• Published 14th Aug 2012
  • 5,136 Views, 223 Comments

The Dragon's Notebook - Arby



Spike makes a steel resolve to protect Rarity at [i]any[/i] cost...

  • ...
20
 223
 5,136

Rebirth

“You should have seen how skilled Blackhoof was at the piano. I've never seen a pianist play that well,” Rarity exclaimed while she levitated a needle and thread.

“I'll bet,” I responded, holding a box of supplies.

“The 'Moonlight Sonata' was effortlessly played, and he never broke a sweat! His Cutie Mark does not even relate to music,” Rarity continued while constructing a dress. “Spike, could you tell me what you think of this dress, so far?”

Rarity stepped out of the way, revealing the dress-form she was working on. It was a flowing, charcoal-black dress that clung to the body of the mannequin she worked from. In hindsight, it was a beautiful dress, almost like a lingerie. Another beautiful creation.

“It's okay,” I lied in my attempt to mask the anger in my voice.

She stared back at the dress, frowning. She hummed to herself, circling the dress in total contrast to what I did. I stared at it while my dull gaze was the only clue to my less-than-pleasant attitude. She stopped circling it and looked back to me.

“Okay? Is there anything you don't like about it?” Rarity asked, biting her lip.

I rolled my eyes then. “I just think that it lacks a theme,” I spat out.

Rarity's expression had saddened, and she looked back to her dress, then back to me. She did that several more times before she settled her gaze on me. She attempted to speak, before sighing, levitating more fabrics out of her shelf.

“I suppose I could add elements of midnight to it.” She perked up. “Speaking of midnight, Blackhoof has an amazing range of knowledge regarding the stars. He took a picture of us with a camera, catching the starry skies in the background. Would you like to see it?” Rarity offered.

A gift I held for her remained hidden using my fire breath. Exhaling coarsely, I knew I would regret the decision, but I made it anyways. “Sure, Rarity.” She didn't reply to me, levitating the picture over to me. Rarity had the most beautiful smile in this picture. Her face was cheery, and the glow of a streetlamp seemed to illuminate her face. It was a beautiful picture of her... excluding the black stallion next to her. His face I remembered extensively; bent brow, a grey, shaggy mane, green eyes, and a stupid, shit-eating grin. It angers me to this day, but the anger I felt then was intense. I had withheld my emotional outburst, resisted the urge to set fire to the picture there, or Rarity herself. I've done so much with her, for her, and she repays me by bragging about her new boy-toy. Sighing, I held it up in the air and she promptly took it back.

“You look nice. In the picture,” I said, fighting the cracking of my voice.

It would be another twenty minutes before Rarity finished her work, sending me home without a second thought, and it was another thirty minutes before I had released my anger on a bush. I didn't go straight home. Instead, I wandered through Ponyville, arriving at the outskirts of the town. I paced in one area, thinking before I released my flame breath on a large bush. I had calmed down shortly after, but stayed to make sure the fire would burn out. I sat on a stump roadside, looking down the path back to Ponyville, before looking the other way that led to the area below Cloudsdale.

I continued to sit there, the bush having burnt out half an hour prior. I continued to think, the urge to cry had risen the moment the flame went out as if synchronized with my anger. I thought long, and I thought hard. Rarity wouldn't have gotten with me. I'm a dragon, but it wasn't just that. It was the fact that she could never stay still. Her 'Prince Charming' changed every week based on what the tabloids said.

Deciding that Twilight probably wondered where I was, I stood up, huffing the smoke left by the bush. Leaving the smokey area probably helped, because I soon accepted my place in the friend-zone. I ran back to the library, passing by buildings, benches, couples, and other ponies wandering the streets of Ponyville. Several droplets fell from the sky before it turned into a regular shower. I stopped running and stood in the rain. I tensed up my body, shoulders raised to my head. I shivered, not from the rain, but from the eventual outburst. I had to cry, and nothing was going to stop me.

I wanted to see that gift, the gift I bought specifically for her. I quickly belched out a small box. I looked at the red, velvet case and quickly opened it up, staring at the flame-shaped ruby sitting inside. Flame, to represent passion. I closed the box up roughly, denting the cheap case, and grit my teeth. My brow bent, and I felt the wild growl in my throat trying to escape. I looked over to a nearby trash bin, then back at the gift box. I opened my mouth to release a breath I involuntarily held in, and that was it.

