It is not only what we accomplish that defines our success in life. It is also the people we love. So, like your success, guard the ones you love jealously. Keep them close, and remove all threats to them, whether by force or cunning.
~Bunsen
It was six in the morning when Spike woke up; it had been another sleepless night. He was far too afraid to close his eyes and let sleep take him. It would be another day or two before the exhaustion finally caught up to him and he would be forced to fall asleep, and to embrace his nightmares.
His eyes stung as he stared at the ceiling of the Carousel Boutique. He had been living with Rarity for almost seven years now. They had been the best years of his life, even if he didn’t sleep well for most of them.
The only remedy was to roll over to his side and stare at his lovely sleeping wife. Rarity had managed to cuddle up snug to him, her hooves wrapped around his chest. The soft vibration of her purrs would help lure the dragon into a snooze, where he could rest his eyes peacefully without fear of seeing him in his dreams.
But today was not a day he could afford to sleep. For him, it was that time of the month.
He would have to be careful to not wake Rarity. She deserved her beauty sleep, not that she needed it. She would always be beautiful to him, but he still didn’t want to wake her. Slowly, Spike lifted up one of her soft hooves from around his chest, freed himself from his lover’s clutches. Then he carefully slid off of Rarity’s princess size bed, easier than you think, as the mattress was so soft, it hardly caused any vibration when one of the two rolled in their sleep. It would mostly be Spike, considering his sleeplessness.
When the dragon was finally out of his bed, he gently gave his love a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll be back soon,” he whispered, knowing full well that Rarity was still fast asleep.
Spike carefully crept to the front of the bedroom door, opening it before slipping silently by it. He made sure to close the door gently behind him as he made his way down the hall.
“Daddy?”
Spike froze in his tracks as he slowly turned around. There stood one of his angels. Citrine, his second oldest stood outside her room.
Citrine, like all of Spike and Rarity’s children, was considered what Forge had aptly named a ‘Kirin’ or a sort of pony-dragon hybrid. She had dragon-like purple eyes and a pair of fangs, but besides that, this daughter took after her mother, having brilliant diamond like fur. Citrine’s coat was so brilliantly bleached; one could swear that she was see-through at times. She was of pony build rather than a dragon’s, four hooves and all, but at the tip of each of her hooves were three nubby little claws that she rather enjoyed painting a variety of colours. Her hair was also like Rarity’s, a deep purple mane and tail that fell down in long curls.
“Hey there princess,” smiled Spike, as he went to hug his daughter. “What are you doing up so early?”
“Are you going to see your friend again?” she asked, shooting her large purple eyes at her father.
“Yeah, but don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it.”
“I don’t want you to go, daddy…” the white Kirin whimpered, as she hugged her father harder.
“Hey, I’m not going forever, just an hour,” said the dragon, reassuring his daughter. “Now go back to bed and I’ll be back for breakfast. You have to help mommy cook daddy’s eggs just the way he likes them.”
Citrine giggled a little as she nodded. “Extra ketchup, right?”
“You know it, Citrine.”
“Okay!” she said before quietly turning invisible, the door of her room slowly closing by itself.
“Try not to wake your brothers and sisters,” warned Spike as the little filly closed the door, the dragon relieved that only one of his kids had woken up at this ungodly hour. When Rarity gave birth to their six kids, each one was oddly gifted. The doctors only assumed that it had something to do with the mother being a unicorn. How else could Citrine, a hornless pony hybrid be able to turn completely invisible? Spike slowly walked down the stairs of the shop, being sure not to wake anyone else up.
“There’s never anything to eat in this house…” grumbled a voice downstairs.
“That’s because you eat all of it, lard head!” another voice responded.
Spike rolled his eyes, “Oh great…”he said as he walked down the stairs, quietly jumping the last few steps before peeking through the kitchen door. There he saw a scaly dark body raiding the fridge.
“Hey, there’s cake in here!”
“You idiot, we can’t have that!”
The black scaled whelp pulled his head out of the fridge. “If we only take a little, no one will notice, Onyx.”
“How stupid are you, Obsidian?” mumbled Onyx, as he too pulled his head out, his neck attached to the same body.
Onyx and Obsidian were the twins of the family. They were the middle...child? Children? Spike and Rarity could never figure it out. Out of all of their kids, Onyx and Obsidian were the most dragonish, almost fully Fire like their father, with the exception of their round pony eyes, Onyx’s a dark red, and Obsidian’s a bright blue. Their structure was bigger than a normal whelp’s, as they had two stomachs to feed, and were twice the size the size of their brothers and sisters. They had black scales, claws and feet like a normal dragon, and two necks that split at the shoulders. Forge had said that since dragons usually birth in litters of eggs, that two headed dragons were the equivalent of twins, and that they could tend to be quite a handful, always fighting the other head or control of the body, which they had to share in moving.
“One bite won’t hurt anyone,” grinned Obsidian, staring at his brother head.
“I guess…” muttered Onyx, as he reached with their arm into the freezer.
“You know…” said Spike, as he opened up the door, “if your mother and sister knew about this, I think that they would be pretty upset.”
