> Mr. Smokes
>  by Deep
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Death of the Number-One Assistant
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I remember when I used to be the best assistant anypony could ask for. Though, I guess, that was why I failed so badly.

Maybe fail was too strong of a word. Nopony in their right mind would’ve called me a failure back then. I was Twilight’s… I mean, Princess Twilight’s royal advisor. In a way, I was second-in-command of the entire kingdom. If I wanted something done, all I had to do was ask Princess Twilight, and it’d be done. It didn’t matter if it was something for the good of Equestria, or something completely dumb. I once asked her if I could get a gem statue made of me in Canterlot. At first, Princess Twilight just rolled her eyes at me, which was no surprise. The second time I asked, she said no. But a few days later during my birthday, around six months into her rule, I was hanging out in Canterlot with Gabby, and there it was, the statue. It had a little card attached to it. 

Happy Birthday, Spike. 

With love, forever and always, 

Twilight. 

I ended up eating the statue a few days later. As happy as I was to have it, and as much as I appreciated the gift, the urge to eat it was just too much. Princess Twilight laughed it off, but I could tell she was sad. After living with her for so long, it was pretty much impossible for her to hide her true emotions from me.

Sometimes I wished she could learn to hide them. For my sake. 

Anyway, onto the failure. So remember my crush on Rarity? Well… despite growing close with Gabby, despite growing up, and despite growing into royalty, my feelings for Rarity had never gone down. I wanted them to go away, so if somepony asked, I could claim that I was 'over' my silly crush. The same way I was 'over' my love of comics.

What a joke, getting over something. Feelings don't just go away. Most just learn to live with the pain--knowing that they'll never be good enough for the true mare of their dreams--and they call it maturity. I couldn’t do that. After helping to save Equestria countless times, I’d proven to myself that I could be brave. I’d proven to myself that it was always best to confront my fears head-on. And so when Gabby asked me to be her boyfriend, I did the brave thing and rejected her. I just couldn’t settle for anything less than what my heart truly yearned for, and so after consoling Gabby the best I could, I ran off to confront Rarity once and for all.

I admit that it was rather awkward how I did it. She was in downtown Canterlot, in the middle of a big event promoting her new brand of jackets for the upcoming winter. The area was packed with hundreds of fans, and there were countless reporters and members of the always snooty Canterlot elite. Using my wings, I flew over the crowd and landed right next to Rarity, so close that all I had to do was lean forward to kiss her. 

Her eyes widened from surprise. Her expression was a mix of “I’m so glad to see you” and “Spike, please don’t do anything to mess this event up for me!” Looking her right in the eye and with my head held high, I let it all out.

“Rarity, I love you. I always have.” I made sure to say it as loudly and confidently as possible. 

The crowd gasped, because of course they did. They then went silent, as did Rarity. No rejection. No burst of happiness and “I love you too, my Spikey-Wikey!” Just silence. 

My heart was pounding against my chest, but I made sure to keep my brave face. 

My bravery lasted until Rarity let out her answer. “Spike… No.” She had a frown, the most painful one I’d ever seen on her, and she struggled to keep eye contact with me. As the reporters took picture after picture of my humiliation, I froze, my head still held high and that stupid brave expression glued to my face. All sorts of questions ran through my head, more than I could count. Why was I not enough? What was I lacking that Rarity needed in a man? What was wrong with me that I needed to fix? 

As years of successes and failures swirled through my thoughts in a manner of seconds, tears welling in my eyes, Fancypants entered from the crowd. He put his hoof around Rarity and said, “Dear, what seems to be the matter?”

That was when it all clicked. No matter how brave I became, no matter how good of a friend I was, none of it mattered. Because I wasn’t like him. High-class. Rich. Successful. 

I had thought being a good friend was enough. That being kind, loyal, generous, honest, making her laugh, and believing in the magic of friendship was all I needed. But it wasn’t. In a way, I had Rarity to thank for making me realize this. 

Before I could continue making a fool of myself any longer, I flew away from the scene. Knowing nowhere else to go, I went to the Royal Palace and locked myself in my room. It wasn’t long before Princess Twilight teleported inside and asked me what had happened. The look on her face was… different. Usually, she’d be showing empathy by having a slight frown of her own, and her voice would be full of worry and care. But this time, there was a pause before each of her steps, and she was shaking ever so slightly, like she was scared. 

I don’t remember the exact state I was in that night. I made sure to repress those details long ago. All I do remember was that Princess Twilight tried to console me as best as she could, only for none of it to work. I remained quiet, lost in my thoughts, until she said, “You have nothing to feel ashamed about. You’re the best number-one assistant anypony could ask for.”

The comment snapped me from my thoughts and caused me to push her to the floor. It all began to click, why Rarity had rejected me, why deep down I’d always felt ashamed of myself. Despite officially being royalty, I was just an assistant. That’s what I’d always been, nothing more. A loser. I was nothing like Fancypants, and I realized that unless I changed who I was and the life I lived, I’d never be like him. I’d never be somepony a mare like Rarity would choose. 

As Princess Twilight picked herself up from the floor, tears welling in her eyes, I flew out the window as fast as I could. As I soared into the sky, away from the palace, I did everything I could to fight the urge to look backward at the life I was leaving. But most of all, I resisted because I was too cowardly to see the tears flowing from Princess Twilight’s eyes. 

Looking back on it now, I wish I had at least said goodbye.
…………………………………

My first night alone was the toughest. I knew I was never the most independent dragon, but after living under the care of Princess Twilight my whole life, being on my own was a shock to the system. At first, I thought about using my royal position to get a free hotel in the city, but then I remembered why I had left home in the first place, to become my own man. If I used my title of royal advisor, then I was still nothing more than Princess Twilight’s assistant. I had to start from scratch, to prove that I could become a dragon worthy of admiration through my own talent and grit. And so I slept on the ground in an alleyway, keeping myself warm through the snowfall by lighting some nearby trash on fire. I chose the alleyway that I did for one reason, gems. There were a few lying around on the ground. Perhaps it was my greed that made me want to sleep next to them, or maybe it was because they reminded me of Rarity.

I didn’t sleep much that night. Not because of the snow or the hard ground, but because of what I knew came next.

When I woke up, more tired than before I went to sleep, I set out to begin my mission. The first thing I did was take a walk through the most wealthy part of Canterlot, a neighborhood of mansions where Fancypants lived, so I could take in the sight of my competition. The Canterlot elite were everything I imagined them to be. They had mansions, luxury carriages, clothes designed by the greatest minds in fashion, the most expensive jewelry, private gardens, armies of servants, statues constructed in their honor, and so much more. But most appealing of all, the stallions all had marefriends so beautiful that I couldn’t stop staring at them. Some stallions even had multiple marefriends, each more radiant in their beauty than even Rarity. It was as if they wanted to make it known to everypony else that they could get any mare they desired, even multiple at once, while you were stuck with your one marefriend who you didn’t even like that much. 

I stayed in the neighborhood until a security guard hired by one of the wealthy stallions caught me staring a little too long at his boss’ marefriend. I quickly flew away before I was confronted, but I left satisfied, as I now knew what to aim for. No longer was Rarity my goal. Instead, what I aimed for was abundance. Multiple mansions, multiple butlers, multiple statues, multiple carriages, multiple security guards, and multiple marefriends. There was only one problem, that I wasn’t good at anything. 

As a dragon, I had no cutie mark, nor would I ever get one. I had no talent, no destiny, nothing that made me special. My friends… former friends... were lucky in that they each had a special talent to guide them. Rainbow Dash was gifted at flying, and so all she needed to do was get better at that to rise up in the world. Pinkie was talented at making others laugh and smile, and so naturally she went after that skill. And then there was Princess Twilight, who had Princess Celestia to guide her every step of the way. Dragons were meant to be gifted with their strength, size and toughness, but I was small, weak, and so cowardly that I’d waited years to tell Rarity the truth instead of the first day I’d met her. 

With no path laid out for me to go after, the only thing I could do was everything. I had to find out what I was good at, fast. I went back to my alleyway home and used my flame breath to melt the gems there into a mask. I figured that Princess Twilight had already sent out a search party to find me, and news of my trek through the wealthy neighborhoods would no doubt reach her. I refused to see her or anypony else from my past until I was a dragon who was on the same level of success as Fancypants, and so I put on the mask, determined to keep it on until I was worthy enough to show my face again. 

When I ventured back outside, I could immediately tell that no one recognized me. Typically, I’d always get at least a few hellos from ponies in the crowd, but this time, I got none. It seemed that what most ponies primarily recognized in me was my cute, baby face. With my face hidden, I was Spike no more, at least not the one others knew from the tales of my adventures alongside Princess Twilight. 

Mask on, I went to the nearest shop that had a help wanted sign, where I asked for a job. 

“You, uh, wanna explain the mask?” the shop owner said.

“I have a medical condition.”

“Poor dear. Follow me, I’ll explain the job.” 

As I followed the shop owner, I couldn’t help but laugh to myself. Faking an illness, it was the perfect excuse. Nopony with a heart could refuse a sickly person like myself a job. 

Within a few hours, I was trained enough to do the job. The work was simple, since all I had to do was stock the storage room in the back of the store once every few hours. During the downtime, my boss allowed me to go out, and so I got another job. And during the downtime for that, I got another job. And when all those shifts ended, I got a night job. 

Within a few weeks, I was rotating between twenty-two jobs, including being a barber, doctor’s assistant, bank teller, ice cream salesman, janitor, construction pony, and guitarist. All were part-time, of course. In exchange for having the time to do all my different roles, I made deals with my bosses to be paid less. I knew none of these jobs would give me the money needed to match Fancypants, and so money wasn’t what I was after just yet. Instead, what I was chasing for now was finding out what I was good at, what I would have had a cutie mark in if I were a pony. 

But in the end, there was no denying the sad truth that I wasn’t good at anything. 

No matter what job I did, ponies who had special talents relating to it always beat me. It didn’t matter how hard I tried or how much I studied the topic. Equestria was a land where special talents and destinies reigned supreme, and I had neither of those things. I was on my own, with no fate to guide me. 

The only job I was able to hold my own in was one where I performed fire tricks under the name of Mr. Smokes. Being a dragon, the role came easy to me, but in the end I was still outperformed by a pony whose cutie mark was about fire tricks. Still, I wasn’t embarrassed that badly. 

Frustrated, I quit all my jobs. Doing them wasn’t helping me figure out what I was good at, and the pay wouldn’t get me to Fancypants’ level unless I worked for a thousand years. I needed a way to make money independently of time, meaning I needed a business of some sort, but since I wasn’t good at anything, starting one would only get me embarrassed even harder. 

