Only Just A Dream

by Desert Nocturne

Eight

Twilight appeared flabbergasted by Edwin's statement. On occasion, Spike had displayed an impish sort of humor that she herself had trouble understanding. This, however, did not seem like the type of situation where Spike would try to prank her. He was tired, hurt, and, judging from the sounds coming from his stomach, starving. Still, it seemed the most logical conclusion. After all, what he was saying did not make any sense at all.

“Very funny Spike, but this is hardly the time for your jokes. You're hurt more than you've ever been in your life and you're showing a resistance to magic that I've never seen before. This could be very bad, perhaps some sort of new disease. This could be-”

“Twilight!” Edwin interrupted before Twilight could build up a head of steam. “What will it take to make you believe that I'm not the person you think I am? I don't even think I'm from the same world for goodness' sake.”

“Not from the same world?” Twilight mouthed slowly and placed a hoof on Edwin's forehead. “I think you may be suffering from delirium. Did anything odd happen to you out there in the Everfree Forest?” she said.

“You mean other than waking up in another creature's body, being attacked by bloodthirsty, mythological creatures, getting my ribs broken, my teeth knocked out, killing one the of the poor beasts, and meeting a talking pony and zebra? No, nothing at all,” he replied sarcastically. He had watched an episode of the My Little Pony show where Twilight Sparkle had had trouble believing in Pinkie Pie's Pinkie sense; He had had an idea that she would have a hard time believing his predicament. Still, he had harbored a hope that his uncharacteristic behavior might encourage her to see the truth. Her obstinate refusal to even consider his story was grating on his nerves.

She grinned infuriatingly at him. “You speak as if talking equines were new to you but I know for a fact that you've been around us ponies for your entire life,” she said triumphantly.

“Actually Twilight, where I come from ponies and all of their equine brethren lack sentience and do not have the ability to speak,” Edwin said.

“What an awful thing to say Spike! You're not acting yourself!” She narrowed her eyes at him, studying him as if he were a laboratory specimen. “When was the last time you ate anything?”

“My name isn't Spike and I have no idea when Spike ate his last meal. It must have been a while ago since I feel very hungry. As for me, well I had a late lunch maybe-” he took some time to make a mental calculation, “oh, maybe eight hours ago.”

She placed a hoof under her chin and began walking around him with an odd, three-legged gait, observing him closely. “You have several places on you where the timber-wolves were able to penetrate your scales. Don't you think it's at least possible that they transmitted some sort of disease or poison that's causing you to hallucinate?” she spoke, using the gentle voice of a negotiator talking down a suicidal person.

“Anything is possible Twilight,” Edwin replied, with a twinge of unease. Her argument and tone were very convincing, however, he found it unlikely that some poison could give him over twenty years of memories. “Anything is possible, including the possibility that you are wrong.”

“Ponies do not just switch bodies!” Twilight exclaimed suddenly. “It's not scientifically possible! You are just confused, Spike. I know of a few doctors in Canterlot that may be able to help you but first, we need to get you stabilized. So no more talk about being something you're not okay?”

“Not scientifically possible? Like magic isn't scientifically possible? Like Pinkie Pie's Pinkie sense isn't scientifically possible? You need to open your mind Twilight because believe it or not, I am not your enemy here. My primary interest is getting things back to the way they were,” Edwin spoke, raising his voice slightly. It seemed Twilight would need plenty of convincing in this matter. He considered doing something drastic to help change her mind, then reconsidered. He had to be the mature one here. After all he had plenty of time to convince her using reasoned debate.

“Magic isn't scientifically possible?” Twilight scoffed. “Well that's news to me! I guess all of Equestria is just one big lie then!”

“Magic doesn't exist where I come from Twilight,” Edwin said softly. “I think that's the reason why no one was able to treat my injuries. It seems most medical treatments here are based on magic and magic does not work on me. If that isn't physical evidence of the truth of my situation, I don't know what is.”

She opened her mouth to begin arguing again, then hesitated. Could what Spike was saying be true? She tilted her head at Edwin, then spoke. “How do you even know who I am if you're not Spike? How do you know about Equestria? How did you know what the timber-wolves were? How did Rarity and Zecora not suspect anything was amiss? How do you even know our language for the matter?” She was calmer now, more analytical.

“I told Rarity that I was in shock about the attack. After that she dismissed my odd behavior as shock and I suspect she relayed the message to Zecora. Zecora was very puzzled as to why her remedies did not work on me but attributed it to Spike's dragon physiology, although she did not seem completely convinced. As to my knowledge of Equestria and its language, I will hold on to that information for now. Suffice it to say, that I have a basic understanding of the general situation here,” Edwin said, relieved that Twilight was at last beginning to hear him out.

