Tales

by geopol

9

It was the biggest surprise of my life.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it was the most important thing that ever happened to me. That would be Rex and the kids. They meant much, much more to me. Always have, always will.

But Spike was the biggest surprise of my life.

He was just a kid when I knew him in Canterlot and Ponyville. He was actually considered a baby dragon, but he could talk by then. Enough to be a real smart ass at times.

I'm sorry. "Smart ass" is something I learned when I was young. Yes, it's an insult, and the donkeys and mules in Equestria consider it a species slur. Just like "jackass" and "stubborn as a mule." And they're right. It's wrong. Shame on me.

Anyway, dragons grow up really, really fast but then live a really, really long time, just like us mystical ponies. I'm talking centuries here. So Spike being a "baby" dragon with a developed mind and speech wasn't a surprise.

A bigger surprise was that his real name is Spikor – "SPY-kor." I didn't know until the day he left Ponyville, back when I lived there. I keep thinking of how they say you can know somepony – or some dragon, I suppose – a long time and still never know everything about them. I guess it's true.

But it wasn't the biggest surprise of my life.

OK, I need to back up a bit.

Now, I knew that Spike – I still call him that – had been living in Canterlot for a while when I was there. He always said he was on kind of an exchange program between Equestria and Pyra – the dragon realm, where he was from – but he never went into a lot of detail about it. Tended to change the subject whenever it came up. Kind of a high-placed exchange program, if you asked me then. I mean, he was living in the court of Canterlot. Pretty much not your average student exchange.

When Princess Celestia told me he was going to be something like my scholastic assistant – sort of a study buddy, I guess – I asked about the exchange program he was in. She was quiet for a moment, then leaned forward toward me, narrowed her eyes and said really seriously, "It's an exchange between Equestria and Pyra. That's all you need to know."

And you've probably gotten the impression by now that whenever Celestia narrowed her eyes at somepony, she tended not to explain anything after that. You just went along. Period.

Everypony knows that Spike was told to follow me when I was "assigned" to Ponyville. Celestia always told me she thought seeing more of Equestria would be a good thing for him. I suppose it was, in the end. But I didn't learn until years later that it was considered prudent then to relocate him from Canterlot to somewhere relatively inconspicuous. Nopony really ever explained why then. But it was when Pyra had been having some problems at the time with Mythos, and problems with Mythos are never a good thing.

That's where the other mysticals are from. The griffins, the manticores, the hydras, all the other chimeras. Now, yes, they also live in Pyra and Equestria. And dragons live in Mythos and Equestria, too. And ponies live in both of the other places. It's not like we all live in walled-off realms.

But sometimes, there's a feeling that maybe Mythos should be. Mythosians always seem to be pissed off about something. Always ready for a fight. Often to start one. The only happy Mythosian I ever saw was a manticore that Fluttershy helped when he got a thorn in his paw. Otherwise, they all seem to be belligerent just below the surface.

I'll give you an example. Rainbow Dash once had a griffin friend named Gilda. She was born in Mythos but lived in Equestria for years. And you'd think that would rub off on her a little. But she was still arrogant and couldn't even take some party pranks Dash herself had set up. Stormed out of the party and was never seen again. Maybe it was something in her Mythosian blood.

I'm sorry. I'm going on stereotypes again. I'm certain there are a lot of decent Mythosians. I'd love to meet them, even at my age. But at my age, old bad habits are hard to break. I'm sorry.

What's interesting is that Spike actually spent some time in the court of Mythos, too. On the same kind of exchange he was on in Equestria. Trying to learn more about the place and understand it. But he said Mythos was creepy. He said it was like the court of Mythos tolerated him only for the sake of good terms with Pyra. And he'd overhear things about how Mythos was jealous of Pyra's and Equestria's power.

And that maybe Mythos ought to do something about that someday.

And he said that was when he understood why Pyra wasn't on as good terms with Mythos as it was with Equestria.

I look back now, and I realize that even with Spike's experience in Mythos, the exchange made sense. I mean, it turns out he had to know these things. About why Mythos and Pyra acted like they did toward each other. So he would know what Pyra should do if Mythos "did" something, for example. And he had to start learning about things like that as a child, really. Poor kid.

