Chapter 5 - Guilt
"SPIKE WAIT!"
The moment Twilight managed to make her way outside, Spike was nowhere to be seen, he vanished without a trace. Twilight began to look around frantically, analysing her surroundings, but she could only see ponies walking along, going on about their day. She noticed Lyra and Bon Bon sitting on a bench together. She zoomed towards them both as fast as Rainbow Dash.
"Have you two seen Spike?" She said, panicking.
The two just looked at each other and shook their heads. They weren't the only two that failed to give information about Spike's whereabouts, no one seemed to know where he went. An hour passed and Twilight was still looking for Spike, but she eventually began to lose hope, he was nowhere in Ponyville which means that he was long gone. Twilight stopped dead in her tracks as she remembered Spike's heartbroken face, his eyes filled with gloom as every tear spilt, all she could think about was how she hurt him, how she destroyed his feelings. Her eyes began to water, filling with tears.
"This is my fault... He was right... I never saw him as a friend..."
She laid down on the dirt covered ground. "What have I done?" She asked herself. As time passed, grey clouds began to form, swirling and forming a pattern of sadness, flooding over the afternoon blue sky. It began to rain, but she didn't care, all she cared about was seeing Spike. It wasn't long before she got up and went to her castle, still miserable from the events this morning. From there, Twilight stayed locked in her room for the entire day.
Two Days Later...
Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were walking along the streets of Ponyville, it was a day like any other, the residents of Ponyville were going on about their day too. The cutie mark crusaders were playing, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon joined in as well, they've become very good friends ever since Diamond Tiara stood up to her mother. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash couldn't have been prouder of the former Cutie Mark Crusaders: Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo after gaining their cutie marks. It seemed that everypony was happy.
"Where the hay was Twilight yesterday?" Rainbow Dash asked her fellow friends as she was flying above their heads.
"Ah ain't too sure," Applejack said.
"I thought she said she was going to meet us at Sugarcube Corner this morning, then head to the train station to visit Canterlot?" Rarity spoke out her thoughts.
"Maybe she forgot..." Fluttershy spoke.
"Twilight wouldn't forget, the egghead's always got a schedule to make her remember," Rainbow stated.
"Ormaybeshe'sgoinginsaneandlockedherselfinhercastleslowlylosinghermindbecausewedidn'tcheckuponhersooner!" Pinkie Pie said without taking a breather. Everypony just looked at her, confused to what she had just said. "What? It was only a thought."
"Maybe we should check on her," Applejack suggested.
When the five mares reached the towering and bright castle, Rainbow Dash found herself to be the one knocking on Twilight's door, however, to everypony's surprise, the main double doors were unlocked, they slowly began to open the moment Rainbow placed her hoof while knocking. "That's odd." She said.
Quietly walking in, all mares scanned around the castle's hall entrance. It seemed to be getting bigger and more spacious every day. The stained glass windows gave an effect of beauty, it was fantastic to gaze upon the patterned windows to see what the five mares had accomplished along with Twilight.
"Twilight?!" Pinkie Pie called out. "We're here to check if you're insane!"
"Quiet down Pinkie!" Rarity demanded.
They continued along the halls only to find the rooms emptied of life, it was like a graveyard. The five mares continued their search only to reach the throne room and that's where they saw Twilight, slumped over with head on the table, sleeping stressfully.
"Twilight?" Applejack approached.
Twilight's eyes instantly shot open like a bullet speeding by. She turned to see her friends standing beside her. "What are you girls doing here?"
"We came to check up on you darling," Rarity said. "We didn't see you all day yesterday."
"We thought you might of went coo-coo," Pinkie Pie said, impersonating an insane pony in the mad house.
"Are you alright, sugarcube?" Applejack seemed a little concerned for the lavender alicorn, especially due to the fact that her eyes were bloodshot. Also, she looked as if she had been crying.
"I... I..." Twilight didn't know where to start.
