Of Fears and Falling
News had come from Canterlot, a single Pegasus in dark armor appearing at the edges of the Condottieiri's camp with a message from Luna. The search party was to depart from Canterlot in one week's time. Factoring a three day journey and one day to approach the castle before striking, the consensus reached in the camp was to depart for Canterlot in three days, in order to give the flight of mercenaries a chance to rest and recover from the long flight of the previous day. This was a two edged blade for the three companions, because while it was a chance for them to rest and recuperate from the massive stress of the past days, it also provided them with a chance to come to terms with that fact that they had destroyed hundreds, if not thousands of lives.
It was hardest on Spike. Twilight found that he refused to sleep the night they had come down from the mountain, the third night he had done so. While he said it was because he didn't feel tired, Twilight knew that to be false. His shoulders slumped in exhaustion, his breathing was labored, and his movements were sluggish. He was irritable and easily confused, preferring to spend time on his own, going for long walks in the woods and refusing to talk about Fillydelphia with Golden Radiance or Twilight.
The mare was beside herself with worry. Not only would Spike be useless in a fight in this condition, he was slowly causing himself even more pain, and Twilight was unable to do a thing about it. Every attempt to help him was met with a rebuke, gentle at first, but decidedly less so as time went by. Finally, he refused to talk about it at all, simply leaving whenever Twilight tried to bring it up. She would have followed, but a dangerous glint in Spike's eyes warned her that it might not have been a good idea.
"I just don't know what to do with him, Tara!" she confided, Golden Radiance nodding in sympathy as they cradled mugs of warm mead at the end of the first day. Spike had left the camp in the late afternoon, spreading his wings and lifting into the gathering twilight after her last attempt. "He won't talk about it, and I know that it's causing him to hurt. I just can't get him to open up and talk with me."
"And you've brought it up several times already. I think I understand, Twilight." Tarantella said, as she stared into the flames. "We occasionally deal with the dragons up here. I can understand him being in a mood, but have you ever considered the fact that he is simply unready to speak on it? I have not spoken with many dragons myself, but I do know they can be incredibly stubborn at times. Perhaps he simply will not talk about it for a while yet. You may have to accept it. E la vita."
"But he won't sleep! You've see him, he refuses to even try. I've never seen him go more than a day or two without sleep, but he's going on four now. He's worse than useless right now, he's a liability. I could accept that if not for the fact that I care about him too much. He's not just an ally to me, he's my oldest friend." Twilight said, as she stared at the mountains she had seen him flying towards.
Golden Radiance spoke up. "I believe that you will also need somepony to talk to, Twilight. Spike and I may have been through a lot, but this is all about you, personally. And you have yet to even acknowledge the multitude of betrayals against yourself."
Twilight indicated her crystal. "I use this while I sleep. It lets me go over a lot of things while I would normally be unconscious. It's how I came up with the plan for the train back in the supply depot. I thought about it in my sleep."
The paper construct inspected it closely. "That is very impressive, Ms. Sparkle. I still believe you need an outside party to speak to, however. Spike would be ideal. You clearly have a great deal of trust with one another."
"What about you?" Twilight countered, a bit defensively. "Don't tell me that you aren't bothered by the things we've done."
"Of course I am." Golden Radiance said calmly. "However, my life shall be far longer than I originally intended. Should I be killed, I will simply go dormant, a book once more until somepony decides to revive me. That I made sure of. I shall have plenty of time to contemplate my sins, eternity in fact. You and Spike shall have considerably less time, as coarse as it sounds. You two are the priority, Ms. Sparkle, not us."
Tarantella nodded emphatically. "You have been chosen to lead us by Luna. Us and many others. No one else, not her, not Golden Radiance, not some noble or warrior. You are our guiding light, as it were. Should you or Spike fall, we will have no one."
Twilight closed her eyes. "Fine. I'll talk to him. I've got an idea on how to do it, too. But I'll need everypony away from the camp, far away. The Castillo should work."
________________________________________
Spike landed heavily near the camp, panting slightly as he surveyed the tents. Frowning, he listened for the normal activity inside of the settlement, hearing nothing. Warily, he padded into the middle of the crude dwellings, noting that a fire was lit in the center of camp. Steering himself in that direction, the dragon was surprised to find that only one pony was sitting nearby, tossing bundles of plants onto the fire, sending heady smoke into the air.
Spike got a whiff of it, recoiling a bit at the tangy smell of citrus, though he knew that no plant in these mountains bore that sort of fruit. He peered through the air, noting that the pony in question wore leather armor. He ventured a question. "Hello? Where is everypony? Is there a raid?"
