He stood alone in the darkness, watching it seamlessly bubble and shift without purpose. He was there but yet nonexistent. He had a name, but he could no longer recall—.
“Hello, Spike,” a voice called out to him from the darkness.
He turned around and saw Princess Luna approach him. Suddenly, he had a being, a substance, and a name. He existed in the void. The purple dragon fell to his knees and bowed in awe.
“Princess Luna!” he gasped, “Where are we?”
“On your feet. Just Luna is fine,” Luna dismissed his reverence and he rose to his feet, “right now, we are in your dreams.”
Spike looked around, “why is it so,” he paused, searching for the proper word, “empty?”
“Your dreams have yet to take shape,” Luna explained patiently.
“Why are you here?” Spike asked turning back to the alicorn.
Luna stared at him so hard he felt shivers run down his spine, “to prevent you from making a fatal mistake.”
She stood upright and tall, towering over Spike with authority, and spoke in a booming voice, “you cannot leave Ponyville. You must return to your friends immediately.”
Spike could not meet her gaze as he mumbled, “I can’t go back.” He felt heavy as he spoke, “I don’t want to grow up to be an evil dragon who destroys Ponyville,” his hands reached his throbbing head, which ached merely remembering the nightmare, “I don’t want to hurt Twilight.”
Luna considered him a moment. She touched her horn to his head and tapped into his dreams, quickly finding the most troubling nightmare. Walking behind him, she spoke again, “your nightmares do not predict the future. You must return now. Your friends need you.”
Spike turned and looked at her with a helpless gesture, “but you don’t know that they couldn’t be true. Please, I don’t want to take any risk. And anyways, Twilight doesn’t need me anymore.”
Luna snapped around and stared at him disbelieving the little dragon’s words. Although, he flinched at the movement, Spike did not turn away, “I just,” he fumbled, “I just want to do what’s best for everyone.”
Luna considered him a moment then sighed, “Walk with me Spike.” She ordered.
Spike walked behind the princess as together they traveled through the darkness.
“I was hoping to avoid this,” the princess said staring straight ahead, “but if I must take drastic measures I certainly will.”
Spike shivered at Luna’s words. Suddenly, a bright light flashed in front of them and engulfed the pair. Spike raised his hands over his already closed eyes as the brightness shown through his little hands.
Spike opened his eyes again and blinked unbelievingly. He was back at Canterlot. He looked around and saw a young, little Twilight and her parents in a room with several professors watching the little filly. None of the ponies seemed to notice him or the princess. He watched as an instructor rolled in a cart bearing a purple egg with purple spots. He looked at Luna for some explanation but she merely raised a hoof and pointed.
“This is when Twilight hatched you several years ago,” Luna spoke solemnly, “and a miracle occurred.”
As she struggled to hatch the egg, a burst of rainbow light rocked the room causing her magic to not only hatch the egg, but also turn a baby dragon into a towering dragon that broke through the roof. When the dragon was finally shrunk back down to size, he noticed Princess Celestia gaze at the filly with interest and then turn her eyes to the baby dragon.
“Yeah,” everything had happened like Twilight had often told him, “she hatched me.”
“She did so much more than that.” Luna insisted taking a step towards the little filly, who stared at the dragon uncertainly. The little dragon returned her gaze with equal uncertainty. “In an instant, her magical burst formed an unbreakable bond.”
Spike gazed at the scene. The baby dragon smiled at the little filly, and she found herself smiling back. For a moment, Spike saw both of their eyes sparkle like a rainbow and shimmer for an instant. He sensed it, the bond. The light faded and their eyes returned to normal.
“On this day,” Luna said raising a hoof over the scene, “the two of you were tied together forever by a bond forged in magic and rooted in love. On this day, your lives became intertwined; you became a family.”
The filly nuzzled the little dragons chin, causing him to giggle with delight.
“Have you never thought it odd, that she did not simply hand you over to Celestia and left you completely to focus on her studies? How she has come to rely upon you when her worries eclipsed her mind? Or how you struggle to do anything outside of her service?”
Spike thought about when he tried to help Applejack after she saved him only to mess up every little chore. He really didn't understand it at the time. Normally, he excelled at simple tasks such as cooking and cleaning but there he could not accomplish anything. Was it really because he was meant to serve only Twilight? No other pony? Not even himself? Did this mean Twilight was the most important pony in his life? His existence dedicated to her?
“Come,” Luna walked through a nearby door, prompting Spike to chase after her.
He passed through the door and entered a new room, which he soon recognized as Twilight’s from when she was younger.
“Really, be reasonable miss,” Spike turned to the sound and saw a slightly older Twilight standing firmly in front of two of Celestia’s royal guard. She had a scowl on her face as she defiantly puffed out her chest. Spike almost thought the scene was cute until he noticed the guards looked very disapproving.
“No means no,” Twilight stamped her hoof, “I hatched him, I raised him, I’m keeping him.”
