//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Of Ponies and Dragons // by Jeckard Cain //------------------------------// Who knew that mountains would have so many rocks all over them, Spike had been walking for hours at an upward direction. He never reached the top, but the trees below kept getting smaller. He wondered how long it would be till he got home. Maybe that night, maybe tomorrow; either way he didn't really want to till he found, something. He was searching for his special somepony, in the mountains? Well it was better than sitting around moping he thought. As he walked along the crags he noticed a small inlet, a cave almost. It was getting late and the night brings wind and cold, Spike figured he may as well hole up in the cave for the night. As he stepped toward the cave he smelled something odd, it was food. Some kind of soup he figured, as he got closer he heard light sobs. He inched closer to try and get a peek at who was in there, his toe hit a pebble which clattered into the cave. “Who's there!?” A frightened female voice asked, “My name is Spike, I'm a dragon, but I won't hurt you. Are you okay in there?” He heard a shift of noise, possibly she was wiping the tears away. When she responded she sounded more sure of herself “You can come in if you like, I know night is approaching.” Spike put on his best it's ok smile and slowly stepped into the cave. As he did he laid eyes on the most beautiful unicorn he had ever seen. She had a coat of dark grey and a mane of deep green. She had piercing green eyes as well, her cutie mark was a set of hearts. “My name is Aliss.” Spike blinked and realized he had just been staring at her as she lied there in the cave next to her fire. “I'm Spike” he said again, she giggled a little “I know, why don't you have a seat, you must be hungry. Have you been walking all day on the mountain?” Spike sat next to the fire and across from Aliss and gave himself some of the soup in a small bowl she had set aside. He sipped at it eagerly before responding, mainly just water and some of the vegetables that grew wild on the mountain and he assumed some she had brought with her. “I was walking all day ya, I was looking for-” Spike stopped and blushed, “a gem somewhere on the mountain I lost.” Aliss seemed not to notice how he had stopped. She let him finish his soup before asking another question. “So what kind of gem were you looking for?” Spike didn't really think of any details, it was just a story so she wouldn't know why he was really out here. “Uhh, a sapphire, ya that's it. A big round sapphire!” Spike spread his arms out wide to show how “big” it was. Aliss looked pleased by this and turned away looking towards the edge of the cave. “Look, the sunset.” she got up and walked outside, Spike watched her go. He felt absolutely drawn to her, and he didn't know why; he stood up and followed her outside. He held up his hand in front of his eyes as the sun shone on him. Next to Aliss he watched the sun go down slowly. He didn't say anything, and neither did she; they simply watched in silence. Spike took another quick look at her as she focused on the sun, she was so beautiful, more beautiful than Rarity. Finally she turned around and went back into the cave after the sun had set and Spike followed her. Once they were comfortably seated, or as best you could be in a cave, Spike remembered he hadn't asked her yet “What are you doing up here in the mountains anyways?” she thought for a moment then looked at him and shrugged, “I don't know,” Spike was definitely confused now. “What do you mean you don't know?” she blinked and replied “I just don't, I more or less just woke up one day and thought Aliss was a good name for myself since I didn't remember much of anything at all.” Spike became worried, “So you don't know who you are or why you're out here, you just started wandering and eating when you could?” she smiled “That's the gist of it” Spike started pacing and thinking, maybe he should bring her back to Twilight, she may know a memory spell to help her. He decided that was the best course of action and began “Aliss, how long have you been up here?” she looked like she was having trouble remembering “Maybe a few weeks, I just kept going out each day and collecting whatever food I could find then coming back here and using my magic to start a fire and keep warm.” Spike nodded “Well there's a town down the mountain a ways, if you wanted, I could take you back to it. My friend Twilight Sparkle may know a memory spell to help you.” Her eyes shot up at Spike and she stared at him, tears started welling in her eyes and she ran to him and hugged him. “Oh thank! Thank you so much Spike.” He blushed at the sudden contact “It's no problem really.” she finally stepped back and gave him a kiss on the cheek, he was blushing so hard he was sure his whole face was red and Aliss giggled. “Well we should get some sleep, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow.” Spike said, Aliss nodded