//------------------------------//
// Chapter 40: Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious 
// Story: Secrets of the Everfree 
// by PaisleyPerson 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 40
Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious


“It’s not so bad, Spike. Nerves get the best of everyone at some point or another,” Nova tried to assure. The three dragons had abandoned the remaining session of the games for another day, and chose to hang out in Spike and Twilight’s shared hotel room instead. Spike was sprawled on the couch, pointlessly kicking at the air in an effort to make himself feel better. Blaze sat in the armchair opposite him, and since it was far too big for him, he shared it with Nova, who had perched on the cushioned arm. 
“Yeah, remember when Garble and his friends got in trouble with those rogues? I know Twilight told us to stay behind so we wouldn’t get hurt, but I really wanted to go down and help. I almost talked myself into joining the fight, but when I saw those rogues, I froze up!” 
“But that was different,” Spike insisted. “That really was a terrifying situation; your brother’s life was in danger! I just had to light the torch for the Equestria Games, but I couldn’t even do that.” He heaved a heartfelt sigh, before resituating himself onto his stomach. Blaze looked to Nova for direction as to where to go next.
“Look on the bright side,” the dark-colored dragon tried again. “No one will ever know the difference! No harm, no foul.”
“That’s just it. No one will know it wasn’t me. It doesn’t feel right, taking credit for something I didn’t do.”
“Hmm...” Nova mused. He hunched forward, deeply in thought. You could practically see his gears turning. 
“What is it, Nova?” Blaze wondered.
“It sounds like you need to do something you can take credit for,” the eldest finally voiced.
“Something... I can...” Spike attempted to echo Nova’s words, but the sentence was interrupted by his own thoughts. Finally, his eyes shot open. “That’s it! I’ll just do something else for the games worthy of the Crystal Empire’s admiration! Nova, you’re a genius!” The blue dragon looked rather smug as he stretched out on the armrest. 
“I know.”





Nova and Blaze’s company seemed to cheer Spike up a bit, because we returned to find him in a much better mood. He even seemed to enjoy himself when Glitter and Trixie joined us for dinner that night. 
The next day, Rarity worked some of her charm and convinced the couple in front of us to trade seats with Trixie and Glitter so the girls could sit together. We juggled seats again so Glitter could join her friends, the dragons could still stay together, and our family remained more-or-less consecutively grouped. Mom volunteered to move down beside Trixie to make room, and immediately engaged in active conversation with the unicorn. I did find the games somewhat engaging, but their gossip was far more interesting. The whole world faded out as we chatted amongst ourselves and occasionally checked the scoreboard. I was so distracted that I didn’t notice how distant Spike was acting until the next day. 
It was after intermission on the third day of the games, and our chit chat had caused us to lose track of time, so we were returning a bit late. Rainbow and Dad’s team had long since abandoned us to prepare for their event, and I think we chased the dragons away with our ever-so-boring babbling. This left the rest of us girls to casually wander back into the stadium, still chatting the day away. The vague buzz of the intercom lightly tickled my ears, announcing the next event. I paid no heed, but Pinkie never missed a beat when it came to her friends. 
“The aerial relay!” she repeated.
“That’s Dash and Fluttershy!” Applejack exclaimed. 
“Oh no! We can’t be late for that!” Pinkie dashed off ahead of us, and was shortly joined by my sister who was eager to see her stallion-friend perform. Applejack trod more slowly behind them, and I shuffled ahead of Trixie to join Mom. I looked back to make sure we hadn’t lost our friends in the crowd, and found our two unicorns missing. Rarity and Trixie had been beckoned by a security guard, and redirected through another gate. I thought I heard something about a cheating incident at the games, so now unicorns would only be admitted with a disabling spell to prevent further dishonesty. But they joined us promptly, so we could continue to the bleachers. Blaze, Nova and the girls were already waiting for us. 
“Hey, where’s Spike?” I squinted. Nova just shrugged. The question still nagged at the back of my mind, but I didn’t press further. 
“Ooooh! I’m so nervicited!” Pinkie burst through a mouthful of fresh popcorn. “If Ponyville medals here, we'll have eight medals so far, putting us tied for the lead with Cloudsdale! Unless Cloudsdale medals here too...!”