The two guards exchanged an impressed glance, and then the guard on the left spoke, “I’m sorry. We’ve received several complaints from the neighbors. They say that thing keeps them up all night with its screams, digs up their flowers, or sets their lawns on fire. It needs to go be with its kind. He’ll like it there, I promise.”
“His name is Spike,” She frowned at the guards who blinked in surprise, “and Princess Celestia herself said he can stay with me. You don’t want to go against the Princess’ orders, do you?”
The guard on the left was beginning to think this was a bad idea. If the princess herself said so, there was nothing they could do.
“You named it?” the guard on the right asked incredulously. “You can’t seriously expect that thing won’t grow up to be a monster. Come fifty or seventy-five years, he’ll be burning down forests or hoarding away jewels in a cave.”
Twilight glared at him murderously, “Spike is a ‘he’ not an ‘it’. And you better believe he’s staying with me. I won’t let him turn into some mean old dragon. He’s mine.”
“Please try to be reasonable,” the guard on the left restrained his fellow guard, “we’re trying to look out for the well-being of all our citizens, even that little dragon. If he doesn’t go to be with other dragons now, how do you expect him to join when he grows too big to live with you?”
“For the last time,” the little unicorn took several feet forward, causing the guards to step back slightly intimidated by the adamant filly, “Spike is staying with me forever and that’s final. Now kindly get out of our house.”
“What’s going on here?” Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor, entered the room and crossly stared at the two guards, “don’t you two have better things to do than bully a little filly?”
The guards knew better than to irritate the captain of the guard. Sheepishly, they exited the room without a further word. Once they were gone, Twilight walked over to her bed and whispered underneath, “It’s okay, Spike. You can come out now.”
Spike saw a slightly older, diapered dragon crawl out from under the bed and leap onto Twilight’s back hugging her neck. The filly giggled at the dragon’s antics and ruffled his little head with her hoof.
“You know they’re right, “ Shining Armor reluctantly said, “there have been complaints from the neighbors and he is going to grow up and become too big to live with us.”
She turned to Shining and glared, “I’ll teach him to be kind and helpful, I’ll show the neighbors that he’s a good dragon. And even if he grows too big,” she glanced back at the little dragon cradling her neck and smiled, “I’ll find a way for him to stay with me, even if I have to buy a castle. And he won’t be a monster, because he’ll know how to be kind. If he forgets, I’ll just remind him.”
Shining smiled at his little sister and she gave a quizzical look, “why are you looking at me like that, Shining?”
“I’ve just,” he stopped to consider the best way to express his thoughts, “never seen you this attached to anything else before.”
“I can’t help it,” Twilight stroked the little dragon’s head as her lips curled into a smile, “he’s just so precious.”
Spike became aware of Luna’s presence beside him and turned to face her, “I never knew ponies were telling her to give me up, or that she stood up for me back then. I can’t believe I don’t remember this,” he raised a hand to his head, wishing he could recall the days from his earliest years, “is this more of that bond you were talking about?”
Luna nodded and gestured to the scene before them, “through this bond, you taught Twilight what it meant to be selfless, to care for some one more than herself. She needed you just as much as you needed her. Truthfully, if she never had you, I doubt she would have made any friends at Ponyville.”
“Truthfully,” Spike turned back to the scene, “I don’t think I would be alive if I never had her. No way would I have made it if she sent me away to be with other dragons. I don’t think I could’ve made it on my own.”
Luna turned sharply to him, “then how do you explain what you’re doing right now?” Spike jumped in surprise as the princess approached him, “you’re leaving her now. Going off on your own. Do you really suppose you could survive without her? Or she without you?”
Spike instinctively extended his hands in self-defense, “this was all in the past! She doesn’t need me anymore! I’m just a burden.”
“Wrong, Spike,” Luna shook her head as the scene melted away, replaced by the Ponyville library destroyed by Tirek not long ago.
Spike turned and saw himself comforting Twilight, doing his best to calm her down. She was worried about not meeting the deadline for sending a letter on friendship to Princess Celestia. Spike was just being the best friend he could be.
“Any pony could have done this,” Spike said, “any pony can do this when I’m gone.”
“But no pony did,” Luna replied as the scene melted away to a picnic. Twilight’s friends were sitting on a picnic blanket when noticed her disheveled appearance. When she told them what was wrong, they all merely laughed, relieved her problem was not so desperate. They weren’t being hurtful. They just didn’t think her conflict was quite as important as Twilight said.
“You were the only one to take her problems seriously,” Luna stared at him, “you’re the only one who worries about her every little problem.”
Luna walked away from the scene and bid Spike to follow, “and you are far from a burden.”
The scene shifted again to the Crystal Empire. Twilight was staring at Sombra’s door, trembling and shaking as her worst fear became realized. Then Spike called her and knocked her out of the trance. The scene quickly faded to when she was captured behind Sombra’s crystal trap, with the crystal heart out of reach. Spike watched as his past self obeyed her instructions and grabbed the crystal heart, running to save the city.