and went to her corner of the cave and lied down. Spike retreated to an area that looked reasonably comfortable, before succumbing to sleep Spike murmured to himself “Looks like I found her.” Daylight shone into the cave and Spike awoke with a start. At first he didn't know where he was and started to panic, then he saw Aliss, still asleep across from him, and he was at ease. He sat there for a few minutes in the silence, just thinking about all that had happened yesterday. He left town heartbroken but his friends had helped him find resolve and he had used that to finally find his special somepony. He smiled at that, his friends really did care about him, they may treat him like a child sometimes but they understood him as an individual. Spike heard shifting next to him and looked to see Aliss awake and yawning, he couldn't help but just stare for a second before he caught himself and decided to speak up. “Good morning.” Spike started “Oh, good morning Spike, did you sleep well? I know the sleeping accommodations aren't the best.” she laughed a little at her own joke and Spike found himself smiling in spite of the simple jest. “Well, no time like the present eh?” Aliss looked at Spike and stood up “Let's head to this town you spoke of.” Spike jumped up and started walking towards the entrance of the cave, he was stopped by a tap on the shoulder. “Thank you, really. You're doing so much for me without any provocation. It's a very admirable trait.” she finished and smiled at Spike, he beamed back “Let's go! It's not a very long walk.” They left the cave and started down the mountain, talking along the way. Spike talked about Ponyville, its friendly people and and all of his friends there. He told Aliss of a few of his adventures with Twilight and everyone, even the embarrassing stories. He almost couldn't stop himself. Aliss just listened silently and piped in with a few questions every once in a while, she mainly asked just what happened next. She was happy just hearing Spike tell his stories as they traveled. Although, Spike never mentioned much about Rarity, and Aliss took note of this, she finally asked him when he finished telling a story of how he had taken care of his friends animals for a day. “Spike, you don't talk much about Rarity, why is that?” Aliss questioned, Spike frowned and piped up finally “Well, you see, I kinda sorta had a crush on her.” “Oh,” Aliss looked disappointed, Spike picked up on it and finished what he was about to say “Until I thought of asking her out to go to a celebration and I heard what Rarity really thought of me. I'm nothing but a kid brother to her, a child to look after and ask to do favors for her.” He didn't notice that he was clenching his fists “she's my friend but to hear that...it hurt. So I ran out of town to search for someone who would actually want to be around me because they liked me back.” He looked down at the ground, forgetting he was talking to Aliss and more to himself really. Aliss giggled “Hey what's so funny!” Spike asked, hurt that she was laughing “Nothing nothing, you don't realize it do you,” Aliss asked “What?” Spike replied, “You basically just told me that you want to go out with me. I would be honored my dear rescuer.” Aliss bowed, Spike laughed and bowed to her himself “The honor is mine m'lady” she leaned over and kissed his cheek again and Spike felt blood rush to his face as he beamed “So, would you like to go with me to a day of celebrations filled with love and happiness?” Spike asked her, Aliss smiled at him and nodded “Very much so my gallant knight.” Spike jumped for joy, happier than he had ever been while in Ponyville. Not forgetting their original goal, Spike and Aliss headed for Twilight's tree house to see if she could use a memory spell on Aliss. Instead of just barging in Spike thought it better to introduce Aliss at the door, he knocked and waited on baited breath. As the door opened Twilight got one look at Spike and jumped on him hugging him close “SPIKE! Where did you go yesterday!? I was so worried, I searched all around Ponyville for you!” she pulled away and noticed Aliss “Who's this? Hello my name is Twilight Sparkle, are you new in town?” “AHEM!” Spike got her attention “It's my pleasure to introduce to you my date for the Hearts and Hooves day celebration, Aliss.” Twilight tilted her head, “you mean you- wait but you said- where in the- Spike.” She looked at him for an answer pursing her lips in a pouting look. “Twilight, it's a pleasure to meet you, Spike talks about you quite a bit. I'm Aliss and I have amnesia.” Aliss finished while smiling which confused Twilight even more “I...see, where did Spike find you anyways?” Aliss lifted he head proudly “Oh, he found me in the mountains, I was living in a cave for a few weeks trying to remember something beyond my name when Spike walked in and offered to bring me here to see if you could fix my memory.” Twilight tilted her head again, let out one laugh then dropped from all the confusion.