04 - Walking Away
Chapter 4: Walking Away
“Oh Goddess… he’s actually gone…”
Rarity’s choked up words echoed in Twilight Sparkle’s mind as her hooves plodded numbly through the brambles of the Everfree Forest. Her sentiment had echoed Twilight’s own, though she refused to break down crying in front of the rest of her friends. As a friend she knew she could tell them anything, but as a princess breaking down and sobbing openly didn’t seem very becoming. She hated being a princess sometimes, she hated it passionately… but she couldn’t change it. Not any more than she could drag Spike back here…
She wiped furiously at her eyes with one hoof, then came to a stop when she realized she was standing in front of Zecora’s cottage deep in the Everfree Forest. She had come here to get away from Ponyville, someplace the others wouldn’t dare follow, she hadn’t meant to come here… had she? Maybe she simply needed a friend right now… somepony to whom she wasn’t a princess. Somepony to whom she was still just Twilight Sparkle.
Before she could even approach the cottage to knock the door opened, revealing her wise zebra friend standing in the doorway. For a moment Twilight thought the mysterious sage had somehow known she was coming, but Zecora’s eyes widened at the sight of her.
“Is that Twilight Sparkle I see? What brings you back into the Everfree?”
“Hello, Zecora.” Twilight flashed a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry to show up without warning, I was just wandering in the woods and my hooves brought me here.”
Zecora smiled. “Then there must be a reason they have brought you here. Come in and rest a while, my dear.”
“Thank you, Zecora.” With a grateful smile Twilight entered the small, strangely decorated cabin. She’d been here many times since arriving in Ponyville, and somehow the artifacts and decorations within never became any less alien, though they weren’t as unpleasant as they’d seemed at first. Even the smell of herbs and spices that wafted through the air from Zecora’s cabinets was a welcome scent that pulled her in every time.
“I can sense something weighing heavy on your heart.” Zecora told her as she closed the door.
Twilight spoke before she could continue. “I guess, but I barely know where to start.” She paused and flushed deeply when she realized she’d just finished Zecora’s rhyme for her. Zecora just smiled and nodded her head in acceptance. “Spike… Spike’s left Ponyville… and he’s on his way to leave Equestria forever. All because he feels like we’ve been controlling him and using him and… and I can’t say for sure that it’s not true.”
Zecora cooed sympathetically. “I would never question your love for your friend. Perhaps his heart just needs time to mend.”
“Of course I love him, he’s my best friend… and almost like a son to me. I’m just not sure if that justifies the way I’ve been talking to him all these years. Do this for me, get me that, don’t do that…” Twilight heaved a sigh and approached the table in the center of the room, plopping down on her butt beside it. “Do you think we’ve been treating Spike badly, Zecora? Was he right to run away and find a life of his own?”
“Right or wrong, it is the path he has taken.” Zecora moved to sit beside her with a companionable smile. “But I don’t believe you have been forsaken. What you had with Spike was special, it’s true. Whether it was right or wrong, that’s between you two.”
Twilight took a deep, shuddering breath. “You’re saying it worked for us for all these years, so it wasn’t really wrong.”
“Through your actions your friendship has remained strong.”
“But if Celestia stole his egg, then our friendship is phony!”
“Do you really believe that, my little pony?”
Twilight hesitated. She wasn’t even sure if she believed it… but she couldn’t help but think it. She’d always seen Spike as a loyal friend and companion, a comfort to have around whenever things got rough. He’d always been there for her… but what if that all really was just her using him for her own gain? He always seemed happy… but what if that was just because he was trained to be happy doing all that? Would he have been happier in the place where his egg was taken from?
“Aaaaagh! I don’t know, Zecora! I just don’t know!” Twilight threw her hooves against her cranium and slammed her head into the table with a thick clunk. “I don’t know what I believe… I never believed Celestia was capable of something like that in the first place. If Celestia would do that… does that mean everything she taught me about goodness and friendship was meaningless? Was it all lies?”
Twilight could hear Zecora sliding closer to her, laying a hoof over her shoulders in a comforting half-hug against her side. The pleasant smell of herbs and tea hovered over Twilight. “How can you say what she taught is a lie, when you’ve yet to even ask her why?”
