The End is Not the End

by Hoofprintz

Spike : Sacrifice

Princess Celestia, you have to do it, there's no one else that can.

I begged and pleaded with the alicorn, but she remained adamant in her stance.

I can't Spike... I just... can't.

If she continued to be stubborn my stomach would be her final resting place. The fact that her natural aura was still protecting her from instant preservation was a miracle in itself, but that wouldn't last forever.

Soon she'll...

That could NOT happen.

Don't you understand, Princess? They've taken control of my body and locked my mind away.

I tried to be as levelheaded as I could.

I'm not even really in full control of myself anymore.

Princess Celestia just slumped at the truth.

Princess... your sister, Cadance, and Twilight are fighting for their lives right now... You can't just stay here and do nothing. If you do... then they...

You're my friend, Spike! And like a son to her, she grimaced. How could I possibly take your life? How could I take you away from her?

I knew what she said was true, but it wouldn't matter soon. We'd both be dead.

I won't even feel it, Princess.

I'd lost all sense of pain since Kismet sealed my mind away. There was no escaping this prison for me.

You'd be doing me a favor.

And what would I tell Twilight, Spike? That you didn't feel a thing? She was starting to get annoyed at my persistence. She's lost so much and you expect me to face her and tell her I killed the one she considers her only son? When she put it like that I could easily understand her reservations.

Princess... it's either just me... or all of us, I sighed. Twilight had always been like a mother to me. No, that's not true. Not like. Twilight had been my mom. I loved her more than life itself. Her happiness was more important to me than my own. I'd give anything for her, do anything for her. I'd convince Celestia to do what had to be done, no matter what. I had to or...
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Spike... SPIKE!" Twilight's yell followed by a loud explosion forced me to drop the ruby I was about to snack on back into the bowl of gems. With a tired sigh I left my meal and the Power Ponies comic I'd been obsessing over and walked up the stairs to our room.

"COMING!" I yelled back to make sure she wouldn't keep on calling out for me. Going up the stairs brought me to one of the funniest things I'd ever seen.

"L-little help?" she grunted from the ropes of sticky goop tying her up and suspending her high above the room. She was hanging upside down and looked every bit annoyed by the predicament she was in. I had to cover my mouth to stop the laughs from spilling out causing her to look at me dryly. "That funny huh?"

"Yes, yes it is," I laughed out loud, moving to free her with my claws. "You can't just use your magic to get yourself down?" I asked when my laughs finally subsided. The goo was easy enough to cut, but there sure was a lot of it.

"Unfortunately, it's a substance meant to suppress magical energy," she looked up at her horn. "And as you can see I got a lot of it on me."

"I can definitely see that," I cut another cord away. "I'm guessing Princess Celestia asked you to do this for her?"

"No, this was an all original, from the brilliant mind of Twilight Sparkle herself," she groaned.

"Careful, when I cut this cord you're gonna flip and have to catch yourself, okay?" I warned her.

"Got it!" she tried to nod, but her head was still caked in the goop. I snipped the rope that was anchoring her in place, sending her head over heels as she came to a landing on her hooves.

"Nice!" I complimented.

"Thanks," she tried to shake the mush off of herself, but it was way too thick. "Ugh, this stuff is gonna take a lot more than just water to get off," she tried to wipe some of it off of her wing with a hoof, but her efforts just spread the ick around.

"You might want to jump in the bath... or probably a shower," I suggested, looking around the room. It was a complete disaster, the sticky substance literally all over everything.

"I think you're right," she sighed.

"I'll get to work in here, don't worry about the mess," I offered her a smile as I went to grab a broom...

Or maybe a mop...? An axe?

"Spike?" she sounded different all of a sudden.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. You're always there when I need you," she walked up to me. "I really do appreciate it."

"No problem, Twilight. I'll always be there when you need me. I promise." The sappy stuff really wasn't my thing, but I really did love her. She moved to give me a hug, but I pressed my claws against her chest. "Uhhhh maybe after you get out of the shower."