“The Everfree team isn’t very far behind, either,” Mom reminded her. “We have seven.”
“Hang on, I just realized something,” Wild Flower exclaimed. 
“What’s that?” I inquired. 
“You guys,” she gestured to Pinkie, Rarity, AJ and Trixie as well as the girls, “are cheering for Ponyville. But the rest of us are rooting for the Everfree team.”
“So?” Applejack shrugged.
“Sooooo, things are about to get intense!” Pinkie realized, narrowing her eyes in determination. 
“But we’ve been each cheering on opposing teams all morning,” Rarity pointed out.
“Yeah, but none of our really super-duper close friends have competed against each other yet,” Pinkie pointed out. 
“Now it’s our family against our friends,” Wild Flower added, a sly grin creeping onto her face. “Loser buys dinner?”
“It is on!” She and Wild Flower locked eyes, both equally enthusiastic. 
“No gambling, you two,” Mom scolded. 
“Oh, alright,” Wild Flower rolled her eyes. But the glances exchanged between the two girls let the world know that the bet was still on. 
“Competitors, on your marks,” Shining Armor announced. 
“It’s starting! Everypony prepare to freak out!” Pinkie declared, nearly toppling the whole row as she flailed about. The whole stadium seemed to hush as we looked down onto the field to witness this epic battle for victory. At the obnoxious howl of a horn, the race was on.
Fleetfoot was competing first for Cloudsdale, Bulk Biceps was starting out for Ponyville, and Cedar was heading off the Everfree. 
“YOU GO, CEDAR! WHOO HOO!” my sister screamed at the top of her lungs. 
“COME ON, BICEPS! PUT SOME MUSCLE INTO IT!” Pinkie hollered. 
“Eesh,” I rubbed my temples in hopes that my eardrums wouldn’t burst.
Fleetfoot was the first to pass on the horseshoe, but the other competitors weren’t far behind. Cedar obviously wasn’t one of the first, but he still had a good lead on Bulk Biceps, who brought up the rear. Torchwood took off like a lightning bolt, with Fluttershy gliding more slowly behind him. Now I was finally getting riled up. 
“GO, TORCHWOOD!”
“Acrylic,” Mom chided. “Remember what I said about too much excitement.”
“But Mom,” I whined, “Torch is competing!”
“Ooh, ooh, look at ‘em go!” Pinkie shrieked, shaking Applejack rather violently.
“Come on, Torchwood!” Wild Flower whooped. 
“You got this!” I contributed, a little less loudly. Mom just cast me the ‘I warned you’ look.
Soarin’ had a huge lead on everypony else, giving Spitfire the advantage. Torchwood had quickly made up for any lost time, and caught up to the competition. He passed the horseshoe on to Wind Storm so quickly that I almost missed where one stopped and the other began. Though Dad smoothly maneuvered through the hoops and obstacles, his older age was beginning to catch up to him, because I recognized that he wasn’t going as fast as he once did. 
“COME ON, DAD!” Wild Flower screamed. 
“GO, DADDY!”
“Make us proud!” Even Mom was finally cheering.
“COME ON, FLUTTERS! MAKE US PROUD!”
“FLUTTERSHY! FLUTTERSHY!” our friends began to chant. The yellow pegasus had just now passed on the Ponyville horseshoe to Rainbow Dash, who zoomed of in a chromatic blur. She easily overtook her opponents, including Dad. I was a little let down, but it was Rainbow after all. 
“You got this, Dad!” I continued cheering even after it became clear we wouldn’t win.
Rainbow and Spitfire were neck and neck, and it was unclear as to who would prevail. We were all on the edge of our seats in anticipation. After what seemed like an eternity, the checkered flag came down as Spitfire crossed the finish line, Rainbow a close second. Our friends whooped with glee. 
“Second place!”
“We got silver!” Applejack clapped. 
“I hope you brought some money, ‘cuz it looks like you’re buying dinner,” Pinkie slyly grinned. Wild Flower rolled her eyes and groaned. 
“Why did I agree to this?” Mom chuckled. 
