> The Darkness of Love
>  by The Grimm Reaper
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Memories Of Old
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The air blew cold at the peak of the mountain, despite it being Summer. Small icicles were forming around the grassy areas of the smooth crater that formed the tip of the mountain. Four dragons resided there at the time. Staring at the frozen grass was a fairly rounded red dragon with a green belly and yellow spines and horns. He flew a waft of smoke just short of the grass and watched as the icicles grew transparent as a coating of fresh water slicked them, causing the grass to look crystalised. Another dragon, thin and bony, rested in one of the sleeping spots, catching the sun’s morning rays. His blue scales glistened in the light, adding detail to his cyan spines and horns. His body heaved up and down, signifying to any watchers that he was asleep.
The third dragon, a female with white scales and dark purple horns and spines rested on their leader’s chair carved from a tree that once grew there. Her body was wrapped around said leader, whose purple scales shone brilliantly in the morning light, highlighting his green spines and frills. His eyes were closed as he gently stroked the female’s head, his mind elsewhere.

The calm and seemingly harmonious state these four dragons were in was interrupted as two more dragons emerged, one of them carrying something very noisy.
“Lemme go!” it carried on, swinging its… hooves at the approaching dragons. The one carrying the now identified pony was another red dragon with similar green spines to their leader. His companion was a yellow dragon with blue spines and frills.
“What have you done this time?” the leader spoke, waking his white concubine from her slumber.
“We found this.” the yellow dragon replied. His friend tossed the pony along the ground, making her roll straight up to the leader who eyed her suspiciously. She wore a safari hat and clothing. She reminded him of the popular fictitious character, ‘Daring Do’, only the colours were off. This pony was orange with a purple mane and tail. This put the leader in mind of a chicken.
“Hah, if it isn’t a ‘Daring Do’ wannabe. What are you doing here. We don’t host comic conventions up here, little filly.” The ponified chicken rose to her feet, her wings fluttering madly, making a buzzing sound.
“I’m out here looking for my ‘Cutie Mark’.” she stated bluntly, the distress and anger apparent in her voice.
“Your what?” the white dragoness asked.
“Her ‘Cutie Mark’; the mark that represents a pony’s greatest talent, which can be seen on their flanks. In short, this little filly is searching for her purpose in life.” the surrounding dragons all nodded as this information was added to their small archive of pony knowledge.
“Then I guess she should get a dragon’s mouth, because she’s going to be dinner.” the blue one had awoken in time to hear his leader’s statement. The others laughed, causing the little filly to shake on the spot. Only the leader seemed calm and composed as he eyes their dinner with a trained analytical gaze.
“No,” he began, causing the others to halt their laughter. “This filly wouldn’t even hit the sides of either of our stomachs. She’d be a wasted effort, especially divided between the six of us.” The other five dragons groaned in disappointment. The leader flexed his clawed hand, loosening the muscles and joints with a few loud cracks.
“Escort her back home to Ponyville.” he commanded. As the other dragons went to approach the filly, she addressed him once more.
“How did you know I was from Ponyville?” she asked. The two dragons halted their approach and looked to their leader for both an answer and a command to continue.
“It doesn’t matter.” he said after a moment’s hesitation. He waved his hand to the two, motioning them to continue. Before they could grab her, the filly shot towards the purple dragon, halting as a waft of flame brushed her nose.
“Spike, is that you?” she demanded. All the dragons froe where they were, the white one raising her head.
“How did she know your name, boss?” the red one asked, long since distracted from his grass. The white one gave a revolted expression.
“Oh god, you’re not a pony-hatched, are you?” she asked. Spike’s eyes flashed green and red and a dark purple aura escaped from out the sides. His scales lost their shine and darkened.
“Is that a problem, Scalia?” Spike’s voice deepened and became distorted, flanged and mechanised. Scalia drew back, lowering her head back onto Spike’s lap.
“N-no, sir.” she whimpered, clearly regretting her outburst. The orange filly grew excited.
“Spike, it is you! You’re alive. We all thought you’d died. You left Ponyville with no explanation. Twilight and Rarity looked for you for two years. Why’d you leave?” Spike’s scales returned to normal and he blinked once, dissipating the green and red colour.
“Like I said, Scootaloo; it doesn’t matter.” The purple dragon noticed his companion loosening her grip around him, but said nothing of it.
“But it doesn’t make any sense. Why leave, weren’t you happy with us? We missed you.” Spike recalled what it was that made him leave and his mood grew darker than his appearance.