Needing some time to focus my thoughts, I went to a local cafe to get some coffee. I’d been spending what little money I got from my jobs on coffee due to the cold alleyway being such a miserable place to sleep in. Many of the nearby walls in the area were covered with missing posters for me. “Please don’t miss me too much, Twi,” I said to myself while sipping on my coffee. 

While drinking, I heard some commotion coming from the nearby bank, and then I heard screaming. Two earth pony robbers were running out of the bank, each carrying a bag of money. It didn’t take them long to beat up the cops chasing them. As the robbers ran away, the ponies in the surrounding crowds did nothing but stare and cry for someone to stop the bad guys. My first instinct was to be the hero they needed, but I decided against it, since my past acts of bravery had given me nothing other than the title of assistant. 

However, the longer the crowds screamed for a hero, the stronger the urge to save the day became, and before the robbers could disappear into the distance, I flew after them. When I landed in front of them, they froze. “Stop,” I said. “I really don’t want to fight.”

They laughed, which was expected, and so I used my flame breath to create a ring of fire around them. The flames caused them to tremble, and their fear was only amplified when I walked through the flames and grabbed them. Perhaps it was the anger I had at myself for being so talentless, but I was ready to burn them. 

“Stop, stop!” they screamed, but I didn’t let go of them. I hated them, not for being criminals, but for having the talent to at least be robbers. 

The cops arrived seconds later, and I was forced to let them go. As the police took them away, the crowd began chanting and applauding for Mr. Smokes. Normally, I’d let the praise go to my head, but this time, all I could focus on were the stolen bags of money the robbers had dropped. There were so many bits and gems inside, enough to buy a mansion. Enough to buy a mansion and servants. Enough to have all that plus three marefriends. 

“Thank the princess you’re on our side,” one of the cops said. 

My heart began to race but in the best way. I knew what I needed to do, but could I really do that? Could I really become a criminal? 

As the crowd continued cheering for me, I looked down at my claws. They were so sharp, enough to tear into even the strongest pony. I began to stroke my scales, feeling how rough they were. More than ever, it sank in that I was no pony, regardless of the fact that I was raised as one. I was a dragon in a world of ponies, playing the game of life as ponies did. This was why I was failing. If I wanted to succeed--if I wanted to show Rarity that she was a fool for rejecting me--I had to play the game by my own rules. I was never going to have a cutie mark or a special talent, and so I was never going to win by competing in the normal job market. Instead, I had the body of a dragon and all the abilities that it gave me, which was something no other criminal had. 

I had found what I was good at, meaning that it was time for my next step.
> Rebirth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hate to admit it, but it took me a few days to figure out what crime to commit. Despite my excitement for figuring out what I was good at, I was afraid to take the plunge into crime. Perhaps it was my upbringing by Princess Twilight, or perhaps it was my knowledge that there would be no turning back. Regardless of the reason, I spent nearly a week creeping around Canterlot during the nighttime, searching for a crime to commit. I came across many easy targets, such an elderly mare walking home alone, and a group of children playing outside in the dark. Neither would have required any effort from me to kidnap or rob, which was maybe why I left them alone. They were too innocent. If I was to become a criminal for the sake of success, then my victim had to be someone equally as bad. 

It wasn’t until I found another robber that I took the plunge. He wore a mask, but his buck teeth were a dead giveaway to his identity, since there had been wanted posters of a masked stallion with buck teeth put all over the city recently. He was sneaking into a middle-class house, and so I followed him. My plan was to wait for him to steal the money, after which I would rob him, return half to the homeowners, and take the other half for myself. It was better than taking all the money, which was what this jerk was probably planning to do. 

I snuck into the house behind him, ready to flee at the first sign of him realizing he was being followed. The house was quaint, and the residents--a middle-aged couple and their little boy--could be heard snoring. I made sure to hide in the shadows and keep my distance, skills I learned from the times I had to steal my comics back from Princess Twilight’s room while she slept. She’d hide my comics in her room often, mostly because I’d end up reading them all night and not get any sleep for a week at a time. 

I continued following the robber, figuring that he knew where the family kept their money. But as he entered the living room for the fifth time, I could tell that he had no clue where to look. Worse, he kept bumping into the furniture, which freaked me out because one sound too loud could wake up the family. A few more minutes and three more circles around the house passed until the robber tripped over the most noticeable chair ever, which wasn’t even in his way. When he fell, he slammed against the wooden floor, causing a loud creak to echo throughout the house. And to make it worse, he let out a loud, “Ouch!” 

Somehow, the family didn’t wake up. But furious at his stupidity, I whispered to myself, saying, “You idiot.” 

And that was when the family woke up. 

Hearing my words, the robber turned around and spotted me hiding behind a couch. He let out a growl, like he was ready to attack me, but before any confrontation could happen, the father ran out of the bedroom and charged toward me. 

“Look at what you did!” the robber said. He had a hick accent, like of the dumbest country bumpkin imaginable. 

I blew a fireball toward the father, purposely missing. I had hoped the stallion would stop charging after seeing the attack, but instead, he only galloped faster. Not wanting to hurt him, I flew away, only for the other robber to grab onto my wings. His weight dragged me to the floor, after which he let me go. With no option but to fight, I blew the smallest amount of fire I could at the father, igniting a few of his hairs. The flames caused him to stop and try to put them out, and I used the opportunity to flee. 

“I can’t leave without the money,” the other robber said, fleeing alongside me. 

“Where is it?” I said. 

“How would I know?”

“You’re a robber. Isn’t it your job to know?” 

“At least I didn’t wake him up.”

With a growl, I turned around and flew toward the father, who had just gotten done putting out the flames. After grabbing some nearby rope, I flew around him and tied his hooves together, causing him to trip. With the father unable to move, the other robber put his weight on him to keep him pinned. “Where do you keep your money!” I yelled. I thought this would intimidate the father, but instead my childish voice just made him chuckle. 

The mother and son crept out of their room and into the hallway. When they saw me and the other robber, they froze. My original intention had been to tell them to hide in their rooms, since I didn’t want to traumatize the child. But after the father laughed at me, all I wanted to do was show him just what this baby dragon was capable of. 

I turned my head toward the mother and child, and blew a flame a few inches in front of them, lighting the floor on fire. The flame was so small that it was harmless, but it caused the child to jump back and tremble nonetheless. “Tell me, now, or I’ll burn them to a crisp.”

As enraged as I was, I was praying that the father would tell me where the money was. Don’t make me do it. I can’t. Even if it means Rarity, I can’t.

Thankfully, the father was quick to show me the family safe. “Guess I was a fool to believe you were a hero,” he said, hanging his head as he opened it.

The other robber and I unloaded the entire amount, which was what most ponies made in an entire month. We split it fifty-fifty, but I returned half of my share, leaving me with only a quarter of the total amount. It stung giving up what was a decent amount, and when I returned it, the father shot me a glare, as if to let me know that I was still scum. He was right, but being scum was a heck of a lot better than an assistant. “And remember, no cops. Otherwise, I’ll be back," I told him.

As the robber and I left the house, I led him to a nearby alleyway, where I planned to mug him. I would take half of his share, and then return half to the family. However, as we walked through the front yard, I noticed the many cameras that I hadn’t seen before. I froze. “We’re screwed.” 

“We’re fine. I shut them off before I went in, obviously.” 

Confused, I followed him to the alleyway, where he raised his hoof, like he wanted me to high-five him. I left him hanging, but he high-fived me anyway. “I like you,” he said. “That fire breath you got is a heck of a weapon.”

“How did you shut off those cameras? What other security did they have? Tell me everything. Don’t hide it.”

He let out a laugh. “No need to worry. I shut down the security every time I go into a house. Mighty smart, ain’t it.”

That was when I realized that I was way over my head with this. If I was going to be a criminal, then I had to get smarter. 

“I want to show you to my boss. I reckon he’d like you too,” he said, taking off his mask. When I saw his face, I couldn’t help but feel that I’d seen him before, but I couldn’t figure out when or where. “Hayseed Turnip Truck’s the name. What’s yours?”

“Uh… Mr. Smokes.”

“That ain’t a real name.”

“That’s what I go by, okay.” 

Keeping my mask on, I followed Hayseed as he led me across the city, toward whoever his boss was. For all I knew, I could’ve been walking into some ambush. After all, as dumb as Hayseed appeared, he was smart enough to know about the house’s security and how to shut it down. And even I knew that there was no honor among thieves. Still, I followed him, perhaps because I had no choice but to do that. If I stayed on my own, it was only a matter of time before I was caught. Of course, I’d never go to jail due to Princess Twilight’s influence, but the shame of being caught--especially as the loser I still was--was worse than any jail sentence.

Hayseed led me to the wealthy neighborhood I’d visited earlier. He entered a luxury restaurant that looked like any other in this part of town, and went into the kitchen. In the end of the kitchen was a closet. Hayseed flicked the light switch up and down several times in a row, after which a section of the floor vanished, revealing a staircase that led into some sort of underground tunnel. He led the way toward the tunnel, and when we reached it, the floor reappeared above us. The tunnel led to many others. It was like an entire maze existed beneath Canterlot. The path Hayseed followed eventually led us to another disappearing floor, beyond which was the inside of a mansion. 

“Welcome to the boss’ home. Pretty isn’t it,” Hayseed said.

I was starstruck by the wealth. It was a palace fit for a king, even more opulent than the Royal Palace. I continued staring in awe until I saw him, the owner of all that I yearned to have: Fancypants. 

He stood beside dozens of unicorn stallions who looked like brutish thugs. His well-known mistress, Fleur De Lis, stood beside him as well. I froze, wanting nothing more than to turn the pony who Rarity had chosen over me into ash. Seeing his mistress enraged me even more, since it showed me just how unjust the world was. Despite being nothing but a good friend to Rarity, she’d rejected me for a guy who openly slept with other mares. 

“Kill him,” Fleur De Lis said, breaking me from my anger. My heart sank from her words, and my body felt petrified from fear when the thugs charged toward me. But as soon as the fear had come, a surge of adrenaline took control of me. Without thinking, I blew a jet of fire at the thugs. All of them used magical shields to block the attack, but the force of it knocked them backward onto the wall. The impact shattered their shields and knocked them unconscious. I was ready to attack Fancypants and his whore, but before I could do so, he began to clap his hooves, looking me straight in the eye with his usual classy smile. “Just what I expected, my boy.” He walked toward me with no hint of fear in his posture. “Fancypants is my name, but I have a feeling you already know that.” 

I nodded. 

“No need to keep your guard up. This was simply a test to gauge your ability, and I have to agree with Hayseed that it is quite remarkable.”