"Right," she looked a bit sheepish before going to get herself cleaned up. I couldn't help but feel a little proud. Twilight's gratitude meant so much to me and having her express it so openly made me beyond happy.

I won't let her down.

I'd always be there when she needed me. That was the oath that this dragon had sworn.
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"Oh Spike, I don't know what to do." Twilight hadn't stopped crying for hours.

Who could blame her?

We were losing everypony. Her parents. Her brother. Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, AJ, Ra- I had to wipe my own tears away. And now Starlight had passed away.

Twilight and I were sitting in her room, her on the bed, me on the floor. We'd just finished attending the funeral and even though Cadance, Flurry, Celestia, and Luna were in the city, Twilight refused to meet with them.

"I don't know what to say, Twilight. This is so... awful. I never thought..." I didn't think I should say it, but the thought was crawling around in my head. "I never thought it would turn out like this, Twilight. I thought we'd all be together forever."

"So did I, Spike," she sighed. "I guess it was just naive of me."

"You should go talk to Pri-"

"I don't want to," she interrupted. I already knew she didn't, but that didn't mean I wasn't gonna try to persuade her. I still didn't know what'd happened between the two of them. Twilight's entire life used to revolve around what Princess Celestia thought. Nowadays, it seemed like they'd had a really bad falling out.

"Why not?" I asked.

No use being vague. She'd always been honest with me before.

"What happened, Twilight?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, Spike."

So she's gonna play dumb? Why?

"Twilight, it's me," I placed a claw on her hindleg, which was much harder than it sounds considering my claw was almost big enough to hold her inside of. "You know you don't have to hide anything from me."

"Ugh," she laid back, covering her face with the back of her foreleg. "I know. It's just... hard to talk about."

"If you don't wanna talk about it, that's fine."

"No, no... it's alright. I shouldn't bury my feelings," she sat back up. "It should help, right? Talking about it, I mean?"

"It's always helped before," I nodded. She took a second to gather her thoughts before speaking.

"It feels like..." her face scrunched up. "I feel like Princess Celestia is afraid to see me." Confessing that made her look really sad. "I mean, you saw her just now," she shook her head in what had to be disappointment. "She looked like she wanted to be anywhere else doing anything else."

She wasn't lying. Princess Celestia was struggling to interact with Twilight, that was super easy for anypony to see. But that could've been because Twilight was being so standoffish herself.

"Have you told her that? Or even tried to talk about it with her?" If I learned anything from the time we'd all been friends, it was that if you had a problem with somepony close, you should bring it up with them because all that could come from keeping quiet was more problems.

"How could I possibly do that, Spike?" she lifted her hooves into the air dramatically. "Hey Princess, I noticed you've been scared to talk to me recently, what's up with that?" she covered her face with her hooves, throwing herself back down onto her bed with a loud groan.

"Okay, I see what you mean," I placed a claw under my chin, trying to come up with an easier way for her to approach her teacher. "But it's Celestia, Twilight. When has she ever reacted the way you imagined she might?" She was quiet. "You always distort her in your mind, like she's some kind of tyrant that'll hang you for the first mistake you ever make."

"That's... true." she agreed. "I guess I'm just really scared, Spike."

"Of what?" You'd think after all this time and becoming an all powerful alicorn and the ruler of Equestria itself, she'd have nothing to fear.

"What if she... what if she leaves me like everypony else, Spike?" Being abandoned was a scary thing. I'd struggled with the same possibility before, but it's not like any of the ponies who'd left Twilight had done so by choice. "I don't think I could handle that, Spike... I love her so much."

"I know, Twilight. I'm sure she feels the same... that's why I don't think she'd ever do something like that to you." I honestly didn't. If Twilight was like a mom to me, then Celestia was definitely like Twilight's mom too. She'd never do anything to hurt her, especially something as horrible as abandoning her.