“Oh crap…” muttered the dual headed drake in unison. “Hey dad.”
“Don’t ‘hey dad’ me. What are you too doing up so early? And in the fridge too.”
“We were—“ Onyx tried to say.
“Just Hungry—“ stuttered Obsidian.
“IT WAS HIS IDEA!” they both shouted, pointing at the other’s head. “WHAT?”
“It was your idea, butt head!” growled Onyx, butting his head into his brother’s.
“No, it was yours, barf breath!” scowled Obsidian, butting back again his other head.
“Will you both be quiet!” shushed Spike, shutting the twins up. “Now, you to are going to march up to your room and go to sleep for the next hour, and when I get back, we’ll get you some breakfast with everyone else. But until then,” he leaned in close to the boys. “Don’t. Touch. The. Cake.”
Both heads of the twin drake nodded as they quickly scurried past their father and rumbled upstairs.
Spike sighed, as he left the kitchen and headed out the door.
It was the middle of spring, but the air was still nippy outside, not that it bothered him too much. Ponyville was still asleep, shops and things would not open up for another couple of hours. He knew that the florist’s would be closed today, so he had to quickly steal a rose from one of the rose bushes outside of Rarity’s shop. He prayed that she wouldn’t find out.
Into town the dragon went, deserted as he expected, the sun was barely even up. How Celestia got up at this ungodly hour each day was beyond his understanding.
The walk to the edge of the Everfree was uneventful, but it usually was at such an early time. And on a weekend no less, when most sane ponies were sleeping in, but you can only sleep in if you can fall asleep on a regular basis.
Spike took his first step into the forest. It was not his first time he made this trip, and it would not be the last either as he walked the weathered path to his destination.
Again, an uneventful walk, but it was better this way. Only a few knew what he did in the woods of the Everfree, and even fewer understood why.
“Hey there…” he finally said as he reached his destination. It was an old tree, probably a couple thousand years old. Its trunk pierced through the skies, like most of the older trees did, and the bark was old and bitter.
But the tree was only a landmark that the dragon used to find this place every months, as at the base of the tree lied the true purpose of his little trips here, and what he had told his children as ‘visiting an old friend.’
The dragon placed the rose on the grave of Dark Conquest.
“Got you a rose this time…” sighed Spike as he stared at the rock that he had scratched his unholy name into. “I never knew your favourite flower, so I guess a rose this time. To be honest I sort of was rushed this morning…”
The gave stood still, as it had been since the day he had placed it there years ago.
“How long has it been?” asked the dragon. “Six years? Six years since I haven’t heard your infernal laughter? Six years since I have had to see that damn smile? Six years since you’ve been dead?” He grinned a little. “Almost don’t believe it myself, but there has been no sign of you, no egotistical warning or gloating, no strange deaths. It’s like you really are gone.”
The cold grave stood still.
“Then why do you still torture me?” said the drake. “How come I built you a grave, even though you don’t deserve it, or visit you, even though you’re not my friend?”
The tomb did not answer.
“Am I still afraid of you?” he asked. “Do I do this every month to show that there is someone who cared for you because that was the only way to stop you? Have you corrupted my mind, so that I am paranoid of your return?” Spike took a deep breath. “It’s funny, you’re probably laughing your ass off right about now. You find this hilarious that I put a flower on your grave…”
He looked at the motionless grave.
“All the bad that you did in this world… I don’t blame you anymore. I’ve learned to rise above what others think, and this is what I think…”
He took a knee down, staring at the tomb.
“I don’t think I do this out of pity, or hate,” Spike said. “I do this because I am a protector. I have a wife and kids now, and if I have to spend the rest of my life coming back here then so be it.” He got up. “I am sorry for what happened to you Conquest, and may your next life have peace in it. Now, I have to cut are talk a little short this month, but I’m sure you’ll forgive me. I did it for you after all.”
He looked at the tree again, such a wonderful thing that survived all this time. Through disasters and flames, it still stood there. He looked at the grave again, the large rock that had Conquest’s name on it was next to a much smaller one, one that had been weathered with time.
RIP MR SQUIRREL.
“Just remember that I buried you next to your friend, and that I hope you found him up there, or down there… I don’t know,” he started to turn around. “I’ll see you next month.”
Spike left the graves, the newly planted rose laid on top of last month’s flower, which had started to decay by then.
He easily navigated through the forest, and headed back into town. It was still fairly quiet, and there was no pony in sight.
“Happy thoughts Spike,” yawned Spike as he approached the Boutique. “Happy thoughts…”
He reached for the door but he was soon tackled by a red blur of red.
“Yay! Daddy’s home!” said the bouncing, happy, red Kirin on top of Spike’s chest.
“Morning Ruby,” groaned the dragon. Ruby was his youngest daughter, and by far the most energetic. Like her name suggested, this child had a bright red coat, but she also had some dragon scales aligned with her facial features, mostly along the nose and around her eyes. Her tail was a dragon tail, long and lizard-like, covered with her red coat, and her mane was a messy untamed mess of dark crimson hair, sticking out at all ends and frayed, almost resembling a wildfire.
