• Published 28th Apr 2014
  • 4,886 Views, 149 Comments

Estranged - Abramus5250



Spike awakens a period of hibernation to find his world... changed.

  • ...
18
 149
 4,886

Prologue

Estranged

Prologue

There was a cave jutting out of the side of a mountain, similar to any of the other numerous caverns dotting the landscape. However, unlike the others, within these cold stone walls lay a slumbering beast that would have been an odd sight indeed to see. Most cave-dwelling species, be they bears, wolves or some of the more nocturnal manticores, usually only spend the day or a short time of the year in the cave. This creature, on the other hand, had been sleeping nonstop in this cave for years. During this time, unlike other creatures, it had not awoken once; it had no need for food or water in this state, and while it was for all intents and purposes dead to the outside world, it was far from defenseless. A powerful spell lay over the cave’s entrance, only to be broken once the beast inside awoke from his long sleep. It had been cast by an alicorn of incredible power, a bearer of a series of powers that held sway over the lands of Equestria.

Deep within the dark, dank cave, the slumbering form began to stir. Joints popped like popcorn after having not moved for nearly half a decade, limbs that had rested for years stretched like a cat’s, and from the throat of this mighty beast, there erupted a small bout of green flame. Scales of an iridescent purple covered the creature from head to toe, with long spines running all along its back and talons protruding from both toes and fingers. The great tail that extended from its hindquarters ended with a powerful spade, a useful tool for digging up the gems it favored as a delicacy.

“Mmm, what a nap,” the dragon groaned, and opening its green eyes, it blinked in the darkness. This was no problem for Spike, as a dragon was gifted with a sight to rival that of any creature, and as such could see in the pitch dark as if it were merely a cloudy day. He looked behind him and frowned slightly. “Still no wings; darn.” Well, at least he was a bit bigger than when he had entered the cave; if his memory served him right, he was now likely a head taller than Big Macintosh.

Indeed, Spike the dragon had not known of his species’ reliance on sleep to grow, as dragons were creatures of the Earth in more ways than one. To sleep surrounded by the flesh of the planet was to be asleep once more in the womb of the fiery molten core that gave birth to them. To emerge older and larger was to show the world how Earth rewarded her children, as the very essence of the planet is what made dragons grow quickly in a natural manner. This process could be further accelerated by greed, rage and countless other emotions, but the fact remained that only through sleep surrounded by rock could a dragon truly grow in heart, mind and body.

This was what Spike had learned many years before, after finally meeting a very old dragon on a diplomatic mission with Twilight Sparkle. He had never met a leviathan so at odds with what he thought of when he heard the word “dragon”. This giant was of a gentle nature that exceeded even its enormous size, and the wisdom it carried with every syllable spoke of a life measured not in years, or decades, or even centuries, but millennia. It held no pride in its voice, save for the pride in bestowing information on others; no prejudice clouded his mind when he gladly spoke with Twilight Sparkle. It was a dragon unlike any other, and only after meeting him had Spike began to understand something.

He was a dragon raised by ponies, and thus perhaps one of the most unique creatures on the planet. He had learned to accept this as he had been growing up, but after experiencing the loss of a crush to him simply outgrowing it, Spike began to learn the truth. He didn’t need to be as much like a pony as he could; all he had to do was be himself, and who he was on the inside was all that mattered.

Perhaps that was why he began to see Zecora in a new light after one of her visits. She too was unique; a different creature from the ponies of Equestria. While they no longer reacted to her presence with fear and suspicion, Spike had known Zecora would never be fully accepted by the ponies of Ponyville for a very long time yet. Perhaps it was the fact that she spoke in rhyme or lived outside of town; these qualities were enough for her to be unofficially known as the town hermit.

Spike didn’t it like that as he grew up; he didn’t see a hermit whenever he was around Zecora. He saw an exotic beauty, a lonely soul who was content with what she had, but still yearned for more. Everypony yearned for something in their life, and Zecora, though she never admitted it to him while he was younger, obviously sought companionship. She had friends in the Elements of Harmony, and with their own friends and relatives, but she yearned for a different kind of companion. Alone in her hut, not fully accepted by society, she had been living a life filled with loneliness, a life she had come to accept as her lot in life.