I roared like a dragon would. Loud. Wild. Fearsome. I twisted my body to the side, setting one foot forward while I yanked the hand holding the gift box behind my head, continuing my roar while I tossed it as hard as possible in the general direction of the trash bin. My eyes stung with water, and I still don't know if it was the rain or tears. Either way, I started wailing.

“Rarity! No! This isn't how we're supposed! I'm just-” I wasn't even speaking coherent sentences, but I didn't care. I looked up, hoping to trick myself into believing I wasn't crying and the rain was the cause of the stinging, but it failed. “I love you!” I shouted, looking back to the ground to hide my shameful eyes from no-one in particular. In the corner of my eyes, I saw the gift box, broken, the ruby next to it.

I felt no anger after that. I only felt sadness and failure nagging at my mind. I slowly stepped over to the gift box, bent down to pick up the ruby, and stood up while I contemplated making it my midnight snack.

I heard a slap reminiscent of papers landing on a desk behind me. I turned my head, and out of the corner of my eye, spotted a notebook lying on the ground. I payed no attention to it and picked up the gift box, fixed the dents I made by throwing it, and placed the ruby back into it. I used my flame breath to hold onto it once more, and turned to finish the walk home. This time, I saw the notebook with both eyes. I would have passed by it and continued home if it wasn't for the strangest thing yet.

The notebook was black, lying in the centre of the street. It looked like an ordinary notebook with a humble cover that boasted only two words written in white. I didn't care about the words, though. I took a step closer to make sure what I was seeing was actually happening, and it was. The ground the book landed on was perfectly dry. There was no rain landing on the notebook at all. I bent down and picked it up, and it still got no rain on it despite my arms and head getting soaked. I looked around the street, spotting no one, and started walking home. I held the notebook over my head to avoid the rain.

Stepping into the library, I wasn't met by anypony. It was dim, Twilight nowhere in sight. I looked at a clock on the wall, barely illuminated, to discover I left Rarity's boutique two hours prior. Twilight was asleep then, and I silently thanked Celestia for the luck. I looked around the darkened library, spotting a desk with a lamp. I ran over there and quickly turned on the lamp, practically slamming the black notebook on the top. It was still dry, and I stared at the cover. In white words, thick and easily visible, were two words that made zero sense:

DEATH NOTE.

I raised an eyebrow, repeated the words in my mind, before I decided it to be a teenager's notebook with a fancy name to appear cool. In hindsight, that was an absolutely hilarious notion. I opened the notebook, and noticed the first pages were in black with white text. The first page was labelled 'HOW TO USE: I.” I read the page, smirking when I finished. Then I read it out loud.

“'The pony who's name is written in this notebook shall die.' What?” I chuckled before stopping. I tried to stay quiet so Twilight could stay asleep, or else she'd freak about two things. “'If the cause of death is specified within sixty seconds, you have six minutes and forty seconds to add details. If the type of death is not specified, the pony will die of a simple heart attack,'” I said with a humoured edge to my voice.

Jeez, this is an elaborate prank. A notebook that actually kills, and you can specify the death? It's a sick prank... right up Rainbow Dash's alley. I'll have to congratulate her for this one, but, that doesn't explain why it didn't get wet, does it? I had thought, another humorous thought in hindsight.

I looked around the library to make sure I was truly alone, a good plan at the time. I looked to the top of the desk and pulled out a quill, opened an inkwell, and dipped it in. I flipped through the notebook to the first page that was blank.

“If I were to kill somepony, who would it be?” I asked myself as I held back a fit of giggles. “Ooh! That's easy! Nasty, stupid, poo-poo head Prince Blueblood,” I said while gagging. The sheer name of that uncouth bastard was enough to sicken me. How dare he hurt Rarity!? I don't care if she treats me like a disposable wrapper, Blueblood would deserve this.