“Hey dad, you want to play fireball?” Ruby asked as she burst into flames.
Ruby couldn’t breathe fire like Onyx or Obsidian could. Instead, she could become fire, running and bouncing along as she torched everything that she touched, which earned her the nickname of “The Trotting Apocalypse’.
“Maybe later, my little walking fire hazard,” smiled Spike as he picked his flaming child up. “So cool it down until after breakfast, then we’ll play.”
“Promise?” asked the red Kirin, returning to her normal self.
“Promise. Hey, is everyone else up?”
“Yeppers!” giggled Ruby as she wiggled out of Spike’s claws and ran into the house. “Mommy, dad’s home!” she yelled, disappearing into the store.
Spike walked into the house, and heading into the kitchen, “Hey everyone, I’m back.”
“Hi Dad!” waved his son Topaz, sitting at the table. Out of all of Spike and Rarity’s kids, Topaz was almost completely unicorn, with the exception of his orange dragon eyes that were covered by his thick glasses and his fangs, which all of their kids possessed. Aside from that, Topaz looked like your run of the mill unicorn: yellow coat and short blonde mane and tail.
“Morning Topaz, what do you got there?”
“Oh this?” asked the yellow unicorn, gesturing to the book in his hooves. “A new book I got yesterday from auntie Twilight! An advance copy of the Princesses spell handbook, with all the best spells ever used by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!”
“Sounds like we have a mage in the family,” laughed Spike, ruffling up his son’s mane as he took a seat down next to him. “Just remember to take your nose out of the book every now and again, okay?”
“Okay dad,” said Topaz, diving right back into the book.
“Good talk…” said Spike, getting up from the table. “Is everyone up yet?”
“I think that Jade is still asleep,” mumbled the yellow unicorn, not really paying attention. “She’s always asleep.”
“Only one in this family apparently,” muttered the drake as he headed back up stairs. As he walked up, he saw the aged Opal sliding walking down the steps, meowing at Spike.
“Morning to you too, flea bag.”
“KITTY!!” screamed Ruby from the top of the stairs. The energetic Kirin started galloping towards the terrified cat, who ran away as fast as its little legs would take it. The red filly was too fast, she captured the moody feline before it could make the cat door. “I love you, mister kitty!”
Opal looked desperately at the dragon, meowing as the air was being squeezed out of her by the iron grip of the red filly.
“You two have fun,” snickered Spike as he ascended the stairs. Jade’s room was the first door to the right, easy to find considering the poison coloured skull poster that she had stuck to it. “Jade, you awake in there?” he asked, knocking the door.
No answer.
“I’m coming in,” he said, slowly opening up the door to his daughter’s room.
He almost vomited from the stench that dwindled of Jade’s room. There were dirty clothes everywhere, along with stacks of dirty dishes and moldy apple cores. In the far side of the room was a small little bed, a mess of dirty blankets and pillows were piled up against the wall as a sleeping green filly laid on top.
Jade, the middle child was an odd one. She had a dark green coat and a jet black mane and tail. She was mostly pony, she even had a unicorn’s horn, but she also had a pair of scaly green dragon wings that had developed at an early age. Dotted among her coat were small stray scales, they were mostly hidden under her fur, but when the sun hit her just right, she would sparkle like a prized gem, and looked absolutely beautiful.
“Come on Jade, it’s time to get up,” said Spike as he walked to the window of the bedroom, stepping over one of his daughters ‘Pontallica’ shirts.
“Five more minutes…” the sleepy filly droned, curling up deeper into the large ball of blankets and pillows, almost like how dragons curled up on piles of treasure, but more smelly.
“No Jade, now,” said her father, picking up the green Kirin off the bed. “I swear, you sleep almost as much as I use to.”
“And did Aunt Twilight wake you up as well?” she grumbled as she rolled up in Spike’s arm, trying to fall asleep.
“All the time,” chuckled the purple drake, placing Jade on the floor. “She’d wake me up earlier than this and send me to work.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, suddenly daddy’s not so bad,” smirked Spike, “C’mon, let’s go down and eat.”
“Just a second…” the green filly said as she started looking around the floor of dirty clothes. “I need to find a shirt.”
“On the floor?” asked Spike, “Honey, that’s why we have dressers and closets.”
“But all my toys are in my dresser…” muttered Jade.
Spike rolled his eyes as he walked to the closet. “Well there has to be something in here that you can wear.”
“DON’T OPEN THAT!” shouted the Kirin, as she quickly dashed in front of the closet, holding it closed behind her. “It’s um… messy in there!”
The dragon raised an eyebrow. “Really, messier than the rest of the room?”
“Yes.”
“Jade, what are you hiding?”
The little filly sighed in defeat. “Please don’t tell mom, she’d have a cow if she saw him.”
“Him?” asked Spike, as he gently brushed his daughter aside, and opened the closet.
HISSSSSSSSSSS!!!
“What the hell?!” gasped Spike as a dark brown bat flew out of the closet, swooping over his head, as it started to circle around the room.
“So…” pondered Jade, shooting her best innocent smile, “Can I keep him?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Aww!” whined the Kirin. “Why not?”
