• Published 5th Nov 2020
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Mr. Smokes - Deep



What would you be willing to do to receive love from somepony who didn't love you back?

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Safe, Forever and Ever

Is there even any way to describe how awesome being emperor is? The only way to know how great it is, is to live it, and oh boy, was I living it. In a matter of days, I remade Equestria in my image. Endless statues of me were built throughout my kingdom, in every corner of every town and village. Every home was required to have a picture of me in every room, even the bathrooms. The Royal Guard was reshaped to become my personal fighting force, with me as their commander. And of course, each of my subjects had to bow in my direction whenever they spoke my name. Every little idea my mind could come up with became reality, and there was no one who dared to oppose me.

But as fun as all this was, statues and worshippers weren’t the reason I had gained this much power. My first real act as emperor--the first one that made me feel proud of myself--was when I ordered the execution of the mare who had poisoned Twilight Sparkle.

It only took a few hours for the mare to be found. I scheduled her execution for that night, and forced everyone throughout the kingdom to watch on as each of her hooves were tied to a stallion and she was ripped apart.

All of Equestria fell into silence as the mare was dismembered. Parents tried their best to cover their childrens’ eyes, but I had my Royal Guards go around the crowds to make sure that the children watched. I wanted the entire world to know what would happen if they ever dared to hurt my friends, especially Twilight. Even if they remembered me as the most evil creature in all of history, I wanted it to be known that I would stop at nothing to protect my friends.

Later that night, Hayseed came up to me in my throne room to complain about the execution. “This is goin’ too far!” he yelled. “The mares and the statues are one thing, but this isn’t why we do what we do!”

“No.” With a glare, I stepped toward him, causing him to tremble and take a step back. “This isn’t why you do what you do. What, you think I’m like the rest of you? So easily distracted by wealth and girls?” I kept walking toward him, cornering him against the wall. “Tell me, have you ever had a pony you truly cared about? Somepony you’d have no trouble throwing away your life to protect?”

Trembling more than ever, Hayseed took a moment to ponder, but in the end, he shook his head.

“Thought not. It was fun learning from you thugs, but I have no need for you any longer. Leave my castle, now. If you don’t… you know what will happen.”

With a glare, Hayseed turned to the door and sprinted away.

“What a waste,” I said to myself. For the remainder of the night, I sat awake on my throne, waiting. According to the hospital I had sent Twilight to, she had awoken the day I took power, and had immediately teleported away. No one knew where she was, which meant only one thing. She was planning something, and I had an idea of what it was.

My prediction was proven right just a few minutes later, when a purple magical aura appeared out of thin air and engulfed me. The aura teleported me to a place I had never been to before. Stars dotted the night sky above, but they looked closer, like they were within reach. Countless screens playing memories of myself and Twilight hovered in mid-air. I was standing on a path made of the twinkling stars above, and a few feet in front of me stood Twilight. She stood tall, her glare showing her anger, but her stern expression showing her composure and dedication to her duty. She was breathing heavily, which was made louder by the silence around us. At first, I thought this was due to her anger, but then I realized, it was from the poisoning. Her body was still weak from the coma, but she stood as if she was still the most powerful pony in Equestria.

I loved that about her.

“I was waiting for this,” I said, my grin turning into a heartfelt smile.

Twilight’s expression only grew more stern. “Explain yourself.”

I let out a chuckle. Typical Twilight. She could’ve restrained me with ease if she wanted to, but instead she chose to ask me why, as if it’d change anything. “Why do you think I’m doing this?”

“I wish I knew. At first, I thought this was my fault, because I hadn’t given you enough. I admit it, Spike, I have been a bad friend to you. At times, I would go on adventures with the rest of the group and leave you behind. Many days, I would spend more time with my other friends than with you, even though you were the first friend I ever had. And perhaps… you were the best friend I ever had.”

I couldn’t deny that my heart sank from how she talked about our friendship in the past tense.

As Twilight struggled to let out her words, she grew a scowl, and her glare intensified. “But now, I can’t help but think that you’re just rotten. I know you’re a dragon, and I know you’ve always been the most selfish deep down out of all of us because of that. I never held that against you, because it was a part of your biology. But now… after all this… Just tell me, Spike, what do I need to give you to stop all this? Do you want a kingdom all to yourself? Do you want slaves? An army? Do you want mares? Do you want me? Just tell me and I’ll give it to you. I don’t care what it is. I just want my brother back.”

Hanging my head, I let out a sigh. “I’m not going to lie, when I ran away, I wanted all those things. And so I used Fancypants as my role model, but really, deep down, you were who I wanted to be like. Strong, powerful, confident, competent. A destined ruler. You have everything, Twi. You’re an introvert, and yet you’re the Princess of Friendship. You’re a nerd, and yet you’re the strongest pony alive. You don’t care about love, and yet you can pick any suitor you want. You’re destined for greatness and were raised by royalty, and yet you’re so humble. And me… I’m none of those things. The only reason I’m anything is because I was raised by you. If I was brought up by anyone else, I would’ve been such a loser. But you… you could’ve been raised an orphan on the streets and you still would’ve ended up where you are.”

As I thought back to all my memories with Twi, I couldn’t help but shed a tear out of happiness. “How do you think that made me feel?” I continued.

