blame, regret, and loss.
“All my fault. This is all my fault” Spike muttered to himself, clutching his knees to his chest
It had been mere hours since the noble dragons had staged a daring jailbreak in Canterlot Castle, hours since they had helped Dylan, Mia, and Crystal escape from their pony captors, hours since they had lost nearly everything.
The glider had run out of momentum in the middle of the frozen north, several miles from the Crystal Empire and crash landed in the mountains. All of the safety features installed on the glider had kept them all safe from any further harm, as it was designed for crash landings, but it didn’t help their situation much.
For now they had a small camp set up, using bits and pieces of the glider as a makeshift shelter that was being occupied by Yam and Saphria who were both still passed out. The rest were sitting around a bonfire that Griffith had somehow managed to get started with what little he had on hand, none of them were speaking at all and who could blame them; Things had gotten pretty bad for all of them in an instant and morale was at an all time low.
Dylan was chowing down on some turkey jerky from the emergency supplies, it was important he keep his strength up, when he noticed Spike was muttering something to himself.
Leaning in closer, Dylan could hear that Spike was blaming himself for what happened and it made him frown.
Spike had convinced everyone to come back to rescue them despite there being a lot of good reason not to, he had formulated an effective plan to get them all out without harming anyone, he had risked life and limb for his friends and Dylan admired that in a dragon; it showed loyalty, grit, and strength, true strength that the noble dragons possessed and here he was putting himself down. Dylan couldn’t have that.
“Something wrong Artair?” Asked Dylan.
“Everything” Said Spike, wiping away his tears.
Dylan looked at Spike with a perplexed look.
“This whole thing I mean. From the moment I left to now, it’s just been one mishap after another and it’s all my fault. Maybe I should have never left.” Replied Spike
“Hey none of this is on you Artair.” Said Dylan “you made the right call leaving home, otherwise you never might get to realize your full potential. It’s the ponies’ fault for getting involved.”
“But What if I was up front with them? What if I had just explained the situation to them instead of just running off like a coward? When they saw that note it must have destroyed them, like I had ripped their very hearts out. I should have known they would have intervened, it’s what they do.”
“You had your reasons for keeping this under wraps Artair. I’m sure of it.” Said Dylan, tearing another bite out of his preserved meat.
“Yeah but I’m starting to wonder if I’m even keeping the promises I made to myself. The whole reason I even left in the first place was for their sake; next to them I felt weak, like I wouldn’t be able to help them on their adventures, like I wouldn’t be able to protect them if something came that was too much for them to handle, I felt like I was just a pathetic sidekick. I figured that if I went away, if I joined up with the noble dragons, I would become stronger, that I wouldn’t be so useless anymore, I could protect my friends for a change instead of having them do all the work. But ever since I started traveling with you guys it’s brought nothing but pain and misery to everybody I care about, at first I just tried to ignore it and pretend it wasn’t happening or that it wasn’t a big deal since they’d understand in the end, but now with everything we’ve done, all that I turned to a blind eye to, I don’t know if the ends really justify the means anymore.”
“Stop it. You have done nothing wrong at all Artair, all that bad stuff is on us. Besides what could you have done to stop us? If you got in between our battles you could have gotten seriously hurt and negotiation tends to fall apart in situations like this. You’ve got good moral fiber but you’re not much of a fighter, no offense.”
“None taken” Spike replied with a weak shrug
“My point is that you shouldn’t blame yourself for any of this. You’ve had almost no control over the events that have transpired over the past month; this whole thing was never meant to go down like this but that’s the way the dice fell so we had to adapt to and overcome the challenges that presented themselves, that’s the noble dragon way. Yes we may have handled most of said challenges poorly, but that’s the price you pay when you have to think on the fly like this.”
Spike sighed “still, I can’t help but feel that I’m at least a little responsible for this mess. I signed the contract, I left in the night, I started this.”
“You got that right” Griffith muttered.
Dylan’s head snapped up, gone was the comforting older brother figure and in its place was his usual aggressive self. “Got something you’d like to share tinkerer?”
“You bet your bucket I do. Artair’s right, this is all his fault.”
The rest of the Paragons directed their gazes at Spike’s younger brother; even Connor, who was looking over Saphria and Yam, looked over with an incredulous glare.