“So if you're not Spike, then who exactly are you?” Twilight asked slowly.

“My name is Edwin, Edwin Montero. Have you ever heard of a species called human? Their scientific name in my world is Homo Sapiens, genus Homo, family Hominidae, of the order of primates. That is what I am,” he stated.

Twilight stared at him, shocked at his use of binomial nomenclature, a talent that she had learned far later than Spike's age. She shook her head to clear it and decided to disregard his use of language. She remembered the devastating, far-reaching effects of the poison joke plant, and thought that forcing a young dragon to act as another species would not be out of the question for such a poison. After all, there has been very little study conducted on the animals of the Everfree Forest. Who's to say that timber-wolves don't have something like poison joke in their fangs or claws? Or maybe he accidentally wandered into a patch of poison joke without realizing it! She thought it likely that this was the case but for the moment, she decided to humor him.

“No Spike, I've never heard of humans or Homo Sapiens. Princess Celestia did tell me about some creatures in the Hominidae family though. According to her, they live far away from Equestria and while very intelligent, do not exhibit signs of sentience,” Twilight said edging around Edwin. “You seem to be intelligent enough however, what type of society do you come from?”

“I come from the city of Phoenix, of the State of Arizona, of the nation of the United States of America, of the planet Earth,” he said solemnly, aware of the fact that he was technically making a form of first contact.

He was tempted to say, “I come in peace,” or perhaps, “Live long and prosper.” Instead he continued, “Our society has developed over thousands of years into a highly advanced civilization. We do not have magic, as I said before, but we have mastered the use of tools to the point of-” He cut off sharply and gasped as an image wormed its way into his brain.

He saw a hazy image of the cell he had seen earlier in what he assumed was some sort of dungeon. Again, he looked upon his own body, laying upon the pile of hay in the corner. He was slightly ashamed to see that Spike was crying in apparent terror. He then noticed two angry looking pony guards rearing and then sinking their hooves repeatedly into Spike's unarmored body. He winced as he saw the poor dragon being beaten. Sudden fury flared within him. This is wrong and it needs to be set right! Forget Twilight, I need to talk to Princess Celestia directly.

“Spike! Spike!” Twilight yelled shaking Edwin's little dragon body.

Edwin came back to himself with a hiss and a snarl, the image in the dungeon still fresh on his mind. He bared his teeth and growled like a cornered, feral animal. Twilight retreated in a hurry, having never seen Spike act like this.

“What happened, Spike? You just stopped talking and you had this expression on your face, like you weren't even there,” she spoke shakily.

Not even bothering to address her question Edwin spoke harshly, “I need to speak with Princess Celestia right now! I think that my body was somehow transported here to Equestria and that Spike is now trapped in it even as I am trapped in his body.” He stopped, lowering his head and bringing his hand up to his face as he frowned and attempted to calm himself. It hurt. Spike's fingers were tipped with sharp claws. He welcomed the pain as it helped him to focus.

“To answer your question Twilight, I had a vision of a cell in what looked like a dungeon. My body, my real body was there. I could tell it was Spike in there, I could sense it, but he was being hurt. He was being beaten by two of the royal guards,” he said, growling again. “So you see, I need to talk to Celestia in order to put a stop to it. It's not right!”

“Enough, Spike! You're obviously suffering from some sort of mad delusions brought on by either shock, magic, poison, or some combination thereof! You're coming with me!” Twilight shouted, attempting to restrain the dragon with magic.

Edwin roared and batted the magic aura away. As before, the aura disappeared in a puff. He was all fours now standing on the exam table, looking apoplectic with rage; if he had had any fur, his hackles would have been raised. Twilight was on the other side of the room, blocking the door. She too was in a sort of battle stance, seeming ready to tackle Edwin if he tried to escape. Who knows what would have happened if at that moment there had not been a commotion outside the closed door of the exam room. Both Edwin and Twilight turned to look at the door, distracted. There was a shocked series of soft screams and muffled voices, then the door opened. Princess Celestia of Equestria was standing in the doorway, ethereal mane and tail streaming, eyes blazing.

“Twilight Sparkle!” she said imperiously, “Ah, and Spike. It is good that I was able to find you so quickly. We seem to have a situation with Spike here; he may not be all that he seems.”