The pony looked up, her horn glinting in the low light of the fire. "They've gone to give us some privacy, Spike. We need to talk, both of us."
Spike snorted angrily, his claws digging into the earth. "I've already said I'm not going to discuss Fillydelphia, Twilight. You may as well drop it."
She shook her head. "No. You're not sleeping, you've not asked me to find you any food at all, and you're acting irrational. We are both talking this out, and there's not a thing you can do to stop me. We can do this the easy way, or not. It's up to you."
Spike said nothing, choosing instead to launch himself into the air, leaving the unicorn inside the camp. He turned towards the mountains. Twilight wanted to act like that? Fine, he'd stay up there until it was time to leave. Of course it was childish, but he wasn't the only one acting like a child. He heard a faint pop from inside the camp. Suddenly, an unexpected burden landed on his neck. Unused to the weight, he twisted his head around.
Twilight clung determinedly to his neck. Spike's wingbeats faltered, unable to support the young dragon's weight as well as hers. Golden Radiance had been no problem, being made largely of paper. Twilight was heavy, and he simply could not support her. Before he could do much more than open his mouth, however, Twilight's horn spat with magic, and she touched him between both of his eyes. Spike's body seized up, and suddenly the world was shrouded in blackness.
________________________________________
Spike looked up at the light above him, glimmering faintly as if viewed through smoke. He flapped his wings, propelling himself through the void. As the light approached, he felt a gentle tug, as if it was drawing him inside. Deciding to let it, he allowed himself to glide forward, and the light shone brightly, engulfing the drake in a warm cocoon of shimmering purple luminescence. Spike squinted, the light in question shining through his eyelids even when he closed them. It quickly became unbearable, and as it grew Spike once more smelled citrus. At last, the light began to recede, and Spike was no longer flying.
The dragon crouched on top of a small rise, looking over a familiar valley. A swamp stretched away to his right, and a mountain range rose to meet the sky on his left. He could see the Everfree Forest ahead, but it was what lay in between him and that expanse of trees that interested the dragon. Where Ponyville should have been was instead a well-kept manor, large, but nowhere near as large as the town had been. Spike took flight, spiraling down towards the well-manicured grounds, aiming for the front of the house. He passed over the walls, landing directly in front of the door to the house. A note was fastened to the front, and he glanced at it briefly.
"Spike-in the garden around back. Waiting with a drink. Twilight"
The dragon walked around the side of the house, aiming for the garden. A whitewashed gazebo housed both a table and the mare he was looking for. Spike walked up to the table, ignoring the shade keeping the hot sun off of his back. Twilight regarded him calmly. After a brief moment, the drake spoke. "Where are we?"
"In my head, Spike. Golden Radiance’s crystal helps me to visualize this place, and this is what I choose to visualize. I thought it would help us both to talk. Sort of removing us from the situation, letting us take a look at the problem objectively, instead of having it right in front of us." Twilight levitated a glass into the air, ice clinking against the side. "Imaginary lemonade?"
Spike took the glass gingerly. "So, if we are both here, at least in respect to our minds, what's happened to our bodies?"
Twilight's face became grim. "Well, right now I've accelerated our mental processes several hundred times. We have some time to talk, but I'm afraid that right now, since we are both technically unconscious, both of us are falling from several hundred feet. I wouldn't worry about it much if I were you, I'll let you go before you are in danger."
Spike stared at her. "What about the Pegasi?"
"They've been sent to the Castillo. They wouldn't be able to interfere if they wanted to. And Golden Radiance might be able to slow the fall if not for the fact that she doesn't know what I planned along with the rest of the Condottieri. It's just you and me, Spike."
The dragon growled. "And if I refuse to talk here?"
Twilight sipped at her lemonade. "I hold you here for a while. Long enough for both of us to fall some more. Then I let you go. That jolt you felt before falling unconscious was me galvanizing your muscles. Your wings are flaring right now. You'll be slowed enough to glide in for a soft landing. I won't be so lucky, of course."
Spike snarled. "You have no right to have me make that decision."
"I have every right." Twilight snapped. "I need you, Spike. I need the dragon I love back, not just fighting fit but as someone I can trust. For pity's sake, you're refusing to do anything to help yourself, and you're not letting me help you. So, now I'm helping you without your permission. We talk this out now, or you may as well have killed me when we reach Canterlot, because if you aren't by my side, I'm dead anyway."
Spike was silent for a moment. He stared at the glass of liquid in his claw, condensation running down one side. He looked back at Twilight. "You wouldn't go through with it, would you?"