"I didn't think any of my family or friends would ever leave me either, Spike." I knew what she was going to say next, but I had no counter for it. "That didn't stop them from going away anyway."

"That's a little unfair, don't you think?" The hardest thing to fix about her thought process was, it wasn't completely wrong. Even if she was being unfair, it didn't make what she said any less true. They were all gone, no matter what the reasons for their departure were.

"Maybe," she sighed. "Does it make a difference? I miss them all the same."

"Me too." I guess I felt the same, though I was better at hiding my emotions... and I didn't think what family I had left was going anywhere anytime soon.

"It feels like you'll all be leaving... and I'll be left here all alone." I had to cut that type of thinking off immediately. She was already being a lot more antisocial, what with her constant visits to the archives. She'd never let me join when she studied. She'd said I'd just be bored. I should've been more insistent. Every time she came back from "studying" she seemed a bit more... different.

"I'm not going anywhere, Twilight," I tried to reassure her, but she'd obviously thought about this more than I had. "I swear."

"Spike, you're going to have to hibernate eventually. It's part of being a dragon."

"I..." It was hard to debate with her when she seemed to never be wrong. Hibernation was something unavoidable for my species. We'd all learned how unavoidable it was for any creature when Tank had to do it that winter Rainbow went crazy trying to stop it from happening. Needless to say, she failed spectacularly. "It'll only be for a while, Twilight. I'll be back before you know it. Not like..." I clamped my mouth shut.

Hopefully, she missed that.

"Maybe you're right," she agreed with her words, but not with how she spoke them. She sat up as she took a deep exhausted breath. "I'm gonna head to the archives, Spike. There's something I want to check on."

I flinched.

"I don't suppose you'll finally let me join you?" I hoped.

"That's okay, Spike... I don't really feel like company right now," she gave me a sad smile. "Can you go tell Princess Celestia and the others I'm feeling under the weather?"

"I think it'd be better if-"

"Please, Spike?" I couldn't say no to her, even though I should have.

"Sure, Twilight," I offered her a genuine smile.

"Thank you." As she left the room to go to the one place I wished she wouldn't, I couldn't help but feel like I'd failed her. That night I swore another oath. I would never leave her, regardless of what it would cost me.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What in Tartarus is going on?

I'd been out on a friendship mission from Twilight and I got back to find a gigantic black ball around Canterlot.

I've only been gone for a couple days. What could've happened to cause something like this?

I placed a careful claw against the wall of darkness. If Twilight was in trouble there was nothing that would stop me from getting to her. The stuff rippled as soon as I touched it, not stopping my progress at all. Walking through it felt like passing through a sheet of water.

Within the barrier, Canterlot looked completely normal, but it was a lot more quiet than usual. I took to the air, flying to the castle where Twilight should be awaiting my return. She always had lunch with me as soon as I got back from a foreign land. As I flew over the city toward the castle, I noticed something very disturbing about the streets below.

"Where is everypony?" I thought out loud. There wasn't a single pony to be seen. Not on the streets, not eating at the restaurants, not in the parks. It was like the city had been evacuated... or maybe something worse.

I didn't have time to check the interior of the buildings, but from what I could gather from the windows, they were all empty too.

I have to find Twilight.

She'd recently sent Radiant to Ponyville and was particularly on edge about... well, everything. It was the perfect time for some high on themself villain to invade and try to overthrow Canterlot.

I knew I shouldn't have left her.

I landed on a balcony of Canterlot Castle that'd been built specifically for me to arrive and depart from. I rushed inside, running on all fours to Twilight's room. There were no guards or any other creatures in the halls of the castle. It was starting to get scary.

I didn't even knock on the doors to her chambers, instead ramming them open with my horns. I exhaled all the breath I'd been holding in. She was lying down comfortably on her bed, snoring absurdly loudly, like nothing at all was amiss.

I tiptoed over to her bedside, trying my hardest not to wake her. Sitting next to her bed I realized that it was entirely possible that she was unaware of the situation currently occuring.