“What did you just say?” Hissed Dylan
“I said this is Artair’s fault, what did I stutter?” Said Griffith
Dylan glared at the green dragon “Choose your next words very carefully Griffith…”
“Yeah. Don’t want to say anything we’ll regret later.” Said Mia
“Oh don’t coddle him. We all know it was his stupid plan and his stupid pony friends that got us into this mess in the first place.” Griffith spat in spike’s direction
“GRIFFITH!” Every dragon shouted
“Well it’s true! If that dumb alicorn had left him alone we’d be home right now and all would be well, but instead we’ve had to spend weeks running around like criminals because they won’t leave us be!”
“Artair didn’t want them to come after him! They-“ argued Crystal
“He might as well have with how poorly he handled his goodbye, why did he even leave a note for them at all?! Why don’t you just put a ‘chase me’ sign on our backs while you’re at it?”
“Shut up Griffith.” Mia said, her normally cheery tone quickly fleeting.
“Make me airhead! I’m just saying what we’re all thinking! It was his dumb ideas that got us here!” Shouted Griffith
“And you could have come up with a better plan?!” Said Crystal, standing up from her seat.
“I’m a super genius so yeah, I could have! Sure it might have taken some time but if we went with any plan I came up with then we’d be a lot better off!”
At this point Spike was nearly crying, now on top of everything else his only brother hated him.
“I’m warning you Griffith. Lay off.” Said Mia, gritting her teeth together.
“Oh what are you gonna do, huh? In case you haven’t noticed we’re stranded out here in the back end of nowhere with no ride and the entire pony kingdom hunting us down, we’ve barely got any food or water, two of us are out cold, and I’m down an arm!” Ranted Griffith “we’re screwed! And it’s all your fault Artair! You know what? Maybe I was better off when I didn’t have a bro-“
Griffith was abruptly cut off by Mia savagely tackling him into the snow, wailing on him with a storm like fury. She couldn’t stand how cruel Griffith was being, so what if Artair messed up? We all make mistakes but that didn’t give Griffith the right to disown his only brother, especially in such a time of need. Mia didn’t care about the long term consequences about the beat down she was delivering, Griffith’s rant was what pushed her over the edge after everything else that had happened, she just wanted to hurt him for what he said.
Having only one arm meant that Griffith couldn’t really do anything against Mia’s assault, he could only hold up his remaining limb as a pathetic defense against the epic thrashing he was on the receiving end of; he could feel his nose crack and begin to bleed, Bruises forming from each blow. Mia wasn’t the most muscular noble dragon, she was actually pretty scrawny, but she more than made up for it with how fast she could pop someone in the face.
Connor rushed over to the two and intervened. The plantmancer grabbed a hold of Mia by her arms and yanked her off the poor dragon, holding her back as she thrashed around.
“HE’S HAD ENOUGH MIA! CHILL! CHILL!” Shouted Connor
“NO! I’VE HAD IT WITH TODAY! I AM COLD, TIRED, AND HUNGRY! I DON’T NEED THIS JERK MAKING THINGS WORSE FOR EVERYBODY! LET ME GO!” Screamed the speedster
She thrashed around for a good five minutes before her energy ran dry and she relaxed in Connor’s arms, panting in exhaustion.
Griffith hadn’t gotten up from his spot on the ground, he was too busy clutching his nose to stop the bleeding. The mechanic’s face was bloody and bruised from the blows and his goggles had been knocked off into the snow.
Crystal helped him to his feet with a frown, glaring at the teenage dragon.
“Maybe next time you’ll think before you open your mouth buttwipe. Let’s get you patched up.” Said Crystal, leading Griffith towards the shelter.
Seeing that the infighting had been dealt with, Dylan turned to face Spike and recoiled when he saw the baby dragon bawling his eyes out. He wasn’t much for comforting others, that was more Crystal and Saphira's area of expertise. But in this case he had no choice but to step up.
He patted Spike on the shoulder, making the baby dragon look up at him with bloodshot eyes.
“Hey, you want to go for a walk with me?” Said Dylan in the softest tone he could manage.
Spike wiped away some of the snot leaking out of his nose “where?”
“Anywhere but here.”
*********************************
The two had made it up to a large cliff overlooking a deep frozen crevasse, the meger sun rays piercing the storm clouds above reflected perfectly off the ice to give the entire area a nice shine. The only sound came from the gentle snowfall and the cold wind whipping around them, it was just the right balance of peaceful and beautiful.
