Colder
It felt colder in the cave.
Of course, Spike already knew it would be cold in the icy cavern, having set foot into it plenty of times before just that same day. To try and offset that now, he and Thorax had pieced together a small fire that they had positioned themselves around, each sitting on the side opposite from the other. Spike had lit it with his firebreath while Thorax had cast a spell with his changeling magic that would keep the fire going without consuming all of its fuel for, hopefully, up to triple the normal time. It resulted in a curious magical fire consisting of flames that were both the emerald green of the little dragon’s firebreath as well as the cyan blue of Thorax’s magical aura, casting a wide array of colored light into the darkening cavern of ice. More importantly, it also generated a small bubble of heat that warmed their small corner of the spacious hollow, taking the edge off the chill.
Despite all of that, it still felt much colder in the cavern than before to Spike. But he suspected it was because of more than just the physical temperature of the cave.
Thorax had been quiet for a long time, his solid blue eyes filled with fruitless mental activity as he attempted to process something appropriate to say. “I’m sorry,” he finally spoke softly.
“It’s not your fault,” Spike mumbled, arms wrapped around his legs as he stared into the colored flames of their modest fire.
“Yes it is,” Thorax insisted. “If it hadn’t been for me…if I hadn’t tried…asked you to…” he trailed off, his thought getting choked off and he averted his gaze.
“It’s not your fault,” Spike repeated again. “It was my choice to make. Not yours.”
They were silent for a long time again.
“You really didn’t have to do that, you know,” Thorax stated after a moment.
Spike didn’t reply as he continued to stare into the flames. He wanted to say that he absolutely did have to do what he had done, to reassure the changeling that it was the right thing to have done, regardless of the consequences. But at the moment, present circumstances made it hard for him to be able to get the words out…at least while still having them be meaningful.
“You going to be alright?” Thorax asked next after another lengthy pause.
Spike shrugged. “I’m still working that out myself.”
“Had it even occurred to you this could happen? When you decided that while they were arguing about what to do, you’d…well…”
“Truthfully? No. No, it really didn’t.”
Thorax rubbed one of his hole-riddled hooves against his foreleg sheepishly. “I guess you’re entitled to feel pretty miserable at the moment.”
Spike finally looked up at the changeling. “Actually, you know what?” he said. “I’m really feeling just mad at the moment. Mad at the fact that they…they just…” he trailed off, feeling the roiling pit of emotions he had been trying to keep contained nearly boil over. He took a deep calming breath and shook his head. “If anyone should be sorry Thorax, it should really be me.”
His eyes glazed over as he reflected on the memory of the past afternoon, at the many glares of shock, anger, betrayal…the echoing chill of Shining Armor’s firm and final order…the look of utter dismay on Twilight’s face…but even she had sided with the others over him. That what was probably what stung the most. Why couldn’t she at least have understood? She always had in the past.
Spike squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the slurry of emotions begin to bubble up against his will again, hot tears starting to seep into his eyes. He pulled himself even tighter into a ball. “I really thought I could make them see.”
Thorax was quiet for a long moment and didn’t immediately reply. But then he got up and slowly walked over to Spike’s side of the fire and dropped down onto his belly beside him. “If it helps any…I really thought you were going to convince them too.”
Spike nodded to himself for a moment, trying to maintain his crumbling bravado for a little while longer, but it finally caved in. Tears streaming from his eyes, Spike ended up leaning against the firm carapace of the changeling’s shoulder and wept into it. Thorax tensed when Spike did this; as a changeling he really wasn’t used to this. But like the new friend he was, Thorax didn’t protest and let Spike be. The little dragon appreciated it. He decided in the end he was going to have to get the emotions out eventually anyway, so he let the tears flow for a few moments.
“At least I believe you’re a friend,” Spike managed to mumble out as he got through the worst of his tears.
Thorax snorted. “A lot of good it did you too,” he muttered. “If I had known what was going to happen because of it…I would’ve just left you alone way back when we first crossed paths.”
They were quiet again for a long moment, staring into the flames of their fire.
“Where are you going to go now?” Thorax then asked.
“Where can I go?” Spike asked. “I’ve effectively been banished. Banished from the Crystal Empire. From Ponyville. From all of Equestria. On charges of aiding and abetting the enemy of all things.” He sniffled. “Just because I had the novel idea to befriend a changeling.” He grabbed a small rock sitting next to him and hurled it angrily into the nearby chasm that divided the cavern almost neatly in half, listening to it bounce off the sides of the seemingly bottomless pit a couple of times as it fell. “Guess that says a lot about the true nature of ponies in Equestria, as much as I hate to admit it.”
Thorax averted his gaze for a moment, afraid to agree with the rightly temperamental dragon on the matter just yet. “They were all you had, weren’t they? Your pony friends?”
Spike let his head fall on Thorax’s shoulder again. It wasn’t the softest of surfaces, but at least it was warm. He then nodded his head. “And they’ve turned their backs on me, I suppose.”