“Well, like you said, your mother would have a heart attack if she saw this.”
“Mom hates everything cool,” grumbled the annoyed child. “But what if I promise to take REALLY good care of him?”
“The answer is still no, young lady.”
“But we have a stupid cat!” argued Jade. “Why can’t I have a bat?”
“First of all, that’s your mother’s stupid cat,” droned Spike, “and as much as you and I hate it, you mother and sisters love it. So we keep it until Ruby inevitably strangles it.”
Jade couldn’t help but laugh at her father’s joke.
“Second,” smiled the drake, as he looked to the window. “If… what have you called it, again?”
Jade gave an evil smile. “Killer, Lust for Blood!” she cackled evilly.
“Okay… Well if… ‘Killer’ were to live in that tree next to your room, it would officially not be a pet of this household,” he walked to the window and opened it. “But unofficially, it’d be like having a pet.”
“Really?!” gaped the happy pony, running up to hug her dad. “You’re the best!”
“Just don’t let your mother find out, or he’s gone,” sighed Spike. He was such a pushover.
“I won’t, promise!” smiled Jade, as she quickly picked up her ‘Pontallica’ shirt from off the ground and quickly threw it over her head.
“I’d suppose we should head downstairs?”
“Yeah! I’m starving!” said the green Kirin. “Race you daddy!” she said, opening up both wings and fluttering out of the room.
Spike slowly followed her walking down the stairs. Topaz was now reading a different book on the couch, from the looks of it. The title was ‘Magic 101, A Beginner’s Guide for Simple Unicorn Spells’. “Kid really likes his books. Wonder who he reminds me of?” he asked himself jokingly, heading into the kitchen. When he walked in, he saw two white mares standing by the stove, cooking what looked like eggs.
“There you are,” smiled Rarity as she quickly gave her husband a kiss on his cheeks. “I missed you this morning.”
“Daddy went to see his friend again!” said Citrine, who was standing on a stool next to her mother. His little daughter was focusing on the frying pan, her tongue sticking out as she scrambled the eggs with her hooves, the claws sticking out from thing allowed her to get a good grip on the wooden spoon she was using to do the scrambling.
“I know dear,” sighed the unicorn, as she levitated a plate next to the pan, and dumped the eggs on it. “I just never know why.”
“You know why,” said the drake.
“Yes, but I don’t know why you keep visiting him.”
“Can we meet your friend someday?” asked Citrine as she hopped off her stool and trotted to the fridge.
“Maybe when you’re older,” said Spike, knowing full well that he would never expose his kids to the evil that was Conquest, even if it was just his tomb. He would hopefully be able to take that story to his grave.
“That’s grown up talk for never…” sighed the white filly disappointingly as she grabbed the bottle of ketchup from the fridge. “Ketchup?”
“You know it princess,” smiled Spike, his daughter happily drowning his breakfast with half the bottle of ketchup. “That’s good enough, thank you Citrine.”
“You’re welcome daddy!” pepped the Kirin happily. “I’m going to go play!” she said, rushing out of the kitchen.
Rarity waved as the white filly left the room, before sitting down next to Spike. “Ugh, finally,” she sighed. “They’ve been up all morning. I just got all of the little monsters fed.”
“What about Jade?”
“She grabbed some toast and went flying out the window,” muttered Rarity. “I love her, but she’s an odd one.”
“Just because Jade is a little different doesn’t make her any less special.”
“I just wish she wouldn’t insist on always wearing those horrid shirts,” said the unicorn, taking a sip of some tea that she levitated towards her. “Hmm…” she thought, before taking a deep breath, and whistling out a small blue trail of fire at the bottom of the cup. “There we go,” she smiled as she took another sip from the now steaming tea. “It covers up her scales. She’s so pretty when she’s not hiding under those rags.”
“I think that’s the point,” said Spike. “She doesn’t like being sparkly.”
“There is nothing wrong with being beautiful,” said the white mare.
“But there is nothing wrong with having your own fashion, honey,” smiled Spike, taking his first bite from the eggs. “These are good,” he said as he chewed. “I think somepony has a gift in cooking.”
“Or at least eggs with an obscene amount of ketchup,” grinned Rarity.
“Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if she turned up one day with an egg or something as a cutie mark,” said the dragon, scraping up the last of the eggs into his mouth. “Seriously, these eggs are fantastic.”
“Maybe one day,” said Rarity. “I just feel bad for Onyx and Obsidian. Their siblings will all get cutie marks, but not them.”
“I think that they’ll be too busy fighting one another to notice,” laughed the dragon, getting up from the table and placing it in the sink. “And I was never upset that I never got my butt tattoo.”
“I think that you would look very cute with one,” chimed Rarity.
Spike rolled his eyes. “Yes, cause cute would be what I’d be going for.”
“Cutie marks are to reflect you special talent,” smiled the white mare, also getting up and placed her cup in the sink. “But just because you don’t have one, doesn’t make you any less special.”
“I know, and I know that Onyx and Obsidian will find their own thing that makes them special,” she said. “And find somepony special.”
“Oh really?” asked Spike, “Are you hiding something from me?”