In other words, it was the perfect spot for the discussion they would need to have.
Dylan took a seat on the edge and patted the snow next to him, motioning Spike to join him. The baby dragon nodded and plopped down next to him.
The two of them sat in silence, admiring the view of the area from their vantage point and all its glory.
“I’m sorry Artair.” said Dylan
“Sorry?” said Spike, turning towards Dylan “sorry for what?”
“For having to hear that from your brother, Griffith was completely out of line to say what he did.”
Spike sighed “maybe he’s right. I did get us all the way out here.”
Dylan pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration “Artair for the last time this isn’t your fault, you’re the only one here with clean claws. Stop blaming yourself for forces out of your control.”
“It doesn’t matter, either way my brother hates me now.”
“Oh come on Artair, Griffith doesn’t hate you. He’s just a bit upset and needs to vent. Look at it from his perspective: he lost his arm and his ship, two of his most prized possessions, the Violet Dawn was like a son to him so it’s destruction hit him pretty hard and you just happened to get caught up in his anger. I’m not saying what he did was okay in any way, but just don’t take it personally.” said Dylan
“But I-”
“Zip it Artair! You are not the bad guy here, get that through your head! I swear if you don’t stop beating yourself up right now, I’ll start beating you up!”
Spike focused his gaze back out on the horizon, not giving a reply to Dylan.
Dylan sighed internally ‘come on Dylan, he pulled your butt out of the fire. The least you could do is find a way to be there for him.’
Matching Spike’s gaze out in the distance, Dylan suddenly knew exactly what he needed to say.
“Hey Artair. Do you know what my first thought was when we met?” said Dylan
“No. what?” the baby dragon replied
“Wow this dragon is pathetic.”
For some reason Spike chuckled at that.
“I know. When I first laid my eyes on you I thought you were nothing more than a weak little hatching who didn’t deserve to be in the royal family, one that would become a quick liability.” said Dylan
“I’m sensing a but in there.”
“Butts are for sitting” Dylan said with a laugh “oh god Crystal must be rubbing of on me.”
“You aren’t gonna start making puns are you?” asked Spike
“Of course not. Between you and me it’s actually really hard to make puns on the fly, Crystal is a poetic genius but don’t tell her I said that. Anyways back to what I was saying; I thought you were nothing at all. Thank Bahumut you proved me wrong back in that pony city, Canterlot right?”
“I did?”
“Oh yeah, sure it was a group effort getting us out of there but you’re the one who came up with the plan to get us out. You were one of the ones who wanted to come back for us, you risked everything, life and limb, to get us back and while there were losses it was still a success.”
“I guess...what are you trying to say?”
Dylan jabbed a finger in spike’s direction “it means that you’ve paid your dues Artair, proved yourself. You had every reason to turn tail and run off but you decided to come back and that shows loyalty. What I’m saying is that you’ve earned my trust and respect, you are the prince of the noble dragons and I’ll have your back right until the very end of it all; not as a guard but as a friend.”
Spike was at a loss for words, here was a dragon who had a problem with him from the moment they met who saw him as a child and now he was pouring his heart out to him, showing that he would be an ally to him forever and always.
All he could really say was “thanks, Dylan. That means a lot coming from you.”
“Just making sure you knew where we stood after it all. Which brings me to my next point: the prophecy.” said Dylan
Spike blinked in confusion “the prophecy?”
