A Study In Nonsense

by Professor Piggy

Those Left Behind

The little filly lay curled up in her bed, blankets pulled tightly around her - the tangled mess of pale blue that was her mane was just barely visible, sticking out from beneath them - and snoring quietly. And he guessed peacefully too, since she wasn’t rolling around or shaking or… doing whatever else it was kids did when they were scared. Cried? Wet themselves? Whatever – the point was that she didn’t seem to be having any more nightmares, and that had to be a good thing.

At least he hoped it did – he’d kinda been expecting the nightmares to be a long term thing. Maybe even the kind that didn’t ever really stop completely, after what’d happened to her parents – heck, he was pretty sure that if he tried to sleep he’d have nightmares about it, and she’d seen it happen. Worse than seen it happen.

What if –

A crash of thunder echoed through the clear night sky, cutting the thought short and winning a tired sigh from the dragon. And maybe a little bit of a smile too – as much as he hated to admit it, he’d always gotten a kick out of her drama thing. It was cool to see, even if she took it a little too far sometimes. A lot too far sometimes.

As slowly and quietly as he could, Spike lifted himself from the cavern floor and crept from the side chamber, pulling the door closed behind him. Ascending the carefully crafted stairs, past rows and rows of carefully organised bookshelves, he made his way back the massive central chamber and stood, staring expectantly at the enormous wooden doors leading outside.

Three.

Two.

One.

The enormous wooden doors leading into the cavern flared blue for an instant before exploding inwards, flying off their hinges and crashing to the floor with a thud. And then, storming in with a scowl on her face, eyes burning white with fury and lightning flashing with every step she took, came Luna. She kept coming until she stood before him and then, with a single flap of her powerful wings, rose to glare straight into his eyes.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?” Her voice was impossibly loud, eclipsing even the storm she’d dragged along with her – Spike had to admit, it was impressive. Not that he was scared, or anything – he was shaking because it was chilly all of a sudden. That was all. The noise was bad though: his eyes darted to the stairwell, searching for any sign that the sleeping filly had woken up. When he found none he looked back at Luna and offered his best smile.

“Oh, hey Princess. I was kinda wondering when you’d drop by. Feels like for –“

“DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DISTRACT ME WITH PLEASANTRIES! IS WHAT MY SISTER CLAIMS TRUE?”

“Uh…”

“ANSWER!”

“I…” He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t look her in the eyes, so he didn’t – instead he turned his massive head to stare at the ground and nodded silently.

The effect was instant, and it broke his heart. The anger faded from Luna’s eyes, her scowl giving way to shock as she drifted slowly back to the ground, landing heavily and turning away from him.

“I see.” Her voice was quieter now, though it still echoed throughout the cavern – the way it only did when she was wearing a mask to cover how she really felt. “You must be proud of yourself. But I hope you will forgive me if I do not join my sister in hailing you a hero.”

“Celestia thinks I’m a hero?” He couldn’t help but ask, cursing himself inwardly the second the second that the words escaped from his mouth. The alicorn nodded curtly.

“Oh yes. She has not stopped praising your virtue and nobility since you returned. A hero worthy of the name you bear, apparently. I myself cannot fathom why she didn’t know that already, but my dear sister does have a tendency treat others as though they are children.”

“Heh, I know what you mean – I’m pretty sure I’ll always just be a baby to – wait, you think I’m a hero?”

Luna ignored his question, instead turning her head to glare at him once more. “That is a tendency that you should be grateful for, by the way – she was quite insistent that I refrain from visiting you until I ‘had my temper under control.’ Apparently she is opposed to my throttling war heroes.” She paused, and when she spoke again her voice was like ice. “Even the ones who have apparently deemed themselves disposable.”

He sighed, trying not to let her words cut too deeply. Normally he would have gotten mad, tried to fight back – but what could he say? She was right. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“THERE IS ALWAYS – there is always a choice. Always.” She spun to face him, stomping a hoof into the ground as she did. “You made this one as you make all choices – for short sighted, foolish reasons!”

“Saving a life is not –“

“YOU DID NOT EVEN COME TO ME WITH THIS! YOU DID NOT EVEN CARE TO TELL ME YOURSELF!”

“I COULDN’T!” His own roar didn’t compare to Luna’s, but it was still enough to stop the Princess in her tracks. She stared at him, unspeaking, waiting for him to continue. “I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t face you. I can’t handle it. I can’t deal with the idea of you hating me, okay!?”

“You wished me not to hate you, so you did not bother telling me that you had cut your lifespan in half? CUT OUR TIME TOGETHER IN HALF? I – I believe there may be certain enormous, gaping holes in your logic!”

“I DIDN’T HAVE A CHOICE! I…I couldn’t just leave her! She was dying, Luna! They tore her open! She was bleeding out right in front of me, and I knew I could save her! What would you have done!?”