“Leave us.” he called out. Every dragon, including Scalia shot out of sight as fast as their legs and wings could take them. Scootaloo watched as the last dragon shot over the edge of the crater at a speed that could leave Rainbow Dash in the dust. She turned back to her old friend, who had grown immensely since she’d last seen him. She approached him more casually, daring to hug him as she occupied the spot Scalia had once been. Spike negated to return the hug, but allowed her to continue.
“I don’t understand what made you leave? Did Rarity reject you or something? Because if she did, then you might be happy to know that she clearly regretted doing so. Spike sighed, recalling the night he departed pony civilisation.
“No, she didn’t reject me. I suppose you could say I didn’t give her the chance to.”
“Why not, did you wimp out on confessing your love for her or something?” Spike chanced a huff of amusement.
“I always wimped out, but this wasn’t why I left.” he replied. Scootaloo squeezed her friend tightly, enjoying the familiar feel of scales. There was a long pause, covering the dragon’s peak in silence, save for the gust of wind that promised cold on Scootaloo’s surface. She leaned into her old friend, using him as a shield from the cold.
“Then why did you leave if not because of Rarity?” she asked, breaking the silence. Spike replied with a sigh, then looked up at the sky.
“It had something to do with Twilight, that’s all I’m saying on the matter.” He leaned back in his wooden throne and finally resigned to hugging Scootaloo who enjoyed the affection.
“You’ve grown so much in three years. I knew you for two years and you barely changed. The next three years and you grew an inch. How’d this happen?” she asked, changing the subject. Spike chuckled.
“You still don’t read, do you?” the orange filly shook her head. With an amused sigh, Spike looked straight ahead.
“A dragon’s growth rate  matches that of his peers. Starswirl the Bearded recorded the growth rate of a dragon-hatched dragon, like the others I rule over, and a pony-hatched, like me. He stated that very quote in his book. In short it means when I’m around ponies, I age as fast as they do, when I’m around dragons, I age as fast as they do. Funnily enough, we reach maturity pretty quickly, but then the aging just slows to a crawl and we live for thousands of years. Had I been born around the same time as Princess Celestia and Luna, I imagine I’d have outlived them.” Scootaloo’s jaw dropped as she realised what he was saying.
“So you’d live longer than any pony if you lived around them?”
“Yes, but I’d also live longer than any dragon if I lived around ponies.” Scootaloo clopped her hooves together, much like Twilight used to do when she got an idea.
“Maybe I should live around dragons. My lifespan would double then, right?” Spike laughed, bouncing Scootaloo up and down on his lap.
“It doesn’t work like that, Scoots. If anything, living around dragons will give you greys in your teen years.” Scootaloo whined as she leaned back into him, causing the dragon to laugh once more.
“You know, I am thirteen now.” she stated. Spike smiled down at her.
“Not a filly at all, then. You’re a young mare.” Scootaloo nodded.
“Which is why I’m so desperate to get my ‘Cutie Mark’. The Crusaders are still searching after seven years.” Spike almost jumped out of his seat.
“All three of you are still searching? Jeez, I’d have thought at least one of you would have gotten your marks by now.” The young mare nodded sadly.
“Well you won’t find them out here. Ponies don’t belong in dragon territory. Unlike you guys, my kind aren’t exactly very accepting of other species. We’ve had to exterminate some gryphons every now and then because they’re very territorial and they believe this mountain top is theirs. I managed to convince the others to let Gilda go once or twice.”
“Huh. How is Gilda? Dash says she hasn’t heard from her in a while.” Spike recalled the latest encounter with the rebel gryphon.
“She’s kinda… depressed. I think losing Dash as a friend has hurt her more than her pride will allow her to show. Other than that, she’s still got attitude.” Scootaloo giggled at this. She then asked the question Spike wanted to hear the least.
“Are you ever coming back to Ponyville?” The purple dragon dug into the wooden throne, taking large strips or wood with his talons.
“I can’t.” he replied. Scootaloo began her assault.
“Why not? Not even to visit? What’s wrong with you?” Spike rose to his feet, throwing Scootaloo across the ground.
“I refuse to return because it’s my choice and I hurt every time I think of that place. Now go home, Scootaloo.” Scootaloo refused his order and went to charge him. As she leaped at his head, Spike’s eyes returned to the scary green and red. The purple aura leaked out of his eyes. He took a deep breath and blew a plume of violet fire at her. Scootaloo screamed and covered her face, then felt nothingness.
Spike sat down again and crossed one leg over the other. His dark mood or figure didn’t dissipate like last time, instead, he growled in that flanged voice.