I flipped back to the rules of the notebook, and checked the first few pages. Only three rules stood out to me, the aforementioned two, and the third: “You must know the name and face of the pony.” There were several others that stated it can't be an alias, and the view of the face has to be recent and unobstructed; if a pony dyed their mane, the memory of their look is out-of-date, or if it's blocked by glasses, you don't know their face... but I knew Blueblood. Never have I felt anymore rage towards such a vile creature.

I cackled like a generic villain and flipped back to the blank page. I wrote on the very top line, “Prince Blueblood” while kept the disgusting face of that pony in my mind. After, I pondered the thought of being creative with his death. I looked back down at the notebook, and at the time, my childish nature kicked in. I then utilized yet another rule I spotted; you can set their date of death from the instant you wrote the name up to twenty-three days.

“Accident; he slips on a bar of soap in his royal bathtub in the morning of Saturday, 12th, 1002 ANMS, and dies from the fall,” I spat out as an immature cackle escaped my mouth.

I cleaned the quill, closed the inkwell, closed the notebook, and tucked it under my arm. I figured I should humour Rainbow Dash when I showed her I wrote a name... if only I knew.

The next morning was the usual: I had to wake up Twilight after an hour's time to prepare her for the day's work. Stashed the notebook under my bed's mattress, grabbed the Equestria Daily newspaper from the doorstep, and I stepped into the kitchen, slumped into a seat, shoved a spoon into my cereal, and ate. I opened the Equestria Daily and spotted today's headline:

“PRINCE BLUEBLOOD DIES IN TRAGIC ACCIDENT – FAMILY REFUSES TO SUPPLY THE DETAILS.”

As I discovered, that was one hell of a way to wake me up entirely. I pushed the bowl of cereal aside and attempted to contemplate the situation. I looked around the cover, spotted two ponies from the hospital carrying Prince Blueblood out on a stretcher, zipping up a bag. The story was located on page 7, and I quickly flipped to it. I felt something in my chest at the time which I realize now to be absolute fear. I began to read the story.

“'Prince Blueblood, nephew of the lovely Princess Celestia, was found dead this morning by maids of Canterlot Castle. The staff and close-family of Princess Celestia refuse to deliver the details on how he died, but medical crew state he had broken his neck. More coverage will be released when possible.'”

I let go of the newspaper, letting it drop to the ground, and I looked up at the ceiling, frozen in fear. I stammered as if talking to myself would somehow help me cope with the situation. I hopped off the chair, snatched the paper, and ran upstairs. Again, in hindsight, my fear was hilarious.

I had hopped onto my bed and snatched the notebook up, rereading what I wrote the previous night. The details were too similar for it to be a coincidence, and I still attempted to shut it out. I hid the notebook and hopped onto Twilight's bed, newspaper in claws. I had furiously shaken her until she woke up, groaning from the repeated shakes.

“Spike, when did you get in last night? I waited an hour for you to get back,” she asked me, making no attempt to hide her anger.

“Never mind that, look at the Equestria Daily!” I shouted, slapping the paper onto her side.

She groaned, sitting up in her bed while I shuffled off to the side. She levitated the paper to her face, blinked several times, and dropped it onto the ground. Her expression was unreadable, and still is.

“That's awful! I wonder if Princess Celestia is okay,” Twilight said, jumping out of bed immediately.

I shook my head right away and followed her. “No no, that Bluejerk was a jerk! I'm sure she's-” I was cut off, belching out a scroll. Twilight turned around immediately, and I opened the scroll.

“Dear Twilight Sparkle, as I write this, I am grieving the loss of yet another family member. Prince Blueblood has died this morning after slipping in his shower...” I trailed off, realizing that it matched what I wrote exactly. Twilight looked at me with wide eyes, stepping closer.

“Hurry Spike, what else does it say?” she practically demanded.

I attempted to speak, but nothing came out. I looked away from the scroll slowly, staring at my bed: the location of the Death Note. Twilight groaned before snatching the letter out of my claws.

“... after slipping in his shower on a bar of soap, and breaking his neck on the side. Please do not deliver this information to anypony else other than you and your friends, I do not want the tabloids to post something that will make him an object of laughter,” Twilight read.

I killed him, I thought, feeling myself shivering.

