A young sickly boy with green hair and green eyes sat at the top of a hill. He stared out towards the city he called home as the sun set on the horizon. To his left was a girl only a few years older than him. She had lavender hair with a single stripe of magenta running through it. She wore a flowing white gown with full length sleeves. Behind him, another boy of the same age as him stood. He had short, dirty blonde hair hidden underneath of a straw hat, which also hid a large bruise on his cheek. He wore no shoes, a faded white t-shirt and overalls with holes exposing his knees.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" the girl spoke.
The green-haired boy looked towards her and replied. "Yeah. I guess it is. What do you think Dog?" he asked the boy standing behind them.
"It's okay I guess." he replied.
They each remained where they were for several more minutes before the girl spoke again.
"Well, Spike and I should probably be getting home now." she said as she stood up along with the green-haired boy. "We'll see you tomorrow Dog?"
The boy with a black eye looked at her with utter admiration and smiled.
"Sure!"
As the girl and the green-haired boy walked up the hill towards the palace off in the distance, the boy looked back to see his friend walking down the hill, into the darkness that soon consumed him."
Spike awoke with a start. He had been having a lot of dreams like this recently. They always left him feeling unsettled. He sat up in bed and stared into the darkness. Thinking about his friends.
As the son of Princess Celestia and her consort, Ryder, he never had many friends, except for two. Twilight Sparkle was about five years older than Spike. His mother had originally brought her to the palace as her student to study magic. She introduced Spike to Twilight and it didn't take long for them to become friends. He saw her as the sibling he always wanted.
Garble (nicknamed "Dog" for how he was always looking out for Spike) was another story. He and Spike had already been friends long before Twilight had come along. Garble's father, Blazer, was the groundskeeper. He was almost always drunk. Yelling and cursing at just about everyone he saw. Spike was sure that Garble's father beat him as often as he looked at him. When Twilight came along, it was obvious that Garble liked her, for Twilight had once told Spike that she used to catch Garble staring up at her in her window. Like a schoolboy with a crush.
As time passed, Garble became more like his father. Cold-hearted and uncaring. Twilight had recently confided in Spike, telling him that whenever she caught him staring at her window his gaze was no longer affectionate,but cold and black. Only a few days ago, Spike had caught him attempting to assault Twilight and ran to get his father. Blazer had been warned that if he didn't reign his boy in, he would be held responsible.
Earlier that day, Garble tried to jump Spike while he had been visiting his brother's grave. When Spike's dog attacked him, trying to defend her owner, Garble slit her throat in front of him. Blazer and his son were thrown off the grounds almost immediately.
So that night, Spike laid in his bed, unable to sleep. But soon after his awakening, he started hearing strange noises coming from his parents bedroom. It sounded like yelling. Followed by what sounded like a single gunshot. He got out of bed and ran to his parents bedroom. What he found was horrifying.
His father lay dead on the floor in the middle of the room, blood formed a pool around him. Blazer stood over him with a rifle in hand. His mother stood in a corner, her hands covering her mouth with tears running down her face. Twilight was on her knees with Garble standing behind her, pointing a rifle at her head.
"DAAAD!!" Spike cried, rushing to his father's side.
Twilight grabbed Spike from behind as he fell to his knees, wailing. Garble kept his gun pointed at them both.
"GET THE GIRL TO SHUT HIM UP BEFORE I KILL HIM MYSELF!!!" Blazer yelled at his son.
"You shut him up Twilight, ya hear me?!? I've never been more serious in my life--"
Garble was interrupted when Spike lashed out and struck him across the face. As Garble clutched at his face, which was bleeding for some mysterious reason, Spike started running towards Blazer.
"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" Spike screamed as he charged his father's killer. Spike managed to deliver a blow to his gut before being knocked aside.
"YOU LITTLE BASTARD! I'M GONNA TAKE YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF! I'LL HAVE YER GUTS FOR GARTERS! I'LL--"
Blazer looked down to see he was loosing blood, very fast.
"W-what the hell..did you do to me?" he choked before falling to the floor, dead.
"By the gods..." Twilight spoke in a near whisper as she stared at Spike in horror.
Spike's hands had sprouted claws. Three on each hand, one in between each knuckle. They were about six inches long (from what Twilight could estimate) and made completely out of bone. Not to mention that they were also covered in blood.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH! MY HANDS! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY HANDS?!?" Spike screamed before collapsing. Celestia staggered over to her unconscious son before hugging him to her chest, crying.
"My baby...this is all my fault." she sobbed.
"Princess, what are you talking about?" Twilight asked as he rose to her feet shakily."What's your fault? What happened to Spike's hands? What--"
"There's not much time." the sorrowful Princess interrupted. You have to get him far away from here."
"I don't understand--"
"If he stays here, he'll be branded an outcast, a freak of nature, an animal to be locked away in a cage. I won't allow that to happen to my own son." Celestia said with tears in her eyes.
Twilight sighed.
"What do we do?" she asked.
"Take him to Ponyville. He'll be safe there." Celestia told her. "You'll have to take the train to avoid arousing suspicion. I'll arrange plans for where you two will stay--wait a minute."
Celestia looked behind Twilight.
"What happened to Blazer's boy?" she asked. Twilight looked behind her to see that Garble was gone. Blood trailed out into the hallway. Twilight turned back to face Celestia.
"Don't worry about that for now. I'll start packing." Twilight rushed to her bedroom.
Three Hours Later...
Twilight, Spike, and Celestia arrived at the Canterlot train station. Celestia wore a brown cloak to avoid being recognized. Spike wore a cloak for the same reason but also to cover up his claws, which appeared to have started retreating back into his hands. As Spike boarded the train with Twilight, he looked back to see his mother tearing up.
"Goodbye my son. Please stay safe." she choked.
Spike smiled weakly at his mother before stepping aboard the train. The doors shut almost immediately and he took his seat next to Twilight. As the train left the station, he peered through his cloak to take a look at his hands, only to be disturbed by what he saw.
"Twilight?" he nudged her with his elbow.
"What is it Spike? she asked.
Spike showed her his hands and her eyes widened.
His claws had completely retracted back into his hands. Leaving no trace that they were ever there.
"Interesting. I'll have to look into it when we get to Ponyville."
"What do we do when we get there?" Spike asked.
Twilight turned to look out the window before answering Spike's question.
"We start over."