“I told you so.”
“Dad’s bringing it home!” I called, pointing frantically back onto the field. Indeed, my father was matching one of the gryphons wing beat for wing beat, fighting for third.
“GO, DAD, GO!” Wild Flower screeched, forgetting all about the lost bet and frantically jumping up and down.
‘COME ON!”
“YA GOT THIS, MR. STORM,” Applejack helpfully put in. 
“KICK SOME TAILFEATHERS!” Now that her team had already secured its place, Pinkie was more than willing to help us out. Dad finally swooped through the hoop alongside the gryphon, but it was unclear as to who won. 
“PHOTO FINISH!” Pinkie screamed. Lots of excited murmuring filled the stadium as the referee consulted the tape. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until the score was finally posted, and the Everfree team moved up on the leaderboard. 
“BRONZE! BRONZE WE GOT BRONZE!” Wild Flower cheered, strangling me in the deathlock grip she called a hug. I was finally saved when Pinkie gave her a taste of her own medicine, squeezing her until she dangled a couple inches off the ground. 
“Congratulations to all our medalists,” Shining Armor spoke once they’d all taken their places on the podium. “And now, the anthem of-”
“And I shall do the honor of singing!”
“Whoa, is that Spike?” Nova literally stood at the edge of his seat to get a better view of his friend down on the playing field.
“Alright, Spikester!” Pinkie clapped. 
“You go, Spike!”
“Way to go, Spikey Wikey!” I hadn’t known he would be singing today, but I also whistled encouragement. He had a brief consultation with Shining Armor as we waited for the crowd to quiet down. 
“I KNOW ALL THE WORDS TO OUR ANTHEM, AND I WILL SING THEM FOR YOU NOW, LOUD AND PROUD, FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF ALL!” Spike loudly declared. This only riled up the audience further, so we had to wait a moment before he could begin. A backstage worker promptly flew out, holding a spotlight for dramatic effect. 
“And now... um... the Cloudsdale Anthem as sung by Spike!” Shining Armor hesitantly announced. 
“You think he knew about this?” Wild Flower asked, now a bit concerned. 
“It sure does look like Spike mighta popped the question on him at the last second,” Applejack concurred. But suddenly the tables had turned, and Spike was the one who looked unsure. I feared nerves might get the best of him again. 
“Sing for us, oh Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious!” the crowds cheered. It was too late for him to back out now. The music began to play, and Spike tried to get ahold of himself. 


...

“Oh, we're the Wonderbolts and we're super-fast,
“And we're from Cloudsdale which-is-a-part-of-Equestria,
“That we like best and we're proud and we're fast and we like it because it really has nice trees.
“Yeah, we love the town because it's so cool and, and we like to fly really fast and everything like that.
“I kinda wish this was over 'cause it is... n't... yet... over... now. 

...

“Oh, we're the Wonderbolts and we're super-fast and we're cloud– from Cloudsdale 
“We like it there 'cause it's really nice and the trees are cool and I hope it is over now 
“And... it keeps going on, la la la,
“And we really love the town!
“So I wish that this... song... was over now. 
“Over... now. 
“Over... now.”

...


A deadly hush had fallen over the stadium, some ponies clutching their ears and others too stunned to react. I could count myself among those. Only two in attendance didn’t seemed to be fazed. One was a young child wailing for attention, demanding either food or an apology for the awful performance. The other was our pink friend, who didn’t seem to register that in no way shape or form had Spike successfully sung the Cloudsdale anthem. 
“NAILED IT!”
“That is not what I had in mind,” Nova groaned, burying his face in his claws. I narrowed my eyes, noticing the guilt plastered on the dragons’ faces. 
“I’ll have a talk with you two later.”





“He just looked so... broken.” Nova and Blaze had been seated before us like the accused standing before a jury, pleading for mercy. 
“We thought that if he did something else for the games, it might make him feel better,” Blaze sadly agreed. 
“No, Blaze, I told him to do something else for the games,” Nova willingly took the blame. “I just didn’t think he’d do... that.”
“Well, he’s sure broken now,” I vented, pacing. Spike didn’t come back after the games; he’d gone right back to the Marquise Diamond to skulk, and we hadn’t seen him since. 