“I wish to speak with you immediately here at Canterlot Castle. Feel free to bring your friends, Luna and I could truly use your company. Sincerely, Princess Celestia.” Twilight finished off.

I killed him.

“Oh no, this is terrible. Spike, we need to cancel all plans. Send a letter back, request a royal chariot. I'm going to get the girls,” Twilight spat out, the entire time, she didn't look once at me.

I killed him.

Twilight ran downstairs, and before I could say a thing, I heard the front door opening and slamming shut. I snapped to attention and crawled to the side of the bed, leaning out towards the door with tears flowing down my eyes.

“NO WAIT TWILIGHT! I KILLED HIM!” I shouted, my voice heard by nopony.

Unlike the days of now, I burst into tears, curled up on Twilight's bed, and cried myself to sleep.

“Spike, we're going to arrive late because you fell asleep instead of sending a letter,” Twilight said to me.

Holding a bag around my waist, I payed no attention while I stared over the edge of the chariot, watching the trees below. The rest of the girls were here; Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash... Rarity. I had felt too many emotions in the past twenty-four hours, and then, I had a chance to really sort it out. I wasn't not being nagged by my conscious to get home, I was just killing time.

“Ah can't believe somepony could go 'n die in a shower. How clumsy do ya haf'ta be?” Applejack asked, not wearing her stetson.

“Believe me, that Prince was anything but clumsy. I'm surprised nopony was in the bathtub, scrubbing his fat royal flank,” Rarity said as she expressed more anger than sadness.

I looked over to Rarity and wondered if she was truly sad about the ordeal. I learned over the course of the ride that she wasn't, and even as we dove in for Canterlot, they were still talking about it.

“Rarity, you met him. Aren't you even sad that he's dead?” Rainbow Dash asked bluntly.

Rarity didn't respond immediately, and raised her head. “Not really, but I shall pay respects to the stallion I knew.”

I checked the bag I brought with my claw, and felt the notebook. I stared over the side of the chariot, and attempted to remember what Rarity talked about the previous night.

He is from Canterlot too, and he even performed at the Grand Galloping Gala a few years ago!” the memory of Rarity said.

We landed near Canterlot Castle, and quickly, the girls hopped off while I slumped off, dragging my bag and my shoulders. I looked to the rest of them.

“Before I go to the castle, I want to just walk around a bit, maybe clear my head,” I stated.

The six girls looked at me with surprise, while Twilight's expression quickly changed to anger.

“Spike! We're late because of you, and... somepony died! You're staying!” she demanded, slamming a hoof on the ground.

I didn't listen to her, and immediately turned away. I began walking away from them, Twilight shouted at me once more. I didn't even process her words that time, and continued walking. She exhaled coarsely, and I was soon left alone. Looking up, I noticed the streets were crowded with ponies, mourning the loss of Prince Blueblood. I walked through the streets for minutes, maybe even hours before I stopped at a streetlight. Carriages started walking by, carrying important personal of all kinds. I heard an obnoxious voice next to me, a few meters away, and I tilted my head to the side to look around a mess of ponies. Standing there, was Rarity's precious Blackhoof, talking with several other stallions.

“Ah man, she has the sweetest flank ever, but she's so, so~ clingy,” Blackhoof exclaimed.

“I hear ya, but seriously, how did you get a toy like famous fashionista Rarity?” another stallion asked.

“It's easy, you just gotta say what the ladies wanna hear, and they'll be giving you access to their beds in no time at all,” Blackhoof nonchalantly said.

I didn't think it was possible at the time, but I was more pissed than the previous night. I resisted the urge to go over there and set fire to him immediately. I still think I should have, regardless, but they would have arrested me. I remembered the black notebook I had in my possession, and I looked down at my bag. I opened it up, and took out the notebook which I hid in a magazine about jewels, as well as a pen.

Is it truly a killer notebook? I can test it out right now, where I see instant results, I thought while biting my lip.

I sighed, opened it up, and looked at the page where I wrote Blueblood's name. I looked at it, feeling guilt as I lifted the pen to the paper. I mouthed the words I wrote down:

“Blackhoof – Heart Attack; dies 40 seconds after the writing of this is finished from massive heart failure.” I closed the book, setting it and the pen inside my bag, and I waited. The seconds ticked by as slow as ever while I counted them in my head.