“Hayseed? But how could he have told you--”

“I wouldn’t be a good boss if I sent my men on their missions without assistance, now would I? He, and everypony else who works for me, has a transmitter, allowing me to hear everything around them, as well as allowing me to guide them if needed.”

“Guide them?” I turned to Hayseed, who had his usual dumb expression on his face. “Then that means…”

“Clever too. I’m impressed. I could hear your movements as you followed him, and so I led him to creating a situation where I could witness just some of your abilities, Mr. Smokes.”

As terrified as I was of Fancypants’ cleverness, I was astonished by it as well. “And I’m impressed too.” I turned to him, curling my lips into a sinister grin. “Not just with your intelligence, but everything. All of this. Your wealth, your mares.”

Fleur De Lis sneered at me, but Fancypants calmed her with just a glance. 

“You’ve got it all, everything I want. I hope you appreciate my honesty. I’m betting that most hide their ambition, so they don’t get seen as a threat.”

“And that sincereness is exactly why I’ve taken a liking to you,” Fancypants said, stopping in front of me. He was far enough that he didn’t invade my personal space, but close enough that I knew I had his full attention. The perfect combination to put anyone at ease, even me. “Criminals who have no inhibition are a dime in a dozen, but one who gives half of his share back to his victims… that is somepony I wish to work with. A gentleman brute.” 

In a moment of weakness, I replaced my grin for a smile. I’d begun to think that my kindness was a weakness, but if someone as successful as Fancypants believed that it was a strength, maybe it was one?

“If I’m gonna work for you, then I have two conditions.”

“Ask away.”

“One, if there’s a way to do the crime without hurting anyone, then we’re choosing that way.”

With a smile, Fancypants nodded.

“And two…” I took off my mask. Fancypants had no reaction from seeing my face, as if he already knew it was me. Fleur De Lis and Hayseed were taken aback. “Help me hide my identity. No one, especially not Princess Twilight, can know who I am.”

“I will do what I can, but if I may ask, why the formality when addressing her highness? Isn’t the Princess your lifelong friend?”

My sinister grin returned as I put my mask back on. “She was Spike’s friend. I’m Mr. Smokes.”
> A Prize Even Better Than Rarity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fancypants was the father I always needed.

Within a day of me joining his organization, he supplied me with a temporary home, clothes, and other living essentials. My new home was in the outskirts of Canterlot, near the house Hayseed and I had robbed. Hayseed was my roommate. At first, I was nervous about living with him, on account of him manipulating me during the robbery under Fancypants’ orders. However, within a few days, him and I clicked. We had many of the same interests, including buckball and Ogres and Oubliettes. He was a guy someone like me could sit around and talk with for hours about the randomest things. He reminded me of Princess Twilight in that way. They were as opposite as could be when it came to intelligence, but they were both approachable and were someone I could pal around with. 

The house was middle-class, and though it was an obvious upgrade from the alleyway, it was merely a fraction of what I had in mind for my future. The best part about it was that there was no rent. Instead, Fancypants had said I would pay him back through my “contributions to his organizations.” As long as he stayed true to my two conditions, I was fine with whatever he needed me to do. That first night in the house, I gazed out the window and stared at the Royal Palace. It stood faraway on the other side of the city, high atop Canterlot Mountain. I swore to myself that night the next time I returned to the palace, it would be as a king. 

My first few weeks in Fancypants’ gang were uneventful. For the most part, they consisted of him showing me his various organizations. Legally, he was the owner of thirty two businesses, all of which were based in Canterlot. Beyond that, he was the head of seven crime organizations. He talked a lot during the tours, explaining the names of his organizations and what they did, but to be honest, I didn’t care for any of it. The only thing I could focus on was his wealth, and not just his mansions, carriages, and other materials items. Everywhere he went, mares gushed over him and attempted to sway him using their looks. They were making moves on him. I felt like an idiot for making the first move on Rarity. If only I’d had a friend like Fancypants to show me how to get what I really wanted, instead of a princess who filled my head with naive delusions. 

But the mares weren’t the only thing he had. Wherever we went, upper-class stallions bowed to him, and many even gave his subordinates money. “Respect is a trait that must be cultivated,” he said again and again. 

After the fiftieth or so time he’d said that, I started noticing just how courteous he was. He was a gentleman in every way, and whenever he met with even the lowest of criminals, he’d treat them with the highest respect. One time, one of his men had come back from a failed robbery that’d cost the organization more money than most ponies made in a decade. Everyone in the room and I thought Fancypants was going to kill that pony, but instead, he pardoned him and said, “You can make this up to me in other ways.” 

Perhaps that was why Fancypants was showing me around, so I could learn the proper etiquette needed to succeed. He was like Princess Twilight in that way, always wanting to do things in the proper way. 

One day, while he was showing me the ins and outs of one of his organizations, a racketeering ring targeting local businesses, he asked me, “Mr. Smokes, why is it you want my success?”

I froze. Is this some kind of a test? Since sincerity had won him over earlier, I went with the truth. “It’s Rarity. When she rejected me, and chose you instead, I learned the truth.”

“And that is?”

“That if you want mares like her, you have to be a winner, someone who rose to the top on their own.”

Fancypants let out a laugh. “Is that what you think? Tell me, my boy, do you truly believe I rose to this level on my own?”

“Based on your reaction, I’m guessing no. But I’m also betting that you were never anybody's assistant either.” Just saying that word--assistant--made me want to punch a wall.

He let out another laugh. “On the contrary, I was an assistant for decades. My mentor, Fat Stacks, had me as his number-two until his death, after which I took over his organizations, per his wishes, of course.”

“But when you were his assistant, things were different, right? You wouldn’t have gotten a girl like Rarity then, right?”

“While I cannot answer that question with certainty, I will say that I met my partner, Fleur De Lis, during that time.”

I hung my head, starting to question my decision to run away.

“If I were to give you any advice, it would be to make yourself proud. Others, especially mares, will notice. It may surprise you to hear this, but I have been rejected by my fair share of mares as well.”

Conflicted, all I could do was nod. 

I stayed quiet throughout the rest of the tours. I saw more wealth, and what could only be described as Fancypants’ harem, but none of it had any effect on me anymore. All I could think about were Fancypants’ words. Make yourself proud. What had he meant by that? The way he’d said it, it was almost as if he was implying that my current path wouldn’t make me proud. Was he crazy? How could mansions and harems not make someone proud? But as much as I wanted to deny his words, there was no getting around the fact that wealth and mares weren’t having the same effect on me. The thought that I’d run away for nothing made me shudder. It meant that I’d worried my friends half to death for nothing. I’d made Twilight, the best friend anypony could ever have, cry, and for what? To learn that I was being an idiot yet again? To realize that my friends and what I already had were better than anything all the money in the world could give me? 

The confusion lasted until my tenth night working for Fancypants, when Hayseed and I were ordered to rob another house. The security and alarms for all of Canterlot were made by a company owned by Fancypants, so all he had to do was tell us how to disable the system, and the rest was easy. Despite my dilemma, I couldn’t deny that Fancypants’ cleverness and ambition made me grin. He was already so rich that it was maddening, and yet he never stopped doing whatever was necessary for him to climb to new heights. I respected that. No, I admired /i] that. He was already on top of the world, but that wasn’t enough for him, which was just the way it should be. 

Due to the threat of my flame breath, the robbery was a piece of cake, and when we were done, Hayseed and I hid the money in a police station, which was one of the hundreds of drop-off points Fancypants had for his criminals throughout the city. The deal was that a quarter of our loot would go to Fancypants, a quarter would go to the police, and the rest would be divided among Hayseed and I. Every criminal working for Fancypants was required to pay him tribute every time they committed a crime, as well as pay off the police for him. It was an ingenious system, and I was jealous that I had never thought of something like that myself. 

After dropping off the loot, Hayseed and I headed toward Fancypants’ mansion. The streets were quiet during this time of night, and the only way I could even see my partner was because of the faint moonlight. Despite the darkness, I could see that more missing posters for me were covering the buildings of the surrounding blocks. There was a reward for finding me now too, and it was more than how much I’d earned from my latest crime. I stared at the moon, since it reminded me of Princess Twilight, given that she was now the pony who raised it. I wondered what she was doing at the moment. Was she consumed with trying to find me? Or had a part of her moved on? As silly as it sounded, I began wishing that I became a pony whose special power it was to erase memories. With this power, I’d go to Princess Twilight, give her one last hug and goodbye, and erase all the memories she had about me. 

But that was only a fantasy, one no amount of money could make true. 

“Hayseed, why did you become a criminal?” 

“The same reason as everypony else, I’m guessin’.” He was as cheery as ever, a trait that made me envious. “I mean, just look at that loot we dropped off. Who wouldn’t want that?”

I hung my head, remembering Fancypants’ advice from earlier. Despite the successful crime, the money we’d gotten didn’t make me proud. In fact, the more I thought about it, the money made me mad. If I wanted, I could’ve returned home to Princess Twilight and made more from claiming the prize for finding myself, as stupid as it sounded. As the Princess’ royal ambassador, I’d live a life of wealth and luxury that’d make Fancypants jealous. Living in the Royal Palace, I had a home bigger than Fancypants’. I had more servants than him. More carriages than him. The only thing he had over me were Rarity and the rest of his mares. But so what? I had Gabby, a girl so awesome that I had a blast every second I’d spend with her. And if Gabby didn’t want me back, then I had the rest of my life to get mares. As the royal ambassador, who knew what romantic adventures I could have? Perhaps one day I’d have a fling with the queen of another kingdom? Or a relationship with the princess of some far away land? 

My possibilities were endless if I returned home, and yet, for some reason I just couldn’t figure out, I didn’t. I began to growl at my own stupidity. Why wasn’t I returning home? 

“Why did you join?” Hayseed said.

I sighed. “I don’t know anymore.” 

When Hayseed and I returned to Fancypants, he greeted us as courteously as usual, and Fleur De Lis gave me a glare as she always did. “I am quite proud of you two,” he said. “In fact, I believe you are ready for the next step.” 

Hayseed reacted with glee, while I gave no reaction at all. 

Our next assignment--the “next step,” as Fancypants had called it--was dealing sugarcubes throughout the city. At first, I didn’t know why this was even a business, since I assumed sugarcubes were nothing more than treats. Well, that and what Applejack would always call everyone. I wonder how Applejack is doing… 

We met with our buyer--a unicorn stallion--in an alleyway. The deal was set up by Fancypants, and he’d said that I was chosen because this particular customer was dangerous, yet very lucrative. He didn’t trust anyone else other than me to handle the customer, since they’d probably end up using unnecessary force, or worse. My flame breath was more than enough threat to scare most ponies without actually hurting them, and if violence became necessary, I was ready to use it and my claws without hurting the customer any more than I needed to. Despite feeling proud that Fancypants trusted me to restrain myself, I couldn’t help but think that this made me weak. If I ever found my life at risk, would I be able to do what was necessary to save myself? I didn’t want to think about the question, because a part of me already knew the answer.