Her face and body were unreadable. "I don't particularly want to find out. I'd advise we not get to that point. And I'm not letting either of us wake up until we've genuinely solved the problem. So no faking it. We are in my head, so I'll know if you're putting me off."
The dragon downed the lemonade. It was good, sweet and cool and refreshing. "Fine. Ok, fine. Let's talk."
________________________________________
Twilight spoke up first. "You dropped an airship on my brother." She shook herself, realizing that it sounded accusatory. "That's not what I meant. You dropped the airship, I led him under it. I thought it was going to be Applejack or Cadance. But it was Shining Armor, that idiot. Of course it was, I should have realized. AJ was too far away, she would have seen the wreckage. And Cadance wasn't one to follow me, she would have used magic. And Shining Armor never really thought about what he was going to do when he caught up to me. He just sort of...followed. He was brave like that. That was one reason he joined the Regulars, actually. And why he was commissioned into the Guard. You know that, that award for valor or something...he saved somepony important early on and went from there. And he always wanted to protect me, like I couldn't handle it by myself. I thought it was annoying, at first. I still do, kind of. But he was there. And sure enough, when I blinked out from under the airship, he was there."
A bird landed briefly on the gazebo. It chirped musically for a moment before taking wing again, flitting away towards Canterlot. Twilight spoke again. "I don't know if he's alive or dead or paralyzed or what. And to be honest, when it came to my friends and Cadance, I didn't particularly care. It's not any of their faults, except for Cadance. And I'm beginning to have second thoughts about her. She's spent her whole life with Celestia, and if we believe Luna, then it stands to reason that she may not be understanding her role in things. I could very well be attacking ponies who are completely innocent."
Spike snorted. "Twilight, you hardly have a thing to worry about. You defended yourself. I killed hundreds, and liked it. And they were only defending the ponies they had sworn to protect. How do you think that makes me feel?"
Twilight looked at him, her purple eyes meeting his green. "I don't know, Spike. How does that make you feel?"
Spike opened his mouth to retort, before he slowly closed it. How did that make him feel? There was fear, yes. Fear of reprisal. And anger. He still felt saddened by the deaths he had caused. But it was what was underneath all of that, the feeling he never had wanted to feel when taking anything's life. It had felt..."Good. It felt good, ok? And that's what scares me, it felt right, and I liked it. They feared me for what I was. And I don't want that, but at the same time I do, and I can't help it. I did that for you, Twilight. I was protecting you like any other dragon would protect something they treasure, and it felt right in a way that scares me to death. Happy?"
Twilight blinked. "What do you mean, treasure?"
Spike sighed. "You're my only family, Twilight. Not just my mom, but my sister and my best friend. Dragons don't care for others, as far as I can tell. Whoever laid me, way back...they certainly didn't care enough to go looking for me when I went missing. And I remember every significant part of my life as having you in it. Even as a filly, you cared for me like family. You've never been anything but loving with me. I can see it in other ponies, you know. The fear and the tenseness is almost invisible to them. Everypony is wary of me, even if they don't realize it. Your friends, your brother, your parents...even Celestia was skittish around me, and she's a goddess. I can remember that. She didn't worry for herself, why would she? I wasn't a threat. But every time you and I played together and things got rough, even though she remained calm on the outside, she was ready on the inside."
Twilight hadn't realized how much he had cared for her, exactly. "And you were willing to do that much to protect me?"
Spike shook his head. "No. I would have done so much more. Had somepony hurt you, nothing would have hid them from me. I would have dug up mountains and boiled oceans dry. And that's what worries me. I care for others, but I would lay all other lives aside for yours, Twilight. I mean that. And that's exactly why I lay a fleet of airships to waste."
Twilight lay one hoof on his arm. "Spike. I'm honored. I never realized that you loved me that much. And you can't blame yourself for what you did. It's part of you, it's part of being a dragon. We can't reclaim those lives, but we can work to save others. You and I together, we could take down Celestia, we could show the world what's really in store for them. And when we're done, you and I can go somewhere, and we will never have to do that to another living thing ever again."
Spike pulled away. "Do you really believe that? If Luna doesn't come through, it comes down to three against six, and those six are all heavy hitters. And can we really take down a goddess? Can we even make it into Canterlot?"
Twilight smiled and turned away. A bank of clouds rolled in from over the mountain range where Canterlot should have sat. She spoke. "It's funny. Even though Celestia planned my death from before day one, she did her best to make sure I led a good life, and that I turned out to be a good pony. I've spent my time asleep going through a lot of memories, Spike. One of them, in particular, sticks with me. A bit of advice from her that made a big impact." The clouds flickered and swirled, taking on very recognizable shapes.