****

Spike watched the door of the dungeon for a moment, it's image burned into his eyes by the brilliance of the Princess's teleportation spell. He rubbed absently at his wrists which had dark welts on them caused by the ropes that had been cruelly tightened upon them. One of the garments the creature was wearing came up to its wrist and Spike tweezed at it experimentally. It came up reluctantly. The cloth fit very tightly to the skin of the creature, but it felt oddly good, and it was warm.

He sighed and retreated back to the pile of hay in the corner. He did not know how long the Princess would be gone but he was starting to feel tired after the day's activities. He wobbled again as he walked and almost fell. He felt the creatures heavy frame and clothing being pulled by gravity. I want my old body back! Having no tail is horrible. I feel like if I get an inch out of balance I'm going to fall! And being this far off the ground is not nearly as much fun as I thought it would be. It just means I have farther to fall!

At last he achieved the pile of hay and he dropped onto it with another sigh. He bashed his head a damned good one too as he misjudged the distance to the wall. Cringing, and nursing his many aches and pains, Spike curled into a fetal position and began to try and nap. He was dozing off slightly when he heard voices outside the door.

He heard the deep sound of a voice he recognized, a pegasus flight Master Sergeant with, in Spike's opinion, the very cool name of Shikra Sparrowhawk. “My flight has reported back from the Everfree Forest, Princess Luna. They report that both Rarity and Spike survived their attack and were administered first aid by the zebra, Zecora, before returning to Ponyville for further treatment. We also discovered the body of one of the wolves about a quarter-mile from Zecora's home. It was- badly burned, your highness.”

He heard the voice of Nightmare Moon reply. “THOU HAST MY THANKS, MASTER SERGEANT! PLEASE RELAY MY REGARDS TO THE MEMBERS OF THY FLIGHT!” Spike cringed at the amazing volume the alicorn could project while at the same time feeling a relief so deep that he could hardly acknowledge it. Rarity is safe! Thank Celestia she's safe! She's safe! She's safe! It was all worth it! She's safe!

Fresh tears first swam, then fell from his eyes and for a moment Spike forgot where he was and what he was. The simple fact that the mare he loved had somehow survived what could have easily been the end of both of them was starting to sink in. She's safe and I'm safe. We survived! We survived! He recited the words in a sort of mental victory dance. He grinned stupidly as he thought of Rarity's beautiful face, her smooth white coat, her perfect hair, her shapely flank. He had saved her. She was alive and well. This whole situation with the body swap, he could deal with it now because Rarity was safe.

He whirled as he saw a dark shape enter the room. It was Nightmare Moon, although she was in her disguise as Princess Luna. Spike eyed her fearfully. He knew that Princess Celestia trusted her sister, but Spike was far more wary. Sometimes he thought Princess Celestia was too trusting for her own good. Maybe that's the dragon part of me talking.

“OUR SISTER SPEAKS MOST HIGHLY OF THEE! SHE CLAIMS THAT THY BODY CONTAINS THE SOUL OF THE DRAGON SPIKE!” she spoke, rattling the bars of the cell with seemingly no more effort than that of a whisper.

He saw the eyes of Nightmare Moon were upon his and suddenly he could not move. Her glare was holding him in place, like a pin holds an insect to cardboard. Her eyes began to glow brightly and a breeze began to blow in the room. Somehow, clouds formed behind her, and lightning crashed to the floor around her. The thunder of its passage through the air threatened to deafen Spike; the brightness of it to blind him. And still he could not tear his eyes from hers.

“BUT HEAR US AND HEAR US WELL CREATURE FOR WE SPEAK THE TRUTH! IF THOU IS NOT WHAT THOU CLAIMEST TO BE, YOU WILL HAVE US TO ANSWER TO!” she roared.

The sheer volume of both air and sound coming at him finally overwhelmed Spike and he was driven back against the wall. He struggled to look up again at Nightmare Moon. She had shed her disguise and was again in her true form, fangs glistening, long limbs flailing as she reared. With one last disgusted look at him, she turned and exited the room, thankfully taking the storm clouds with her. Spike saw the guards outside look at her in awe as she passed.

“WE ARE RETIRING TO OUR CHAMBERS,” she addressed one of the guards, “IF THERE IS FURTHER NEWS PLEASE SUMMON US. IT HAS BEEN A LONG NIGHT AND AN EVEN LONGER DAY AS THOU SURELY UNDERSTANDS. KEEP THINE EYES UPON THAT CREATURE UNTIL OUR SISTER RETURNS!” She yawned almost theatrically, then clip clopped away in the direction of one of the castle towers. Having been awake for the previous night and most of the day, she was ready to raise the moon and then get some rest. She had seen terror in the eyes of the creature and that was good. It would not trouble Equestria tonight.