35...

“When we kiss, she's got a great tongue-”

36...

“I can only imagine what it's like when-”

37...

“She eventually gives me a little head action.”

38...

Their laughter earned several looks from bystanders.

39...

Their laughter at using Rarity.

“40!” I said, barely audible due to the chatter.

Right on cue, Blackhoof stopped laughing, and his eyes shot wide open. He twitched a few times, grit his teeth, and looked down to the ground. His friends stopped laughing as well, and quickly looked at him.

“Hey, Blackhoof, are you alright?”

I watched as he writhed in pain, before lifting a hoof up to his barrel. He stumbled around for a bit, my eyes widening as I realized that the effects were happening. He fell to the ground, and started screaming in pain. The ponies nearby stepped back to give him space while his friends frantically shook him, attempted to hold him still, pretty much anything one would do in a panic. I still stared, feeling more scared than before.

Blackhoof stopped moving, and his friends shook him several more times before stopping. There was silence from the ponies in the area, and his friends stood up, taking a step back.

“He's dead.”

And I killed two ponies.

I had stepped into Celestia's personal chamber, led there by the guards. Sitting in a circle were Princesses Celestia and Luna, my friends, and several other ponies I didn't recognize. Their attention turned to me as I closed the door. I made no attempt to hide the dried tears that were on my face, and I looked up. Twilight's face wore an angry scowl, but softened upon meeting my eyes. I slowly walked across the floor, and practically fell against Twilight, wrapping my stubby arms around her while her forelegs wrapped around me. I made no sounds, made no noises, I just held on to the mother I grew up with, and felt her comfort warming me up. Celestia had given us a small smile before returning to her somber attitude.

“Rarity, as I was saying, I would like to apologize for Prince Blueblood's attitude on the night of the Grand Galloping Gala. He may have been rude and snotty, but he was not just a Canterlot snob. More importantly, he was family, and it hurts me as well to think that he had acted such a way towards you,” Celestia spoke.

“It's fine, princess. I also wish to apologize, even though he has passed on, I still feel resentment towards him, and feel as if I shouldn't be here for that reason,” Rarity responded, her voice also bore a saddened tone.

“It's fine. I'm curious as to why you did show up, though,” the princess replied.

Rarity sighed. “I don't like him. Never did, still don't but he is a pony just like the rest of us, and even if his attitude could have used some work, I still knew him, and that is reason enough to pay respects. Nopony deserves to die.”

That's when I sat up. I looked at her for a second, resisting the urge to laugh sadly. If only you knew what just happened, Rarity, I thought.

Several days had passed. Several days of waiting. Several days of thinking, and dreaming. Standing at the funeral of Prince Blueblood presents me with numerous mixed emotions. It's true, that I should at least pay respects to the pony I murdered in cold blood, I was still thinking about what Rarity said, allowing it to sink in. I spent the nights restless excluding the night prior to the funeral. I had gotten a decent sleep, I was able to live with what I did... well, that was a lie. At the time, I had merely accepted it as an accident, and calmed myself down.

I tuned out the obituaries from his family, figuring I didn't deserve to hear it. I learned later on that if I had, I would have heard things that would make me burst out laughing. I looked over at Rarity, stared at her face which bore an almost stone-cold expression behind her stylized mane. It was almost saddened, probably because she had learned of Blackhoof's death.

If only you knew, my sweet. But she didn't know, and she never will. I don't want her to feel weak because her lover cheated on her, or was using her. Either way, I won't ever tell her. I can't break her heart. It's better to have her mourning the loss of her colt.

She can't know, and never will know. I did her a favour, even if it was horrible. I killed somepony that wronged her, and even if it was wrong of me to take a life, she could continue, not knowing the truth. Nopony will treat her properly. They'll hurt her, and I can't let that happen. I'll protect her at the cost of my own innocence and the ability to live with myself. I looked away from Rarity, back to the front. I tilted my head down, spotting Twilight's look of concern. I smiled at my thoughts. She didn't see it. Nopony else did. I made a steely, iron resolve that day.

I'm going to kill every stallion that threatens my Rarity.