Will To Survive

by Zephyr Spark

Part 1 Memories

The little purple dragon flashed his plastic stick as a warrior of old. He walked purposefully on his chubby legs towards the purple unicorn, who watched amused. The drake withdrew his ancient weapon and fell to one knee, placing his hand over his heart and bowing.

“Princess Twilight,” the dragon addressed her with reverence, “I have beaten all your captors and found you at last.”

The filly grinned at him before remembering her part and adjusting her plastic crown. Composing herself with the elegance embodied only by Princess Celestia, she smiled at the dragon, “Noble knight, I am grateful to see you once again. I thank you for your service.”

He extended a clawed hand and she took it, as he led her back to their kingdom, a pillow fortress.

Ever since Shining left to train at the royal guard, Twilight had been rather despondent. Noticing her unhappiness at losing her brother and playmate, Spike personally stepped in to cheer her up. He convinced her to play pretend like children, loving the present with happy abandon. Whether it was the extent Spike went to entertain her, the freedom to act like a child, or even pretending she was a princess, Twilight was enjoying every moment.

“Twilight, Spike! It’s time for dinner!” Twilight Velvet’s voice sounded from the kitchen.

Twilight removed her crown and turned to Spike, “Thanks for doing this, Spike. It’s been so much fun.”

To her surprise, Spike bowed once again, “Anything for you, your majesty.”

She chuckled then dropped into a fit of laughter, which Spike soon joined. They fell on the floor guffawing. When the laughter subsided, Twilight laid on the floor gazing upon the drake. She couldn’t help smiling.

“Hey Spike,” she tapped her fore hooves nervously, “maybe we could do this again sometime?”

“Anything for you, Twilight,” Spike smiled as they stood back up.

“Twilight! I said it’s time for dinner!”

“We’re coming, mom!” Twilight trotted to the door.

She turned around, but Spike was gone.

“Spike?” She searched the room for her friend.

“Twilight!” The shouting grew.

“Spike, where are you?” She became worried. “This isn’t funny.”

“Twilight!” Her mother’s voice became deeper, shriller.

“Spike, answer me!” She shouted.

“TWILIGHT, HELP ME!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Screaming. Screaming? Why screaming? Who? Spike!

Twilight Sparkle’s head jerked from the chair as Spike’s pained shrieks filled the Canterlot hospital. She and her six friends, woken by the tumult, rose to their hooves and raced to his room, not caring how loudly their hooves slammed on the floor tiles. Barging through the door, they saw him writhing in his bed, eyes clenched wet with tears and teeth gnashing.

“Spike!” Twilight gripped the squirming little dragon’s shoulders, trying to wake him up.

Her grip only made the trembling dragon howl, with animalistic fear. A nurse and doctor rushed through the doors, shoving five of the friends aside, all except the loyal alicorn. The nurse’s horn shimmered with a blue aura as she pinned the dragon to the bed. The doctor pressed a needle into Spike’s arm. The moment the needle poked through Spike’s arm, he screamed more loudly than he ever had before. As the sedation took effect, he finally opened his eyes to see his greatest friend and hero before him. Spike lifted a trembling hand towards her, eyes wide with apprehension. Twilight placed her hoof into his hand, and Spike nearly crushed it in his grip. Eyes fluttered and eventually closed like a solemn tomb as he slipped into restless sleep, knowing he was not alone.

The doctor and nurse suggested Twilight remain with Spike for the rest of the evening to keep him calm. Her friends stayed beside her silent vigil, as she caressed her precious little friend’s head. Hours passed and they remained by his side, silent and vigilant statues. One of the statues tired of silently watching and spoke.

“This is the fifth time he’s done this just today,” Rarity’s blue eyes stared at Spike sleeping uneasily. “What happened those five days he was missing?”

None of them had an answer. None of them knew what happened to Spike. All they knew was he disappeared ten days ago in the Everfree Forest. After five days, Princess Celestia notified Twilight that she finally discovered Spike had fallen deep within the earth and was in very immediate peril. With Princess Luna and Princess Cadence, they carefully drilled through the rock layers several hundred thousand feet, and found him lying on the ground in a terrible state near death, covered with cuts, grime, and practically immobile. Three days later, he woke up in Canterlot Hospital, surrounded by his friends. Twilight embraced her long-lost family member with tears, swearing she would never lose him again.

Yet, this was no happy ending. Spike was sick. Not with a disease, but with some unfathomable, lingering affliction. He would seldom sleep and would barely eat, he would angrily lash out at his friends, and he would sob at the strangest provocations. What little sleep the dragon found was punctuated by screams and plagued with torments. His behavior was erratic, unstable. The needle, however, constantly made him shriek.