“I know, I know,” Nova remorsefully hung his head. 
“Now wait just one minute,” Wild Flower stormed, pressing her nose to mine. Taken aback, I found myself at a loss for words, giving her opportunity to voice her argument. “Nova and Blaze were just trying to help. It wasn’t their fault!”
“Spike did get in a lil’ over his head,” Applejack carefully maneuvered. I looked between the two of them a moment, and finally sighed. 
“I know. I’m sorry, boys. I’m just worried about him.”
“I believe we all are,” Rarity looked at the rest of the group to be sure the feeling was mutual.
“Has anypony seen Spike?” Twilight galloped up. By the way she was panting, it was clear she’d just broken away from the other dignitaries present for the games. 
“I believe he went back to your hotel,” Trixie helpfully responded. Twilight sagged in worry. 
“I don’t know what he was thinking,” she groaned. “He must be so embarrassed!”
“I don’t know what everypony keeps going on about. He did great!” Pinkie cheerily shrugged.
“No, Pinkie, he didn’t do great,” Twilight gritted her teeth. “He felt so bad about the torch incident, and now this!”
“Should we go talk to him?” Blaze offered. 
“I appreciate the offer, but I’d like to speak to him first,” Twilight answered. Blaze nodded acknowledgement, but said nothing. “It’s getting late. Why don’t you all go reserve seats at the restaurant while I try to convince Spike to join us?”
“Well, I hope he comes. I haven’t really gotten to talk to him yet,” Glitter optimistically commented, following her friends down the road. 
“Make sure to tell him that he did a great job!” Pinkie chirped, trotting after them. 
“We’ll save him a seat,” Nova promised, hitching a ride with my sister. I bent over for Blaze to clamber onto my own back, but Dad scooped him up instead.
“Thanks, everypony. We’ll see you down there.” Twilight trotted away. But Spike never came. We waited and waited, and Twilight finally arrived halfway into the meal, but the purple hatchling never showed. Pinkie suggested bringing him takeout, which he appreciatively but silently accepted upon our return. He wouldn’t even speak to his friends. Twilight reported that he’d lounged around for the rest of the evening, doing nothing. This was worryingly uncharacteristic of the hard-working dragon, but nothing anyone did could make him feel better. 
Glitter still wanted to spend time with Spike, and on the last day of the games, it was their last chance to do so. That morning, Twilight admitted all four of them to her suite so they could try and talk him into attending. Even Glitter’s sad, wet eyes wouldn’t pull him from bed. Twilight decided it was best to let him be for now, so we took off without him. 
The day passed like all the others, except today brought less chatter. There was a much greater amount of energy coursing through the stadium on the last day. Fans were frantically cheering on their teams, hoping they’d pull through and boost their score at the last minute. Pinkie was no exception. She was screaming and whooping louder than ever, trying to bring the rest of us into it as well. When the very last event of the day came, she could hardly contain herself.
“And so the Games conclude as they always do, with the ice archery finals! Ice archers, take your places!” Pinkie applauded with the rest of the crowd, bouncing with energy.
“Too bad Ponyville doesn't have any ice archers competin'. We don't have anyone to root for,” Applejack sighed, leaning back as she wound down for the day. “I don’t guess the Everfree has any competitors?”
“Are you kidding? Thestrals and ice? I can’t think of a worse combination!” I shuddered at the surfacing memories of my time in the Frozen North.
“That's okay. Ponyville has thirty seven medals, and Cloudsdale thirty six, so looks like we'll be medal champs of the Games anyway! Woo-hoo!” Pinkie exclaimed. 
“Aww,” Wild Flower pouted. “Did the Everfree even come close?”
“You guys got twenty nine,” Pinkie casually answered. 
“Not many were interested in competing, and even fewer qualified,” Dad recalled.
“But we fought hard,” Cedar declared. 
“You boys made us proud,” Mom assured, nuzzling my dad.
“Congratulations on the medal count,” Wild Flower extended a hoof to Pinkie so they could finally call a truce. Pinkie almost took it when Rainbow pushed them apart.