Twilight was taken aback, and needed nearly a minute to respond. “Spike, you’re not a loser. I chose you as my royal ambassador for a reason, not just because you’re my brother. You’ve helped me save Equestria so many times. What do I need to do to prove to you that you’re just as special as me?”

I shook my head. “You still don’t get it, do you? I’m not a pony like you. I don’t have a cutie mark or a special talent to follow and become great. I don’t have any destiny. The other dragons get around this by sticking to their culture for a path to follow. But me? I know just how lost the rest of us without marks are. That’s why I say that without you, I’d be nothing. Because I was meant to be nothing. I have no mark and never will. Do you know how terrifying that is?”

Twilight froze, her scowl melting away into a frown. “Spike, I had no idea you felt this way.”

“Yeah, well, how could you? I never told anyone this, because I didn’t know it myself before. It wasn’t until our battle with Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow that I realized just how pathetic I am. If everybody else hadn’t shown up, my weakness would’ve cost us our lives.”

“Chrysalis was going to tear your wings off. How is that weakness?!”

“It’s weakness to me! How do you expect me to live with myself knowing that I’m such a liability? You’ll never have any idea how I’d feel whenever you and the rest of the group would fight villains. Yeah, I’d help, but deep down, I knew there was nothing I could do if it was up to me to protect you. You would all die if I was the last one of us standing, and I hate myself for that. And unlike you and the others, I don’t have a destiny I can follow to get stronger. So I had to invent my own.”

“Spike, you were a baby. You’re still a baby. Of course you couldn’t protect us like you wanted to. But that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to in the future.”

“Tell me, if Princess Celestia was killed by Nightmare Moon when you first came to Ponyville, would you use your age as an excuse? Or would you blame yourself?”

Twilight hung her head.

“Besides, like you said, I’m still a baby, and look at how far I’ve come. There’s no excuse for my weakness. I’m going to protect you now, Twi. I’m going to protect all of you.”

Twilight raised her head, taken aback. “Excuse me?”

“I have special buildings being made where all of you and your families can live. They will be one of a kind and possess a shield from every threat imaginable. You’ll be safe there. Finally, you’ll all be safe, and I can rest easy.”

Twilight’s glare returned. “I’m not a toy for you to hide, Spike. Do you really think I’ll be happy living like that?”

“I don’t care if you’re happy. As long as you’re safe.”

Twilight got into her fighting stance, looking me dead in the eye. “I see that there’s no arguing with you. You know what I have to do now.”

I stood tall, returning her gaze with one filled with even more devotion and confidence. “Do you really think you can fool me? You won’t do a thing to me, just like you know that I won’t ever hurt you.” My words caused her to freeze. With her bluff called out, she stepped out of her fighting stance. “I know what you’re planning next to. You and the rest of the group will use the magic of friendship on me to turn me into stone. And then, after a few months at the low end, or only a few years at the high end, you’ll release me from the stone to try to reform me. And if that fails, you’ll turn me back into stone, repeating the process until your dying breath.”

Twilight began to tremble.

“To make sure you don't do that,” I continued, “I have some insurance. Our parents, and everyone else’s families are in the dungeons beneath the Royal Palace. And, of course, there’s also Flurry Heart. If I get a hint that I’m going to be turned to stone, I’ll kill one of them. And when the next hint comes, I’ll kill someone else.”

Twilight’s face turned pale.

“I’m not going to make the mistakes the past villains did, Twi. I’m going straight to murder, because as powerful as you and the other Element bearers are, you have one giant weakness. You’re still six regular ponies with loved ones.” As Twilight stood petrified, I walked up to her and gave her a tight embrace. “It’s okay, you’re safe now. I know this is a lot to take in, so I’ll give you and the others one day to think it through. We’ll meet again tomorrow night. Please, make the right choice, because I don’t want to have to kill anyone anymore. I’m doing this so no one ever gets hurt ever again.”

In an instant, Twilight erupted with anger and let out a loud growl. She teleported me back to my throne room, where I took a deep breath. “This is for the best,” I said to myself.
…………………………….

The next morning, I sat on my throne as I awaited my morning briefing from the Royal Guards. As I waited, I thought back to my talk with Twilight, and was filled with sadness. I had hurt her yet again. “It’s for the best,” I repeated to myself. “This will be the last time she’ll ever be hurt.” But the pain didn’t go away.

When the first group of guards came in, they dragged in Hayseed, who they had in chains. “Your majesty, we caught this stallion sneaking around the kitchen to attempt to poison your breakfast.”

Too lost in thought over Twilight and the rest of my former friends to care, the only thing I said was, “Just execute him.”

With a nod, the guards dragged away Hayseed, who screamed my name in a last ditch attempt for mercy.

Mercy, what a pathetic word. The villains Twilight and I had fought had never shown us mercy, and yet we were supposed to show it to them. As Hayseed’s screaming faded into the distance, I was reminded that what I was doing was right. No one deserved mercy, least of all those who would hurt my friends. For Twilight and the others, I was ready to throw away my soul. If destiny was to refuse me a special talent, then I would make my own, one of a dutiful knight who would stop at nothing to protect his princesses.

As my frown turned into a smile, a guard came sprinting into my room. He was shaking in fear, and covered in sweat. “Your majesty, Twilight and the other Element bearers have been--”