Every one of them wanted to help their friend, but how could they when none of them knew what was upsetting him? They could only gaze at the little drake, knowing he and they would not rest well tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the morning light burst through the window, the six friends remained by Spike’s side. The drake had woken up groggily and wordlessly. He met Twilight’s eyes for a full minute, before his eyes drifted to the white, square tiled ceiling above. His eyes were open but may as well have been in another world.

A cream unicorn bearing a clipboard and a white nurse hat with a red cross entered through the doors. The nurse smiled at the little dragon, “Well Mr. Spike, it seems you’ve made a full recovery. How are you feeling?”

“Great,” he answered half-heartedly, failing to replicate the nurse’s smile.

The nurse frowned for a moment but decided not to press the issue. She turned her gaze to the purple alicorn, who she realized had stayed by Spike’s side all night.

“We’ve run tests to see if he’s developed any lingering illnesses,” the nurse explained. “He seems physically healthy. I just need you to sign some release papers and you can take him home.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Twilight dipped her head and slowly slipped her hoof out of Spike’s grasp. His eyes grew wide and his lips quivered; his body trembled, as the emotional tremors grew dangerously violent. Twilight feared he would have another breakdown. Before he could say a word, a white hoof was thrust into his claws and another white hoof stroked his head, pacifying the eruption. Spike’s green eyes turned to see that lovely white unicorn, gazing at him with calm reassurance. His tense body began to relax as he gripped Rarity’s hoof with dwindling apprehension. Twilight spared Rarity and thankful smile and followed the nurse out the door, leaving Spike surrounded by their friends yet still alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After lengthy procedures, Spike was released from the hospital around 12:00 pm. Still slightly feeble, Spike stumbled a few steps out of the door before a violet aura surrounded him, lifting him onto Twilight’s back. He ran his claws through her silky, purple mane, reminding himself she was real. Gripping her fur tightly, he rested his head on the back of her neck. His eyelids felt so heavy, but he dared not sleep, fearing the nightmares.

The trip back to Ponyville was fairly uneventful for Spike. Several ponies greeted him, welcoming him home from Big Macintosh to Sweetie Belle to Cheerilee to Applebloom to Octavia to Scootaloo to – actually he was not completely sure who else greeted him. Yes, there were many other ponies welcoming him home but after a while, he just numbly went through the motions. Smile. Say hello. And walk on.

“Hey, Spike,” Pinkie Pie’s voice broke through his silent thoughts, “how about we throw you a welcome home party? If you give me a little time, I could have all of Ponyville celebrating.”

Spike’s head shook numbly, before returning to rest back on Twilight’s neck.

“But I –.”

“Sorry, Pinkie.” Twilight said, “I don’t think Spike’s up for a party right now.”

Pinkie Pie’s mane deflated, likely at his brusque response and Twilight’s statement, but Spike could not find it in himself to care. He did care about his friend’s feelings; he knew he did, but he lacked the stamina to act on that knowledge. The rhythm of Twilight’s hooves on the grass was a mesmerizing metronome, making him drowsier by the second. Her swaying body was rocking him to empty sleep. In the distance, the crystal castle was approaching, though it was growing blurry.

Before the darkness overtook him, Spike heard a gentle voice, “It’s alright, Spike. I’ll still be here when you wake up.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There were no dreams. No pain, but no life. Spike stared at the ceiling, vaguely aware of Starlight Glimmer and Twilight Sparkle resting nearby, and knowing the rest of his friends were nearby in the castle having offered to stay for moral support.

Carefully slipping past the two out the tall white door, he made his way through the dark hallways. He had no destination in mind; he just wanted to keep walking. Soon, he arrived at the living room. He stared at the living room table and chairs. The chairs were dark brown, sturdy and the table matched their construction perfectly. Twilight was a perfectionist and Rarity always had an eye for interior design.

Noticing something on the table counter, he rose up to the chair and took a closer look. There was a document with his name, listing his various ailments. He studied it, hoping to find … something, he wasn’t sure what. He was thoroughly disappointed. Setting the document aside, he noticed another piece of paper beneath. Intrigued, his head unconsciously tilted as he read.

There were various names of doctors listed, none of whom Spike knew, and information to contact each. Beside each doctor’s name an address, qualifications, previous experience, patient satisfaction ratings, and fields of expertise. The dragon frowned. Why was this here? Then, he looked back at the other document, all about him. His subconscious quickly jumped to a conclusion. Twilight must have thought something was wrong with him, that he was insane.

He heard a noise from behind him. Instinctively, he stood still.

“Spike? I thought you were asleep?” He sensed Rainbow Dash rubbing her eyes as she approached him. When he did not respond, she glanced to the table and noticed the documents, “What’re you looking at?”

