying to locate some hidden panel. After a minute, it became weird, but everything depended on the fact that they find it, so they searched on.
“Are you sure that there’s something here?” Scootaloo asked.
“In every comic I’ve ever read, this is how they find the secret lair,” Spike explained. “Either that, or they just blast their way through.”
“Hmm, well I don’t think—whoa!”
Spike looked over and saw that Scootaloo’s hoof was firmly planted on a panel moving into the wall. Before Spike could congratulate her, the loud rumbling of the walls moving cut off his potential sentence. It felt as though the wall was making itself hollow from the inside. A large slab of wall moved slowly downward, creating a loud crushing sound as it did so. Dust flew everywhere, causing Spike to close his eyes and cover his mouth. As suddenly as it began, it ended.
Opening his eyes slowly, Spike found himself face to face with a stairway going diagonally downwards. It appeared behind the missing slab of wall from before, looking over at Scootaloo he could tell that she made the same connection. Gesturing at it with a nod of his head, Spike smiled and practically sprinted down the steps.
After the fourth step, he began to wonder if they had activated the wrong hidden staircase and were heading towards something completely different. Hopefully the princesses didn’t keep too many hidden pathways in their old castle, but if they did...
Reaching the bottom of the stairs after what seemed like an eternity, Spike took a moment to catch his breath and let Scootaloo catch up. Looking around, he gasped as he noticed that the only object in the room was the one they’d been searching for. On a pedestal was the very same star stone that they’ve been looking. It really was nothing more than a large stone carved into the shape of a star. He expected something more, but now he just felt disappointed. Hearing Scootaloo reach the bottom, he eagerly grabbed onto her shoulders.
“There it is, the star stone...thingy,” Spike said excitedly.
“Yeah, but why isn’t it more well guarded if it’s so important?” Scootaloo asked, gently trotting out of Spike’s grasp.
“I dunno, but the sooner we get it, the sooner we get congratulated by Princess Celestia!” Spike exclaimed, shaking with excitement.
He began towards it, smiling madly as he did so. He realized about halfway over to it that the pedestal was too tall for him, but he would figure that out later. He shoved aside the fact that the room was probably booby trapped.
On second thought, he probably shouldn’t had shoved that thought aside so quickly. Only a foot away from the stone, he suddenly saw nothing but light gold. Blinking several times and flailing his arms wildly, he struggled to find Scootaloo in his sea of gold. He tried to see her in the rare glimpses he had when the gold momentarily disappeared. He finally spotted her and saw that likewise she was likewise being consumed in a blue aura. After a moment longer of fighting it, he allowed it to wash over his body as his vision turned from gold to black.
“Open your eyes, Spike. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Obeying the hypnotic voice, Spike pried his eyes open and was tempted to shut them again because he was greeted with a dazzling pony with an emerald coat and purple flaming mane and tail. Opening his eyes once more, he glanced around the brightly colored pony and saw that they were surrounded by black. Her coat and mane cut through the darkness.
“What’s going on?” Spike croaked.
“Your noble journey is at it’s end, but it’s not quite finished,” said the unicorn mare in an angelic voice. “In order to claim your prize, you must prove that your heart is pure enough to wield the weapon that you seek.”
“Weapon, huh?” Spike asked himself. “Okay, so how do I prove how pure my heart is?”
“By defeating your shadow of course,” she explained as though it was obvious.
“Uh...say that again?”
“You must do away with the darkest and deepest parts of you in order to progress. Therefore you must defeat your shadow.”
“But, I—”
“Do not worry, if your intentions are pure, then your heart will follow. Are you ready, Spike?”
“I guess so.”
“Excellent.”
The tip of her emerald horn lit up with a purple ball of light that detached itself and hovered in midair. Without warning, the ball flew directly into Spike’s chest, creating an uncomfortable tingling sensation. The ball then exited his body, but this time it seemed to have been dyed black. It slowly expanded until it grew to a tremendous size. Once it reached its desired size, it began forming a shape. A shape that Spike recognized, although he couldn’t exactly recall why...
Until it hit him on the head.