Rarity blushed… “Well...don’t tell anypony that I know this, but I think our little dragons have a crush.”
“Aren’t we a gossip? Spill.”
“You’re not going to believe this,” she whispered, leaning into the dragon’s ear. “But with Applejack!”
“What?” laughed Spike, doing a double take. “How do you know?”
“I found a picture of her stuffed under their pillow, along with a bunch of others with all of us but there are hearts drawn around her, isn’t it adorable?”
“Like father like son,” grinned the dragon. “Always going for the sexy mares, just like his dad.”
Ring, ring! Ring, ring!
“I’LL GET IT!!!!” screamed Ruby from the other room, the sounds of running hoof steps could be heard as she approached the door.
“Expecting company?” asked Rarity.
“No…” wondered Spike as he got up and headed to the living room, his wife following closely behind. When they got there, they saw two Inferna dragons standing outside. One was quite large, definitely larger than Spike by at least two feet, but was still short enough to be considered ‘Greedless’ as Spike learned that was the used term for a dragon that passed The Greed. He had wide broad shoulders and large bulging muscles everywhere. His scales were a darker red, with bright yellow spines and blue eyes. He looked gruff and serious, and very intimidating.
Other one was a defiantly female, and she was about half the size of the other dragon, probably half a nose shorter than Spike. She had a slim slender build, narrow shoulder with only a slight curve outward at her chest. The dragoness was dark green, with bright red spines that were styled to look like a pixie haircut. She smiled at Spike and Rarity, looking at them with her own blue eyes.
“Hello there…” said Spike, looking at the strange dragons. “Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, Ponyville’s number for all things fabulous. Can we help you with anything today?”
The large red drake leaned into the ear of the smaller green one. “Are you sure this is the right place?” his voice was low and gravely.
“I’m positive,” whispered the dragoness. “Trust me, I’m just as confused as to why he’s living in a giant cake.”
“Umm,” wondered Spike, scratching his head. “I’m sorry, have we met before?”
“No,” shook the green dragon. “Let’s get that out of the way. I’m Mythril, and this is my brother Argo.”
“Sup.”
“Hey,” said the purple drake. “So is there anything me or Rarity can help you with?”
“Yeah,” said Argo. “We need to talk you. Alone.”
Spike turned his head to Rarity, who nodded. “Ruby dear, let’s go upstairs. Your father needs to be alone for a minute.”
“Okay!” smiled the bouncing red filly, hopping up the stairs. “We’ll play fireball later, okay?”
“Sure thing sweetie,” smiled Spike as he watched his daughter and wife disappear up the stair before turning around to face the dragons. “Okay, we’re alone… What do you two want?”
“Just to chat for a bit Spike,” smiled Mythril. “Nice kid, how many do you have?”
“Five, six if you do a head count rather than a body count,” answered the purple drake.
“Twins eh?” said Mythril. “Watch out for them, they could be trouble. Anyways, we didn’t come here to talk about your family, Spike.”
The dragon in question blinked. “How do you know my name?”
“Not important,” said Argo.
“I think it is,” growled Spike.
“Pity.”
“Easy Argo,” said the green dragon in a calming voice. “We’re here peacefully, let’s all just take a second to be calm.”
“I am calm.”
“Yeah,” said Spike, glaring at Argo. “Me too.”
“Fantastic,” said Mythril, “This is good.”
“Look, unless you are going to actually tell me what you came here to tell me, I’m going to ask you to leave,” said Spike.
“Fair enough,” nodded Argo. “We need you to come with us.”
“Why?”
“It’s important.”
“So important that you can’t tell me?” asked Spike.
“No, but we are not obligated to tell you.”
“Then I’m not going,” said Spike.
“Look, Spike we aren’t even going to leave town. We just moved in and we have someone who wants to see you,” Mythril tried to explain.
“Then why didn’t he come himself?”
“He’s…” mumbled the dragoness. “Sort of stuck… Kind of why we need your help.”
“Is that all?” asked the purple drake.
“Yes.”
Spike tool a deep sigh, “Fine, I’ll come, but if this turns out to be a trick, you’re both going to regret it.”
“Trust me,” smiled Mythril, “we wouldn’t dream of it.”
*****
“So this is it?” asked Spike as they approached a rather large cottage in the middle of town. By now, Ponyville had sprung to life, and everypony was out enjoying the day, there was even a handful of new dragon citizens, flying around, shopping, selling. It had been a very smooth transition into the Equestrian lifestyle, even if a few ponies were a little freaked out.
“This is our home,” said Argo as he opened the door and the three of them walked inside.
It was rather dark and gloomy on the inside, not very well kept with plenty of broken and gnawed furniture, and there was a thick layer of dust everywhere.
“Rarity would freak out if she saw this,” muttered Spike.
“What? We just moved in…” smiled Mythril, “We still need to decorate. Now follow me, he’s in the kitchen.”
They walked into the kitchen area. It, like the rest of the house, was in terrible condition, not that anyone seemed to care. But sitting in the middle of the kitchen was a huge blue dragon with purple spines.
