The Dragon of the Ruins
This chapter reiterates a little on The Dragon of the Ruins, but serves more to expand on the scene and transition over to something a little bigger.
Both this story and The Dragon of the Ruins were written when only the G5 movie was available to the public. As such, there will be major points of divergence between this story and G5 as a series, but I'll try to work certain elements in!
No prior reading is necessary to understand what is going on, but it's certainly recommended! 
Spike eyed the crumbling gravestone in the distance.
Five centuries since she'd passed.
Five too many.
"Is... everything alright?" Sunny stepped a little closer to the dragon. "Like..." she gestured vaguely around them. "All of this--you live like this?"
A sigh. Spike gave a slow nod, crouching down to the ground. "I've... been living here for centuries now. It's my home. Or at least... was my home." He glanced up at the mare. "You... said that your father used to tell you stories about Twilight?"
"Mm-hm."
"Ooh, I sometimes hear stories about Twilight too!" Izzy waved her hoof in the air. "Like, this one time, she found this scroll that let her go back in time, but then a different unicorn named Starlight Glimmer who was a big meanie took it and tried to destroy the world!"
"You're close!" Spike chuckled, fidgeting with a small mound of dirt. "Little bit off, but things happened a bit differently from that. Oh--" He gasped. It felt nice to finally have somepony to talk to again. "--will you be staying for long? I... know that the town's hardly in any shape to be lived in after so many years, but the castle's still okay! For the most part."
A feeling of warmth flooded his aged heart as he watched Sunny's eyes widen.
"No, actually." The earth pony stallion standing behind Sunny cleared his throat. "We were planning on heading back home after this, right, Sunny?"
The mare rolled her eyes. "Not now, Hitch, I know Twilight's not here anymore, but Spike can still tell us a lot about ancient Equestria! Don't you think it'd be worth it to stay just one night?"
"Fine. Just stick together then." Hitch huffed. He looked over his shoulder. "Where's Pipp?"
"Oh, she's probably just romping through town streaming." The lone pegasus remaining dropped to the ground, albeit a little roughly. "She'll be back."
"Riiiight. Sure." Hitch turned back to Spike. "So, uh, Mister Dragon--"
"Spike, if you please."
"--Spike, right. You talk to Sunny and Izzy for a bit. Zipp and I are gonna go look for our missing pegasus."
"Sure thing. Hitch, right?"
Hitch grinned, tapping his badge. "Yup. Sheriff Hitch."
"Okay."
"Er..." Hitch seemed to be caught a little off-guard by the stale reaction, apparently. "Anyway, yeah. You girls stick with the dragon."
Zipp cleared her throat.
"You know what I mean, Zipp."
The pegasus chuckled, leaping into the air with a flap of her wings. Hitch led the way underneath, soon disappearing around a dilapidated corner.
"Soooooo..." The unicorn was the first to break the silence. "What was Twilight like?"
"Izzy!"
"Whaat?" Izzy shrugged, "I'm just wonderin'!"
"No, no, it's alright." Spike laughed. "Just meeting you guys has been enough to lift my spirits. Though, I'd have to admit, it's still hard letting go, even after so many hundreds of years. What were you asking again? You were wondering what she was like?"
"Eyup!" Izzy squeaked.
Spike sucked in a breath. "Right. Well, she tended to be pretty level-headed... most of the time. Analytical to a fault..." A sly grin grew across his face. "Dare I say she was a shut-in nerd?"
He looked up at Sunny. "Don't write that down."
"Mm, too late..." The mare mumbled. "I'll uh, erase it when I get back if you'd like."
"Nah, it's fine." Spike sighed. "Not like she's around anymore to complain, anyway. How about I show you two around town?"
"A... forest?" Sunny stared up at the thick canopy in front of them. "Is there something particularly important about this forest? Oh--is it another hidden unicorn town?"
"Nope, but it's not just any forest," Spike walked up to a nearby tree, winding up for a punch. "You watching, Sunny? Izz--"
"Apples!" Izzy cheered. The leaves above rustled a little before an apple emerged, floating gently down in Izzy's magic.
"...Right. Well, that's Sweet Apple Acres for ya." Spike shrugged. "Sunny, does your hometown grow any fruit trees?"