That was why, after his first molt and subsequent growth spurt to a size similar to her own, Spike had asked Zecora out on a date. She had refused him at first, due to her being busy making a potion, but Spike was nothing if not persistent. After asking a few more times over the ensuing weeks, the zebra had finally relented. The date had gone as well as could be expected; rain had ruined the wildflower display Spike had wanted to show her, and Twilight would not stop following them around like some overbearing mother hen. She was still overprotective of Spike at that time; in fact, it was she who had cast the spell on his cave, if only to help protect him.

Still, for a disastrous first date, Spike had found Zecora to be an excellent conversationalist, even if her rhyming would still throw him for a loop every now and then. So, he asked her out again the next week, and the week after that; they shared in many dates, most of them rather good, and a few bad enough that they both laughed at the mere memory of them. Spike really took a liking to the tea she brewed, and Zecora was always looking to make some potion with him, though more often than not anything they made out of dragon scales or such blew up in their faces. They laughed at that too.

Two years of dating, laughing, being the best of friends and for the residents of Ponyville, the cutest and oddest couple in town. Then, on the eve before Spike had scheduled himself for a two year dragon nap, Zecora had invited him to her hut to wish him luck. It had been a chilly January day, so the fact that her hut had been warm made the visit all that more enjoyable. They had talked long into the evening, laughing at all the memories and all of the fun they had had together. He really had enjoyed her company and she his, for he had filled a hole in her life and she had done the same for him.

That was when the alcohol had been brought out. Spike had never had it before, and didn’t know how much of an effect it had on dragons, but, one thing led to another, and... the two of them had ended up making love. It had been sweet and though it had lasted all night, it had been far too short, but in the end it remained so memorable experience that Spike would never forget, even if somepony tried to make him. It had been his first experience, and after they had finished, Zecora had told him it had also been her first. She then sang sweet nothings in his ear, promising to keep their union a secret until they were ready for anypony else to know. That was why, after Twilight sealed him in his cave with a heartfelt goodbye, the dragon had felt a minor pang in his heart for not telling her. But he had given Zecora a Pinkie Promise, and as such, would not tell until they were both ready to tell everypony else.

Which was why, as he emerged from his cave, he was surprised to see something. The spring before he went to sleep, Zecora had planted a small wildflower garden outside of the cave entrance, so that when he emerged two years later, the flowers would be in bloom for him to see. Only... there was no simple garden in his field of view when he emerged and the spell protecting the cave vanished. The garden’s edges had long since elongated, stretching out a good many yards past where the plants must have originally been. It looked as though it had been untended for a while, but not for very long; a few years, perhaps, but then again, wasn't he supposed to have been asleep for only two years?

Only question came to Spike’s mind when he saw this. “Just how long was I asleep?”

Setting off at a brisk pace, he headed for the place he could think of: Ponyville. Twilight would be there, and she would have the answers he’d need. She always had the answers, and it would be good to see her again; to see everypony again.

To see Zecora again.

Author's Note:

After witnessing the chaos and utter hatred that Heritage wrought, I became scared. Scared not because of what I was being told, for starters; there were some PM-ed vaguely threat-like messages from a surely sock-puppet account, but that's neither here nor there. I was scared but because of what the story was doing to me as both a person and a writer.

I never intended it to be received like it was. Originally it was meant to be a stupid humorous short piece, but it just ballooned into something else entirely, and that scared me.

I wrote the second and third chapter with hate in my heart, wanting to make the nay-sayers feel like shit and to turn everyone who loved the story against them, but then I realized that that is NOT how I want to write, nor is it a mission I ever wish to undertake. I want to write for fun, for laughs and feelings that can be shared without hate, for giving this fandom and site something good and pure and wholesomely written from the heart. I want to write because it makes me feel alive, but I can't stand the thought of writing just to be vindictive and bitter. It makes me sick, actually physically sick, to write like that and to think like that.

That was why I knew the whole thought process of how Heritage was born was a mistake, just like the countless other stories I've come up with have been.

That is why Heritage was deleted, just like those other, unpublished stories, and why I have started writing this story in its place.

I can only hope the fandom can forgive me for what I did and for the hatred, despair and pain I caused. I truly am sorry.