“You constantly rescue Twilight and her friends when they need you most,” Luna watched impassively as the past Spike handed the crystal heart to Cadence. “Not only do you help them whenever you accompany your friends, you save them. I certainly do not see why you consider yourself a burden.”
Spike had forgotten all about this time. He found himself staring with pride as they banished Sombra and saved the Crystal Empire, and all because he insisted on coming with Twilight.
“But,” Spike’s voice made Luna turn once more, “I didn’t do that because I was brave or wanted ponies to love me. I just wanted to protect them.”
Luna looked at Spike with a gentle smile, “is that any less noble?”
“Well, I was afraid the whole time,” Spike replied as he remembered his fear, “so yeah, I think it shows I’m not some brave hero when I was so terrified I almost barfed.”
“Who would not be in such circumstances? Your friends do not mind,” Luna spoke as the scene before them transitioned to his friends embracing him, “they love you because you do not pretend to be something great. They love you because you are you. If they lost you, they would all be so unhappy.”
Spike looked down at the ground, “they’d get by.”
“Have you not been paying any attention?” Luna frowned.
“I have,” Spike walked away from her, “and for every good thing I’ve done for them, there are a dozen bad things they should hold against me. Like when I messed up anything I tried to help Applejack with, or tried to frame Owlicious when I was afraid he would replace me, or became a huge dragon that nearly destroyed Ponyville when I gave into my greed, or embarrassed them at the Equestria Games when I tried to sing the Cloudsdale anthem because I felt concerned with my own image, or when I gave orders in Twilight’s name when she was trying to sleep and nearly caused a catastrophe.”
“And yet,” Luna moved in front of him, “they have never stopped treating you as a valued friend. They have never stopped loving you.”
Spike looked up into the Princess’ eyes as he realized the truth in her words.
“Spike,” she smiled, “love goes beyond little errors we make and our physical differences; love is internal. It lives at the core of our very beings. Your friends love you for who you are, and who you are is not your mistakes or your status as a dragon.”
Spike began to smile back but quickly lost his optimism when he remembered his nightmare and the sad truth, “that doesn’t change the fact that I am physically still a dragon. Or the fact that I could grow up to become a monster.”
Luna frowned and began to pace. The sun will rise soon she realized in annoyance I need more time. Finally she stopped and inhaled deeply as she made a decision.
“Spike,” he straightened up at his name, “if you will not return home after what you have witnessed tonight, then I shall simply return tomorrow night and continue to show you why you must turn around. “But I warn you,” she said with a scowl, “From here on out, many of the things I show you will be painful and may break your heart.”
“I don’t know that anything could be worse than that nightmare,” Spike said apprehensively.
“You will see,” Luna said as the dream began to melt away, “nightmares becoming reality.”
***
Spike woke up with a start, shaking the covers off his body and sitting up. The train had stopped, the first light of day blazed through the window. He glanced out the window and saw Cloudsdale high above the tracks. Some pegasai were exiting the train with luggage while others entered. He felt his stomach growl and decided it was time for breakfast. He pulled out an emerald from his knapsack and began munching the gem as he stared out the window.
This was not the train his friends and he normally took, he realized as he took another bite of his emerald and chewed. It was slower, much more gray. It would take him to the Griffonstone Station across the Celestial Sea within three more days. He finished off the emerald and tried to consider where he would go from there. Perhaps he could travel to the Dragon Lair in the south, the Bug Bear Territory in the north, or perhaps he could simply continue walking east until he came to a place no pony would ever find him and he would find no pony.
His mind dwelled on everything the princess had told him, but he was resolute to continue. He took out the photograph of his friends and stared at it. For the sake of his friends, he had no choice but to push onward.
Still, maybe he could write them a letter if he found a postal service. Let them know he was doing fine and not to worry about him. Once he found a place to live out the rest of his days, he could write them and tell them he found a new home. He knew one thing: he would write to thank them for accepting him even when he bungled a task or let his dragon nature take control. Luna showed him that they deserved that much. Honestly, they deserved even more than that.
***
Luna returned from the dream world frustrated. She paced around her room, uncertain what she would do. She hoped to reach little Spike but he was still too shaken by the nightmare to go home. Perhaps the only way to persuade him, she didn’t like where this thought was taking her, is to give him a greater nightmare, one that would convince him to go home. She shook her head and dismissed the thought. First, she had to show him the proper course, only pushing him slightly towards the best course of action by showing him the past and the present. If she had to scare him into returning home, she worried such action might drive him further away from Ponyville. For all she knew, he had long since left Ponyville and was journeying to regions unknown.
Surely, he could be shown reason. The princess hoped so. Otherwise, Twilight would not only lose her greatest friend, but Equestria itself, would be in peril. She had to show Spike he mattered. Her kingdom depended on Princess Luna's success. Her friends, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash, depended on her. Luna's own fate depended on her. She would not fail. She could not. If the need arose, she would show Spike the future. The future created by his decision.