Sunny shook her head.
Spike let the punch loose, slamming his fist into the trunk of the tree. The ground shuddered from the impact, followed shortly by a barrage of apples raining down from above.
"It's not exactly how the Apple family did it when they were still living here, but it's the best I can do. They called it applebucking".
"A--" Sunny's surprise was cut off by an apple hitting her square on the head. "--ow. Er, Apple family? They used to live here?"
A nod. "Are they important to you?"
Sunny flipped through her notebook. "Yeah! I've read all about Applejack. Pinkie, too. Maretime Bay's history books only talk about those two. Said that the Apple family business eventually grew beyond apples into all sorts of produce. I think... hold on..." She slipped her saddlebags off and rummaged inside, pulling out a small, flat tin. "Yeah, I knew I had some cans with me!"
"Candied apples?" Spike squinted. "Oh--dang, the Apple family lives on, huh?"
"I'm pretty sure, yeah." Sunny lowered her hoof. "They still advertise their stuff as 'family owned and operated' to this day, though nopony knows where they're actually based. It's nowhere near Maretime Bay, that's for sure."
"Appleloosa?"
Sunny shrugged. "Maybe, but I wouldn't know where that is."
A quiet splat came from behind them.
"Sorry!" Izzy kicked aside the rotten apple. "I was just tasting some, but this one went splat!"
"Heh. Yeah, that's what happens with the bad ones."
Sunny nodded, wandering deeper into the undergrowth. "I do wonder why they left this place, though. It doesn't look all that ba--"
"Stand back!" Spike shouted. He stepped past the surprised mare, bending down to something in the brush. A soft symphony of clicks and whimpers rose before him.
"Timberwolves." The dragon stood up again, a small bundle of sticks in his arms now. "I can't say that I'm sure it happened, but it always felt like the years leading up to magic's disappearance came alongside a surge in the wild creatures' population. Sweet Apple Acres gave up defending against the encroaching timberwolves ages ago."
Sunny gasped as the bundle moved. Slowly, a glowing set of eyes opened up, staring directly into the mare's own.
"Cute!" Izzy squealed. The young timberwolf bristled at the sudden noise.
"Izzy!" Sunny shushed, looking over her shoulder. "Can you maybe be a little... calmer?"
"Oh, there's nothing to worry about these days." Spike set the pup on the ground. "The timberwolves are far more docile now, from what I've seen. Honestly, I'm surprised they survived through the magic-less years at all."
"So... why did you tell me to stand back, then?" Sunny's eyes trailed the now-visibly excited pup as it ran circles around them. "Is its mother nearby?"
Spike shrugged. "Beats me, though like I said, they tend to be far more docile now. I just didn't want you stepping on the pup. It's one of the little things that I've filled my days with over the years, watching over the wildlife like this."
"...Like Fluttershy did?"
A solemn nod. "Like Fluttershy did."
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I shall say, I always enjoy this concept immensely. The idea of the bad parts of immortality. I watch with great interest upon your take.
11012593
Thanks!
Hmmm, docile timberwolves, wonder if Hitch's animal magnetism would work on one ??
11012730
Wouldn’t be surprised if it did.
Huh. I'm not used to reading more serious stuff from you. Doin' a pretty good job, mate. I'll keep an eye on it.
That all emotionnal and stuff. I really dig this, and I hope there'll be more of this.
11012730
And I'd too like to see what would happen with our new sheriff and a Timberwolf !
You've seriously pinned down the feeling of progressive time for this story. Keep up with it if you can as this is by far the best G5 story I've read where they investigate Equestria's past.
Awww, can't wait for more!
oh this is gonna be great.
Please let him have a moment where he sees the whole 'brain melting' bit with rarity and reacts accordingly.
11012593 What bad parts? I'm finding immortality quite awesome.
New Pones, "So, Spike, what happened to everything?"
Spike sighed, "Twilight messed up a spell... again..."
In keeping with the trend, this will almost certainly be the canon backstory!
11013887
Watching everyone you know and love die around you, slowly falling out of touch with civilization, having to watch once pristine woodland cut down for farmland and industrial complexes, being literally the only person to remember a specific song after long enough. Knowing that the second you die, all that history is lost, forever.
