//------------------------------// // Confrontations // Story: The Rise of Species: Dragons // by Zarmflamekin //------------------------------// Neither Spike or Twilight were particularly comfortable with the tone Steady Wing left off on and were soon running after him. Both, however, soon began to rapidly think of what they were actually doing. There was a cliff drop off before they could get to the forest, and only one of the two of them could fly. Spike thought of the danger coming up. If the Guard was on edge, there probably wasn’t all that much he could do to sway the situation. He wasn’t all that great in a fight, and he didn’t want to test how well his scales hold up to any beast this far out and near the Badlands. But this was also his responsibility, he was the reason they were out here and he was going to make sure they all made it back in one piece, even if was only as an extra set of eyes. Spike kept running to the cliff face. Twilight thought of the danger to Spike and the Guard. She had faced down Tirek, Discord, and Nightmare Moon, there weren’t many creatures that keep her shaken for more than a second. She could more than likely overpower anything in the forest below, as she had argued before, but the guards were focused on keeping her safe. She could count on them to stand for themselves, but Spike was another matter. He was a baby and not much for roughhousing. He needed to stay back and let them take care of Pointed Eye’s predicament. Besides, he would never make it down and back up the cliff. But as the ledge came closer and Steady Wing took off, quickly diving down, Twilight glanced to her side and saw that Spike wasn’t slowing down. There wasn’t even a glint of hesitation as he steadfastly ran for the cliff. Twilight grimaced, the thought of Spike plummeting off the side flashing through her brain. She quickly shook the image away. “Spike!” Twilight called out, getting a glance from Spike. Twilight dipped her left wing down as they continued to run, the signal clear to Spike. He altered his course and jumped, grabbing onto the offered appendage, and a combined effort between the two hauled Spike onto Twilight’s back in time for Twilight to take a running leap off the side of the cliff and fully spread her wings. “There!” Spike pointed to the white streak that had just dipped beneath the thin canopy of trees. Twilight dipped to the left to follow, keeping sight on Steady Wing as another *CRACK* rang out again, now much closer, Spike and Twilight saw a tree not too far begin to fall and groan. They quickly followed, both winceing as branches began to streak by them as they broke into the canopy, but Steady Wing was still going. Going in the direction of the felled tree, the three soon spotted Pointed Eye running on the ground, not looking too worse for wear. Scratches were apparent on his helmet and armor, but his wings didn’t look damaged and his gallop was steady. His eyes darted about until he spotted his partner, his eyes grew wide and his complexion a bit paler. “Drop!” Pointed yelled, confusing Spike and Twilight, but Steady Wing immediately clamped his wings to his side and began hopping down branches. And not too soon, as barely a rustle of leaves came in warning as a dark mass darted through the air space Steady Wing was just occupying. Twilight back flapped to try and see where the thing went. “Twilight! Drop down!” Spike yelled in her ear, making her wings snap to her side more in shock than command, and Spike held on for dear life as they began to fall. Twilight quickly regained her senses, and glanced over to Pointed Eye, and a short cast later, she and Spike popped out of existence for a split second, appearing next to the winded corporal. “Princess?!” Pointed Eye exclaimed. “Shock later, tactics now!” Twilight turned, readying herself with a concussive spell, eyes darting to spot their threat. “What are we dealing with.” “Not sure.” Pointed Eye breathed as Steady Wing took position on Twilight’s right, keeping the princess between the two guards. “It’s fast, flight capable, and a striker, no open combat so far.” “Intelligence?” Steady asked. “High, probably sentient.” Pointed replied. “And it still attacked you?” Twilight asked, aghast. “Tried to crush my head first. It might just be experienced in-“ “Above! My 3!” Steady called as he shouldered Twilight aside as Pointed jumped aside as well. Spike’s legs clenched tighter to Twilight’s barrel, as he turned to see what Steady Wing was pushing them away from. Time seemed to slow for Spike as he saw Twilight wincing from the body slam and Steady Wing focusing his energy on pushing the princess out of harm’s way. The mass that descended upon the group came down from the branches at an angle, it was elongated and black with white spines running down its back, its red, slit eyes focused on landing right on where they were. Spike could barely make the glint of a few unsheathed claws ready for a grab. As the second ticked by, the creature landed, its claw sunk into the ground where Steady Wing had just stood, and Spike saw the predator’s eyes dart up and meet