________________________________________
The filly struggled to lift the stones on the ground, her face screwed up in effort as her teacher looked on impassively. One wobbled into the air, followed by another. Her magic flickered, weakening rapidly as she tried to lift the third and final stone. With a gasp, she let them both fall.
Celestia turned to her. Smiling, she observed the stones on the ground. "Almost, Twilight. Once more. When you've lifted three then we will go in for the meal."
Twilight's stomach growled. Sighing, she let her horn spring to life once more. The first stone came easily. The second followed, and she reached for the third. Again her horn flickered, and she almost dropped both stones before catching them.
"Good save, Twilight." Celestia said, beaming at her. "One more to go, you can do it."
Twilight nodded, and the third stone wobbled a bit as she focused harder than ever. Suddenly, both stones fell to the ground. Twilight's shoulders slumped in defeat. "I can't do it." she said, her voice low and defeated.
"Twilight Sparkle, I'm surprised at you!" Celestia said, her tone disappointed. "You can do amazing magic at a very young age, magic most unicorns will only dream of. Never let anypony tell you that you can't do something."
Twilight Sparkle looked up from the rocks. "But Princess, I've been trying to get three for a week!"
The monarch of the sun smiled. "When we started, could you lift two?"
The young unicorn frowned. "Well, no...but it only took me a day to get two, this has been six!"
Princess Celestia placed a patient wing over her. "Twilight. It's not about how many times you try, or how many times you fail. It doesn't even matter if you've succeeded or not, even though success is what we want. All that matters is how many times you get back up and try again. I promise you, so long as you keep trying, there will come a day where lifting three pebbles into the air will seem like the easiest thing in the world."
Twilight nodded. "Ok, Princess Celestia. I'll try again." And with that, she turned back to the stones, her face screwed up in concentration. Her features faded, and soon enough the clouds that made her up blew away.
________________________________________
Twilight spoke to Spike again. "It took another two days of hard work before I could lift three pebbles. I never forgot that conversation, however. Not during those two days, not during the next week, not ever. And you know what? A year later I went out into Canterlot on my own for the first time. I saw fillies my age struggling to lift a single stone, something that I had mastered in my first weeks with Celestia. I knew then that one single piece of advice had made sure that I was very powerful. I never set it aside, Spike. My own private motivator, something I never shared with anypony. Spike, it doesn't matter if we win or lose this. What matters is that we have to try, regardless of the outcome. We have to try and let everypony know."
Spike thought about this. "But if we go and you're captured, then it's all over. Couldn't we run? Couldn't we find someplace else?"
Twilight shook her head. "Where would we go? Where on earth could we go that the sun can't follow? She won't stop, Spike. And we aren't the only ones she's done this to. Out there in the real world, there's a grave with the names of two ponies who loved each other very much, killed for their foal. And even their love was for their foal. Maybe they met by chance, and maybe they had genuinely fallen in love. But we won't know, because they were never given that chance, Spike. I hate having to hurt others. But so long as she sends ponies to keep the truth from spreading, we will have to fight them. Maybe we won't have to hurt them, but this is the only way we have to let the world know about this web of hers, and maybe then we can let ponies live their lives in peace."
Spike coughed quietly. "I'll not kill like that again, Twilight. Not for truth. Should another threaten you, they will pay. But I will never do that again."
Twilight nodded. "I don't want you to, Spike. But when we go to Canterlot, I need you by my side. We're going in through the caves, they'll be safe. But without you, I can't trust them. When we take the Element, I'll need you. I need you, Spike. I love you, and I need you, and I don't know what I'd do if you weren't there with me, I really don't."
Spike looked at her. "I'll be there, Twilight. I promise."
________________________________________
Spike opened his eyes, looking at the mare in front of him, eyes closed peacefully, hair flowing gracefully in the wind. Limply she tumbled through the air. Something was wrong, she was supposed to have woken up by now. Spike latched onto her. His wings weren't strong enough to hold them both, and the trees loomed below, sharp spears of wood aimed at the two of them. Spike flapped furiously, slowing their fall. He felt her stir gently, and he strained to lift them both. Two hundred feet separated them from the ground. Suddenly, a hoof shot out, catching him in the ribs. Spike chuffed, instinctively letting the burden go. He watched as Twilight twisted below him, meeting his eyes in a wink before blinking safely to the ground. Relieved, he glided down to meet her, listening to the cries of alarm from the Condottieri speeding to rescue them both.