Thorax was again quiet for a long moment, but he nonetheless looked sad for his dragon friend and his unfortunate predicament.
“So where are you going to go?” Spike asked the changeling finally.
Thorax sighed. “Nowhere, I guess,” he said. “I don’t really have anywhere else to go either. Can’t stay here, and I can’t go back to the hive…so I guess I’m just an outcast with nowhere to stay.”
Spike thought for a moment. “Guess we’ll just have to be outcasts together then,” he deduced.
Despite everything, Thorax managed a small, but sad, grin. “Guess so.”
As night fell outside the cave, the two continued sit and stare into the flames of their small fire, huddle together to try and keep each other warm, and ponder what fate would hurtle them at next.
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Well this is starting... badly for them.
But interesting for us readers!
I gotta say, what happened to them seems at least rather straightforward... the real question in my mind is how they could turn on Spike like this, and what this might have meant for Spike's "place" in Pony society, and his place with Twilight.
Would she be torn up by the hastiness of the decision, and hating that it came to it? Or just angry at Spike for being secretly the bad sort the whole time?
That's more about what might happen if they come back or somehow actually contact Twilight and co again, than the past, though.
But here's to hoping that there's more awaiting them than the freezing north!
Shining Armor has the least amount of authority there and no authority in Equestria proper. Only Celestia and or Luna could banish him from all Equestria
Well all I can say is that I'm hooked
I hope rarity smash a bottle over shining head and call him out.
I'm interested. Maybe ideal Spike and Thorax can go to the dragon Empire, to talk to Ember
Interesting approach. But I can't really see Twilight abandoning the one who's like a little brother, if not a son, to her.
7715597
The whole premise doesn't make sense. It would have been easier for Twilight and the others to assume Spike was brainwashed like Shining back in the wedding.
It's drama for the sake of drama.
I suspected something like that could happen.
Ponies seem to be able to change their opinions over a song, but I doubt that would work every time.
I have two ideas where they might go:
The Dragon Empire (Spike knows their leader) or Zebrica (or whatever is the name for the Zebra-Nation).
Can't wait to see what happens next!
Small question: You had mentioned the Season Finale. Will it have an impact on the story?
7715824
I would like to see Twilight decide to buck it and go to join Spike and Thorax. But judging the synopsis and the characters tags, this will not happen.
Everything about what happened is clear to me (never really liked the song he sung anyway), and the ponies, on a very real scale have soon racism and less forgive attitudes towards non-ponies. Even, Zecora, was feared and outcast.
All and all, this is very interesting and would make a good read.
A few thoughts I have is, Spike, still has, Ember and the dragon lands, but I was also wondering if you could show some moments with, Twilight and the others in the, Crystal Empire, Ponyville and maybe Canterlot who don't know about this yet or who may have different opinions on this matter. There are still a few non-ponies and some ponies alike who may not like this (Zecora, Gidla, Discord maybe Celestia to name a few).
Just my thoughts, but your story has a lot of promise already. Keep up the good work, will be watching.
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For fear of giving too much away, I'm hesitant to talk too much about what will happen ahead, but I will at least say many of you are thinking in the right general direction thus far.
Well, I'm pleased to see that a lot of you readers are already asking the right sort of questions, thinking about the right sort of things.
7715027
Well, Shining Armor is still a prince and he and Cadance share joint control over the Crystal Empire, and he is the one with the most military experience. As I see it, the ruling was a joint choice between both him and Cadance (and indirectly Twilight as well), Shining was just the one who was opted to be the one to verbally make and enforce that no doubt difficult ruling. But you still raise a fair point, I'm probably overreaching their authority in having them conduct a full banishment from all the rest of Equestria as well a little. With the whole Equestria royalty being so tightly knit and all technically family, though, I would imagine that one wouldn't question the other on such rulings too much, so long as adequate justification is provided...but perhaps I still ought to address this in some manner...I'll look into it for future chapters.
7715171
Well, nothing quite as dramatic as that...but I will admit she (and certain others) will get her chance to show her misgivings later...but it's probably going to be a few chapters before that is addressed.
7715597
Spike had thought the same thing. I can assure you that he won't take it lightly for largely that very reason.
7715824
It is a bit of drama for the sake of drama, I admit, and there's no good way to avoid it entirely in a story like this I've found, but I'd like to think that, as more details surface for you readers, what the ponies' line of thinking that led them to doing this will make a bit more sense...still not justified, but you can at least see their (narrow-minded) thinking behind it.
7715854
The season finale did have an influence on how the story will end at least, I'll say that much for now. It also necessitated some changes on how I was planning to portray the changelings and their culture through the course of the story, and it was with that in mind that was the real big reason I waited to start posting until after the finale, to insure there wouldn't be any newly established canon that was going to interfere with my plans.