“Hold your congratulations. Cloudsdale still has two ice archery finalists down there now! If they both place, Cloudsdale wins the medal count,” Rainbow interrupted.
“So you're saying that it all comes down to this one event?!”
“Pretty much.”
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” She continued to flail about and disrupt the surrounding spectators. 
“Hey!” Wild Flower unhappily exclaimed when her box of popcorn was rudely kicked across the bleachers. 
“Oops,” Pinkie sheepishly blushed. 
“I’ll get you a new one,” Nova volunteered, eager to get up and stretch. 
“Thanks, Nova,” Wild Flower smiled, thankful she didn’t have to miss the final event. Luckily, Pinkie was the first to spot our alicorn friend descending the stairwell, and switched gears. “Twilight! Come take this extra seat next to me and freak out over the medal count! I'll show you how. Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” she demonstrated.
“Actually, I was looking for Spike. Did he ever show?”
“He wouldn't come,” Apple Bloom sadly reported.
“We tried to talk him into it,” Sweetie pitched in.
“But he wouldn't listen!” Scoot finished.
“You can have his extra seat, though. Uh... Twi?” Pinkie searched around from atop some poor crystal pony’s head. Alas, our purple friend had already retreated in search of her number one assistant.
“I hope everything’s alright with Spike,” I sighed, leaning onto Torchwood. 
“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” my husband assured, intertwining our hooves.
“Whoa!”
“Did you see that?” the girls oohed and ahhed from down the row as the first missiles were launched. 
“Those aren’t your average arrows,” Rainbow smirked at their enthusiasm. “They freeze whatever part of the target they hit. Whoever encases their entire target in ice first wins. Keep your eye on number seven from Cloudsdale – he's the favorite.” All of our eyes turned onto the pegasus. Arrow after arrow whizzed by, hitting all around the target and efficiently coating it with slick, shiny ice. Even one of the other competitors seemed a bit edgy by how well his opponent was doing, and tried to speed up his own efforts. In his haste, though, he knocked over his quiver and tripped, which completely threw off his aim. The loaded arrow was accidentally launched too high, shooting straight for the clouds. I expected to see it shoot through the other side, but then the impossible happened: the entire cloud began to freeze!
The crowds gasped in horror as the huge chunk of ice began to descend on the field. Ponies panicked, and some began to flee in a mass exodus. 
“Nova!” Wild Flower exclaimed, realizing her friend still hadn’t returned from the concessions. She sprinted off with the rest of the crowd to find him.
“Somepony cut the disabling spell!” Shining Armor cried. 
“There’s no time!”
“Thestrals, use your fire!” Dad ordered. 
“We don’t have enough skilled fire dancers! A fire that big can never be hot enough to melt it! Even our magic is limited,” Torch pressed.
“We can try. All together!” Dad gallantly swooped down onto the field, summoning the thestrals scattered through the bleachers to follow. 
“Get out of here,” Torch nudged me away.
“But what about you?”
“I have to do something. Keep the baby safe.” He hastily pecked my cheek before shooting away. 
“This will never work, this will never work,” I cried, frantic. 
“What do we do?” Blaze clutched me in fear. 
“Run,” Mother urged, prompting us to hurry. Once Blaze was aboard, I tried to spread my wings and flee, but Charcoal had other ideas. A sudden pain in my abdomen caused my entire body to clench up, and I cried out in both pain and fear. Mom recognized the problem instantly, and practically dragged me down the steps. 
Meanwhile, the thestrals were attempting to conjure up enough heat to devour the looming glacier. A technicolor pyre burned in the center of the field, but it couldn’t reach high enough to melt the cloud. I knew from experience how hard it was to levitate fire into open air before it blew out, and apparently our brethren were making the same discovery. Dad, Torchwood and Cedar were frantically trying to bring structure to the disorganized effort, but ponies were too panicked to think straight. The pegasi were all trying to steer the ice chunk to the fire, but it proved too heavy, and it was clear they wouldn’t be able to move it in time. 
We passed the newly arrived Twilight and Spike as we fled, the alicorn preparing to take off. 
“Blaze!” Spike called as we hurried along. “I need you to do the thing!”