Scalia and the others popped their heads out from the edges of the crater. They slowly crept up before their leader, their bodies as low to the ground as they could get. The red one dragged a big groove in the dirt as he crawled.
“Is it over, Spike?” The purple dragon looked at his concubine and huffed.
“Yes. Go about your business. Pretend this morning never happened. The two dragons who had brought Scootaloo to him, flew off in search of another meal. The blue and red dragons began a wrestling match with each other to pass the time, and Scalia slowly took her place at Spike’s side, keeping her eyes on Spike to make sure he wasn’t against her actions. She rested her head on his lap again, scrunching her nose as the smell of pony filled her sinuses.

Back in Ponyville, the Elements of Harmony were planning out their day together, as it had been a month since they’d all had a coinciding free day on their calanders. Business with Weather control had kicked up this year and Rainbow Dash was busy directing the weather to her teams. The Library was busier than it used to be since Spike was no longer around to help. Rarity’s boutique had made a lot of sales in preparation for the Grand Galloping Gala, which they’d all received an invitation to. Fluttershy had become somewhat famous to the animals in the nearby forests and her aid was required on a regular basis for more animals than she knew what to do with. The Apple family had acquired another few acres to their property and tending those extra apple trees kept Applejack ‘busier than a beaver on a dam’ as she’d put it. And Pinkie Pie was focusing her attention on assisting the Cakes in Sugarcube Corner.
“So, we’re just about ready to go. I know I’m looking forward to getting under way. I feel like we’ve been separated for so long, and that can’t be very good for friendship, can it?” Twilight asked.
“Ah dunno Twi, I figure if the bonds of friendship are tightly knit early on, they can last forever, no matter the distance.” Applejack piped in.
“Well said, darling,” Rarity complimented, smiling sweetly at the farm pony. “And with that, perhaps we should be off. Our picnic will last longer if we get there ahead of schedule.” the ponies cheered excitedly as they made their way to the door to exit the Library. As Twilight went to move, a flash of violet emerged in front of her and Scootaloo popped into existence, falling on the coffee table.
“Scoots?” Rainbow Dash piped up. “What are you doing? And how did you manage to teleport?” The six ponies looked at the shaking young mare, who brought her hoof from her face and looked around.
“I’m alive? OH THANK SWEET CELESTIA I’M A-BUCKING-LIVE!!!” she began to grow into hysterics as she laughed at her second chance at life. It took the ponies several minutes to calm her down enough for her to get a workable sentence out.
“Scootaloo, what exactly happened?” The orange pony began to recant her ‘Daring Do’ like adventure to her peers.
“Darling, that’s all very amusing but I doubt you’d be here if two dragons took you away.” Rarity called a fib.
“That’s the thing. I thought I was dead meat when they took me to this strange mountain with the top blown off. They brought me before their leader who turned out to be Spike.”
“WHAT?!” all six mares screamed at her. Scootaloo cringed back and nodded.
“It’s true. Spike’s the leader of a small group of dragons. He’s even got himself a marefriend… or maybe it’s dragonfriend. She looked a bit like you, Rarity.” Rarity drew back from the group and began to consider how this news affected her.
“But Spike is alive and well?” Twilight urged. Scootaloo nodded.
“He’s living like a king. Got five other dragons under his thumb, including the Rarity dragon. He’s come across Gilda a few times, fending her and her kind off their territory.” Rainbow Dash took interest in the last bit of knowledge.
“Did he mention how she was?”
“He said she was still full of attitude, but I think she misses your friendship, Rainbow.” Rainbow Dash did as Rarity had done and considered the news she was given.
“Did he say why he left?” Twilight urged. Scootaloo shook her head.
“All he said was it had something to do with you and not Rarity. He wouldn’t give me anything more than that.” The ponies looked to Twilight for confirmation, but she was as confused as they were.
“What did I do? Have I been mistreating him again? I hate when I do that. No, I distinctly remember him smiling at me before he left, so he wasn’t upset with me… what could I have done? Did I say something that made him consider his life choices?” Twilight began to yell at herself as she worked in her mind what she could have done to cause Spike to leave.
“Why didn’t he say goodbye? Did he think we’d try and look for him again? Because we did that anyway.”
“Scootaloo, why don’t you come with us on the picnic and tell us more about Spike?” Fluttershy suggested.
“I’d love to, Fluttershy. Thanks.”
	
