//------------------------------//
// II: Diversion 
// Story: Show, Don't Tell. 
// by AndromedaNova 
//------------------------------//

'I actually did it.' Spike thought.' Years worth of misfortune, nopony to run to, and blood, sweat, and tears all into those girls.' This was his life now, he was gonna explore the land, 'til his dying breath, and see the world can really be beautiful..... Hopefully.

Spike was soaring swiftly through the air, the wind went against his ears, and his excess scales sticking out whistled quite loudly. Yep, this was his thing. He knew he wasn't the greatest, fastest, or most stamina filled flyer, but he didn't care, when he flew, that is all that mattered. Though his satisfaction was flowing through his brain for the entire trip, it was broken by the sudden gush of wind, pulling him upward and back.

"W-What?!" Spike exclaimed, and he finally looked at where he was.... Right in the middle of a damned storm.  He knew he had to act fast, but he couldn't think clearly.  Every time he tried to formulate a plan in his head, he gets dragged back, and nearly descends out of any way of flying.

If his life wasn't hard enough as it was at that point, a funnel cloud submerged out of the nimbus clouds. Trying his hardest to stay away from it, he was still pulled up and away from the cloud. Luckily, he was too far away from the funnel cloud for it to affect him. Even if it did throw him into the ground, he wouldn't die because dragons were created to where they wouldn't die from falling, in case of any debris, storms, or anything of the sort.

Suddenly, CRAAAASSSSHHHH.

In front of Spike, lightning stuck and blinded his vision, not permanently, but enough to make him not see for about ten minutes, but that didn't matter anyway. Spike was already descending down rapidly, he thought he was falling, but he wasn't sure. 'Certainly I can catch myself up and not cra-' He thought crashing as he said he wouldn't would be too corny to happen, but not with his luck.

Fifteen minutes after the crash, the dragon picked up his face in disinterest,"Gosh, what are the odds that the moment I mention crashing, I crash?" Spike grunted lowly, and pushed himself up off the ground. The ground was as black as burnt toast put into the oven, never has he seen so much black and that intensity of it. He looked all over his body, a few cuts, burns, and bruises, however nothing that would really hurt him, he's had much worse. That wasn't the problem on his mind though,'Where am I?' was.

Spike, after slowly getting himself out of the crater, walked around the unpopulated area. Trying to spread his wings, he made an," OUUCH!" and put them back into his folded position. Surely enough, he was in no condition to fly, not yet. With how much it hurt, he thought it would take about a day or two to recover, but this was still a bit of a drawback, considering where he was going. Luckily, there was a sign he could just barely see, about a quarter-mile away, and that distance seemed like hiking for five hours from what he saw. Although he had that mentality, he still sucked it up and started limping his way over to the sign.

It took about ten minutes, yes no joking there, for him to get it, but when he saw it, he was enthusiastic! The sign was for Baltimare, this relieved him because he thought there wouldn't be any small towns for miles, but what'dya know? A big city, perfect time for dinner too! Getting caught up in this, he didn't expect a letter.... even if he didn't leave, but nontheless, he coughed out a letter. Spike read up to,"Dear Spike...." and ripped it into smithereens, even burning those too.

"I won't be needing that where I am going. Out of torture town, and next stop, big city!" He gave a heartfelt smirk, and started walking the way to the city, he knew the way from there, and got there in about thirty minutes. Spike, engrossed with the town at the moment, went venturing out to every free venue he could. Never went to Baltimare, but he knew his way around, and it was he wanted to go for a long time. After about an hour of exploring, he went to eat, getting a jewel smoothie, fancy jewel pizza, and an apple to hold him over for later.

Throughout his exploring, he's always noticed some posters up on poles and walls. "Trixie: Most Powerful Magician in Equestria. Performing tonight at 8 PM, in front of the town hall." Though the poster was kinda unprofessional, it was still eye-catching, and was tempted to go to it. He hasn't seen a lot of impressive magic recently, and he has heard she has really became one of the best in history. Spike didn't want to go just in spite of Twilight, he was mad, but not a moron. So, it was around 7:50 PM, and so Spike made his way, taking some time though, to the city hall. There was an entire audience! After Trixie and Twilight encountered a second time, it must've rubbed off on her to act more kind and less self-centered. She still had her third-person gimmick and referring to herself as "great and powerful", but that was about it.

Trixie performed many spells on participating audience members, like turning a mare into a stallion, a succubus spell (She quit the spell after a minute or so), advanced teleportation, and even showing she could control clouds without being a pegasus. There was plenty more, but these stuck out in particular to him. At the end of the show, Trixie explained," For all those wanting to me the Great and Powerful Trixe, feel free to come in my trailer at the back! Trixie is open for any discussion, just try not to go over conversations longer than ten minutes!" She gave the crowd a smile, and walked off to her trailer, being left with thirty seconds of applaud, yes, he counted.