By the way, guess who also did exchanges when they were young? Celestia and her younger sister, Princess Luna. They had just finished their exchanges when they were given their duties over the day and the night.

And we all know where that ended up. Nightmare Moon, anyone? The threat of eternal darkness after a thousand years of light? I helped stop it. It's true. Look it up. Just don't believe some of the stories you might have heard. Trust me. I was there. It wasn't fun. Once in my lifetime was enough.

But to be fair, Luna – who was Nightmare Moon – seemed to have learned her lesson. She was always faithful to Celestia after that. Because what I've learned in all this time is that Celestia will always give you a second chance – but never a third. Ever. And Luna turned out to be smart enough to realize that.

Anyway, about Spike …

He was my link to Celestia, in a bizarre way. I'd dictate a letter, he'd write it and then burn it – he's a dragon, remember – and the smoke would be magically transported to Celestia in Canterlot. When she had a reply, she'd burn it, and then Spike would burp loudly, and this luminous green gas came out of his mouth. Then it would magically transform into a rolled parchment scroll with the royal ponyshoe seal.

Personally, I thought the whole thing of reading a letter after Spike belched it out of his mouth was kind of disgusting. Never told him that, though. Let alone Celestia. When she found out early on that Spike could do it, she suggested we use it as a way to keep in touch, even when we all lived in Canterlot.

And again, when Celestia suggested something …

I never imagined a belch would lead to the biggest surprise of my life. It's not the most dignified of openings.

One afternoon while I was still in Ponyville, I was at the library – what a surprise – and I heard Spike belch in the next room. Mail's here, I thought. A moment later, he came in with a scroll and said it was for me. I saw it had the royal seal, so I knew it was from Celestia. But it also had a note attached. And it said only I should read the letter.

By the way, I still have the letter. After all these generations. It's a milestone in my life.

So I opened it with magic and began to read. The first clue something was up was when I saw it was written personally by Celestia, not a scribe, like usual. I was also addressed by my full name, not "My faithful student." If you don't know this, I'll tell you: Celestia uses your full name only when she's formally addressing you as queen. Or as the regent, at that time. So I wondered what had happened that she was addressing me as a subject, not as her student.

So I read on, and it said I had to be at the Forever Plain beyond Canterlot at noon the next day. A chariot would arrive for me at 9 the next morning at the flying field outside Ponyville.

And I was to bring Spike. And that I was to tell no other pony about it. After that, she wrote in capitals, "ABSOLUTELY NO ONE."

Then "And you are not to discuss the following with Spike: This is the most important duty I have yet to ask of you. It must be done. You mustn't fail. I can tell you no more now."

After that was the strangest – and most frightening – thing she's ever written to me:

"I expect there will be no complications on your trip to the Forever Plain. But I command you as princess and regent of Equestria to make peace with The Steed – or at least your soul – now.

"Because IF something untoward occurs, you must be prepared to give your very life to protect Spike. History might depend on it.

" I will expect you both at noon."

And then, instead of signing it "Your teacher, Celestia," she signed it "Celestia, Princess and Regent of Equestria." Which – again – meant she was addressing me as one of her subjects. So something was up. Way up.

I told Spike about our having to go to the Forever Plain the next day and asked why Celestia would want to see him there. He just shrugged and said, "I dunno."

I didn't get much sleep that night. I'd get up and stride around, worried, and I'd see Spike asleep in his basket at the foot of my bed in the loft. He looked like the child he was.

And I asked myself what was so important I might have to die to protect Spike. I realized I really didn't know that much about him, after all. He was just another dragon from Pyra, as far as I knew. What was so special about him? He's just a kid. A dragon kid, for that matter.

But then I realized that was the point. He was just a child. Would I risk my life to protect a mere child I really didn't know at all?

And the answer came to me:

Of course I would.

I would protect any child from harm. Without question. Even with my life.

Suddenly, I felt at peace.

I didn't know then that as I looked at him, I was watching Spike's last peaceful sleep for a while. Quite a long time. A really, really long time.

And that the next day, I'd get the biggest surprise of my life.