“I was hoping you could tell me,” he turned on the pegasus sharply, “why does Twilight need to send me to a nut house?”

Rainbow Dash blinked, “What are you talking about?”

Spike shoved the paper in her face, “This! What is this for?”

Rainbow Dash backed up, and stared at Spike, “I’ve never seen that before. What is it?”

Spike heard more hoof steps, and from the dark hallway, he discerned the shapes of Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie approaching. They were undoubtedly woken by his outburst. Soon, they entered the room, asking what was wrong. There were more. He narrowed his eyes.

“I know you’re there, Starlight,” he turned to the hallway behind him. Slowly, the pink unicorn emerged from the darkness and tried to smile to show her good intentions. Spike kept his eyes trained on her, strangling her smile.

Lifting the paper, he pointed at it with one claw, “Can you explain this?”

Her eyes flickered a moment, her mouth trembled. That was all Spike needed to know she had an answer.

Eventually, Starlight sighed, “Twilight is worried for you, we all are. You’ve been screaming for nights, unsettled, violent even, and we just wanted to help. Twilight talked to the nurse and she suggested sending you to a doctor for treatment. But I swear, we have no intention of sending you away permanently”

“A doctor?” Spike gritted his teeth. “Is this true, Twilight?”

To any untrained eye, the darkness moved a moment. To Spike, the purple alicorn cringed, giving away her position. He knew her all too well. Spike stared at the space. Soon, Twilight stepped out of the shadows towards Spike.

“Yes,” she nodded, “I wanted to break it to you slowly, but –.”

“But what?” Spike snapped, “Were you afraid I would put up a fight before I let you send me to some quack?”

Unaccustomed to this harsh treatment, Twilight blinked, her eyes growing moist. That was all it took to make Spike stop. What was he doing? This wasn’t him. Spike felt a lump in his throat. Clenching his fists, he inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth, steadying his pulse.

“I’m sorry, Twilight,” Spike turned around, avoiding their eyes. He placed his claws on the table, dropping the paper back to its place. He studied the wooden table surface, absentmindedly. He pursed his lips, trying to find a way to make her understand.

Running a finger over the wood, he whispered, “I’m just not ready to talk about it.”

The memories began trickling through, like water leaking from holes in a dam. He kept his eyes open, taking in his current surroundings, but this world was close to melting away before his eyes. Something on his shoulder. He tensed up, about to spring away, before he saw Twilight recoiling from his movement. He relaxed his breathing, trying to loosen his muscle tension. She was here now. He was safe. But being safe wasn’t enough. His friends stared at him, showing more love in their eyes than he felt the right to; their eyes screamed their devotion and sympathy.

“Spike,” Twilight sternly gazed at him with unmoving resolve. He stood obediently at attention. “You’ve clearly been through a traumatic experience. You aren’t going to start getting better unless you tell some pony what happened to you.”

“It wasn’t just what happened to me,” Spike sniffed, as the memories returned in full force. “It’s what I –.”

They all looked at him expectantly. His chest grew tight. His body trembled. His hands grew damp with sweat. His eyes flashed with pain.

“It's what I-,” he could no longer suppress the memories. Twilight had her hooves around him in a second. He gripped her fur, pressing his teary eyes into her chest. Gently, she stoked his head, rocking like a boat on the waves.

“Spike, I know you’re scared of what you had to endure, but if you just share with us, I promise we could help you.” Breaking away from the embrace while keeping her hooves in his claws, Spike looked into Twilight’s purple eyes. He could trust her; he knew that. There was no stopping the memories now.

“Alright,” he nodded, with a trembling body. “I’ll tell you all what happened.”

The seven friends gathered around him, sitting down on the floor. He gazed at each one, took a deep breath, and spoke, “But I need you to promise me that you’ll believe me, no matter how strange it sounds.”

One by one, his friends nodded. Spike closed his eyes, and the memories poured forth like a flood. Unwillingly, he relived those events in vivid detail.

Comments

[JazzTheFox53rd]

Wasn't the start of the story I was expecting but it is still good. I know I'll enjoy this story alot.

[VirtualCipher]

7571192 I agree. However, this story has me already enthralled and I will continue. Awesome writing, Zephyr!

[Iamsorry]

Awesome start
But if honest this should not be the first chapter its like the flashbacks in the original Stephen Kings IT
Takes away all the tension XD

[Zephyr Spark]

8691615 Thanks for the compliment. I never read "It." I was actually trying to set up the story in a sort of framing device, where there's a story within a story within a story. It can be difficult to maintain suspense when readers already know or can guess the outcome.