“I could have saved her without giving up two hundred years of my life,” Luna hissed quietly, “I could have saved her without cutting the heart out of my closest friend! I could have…you should have…you should have come to me! Bought her to me! I COULD HAVE SAVED HER! And you would…you would still be….”

“There wasn’t time.” He said simply, reaching out a clawed hand to draw the pony princess closer – she smacked it away with a hoof, glaring at him with tear filled eyes. “She already lost her memory, Princess! If I’d taken any longer she would have lost everything! If there had been any chance, I would have come to you. Before anyone else. You know that.”

“I do not care who you would have come to. I care that you did not! How did you even manage such a trade!?”

“Twilight. She got bored one day, and started researching ways to change what my fire could do. In the end she was able to make it heal ponies – but it takes a toll. Whatever I heal, it takes a chunk out of the time I’ve got left. She…she made me promise never to use it. Ever.” He offered a weak smile. “So that’s both my best friends I betrayed, huh?”

Luna was silent for a long time – and then slowly, gently, she reached up a hoof and stroked his nose gently. “You betrayed nopony,” she said at last. “What you have done hurts me terribly. I may never forgive you for it – but that is my failing, not yours. You did the right thing, Spike. Twilight Sparkle would be proud of you, as I am proud of you.”

“So…you don’t hate me?”

“I cannot say that. Not….not yet. It would be a cruel lie. Part of me hates you. But all of me loves you. Do not forget that, whatever happens.”

That hurt. But he had expected no better. He had, in fact, expected far worse. This time, when he pulled the alicorn into a hug, she did not resist. “I’m sorry, Princess.”

“As am I, Spike.” After a moment’s hesitation, she added “How long do you have?”

“Maybe…maybe twenty years. Or less.”

“I see,” Came the soft murmur as his dearest friend looked into his eyes. “Will you promise me something?”

“Anything.”

“Promise me that…no matter what happens, you will spend as much of that time as you can with me? I…I do not wish to let another friend die without knowing I made the most of the time we had.”

He smiled, genuinely this time. “I promise. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

They were silent then, both having run out of things to say. It wasn’t until a pair of frightened green eyes appeared in the stairwell that either spoke again.

“Hello there, little one,” Said the Princess gently, taking a cautious step towards the filly and bending to look her in the eyes with a smile. “What is your name?”

The filly’s eyes flickered to Spike, and when he nodded she offered the Princess a small, shy smile. “I’m Luna,” she answered, and her voice was a whisper, “Who are you?”

Comments

[Professor Piggy]

The Prompt: A hundred doubts, a hundred fears, a hundred ways to spend your years.

[TheAlmightySage]

That ending wow

[Plynic]

Mind = blown

[nemryn]

I don't get it.

[G S tol Kriaal]

I - You - HUH?

[Professor Piggy]

1203326 Hehe. What can I say? I can't resist cheesy, (hopefully) heartwarming little moments like that - plus, I like the mental image of Luna being really flattered but trying to remain all stoic and calm.

1204246 Heh. I'm hoping you mean that in a good way.

1204921 Oh, I'm sorry. What is it you don't get? I shall try to explain, if you like.

As a brief sort of quasi explanation: This one takes place about four hundred years after the elements of harmony grew old and died, with Spike serving as Captain of the Canterlot Guard (when he's not hibernating - the position is kept open for him, with others taking lesser titles but still leading while he's away.)

Over the centuries he and Princess Luna have bonded quite a bit, and become extremely good friends - to the point that Luna has never had a friend she cared for more, and Spike only has Twi to compete. He and Celestia grew closer too, but their bond was always mother-son like. Anyways, the world is being overrun by monsters slowly but surely, and Spike has been leading the battle against them - during one of these battles he came across the wounded filly in the story, and used his dragon magic - enhanced by Twi, before they realised the cost - to heal her, and in doing so shortened his remaining life from about two centuries to maybe two decades.

The whole story is basically Luna being hurt and angry because she knows that she's going to lose her best friend and there's nothing she can do about it.

Hope that helps. Sorry it was confusing.

1205298

[nemryn]

1206498
No, I got all that, it's the filly that confused me. The story felt like it was building up to WHOA WHAT A TWIST at the end; I was thinking that Spike had managed to save Twilight's life but not her memory, regressing her back to foalhood, and that would be the Big Reveal. But then she says her name is Luna; and okay, nopony would just casually name their daughter after a Princess, so there must be something going on here; is it a Past Sins thing? Did Piggy pull a fast one with the Princesses? Nope. Gah, what the is going on here?

[Professor Piggy]

1206755 Ooooooh. Because the little filly doesn't remember her name, Spike named her - and because Luna is his best friend, and he loves her, he named her after Luna.