"Umm, Twilight, where's Spike?" Fluttershy asked.
Twilight's heart skipped a beat. She closed her eyes and began to sniffle, tears could be seen.
"Sugarcube? What's wrong?" Applejack grew a worried expression. The rest were worried as Applejack.
Twilight gave in, she burst out into tears; crying like mad. "I yelled at Spike and he was upset, I was being cruel and selfish to him, he was telling me about how he's been alone, neglected and bullied and I didn't take any notice because I was too busy having fun while he was being ignored. I told him I forgot him... and... and... that face... his eyes... he was destroyed with misery and I just stood there... he ran away and I don't know where he went and... and..."
Applejack pulled Twilight towards her, giving her a hug. "Shh. Calm down, Twilight. Relax."
Twilight just silently resumed sobbing to herself.
The others were just looking at her, devastated by her sudden outburst. Applejack slowly pulled Twilight away from her. "Now Twilight. Ah'm gonna need you to repeat what you said, but, this time, ah'm gonna need you to slow down, okay?"
Twilight just nodded, wiping the tears produced from her sadness.
Rarity walked up to the distressed mare and used her magic to hand Twilight a tissue. "Now Twilight, darling, calmly explain what happened?"
Twilight wiped her tears and began to calm down. "Well, two days ago I had an argument with Spike because he accidently burnt a book that shared my memories with you, my family and the princesses. He noticed that there was rarely any photos of him, he was missing out and I foolishly denied that he was lonely. He was hurt, I was being insensitive and he was angry, he told me how all of us treated him wrong."
"Us?!" Rainbow yelled. "What did we do?"
"He claimed that we all neglected him, we didn't invite him to do anything with us. There was the Cloudsdale competition, my birthday, and the Equestria Games tryouts." Twilight choked up a little. "He told me about how he was feeling useless, how he was turned down by Fluttershy and Applejack."
Applejack and Fluttershy turned to each other, looking a bit guilty. "We never meant to hurt him, it wasn't our intentions to make him feel useless," Applejack explained while Fluttershy looked as if she deserved the blame.
"He went on about how he was being targeted by your pranks," Twilight turned to Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. "He said they weren't funny, they were just hurtful."
Pinkie's hair deflated in sadness. "Our pranks were hurting him?"
"Hold up!" Rainbow ordered. "Our pranks were hurting him? That's nonsense!" She said in anger.
Twilight continued. "He was fed up with the way you were treating him, making fun of him because he didn't act like other dragons."
Rainbow Dash's face sank from anger to guilt. "Okay, maybe I went a little too far when it came to mocking his appearance."
Twilight then turned to Rarity, she already looked guilty, the look of grief in her eyes. "His feelings for you have always been true, he was mad because you were taking advantage of him." This caused Rarity to look down upon herself, heartbroken for the dragon. Everything Twilight said was true, she was using him as a puppet; a slave and she was the queen.
"And I was the worst. He spent all this time cleaning up after my messes while I was having fun. I told him I forgot about him... his face... he was heartbroken, he ran away and I don't where he is..." Again, Twilight began to produce a stream of tears. "I don't know what to do... I'm scared..."
The throne room was an assembly of guilt, a graveyard had more cheer than Twilight's castle. Everypony hung their heads in shame, were they really that cruel to Spike?
Fluttershy walked up to the crying alicorn. "We'll find him..."
Twilight wiped her tears. "What?"
Rainbow Dash backed up Fluttershy. "Yeah! we'll find the tough, little guy."
"And afterwards, we can throw him a WE'RE SORRY PARTY!" Pinkie cheered.
"You're not alone on this one Twilight," Applejack spoke.
Twilight began to smile, regaining hope. She turned to Rarity who still looked gloomy.
"It's my fault this has happened as well, Twilight. I should have been more direct and thoughtful towards him," Rarity confessed.
Twilight looked at her five friends, smiling. "Thank you... all of you... I can assure you all that it was never your intentions to hurt Spike, and we'll find, we will make this up to him."