his. Spike felt his heart freeze as the lust in the creature’s eyes pierced into him. Its eyes spoke of hunger and, oddly, joy. He saw the experience of many hunts and many kills within the pools of amber that were her eyes. And as the next second ticked, the creature’s wings snapped open, a stunning white encompassed Spike’s field of view as one beat sent dust and herself flying at a reflective angle to her decent, clearing over the group’s heads and disappeared once again into the trees with nary a rustle to show she passed through. “Guards! Prepare to hover!” Twilight called as she regained her footing, her horn begining to glow brighter, drawing Spike’s attention back to her. He held tight as he was once again teleported, the sensation of twisting and stretching through ill-defined space gripping him before he had to squint at the sunlight suddenly in his eyes. Spike heard the flapping of wings and felt the sudden bounce of Twilight flying. Spike looked away from the sunset to see they were directly over the carriage they had come in. Twilight, Pointed, and Steady made their way back to the ground, and all took a sigh of relief. “This is exactly why I said I should-“ Twilight began. “Twilight, berate later.” Spike cut in, gaining a sharp glance from Twilight over her shoulder. “Do you know any wards to keep up overnight?” Spike asked as he looked back toward the forest they had left. “Spike, now’s not-“ “Twilight.” Spike looked Twilight dead in the eye, and Twilight saw it. Fear. “Yeah. Yeah, I dusted some off for this, sure.” Twilight dipped her shoulder, letting Spike slide off. “The tents are set up already, wait for me near one, all right?” Twilight asked, her tone having become significantly softer. “Yeah.” Spike nodded as he headed to the tents. They were two pony A-frames, so there was nothing luxurious to them, but Spike was fine with that right now, he needed to process those three seconds of his life right now. He even glanced up to Steady Wing as he walked past him to see if he would have any words for him. And he even seemed like he did, but they apparently died on his lips as he looked at Spike, instead walking over to Pointed Eye to check on the stallion. Spike moved the flap covering the front of one of the tents to find two relatively thin and long mattresses parallel to each other with two pillows and a blanket pile at the other end of the tent. Spike situated himself on the end of a mattress and began to re-evaluate the encounter. And the first thing he thought of was a dragon. The claws, the wings, the spines, and those eyes, they all looked very familiar to the ones he saw in the mirror. But looking at his own claws, he couldn’t see the connection. Hers had been so sharp, as to slice and not hold. Her. She. Female. How did he know? It was a formless creature, and yet it seemed so defined to him. She was black, or maybe… more of a deep purple? Her spines down her back had definitely been white, and so had her wing’s membrane. A blinding, pristine white. Perhaps even better than Rarity’s. But her eyes. Her eyes had told a story in that glance. She was proud, she was happy, and she was exhilarated. She was also young, not only told by her size, but by the glint in those eyes, the eyes of some…dragon who could and would go anywhere. Compared to Pyrathy’s deep, slow abyss, hers were quick, and hungry. That brought a shiver down Spike’s spines. That hunger scared him. It was a boundless hunger, for her food, for the world, and somehow, Spike thought, for him. It was unnerving, and even now, just closing his own eyes brought her deep amber one’s to mind. Spike gulped. “Spike?” Twilight questioned outside the tents. “In here Twi.” Spike replied. Twilight lifted the tent flap and came in, proceeding to situate herself next to Spike, a wing reflexively extending its way around the young drake. “I’m sorry you had to see that.” She whispered. “That’s not something somepony like you needs to be a part of.” “It is if I’m the reason it happens.” Spike replied dourly. “Spike, you’re not-“ “Yes I am Twilight.” Spike cut in, not even deeming it necessary to look to see Twilight’s disapprovement of his constant interruptions. “I’m the reason we’re out here, and" Spike's exasperation started to show. "And I don’t even know why! Why do I need to do this? You didn’t need to know about this, I could have put it off, I could have ignored it, this isn’t something important to me, it’s just an annoyance! And now I’m putting you and those two in danger because of something I don’t even care about!” Spike ended up ranting at the ground, a trickle of tears beginning to make themselves known. “But you keep pushing! You’re so excited about it all! This is all so easy that you don’t even need any of us here. You can feed and protect yourself, Pointed Eye and Steady Wing are only here to help cart me along on this trip. You don’t need them, and you certainly don’t need-“ Spike was quickly silenced by a crushing hug. “Stop that. Stop that right now.” Twilight whispered. Spike’s surprise was soon replaced with guilt and sorrow as he embraced the