“Yes. see there is actually a lot more to this whole thing than you ever realized, we were going to wait until you got to the Vlemm Enclave but now seems like a good a time as any: Back when the noble dragons were first establishing the Vlemm Enclave they had discovered a buried temple written in ancient draconic, no dragon knew who or what made it but it had clearly been around a lot longer than any of the remaining noble dragons had. Strangely enough It had foretold of our loss in the war of the Broken Fang and the subsequent collapse of the dragon kingdom but that’s beside the point. The most prominent thing was ‘the first laid son’, a mystical dragon who was a direct descendant of the royal family, that’s Frinad and Layla, who would grow up to become the champion of all noble dragons; his powers making all others pale in comparison. It was written that he would rise up and restore the kingdom of the noble dragon to it’s noble glory and strike down the great evil that would rise and threaten the world in an epic battle. Of course that’s where the whole timeline gets a little murky, it doesn’t outright state how the kingdom is going to be restored nor whether or not the champion survives his battle with the great evil or even how that great evil is going to manifest itself; all it says is that ‘the first laid son’ will be the one leading the charge in all of those events. Now originally it was believed that Griffith was the ‘first laid son’ since he was the only living descendant of Frinad and Layla but it quickly became apparent from both his auras and mannerisms that he wasn’t the one foretold in the prophecy, which led most of us to believe that the whole thing was a sham. But when Yam discovered your existence in the frozen north, there was a renewed interest in the legend and the noble dragons came to the conclusion that you were ‘the first laid son’ that was meant to lead us into a new age of glory and with your observed feats it wasn’t that hard to believe. That’s why we’ve needed to fight so hard to get you to the Vlemm Enclave: the entire future of our people and by extent, the world, rests on your shoulders. Without you, our kingdom may be headed for destruction and our legacy snuffed out while the world burns.” Dylan explained
Spike was dumbstruck to say the least, it’s not everyday you find out that you are the chosen one of some ancient prophecy created long before you were even conceived. More so to know that the hopes and dreams of an entire race literally rested on your shoulders. It was….it was too much, this was a bomb that he was in no way ready for, his breathing became quick and shallow, sweat began to run down his sides. He was about to have a small panic attack when Dylan firmly slapped him on the back to snap him out of it; taking in a deep breath, Spike looked up at the yellow dragon.
“Hey don’t stress yourself out over this. You’ve still got at least a few years and a lot of training to go before you gotta make good on those events, it’s not like you have to do it next week or anything. Just relax and enjoy the calm while it lasts, alright? The Paragons and I will be backing you up the whole time.” Dylan said, rubbing Spike’s back in a soothing manner.
Spike’s anxiety started to fall, the ball in his stomach shrinking, before he finally calmed himself back down.
“Sorry, it’s just a lot to take it; I mean I’m actually the chosen one for once! Not just the guy who’s in the right place at the right time.” Spike turned to Dylan “but thanks for the pep talk, I feel so much better now.”
“Good to hear it, now how about we head back to camp and get that apology from Griffith?” Dylan asked, standing back up
“You aren’t going to beat one out of him are you?”
Dylan’s eyes nervously darted from left to right “no promises Artair.”
“Alright let’s...wait do you hear that?” said Spike as a faint cracking sound began to travel through the air.
“Yeah I do. where’s that-” Dylan never got to finish as the piece of ice they were standing on suddenly crumbled beneath their feet, sending both dragons into a freefall.
Dylan, having a taller build, managed to reach up and grab onto the remnants of the ledge and dig his claws in. Spike wasn’t so lucky.
The baby dragon’s stubby arms missed completely and he started falling, acting on instinct Spike tried to open his wings and break out of the tailspin; but on the way down his head collided with a jagged ice collum jutting out of the wall of the cliff and Spike was knocked out cold, his body going limp midair and disappearing into the chasm below.
“ARTAIR!!! NO!” Dylan screamed, immediately spreading his wings and diving down after his friend.
Right then mother earth got in one of her moods and let loose a massive snow storm that came out of seemingly nowhere, the harsh wind blowing Dylan into the cliff where he made impact with a loud slam.
“OH COME ON! NOT NOW!” shouted Dylan. He grit his teeth through the pain and beat his wings against the wind as hard as he could and flew down into the chasm all while the snow drift got thicker and thicker.
“ARTAIR! ARTAIR!” Dylan frantically called out “WHERE ARE YOU?!” the dragon rushed around like a scared father looking for their child. He flew all over the chasm, searching high and low for the baby dragon, screaming his name in the vain hope that he would call out.
But soon the combined force of the wind and the thickness of the snow became far more than Dylan could handle and he was forced to fly out of the crevasse empty handed, lest he become just as trapped as Spike likely was.
He was in a full blown panic now, he finally comes to respect the dragon and honor him as a member of the royal family only to lose him like this. Spike was one of them now and he wasn’t about to let a fellow noble dragon die in the snow, he needed to get the rest of the Paragons out here right now. As he flew back to the camp there was a huge question pressing on his mind:
“What am I going to tell them?”
******************************
Griffith stared at his stump of a limb in sadness and let out a sigh. He had finally let the haze brought about by his rage clear up from his mind and once it was gone, it soon gave way to regret.