Twilight laughed as Spike spiraled down. Landing beside her, he watched as the Pegasi, distant against the night, flew to check and see if she was alright.
Turning to him, she held out one hoof. "Together to the end, right?"
Spike took it in one claw. "Until the very end."
Stats
Page generated in 0.028 seconds
Total duration
731 users online
779,673 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Aww. That's soooo sweeeet!
.......
So, when is Spike going to give her a kiss?
This, was a beautiful chapter. Twilight though, still needs to resolve her own feelings me thinks...
Twilight is probably on the razor's edge of a psychotic breakdown. Honestly surprised it hasn't already happened.
Also, kinda agree with Jirodyne. The relationship Spike and Twilight have feels like it is on the very edge of close friends becoming lovers. But that may just be me!
Another excellent chapter, you are amazing at how fast you hammer these out!
Brotherly / Sisterly love can be an amazing thing
Awesome Spike and Awesome Twily Forever!
Excellent...just...excellent...
In my opinion most authors struggle to portray Twilights and Spikes 'relationship'. You managed to nail it.
...that bond Celestia. Even if your plans are still in action, you can never sever that determination and that bond!
Excellent work.
1323244
Agreed. The amount of misguided 'mother' and 'sister' references out there are plentiful. It's quite refreshing to see someone get to the heart of it, so far beyond the words and down to the feelings.
feels chapter. i like
oh and ive realized giving twilight a dragon was a horrible mistake on celstias part
Them feels though... Twily becoming a good manipulator in her own right, making a Dragon talk.
Favorite chapter so far.
I can't help but picture Twilight and Spike eloping...
4696166 Dose the whole becoming pregnant and dying thing count with dragons too?
Just joking of course.
4948395 Most storys say that dragons can go with anything so....ya?
Celestia gave Twilight a dragon... you gone and f@cked up!
Radiant Zenith. Second time this mistake has been made.
You don't say?
4948395
Incesssssst. But yeah, no; though this story may have problems, their relationship as family is touching. I'd rather pair Twi with Tara!
If Twilight killed herself, it wouldn't stop Celestia. But it would set her plan back several generations.
Should be Radiant Zenith's or whatever her name was.
This suggests a plan is in the works. Perhaps one that you meant to foreshadow, but didn't?
I'm glad this happened. So, Spike was the second worst offender of Fillydelphia. I give him some leeway because, while burning someone alive in horrible, he's a dragon, and he's going to work with what he's got. Regardless I still think he went way too far. I also think Spike should have been trying to get Twi to retreat rather than enjoying his bloodbath, and doubly so if his draconic instincts are telling him to protect her, but this is a start. If this is a genuine development, he'll more judicious and surgical with his attacks in the future. Hopefully he'll also try to avoid unnecessary fights.
Now we just need to deal with GR, the worst offender of Fillydelphia. It's a shame that she's compartmentalized that away to deal with next century.
11245816
Looking back on this, I feel that Spike's arc here would be more compelling if the Air Corps itself was a more compelling enemy. Think about it: the Bearers, Cadance, and Shining Armor are givens. These 7 veritable powerhouses straight up made an appearance at the Prof's crib and said "Hey Twilight, we're comin' ta getcha!" Obviously Twilight would never let that happen, so her actions are justified.
But then Spike just flies into the air and attacks the air fleet. I get that he's supposedly in a jealous rage because they're here to take Twilight. But the Air Fleet didn't do anything to Twilight or Spike, so it just feels...weird for Spike to just attack them. Yes, logically, if our protagonists didn't take care of the flying ponies and massive air ships, the air corps would also be participating (more enthusiastically, anyway) in Operation Drag-Twilight-Before-Celestia. However, since we're talking about writing good stories, not about logic, I still need to see something compelling from the air fleet. Like, have them shoot at Spike or Twi, or shoot some kind of net, have them do something that shows me why they are such a threat and why Spike's is the only acceptable course of action. I am still on Spike's side because, again, logically the air fleet is on Team Celestia. But Spike just attacking with no provocation feels wonky and hard to believe, from a fiction-writing perspective.
I agree that Golden Radiance did not need to do any of the things she did. She boiled some bozo inside out with no effort. It stands to reason that she could have just knocked that bozo unconscious with the same amount of work. See what I mean? These enemies don't pose enough of a threat to the protagonists for Fillydelphia to be a compelling scene. It's got all the ingredients for a really good fight scene, but because of that crucial detail (or lack thereof), it wasn't quite there.