hug, burying his face in Twilight’s chest. Twilight lay her head on top of Spike’s, gently petting down his back in a soothing manner, her own tears making themselves present. They were quiet, the only sound being an off hiccup from Spike. When Twilight finally felt Spike’s breathing return to normal, she gingerly peeled herself away from her closest friend and family. Spike’s eyes were dangerously red, which he began to desperately wipe. Twilight chuckled as she wiped some tears off his cheeks with her wing. “Spike.” Twilight said softly, gaining a very lost look from the drake. “I reiterate that I’m sorry that what happened went down the way it did, and I’m sorry if it felt like I ignored you or your feelings. I tried to take you into account when we went off for Pointed Eye, but you seemed determined to keep up, and I let you come with us.” “But I did want to help.” Spike offered. “Even if it was only an extra set of eyes.” “Well, you did get Pointed Eye’s warning through to me.” Twilight smiled, but it was soon dropped. “And I will admit, this is very exhilarating for me, but at the end of the day, Spike, we’re doing this for you.” “And that’s the problem!” Spike snapped, Twilight's only reaction to the outburst being a deepening frown. “We don’t have to be here! This entire expedition is pointless! We’re here to find Pyrathy and I don’t even know why!” “Then think.” Twilight near whispered as she drew Spike back into a hug. “What happened last night in the dream? Really think.” So Spike did. He thought back to Pyrthay’s cave and size. He thought of the cacophony of scenes on Pyrathy’s scales. He remembered all of the fighting, all of the death that played on them, and the curse placed upon Pyrathy for such things to happen. Spike remembered having to look away, he remembered looking past his life in those scales, and something occurred to him. There was a disproportionate amount of his life in those scales. His hatching, Twilight’s research, his first steps, his first belch of fire singing Twilight’s mane, his first words, his time studying with Twilight, his interactions with Rarity. And in all of them, he couldn’t recall one, major life event. His greed growth. In all of those replays, in all of those close scales, his biggest personal failure hadn’t been there. And then there was that phrase, those four words. “Welcome home, Little Spike.” Pyrathy had smiled, not only with his teeth, but in his eyes. His deep abyss of an eye had glowed. A spark was lit in there, something that seemed to have died a long time ago. Something Spike recognized sparking before. “Hope.” Spike whispered, pulling away from Twilight. “Pyrathy needs hope, I think.” “Oh?” Twilight asked, more in polite prompt than in question. “A lot of what I saw on Pyrathy’s scales were fighting. Fighting and killing.” Twilight’s face grew rigidly concerned. “And when I tried to look away from all of it, I looked to his eye, where there wouldn’t be any scales to show that violence, but when I did, I passed over my own life. And a lot of it. I-I don’t know if he can control what plays, but I didn’t really see any dragon more than twice, but my hatching and others were all there, but not my greed growth. And I think… I think that means Pyrathy was trying to focus on my positives. What I did with you and the other Elements.” “And that gave him hope?” Twilight asked. Spike nodded. “I think so, there was something in the way he addressed me that makes me think so.” Spike swallowed. “But I don’t know why he would reach out to me, the map at the castle-“ “Spike.” Twilight lifted his chin to look at her. “The map leads us to the problems of friendship. This seems by far removed from that.” “Still wouldn’t need me here though.” Spike grumbled. “Do you think he doesn’t need you Spike? You’re the one who believes he needs hope.” Twilight pointed out, neither seeming to dampen or lighten Spike’s mood. With a moment of no response, Twilight dredged up a question she really didn’t want to ask. “Do you really think I don’t need you?” Twilight barely got out, a deep sense of hurt in her tone. Spike bit his lip and looked aside, but Twilight didn’t let him move his head. “Because I don’t know what I’d do without you. And that’s the honest truth.” Spike’s eyes quickly shot back to Twilight. “I’m sorry that you felt that I didn’t need you, but I need to know… how long have you felt like this?” She let go of Spike’s chin, and his head dropped, again looking away. “Honestly?” Spike’s eyes looked back to Twilight, who nodded. “I guess… a little bit after you ascended.” Twilight’s grew wide. That had been nearly three years ago now. “You just got so busy, and you were able to get anything you wanted with a thought, that all I was good for was cooking at home. And then I wasn’t any real help, heck, more of a hindrance with Sunset Shimmer.” Spike began to tick off on his claws. “Then I tried helping others, but I overcompensated and ended up ruining that. And then when Tirek came, I was just as out of the loop as everypony else. Then the castle came, and the map had all of you go off to confront