He couldn’t believe he had blown up like that back there, sure he had lost the Violet Dawn and his arm but that didn’t mean he had to take it out on Artair. Dear Bahamut what kind of a little brother was he to talk to his older brother like that, Artair was already miserable enough without him making it worse. Griffith felt like pure scum right now.
But it wasn’t hopeless, Artair didn’t seem like one to hold a grudge, Griffith was positive that if he apologized to his brother and did his absolute best to make it up to him in any way possible (maybe he could build Artair his own hoverboard or something) he’d be willing to let bygones be bygones.
Which is why he was watching the direction that Dylan left with Artair in great anticipation, so he could be ready with his long apology as soon as his brother returned. He had to move into the shelter when the storm picked up but he would gladly deal with a bit of frost if it meant getting Artair to forgive him.
However, Griffith was greatly confused when a distraught Dylan was the one to return without Artair anywhere near him.
The light dragon landed in a heap in front of the shelter, completely out of breath and clearly panicking; that combined with Artair’s absence made Griffith start to panic.
“Dylan.” Griffith calmly stated “where is my brother?”
“ICE CLIFF- GAVE WAY- FELL INTO CAVE- COULDN’T FIND HIM” Dylan sputtered out through pants.
“Slow down, what happened?” asked Griffith with concern
Dylan sucked in a deep breath of oxygen and started to speak “I was giving spike a pep talk to make him feel better about today when the cliff we were sitting on crumbled beneath us and he fell off! I saw him hit his head on the way down and he landed somewhere in a chasm!”
“WHAT?! WHY THE TARTARUS DIDN’T YOU LOOK FOR HIM?!” Griffith shouted, now in a full panic.
“YOU THINK THAT WASN’T THE FIRST THING I TRIED?! I SEARCHED HIGH AND LOW FOR HIM BUT THE STORM GOT TOO FIERCE AND I HAD TO BAIL!” Dylan yelled back.
The rest of the noble dragons took notice of the pair’s outburst and started to listen in
“DYLAN HE COULD BE DEAD RIGHT NOW!”
“I KNOW THAT! THAT’S WHY I NEED YOUR HELP TO FIND HIM! I’M JUST ONE DRAGON, I CAN’T COVER THE ENTIRE AREA BY MYSELF!”
“Well we definitely can’t do it now guys.” said Connor, pointing outside.
The storm was now in a full fury, the entire area was completely whited out, you couldn’t see more than a few yards ahead.
“If we go out there we could get lost or worse, dead. I care just as much about the little dude as you both do but we can’t search for him in this storm.” explained Connor
“Well than what do you suggest we do?” said Griffith
“Since Yam is going to be out for a few more hours, there’s no way to clear the storm so we’re just gonna have to wait it out.” Connor said forlornly
Dylan plopped down in defeat “great, one of my friends could be lying in a ditch somewhere and I can’t even do anything about it. Just when I was starting to like the guy too.”
Griffith didn’t utter a word at all, on the inside he was completely breaking apart. He had driven his brother off with his outburst and now Artair could be dead because of it. He had basically sent Artair to his doom with the last memory of his little brother being one of rage and hatred.
He had lost his ship, he had lost his arm, and now he had lost his only brother. Everything he held dear was gone.
Now there was only one thing to do.
Griffith slumped down to his knees and broke down crying.
“My fault! It’s all my fault!” he wailed.
***********************
What none of the noble dragons knew at the time was that Spike actually hadn’t landed in the chasm.
By pure luck he had fallen into a long ice cave that acted as a slide, it broke his fall with almost no further damage and carried his unconcious form further down the mountain. Eventually spitting him out at the bottom, causing the baby dragon to fall into the snow and roll a few more yards before stopping right at the outer edge of a certain empire located in the frozen north, one that had always welcomed him with open arms whenever he visited and boy did he need those warm arms now.
A few hours passed, Spike just laid there prone, face down in the snow; when a crystal guard passed by, making his usual rounds. He gave the baby dragon a brief glance as he flew down the path before he stopped and did a double take to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. He let out a gasp and rushed over to Spike’s limp body, quickly lifting him out of the snow and feeling for a pulse while trying to ignore the fact that he was given the opportunity to hold Spike the brave and glorious in his own two hooves.