The buyer was… interesting, to say the least. He kept on shaking, which at first I assumed was because of the cold, but as I stared at him, I realized that he was actually twitching. Not only that, his face was all sorts of messed up. It was covered with all sorts of sores and scarrings, and he began to pick at the wounds, making them grow in size. His cheeks were sunken in and his face was hollowed out, as if he hadn’t eaten in weeks. And his teeth… they were black, and his gums were even blacker. “Gimme the stuff. Before the bugs eat me,” he said. 

As he continued picking at his face, clawing more skin off, I clenched my fists, ready to restrain him at a moment’s notice. 

Hayseed was in charge of holding the product. He handed it to the buyer, who grabbed it forcefully. Inside the bag Hayseed had given were a handful of sugarcubes, but when the buyer ate them, I could tell that he wasn’t eating sweets. Within moments, he began to twitch even more, and he collapsed to the ground and let out a euphoric moan. 

The euphoria lasted only a few minutes for him, after which he quickly returned to his senses. Sober, he charged at me. He was scrawny enough that even I was able to push him aside, but that only angered him further. He powered up his horn and used his magic to grab hold of me by my wings. At first the pull was unnoticeable, but within moments, it became unbearable and I growled in pain. 

Hayseed charged after the buyer, but that only caused the unicorn to pull at my wings even harder. “More! Give me more! Or I’ll rip them out!” the buyer yelled.

Shaking with worry, Hayseed turned to me, as if he was waiting for me to make the next move. I wanted to use my flame breath on the buyer, but I knew if I did, then I wouldn’t be able to control it like I usually did. The pain was too much and would cause me to light the unicorn’s entire body on fire. And so I stopped myself, even as the pain made me yell into the uncaring night. No matter what, I couldn’t hurt someone that much, even if it meant hurting myself. 

But as I felt the first of my connective tissue began to tear, my mind began to drift to when my former friends and I had fought Chrysalis and her comrades. We had been so close to beating them on our own, until Chrysalis grabbed hold of me in the same way I was trapped now. Threatening to rip out my wings, she forced us to quit, and it was only because of all the friends we had made throughout our various adventures that we won. It was only by luck that everyone had arrived just in time. A minute too late, and my weakness would’ve cost me everything. It would’ve cost Princess Twilight everything. I couldn’t be weak. Not anymore. 

My adrenaline kicked in. Acting on pure instinct, I opened my mouth and blew a jet of fire onto his face. The flames spread over his entire body, causing him to scream at the top of his lungs in agony. As his spell over me ended, he fell to the ground and rolled around in an attempt to get rid of the fire, but the flames stayed glued to his body. Sinking flames. I had heard about them once from Ember. According to her, when a dragon grew old enough and sensed that they were in danger, their body produced fire that stuck to its victim. Not only that, but the flames sank deep into the victim’s body through the pores in the skin, burning them from the inside. This power was only available to certain dragons, though. Only those whose souls were dark enough. A dragon’s equivalent to dark magic, in a way. 

I stared at the buyer, frozen in terror as the flames sank beneath his skin and disappeared into his body. As his insides burned and then melted, his screams grew louder and more blood-curdling. The noise caused ponies from all throughout the block to run outside their homes, and many began to sprint in my direction. 

“We gots to leave!” Hayseed screamed, grabbing my arm. He pulled me with him as he fled the area, but I made sure to keep my gaze on the buyer. I knew there was no way to save him, and so the only thing left I could do was watch. As the first civilians reached him, his screams ended. He lay motionless. Dead. The screams that came next were from the ponies who had rushed in to help him. 

Hayseed dragged me several blocks away to an empty street. As we both caught our breath, the buyer’s last moments of life replayed in my mind on loop. I had done something unthinkable… and yet, a part of me felt proud. No, all of me felt proud. I had proven that I could do it, that I could protect myself on my own if need be. Instead of using restraint and pretending that it made me moral, I did what was necessary to save myself, and there was nothing for me to be ashamed about. I did what I should’ve done to Chrysalis, what I should’ve done to Sombra, Tirek and all the other villains who had attacked Equestria over the years. Instead of relying on Princess Twilight and her friends, instead of being dead weight all that time, this was what I should’ve done. 

I let out a moan even more euphoric than one the buyer had. There was no other feeling like this, proving myself--and the whole world--wrong. Perhaps this was what Fancypants was talking about, with making myself proud? Knowing that I pushed myself to a new height was like a drug. No, it was better than a drug. I grabbed Hayseed’s bag of sugarcubes from him. 

“What are you--” But before he could finish speaking, I took some of the product. I waited a minute for the effects to kick in, but they never did. It was because I was already on a more potent drug. This feeling was better than the thought of all the mansions and harems in Equestria. Perhaps this was why I had been fixated on Rarity for so long? Because she was a challenge that I wanted to overcome. A goal I wanted to attain so I could prove myself and others wrong. Gabby would’ve been too easy, since she already had a crush on me. Just like being Princess Twilight’s royal assistant would’ve been too easy, no matter the perks.  

But what came next? What challenge did I want to overcome just to prove that I could do it? I glanced at the bag of sugarcubes, and everything began to make sense. 

I led Hayseed back to Fancypants’ mansion. Standing tall, I wasted no time before blurting out to Fancypants, “The buyer is dead.”

As I explained what had happened, Fancypants’ classy demeanor began to deteriorate. He glared, but with more disappointment than rage. Fleur De Lis had the same look of disgust as ever. 

“I thought I made it clear not to harm the customer. Restraint was why I chose you, Mr. Smokes,” he said. “Not barbarity.” 

I bowed. “I am sorry it ended up this way, but this was necessary.”

“Necessary?” Fancypants practically yelled. 

“Yes, because it showed me how potent these sugarcubes are. If I may, I believe we should get every pony in Canterlot hooked on them.”

Hayseed’s jaw dropped. As Fancypants was taken aback, Fleur De Lis whispered something into his ear, but I couldn’t hear what. 

“We shall do no such thing,” Fancypants said. “As you saw, this drug is incredibly potent. There is no need to stick our heads out any more than is necessary. One mistake of that magnitude, and it is the end of all of us, as well as the entire criminal infrastructure.”

I stood back up, looking Fancypants straight in the eye. “That’s too bad. I thought a pony of your character would want to rise even higher.”

There was no mistaking the look in Fancypants’ eyes now. It was rage. “One more word and I will cut off your tongue and have it mailed to your beloved princess. Leave, at once.” 

With a smirk, I bowed, an act which only made Fancypants shake with anger. As I turned around, I nudged Hayseed to follow me. I was halfway to the exit of the mansion when Fancypants spoke again. “No, if you disobey me, I won’t hurt you.” I stopped walking, fists clenched. “I will kill Princess Twilight. Send her head to you in a box. Do not underestimate my influence, Mr. Smokes.”

Without saying a word, I began to walk again and exited the mansion alongside Hayseed. As chilling as the threat was, I had no reason to be scared. I knew that the real reason he was threatening Princess Twilight and not me was because I was too powerful to attack now. Without my restraint, my flame breath was more than enough to do away with whatever muscleheads he could send after me. And if he ever decided to overstep his limits and so much as touch Princess Twilight… he’d wish that I roasted him from the inside. 

“Hayseed, do you know how to get more sugarcubes?” I said as we entered the street. 

“It’ll be hard with Fancypants lookin’ over us, but I can get them. What are you plannin’?”

“Tell me, do you think I could bring this city to its knees?”

“I reckon not. Not even Fancypants would think of doing something like that.”

With a grin, I shifted my gaze to the Royal Palace in the distance ahead. “Just the answer I wanted to hear.”
> The Hit
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Freed from my weakness, I was able to begin my conquest. Only a few hours after my confrontation with Fancypants, Hayseed and I met with the suppliers for sugarcubes. They were a bunch of Diamond Dogs, who apparently weren’t in the drug business for money. Instead, they were in it for the thrill, a feeling I could relate to all too well, and so we hit it off very easily. The deal I made with the Dogs was simple: They would supply me with eighty-percent of the sugarcubes they brought in. Also, they would limit Fancypants’ supply to only twenty-percent, never more. In return, I would give them eighty-percent of all of the money I received through selling the drugs, compared to the ten-percent Fancypants currently gave them. Despite their claim of not being in it for the money, the Dogs were ecstatic from my offer, though one of them--the only one who was not overjoyed--asked what they would even do with the extra money. My response was, “Buy more thrill.” 

It only took a few days for the sugarcubes to start coming in. Hayseed confirmed the shipments, and to help sell them, he and I went around the city to Fancypants’ numerous goons and offered them a deal they would be sure to accept. I offered them twenty-percent of the money they made selling, compared to the measly five-percent Fancypants gave for selling sugarcubes. Over half of his thugs joined my side in a matter of days. The ones who refused usually did so with anger and by threatening me. They were no doubt fiercely loyal to Fancypants, and I knew they would snitch on me to him. I wasn’t scared. Despite his threats, I knew Fancypants valued his life more than anything. His fear had been made obvious the moment he declined my offer to grow the drug business. If he was scared of this, then I could only imagine how terrified he’d be knowing I was on my way to burn him into a mix of ash and bone. 

This deal left me with zero income coming from the sugarcube deals. I didn’t care. Why would I? What I had planned was much bigger than money. 

My faithful goons worked night and day to sell my product. Week by week, the number of ponies working for me grew exponentially. With enough thugs working for me, I reduced their share per deal from twenty-percent to fifteen. I expected them to be angry, but they were completing so many deals that most didn’t mind the pay-cut, especially after I told them why it was happening. The money gained from this was used to pay off the police, many of whom also joined in on the fun. The extra money from them was used to pay off the Royal Guard. The extra money from the guards was used on the bureaucrats, who were all too eager to join in. And the extra money from them… Well, you get the picture.

Step by step, Canterlot became trapped by my claws. Of course, there were idealists. Idiots who thought it was better to go against me than join. Those who simply declined my offer were left alone. Those who actively snitched on me to the police disappeared. How they died, I didn’t care. Whenever a situation came, I told my thugs to handle it. I was a hands-off type of boss. I let my workers solve problems on their own, if you catch my drift. 

What happened to Canterlot was everything I expected. As more and more ponies became hooked on sugarcubes, families started becoming torn apart, friendships ended, ponies’ lives spiraled into misery, and entire blocks of stores shut down to the increased crime related to the new junkies. It was glorious, and I understood why Fancypants had wanted to avoid this. He was a pony, meaning he still believed in friendship and harmony. Despite his love of profits and success, he didn’t want his beloved city and kingdom to erode. What I didn’t understand was why previous villains hadn’t gone this route. 