> Chapter 2: Circumstances That Led
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Scootaloo had spent the better half of an hour explaining the situation with Spike to the other mares. She claimed that he looked healthy, very healthy and attractive since he’d shed his baby dragon fat. She quoted the Starswirl line as best she could which brought Twilight into a nostalgic trance. Then the knowledge about this strange power he’d acquired reached the ponies’ ears and they took a different kind of interest in the subject.
“What kind of power?” Twilight asked. The orange pony tried her best to recollect the image, which wasn’t difficult since it was the last she saw of Spike.
“His eyes were strange. Like the parts that were usually white, were green. And his green eyes were red. And this strange purple mist waved from the sides of his face, kind of like when tears fly out to the sides when you run. And his scales looked darker; they didn’t even reflect the sunlight like they did before.” The six Elements gasped.
“That sounds like dark magic. Tell me, did his voice change too?” Twilight urged. Scootaloo nodded.
“Yeah, it sounded so weird. Like when you speak from behind a fan and your voice is cut off, only it was a bit faster than that.”
“By Celestia, he sounds like King Sombra.” Rainbow Dash stated, dropping to the ground.
“But at least we know that the dark magic hasn’t changed him.” every pony looked at Twilight quizzically.
“Do explain, Twilight.” said Applejack.
“Think about it. With that kind of power, he could have every dragon under his control, but he’s only leading five of them, which means he’s content to keep to himself and his group. Plus, he sent Scootaloo back to us alive when he was using the dark magic. If he was corrupted by it, he wouldn’t have bothered to do so. He probably wouldn’t even have recognised Scootaloo.” Rarity perked up and began giggling.
“Oh, that means he could still come back and we could pick up where things left off. In order to save him from the stress of explaining things, we could just tell him we missed him, give him a hug and–.”
“He’s not coming back.” Scootaloo interrupted. Rarity stopped in her tracks and fell on the ground.
“What? What do you mean he’s not coming back? You found him didn’t you?” Scootaloo gave Rarity a strange look.
“It’s not a game of ‘hide and seek’, Rarity. He left for a reason and that very reason is what’s preventing him from returning. Besides, he’s got a female dragon with him now. I doubt he’s going to leave her behind.” Rarity searched her mind for words that could argue the truth, but all she could muster was gibberish.
“Jeez, Sweetie Belle was right about you. You are pedantic to a fault.” Scootaloo rose to her hooves and proceeded to leave the group. Her last statement shut Rarity up and froze her in place. The other five were left to discuss the situation amongst each other.

Meanwhile, in the mountain crater, Spike was resting in his seat, his eyes closed and his head resting on his hand. He appeared asleep. Scalia kept darting between Spike’s face and the ground. The fact that he was pony-hatched disturbed her. She’d been planning on having a nest with Spike, but she didn’t want her children to emerge impure. However, she was worried about telling Spike this as he seemed sensitive about the subject. Proof of this was the pile of ashes that was once one of their comrades; the sleepy blue dragon.
Spike snored once, confirming his slumber to the others who snapped their heads around to make sure they hadn’t upset him by accident. In the purple dragon’s mind, the past engulfed him. He recalled that day like a moving image.