The guard let out a sigh of relief as he felt the throb of the dragon’s neck signaling a pulse, he was still alive. Throwing the baby up onto his back he started flying back to the crystal castle as fast as wings could carry him. The blood leaking out of Spike’s forehead made it painfully obvious that the baby dragon needed serious medical attention and fast. He could have simply taken him to a hospital but rabid fans would have broken down the door trying to get to him injuries or not, he needed to take him to a secure location to rest.
Flying in through an open window in the crystal palace, the guard took a moment to get his bearings before darting off towards the medical wing.
The royal doctor jumped when the door to his office slammed open, he was about to scold the guard for bursting into the room in such a way; only to freeze up when he saw Spike the brave and glorious lying on the crystal pony’s back completely unconscious.
“I found him on the outskirts on my usual rounds! Please tell me you can do something!” the guard said.
The doctor quickly lifted Spike off the guard pony and gently laid him down on the examination table, “alert Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor of this new development immediately. I will stay here and make sure Spike the brave and glorious is well taken care of.”
The guard gave a salute to the medic and rushed down in the direction of the throne room.
A few minutes later, right as he was finishing up the bandage wrapped around spike’s head, the door flew off its hinges.
“Can you all please stop bursting in- PRINCESS CADENCE!” the doctor bowed to his princess.
She barely paid him any mind, her focus was entirely on her adopted cousin lying flat on the table.
“Is he going to be alright doctor? I heard what happened.”
“I looked him over, apart from a minor concussion and very slight frostbite he is in near perfect health.” the doc explained
“Good. bring him to one of the guest rooms to rest, I’ll dispatch a few of the crystal guards to keep watch on him.” replied Cadence
“Yes princess. Although I can’t help but wonder why Spike the brave and glorious would be lying on the outer edges of the crystal empire unconscious.”
“I’m not sure. But I do know somepony who can, I’ve got a few calls to make.” with that the princess of love walked off, only to stop abruptly “oh and one more thing. Try to refrain from telling the rest of the kingdom about this, you know how my subjects feel about Spike”
“As you wish.” said the doctor as he carried Spike off.
******************************
“IT’S ALL MY FAAAAUUULLTT!” wailed Twilight.
If one were to stand several miles away from the Friendship Castle, they would have been treated to a cacophony of wails emanating from the elements of harmony over their friend who was presumed dead. The cries only got louder the closer one got to the crystal structure.
Nearly everypony who was there at ground zero of the airship’s destruction had searched the wreckage for bodies, something, anything to bury but found nothing which also meant there were no chances for a resurrection spell or anything similar (not that they would have attempted to do so.). All hope was gone, they had lost the war. It was all over for but for the crying.
Ember had quickly rushed back when she heard the explosion, when she got word of what had just occurred she lashed out; blaming Twilight and her friends for killing the poor dragon and vowing revenge on Equestria for what they did, but if you looked a little closer one could see she was on the verge of breaking down in a fit of sadness. Thorax had a similar reaction, the minute that airship went down with Spike inside, it felt like every ounce of life force had left his body all at once; he didn’t feel sad or angry, just numb from the lost of a friend. He said that he would have to think about the changeling’s future with Equestria after today’s events and it wasn’t looking good for the ponies.
the princesses were similarly broken up, only they were much better at hiding it, they had to be; they couldn't show any weakness as leaders, not in this situation. Celestia instructed the royal guards to begin cleanup on the wreck and the castle, once that was accomplished the princess of the sun returned home and retired to her chambers, where she shoved her face in a pillow and started to weakly sob. Luna mirroring her actions a few rooms over.
As for the element bearers, they were all sobbing their eyes out over Spike’s death at their hands. True they had never intended to kill him but that’s how the cards played out and now they had to live with the consequences.
Twilight clung to a crying Fluttershy. Both of their coats soaked with each other’s tears.
Rainbow dash had her face pressed on the table in a vain effort to silence her moans of agony, slamming her hooves against the table in self-hatred.
Applejack was trying and failing to hold back tears as she comforted a distraught Rarity who had make up running down her face in rivers of black.
And poor Pinkie Pie had moved on to stage four of grief, depression, and tears were coming out of her eyes like they were lawn sprinklers.
The only one present in the room who wasn’t crying was Starlight, who stood in the doorway looking over her friends with guilt.