“O-okay,” Blaze reluctantly agreed, sliding off my back before I had the chance to slow down. 
“BLAZE!” I slid to a halt and attempted to chase after them, but Mom held me in place. Spike jumped onto Shining Armor’s back to get a little altitude before Blaze swooped down to catch him. Wait, was he flying?
“MOVE!” Spike ordered as Blaze unsteadily soared through the air. The pegasi obediently fled from beneath the cloud, which descended even more quickly. Spike then launched a gust of green fire, bathing the cloud in heat. Blaze would have contributed if he wasn’t so preoccupied just trying to stay airborne. Torchwood and Wind Storm had finally given up on rallying the thestrals, and just focused on getting everypony out- their fire wasn’t hot enough to do any real good anyway. (Thestral flame was easily manipulated, but not nearly so intense as dragon flame.) 
Only when the ice had been reduced to nothing more than a puddle on the ground did the remainder of the audience fanatically roar. Then I was also finally released to bolt out and recieve Blaze. Fortunately, he met me before I even reached the field. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to yell at him for taking off and endangering himself like that, praise him for performing such a selfless act, or congratulate him for his first flight. I ended up simply weeping in relief and coddling him instead.
“You flew,” I happily wept.
“Yeah,” he smiled, thankful I wasn’t angry. “Your dad helped a lot, but Nova finally gave me the last push I needed. It was going to be a surprise.”
“I’d say you got the surprise part down pat,” I sighed. “But don’t ever scare me like that, you hear?”
“Okay,” he agreed.
“That was AWESOME!” Dash exclaimed, landing beside us beside the bleachers.
“Great job!”
“You did it!”
“Well, I’ll be!”
“I’m so proud of you!”
“What’d we miss?” Wild Flower and Cedar finally joined up with us upon having retrieved Nova. 
“When that archer accidently shot the arrow and froze the cloud, ponies started screaming like this: AAHH!!! And running like this!” Pinkie danced on the spot as she narrated. “But then Spike melted the ice cloud and saved us all. Oh! And Blaze flew for the very first time!”
“So in other words, you missed everything.”
“Are you kidding? I missed the thing?” Nova threw up his claws in exasperation. “That’s it. You’re getting your own popcorn from now on.”
“You guys really saved the day?”
“It was all Spike,” Blaze redirected the glory to his unsuspecting friend. At this, the newly arrived Princess Cadance tapped the purple hatchling on the shoulder to get his attention. He turned to face all four princesses; Celestia, Luna, and Essence had all accompanied her.
“I just wanted to thank you personally for saving those ponies and the Games, O Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious. You must be very proud,” the princess beamed. 
“I guess,” Spike casually shrugged.  
“You guess?!” the rest of us shrieked.
“I just saw what needed to be done and reacted. I saw the thestrals were having a little trouble, and it just so happens I can breathe fire and... if any of you could do that, you'd have done the same.”
“Forgive me for bein' blunt, Spike, but you're not makin' a lick of sense,” Applejack shook her head in an attempt to decrypt his meaning.
“Well, it's just how I feel,” he weakly waved the matter off. 
“Wait a second. I think I get it,” Twilight figured. “You keep saying you let everypony down, but we all keep saying you didn't. You know who's disappointed in you, Spike? You. And only you can make it right with you again. What would that take, Spike?” 
“Eh, I don't know. Can you turn back time? 'Cause I'd sure like a do-over on that opening ceremony.”
“We can't turn back time,” Cadance kindly shook her head, “but, would you do me the great honor of lighting fireworks in my place at the closing ceremonies tonight?”
“Come on, Spike. You saved the Crystal Empire! Twice! I think you can light some fireworks,” Twilight urged.
“Mm, I guess I have to at least give it a shot.”
“That’s the spirit!” Nova clapped him on the back. 
“Ooh,” I stumbled forward as I felt another sharp pain. 
“It looks like you lot have got Charcoal all riled up,” Mom gently chuckled, catching me. Torch moved to help support me when I didn’t right myself. 
“Are you alright?”
“T-Torch,” I stuttered, pupils shrunk to pinpricks of fear. “I think the baby’s coming!”