My thugs didn’t mind the chaos, neither did the Diamond Dogs. My goons got paid, and the Dogs got to feel the overwhelming thrill that only destruction could give. Everyone was happy, including Hayseed, who used his money to buy a mansion for himself. I stayed in the middle-class house. 

The disappearances caused by my thugs added to the chaos. Within weeks, Canterlot went from a city where children could play outside at night, to one where everyone was afraid to even talk to one another. For all they knew, their neighbor was an informant for my gang. Despite the streets still being crowded, they were silent, so much that when I walked, I could hear the claws on my feet scratch against the ground. As I basked in the silence I had created, I turned my attention to the Royal Palace. I wondered how Princess Twilight was reacting to this new crisis...

And that was when I saw her.

Princess Twilight and the rest of my former friends were walking on the adjacent street. “Spike!” each of them yelled again and again. I froze, the sight of them turning me from the dragon I had become, to the assistant I used to be. My heart sank as I stared at how they looked. Their faces were hollowed out, and their once colorful bodies had become grey from worry. 

“Please, we just want to talk!” Princess Twilight yelled, her voice about to give out. She looked the most stressed, which was no surprise to me. She was shaking from anxiety, and had to struggle with each inhale due to her shallow breathing. For her to come out in such a desperate attempt, it could only mean that the guards’ searches had failed. I stayed frozen as my former friends used their last bits of voice to cry out for me. The silence amplified their saddened voices. A part of me wanted to run to Princess Twilight and give her the tightest hug I could. I wanted to let her know that I was alright and would return with her to the palace. I wanted her to smile as she once did in my presence, as all of them used to do. But I couldn’t, not yet. Not until I had made myself proud in the only way I knew how.

I turned away from them and fled. I didn’t want to leave any chance for them to spot me. As I fled into a nearby alleyway, I took one last glance at them, the last look I would take as Spike.

I stayed in the alleyway for the next few hours. I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried, but I didn’t want anyone to see me in such a pathetic state. It wasn’t until one of my thugs ran to me that I returned to my senses. “It’s Hayseed…” he said, catching his breath. He looked almost as worried as my former friends had. “We found him like this.”

Like this? Composing myself, I followed the goon to another alleyway, where Hayseed lay on the ground, bloodied and bruised within an inch of his life. “Who did this to you?” I said louder than I should have. As Hayseed struggled to open his mouth to speak, I grabbed him to show empathy. If my time with Princess Twilight had taught me anything, it was the power of good social skills. 

“I-It’s Fancypants. He… he sent a hit on the princess,” Fancypants said, wincing from pain. 

I froze, so lost in the moment that I could hear my heart beat like a banging drum. I could feel the blood vessels inside me pulse, and the seconds turned to minutes. In an instant, all my goals and desires melted away. Only one mission remained. I had to save Twilight.
……………………………

I left immediately after Hayseed had told me the news. I flew as fast as I could to the Royal Palace, with no plan in mind. At that moment, I didn’t care if I was caught, if I was jailed, or even if I was executed. The only thing I could think about was reaching Princess Twilight as quickly as I could. 

But as I neared the castle, I realized that Fancypants would expect me to rush in like an idiot. I had no doubt that he had a trap planned to get me as soon as I arrived, and so I changed my path to a cave which led to the tunnels beneath the palace. Maud had shown me these tunnels once before, and as far as I knew, the two of us were the only people who were aware they existed. Even better, going through them would only slow me down by a few minutes. When I entered through the cave, I increased my speed, trusting that my reflexes would prevent me from hitting the walls as the cave zigzagged its way into the mountain. 

When I entered the tunnel system, I flew upward to exit into the bottom sections of the palace. There, I mapped out the way to the throne room in my head. My instincts told me not to trust anyone. Canterlot was not the harmonious city it had been the last time I was in the palace, and so I was truly on my own. 

As I crept my way up the castle, following less-used paths, I noticed that the palace was silent. Even more silent than the rest of the city. There were only a few Royal Guards left, and even fewer staff members. And they all had distrusting eyes, like they were constantly examining each other for signs of betrayal and drug use. For a moment, I felt ashamed at what I had caused. 

The maid in particular had a permanent set of suspecting eyes, but in a different way. She was carrying a cup of coffee in the direction of the throne room, all the while looking around as if to make sure no one was following her. Refusing to let her reach the princess first, I used an alternative path that I knew was faster, only to smack into a blockade of Royal Guards who were standing in the way. The impact caused me to fall to the floor, and the guards stared down at me with a sinister smile. “Fancypants says farewell,” one of them said.

They drew out their spears and aimed them at my chest. As they raised their weapons, preparing to strike, my instincts kicked in and I blew a jet of fire at their bodies, only for the flames to bounce off their armor. All I could do was roll to the side as they thrust their spears in my direction. They missed, but quickly drew their weapons again for another strike. My heart racing, I aimed a small jet of fire at the portions of their hooves which wasn’t covered by armor. The flames ignited their hooves, but the guards showed no reaction, as if they had prepared for this. As I froze from shock, one of them thrust their spear, piercing me through my shoulder. I screamed in agony, but the pain only reignited my desire to live and save my friend. I grabbed hold of the spear and flew away. 

The other guard threw his spear at me, only for it to miss, but just by an inch. Blood trickled down from my shoulder, and the spearhead impaling me shot pain throughout my body every time I flapped my wings. The only thing that kept me going through the pain was the thought of what would happen if I was too late. When the doors to the throne room came into view, I sped up, using my momentum to knock threw the guards in front of it and into the room. Princess Twilight was sitting on her throne, as melancholic as the last time I’d seen her. She was sipping on her coffee, and the maid was standing next to her, looking too happy for comfort. 

I increased my speed to its limit, and when Princess Twilight saw me, she froze. I used my momentum to knock into her hoof, which caused her to drop the cup of coffee. The impact also knocked her onto the floor, after which she looked on with shock. It was like a part of her instantly recognized me, but another part didn’t believe that I was back. Just then, she began to convulse, much more intensely than the crazy sugarcube junky did. Instead of moaning in euphoria, she screamed in a mixture of agony and terror. “W-What’s happening?!”

The sight of her slipping away from me removed all the pain in my body. Using strength I didn’t know I had, I picked her up and draped her over her injured shoulder. My blood stained her coat, mixing with the foamy saliva flowing from her pale lips. As I turned to the nearby open window, I could hear the maid cackling. As mad as I was, I was more disappointed in myself. I was a fool for not preparing for this, and I was an idiot for thinking that I’d be able to win on pure physicality alone. Determined to make up for my mistakes, I flew through the window and to the nearest hospital. 

“S-Spike? Is that you?” Princess Twilight struggled to breathe between each word she spoke, and her body was getting colder with every passing moment. 

Holding back tears, I said, “Spike is gone, Twi. But don’t worry, I’ll still save you. I promise.” 

She faded from consciousness a second later, and I used every ounce of energy I had left to accelerate to the hospital. There, I smashed through the entrance doors and into the main lobby, where I gently placed her convulsing body on the floor beside a dozen or so doctors and nurses. “It’s sugarcubes. Please, save her.” I bowed to the feet of the medical staff, unable to hold in my tears any longer. But as the seconds passed, I received no answer.

“We ran out of the antidote days ago,” the lead doctor said, hanging his head. “There is nothing we can do.”
> Beauty and the Beast
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The only thing I could do was wait. Since every hospital in the area was out of the antidote for the drug, the doctors were treating Princess Twilight with the goal of keeping her alive through the coma she was in, nothing more. They gave her a fifty-percent chance of living, and if she ever woke up, they had no idea when it would be. 

Prepared for the worst, I lost myself in anger. As it consumed me, my desire for revenge grew. I promised myself that I would avenge Princess Twilight by midnight. If I failed, then I would overdose on sugarcubes and suffer the same fate she did. 

I spent the next few hours meeting with Hayseed and setting my revenge into motion. He was the only pony I trusted with this, and though he was barely able to move, his shared desire for revenge gave him the strength of the even the mightiest earth pony. 

It was night when I approached Fancypants’ mansion. I estimated that I had one hour left before my deadline. Hayseed had the sugarcubes for my overdose if I failed, if Fancypants’ goons didn’t kill me first, that is. 

Understanding that I was entering enemy territory, I gave up trying to think of a way to sneak in. Instead, I flew toward the door and broke through it. As soon as I entered, I saw the dozens of unicorns stationed throughout the many rooms and floors. All of them had their horns aimed in my direction, a sight which caused me to grin. 

Every unicorn immediately began blasting magical beams and rapid fire energy bolts in my direction. Using my small body and the skills from my flight lessons with Rainbow Dash, I was able to dodge most of them, but a few still hit me. The impacts burned my wings, causing me to fall to the floor. I hid behind a nearby column, but that didn’t stop the army from shooting in my direction. That’s right, keep on shooting. 

Whenever a break in the shooting presented itself, I quickly fired back with flames. I aimed at those without armor, and the sinking flames quickly consumed the targets. The problem was that most of the unicorns had armor. That’s when I realized, this whole mansion was a target. I aimed a blast of fire at the columns supporting a group of ponies shooting at me from the floor above. The flames melted through the columns, collapsing the floor on top. The ponies fell into the rubble. Most were either knocked out or left dazed, and the few that remained as threats I blasted with fire. 

My grin growing from cheek to cheek, I fought the remaining unicorns this way, until a magical field grabbed hold of me. Just like with the original crazed sugarcube buyer, a unicorn had grabbed me with his magic and was pulling me out into the open, where I would be shot. I struggled to break free, but my puny body was no match for the magical power. The only chance I had was to look in the direction I was being pulled toward, aim at the ceiling above that location with my flames, and hope the rubble would crush the unicorn. I shot the biggest fire blast I could at the ceiling, causing it to break apart into burning rubble. As the rubble fell, I could hear the breaking of bones, and the magical grip around me ended. 

Knowing I had no time to waste, I sprinted toward Fancypants’ main room of operations, defeating the thugs in my way using the very structure around them. It only took me a few minutes to reach Fancypants, who sat calmly on his couch next to Fleur De Lis, who stood behind him. He was surrounded by dozens of thugs, but it was the pony sitting beside him on the couch who left me petrified. It was Rarity, who was tied up and gagged and was screaming for someone to save her. 

“I had a feeling you would use my home against me,” Fancypants said, smiling confidently as he sipped on a cup of coffee. “And so I took the liberty of taking your dear Rarity as shield. Do feel free to collapse the ceiling. I promise you it is the quickest way to kill me and my men.”