Starlight Glimmer, and I was completely left behind.” Spike looked Twilight full on, old wounds coming to the surface. “Hoofball isn’t all that enjoyable when you have to worry about what your sister is doing in the middle of nowhere because a random magic map tells her to go there. It was all Big Mac and I could do to not worry about you and AJ. But you never saw anything wrong with going off and solving unknown problems, none of you did.” Spike sighed. “And then there was the time travel debacle. And I did nothing there either. Honestly Twilight, I’m not so afraid of what just happened, but more of if I left, by choice or not, would it matter?” “Of course it would-“ Twilight began. “No, Twilight, think. Don’t feel this answer, because I sure left that behind a while ago. Would it matter if I left?” Twilight looked down at Spike, really looked. Past the determination, past the pain, past the bravado, to her scared little brother, who was unsure if he was important anymore. “Yes Spike. You matter. You matter more than you may think. Past me, past our friends, you affect everypony you meet, even the ones you haven’t met yet.” It was Twilight’s turn to look away. “I may not need you as an assistant as I once did, but that doesn’t mean I need you any less.” She looked back with a sad, awkward smile. “Does that make any sense?” Spike folded his claws as he let them sit in front of him. Did he understand? How could he affect ponies he hadn’t met before? Did it really matter if he said hi to Lyra Heartstrings or Golden Harvest in the mornings? Were they their friends? Spike had a shuddering realization that he had always seen them as Twilight’s friends that he got along with, which jarred him a bit. Had he picked up Twilight’s isolationist tendencies in a different way? And it still putted around the issue of if he actually important to Twilight. But would he actually believe anything she said aside from a negative to fuel his spiral? Spike uncoupled his claws and looked at them once more, contemplating this conundrum. Twilight saw Spike blankly looking down at his claws and hesitantly reached her wing out to once again hug him, but twitched in hesitation while half unfurled. Maybe Spike didn’t need any more reinforcement from her. Maybe this was a time for both of them to think. He had told her he had been thinking about this for so long that a gut feeling had been ruled out. Twilight put her wing back against her side and pondered on how she had interacted with Spike in recent years, or all his years in fact. She had been the one to hatch him and the one he had imprinted on. He never seemed to go five minutes without being attached to her one way or another. And when he wasn’t sleeping or grabbing for her attention, he was being a pain to feed. That was so long ago, but it was all that immediately popped up to Twilight. And even though she saw him as family, she somehow had always seen herself above him in authority, even in things she barely knew about. And as cold of a pit that it left in her stomach, Twilight did have to admit to herself that she had used Spike as a second brain and a spare body, rather than as his own person. So now, how could she support his efforts to be his own drake, when neither of them really knew what it meant to be Spike? So the two sat in their tent on that mattress, thinking about what they exactly meant to one another. Both were so deep in thought that neither were disturbed by Pointed Eye as he lift the tent flap up. Only when clearing his throat did he at least gain Twilight’s attention. “Princess, if it wouldn’t be a hassle, Steady Wing has conceded that you could gather the firewood we need in a concise and effective manner.” Pointed Eye said in his most level tone. “There… shouldn’t be a need corporal.” Twilight glanced to Spike, who had started to pay attention. “The fire was for a more… lighthearted mood. The warding around camp and enchantments on the tents should be more than enough for our location. As an aside, any sort of night vision we would need would be hampered by a lit campfire.” “I’ll inform him.” Pointed Eye nodded. He stole a short glance to Spike to see how he was doing, and he seemed to be a lot calmer and composed, but also noted the redness in his eyes as well. “Would there be a time to which we should be heading out in the morning?” “9:30, 10 at the latest.” Spike said. “Packing by 9 should be ideal.” His tone was soft, but his voice was concrete. Pointed Eye wasn’t sure if their one misstep had changed Spike much, but he did seem to be a bit more resolute. “Should be no problem, sir.” Pointed Eye nodded to Spike. “Ma’am.” Pointed nodded to Twilight before backing out and letting the flap fall back into place. Spike took a deep sigh before leaning back. “It’s not an easy answer Twi.” Spike said as he lolled his head toward Twilight, a small smile on his lips. “But, it helps to have it out, you know?” Twilight mirrored his smile. “Yeah, it does.” Twilight got to her hooves and turned her head toward the blankets and pillows, her magic lighting up and enveloping the objects. “Now, do you