//------------------------------//
// Carnival of Rust 
// Story: My Little Dragon 
// by Metal Pony Fan 
//------------------------------//

	Spike ran a hoof over the twisted stone of the temple walls.  The earthen lattice was smooth and cold, polished to a bright lustre.  Even with magic, this temple should have taken a long time to build.  Yet, here it stood after mere minutes.

He wasn't even aware that it was happening.  Their magic, his and Rarity's, had manifested without conscious thought.  At least, not on his part.  For all he knew, Rarity could have been guiding the process.  It was just as well, this new magic was unfamiliar to him, and far from being under his control.

There was a series of clicks on one of the stone walkways that had formed within the temple.  Without turning around, Spike knew that Rarity was walking over to him.  It wasn't just the sound either.  There was still a faint sensation left from the exchange of magic, if it could really be called that.  The hadn't actually exchanged anything, unlike what happened on the way back from the river.  It was more of a joining, like pouring two sources of water into the same bucket, but that didn't explain why he could sense the dragoness.

Behind him, Rarity held out a claw. She reached out for his shoulder, then drew back, over and over, in a wavering display of hesitation.  She eventually settled on clenching a fist and putting the claw down.  "Spike?"

"Don't you mean, Terris?"  Spike asked.  He winced at the acid in his tone.  Was he angry?  At her?  It sure sounded that way, but that wasn't how he felt.  Was it?  He sighed and shook his head.  "I'm sorry, Rarity.  I didn't mean that.  It's just..."  He looked back at the rest of the temple and shook his head again.  "This is a lot to take in right now.  I mean, me, Terris?  I'm the Earth King?  Who decided that?"

"I don't know, Spike.  But it has been decided."  The dragoness looked down at her claw, the one she had been to cowardly to reach out with.

Spike noticed it, and reached out a hoof.  Giving her a small touch on the shoulder.  "At least I know how you felt now.  There's something unsettling about having your destiny defined for you.  It makes you second-guess yourself."

Rarity nodded slowly.  "Every decision makes you wonder if your choices are truly your own.  I've had to live with that since I was a hatchling, and it nearly drove me mad.  I did everything I could to fight it, to make my own decisions.  I habitually disobeyed my parents, I ran away from home on a regular basis, and goodness knows how many times I've insulted some dragon for daring to offer advice.  Until I took in Twilight, I was an uncontrollable terror."  She lifted her claw again.  She didn't reach out though.  She just squeezed it tighter and tighter into a trembling fist.  "That's why I'm scared.  Of you, of this, of my own feelings.  Spike, I've worked hard to live my life based on my own decisions.  But now, I can't make one.  I can't make a decision, because I don't know if I really love you, or if I just feel this way because I'm supposed to love Terris."

"But, I'm not Terris."  Spike pulled his hoof back slowly.  "I can't be.  Celestia used to tell me bedtime stories about the Earth King.  He was supposed to be the greatest dragon since Typhon.  Stronger than all enemies, a hero for Draconica's darkest times.  That isn't me."  

"Why not?"  Rarity grabbed him by the leg before he could turn away from her.  "Spike, your magic has only just awakened.  There's no telling how much stronger you'll be now."

The pony shook his head.  "But, I'm not a dragon.  No amount of magic is going to change that."

Spike tried to pull away, but Rarity held tight.  "Where does it say you have to be a dragon?  The Earthmate's history doesn't mention it, and anything else is in the realm of myth by this point."  She loosened her grip a little.  "It certainly doesn't matter to me."

Spike stopped fighting her, and covered her claw with a hoof.  "Then, what do you want?  You're the one who's been waiting for the Earth King all these years.  Do you want me to be Terris?"

She shook her head.  "No.  I want you to be Spike, the pony I've been getting to know.  I don't want this to change you, and I didn't want it to change things between us."

"That isn't possible, Rarity."  With a wide, sweeping gesture, he indicated the stone temple surrounding them.  "This...  This is too big.  Forget about it changing us, this could change the whole of Draconica."

Rarity stared at the cold stone beneath her claws.  "I don't care," she said in a voice barely above a whisper.  "I wish it had never happened.  I wish I could have met you without any of these powers and prophecies to get in the way."

Spike slowly nodded his agreement.  "Things would have been simpler.  But we have to do our best with what we've been given.  I know it's cliche, but all I can say is that we can't change the past.  We have to live with what's already happened, and try to focus on the future."

"No."  Rarity looked up at the temple's ceiling.  "Spike, the future has already been written.  For us, at least."  She reached up towards the moonlight streaming through the patterned stone.  "The sun sets, and the moon rises.  Soon, the moon will set, and the sun will rise.  There's nothing that can change that, and there's nothing that can change the fact that our choices are not our own."