I let out a loud growl. He was smart, but it was time for me to prove to him that I wasn’t as dumb as I once was. “Tell me, do you feel any different? Shaky, by any chance?”

Fancypants let out a laugh. “Let me guess, you tried to poison me? And let me take another guess. I’m betting that you tried using my coffee?”

My only response was a grin.

Fancypants laughed again, this time louder. “How desperate do you have to be to use my own trick against me? Do you really think I’d fall for such a ploy?”

“Take a deep breath for me, will ya?”

Looking ever so confident, Fancypants took a deep, long breath.

“It’s in the air.” 

My words caused Fancypants to freeze, as well as everyone else in the room. Rarity’s screaming was the only noise left, and it echoed throughout the building. 

“It’s been in the air for hours. So you all might as well keep breathing. Holding your breath isn’t gonna do anything now.”

Fancypants’ smirk transformed into a scowl. “How?”

“Let’s just say that the Diamond Dogs are really good at digging. And they know a lot more about sugarcubes than you do. Getting the powder airborne wasn’t hard at all for them since that’s one of its magical properties already.” I had Hayseed to thank for telling me this information, and for getting me in contact with Dogs quickly. 

Any semblance of calmness Fancypants had melted away, leaving only his glare and his growl. “I’m betting that fire is what activates it. How convenient.”

“Nope. It’s unicorn magic. Especially powerful one, like the ones used in fights.”

Fancypants’ face turned pale. “You’re mad. Your Rarity will die as well. If you didn’t still care for her, you would have just collapsed the ceiling, so you must be lying. I will not allow myself to fall for this bluff.”

“And let me take a guess. I’m betting that you only kidnapped her a few hours ago, and kept her mouth covered since then too?” I said. As Fancypants and his men realized what this meant, their eyes began to shake with worry. “She’ll live, as will I.”

Enraged, Fancypants and all of his men fired at me at once. Their combined magic accelerated the activation of the sugarcube in the air. In an instant, the air turned hazy, and everyone collapsed to the floor and began to cough. Their coughing turned to screams as their bodies began convulsing. Even I could feel my body start to shake. It was like a muscle spasm, but all over, even inside me. As if my heart, lungs, and intestines were trembling. I struggled to breathe, and yet the feeling was so good, like how I imagined a kiss would feel. But the feeling was so terrifying that all I could do was panic. 

Running on pure adrenaline, I flew toward Rarity, who was also convulsing, and used what was left of my burned wings to escape the building while carrying her. When I entered the street, I dropped to the floor as I lost most voluntary control of my muscles. What little control I had left, I used to turn to the mansion and fire the largest flame blast I could. This ignited the whole mansion. The flames engulfing it roared into the night sky, muffling out the blood-curdling screams coming from inside.

What pride I had in myself soon vanished as my whole body began to shake violently. My vision became blurry, like I was in a dream, but I could see that Rarity was convulsing as well. As I lay there, unable to breath, drowning on my own spit, I felt proud of myself. I had avenged Princess Twilight, and even if this was to be the end for Rarity and I, at least this was the end of Fancypants and his syndicate as well. With him and I gone, Canterlot would be better off. Before leaving for the mansion, my last order to Hayseed had been to shut down the gang if I didn’t return. I trusted him to respect my wishes, and though this wouldn’t fix everything I’d caused, at least the city would be able to start healing.

I’m so sorry, Twi. You too, Rarity. You both deserved better than this. Than me.

I let go of the will to live, accepting the damage I’d done. I waited for death… except it never came.

My convulsing stopped, as did Rarity’s. 

A part of me was sad. If I had died, then I wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone anymore. But now that I was alive, what was I to do? Was I to continue on the path of destruction? Or was I to go back, even though the past I longed for was gone? 

As I sat up, I turned to Rarity, who was sitting up as well. She stared at me, unable to recognize me due to a mixture of my mask, my injuries, and her partial disorientation. I took off my mask and greeted her with a smile. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” I said. 
> Master Stroke
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity sat frozen, her jaw dropped. She stared at me as if I were a ghost, like I was someone who was no longer supposed to exist. The longer she stared at me, the more she began to tremble, until the shaking was so intense that she gasped. “It can’t be you.”

“And why not?” I was still smiling. Despite her fear, a part of me was glad to see her, to talk to her, to hear her voice.

She glanced at my mask. The sight of it caused her face to turn pale, and she fell backward as she attempted to scoot away from me.

“So I guess this means our friendship is over, huh?” I was ready for her to say yes, since that was what I deserved.

The look of fear in her eyes transformed to rage, and she slapped me across the cheek as hard as she could. The slap reddened my cheek, which caused her to attack me with countless more strikes, until her own hoof was bleeding from the impacts. “You destroyed this city! You hurt so many ponies! And you have the gall to talk about friendship?! It’s because of you that Twilight is in the hospital right now. Do you know what you put her through? What you put all of us through?!”

I hung my head as blood trickled down my face. “Whatever you want to do to me, I deserve it.”

My words only served to make Rarity growl. She powered up her horn to magically grab my throat, after which she began to choke me with all of her might. The pressure caused me to collapse backward onto the ground, and the world turned into a blur as she used her magic to collapse my jugular veins. The suffocation was so great that I was unable to use my fire breath, but even if I could, I wouldn’t have used it. I deserved to die, for everything I had done, and everything I planned to do. At least this way I would die from a friend.

My body wanted to shake in an attempt to break free, but I resisted the urge. I let my body relax, and as my consciousness began to slip away, I didn’t fight back. The last thing I saw before my vision turned black was Rarity’s face. Her expression was full of a bloodlust that I could have never imagined on her, and yet, all I saw was a friend. 

With a smile, I let myself fall out of consciousness. But like a dream, I was snapped out of it soon after. I gasped for oxygen. Rarity had let go of her magical hold, and I rubbed my throat to soothe the incredible pain shooting through it. Rarity was standing over me, hanging her head. The events of the night had left her mane a mess, and it hung down over her face, leaving her expression a mystery. “You are fortunate I’m weak,” she said, shaking with anger that was directed more at herself than me.

“No, I was the one who was weak. You, Twilight, and the others were always the strong ones.” I hung my head as well as memories of how weak I’d let myself be over the years came flooding back. 

“Spike, I did not reject you because you were weak.”

Rarity’s words snapped me from my melancholy. I was taken aback.

“I rejected you because I knew you were in love with the idea of me, and not who I really am.”

I didn’t argue, because I knew she was right. The only reason I had even started liking her was because I found her pretty. If she was ugly, I probably never would’ve considered having a crush on her. I was a jerk, but at least now I was an honest one. 

“It’s not too late for you to recreate your bond with Gabby. She is an amazing girl, and one you would have quite an enjoyable life with. A more enjoyable life than I could ever give you.”

I let out a sigh. “Maybe I don’t want an enjoyable life. Maybe that’s just too boring.”

As Rarity raised her head, her mane parted, revealing her stern expression. “It’s not too late. Even if Twilight… even if she doesn’t make it, she would want you to return home. Do it, for her sake.”

I stared into Rarity’s eyes, imagining my life if I chose to return. I’d be happy, surrounded by my friends. But perhaps a monster like me didn’t deserve happiness. After all the tragedies I’d created, there was no point in pretending that I could ever be redeemed. No amount of the magic of friendship could bring back the dead. The past was gone from me forever, meaning that only the future remained. 

“The dragon you knew is dead, Rarity. He’s never coming back, even if I do. The only thing left for me is to follow my destiny, just as you are following yours.” As I continued staring into Rarity’s eyes, my lips curled into a sinister grin. “I’m the villain, and it’s time you started treating me like one. Go home, enjoy your life, because after I make my next move, your happiness is going to be gone. Everyone’s is.”

Rarity froze, struggling to comprehend what I had just said.

“And don’t tell anyone who I am or what I did. I hope I don’t need to threaten you.”

Rarity grew a scowl. “Your friends deserve to know where you are. I will not let them suffer any longer.”

I shook my head, hating that she had left me with no choice. I jumped toward her and wrapped my hands around her throat. My weight pinned her on the ground, and I used all my might to squeeze her windpipe and jugular veins. She began to shake violently to inhale even the tiniest amount of air, but I kept my hands tight around her throat. I could see her horn powering up, and so I pressed my claws against her jugular veins. “Don’t try it,” I said, looking her straight in the eye as her life bled away from her. She let out sounds too horrific to describe as her mind began to comprehend that she was truly dying. But just before she could die, I let go. She immediately gasped for air, and her eyes were bloodshot. “Consider us even.” 

Massaging her throat, she sprinted away from me. I could see the tears welling in her eyes, but they were a small price to pay for what came next. 
…………………………………….

The following morning, I returned to Hayseed, and after a few days of rest to recover from my injuries, I began what would be the masterstroke. 

As soon as I was able to move my body without much pain, I ordered my thugs to expand the sale of sugarcubes to all of Equestria. My top performers--the ones who would stop at nothing to get the sale--got bonuses in the form of mansions, harems, and other luxuries. I did this to incentivize my thugs to increase their sales. The goal was the complete societal corruption and decay of the entire kingdom. When Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow had caused the kingdom’s decay using racism and division, I realized that it wasn’t hard to destroy Equestria from the inside. Defeating Princess Twilight and her friends… that was hard. But causing the very ponies of Equestria to collapse their own kingdom… that was a joke. 

Nearly all of Fancypants’ remaining thugs joined my gang, since they now had nowhere else to go. I used them to expand my own organization further, and within only a week, I was selling sugarcubes in the Crystal Empire as well. What few members of Fancypants’ now extinct gang didn’t join me were found and killed. Not only that, I had my thugs burn every single one of his mansions, carriages, and everything else he owned. I wanted every memory of him erased from Equestria for what he’d done to Princess Twilight. When the police investigated the remains of his mansion, I used my influence to have them show me his remains, just so I could laugh at his charred, blackened face. The only body the police couldn’t find from the mansion rubble was Fleur De Lis’. I ordered them to find it, just so I could confirm that she was dead as well. 

As Equestrian society collapsed into utter ruin, the Council of Friendship did their best to rule and maintain order. Princess Twilight was still in a coma, and so it was up to her friends to manage the kingdom as best as they could. They actually did a competent job at using the police and other organizations to quell domestic violence, crime and other issues amplified by the drug crisis. Unfortunately for them, the police and Royal Guards were in my pocket, and I was able to make sure that my thugs never ended up in jail. The only ponies who did get arrested were those who didn’t directly work for me. As a result, even more ponies joined my gang. The Council of Friendship’s attempt to end crime only made me stronger and accelerated my plans. 