I have to wake her up. This could be a matter of national security.

"Twilight?" I gently nudged her with my claw. No response. I pushed a little harder. Still no response. I could feel my sweat start to build.

Why isn't she waking up?

"Twilight!" I shook her roughly, an action that would've woken anypony else up in a second. I could feel tears gathering in my eyes. "Twilight!" I wasn't yelling yet, but the panic was really starting to overcome me and I was seconds from letting out a roar that would shake the entire castle.

"Spike..." she whispered as she stirred, her eyes flitting open. Thank goodness.

She's okay... She's okay.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

That day changed everything. She'd gotten into a fight with the princesses. Not just a simple argument, but literal trying to hurt each other with magic. Apparently, it'd been so bad that she almost killed Celestia. I couldn't believe it. Not because Twilight was ever dishonest with me, more because it was simply... unbelievable. Twilight and Celestia coming to blows was close to the last thing I'd ever imagine happening.

After explaining everything that'd happened to me she'd asked me to make one of the hardest decisions of my life. Help her or leave, there were no other options. If I chose to exclude myself from this whole thing she said she'd take it as siding with Celestia. But opposing Celestia felt... wrong. Twilight would never go against her mentor... at least the Twilight I knew wouldn't.

I'd asked her what the deal was with Canterlot, where everypony had gone. Why it was inside a black marble. Why she was covered in those strange markings and wearing that coat all the time, even in bed. She said it was all part of a spell she'd been working on. A spell that would change the nature of Equestria itself. All she said she'd need from me was cooperation.

None of that mattered to me though. I'd made a promise, swore the oath of a dragon, and I would keep that obligation until the day I died. That meant I'd have to go along with her wishes, no matter how crazy they might become. Something had changed my mom. She was more aggressive than before, more... angry. Little things were setting her off, from her food being too hot to books being too heavy.

Strangely enough, her rage was never directed at me. She still treated me with the utmost respect and love. It was very unsettling, almost like I was being used... like she was just being nice to me so I would be cooperative... but Twilight would never do something like that...

Right?

Eventually she casted a spell on me. I think it forced me to age because once it was over I was a fully grown dragon... something more than just aging happened though. I was bigger than any other dragon I'd ever met. It'd... hurt, initially, all the growing pains of thousands of years condensed into a couple minutes made it feel like I might actually die, but I knew Twilight wouldn't let that happen.

In less than a day I'd grown so big I couldn't stay in Canterlot anymore. Instead, Twilight made me a new home in the mountains near the city. It was sad not being able to be with her at times, but I could take it. If it might make her happy again, I could do anything.

Then we started "preserving" places all over Equestria. My job was to go to where she was and let her transfer magic into me after she'd finished her job. It was weird and felt a little ticklish, but was over in no time at all. I'd asked her what we were trying to accomplish and she'd tell me it would all be clear in time.

When I finally figured out what she was doing it was too late. It wasn't just harmless magic. I was a vessel for holding the souls of the citizens of Equestria. That's why she'd made me grow up. That's why I arrived after she was done. That's why...

I don't see the issue, her piercing eyes drilled a hole right through me. I'd finally gathered the courage to confront her about what we were doing and all I got out of her was cold indifference.

Twilight we're killing ponies! Not only ponies but... everything...

Counting the number of places we'd preserved was getting close to impossible.

So what? her careless reply stunned me. When had she become so heartless? To make an omelette you have to crack a few eggs, right? Just think of it like that, Spike, she smiled, her uncomfortably wide eyes sending shivers down my spine. We're just cracking some eggs, that's all.

How can you say that, Twilight? As if their lives didn't matter? They were somepony's friends too, just lik-

Is this going to be an issue, Spike? The malice I sensed within her filled me with dread. Whoever this was, it wasn't Twilight Sparkle... It wasn't my mom.