At some point, the squad sergeant, War Horse, had gone with Shikra Sparrowhawk, the flight Master Sergeant, to assist in the final debrief of the pegasus flight. The remaining guards looked confused about what they were supposed to be doing. Two of them, appearing first scared then disgusted, peered at Spike through the door with flinty anger in their eyes. They entered the dungeon and closed the door speaking to their fellow guards quietly. “Keep watch while we interrogate the prisoner.”

They turned to face Spike and he saw that there was no compassion in their eyes. They looked almost dead, as if they were only husks, kept alive only by their hate. Suddenly, Spike hoped that Celestia would hurry up and return just as quickly as she could; for the first time he was thankful for the bars of his cell. His heart sank as he saw one of the guards brandish a key with his teeth.

“Hello there creature! Nice little sob story you gave the Princess!” the first one began. “I think she may have even believed it! But us guards, we're trained to see through lies and I think you're lying.”

“So we are here to get the truth out of you creature,” said the second through the key in his mouth, “one way or another.” He unlocked the cell door.

Spike gazed at them in disbelief. How can this be happening? They must have heard my story! The bucking door was open the whole time! There's no way I could have come up with all of that stuff about the nursery on my own! How did such bullies even get enlisted as soldiers of the Royal Guard?

“Now tell us,” said the first guard, “how did you learn of the dragon nursery? Are you working for the dragons?” He was advancing menacingly on Spike.

“How did you enter the castle?” said the second guard. “How were you able to penetrate the defenses!?”

“C-come on guys,” Spike began as he tried to retreat away from them. He bumped into the wall behind him and realized there was no escape there. “I don't know what you are talking about! I was telling the truth! Before I came here I was in the Everfree Fore-oof!” He exhaled sharply as the air was driven from him. The second guard had sunk his front hoof into Spike's unprotected abdomen.

“Now I'm going to ask you again, beast, and you're going to want to answer me this time believe me. How did you know about the dragon nursery!?” the first guard screamed.

“I was born there! It was where I was raised!” Spike screamed in turn, starting to panic. “It was my home until Twilight was old enough to- AIEE!”

The two guards began laying into him, alternately bucking him in the chest with their hind hooves, and slapping at his face with their front hooves. Spike was in agony as their hard horseshoes dug into his tender flesh. Suddenly, as before, he was ensorcelled away from his body; this time he was almost thankful for the vertiginous sensation.

He saw his old body sitting on what looked to be one of the examination tables at the Ponyville Hospital; Twilight Sparkle was in the room with him. He appeared to have been in some sort of heated argument, or at least Twilight had been, judging from the color in her cheeks. What's going on here? Why is Twilight so mad? Oh Celestia, it is so good to see her again. He looked at his own body and experienced another moment of vertigo. This was not like looking in a mirror but rather it was looking at himself from another point of view entirely and it was disorienting. He saw that his eyes were vacant and his body was slumping. Whoa, I hope that I'm going to be okay.

As suddenly as he had been taken, he was returned to his body. The two guards were shaking him furiously. Apparently, he had gone as vacant as his old body had. Does this mean that creature saw where I am like I saw where he was? Maybe he can tell Twilight what's going on! A hoof descended onto his groin for the second time that day and Spike was wrenched back into full awareness with cruel speed as agony again exploded inside of him.

The guards were panting and seemed to somehow be enjoying themselves. “So Spike,” the first guard sneered sarcastically, “are you ready to tell the truth now or will you need more encouragement?” Spike held his tongue. He had noticed something that the guards had missed in their excitement. The doorway to the dungeon had opened.

“WHAT'S GOING ON IN HERE!?” said a deafening voice from the doorway. It was War Horse the squad sergeant, glowering down at the two guards with cold fury. “WHO TOLD YOU TO INTERROGATE THIS CREATURE?”

“We heard the story it told the Princess, sergeant. It was obviously lying,” said the first guard, trying to block War Horse from viewing Spike who was curled into a position that any male could identify instantly.

“We only wanted the truth out of him,” said the second guard nervously.

War Horse took one look at Spike's condition before galloping into the cell, turning, and with two swift kicks, knocking out the two bullies posing as Royal Guards. “ATTENTION!” he roared at the remaining guards. “GET IN HERE! ALL OF YOU! ON THE DOUBLE!”

He surveyed his squad with a vicious eye. “These two criminals,” he began, pointing a hoof at the two unconscious stallions piled in a heap against the wall, “are guilty of assault and battery! They will face justice just as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow! But they are not the only ones at fault here.” He glared at the soldiers dangerously.