“Why…?” Twilight opened her eyes. “She won’t even talk to me about it at all, she wouldn’t tell me why… and besides, what does it even matter why? It’s basically kidnapping, can that ever really be justified?”
“Without knowing the truth, you’ve said that she lied. Is that something you think is justified?” Zecora asked.
Twilight thought about that for a moment, then nodded and straightened slightly under Zecora’s hoof. “You’re right… I can’t call her a liar if I don’t know the truth… but I don’t know if I can find the truth.” Twilight sighed and shook her head. “It doesn’t even matter now… it’s too late. It won’t bring Spike back…”
Zecora squeezed her shoulders comfortingly. “You need to relax, stay here with me. I’ll make you some of your favorite tea.”
“Thank you, Zecora. I would appreciate that very much.” Twilight raised her head with a genuine smile as the zebra moved away from the table over to the countertop nearby. Even if Twilight couldn’t exactly go to her friends with everything anymore, at least Zecora would be here to listen to her most private thoughts, with Spike gone. Being a princess was tough, and in many ways terrible… but at least it didn’t need to be lonely.
___
Spike’s legs carried him through Ponyville and straight into the Everfree Forest seemingly on autopilot. He couldn’t bring himself to turn around. If he did he would surely go back, right back to where he was and where he would remain for the rest of his life. However long that would be. He didn’t even know how long he was supposed to live, he’d thought he was still a baby, which would mean he had a long life ahead… but Pyralsprite was saying that wasn’t true. He wasn’t a baby anymore… not physically anyway.
Spike spoke for the first time since they left the library. “Hey Pyralsprite, can I ask you something?”
“Of course, ask away.”
Spike hesitated, almost unsure if he wanted the answer, but it was something he had to ask, and besides, talking took his mind off of his pony friends. “How long are we going to live? I mean, if I’m not a baby, that means my life is partway through, right?”
Pyralsprite responded with light laughter that did much to lift his spirits. “Oh Spike, your life isn’t even close to finished. You’re still thinking like a mammal. We don’t grow like them, we don’t exist like them. We’re magic down to our very core, so we don’t follow the same rules they do.”
“So what… are we immortal?”
“No… but close enough to give the pony princess a run for her money.” Pyralsprite grinned. “You’ve got more years ahead than you can possibly plan for now. So relax, enjoy life, and let me show you what it means to really be a dragon.”
Spike looked down at his feet again. “I thought I knew what it meant to be a dragon… it meant to be a bully, make fun of others, and hurt innocent creatures just for fun.”
“No, Spike… being a dragon doesn’t mean those things. Being a boy means those things.” Pyralsprite smacked his side with a crack of her tail. Spike yelped and ducked away from her, rubbing his side. Pyralsprite just giggled with a brighter grin. “Well, being a boy means those things for most dragons. Doesn’t seem to be that way for you.”
“I guess that’s one way ponies are different from dragons.”
“One of many ways I’m sure. Honestly? I’m not too fond of ponies… but maybe that’s one thing they have over us.”
“You like nice boys…?”
Pyralsprite chuckled. “Down boy, I barely know you.”
“R-right! Right… I didn’t mean…” Spike fidgeted uncomfortably. “Of course you don’t…”
Pyralsprite just smiled as the dragons continued their march through the forest. The silence was companionable, and strangely enough, the usually dark and scary Everfree Forest didn’t seem so bad today. He couldn’t place his claw on it, but it seemed very calm and quiet. Unfortunately that gave him time for his thoughts to turn back to Twilight and his other Ponyville friends… thoughts he was quick to dismiss with further enquiry.
“So I’m curious about something. You said a dragon’s body, including their size, is based on their mind, right?”
Pyralsprite nodded. “There are limits. You’ll never grow wings or anything, but in general, yeah.”
“And I’m so small and chubby because I still see myself as a baby dragon?”
Pyralsprite hesitated. “Well… not to sound rude…”
“It’s fine… I get it, really.” Spike assured her with a smile, then blushed when he realized she couldn’t see him smiling anyway. “B-but I was actually curious… if I’m so small because I think I’m a baby… why are you so small? You seem strong, confident, mature. You sure don’t seem like you think you’re a baby.”
Pyralsprite shook her head. “I told you I’m no psyche-expert or anything, I don’t know why I’m so small.”