“Hello Spike,” the massive dragon as Spike and the others walked in. He was big, most definitely a couple hundred years old. His large head almost touched the ceiling, even though he was scrunched up in a crouching position. How he got in here, Spike hadn’t a clue. “I’m so glad that we can finally meet.”
“Nice to meet you too…”
“Backlash,” said the blue dragon. “My name is Backlash.”
“Nice to meet you Backlash,” said Spike. “Mythril and Argo weren’t kidding when they said that you were stuck.”
“Is that what my kids said to get you here?” chuckled Backlash. “I would have hoped that their mothers had raised them better than to lie.”
“Oh, so you’re not stuck?”
“Not at all!” laughed the blue dragon, his body suddenly starting to shrink, until he was no taller than Argo.
“How did you--?” gasped the baffled Spike, not believing what he had just witnessed.
“A trick you’ll learn when your body grows again,” said Backlash, dusting himself off. “I keep forgetting that your knowledge on our culture is limited, what with being raised by ponies and all.”
“How do you know that? Who are you?!” demanded Spike.
“You look so much like her, Spike,” said the blue drake. “You have her scales and her eyes…”
“What do you know about my mother?”
“I know that she was caring, protective, a bit rash at times and perhaps even hostile towards others, but those are good traits to have in a mother,” he sighed. “I was shocked to find out that she was killed, but surprised to find out one of her eggs had survived, and been moved to Equestria.”
“You knew that?”
“Of course I did, and you must know that I spent years looking for you, trying to find you Spike, and now I finally have.”
“Why?” asked Spike, his heart racing.
“Why?” smiled Backlash, as he placed a claw on Spike’s shoulder. “I just did what any loving father would do to find his son.”
“Father?”
THE END
Love me, hate me, send me terrible death threats or letters and pictures of praise. That is your ending... don't like it? Make like a dog and deal with it.
Because you've just been FlimFlam'd!
Get it... It's my new thing... Ah, F*ck you, I like it.
So anyhooves, There you go, Bunsen was in tears (as was I) when editing this, and my heart aches while I'm clicking the Completed tab on story edtis, this is the very first story I have ever finished, also the longest as well. And of course, in no particular order, I shall thank those who have been a huge help to me these past 8 months:
ICCUWAUNSIMTOI (or as I like to call him "Issac") for Helping me with edits on 'The Performance' chapter, as well as helping me come up with the names of Spike's kids. You are annoying and hyper critical, and I would have you no other way
A thanks to Blm95tehe (Or as I call him, Blem, or Blemmy) for being the first person I could talk to this with, and take in total trust not to spoil it for you all, so that I could run ideas and get feedback, you're a bro Blem
To Chain Reaction (Or as I call him Chain) For being awesome, and being another ear to listen and tolerate my boring jabber, I know it's hard to listen to a guy for hours on end and have him never shut up, but you pulled through, so thank you.
S. Bunsen ( Or as I call her Bunsen, or B) for literally editing EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER! That's right, all 27 of them, and they ain't short either. I was incredibly lucky to have here offer her services, and she has agreed to keep on going on with me for awhile, so your work will be 100% Bunsen cooler! Thank you again B, this story wouldn't be nearly as popular if it wasen't for your hard work.
spikethed (just spikethed), you all sometimes seem to forget that the orginal idea for this was his, and not mine, granted by this point I have put in the effort and hours to call this story mine and mine alone, but there is no 'For the Ones we love' without him... That's actually a funny story.
He had originally posted this to his profile, you can see the first bit there if you want. But anyways, I read and followed it though it was a trip that was cut rather short, as he was incapable to continue. He did however, say that if anyone was interested, he would tell them the idea for the rest of the story. Now, I've never been one to be left hanging, so I decided to ask, and he told me. I had no idea this was going to happen, not in a million years. But I read the rough drafts, found things I liked like the diamond dog fight and the party scene, things I didn't quite care for, such as heavy inclusion of the CMC's, and things I liked, but decided to tinker with, such as How Forge was orginally a pony. After chapter 6, I started to take control of things, I made it darker, because that is just how I write (Apparently, remember I was still figuring out my writers muse) and I shall apologize to you spikethed as a formaility, but I do regret nothing. So, I tinkered things, I made Characters you have grown fond of, such as Curator, Duster (even though he was evil) and the fantastically awesome dragon quintet of Bitterbite, Glimmer, Dust Devil and Lurch. And I made characters you hated, Curb Hoof, Slitilda, and of course... Dark Conquest, evil in its most dirtiest of forms. I made you laugh, cry, and tricked you into thinking that I had talent, truth be told, I'm just some canadain that did an act of random kindness to a person he didn't even know. And look what came out of it...
So if I leave you with anything in your mind (Besides how awesome and sexy I am ) I want you to remember: A little act of kindness, can go a very, very, very, VERY, long ways.
It's just a bonus that You will probably read this right after watching the season three premire of MLP. Best day ever right? WEll until next time, this is FlimFlamBros. signing off.
Aaaaaaand so it concludes! This has been one of the most wonderful reads of my life, bro. You have earned a top spot in my favourite fics for all of eternity. You have crafted a masterpiece and it will always remain as such, and don't ever forget it! This epilogue, along with the entire story throughout, was phenomenal. From me to you, my dear friend...