Throughout the next few hours, he waited. It may seem silly, but he really wanted to talk to her, and Spike had no idea why. Maybe he hadn't had a good talk in awhile, maybe he wanted to vent, he didn't really know why at the time. Before he could even try to figure that out, the last pony walked out of the trailer, and Trixie said," Is there anypony else who wanted to talk to me?" Spike's attention perked up, and he walked inside, to be greeted by a smiling face.

"Wow! I haven't seen a dragon in years! Back when I was a bit of a boaster, I saw a purple dragon who looks quite a bit like yourself, only a child." Trixie said with delight, and pointed her hoof to a seat," Take a seat, my dear."

Spike grinned, and took a seat," Oh really, huh? Well, was the dragon with a lavender-coated unicorn? Twilight Sparkle?" She was quickly took back, and she uttered,"Are you....... Princess Twilight's assistance? Spike?" Trixie was enthusiastic, and swayed in a happy body language. "Trixie remember you! You were with Twilight when Trixie tried to say she was a better magician than Twilight! How is she by the way? Must be lucky to be with her all day!"

Spike slowly sighed,"Not....really..... I don't like her, in fact, I despise her." Trixie was shocked by this, even putting a hoof to her mouth," Why... Why would you say that? Trixie would think she would be a joy to be around almost all times!"

"Sadly mistaken, I even wish I were wrong. She and her friends are abusive and uncaring..... Even when I was a baby. When one of the friends had a birthday party in Canterlot, I wasn't invited to it. She is so lazy, that I have to do all the housekeeping and work around the castle, feed her, clean after her, anything!" Spike said sadly and with anger in his tone.

Trixie was astonished, how could the Princess of Friendship, of all ponies, be horrible towards him? She wasn't sure of who to believe, but she doubts the dragon would lie, seeing as he isn't in Ponyville at the moment. "Did you...... Run away from them? They aren't with you from what Trixie could tell, and wouldn't think you would be with them considering your.... situation"

Spike cracked his fingers, and laid his head back," Is it that obvious? Well, yeah. I did, and don't go around telling that I left her, what I told you is sincere, nothing short of the word." He tried to spread his wings, but quickly yelped, put them back into place, and started rubbing them,"As you can tell, I got in a bit of a predicament with my wings. I was flying high, and some lightning nailed my eyesight, a funnel cloud stirred my movement, so I dropped down on my back. It really sucks, as you may tell, but it'll be over in about a day."

Trixie was obviously interested in what he was telling her, as she was leaning in to get better visuals and hearing,"That's quite interesting....... Tell Trixie more about what you've been through, if you don't mind telling her." Then Spike was set in a conversation that went on, and on, and on, for nearly two hours. He told her how at one point the girls basically made Spike their servant on special events, including the Grand Galloping Gala, how they were jerks, saying to be more like ponies and all dragons are bad, and many more of their outrageously greedy and bad examples of how a friend should be. It didn't seem to end, the conversation that is, for what happened and what would've came if he stayed.

After those two hours have passed, Trixie took a yawn, and scratched her eyes,"Well, did you want to stay here for the night? You've been through quite a bit, and since you need to rest good for tomorrow, you should probably stay here at least for tonight." She looked as if she were about to pass out, but she didn't because of the conversation that she loved.

Spike, through exasperation, gave her a nod, and stood up. Trixie guided him to a guest room, and said," Well... here's you sleeping place for you, I think..." her speech getting all mixed up from fatigue, and slowly walked out of the room, closing the door after. Before she even closed the door, Spike was already on the bed, sleeping.



Around 10:00 AM



Through the entire night, he enjoyed every single second of sleep, so when he woke, he was a bit irked. The dragon still got up though, knowing he'd have to get some breakfast, catch up with Trixie, and eventually leave later today. Took some strength, but Spike got up to his feet, and grabbed his bag. As he walked out of the room, Spike grasped a big, red jewel right out of the bag, and devoured it near instantly, which made him very energized. To his suprise, Trixe was found in the living room already, wide awake.

"Good morning young dragon." She said, not even looking up,"Don't go anywhere yet, I need to tell you something."

Trixie got up, and trotted right up to him,"Trixie has a device that can help us communicate, in case you get in a situation and need Trixie's help. Don't take this any different than me wanting to make sure you are safe. Afterall, you are in a bit of a tight problem as it is." She put a button in his hands,"This device contacts me whenever you are in need, I will most likely always answer it, and it will provide a hologram of you and Trixie."

Spike was surprised by this advanced technology and magic. He'd never even seen Twilight do that before, maybe she'd gotten lazy. "T-thanks Trixie! I'll keep it in my bag, you know where I am going afterall..." Trixie quickly nodded, and took a bow,

"It was quite the pleasure meeting you, and I can't wait to talk to you again!" She said with a smile, and with a bit of enthusiasm in it, but she had just gotten up, so she couldn't be jumping on her hooves happy.

Spike also took a bow,"Same for 'The Great and Powerful Trixie'." He said with a smirk, with left Trixie giggling.



Spike left the trailer, and quickly took off into the skies once more. It felt great that he could fly after what seemed like an eternity, but he was simply glad the option was back. Finally, he was back on course, nothing would divert him again, at least not this time around.