11014036
To be fair, how bad any of that is, if it's bad at all, is completely debatable.
11014036 You're a kid, aren't you?
Dude, a hundred years ago, what you just described was what most people experienced by the age of 45. And most were dead from something shortly afterward. Over-wrought poets lamented favored forests being destroyed long before you were born.
Your lack of perspective is showing. Those who've lived over 100 realize the fleeting things are merely repeated parts of human cycles, for they've lived long enough to see them from start to finish, to restarting all over again.
The entirety of human history is literally at your fingertips for the first period ever in human history. And still, so few can even see beyond the boundary of their own limited eyesight. You grasp at and bemoan the fate of transient dust, while I watch the slow waltz of galaxies.
Since Fluttershy is obviously gone, that begs the all important question:
What happened to Discord after that?
11014207
My personal headcanon is that he's returned to his pocket universe, and hasn't come out again since.
11014210 Another possibility is that in his grief decided to take the magic with him so that he could try to bring her back. Obviously that failed and then he went into self imposed exile.
11014213
Maybe. In a different story I wrote that also takes place in a future Equestria, I wrote that he was in fact successful in bringing her back, but at the cost of his own life, resulting in Fluttershy being the one exiling herself for that same reason.
11014201
No. What I am is a man who has had to watch his best friend die while he was 14, and bury her. Pardon me if that effected how I see things.
11014201
Careful, your Id is showing, Mr. Superior.
To deny that there are negative parts to immortality is to fall prey to them. You aren't immortal, not yet at least, and even if you were, telling off someone who isn't for not having your Oh-so-glorious perspective is the height of childishness. Perhaps before you project that onto others, you should first think about why it offends you so that others care about that "transient dust" that you leave behind, hmm?
If, by some twist of uncanny fate, you really do believe you're immortal, may I suppose something?
Your immortality doesn't make you a better learner, and people millions of years old can be less intelligent, empathic, and emotionally stable than a four year old child. Maybe you ought to have a good long look at yourself before stepping on the emotions of others for bieng "less valid" than your own, and while you 'watch' the galaxies go by - and you're free to do so, you impotent codger - we'll be investing in transience. experience loss, happiness, and life.
Of course I want to be immortal. But I *dread* the idea of ever becoming immortal like you deludedly believe you are.
So above us all you are; that it would be a lie to call you alive.
Aight, let's remain civil down here in the comments, alright?
much as i hate g5, this is a neat concept
generational clash is always neat
11014394 And my brother watched dozens of kids he knew in a cancer ward die, while he also had cancer.
That's the world. The pacifist hippie commune fantasy the elite like to push to keep the masses obedient and dependent upon their crumbs is the Great Lie that leaves so many too weak to withstand reality. That is why the world shut down over one of the mildest global pandemics in history. Humans today would have been OBLITERATED by another Spanish Flu, the world would be in utter ruin if touched by another Black Death. You cannot handle hardships that our ancestors HAD to bear, entirely on their own.
I recall one line from Q after the first encounter with the Borg that fits the situation quite succinctly, "If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home, and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here! It's wondrous...with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross; but it's not for the timid.”
Only those who can banish both fear and despair belong among the stars.
11015015
At what point did I say “boohoo I can’t handle my current situation”? I simply pointed out the bad parts of immortality, in response to YOUR comment. In response you have been acting with outright hostility, with no real reason.
Due to the request of the author, I shall stop replying.
11015042
are you in any way surprised
this is alondro you're talking to
11015042
Your talking to Alondro... hostility is the norm.
I constantly need to remind myself that you’re actually a really good writer beyond random comedy. So, I’m about ready to read this and probably become sad, but hey, it’s something!
11047787
cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/751339082856005733.png?size=96
It is capitalized it should be lowercase right?
My Little review & Feedback did your review.
11081946
Ah, yup. Thanks for catching it! This and its prequel story are the first time in a while where I've written a serious story without having any prereaders or editors. Sometimes things like this slip by!
I'll try to keep an eye out in later chapters.
That last line was actually very sobering.