According to the police, no one had told them anything about the whereabouts of the former royal ambassador, Spike, and so I had no reason to believe that Rarity had told anyone about me. I hated myself for scaring her how I did, but it was the only way I knew at the moment to make sure she didn’t tell anyone who I was. Throughout the weeks of chaos, I made sure to visit Princess Twilight at the hospital every morning and every night. During the morning visits, I made sure she was being treated perfectly by the medical staff. I made it clear to the staff that if any medical error happened to the princess, they and their entire families would be killed. During the night visits, I stayed by Princess Twilight’s side for hours. It affected my sleep schedule, but I didn’t care. Oftentimes, I talked to Princess Twilight’s comatose body, and would retell old stories and funny memories. Other times, I just stayed quiet, too ashamed at myself for what I’d caused. A part of me hoped that she could hear me or sense me somehow when I came to visit, but another part of me wished she couldn’t. After everything I’d done, sensing my presence would only give her more pain. 

Equestria’s deterioration continued until the situation got so bad that Shining Armor was called in to lead until Princess Twilight awoke from her coma. I had expected this, so everything was going according to my plan. In fact, his arrival meant that it was time for me to make my final move. 
………………………….

The day of Shining Armor’s coronation as temporary king of Equestria, I used the same cave as before to sneak into the Royal Palace. Sneaking past palace security was a breeze, since I had told my connections in the Royal Guard to ensure a lower number of guards to deal with. As Shining Armor prepared for his speech, his wife no doubt by his side, I snuck through the castle until I reached their bedroom, where Flurry Heart slept in the company of two guards. She gave me a giggle, somehow able to tell who I was behind my mask. The guards greeted me with a grin and a nod, before leaving the room. 

Now alone, I tore a page off a nearby notepad--one of many Princess Twilight would keep around for her constant note-taking--and wrote “It’s done.” I used my ability to transport messages through my flame to send the note to Hayseed. With the message sent, all I had to do was wait.

…………..

An hour passed until Shining Armor and his wife entered their bedroom. When they stepped in, they found me lying on their bed, and their daughter nowhere to be found. Princess Cadence froze in shock, while Shining Armor quickly powered up his horn.

“I wouldn’t do that…” I showed them a picture, one I’d been waiting the whole hour to reveal. It was of their daughter, tied and gagged in a dark room, and wearing a magical restraint over her horn. Her cute face was wet with tears, and behind her stood two of my thugs, one with rope, and the other with a long chain. “If you do anything, I hang her. If your wife does anything, she’ll be strangled by the chain.” I made sure to distort my voice, but I was so excited that I’m pretty sure I was doing a bad job at hiding it. 

Both Shining Armor and his wife gave me a glare filled with such hate and murderous intent that I couldn’t help but grin. “What do you want?” he said, powering down his horn.

Filled with glee, I jumped out of the bed. Having known Shining Armor and Princess Cadence my entire life, I had predicted that they’d be willing to do anything for their daughter. I could’ve asked them to slit their own throats right here and now, and they would’ve done it as soon as they got the guarantee that their daughter would be freed. This was too easy. But as much as I wanted to do something riskier just to make the situation harder for me, I reminded myself to stick to the plan. Looking my brother and sister-in-the-law in the eye, I told them what they needed to do to save their daughter.
> Twilight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was evening when I finally awoke from my coma. When I regained consciousness, I did so with a gasp so loud that it alerted everypony nearby. Doctors and nurses rushed in to check how I was doing, and they began assaulting me with so many questions that it made me feel like I was going mad. But despite the questioning, and the fact that my body still felt so numb, I was stable enough to realize that I had been gone for some time. “How long was I out for?” I said, trying my best to sound and stay composed.

“It’s been weeks, your highness.”

“Weeks?” My heart began to race as I remembered how much strife and turmoil Equestria had been facing right before I fell into a coma. I couldn’t imagine how bad the situation must have been now. I thought back to the moment I’d entered my coma, to remember what had led up to it. I remembered drinking coffee that had poisoned me with what I guessed to be sugarcubes. Somepony had come to save me, but I couldn’t recall who they were, only that they felt familiar, like they were a friend. 

“Shining Armor is about to take the throne. Listen!” one of the nurses shouted, causing everypony in the room to congregate around a black-and-white TV set. “He’ll know what to do to fix this mess.”

My heart sank from the news. If my brother was taking over, then it meant the situation had deteriorated beyond my friends’ ability to handle it. 

“Ooooh, he’s about to speak,” the nurse said. The cameras were stationed around the same location my coronation had taken place. 

A person walked out into view. I didn’t recognize them, especially due to their royal garb, but at the same time, they looked so familiar. 

“Huh? That’s not Shining Armor.”

“Attention, Equestria!” the mysterious person shouted. Even their voice is so familiar. “Shining Armor has given up his claim to the throne, and in return, he has put me in charge!” 

That was when I recognized who it was. Everypony in the hospital room gasped at what they were hearing, except for me. I was frozen, more terrified than any villain or mythical demon had made me before.

The new ruler of Equestria grabbed their mask and took it off. When everypony saw who it was, they froze, replacing the commotion with dead silence. “You shall now address me as Emperor Spike.”
> 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--” 
> Made in Equestria
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight was kidnapped, as were the rest of my friends. The Royal Guard didn’t know who was responsible, only that they had received a note stating that my friends were being held in the caves at the bottom of Canterlot Mountain, much deeper than the one I’d used to sneak into the castle. The note also had a warning, that I had to come alone. If there was any sign that I was bringing someone with me, or that someone was waiting to help me, Twilight and the others would be killed immediately. 

My heart sank when I read the note, deeper than it ever had. Flooded by a flurry of emotion, I prepared myself to do whatever it took to rescue my friends. The note stated that I had to arrive in the caves by midnight at the latest, and so I began my journey that evening, after a long period of contemplation where I visualized the worst-case scenario. Just the thought of Twilight and the others being killed--because of my powerlessness to save them--was unbearable. It made me want to kill myself, and I swore that was what I’d do if I failed. 

I entered the mountain through the cave I’d used to sneak into the palace, except I took a different path, one that led down into the depths of the mountain. The path was a maze, one that only a few even knew about. This maze had been used in the past as a royal shelter from invaders, and Twilight and I had been briefed on it by Celestia and Luna as a place to hide if things ever seemed hopeless. I was surprised that the kidnapper knew about this path, let alone how to navigate it. Anyone who dared to enter without clear knowledge of where to go would most likely be lost for weeks, long enough for them to die of dehydration. 

I made my way through the labyrinth alone, with no weapon or shield to defend myself with. The only thing I had for protection was a magical tracker that was sending my location to the Royal Guards who were stationed in the palace. I had told them how to navigate the maze, and so they were ready to rush in to save me if need be. And if it came to the worst, they were in a position to avenge my friends and I. Since they knew the path, it would only take them thirty minutes at most to reach the bottom of the mountain. I had doubts about my ability to survive that long if the kidnappers were too powerful for me to deal with, but it was better than nothing. 

As I made my way deeper into the mountain’s core, the tunnel grew darker, blinding me with darkness. There was nothing for me to ignite, so I lightly blew out my fire breath to illuminate the tunnel. Exhaling for as long as I could, I kept my eyes and ears ready for trouble. I could hear footsteps in the distance, but they didn’t sound like they belonged to a pony. I had no idea what I was walking into, but for my friends, I was ready for anything.

A glowing purple forcefield stood ahead. I threw a rock at it, to see if the stone would be reflected. The rock went straight through the forcefield, and so I stepped through it. I didn’t notice anything after walking through it, at least until I checked on my tracker. The device had been short-circuited somehow by the forcefield, meaning that I was truly alone. There would be no reinforcements to come and save me, no one to avenge me if I failed. 

At first, I began to tremble, but it wasn’t long until the fear made me stand tall and feel exhilarated. The goosebumps made me feel alive, more than I ever had before. For the first time, my friends’ lives were entirely in my hands, and there was no greater responsibility than that. For the first time in my life, I truly felt like a knight, like a protector. I was no longer the powerless child who had let Rarity get kidnapped by Diamond Dogs. No, I was an emperor, and the protector of all I held dear. I swore to myself that after killing the kidnappers, I would personally send my friends to the new homes I had built for them. This situation had confirmed it for me, that their security was more important than their freedom. Hopefully after this, they would understand that too. 

I continued through the long cave until the sounds of footsteps grew closer. I blew a jet of fire at the source of the noise, but my flames only hit rock. However, in my peripheral vision, I could see something crawling on the cave wall. It looked like a bat, but with the legs of a spider. Using its long, insect-like legs, it crawled onto the roof of the cave, right on top of me. I froze, waiting for the creature to make its next move. 

That was when I saw them, the rest of the creatures. There were dozens of them all around me, all squirming around like a mass of meaty, furry insects. Frozen, I kept exhaling for as long as possible, but it was only a matter of seconds before I ran out of air. When my gentle fire breath ended, so did the cave’s only source of light. Darkness engulfed me, and I could feel them--those creatures--crawl over me, right over my eyes. I stayed still, hoping they would crawl over me and nothing more. Their legs pricked at my scales as they crawled over my body, but they never attacked. My heart pounding against my chest, I took my first step forward. Still no attack. 

Beginning to hyperventilate, I ran forward, and the creatures fell off me. But my sprint only lasted a few seconds, until my foot hit what I assumed was a sharp rock on the cave floor. I could feel that I was bleeding, but any sense of worry I had over the cut disappeared when deafening hissing began to echo throughout the cave. 

I sprinted forward, leaving a small trail of blood behind me. It only took the creatures a second to follow the trail and bite into my cut. I used all my might to kick them off my foot, but they were attracted to my cut like a magnet with its polar opposite. I blew a jet of fire at them, turning the ones on my feet into ash, but a dozen more jumped on to continue chomping on my torn flesh and sipping on my dripping blood. With only one course of action left, I let out my claws and began ripping them to pieces. One by one, I slashed them in two. It took a minute for the attack to cease, and what few creatures remained fled. 

As I caught my breath and tended to my injury, I noticed that there was a light shining from ahead. The source of the light looked to be only a minute’s walk away. Filled with hope, the pain radiating from my foot faded away, and I ran toward the light. When I reached the end of the tunnel, that was when I saw them. Twilight and the other Element bearers were trapped in a purple forcefield, except this one looked thicker, like it was an impenetrable wall. The forcefield was in what looked to be a bunker room, and on the other end was Fleur De Lis. 

Fleur’s face was scarred with dark burns, and her once beautiful mane was gone. The murderous look in her eye was unlike any I’d seen, and I knew only one person who could match it: Myself. 

“You came alone, I presume?” she said, shaking with anger just from the sight of me.

I nodded. “And I take it you’re alone too?”