7715891
I will say that Zecora and Gilda are not currently planned to feature in the story in any shape or form, though I suppose they might get mentioned in passing in name only. Discord also won't physically appear in the story for logistical reasons, but he will get mentioned from time to time later on, though I don't know yet if his personal stance on the matter will get clearly conveyed...maybe just implied at best.
Also, the story will be primarily about just Spike and Thorax, and whether or not they can find some semblance of a normal life again now that they've been banished (hence the slice of life tag, there will be plenty of chapters that will be more slice of life than anything) and exploring their friendship during these trying times, but second-hand word about the Mane 6 and where they stand on all of this will still pop up sporadically throughout the story.
7716170 That all sounds good to me. Thanks for replying back.
Pretty interesting concept, and I'll definitely be watching this, but I share some confusion and skepticism that Twilight would abandon Spike over this. Essentially everyone else, yes, but I can't see Twilight agreeing to banish Spike over this - if she truly wasn't convinced, I'd expect her to think Spike was brainwashed, like Shining Armor had been during the wedding. They've been inseparable for Spike's entire life, and most of Twilight's; that doesn't go away so quickly, not for an action like befriending an enemy. We're not talking about Spike committing murder, here.
So overall, this seems an odd move, and I hope the story addresses it.
7716170
I'm curious to see where Twilight stands in this and what she will do.
I mean, I like the concept a lot. I just have a hard time seeing Twilight banish Spike. I am interested in seeing where this goes later, though.
Well shit, time to see where this goes!!
Loving this so far and hope to see more soon!
7716240 7716302 7716411
I'm seeing a reoccurring theme in this criticism more than I expected, so even though I was already going to address this some in upcoming chapters, I'm thinking I'm going to make it a point to address it further still as I keep writing so to insure it's properly covered. However, be warned, due to the set up of the story, the answers you seek may not come up all at once, and it may be a few chapters before all of them surface. But I think I can still make that work to my advantage...we'll see.
Do let me know if I'm botching it instead as more of the story gets posted.
7716648
Ok. Don't worry, we readers can't tell you how to write your own story. We just look forward to see the characters act and react credibly. Spike's situation is big, and it sure hits him and the ones closest to him hard.
Well, that's an interesting idea. While I don't see Twilight ever turning her back on her little brother like that no matter what, it is an interesting 'what if'. I want to see where this goes... even though I know it'll probably be dark and depressing.
Finally, a fic that acknowledged that people are fucking garbage. You try to make friends with an outsider, they cling to their hatred like a fucking hillbilly clings to his rifle.
Your story still sucks, by the way.
7716648 That's good to hear. As long as you're aware of the discrepancy and plan on tackling it, I'm content. I'm aware that characters aren't perfect or impartial narrators, and right now we're only getting one side of the story. I just hope Twilight's actions, when they are addressed, are handled realistically.
Ok, so, I literally just watched the episode with thorax. (Didnt know it existed til I read the authors notes here.) And I see you have written more stories with thorax. Can you tell me what order they are in by chance?
7719516
There really isn't any--they aren't interconnected, and stand alone from each other. There's isn't any particular order you need to read them in.
7719731
Oooo ok. Thank you. :)
Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor, Mi Amore Cadenza, you have joined Celestia in my list of people i don't trust
If spike gets an element, it has to be righteousness, to sacrifice your own freedom is something completely unimaginable.
RACIST PONY BASTARDS
I hope the dragons come and burn Equestria to the ground
I'm hoping for a bromance of legends.
I kinda wanna see Celestia hear about this and tell the lot of them about how disappointed she is and how their actions go against the very foundation of Equestria's beginning.
7967212
Oooh hey Twilight... Remember when your racist friends almost murdered a Zebra because she was different?
One would think that after the wedding incident that Twilight would have learned the lesson of trust by now, but nope. Even after all she and Spike have been through.
7743151 Wait! Before you rant, remember that the author himself has said this is only happening because they are acting OOC. This could not happen in canon Equestria.
finally getting around to reading this. here we go.
7717304
Thankfully the tags don't say so
Yet. ^^
(Though 200k+ words in now, I don't think they will be.)
7910606
I don't think people realise that a Bromance is an extreme bond of friendship love, not romantic love.
(HEAR THAT THIS COMMENTS DISLIKERS? TIS NOT SHIPPING)
That being said, I'm liking that Thorax is probably going to feed on his friendship.
Makes you realise how cool legitimate love is.
Poor Spike...to have been betrayed by everypony...even Twilight...that’s really gotta sting
.
I doubt Fluttershy is going to take Spikes banishment well.
I saw this fic around 2016, but I never actually got around to reading it — at least, not more than a few chapters. But it's 2019, and I'm still eager to set aside the time and finally pierce through that intimidating 600,000 word barrier.
HOORAY HOORAY THEY'LL NEVER BE GAY!
Oh man thats suck That didn't believe spike poor guy 😢
PAY BACK TIME!
There needs to be a to between continued and sit.