N-No, Twilight. I'm just overthinking things. I prayed she wouldn't see through my lie. She narrowed an eye scrutinizingly on me, staring at me for way too long.

Good! the irritation in her left instantly, a wide grin spreading on her face. I knew I could count on my number one assistant, she abruptly ended the mental link we were using, silence the only thing that followed.

What have I gotten myself into this time? Better yet, what has Twilight gotten herself into?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Flurry is gone, Spike. I couldn't believe it. Just one day after my fight with Princess Luna, one day after we'd invaded the Crystal Empire, Twilight told me Flurry had been killed. She'd been like a little sister to me. I couldn't count the number of times we'd hung out, doing stupid things like trying to prank her mom or Twilight.

H-How? I felt sick. Losing another friend, a member of the family, was something I never wanted to go through again. It was something that was never supposed to happen again. They were alicorns. They were immortal.

So why? Why did this have to happen?

It's all my fault, Spike. I screwed up. Tampered with things I shouldn't have... and now... It was easy to hear the guilt in her voice. That was what had gotten her here in the first place. Guilt. If she was blaming herself for Flurry's death, things were just going to get even worse.

You can't keep doing this to yourself, Twilight. The odds of her listening to me were slim to none, but I had to try. Tell me what happened.

Spike... I was possessed. A long time ago... Guess I still am, she confessed. I've been going into the forbidden wing of the archives since Mom and Dad died.

I knew it. I knew I shouldn't have let her go by herself. Why didn't I listen to my gut? It's never wrong.

Well, we just gotta get you unpossessed then, right? It's the same as that time I gave Rarity that book, no? We just have to find a way to get you better, I tried to offer her some hope, but she just slumped, shaking her head slowly.

No, Spike. It's not the same at all, she tried to smile at me, but it just made her look deranged. I really screwed everything up.

Then... what can we do? What can I do? I'm right here. I'll do whatever it takes to help you get out of this mess.

I don't know, Spike. I don't know... I was losing her... or maybe she was already gone. Growing to this size took the one thing away from me that I felt I still needed to help her. Physical contact. I wanted to hug her, to take her into my arms and reassure her. To tell her everything was going to be okay. But I couldn't. I could only speak to her, could only watch the mental representation we used to converse with one another.

I'm sorry, Twilight. It was all I could offer her, empty words. I had nothing else. There was nothing else.

You have nothing to apologize for, Spike, she covered her face with her hooves, trying to hide her shame. It's all my fault.

For the first time I think I truly understood how Princess Celestia might've felt. I was here for her, I'd gone nowhere, and yet it didn't matter at all. To Twilight, It was like she was all alone and no one could help her.

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In spite of my best efforts to hold myself back, they'd forced me to swallow Celestia whole. I'd lost all control of myself to the ones who'd possessed Twilight and now they were using my body however they wanted. I was relegated to a corner of my mind, only able to watch as anything and everything went horribly wrong.

How Princess Celestia had survived inside of my stomach for so long was beyond my understanding. Twilight had changed my insides into a preservation machine. If any organic substance were taken in, it should be disintegrated by the flames and absorbed in minutes at best.

Yet somehow the Princess was enduring.

No wonder she'd been the ruler of Equestria for so long.

She was absurdly strong, but it would all be for nothing if she didn't get out soon. And sadly, there was only one way she was gonna be able to get out. Thankfully, she'd reached out with her magic. She'd somehow established a link between the real me and herself and so we were able to communicate with each other.

Celestia... she was afraid. I wasn't sure if it was my place to tell her, but things were getting too dangerous. If I didn't say anything now she might never know.

I know, Spike, if her body slumped any further she'd be lying down. She was terrified of death. That's why she did all of this.

No, Celestia. You don't get it, I sighed. Anypony could see she was afraid of death, that was painfully obvious since her parents had died. She was afraid of you. She was afraid of you abandoning her. She looked at me as if I'd just stabbed her in the heart.

