DragonWrath

by JynxJaguar

An Eternal Ocean

There were only three knocks, in a perfect succession, and she knew.
She went to the door and opened it in supplication, bent knee before Princess Celestia.
"No need for formality, dear student." The Princess strode inside with all her regal stability. "I am here on a business much more serious than formality allows."
Twilight rose, ready for her rebuke.
The Princess looked to her. "Show me to the dragon."
Twilight, a little weak in the knees, began to lead her toward her room.
Celestia noted her slowness. "Are you well?"
Twilight looked to her, unable to reply at first. "I... am fine, Princess."
A beat, then the Mistress said, "Ah."
Celestia entered the room as soon as Twilight opened the door and her eyes fell immediately on Spike. She gently walked over to him and put a hoof to his head and murmured something Twilight couldn't hear. Then the Princess silently called her near with a wave of her hoof.
"There is a great love in this one." Celestia paused, waiting.
"Yes." Twilight sighed. "He bears great love for her."
There was a pause, and then it seemed Celestia's voice echoed in her head. "It is no less than he feels for you. Or the others that love him as well. It is a different love, but it dwells deep within him.That is why I chose him."
Twilight's eyes widened. "You... chose him..."
Celestia turned toward her, now speaking directly to her. "I had only heard stories of dragons. Their histories are lost to us. But, it seems, dragons are as varied as ponies. Some are ground ponies, some pegasi, some alicorns. Dragons seem to have been as diverse, if not more. There were Frostkeepers and Firelords, Fogseekers and Stormwalkers.... and even fewer that even I had only heard legend of."
Twilight looked to Spike's motionless form to the Princess. "I--- I don't--"
Celestia looked to her. "You saw what he became?"
Twilight was a little nervous as she answered. "Y--yes..."
The Princess's lips parted in a small smile. "He is a dragon I heard about in fairy tales when I was just a foal myself. Tales that fell out of favor as time went on and our enmity with dragons made them less creatures of wonder and more monsters we should fear and mistrust. Spike's breed is a closely guarded secret to them, and they are rarely seen by other creatures save those foolhardy enough to enter the cave where one dwells."
Twilight tilted her head, now growing curious. "You... you've never told me how you came by his egg."
The regal eyes were gentle. "Through a series of tragedies and good fortune, dear student, that I will relate to you one day. But this is not the proper time. I worry for Spike right now, and I have not the heart to recollect that story."
She pulled the covers on Spike down to reveal the scars on his side and her eyes grew sad. "Your proofs of courage." she said softly to the sleeping form. "I should like to see you wear them with pride one day, brave little drake." She returned the covers and didn't turn to Twilight when she said. "Spike is what the legends call a Lair Keeper."
Twilight looked at the little dragon. "A Lair Keeper?" She turned her gaze back up to the Princess, awaiting an explanation.
"A Lair Keeper is a protector. They insure the safety of the dragon's homes. Though they are rarely spoken of, they are highly valued and respected greatly by other wyrms, not only for their power, but for their loyalty. I daresay you've witnessed the former and have always known about the latter."
Twilight blushed a little at that.
"I did take him for his first few years," Celestia continued, "Not only to raise him and train him as an assistant, but also to prepare him as well as I knew how mentally, without revealing to him his true nature. I believed his abilities would not manifest until adulthood, and then I would have told him. I thought it best he be raised as much pony as dragon, and he took well to both aspects." She smiled. "In truth, I believe there is more pony to him than dragon. I suspected he
would have gone to see the dragons much earlier than he did."
Twilight's eyes widened again. "You knew he'd do that?"
"Of course. He had already begun to accept Ponyville as his home, but there was still a deep seated urge to protect his own kind, and so he sought them out. When they mistreated him and you and your friends defended him...."
Twilight jumped in, unintentionally interrupting her mentor. "You knew we'd go after him!"
A sly smile crossed the Princess's face. "I.... suspected rather strongly that you would, if no one else. And Rarity, of course."
Twilight's eyebrow raised. Celestia laughed. "I've never known a creature so dead-set against fighting her own feelings, and that includes many of my former enemies." She noted that Twilight's stare remained unchanged. "Oh, I've known about that for a while, now. You don't think I would keep an eye on the boy I raised?