“You can’t change it by changing your outlook?”
Pyralsprite turned her head toward him. “Can you?”
Spike thought about that for a moment. He wanted to become bigger, he didn’t want to be a baby anymore, he tried really hard to think himself bigger, into a towering dragon nobody would dare mess with… but still nothing happened. He was as tiny and pudgy as ever. “I think I see what you mean. It’s not your conscious mind… it’s your unconscious, how you really feel, or a reflection of who you really are. Maybe a dragon’s body is like a cutie mark.”
“Um, sure? I’m not sure what a cutie mark is.”
“A cutie mark is like a reflection of a pony’s soul, or a symbol of their destiny… or both, really.”
“Then yeah, I think that’s pretty spot on.” Pyralsprite nodded. “Your body will change to reflect who you really are, again, within reason. We’re not slimy blobs or anything that just change shape, our bodies have structures and limits.”
“Yeah, I guess…” Spike clasped his claws nervously. “I was kind of afraid you’d say that…”
“Why’s that?”
“I did grow… once… I grew into a monster.” Spike gulped. “I tried to take everything; I destroyed buildings, kidnapped Rarity…” Spike raised his head. “I just got carried away with taking whatever I wanted... does that mean that’s what I’ll grow into if I grow again? Is it my destiny to grow into a rampaging greed-monster?”
He glanced over when he felt a claw touch his arm in a comforting grip. Pyralsprite was walking on three legs now, holding his arm with her claw. “Remember what I said about us changing? If you grow again, it’ll be into whatever you become… and from what I’m hearing? It won’t be a rampaging greed-monster.”
Spike smiled again more reflexively and put a claw over Pyralsprite’s. “Thanks…”
“Don’t mention it.” Pyralsprite released his arm after a few moments to walk more normally. Spike just watched her for a little while. He looked away when he suddenly realized the light around him was getting brighter, until it seemed like they were out of the shadows altogether.
Spike looked forward again, halting in his stride when he saw the vast expanse of plains spread out in front of him. He’d been so occupied with Pyralsprite he hadn’t even noticed how far they’d come. The dark Everfree Forest had suddenly given way to a vast grassy plain that faded into a pale desert in the far distance. Spike had never come this far out before, most certainly not alone. They had walked clear through the Everfree Forest. They still had a long way to go to leave Equestria and reach the dragon country, but still…
“Spike?” Pyralsprite turned toward him curiously. “Are you coming?”
Spike allowed himself only one brief look back towards Ponyville and his friends, then took a deep breath, turned to face forward, and willed his legs onward. “I’m coming.”
TO BE CONTINUED
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this story is just too good
3587174 Same here.
I really like where this story is heading. Though I'm still curious as to where Celestia got Spike's egg from.
3587863 best guess? Stolen.
3587863 3588501 I don't buy stolen as what happened, it doesn't explain at all why Celestia answered Twilight's questions the way she did last chapter.
If it was just a stolen egg, why would she not be free to do what she wished? There's a deeper story here.
3589548 I agree with you there though it is quite a mystery.
3589548 ... a dragon would destroy the entire world in the name of one murdered offspring...
3591055 Me, too. That episode dropped the ball pretty badly.
Ooh, drama. :D
Why is Celestia always so evil in everything? Could she be any more suspicious?
then what happened that she
cant tell him he 
is he some sort of dragon royalty or sumthing?
very interesting, wonder what will happen next.
3555655 A dragon will burn it's entire world for a single one of it's eggs. And that's the FATHER. Nothing can stop it, not even a god. You really think a mother dragon would do that?
i got to know where did his egg come from i don't buy stolen and it being found is just cliche so where did it come from also got to ask is this sparity ( hopefully not ) cause it would be a shame if you introduce pyralsprite and not have her be used for nothing than spike's reason for leaving ponyville
beside they seem like they would be a good couple not to mention there are to many sparity fics out there already but anyway you have my attention and that is not an easy thing to get from me
I'm calling it right now:
Spikes egg was given to celestia, but since that is pretty taboo to do that the dragon made celly swear that she wouldn't tell anyone.
6399751
Egg was traded for Celestia's foal to promote good Dragon pony relations
Liking what I'm reading! Continuing!