I-I would never do such a thing, she was definitely offended by my claim, her eyes frantic as she angrily stood to her hooves. Why would she ever think such a horrible thing?

But... you did, Princess. I had to convince her to escape no matter what, and that meant being as cold as possible. After Starlight died, you left her all alone. She fell back on her haunches, a look of disgrace overtaking her. Why Celestia? Why weren't you there for her?

I... I wanted to be, Spike, her eyes wouldn't meet mine. I didn't abandon her, I just... I was scared too. Now that was shocking. I couldn't picture Princess Celestia being afraid of anything. Worried? Sure, maybe. Concerned? Oh yeah. But scared? It didn't seem possible. And then the realization hit me like a locomotive.

You were both scared of being abandoned by each other. It was cruelly ironic. Both of them had fulfilled their own worst nightmares by avoiding the other... or at least not making a better effort to come together. Celestia just nodded lamely in reply. This was it. This was my only chance. Celestia, she needs you, now more than ever. She needs you at this moment. She lifted her head, a spark of hope in her eyes.

But, Spike, I-

We took so many lives, Princess... so many innocent creatures. Their souls are trapped inside my body. They can't move on while I'm still alive. I took a deep breath knowing what I was asking, but still dreading what it meant. If you don't do this now, Kismet will use the souls to make themselves stronger... so strong there won't be anything you or the others will be able to do to stop them.

She stared at me sorrowfully, the war going on inside of her easy to see in her eyes. She grit her teeth in determination as she breathed harder and harder.

There has to be another way! she rubbed her face with her hooves, frustration taking over her features. A spell, a book, SOMETHING! she was yelling now. This can't be our only option Spike!

I'm sorry, Princess. Even if there was, we don't have any more time. I was still aware of the battle going on between the others and Kis. I might not be able to do anything, but my eyes still saw what they saw. Kis had done something to the girls. They were all immobile and the monster was bearing down on Twilight... on my mother.

Spike I-

Kis is about to kill Twilight, Celestia. Her eyes shot open, her horn shining brighter than I'd ever seen it before. Her entire body began to erupt, a brilliant flame as sublime as the sun spreading all over her. Although I couldn't feel anything anymore, I could swear the heat she was giving off was starting to warm me up.

I'm sorry, Spike. Her eyes were aglow, tears falling from them for only a second before evaporating as her entire body continued to heat up more and more gradually turning into an uncontrollable inferno.

Thank you, Celestia. I smiled at her from the heart. It was my time. I was ready. Tell Twilight I'm sorry I couldn't help her... and that I love her.

No. You're wrong, she shook her head slightly as her power reached its zenith. Even with my eyes closed her light was shining through. You helped her more than you could ever imagine, Spike. Everything started to burn. Thank you, my friend.

The flash of light was as bright and powerful as a thousand suns. Even though I couldn't feel pain anymore, I was sure I wouldn't have felt anything anyway.

Goodbye... Mom...

Author's Note:

I had to give Spike a chapter. He's too important to the canon not to. I really don't like the whole Twilight and Spike are siblings. I've never felt like that was the case, especially since the episode where he breaks her heart.

This chapter was also heavily meant to at least make Twilight more understandable. I think it worked.

Comments

[Clawfoot]

Well, I am glad I brought tissues for this heart wrenching chapter.

[Hoofprintz]

11661470
Glad it hit. I really wanted to use Spike as a window into just how bad it was for Twilight, and in effect, for him. Happy it worked in a sense.

[TheHumanWriter]

Then we started "preserving" places all over Equestria. My job was to go to where she was and let her transfer magic into me after she'd finished her job. It was weird and felt a little ticklish, but was over in no time at all. I'd asked her what we were trying to accomplish and she'd tell me it would all be clear in time.

Well, the Equestrian Royal Guard is literally no match to this. No wonder they seemingly disappeared from the early chapters of this madness.

-Davidtin

[Hoofprintz]

11773986
Yep. Way above their pay grade.