"But, who says what the sunset will look like?  How can you know if clouds will block the moon from view?"  Spike got up and nudged Rarity towards the temple entrance.  "Come on.  You want a choice?  I'm making one right now."  He ran for the door, leaving the dragoness to try and catch up.  "I choose to be outside!  I'm not going to stay cooped up in a stone cage on a night this beautiful."

He ran and ran, with Rarity hot on his hooves.  He dodged trees and stone pillars until he reached another clearing.  Then, he stopped.  Without any warning, the dragoness was unable to match his stop.  She
crashed into him from behind, knocking them both sprawling in the grassy clearing.

As they lay in the windblown grass, Spike reached out to the dragoness.  "You said it yourself, there was nothing mentioned about me being a pony.  Even if things like prophecy hold true, isn't there enough room for us to live our own lives in between?  There has to be, right?"

"Spike, I would love to believe that, but... it's difficult for me.  I've been running from this for so long, that I don't know if I can just accept it.  That night in the library, after I had exhausted my magic, I made the decision to pursue you.  It didn't matter to me that you weren't a dragon, and I was almost happy to give up being the earthmate, since it would mean my freedom from this prophecy."  She pulled back a little then rolled onto her back.  With a sigh, she looked up at the night sky and continued, "Then I found out that you were Terris.  At first, I was overjoyed, because I would be able to keep my powers if it was you.  But, the more I thought about it, the more I became afraid I might come to resent you."  She shook her head slowly.  "I don't want that to happen."

Spike let his head drop to the grass below, scrunching his nose from the tickle of the cool blades.  "I don't either, but where does that leave us?  I don't like the idea of my destiny being decided.  But, even if we rebel against it, aren't we still letting it control us?"  He groaned and folded his hooves over his head.  "I just don't know.  This is all so confusing."

A touch on his hoof made home look up.  Rarity had crawled over in front of him, and was pulling his hooves away from his face.  "I don't know where it leaves us.  But, I don't want this to tear us apart."  She chewed her lip for a moment.  "So, I'll ask you again, please give me some time to sort this out."

"But..."  Spike stopped himself.  With a wry smile, he sat up and sighed.  "Yeah, I guess we both need some time to think about this."  He helped Rarity up.  "I should probably talk to Celestia about this.  She's been searching for the Earth King since before I was hatched.  Well, that is, if ponies hatch."

Rarity smiled despite herself.  It was terrible that Spike didn't even know enough about his own species to know how he was born, but it was a much needed reminder that he was still the same Spike.  "How do you think she'll react?"

Spike shrugged.  "Honestly, I have no idea.  She knew of the Earth king prophecy, but she never mentioned the earthmates.  She may not know everything about it."  He looked down at his hoof and called forward the green glow of his new magic.  Then, he just let it fade away.  "I hope she isn't disappointed.  She was probably expecting Terris to be a little more impressive."

Rarity shook her head.  "I'm sure she won't be.  The way you speak of her, she sounds like somedragon I would very much enjoy meeting."  The dragoness rubbed the back of her neck.  "And, to tell the truth, I don't know everything about the prophecy either.  There's somedragon I need to speak to about that."

Spike's eyebrows pulled together.  "Who?"

"One of the previous earthmates.  She sent me some letters a few years ago, asking to speak with me.  Of course, I wanted nothing to do with the prophecy, so I always refused."  She scoffed at herself.  "The sad thing is, she said she lives in Dragonspire."

Spike's eyes widened a bit.  "Really?  I should probably talk to her."

Rarity nodded.  "That's a good idea.  We can meet her together.  As soon as we get back to town, I'll dig out the letters and make arrangements."   She slowly looked off to the side.  "In the meantime, I should tell you what I do know."  She stood up with a quiet sigh.  "Unfortunately, it isn't much, so let's head back, and I'll tell you on the way."

"Ok."  Spike nodded and followed her lead.  He stood up and started walking towards where Tank and their friends waited.  After a moment, he stopped.  Rarity wasn't moving.  He looked back, and she was still standing there, staring off into the night.  "Rarity, is something wrong?"

"Huh?"  The dragoness looked up quickly, as if she was broken out of a trance.  "Oh, it's nothing.  I'm just trying to remember all the old stories."  She walked up beside him.  "Let's go."

Spike nodded and started off.  As they walked, he noticed that Rarity was keeping her distance.  She wasn't walking as close to him as she was earlier.  Spike kept the observation to himself, and he didn't bother trying to close the gap.  Until they sorted things out, it might be best to leave some space between them.