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Sequel. Now.
1592055 Spike is a good father to his kids
Thanks for the moments with this story.
Are you planning to write a sequel or a one shot
for this story ?
Applause slowly rising to standing ovation, then increasingly vocal calls for a Sequel.
God damn it...
Your lucky your a lovable troll or else I would of killed you for that ending
-Kiryu
so... its finally done... i am actually crying right now because i didn't want to see this end so soon... but this if my favorite fic of all time and always will be for the rest of eternity... i love you man... thank you. thank you so much... i will miss seeing this fic update but all good things have to come to an end eventually. just thank you...
WILL THERE BE A SEQUEL?!?!?! THAT ENDING DEFINITELY CALLS FOR ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I FEEL ALL WARM AND FUZZY INSIDE!!!
This was by far THE BEST ending for an awesome story such as this. Though why end it with a cliffhanger? I doubt there's a sequel coming up.
Swagness
1592055 please tell me you're making a follow up on that, cuz that was a major cliffhanger
It is finally over. Great story film flam. Keep up the work
...nice.
Hah! I read it BEFORE the season premiere!
Anyway getting down to business:
I'm really sad to see this story end. Even though I favorited it quite a long time ago, I never actually had the time to sit down and read through this cute cuddly puppy or a story, so I shoved it away into an attic. When I reopened that attic, out leaped one gigantic badass mastiff, strutting around like a boss, and that was when I knew I had to start reading it, and boy was it a wonderful reading! Now, I must give some praise to people (ponies) whom REALLY REALLY REALLY deserve it!
Praise to:
spikethed: Seriously, this is an amazing idea to have come up with, to create a believable time-skip event, and to think up the outline of this story, it's simply fantastic to imagine what ideas would have appeared had you had enough time to complete this story. You deserve a hug for being a person with an awesome idea!
S. Bunsen: (I'm judging this based on FlimFlamBros. other stories, which were not edited by you, if I'm not mistaken) I have to admit, you have such a wonderful vocabulary, and you certainly aren't afraid to use it. It's been a while since I've read such a compelling piece of fiction, within the fandom or outside. Your grammar is gorgeous, your spelling is spot-on and the way in which the story flowed was spectacular! Kudos to you!
ICCUWAUNSIMTOI: Thank you for helping FlimFlamBros. during his (her?) journey. Great name choices too! Also loved reading some of your comments, they were like subtle hints and pokes at the author!
Blm95tehe: Thanks for not spoiling it for us! Woe betide the person that told the readers that Spike would end up XXXXXXX and Rarity would become a OOOOOO.
Chain Reaction: Good job in tolerating author rants. It's tough listening to people jabber on and on, and in the end, change nothing, because there wasn't anything wrong in the first place.
FlimFlamBros.: Hello Mr (Mrs?) Author. It has come to my attention that this story has been completed, and on a very very abrupt cliffhanger if I may add. I would like to offer some words of praise. Firstly, It was and is a joy to have found and read this story, without it, I admit that I would have had more free time, but would have been worse off. Secondly, upon the story itself. It is rare (to me) to see a story in which an environment is introduced and only shown for a brief period of time, yet it stays at the fore of the memory, and it is only through a beautifully-crafted description of the place that a reader can remember it so well. At some points, I admit that the story was slowed, but in all works of writing, there has to be sped up parts and slowed down parts, though in my opinion, some parts could have been a little faster. Thirdly, upon the characters within the story. Your characterization of Spike is nigh perfect. In all seriousness, I can actually imagine this happening, (although without Dark Conquest) and him and Rarity settling down, though the species compatibility was quite jarring. Conquest (Dark Conquest) is a character whom will make an impression on me for a very long time. Here is a character whom was not concerned with who you were, or what you did, but on how much fun you would bring to him, and how he could use you to further his own desires and move a step closer to his evil goals. It was a great decision to make Curator also perish, because the sweetness of the victory was balanced by the bitterness of losing Curator so quickly after he was brought back, and his ending moments was a fitting end to such a monster; destroyed by his own victims, each finding some measure of peace (probably).
Combined Praise: I wish that there was a way in which I could bust through my computer screen and say this to each of your faces, but I have to settle with this. Thank You. Me, and most of the readers, if not all of them, thank you all for creating this wonderful fiction. May it be a standard for Romance/Adventure fictions, so that other authors can strive towards greatness!
Pleas: Sometime in the future, will it be possible to continue on "A Very Special Somepony"? I really liked that story, regardless of any mistakes. Also, hope "Beauty and her Spike" will be as great a story as this one was!
tl;dr Thanks to author, editors, collaborators, and all involved. Sequel and other stories continuation please!
SEQUEL NAOW
Great end, now for a SEQUAL!
THIS STORY THAT ENDING ....i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/050/504/came.jpg
Spike is just saving the day all over the place today. I'll miss waiting for this.
And there goes another nice story...
Friggin awesome ending, not to mention fluffy!
to one of the best fics I've seen!!