Ever since then, Ponyville was put on high alert. Everypony kept a look out for the dragon, searching for clues that could lead them to Spike's whereabouts. It seemed that the former Cutie Mark Crusaders did their best to help, saying that they saw him run into the Everfree Forest. Over the past week, nothing. It was as if Spike vanished without a trace, Twilight was losing hope. The struggling six ponies had no other choice, they contacted Princess Celestia to keep Canterlot on high alert as well. It didn't lead them anywhere, so Princess Celestia notified the land of Equestria, cities to find the missing dragon, a reward was at hoof if anyone found Spike, or if they knew his location.
Three months have passed since then and it never seemed the same without Spike. Rarity continued to make dresses, but it was never the same without the dragon who flattered her in the kindest ways. Rainbow Dash still searched for him, but she knew it was heading nowhere, she didn't want to disappoint Twilight. Being loyal as ever. Fluttershy had to tend to her animals, she did help in many ways, but it didn't lead anywhere. Just like Fluttershy, Applejack had to work on the farm, there wasn't much she could do, however, she apprised the entire Apple Family to keep a lookout, and so they did. Pinkie Pie did her best, she was determined to make it up to Spike no matter what. Twilight... every day she grew depressed, hopeless and desperate. Not even the princesses knew where he was and they inspected every known location in Equestria. Sending scrolls to Spike didn't do anything. He never replied. After that, Celestia had to send messages to Twilight if she needed to be called upon.
Twilight had to face it... He was gone.
Three Months Later
There was nothing but silence the moment Twilight entered the throne room, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were called to have a meeting with her.
"Girls... these past few months have been difficult I'm not gonna lie. You have all worked so hard and I'm proud of your efforts. You've all shown determination, resilience and bravery. But now. I'm calling off the search."
"WHAT!" Everpony asked in complete and total shock.
"Twilight you can't be serious?!" Rarity said.
"Spike's ah part of our friendship, this family we've managed to build," Applejack persuaded.
"We can't just give up!" Rainbow said arrogantly.
"I still need to give him the best and super, fantastic and amazing party in the whole of Equestria!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Girls!" Twilight yelled. "It's been three months and I have to accept that Spike is long gone, we've done everything to try and find him, but maybe he doesn't want to come back."
"What do you mean Twilight?" Fluttershy quietly said.
"I hurt Spike, I forgot him when I was having fun, you girls didn't see him. His face, his eyes, he was overcome with pain and agony. I allowed this to happen. I can only say that... I have to call off the search and wish that he's happy," Twilight started to smile, but tears could be seen. "I hope he's living a satisfying life, the one I didn't give him," Twilight hung her head as she cried an endless stream.
Fluttershy got up first and approached Twilight, giving her a hug, comforting the poor mare. Applejack proceeded to do the same as did everypony. This turned into a group hug, gently and softly crying to each other, wishing Spike is living the life he chose.
'I'm sorry, Spike.'
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I enjoy this concept, so please keep writing more of it.
7267599 I plan to. I've been working on this story for about a good year now and I've had many flaws. All together I've done 13 chapters but I'm working through them to see if I've made any incoherent mistakes.
Commendable...but it's too late. As they say, the cat's out of the bag now, and more than likely it's gonna be impossible to put him back in, even if Twilight and crew did do a complete 180 on what they do to Spike. It's out there, and they have to sleep in the bed that they have made.
7267778 I assume you're taking a like to the story?
7267802
But in all seriousness, I'm intrigued at how this Fright character proceeds to mold this block of clay that is Spike into what he ideally wants to advance his goals. I just hope that there is some forgiveness for Spike at least, because I have to worry that he's gonna do some irrevocable damage in the future that could make forgiveness next to impossible.
In short, we see that Spike may have began his trip to the dark side, is it possible that it's a one-way trip or is there ultimately a possibility to turn around. In short, is there a point of no-return? And I can understand that you may not want to answer that because of possible spoilers.