‘No Twilight. It’s my fault, you were right. I should have helped.’ thought Starlight
She wasn’t sure where she had went wrong? Was it where she refused to accompany Twilight into the forest or to Baltimare? was it where she showed Ember and Thorax the letter? was it when she failed to recognize an obvious threat to Equestria because of some deep-seated psychological obsession in seeing the best in everypony? Or was it last month when she saw Spike was acting odd and didn’t say anything? In any case, Spike was dead because of her lack of action. If she was there, if she had stood behind her friends things might be a little different right now. But having destroyed the time spell, she couldn’t change the past; right now all she could do was act like the ‘mom’ once again and be there for her mourning friends; possibly fill the void Spike will leave behind in their lives to the best of her abilities.
Her deep contemplation was cut short when she heard a phone ringing in Twilight’s room, her ears perking up and head snapping towards the direction of the sound.
Taking one last look at her friends, Starlight walked off to answer it. She swore if this was a telemarketer that phone was going out the window.
“Hello?” she said, answering the call.
“Oh, hi Cadence. What’s going on?...yes she’s here….no I don’t think she can come to the phone right now….sure I can pass on a message….WHAT?!”
Starlight couldn’t believe the news that the princess of love had just told her.
“YOU’VE GOT WHO RESTING WHERE?! ARE YOU SURE IT’S HIM? CADENCE IF IT’S SOMETHING LIKE THIS YOU’D BETTER BE ABSOLUTELY SURE…..THAT’S GREAT! NO NO WE’LL COME TO YOU, I’LL TELL TWILIGHT. THANK YOU SO MUCH, GOODBYE!”
Starlight Glimmer slammed down the receiver and ran back towards the map room as fast as her legs could carry her.
“TWILIGHT TWILIGHT!” Starlight shouted as she burst into the room and ripped the princess away from the animal lover “you’ll never guess who I just got off the phone with.”
Twilight sniffled and wiped the tears out of her eyes.
“W-who?” she weakly asked.
“It was Cadence, she said she found Spike just outside of the Crystal Empire….he’s still alive Twilight.”
The sobbing of the mane six stopped faster than Soaring through a Wonderbolt course, it was almost like a switch had been flipped.
“W-what?” Twilight sputtered in disbelief
“I said Spike’s still alive and he’s in the Crystal Empire. He must have escaped from the crash somehow.”
Joy and life soon returned to Twilight’s eyes and she squealed like a schoolfilly “HE’S ALIVE HE’S ALIVE! SPIKE’S ALIVE!” she chorused as she jumped around the table only to come to a sudden stop.
“Wait if he’s in the Crystal Empire...then those noble dragon’s might not be with him anymore! They might not know where he is!”
“Well what are we waiting for then? Let’s go get Spike back!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash, rushing out of the room as the rest of the group quickly followed after her, Starlight Glimmer included.
‘Okay no more mistakes, I’m going to do the right thing this time, I’m going to do what’s right for Spike’ Starlight thought to herself.
5k views! WOO HOO! 
we're in the home stretch now, soon the journey of the noble dragons will be concluded. Only about two or three more chapters left. Spike is in the crystal empire, aka his personal fan club, the noble dragons have no idea where he is and are searching for their lost friend, and the mane six are on their way. No way this could go wrong right?
however there is one I would like to point out:
1. people keep complaining about spike abandoning twilight and the girls so easily in favor of the noble dragons, but in 'father knows beast' he does the exact same thing with sludge, who treated him terribly, and spike only knew him less than a day and was ready to run off with him. He's known the noble dragons for a few weeks now and they've treated him with kindness and respect, so he trusts them a lot despite what they've done. Explain to me how these situations are any different?
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The difference is that WIDELY considered in the fanbase to be a huge mistake and a backtrack of his character. That whole episode made no sense seeing how the whole message of that episode was ALREADY done and address long ago. So that is a pure filler and useless episode that did nothing for the plot, relationships, or anything in the story. And you just repeated that mistake with this
9238612
what are the points ??
Oh BOY, How is spike going to get out of this one, Their's no way the Girls are going to listen to reason.
I'm pretty sure their joy is going to be replace with anger and disappointment when they find out what spike did
Awesome chapter! But the question is will Twilight and the Elements make it to Spike first, or the noble dragons? Can't wait for the next chapter.