“I have to take some responsibility myself. I should not have left my squad without its sergeant but all of you are also partially responsible. We all have to be responsible not just for ourselves but also for our peers. We are the Royal Guard of Equestria! We cannot have thuggery and criminal acts taint our ranks. We have to be better than that!” he spoke with passion. “Therefore we will all be punished, myself included, for this act upon one of our own citizens.” He turned and nodded to Spike, and Spike could see remorse in his noble face. “Alright now, let's get these two thugs into their own cells! Move! Move! Then back out into the hallway!”

The guards sprang into action, heaving the unconscious forms of Spike's two attackers into individual cells on the far side of the dungeon. The each turned to salute him as they passed him on their way back to the hall, an act that touched Spike deeply. He was really a kind heart, and he could not stay angry at the guards who probably didn't know any better. The two attackers however, them he could stay angry at for a while yet, and he intended to see that they faced justice for what they had done to him.

War Horse approached him. “Spike, I must apologize on behalf of the nation of Equestria, the Royal Guard, myself, and my squad,” he said, raising a hoof to his brow and bowing. “I never would have dreamed that members of my squad could be capable of such idiocy. Is there anything I can do for you at the moment? Perhaps call for a physician?”

“Please,” Spike groaned. He could feel his face swelling up already. “I would appreciate it.”

“Very well,” said War Horse. “I'm afraid the Princess left specific orders that you remain in this cell, but I will do everything in my power to make you as comfortable as possible until she returns. I will keep watch myself, so if you need anything just call.” He left to stand at his post in the hall and Spike heard him speak again, this time addressing his squad. "All right! It's been a long and hard day for all of us! I'm going to dismiss you for now but stay confined to quarters, understood!? But make sure to stop by the infirmary on your way. We have an injured guest here!"

Spike heard what the sergeant was saying, but he was in a haze of fatigue. As the big stallion walked away he was already falling asleep again. He awoke once to find himself enveloped in a pale glow of magic. He saw one of the Princess's court physicians looking at him, frowning with concentration and perhaps a touch of unease. Spike's battered body felt like it was being rebuilt from the inside out. He felt the swelling in his face go down and his vision became clearer as a black eye receded. The many bruises on his torso ceased their throbbing. Even the knot on his head where he had bashed it on the wall was going down. He sighed and gave the doctor a bleary look of thanks before again succumbing to his exhaustion.

Some time later, Spike again came to awareness as he heard voices outside the dungeon. Princess Celestia had returned, and to Spike's delight he saw Twilight Sparkle and his own body were behind her.

Comments

[Desert Nocturne]

437936 I want to apologize. I was not able to get my chapter up over 5k words for a couple of reasons. Primarily, I started it too late and I wanted to finish it tonight; in other words I didn't have time to fill it out. Also, the way I wrote the sections would have been a bit awkward at that length. It would have had to be shorter or longer. I'll put some more effort into the next one. This story arc will hopefully be coming to a close soon.

I do have an open question to whom it may concern. When writing Luna's Royal Canterlot voice, would you use all caps or just exclamation points? Thanks in advance for your feedback.

To everyone who has read this story, rated, commented, and/or favorited, I just want to say thank you very much! I'm having a lot of fun writing and I look forwarding to developing this story further.

[AssortedCreme]

How did Celestia get back to Canterlot so fast? If Edwin was in Ponyville during the beating, the only way Celestia could have brought him back would be to teleport, which is a magical ability. Other than that, good story, nice writing, interesting concept.
450510 Personaly I'd use all caps. Save the exclamation points for Pinkie. You'll need as many as you can get.

[MyLittleBurger]

And the plot thickens to the point of oatmeal......

[Happy Thoughts]

I like the direction this fic is heading... MOAR!!!

[Desert Nocturne]

450953 I'll have to do some editing to fix the time issue. Ponyville looks pretty close to Canterlot in the show but not to the point where a chariot could fly the distance in the five minutes or so of War Horse's speech. Thanks for the feedback!

Edit: I altered the ending of this chapter to make the time frame more ambiguous. Hopefully it will make more sense now.

[Desert Nocturne]

451016 Mmmm, oatmeal. Where's the Celestia licking her chops emoticon?

451163 My first MOAR! Awesome!

Seriously, thanks guys! I'm looking forward to telling the rest of Edwin's story.

[Red Bomber]

Awesome it's time for the real truth to find out, and I'm betting that the Royal Guard will now have secret tests of character from now on.