7267816 I'm glad that I've intrigued you. I'm sorry to say, but I can't reveal that information just yet, but the story will mainly be focusing on the fears of Twilight and her friends, including Celestia and Spike.
7267998 HUZZAH! You, my good (insert your gender here), are the first to understand the reference (I think you're the first), but the plan isn't entirely relatable to Scarecrow's, I mean, that would just be copying. The appearance of Fright, however, is inspired a lot by John Noble's Scarecrow.
7268001 Yes, well. It seems like this can already be paralleled to that world in a way (I'm a 20 year old guy btw). A villain who's obsessed with fear yet knows exactly how best to destroy their enemies, a group of villains who hate the heroes because they can't accept any responsibility or fault on their part.
Spoiler alert for Arkham Knight coming.
And it seems like one of their nemesis at this point is going to be a former ally, judging by Fright's actions. Quite honestly, the idea is interesting, but I really hope that whatever happens to Spike, it's still him in the end. Well, whatever you do with him, I just hope he doesn't turn into a whiner who compromises success just for petty revenge like Jason did.
I actually kinda hope that this Fright character does a good job as a villain. After seeing the heroes win all the time by way of a last-second mistake on the villains part, it think it's actually fun to see a villain that actually causes irreparable damage, whether they win or not.
7268104 Well, I'm glad that I've enthralled you into this little story, and thanks for the comments too. They were fun to read.
7268113 You're welcome. Do you want me to point out some of the things that bother me? My brother said it's a good way to help writers improve, but some people I've tried it with just can't accept a little criticism.
7268122 Mate, feel free to point out my errors that bother you, I could do with a little improving.
7268129 Well, one little thing. Where is everyone? I know you said that Glimmer was in the Empire and all that, but considering she seemed close with Spike, you'd think that somewhere in those three months he was gone, she'd probably have a few words to say considering one of her best friends is now essentially gone forever. Discord too, you'd think he'd at least mock the supposed 'Princess of Friendship' for being such a horrible friend. Until Fluttershy told him to knock it off.
So yeah, that's a thing that feels like it should be there, but isn't.
7268143 Completely understandable. In total I've done 13 chapters and Discord is included, I still plan to work Starlight into it as well. Thanks for the criticism, I appreciate it.
7268854 His appearance is that of a humanoid creature, however, demon can suit him as well.
You had my curiosity, now you have my attention.
I always love dark firs inflicting pain upon. It makes people like me mad wanting to save spike joining the Spike army in the process.
7269707 And you have my thanks. You took your time to read my story, I appreciate it and holy crap I love your stories!
Ok I know twilight isn't athletic and may not think of things and spike gets a lot of exercise runing and cleaning around the castle/library, but can you explain how a baby dragon who sticks out like a sore thumb can out run a alocorn who can fly fairly decent and teleport as easily as you can blink?
7270663 Why thank you. Also, I like your stories, they're pretty neat.
7271265 Wow... Just wow.
Question: is this story still going or..???
7276895 Indeed. There is more detail on this story in my blog post, but to answer your question, yes the story is still going on. Currently, there are 13 chapters all together and I plan to release the next five on July 1st. I'm releasing every 5 chapters monthly, so that way I can carefully analyse the route I'm heading.
7276973 So you're releasing them 5 chapters at a time? Well, if that's how you want to do it, then go ahead. I personally think that it's better to just do it one chapter at a time, but that's just me. 5 chapters at a time just means 5 times as much input from viewers at a time, rather than having it spread out more.
That's what I think, but I'm not a writer. If you feel that releasing them in groups is better, go ahead.
I'm finding this story very interesting and it makes me impatient waiting for the next chapter
7271265 OMG!!!! DUDE SO AWESOME!!!!
Ah, I see you have a new picture for your story. I'm having a little trouble determining what it is though. Are the words supposed to be in a cloud of fear gas or something? Is the harmony symbol supposed to be on fire to signal that it's burning out or something?