The shape of the tail, the rough curve of the head, the angle of the spikes and the large size of the chest area. The ball was forming a fully grown dragon, but which one? He didn’t know many grown dragons, he just knew that one whose jewels he tried to eat, the one that blew smoke over Ponyville (even though he never actually met him), and—-oh no.
The dragon was him.
As if on cue, the form solidified into a giant green dragon with purple spikes and a terrifying look in its eyes. Looking into the eyes of his darkest self was like staring into a bottomless pit that was sucking him in. The grown Spike lowered its head until it was level with kid Spike.
“I am the other side of you, the darkest side,” grown Spike growled in a booming voice. “If you wish to finish what you started, you must prove that I have no effect on who you are now.”
Spike felt like someone had paused his heart. Asking him to face the part of him who almost destroyed Ponyville and Rarity? That would’ve been too much to handle a month ago, but he wasn’t the baby he was a month ago. He was the kid who felt like he was ready to face unknown dangers, the kid who took down two Timberwolves and the kid who learned that he could find fun in anything...as long as he was doing it with a friend.
“You...are not me,” kid Spike stated simply as if it was actually easy. “You are not the dragon I am today.”
“Oh, but I will be the dragon you’ll become tomorrow,” grown Spike replied. “When all of your friends have passed due to old age, you’ll be stuck with me in an abandoned cave where no one can bother you. And if they do...I would hate to be them.”
Spike clamped his eyes shut to prevent the flow of tears. The dark him had struck a chord there, he did sometimes believe that he would be all alone and angry someday. And there would be no one left to comfort him.
No, what would Twilight or Rarity say if they heard him obsessing over things like his potentially dark future? Didn’t they already learn that lesson? What he had to focus on was the present, and in order to do that, he had to defeat his own shadow.
“I am not the dragon you say I am,” true Spike said confidently. “When I become your age, I’ll probably become a hero or something. I refuse to go down as ‘Spike, the terror of Equestria’, instead I’ll go down as ‘Spike, the protector of Equestria’!”
His words appeared to have more power than he thought, because as soon as he said them, cracks appeared in the dark manifestation of himself. Light shone through the cracks as his dark self examined them. Light also appeared in his eyes and began to flow from his mouth. He let loose one last roar of pain before he burst into light just as the Twilight in his dream had. Instead of a ball of light appearing as a makeshift portal, the mystical unicorn from before appeared before him once more.
“Congratulations, Spike the dragon,” she said peacefully. “You have proven that you are aware of your darkness, and you refuse to let it overcome you. You are indeed worthy of utilizing the item you seek. Take the item and your friend and keep them both safe from the evil around you.”
“I will,” Spike said, saluting proudly.
The mystical pony giggled softly as she released a small spell towards him. The spell entered his chest like the last one, but felt nicer than the last one. Closing his eyes, he sighed happily and let the magic return him to Equestria.
Opening his eyes once more, he found himself looking at the star stone, which had relocated itself to his paws. Now that he was holding it, he still couldn’t see why it was so important, but decided that he would find out later. Glancing behind him, he saw Scootaloo silently staring at the ground with glassy eyes.
“Scootaloo?” Spike asked gently.
Hearing the sound of his voice, she looked up, smiled and ran forward to embrace him once more. Reveling in the touch of his feathered friend, he sighed happily again and returned the hug with more strength.
“Did you have to face your shadow too?” Spike asked softly.
“Yeah,” Scootaloo whispered, her voice breaking. “I’ll tell you about it later, you got the stone?”
“Yup,” he said, holding the stone out. “I don’t see what the big deal is though, but it doesn’t matter, we’re done here. Let’s go home.”
“Sure, my scooter is upstairs, let’s see if we can make it back before midnight so that we can tell Applebloom and Sweetie Belle about our awesome day.”
Spike nodded in agreement as he followed her upstairs. In that moment, he didn’t feel useless, weak and he especially didn’t feel greedy. All he felt was happiness and pride, and in the end, that’s all you really need. That and friendship, but not just some friendship; if he’d learned anything from this experience, it was that you could never have enough friendship because you never know when you’re gonna need your friend’s support.
That’s gonna make a great letter, he thought. But more importantly, wait until I tell Twilight.