She nodded back, growing a smirk. “Your friends are all the company I need. You have no idea how much pleasure I will take from killing you in front of them. And then seeing their fear as I kill them one by one. I’ll save your precious Twilight for last.” 

I grew a smirk of my own. “As much fun as you think you’ll have, it’s nothing compared to how good it felt to kill your beloved Fancypants.”

She let out a growl. 

“Don’t be mad,” I continued. “You’re about to join him soon.” Getting into a fighting stance, I showed my off claws, which were still dripping with the blood and guts of the creatures. “Think of this as me doing you a favor. After all, I would hate to keep you two separated.” 

Fleur let out a laugh. “And I would hate to keep you all separated. You have been so busy these last few months building your little empire, that you forgot the most important rule of all. Everypony dies and can be killed. It does not matter if you are a beggar, or the Princess of Friendship. One tiny bit of poison is all it takes, or in this case…” She powered up her horn with a light pink aura, and my friends began to pound their hooves against the forcefield and grab their throats. “Suffocation. It works quite well for prolonging the suffering. I do wonder which one of them will beg the most. I wonder if I could get one of them to kill the others, just for the chance at survival. What do you think, Spike? Who do you think will crack first?”

Gritting my sharp teeth, I let out a vicious growl. I shifted my gaze to Twilight, and I could see the fear in her eyes. There was no sliver of hope within her like there was when she was fighting other villains. It began to sink in that everything was truly up to me.

“And just so you know, killing me won’t save them. In fact, it may be the very thing that ends them.”

I turned my attention back to Fleur and gave her a glare.

“You see, the spell I cast is a special one. As soon as my heart stops, the spell will become irreversible, and all your friends will suffocate. Twilight would be the only one capable of breaking through my forcefield, but thanks to your actions, she is too weak at the moment to be any threat. Also, if I were to get arrested, I would simply make the spell irreversible then as well. Either way, your friends are done. You never showed my Fancypants any mercy, so consider this justice.”

Letting out another growl, I fired up my brain to think of a way out of this. I couldn’t hear through the forcefield, so Twilight had no way to tell me a plan, meaning I had to come up with one by myself. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t think of anything. Why was I so stupid? All I needed was one moment of genius. Just this one moment. Why couldn’t my brain give that to me? Why was I always the weak link? 

Fleur let out a loud laugh. “You really don’t get it, do you? You’re seriously trying to think of a way out of this? Let me make this simple for you, they’re dead. To be quite frank, you can kill me whenever you like. Now that my beloved is gone, there is no purpose for me to live. I’m sure you, of all ponies, can relate to that.

“No. There’s always a way,” I told myself. “That’s what Twilight taught me.” 

“And look where she is now. At my mercy, too full of pride to beg, but too scared of death to accept what is coming. But I will say one thing about her, at least she’s not a coward. From the second I saw you, I knew everything about you. You’re a coward, and mask it with your ambition and need to protect. Deep down, you just hate yourself. Even if you could save your friends, you’d just find another reason to loathe your existence.”

I stood petrified, trying my hardest to think of something… anything. 

“You know what’s the best part about all this,” Fleur said. “That you thought this whole act would protect them. That being ruler would allow you to keep them in a box, so that nopony else could play with them. Did you really think that was how it would go down? As soon as you become emperor, your precious Twilight became target number-one. And no amount of protection could have kept her away from me. Even if it took years to get my revenge, I would have it eventually. There would always be that one crack you overlooked. That one meal that wasn’t checked properly. That one pony who I could bribe to slit her throat while she slept. So, please, do tell me when to end this, your majesty. I’m waiting.”

As Fleur’s words sank in, I began to agree with them. Ever since I had begun my rise to the top, my friends had been put in more danger than ever. And now, because of me, they were going to…

“In case it has not sunk in yet.” Fleur powered up her horn again, and my friends collapsed to the ground from suffocation. As they choked, gasping for air, they pounded against the forcefield with all their might, but it was futile. I stared on as they cried out for me to save them, but all I could do was watch. “I’m sorry,” I mouthed to them, knowing nothing else to say.

Trembling as the weight of my loss sank in, I threw myself to the floor and bowed at Fleur’s hooves. “Please, please don’t take them away. I’ll give you whatever you want. You want revenge? Kill me. Suffocate me. I don’t care what you do to me, just please let them go.”

“Anything?”

“Yes, anything. Name your price.”

“Give me the title of ruler.”

“Done.”

“And you shall be my slave, for life.”

“Done. Whatever else you want, just name it.”

“Hmmm…” Fleur pondered for a moment. “Sorry. What I want, more than anything in this wide, wide world, is to see you suffer. And the best way to do that…” She turned to my friends, grinning as their faces turned blue. “Don’t be too sad. It’s like you said, you shall be joining them soon.”

As my friends dropped unconscious, moments away from death, my instincts kicked in. Without thinking, I tore open my chest using my claws, spilling blood all over the floor and Fleur De Lis. She was taken aback and gasped in horror. “Of all the ways to end one’s life,” she said.

I grew a grin of my own. “Not just my life.”

Within seconds, hissing echoed throughout the bunker, and a swarm of the cave creatures flooded the room. They began to devour me bit by bit, but they also descended upon Fleur, attracted to the scent of my blood all over her. She screamed as they ate her, starting at her burns. Gritting through the pain, I jumped toward her and used what little strength I had left to snap her horn in half. When her horn broke, the forcefield vanished, and my friends quickly regained consciousness. 

I don’t exactly remember what happened next, as the creatures were beginning to bite into me. What little I do remember was of Twilight running toward me, and of me giving her a smile. If this was to be my last moment on earth, I wanted it to be one of gratitude. I wanted her to know that even in the face of death, my friendship with her mattered more than anything. 

I was ready for death, proud of the dragon I had become. 
…………………………….

I survived, but to be honest, a part of me wished I hadn’t. Now that I was alive, it meant I had to confront all the ponies I’d hurt, and the destruction I’d caused. And somehow, as impossible as it was, I had to make up for all that suffering.

It took me a few months to recover from my wounds. During that time, as I underwent constant medical supervision at the hospital, Twilight took back control of Equestria and managed to stabilize the situation. Using data I gave her about my organization, she and the Council of Friendship were able to put a stop to the sugarcube trade, with the exception of some dealers who showed up every now and then. She was able to find those who were corrupt in the Royal Guard and police, jail them, and use the honorable ones who were left to destroy all remnants of my gang. All ponies who were loyal to me were purged from the government. I am not going to pretend that everything was fixed during those months, but she definitely laid a path forward, one that gave the entire kingdom hope. She really was the princess we needed, and I was proud to stand by her side once again, fulfilling whatever role she gave me. Assuming she decided I was still worthy of a role, that was. 

During those months, Twilight was the only one in the group who visited me. I wasn’t shocked that the others wanted nothing to do with me, and to be honest, I deserved this. Even during Twilight’s visits, she was icy, and could barely look me in the eye. Still, I appreciated the time she spent with me. 

When my hospitalization was over, she brought me to the palace, where she led me toward the back of the building. It was eerily quiet, and there were no maids, servants or guards anywhere to be seen. The entire palace was empty other than the two of us. 

“You’ll have to be punished. I’m sure you know that,” Twilight said, hiding her glare by facing away from me. 

I hung my head. “Of course.” I didn’t want to imagine the pain she must have been feeling. After everything I’d done, everything I’d threatened to do, for her to even talk to me, it showed how devoted to the magic of friendship she truly was. “How are Mom and Dad?”

“Heartbroken, but that’s just the way it is.” Her tone was so cold. A part of me wanted to tell her to just let out all her anger instead of holding it in as she was doing. But I kept my mouth shut. It was for the best. “Everypony’s families have been freed, and they are doing their best to recover. I trust that you’ll keep your distance from them, especially from Apple Bloom and the other fillies?”

I nodded. 

Twilight didn’t speak again until a minute later, when we were in the dark back-end of the palace, near the entrance to the dungeons. “Please, continue forward. I’ll stay close behind.”

Hearing Twilight talk to me so formally stung, but at least I still got to hear her voice. I walked ahead of her, leading myself down to the shadowy dungeons. As she walked close behind me, I thought back to everything I’d done, and made peace with my jail sentence, however long it would be. 

And that is where my story ends, with me on my way to my happily ever after. It sounds weird, doesn’t it? Calling a jail sentence happily ever after. For all I know, my sentence could be for life. But the way I see it, I was finally able to make myself proud, and I still had a friend in Twilight. And so I continue walking deeper into the dungeon, with my last remaining friend so close to me that I can feel her warm breath hit the back of my neck. It’s comforting. 

There is a locked cage door in front of us, and Twilight uses her magic to open it. Huh, her purple magic is the same color as the forcefield that was in the cave, and the one that had trapped her and the rest of the group. That’s weird, how didn’t I notice that before? I’ve lived with her for so long, you would think that I’d have the color of her magical aura memorized.

“Keep walking,” she says. 

As I continue down the dark path, into parts of the castle not even I recognize, I think back to those caves, and my confrontation with Fleur De Lis. Fleur’s aura was light pink, so she couldn’t have made those forcefields. Which makes sense, since it takes a strong unicorn to make something like that. A strong unicorn like…

“Faster, Spike.”

Wait, there’s no way that Twilight had been the one who’d made those forcefields. After all, she was the one who was being suffocated. If I hadn’t saved her, she would’ve died. It’s not like she had anypony else to rely on, like… like Starlight. Or Discord. 

And where has Discord been this whole time? There’s no way he would’ve let Fluttershy die in those caves. My heart begins to race, and it’s like the whole world is spinning. I have to be going crazy to think that Twilight would tell Fleur De Lis to nearly kill her and her friends, even if Starlight or Discord had been there somewhere to save them. What would she gain from that? But then I think back to those caves, and how the confrontation with Fleur De Lis had gotten me to get injured and turn back on the path I had been on. How had Fleur De Lis even known about those caves? The only ones who knew they existed were me… and Twilight. 

“Take a left into that room at the end.” Twilight’s voice is trembling, like she’s holding back tears. 

I begin to tremble too. “Twi, I don’t want to go to that room.”

“It’s coming up soon, Spike.”

“Twilight, please, I don’t want--”

“Turn, now.”

I turn into the room. It’s not a dungeon at all. It’s a crematory, with bright blue, magical flames hot enough to melt anypony, even a…

“Twilight, please.” I’m crying. I don’t care how pathetic it is. I don’t care if her mind is made up. I’m not ready. I’m not ready. Not like this. Not when I thought I would finally be able to make things right. Not by her.

I freeze, and Twilight stops right behind me, so close to me that I can feel her cold breath. I can hear her powering up her horn. 

“I’m sorry, Spike.”