7330731 cdn-img.fimfiction.net/story/dfie-1466609888-323138-medium
Within the centre is Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark being engulfed in green flames and above that is the lower part of Fright's face, the stitches in his mouth spell out the title of the story 'Fear Within.' As for the surroundings, it's nothing but a barren wasteland.
I don't think stopping the search is in any way a good Idea at most all it would do is show that they don't care enough to keep searching
I like your story, so I faved it. If they ever get Spike back, Rarity should NEVER take advantage of him ever again, RD and Pinkie should be taken down a peg... or four for being idiots, Applejack should know better. As for Twilight should bring him more often, give him a smaller workload and CLEAN up her own messes. She's an alicorn for crying out loud! She can rearrange the books with no effort. Why the hell would she need Spike to "help" her out?
7342812 Thank you for reading and favouriting the story, I'm glad that you like it as well and thanks for commenting.
"Our pranks were hurting him? That's nonsense!" Easy for you to say, RD. You weren't on the receiving end. Oh, and a quick note: HE'S COLD-BLOODED AND ONLY A CHILD, MEANING HE COULD DIE FROM ICE-WATER. (Pardon my shouting.)
"I hope he's living a satisfying life, the one I didn't give him." Twilight hung her head as she cried an endless stream. And here's the saddest track I could find to fit this:
7343377 *Sniffles* Beautiful...
7343393 Thank you.
7342812 And what should Fluttershy do?
7343439 Out of all the six, Fluttershy did the least damage and I'm not sure what she did to hurt him.
7344464 Technically, Fluttershy hasn't done anything to hurt Spike, she's way too nice to ever do that intentionally. But then again, everyone else did in some way, and that might have been enough for Spike to run.
Maybe from his point of view, Spike is being hurt, and Fluttershy not even realising it hurts more.
I dunno, these are all theories.
7353145 There's that. After all, even atrocities can come from good intentions.
YOU said he was weak and inferior. TO HIS FACE!
THEN WHY DIDN"T YOU THREE SAY ANYTHING 2 DAYS AGO!!!
Oh absolutely! Rarity never ever ever did anything for Spike!
Bull. Shit.
I'm sorry, but this kind of Spike story isn't for me. I can't see this going any other way than turning him into an angsty Villain Stu while the ponies torture themselves for how much they "abused" him, with no mention of any good thing they may have done for him at any moment whatsoever.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Spike won't be a lionised villain who the story desperately tries to make us give a pass. Maybe the ponies won't wallow in self-loathing for chapter upon chapter. If so, if I have misjudged the story so badly, I deeply apologise, but if it is the way it's going to be I don't think I want to read on.
7728309 while i can understand where you coming from hopefully he will become evil for other reasons
also side note years of work and helping a single kiss doesn't make it even.
This is how I reacted:
I hope that if the ponies actually do find Spike, they make it right again...and hopefully, Spike forgives them.
You're right. He doesn't want to come back. But maybe he just wants to be found!
7338051
Precisely.
So what exactly happened to those scrolls then?
You think? What about the time when you dumped water on him? Or when thought it was funny to drown him in that lake? Was that far enough for you?
Oh that's rich, coming from somepony who finds a "great use" for him as a flint for the Apples Family Reunion, or as a dummy for the Iron Hooves Competition.
I'm curious. How come they contacted Princess Celestia for help, instead of Dragon Lord Ember? I'm sure with the Bloodstone Scepter, Ember would've found Spike in a heartbeat. Unless, of course, the ponies are too afraid to talk to Ember. She does have quite a temper.
Applejack and Fluttershy turned to each other, looking a bit guilty. "We never meant to hurt him, it wasn't our intentions to make him feel useless," Applejack explained while Fluttershy looked as if she deserved the blame.
The Highway to Hell is paved in Good Intentions