So will the be a third story after this cause it seems the whole Prophecy for the noble dragons won’t be done in 2 or 3 chapters?
9239342
yes there will, in it spike will return after a five year absense as a flaming hot bad*ss (I mean that literally, his aura will be pyromancy) where he is trying to bring the noble dragons out of hiding. These efforts are complicated by the young six idolizing him and the ancient evil rising. either way it's gonna be a heck of a ride
9239370
Kind of thought so and sorta of knew that spike would be a pryromacer hopefully you will write about the first few days of spike arriving there to write about him meeting is parents, what his aura is and what happens to the nightmare dragon that confronted Luna before doing the 5 years later
I also hope at the end of this story spike will come to agreement with the mane six saying he’ll visit and keep in Touch with them through letters instead of him being gone without any word of how he is doing
Can’t wait for next chapter!
Yeah, there is a difference. Spike didn't just up and leave right away with only leaving a note in that episode. Twilight fully understood what Spike was trying to achieve unlike here where she barely gets an explanation. Just a note basically saying don't follow.
And even if it was the same, that was a very despised epsiode. Just because the writers of the show made an episode with a similar story doesnt make it a good one.
So yeah, this doesn't justify Spikes actions in this story.
This is a lot more intriguing than I originally thought, and outside of some minor spelling/grammar errors its going well
Ponies have phones?
And more of Twilight getting blamed, yay! I mean, not that it doesn't make sense in this context, it does. But after weeks of everyone and their mom coming to her to put her down over Spike's decision to run away, the poor girl deserves a break.
Here's the difference: He wasn't. "Running off" with Sludge was a ruse. Smolder and Spike intended to push Sludge into telling the truth about his goals by threatening his cushy new place in the castle. Sludge didn't even leave the castle after he got Spike to sleep outside of it. Would he have run off with him? We don't know, because that was never an option, but we do know he didn't suddenly stop talking to Twilight or any of the ponies. They were still part of his life either way.
9239370
Just remember, going overboard with stuff like that can potentially create a Gary Stu-like character. Make him too much of a super-hot, super-strong superior super-drake who has no need for any weakling ponies and he can become unrelatable and boring.
By the way, you really should try to incorporate that writing tip from a while ago: When characters address one another, put a comma before the name. It makes a real difference, it'll help your stories look so much more professional. You did once or twice; try to make a habit of it, it'll become more natural over time.
9241455
I would assume they do, after all they have video arcades, televisions, roller coasters, and dubstep. So yeah I would assume they have access to rotary phones.
Honestly technology in the my little pony universe is a very confusing topic, some times it leans towards renaissance era while others have more modern day utilities. The best thing to do is try not to think about it too much.
also it's still a work in progress, spike will be op ability wise but he'll still make mistakes from time to time
9241624
Amen to that. While I don't think they have phones in the show's Equestria (that would make Spike's firebreath a whole lot less important!), it's not a huge change. Something like stories suddenly featuring machine guns, that's when it becomes off-putting.
9243407
THANK YOU! you're the first one to spot that!
9243527
I love the story i cant wait for it to be updated
Awesome story so far, cant wait to see what happens next 👍
I'm really hooked can't wait for the nexr chapter
Yes.
in the chapter Canterlot Crashes
This may either be the most obscure reference or I'm just hypersensitive to Scooby-Doo stuff since I used to watch it so much, but this whole scene reminds me of the movie/episode "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" The Fast and the Wormious specifically the chase through the caves scene. I realize there could be a lot of other references since this is kinda common in old cartoons, but given your previous mention of Scooby-Doo, I thought it might be possible.
Also this,
in the chapter, Kings and Queens
I'm honestly amazed nobody has said anything unless that was an unintentional reference to a certain game~
This is one of the better Spike stories I've read and it has a lot of depth and potential, especially if you decide to write even more past these next few chapters of Spike being brought to his 'rightful home' whether or not that is the enclave. I look forward to seeing more of course~ I was also incredibly surprised how quickly you update this. Most stories is something along the lines of a new chapter every 2 or 3 months if they're on a good schedule. Only on other story I read has the schedule you follow. So although I'm on the edge with this (sort of) cliffhanger, take as long as you need, I'm already well impressed.
Since most of those crystal guards are similar and expendable, I'm gonna headcanon the one who found Spike was a certain orange, blue-haired pegasus