"Anyway, back to what I was telling you. He has accepted Ponyville as his home, as I said. He had that naughty business with the curse of greed, and for that I fault myself for not teaching him about it, for I never suspected a Lair Keeper to be susceptible to it. It appears I was wrong in that aspect. But he overcame it, for which I am very proud."
Twilight put a hoof on the bed, trying to think how to phrase her next question. "So.... the thing he turned into..."
Celestia gave her a stern look. "He was NOT a thing. He was Spike in his Keeper form."
Twilight reddened, apologetic for her phrasing. "I'm sorry." She seemed to be saying it more to Spike than the Princess, and the elder mare's face relaxed. "His... Keeper form... How could he do that if there wasn't any magic?"
"The transformation is not magic, dear. It is a metabolic change brought about by extreme threat to a Lair Keeper's home. I had no idea it could manifest in one so young, or that he would have grown to the size that he did. That is probably why he was much less in control of himself. He was not mature enough to overcome the more primitive need to protect his home. Also, the energy he had to expend must have been tremendous to grow to that size. He would certainly had to have slept after. That, coupled with his wounds.... " She trailed off, eyes growing dark with worry.
"But..." Twilight began after a moment. "Can't you heal him, Princess?"
The regal mare sighed. "His wounds have been tended to as well as they can be. It is the exertion on him that he may never awaken from."
Twilight's rear legs buckled as the strength went out of them and her haunches thumped to the floor. To have Celestia tell her that Spike might never wake up drove the blade into her heart. Her eyes began to water and then the floodgates burst, sobbing heavily and not caring if it was in front of the Princess.
Celestia let her cry until Twilight tapered off to sniffles, enough to look up and see that the Princess had shed tears of her own, but she put a hoof on Twilight consolingly.
"Who..." Twilight sniffed, "Who would do this... make that... that monster of him.... and why?"
Celestia's voice cooled. "I have my suspicions, and should I find them to be correct, I will not be merciful in retribution. I will not speak of it further. The why is simple revenge for a wounded ego. The plan was a devious one, and my investigations have borne me out on it.
"The plan was to make a clone of Spike and kill the original. The clone, devised through magics so dark and foul that the beast's creator had to impart some of it's own life essence to empower it, was imbued with all of the elements that oppose the elements of ponies. It WAS Spike, in body, but it had no soul but one of hatred, and a lust only for causing pain and destruction. Even you would not be able to tell the difference. Then its heart was implanted with a crystal that rendered magic inert, and incidentally shattered when the monster died, and it was sent to destroy Ponyville and all that dwelled within it. Possibly then onto Canterlot. The monster would have killed you, and its Master would have revenge, or you would have seen 'Spike' slain, and the Master would have vengeance still, although at the cost of a very powerful servant. What was never involved in the equation was Spike avoiding his assassins and returning to Ponyville. Then the greater shock of what he would become when his home was threatened and your life placed in mortal peril. I daresay that if Spike recovers, the scoundrel will think twice about attacking again."
IF he recovers, Twilight thought, she said it again.
Twilight paused a moment. "Is there anything that can be done? Please, Princess..." she was starting to cry again. "I'll do anything to make him wake up... I just want him to wake up!"
Celestia touched her horn to Twilight's, and Twilight could feel the sadness emanating from her teacher as she said softly, "You are doing everything that you can, and your friends are as well. You are all caring for him and giving him the love and attention he needs. If he is strong enough in his will, he will come back to you. But if he cannot return, you must know it is no fault of yours or anyone else that cares for him."
Celestia pulled back from Twilight so she could look her in the eyes. "Please. Continue to take care of him. For me."
Twilight tried to smile. "Y-yes, Princess."
"Good, my student. I must return to the castle. Keep me informed of his condition."
"Of course." Twilight had one more thing to ask, and Celestia patiently waited for her to summon it.
"Princess? Does... I mean.... are there ponies who... don't want Spike around anymore? Be-because of what happened?"
Celestia paused. "Yes. There have been petitions brought before me."
Twilight swallowed. "And?"
"I listen to the desires of my subjects."
Twilight paled noticeably. Then a wry smile touched Celestia's face.
"Then I tell them why I am NOT going to send him away."
The Princess kissed Spike's head and whispered. "Dream well, my brave one. May the sea that bears you hence bring you back to safe haven."
That night, Twilight curled up with Spike and pulled him close to her, hoping and fearing in equal measure.