To say it has been a journey is to put it lightly. But, eventually, all journeys must come to an end. And this one has been quite the fun one. This fic has been one of my favorites, and it has been fun to help it along. But, now, it has come to an end. And that is a very saddening thing. But, fear not, for more is along the way.
To you my friend, this has been an awesome experience. Though we have our differences, this has been quite entertaining and frightening.
But let us worry not, as we now have this to read and more pony to watch.
So let us find out how great things will be.
1592598
No, thank you, dear reader, for being there to read this.
Please tell me there'll be a sequel in the future!
Approval. Very well done a mighty round of applause for Spike, Rarity, their kids, and Spike's dad. Really enjoyed this story from start to finish. I may have said this before but you have a very good way with excellent chapter cliffhangers. The end of this story was just great I imagine you could work on a sequel but that's up to you. After all I think you said somewhere that once you finish this story off that you'd be working on Beauty and her Spike. So i wish you luck with that and it looks to have a very good start to say the least. I can't wait to see where that goes. Keep up the good work and I'll keep reading as long as you keep writing. When I'm not doing the writing my self.
Great epilogue
DAM CLIFFHANGERS.
But great story nonetheless.
Dat ending......
Where the fuck are those ninjas cutting onion!
It's bittersweet with this story coming to an end. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Octavia2.png
ITS OVER AND THE TWIST! OH GOD THE ENDING! TAKE ALL MY HUGS!
Magnificent.
Please do a story about all the kids, but with the main protagonist being Jade. She seems to be the character with the most potential to have a great story, in that she seems to be the kind of pony/kirin that will actually break the rules.
Here's to you FlimFlamBros for making a fantastic story, and I think i speak for all your readers when I say that we are hoping for many more.
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1592102 seconded
Sequel?
1592055
*me flips table* SEQUEL I DEMAND IT
Well damn. That cliffhanger was unexpected. I wish you could continue the story with their kids, that would be awesome! Thanks for wrighting it and for having something to look forward to on sad days. Have a good life!
Let me know if you are planning a sequel.
Flimsy Flam you did a damn well job on the epilouge.. any interest in letting someponies to make you a sequel? I think there are still unanswered questions with the story you stopped at his father appearing and should have finished there. Anyway I love you man no homo and continue the great work>>1592055
My fucking feels dude! I think you just killed me! And I've been dead already once so that makes me super-dead, so I'm going to be back alive once again.
That ending, I somehow knew something like that'd be happening, but it still hit me like Vinyls bass-drop added to Headhunterz's Hardstyle beats while RD making a Sonic Rainboom.
FFB: "BOOM! Where's you feels now muthafuka?!"
Me: (. )_____( .) "feels?"
FFB: "That's what I thought..."
I love you.
Argh, stupid mother bucking flank hole cliffhangers! And with that, you have earned yourself another watcher.
This was epic. Also I ride on Discord's brother
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1592734 DAMN! what happened what what six years before trying again?
Was worth the read great job. Also love the mention of kirin, love it when little known myths make an appearance
great another chapter or another book coming out
THERE CAN NOT BE A SEQUEL, THIS IS A PERFECT ENDING, DON'T LISTEN TO WHAT OTHERS WANT, LET THERE IMAGINATIONS FINISH THIS STORY!!!
this is fucking glorious. sequel time.
1592598
Aw, thank!. But really, all of that goodness was all Flim. He's a fantastic writer and just needed a little smoothing around the edges. Really, he's great to edit for! I'm so sad it's over, but thank you for all your wonderful words.
/) to you for being awesome!
One, a sequel or a short story about Spike and his dad going out on adventures would be awesome. Two, head=blown. Right now I believe words need to be invented to describe a tiny fraction of what this fic is on the awesome/love/what-ever-is-positive table... and probably words can't describe this fic enough.
So, who wants our favorite 'Crazy Son of a Bitch' do all sorts of crazy?
Spike has a dad!?
Now that aside, I really like Spike and Rarity's kids gotta say that I like Jade more out of all of them. And I remeber seeing FTOWL on spikethed's page before I found out that you were going to take on the story for him, glad that someone like you was able to write it. You and everyone else that help you write it done a fantastic job.
1592805
Thanks received and additional thanks sent out once more
1602516
(\ Right back atcha!
Seriously though, its always great to see others collaborating and helping each other!
1603258>>1603045
And thank you all. I will say this....
We will be working together in the near future. FlimFlam and I are already working on our next big projects, so you have a lot to look forward to.
i fucking hate you for putting that ending.......................................I WANT MOAR DAMMIT!!!!
but seriously i loved this series and i cant wait for to make another epic tale such as this one and love how you made their children so diverse and original
I don't see why everyone is crying out for a sequel. It was a fantastic fic, with an awesome ending, it begs to be continued, and so a sequel must never be born. To continue this story would be to, (for lack of a better term (SORRY)) flog a dead horse. Like many great movies or books that are made, where the creators think "this was really successful... I can get more money/attention if I make another!" and then the entire thing is completely ruined.
Loved this entire fic, from start to finish. You certainly are a certifiable genius in my books mate
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Amazing ending.