want to stand up for a second, or do you just want to be wrapped up like a burrito?” “I dunno, you’ve never been one to wrap all that tightly.” Spike’s smile grew warmer as he stood up to allow Twilight to lay out their sleepwear. Twilight lay out the blankets neatly and one pillow a piece before letting them go. “Now, I brought s’more ingredients, but seeing as we’re not having a fire, would you like any of them before bed?” Twilight asked, and Spike smirked. “You do realize I could make the s’mores, right?” Spike chuckled, a moment of dumbfoudness crossed Twilight’s face before facehoofing. “But you were right, s’mores are for a lighter tone than tonight, and unless you want any, I’m going to pass.” Spike said in all seriousness. “And here I thought you would never pass up a sweet treat.” Twilight smiled as her hoof hit the floor. “I think you’re thinking of Pinkie Pie.” Spike pointed out, causing both to laugh softly. Twilight took the opportunity to give Spike one last, soft hug. “Goodnight Spike.” “Yeah, night Twi.” Spike replied, reciprocating the soft hug. Both broke away from the hug and made their way under their covers with no real ceremony. There was a shifting of accommodation before silence fell over the tent. Spike’s ear perked a bit at the absence of either of the guard’s voices. “Oh, yeah, there’s a silence charm on the tents as well.” Twilight spoke up, seeming to read Spike’s thoughts. “Somepony would need to be shouting to override it.” “Hm.” Spike grunted noncommittedly as his curiosity was sated, closing his eyes and wondering if the night would bring another dream of Pyrathy. Spike was slow to come to senses as he became aware of himself. He felt odd, weightless and hazy, but a hardy shake of his head, the haze left, but the loss of weight was still there. He looked about to see he was in a cave of some sort with no entrance or exit to be seen, just a tunnel. And he soon found an answer for his sense of weightlessness. He was floating and transparent. There was a brief flash of panic at the thought of being dead, but a moment of reflection brought him to the realization that he had been like this seeing Pyrathy. Spike was a lot more aware of himself now, and the only question he had now was this: Why wasn’t Pyrathy around this time? His question was soon answered as a tapping of claws on stone echoed down the tunnel. Spike turned to see what was coming, and the cold stone in his stomach formed again. It was the dragoness, and his gut reaction and the clear view of her began to meld. She was definitely more feminine than other dragons he had met before, her form was much more slender than the bulky builds of the dragons of the past. Walking on all fours, her steps seemed to flow into one another, leading to a smooth, almost unwavering gait. So transfixed on her approach was Spike, that he almost completely missed the fact she was coming right toward him! Spike desperately began to swim up in some inane attempt to get out of her way, as though she hadn’t seen him. But as she proceeded to walk uninterrupted under him, Spike realized that she hadn’t seen him. Which confused Spike in two ways, 1) If he was dreaming this dragoness up, why hadn’t she seen him, and 2) If he had dreamed her of ignoring him, what could it mean? As Spike watched her walk by underneath, he began to casually float along above, taking note of other features, such as the coloration of her scales. They were dark purple, Byzantium if Spike could place it, but he was also right in assuming black, as her color only darkened from her head to her tail, which stood in stark contrast to her white spines and, as Spike knew, equally white wing membrane. Her wings, as they were now, were folded to her sides, and the more Spike watched her body language, the more tense determination he saw in it. Her wings were tight to her side as to not be a hindrance in any sudden moves. Her stride was flowing, but also purposeful. And from Spike could see of her deep, amber red eyes, they weren’t very concerned about immediate action, but resolute on finding what was ahead. When her eyes significantly widened and her gait turned into a run, Spike finally looked up to see what she did. And it was a cavern, a very large cavern, probably big enough to fit Canterlot Mountain inside. Spike could already see a large, scaley, red mound lying just beyond the tunnel exit. The floor actually jutted out from the exit, Spike noticed as the dragoness he had been following kept running until she was nearly to the massive eye. Spike had actually stopped at the tunnel exit to see how this dream would act out, and as the dragoness came to a halt and sat on her haunches, Spike saw the eyelid trmble and begin to move, and once again Spike saw the abyss that was Pyrathy’s eye, and once again he was transfixed, even with a semi-greater distance. But almost instantly, Spike didn’t see the spark he had seen before. That spark that he thought was hope. But he wasn’t long to contemplate that before one female voice rang out. “WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE MOON IS THAT!?”