“Spike, come and help me with this, will you? I’ve got a lot to do and I can’t do this by myself.” his best friend and mentor, Twilight Sparkle called to him. Spike was finishing the morning dishes when he heard the call. Happily enough, he dried his hands on the wash towel and sped over to see what he could assist her with. She was on the Bookshelf ladder trying to manually pin up a streamer for the Hearth’s Warming Eve Party. She’d have done it with magic, had she not agreed to go in a Magic fast on the eve of the day. Spike chuckled and went to help her. Climbing professionally up the shelf, he grabbed the streamer and pinned it faster than Twilight could even climb the ladder.
“There you go. That was the last one? You’re doing pretty good for a makeshift Earth Pony. Pinkie would be proud.” Twilight laughed as she descended the ladder, sliding it to the end of the bookshelf.
“I’ll admit, I have a newfound respect for Pinkie’s parties. I don’t know how she does it.” Despite Twilight’s efforts, the decorations were still lacking in style. She’d only managed the streamers and the tree had yet to be erected, much less decorated.
“Let me finish up the dishes, and then I’ll help you with the tree. That’s the fun part of the planning.” he zoomed back into the kitchen before she could respond. He washed quickly, but thoroughly, bringing a shine to every pot, pan and plate that came his way. In the span of a minute, he was finished and as he emerged, he spotted Twilight trying to lift the tree. He decided to stay out of sight and watch her, covering his giggles as the tree fell on her time and time again.
Finally, she’d had enough as the tree began to prick her body.
“Spike!” she called, somewhat in distress. Spike laughed as he saw her hind legs flailing in the air, the rest of her under the tree.
“Oh, I wish we had a camera. This is priceless. I’d send it to Princess Celestia along with your Warming card.” Twilight gasped under the tree.
“You wouldn’t dare!” she begged. Spike ran off to find a camera he remembered seeing one time.
Twilight heard the familiar click and began struggling even harder to get out from under the tree.
“Oh man. And the best part is you locked your magic away for the day with that sealing spell. He took a few more shots before writing out a letter.

Dear Princess Celestia,

As this is the season for giving, I thought I’d give you a gift that shows your student isn’t always so polite and formal during such important events. I know I’m laughing as I write this and I hope you will too when you see these.

Yours truly,
Spike

He placed the pictures in the rolled up letter and ignited them just as Twilight was about to tackle him.
“You jerk! Princess Celestia’s going to be furious. She doesn’t want her student to be acting so clumsily.” Spike wiped a tear from his eye as his friend pounded him on the back. Suddenly, he belched up a response from the Princess, which Twilight swiped from mid-air.
“I can’t bear to read it.” she said, returning the note to Spike, making her reaction to its appearance redundant. Spike unrolled the parchment and cleared his throat.
“Dear Spike. Thank you for the gift as it brought joyous tears to both my own eyes as well as Luna’s. Not to mention half the royal court.” Twilight squealed, her face turning bright red. She shot to her bedroom and locked the door behind her.
“It has been some time since we have all laughed so hard. Prince Blueblood himself spat his wine out once he saw the picture. We had to get a guard in to produce CPR as he began choking on what remained. It faired little good as the guard searched for the cause and rolled on the floor laughing.”
“Shut up Spike!” Twilight screamed through the door. Spike laughed, unable stop. He waited a minute to calm down before continuing.
“In response, I have taken a photo of the entire court in hysterics. I must go now for I believe Luna is about to have a heart attack. Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve, Spike.”
“Oh, god, a heart attack?!” Twilight whined. Spike examined the image and burst out laughing.
“Oh, hey Twilight, you should see this. The picture’s got Blueblood passed out in a puddle of his own wine.” when she refused to respond, Spike grew a devilish idea in his head. With the remaining pictures of Twilight under the tree, he stashed them in a satchel, donned a scarf and left the Library.

The first Pony he came across was Rainbow Dash. He wasted no time showing one of the pictures to her, causing her to fall out of the air in a fit.
“Oh man, Spike. That was awesome. You should send those to the Princess.” she stated. Spike grinned and showed her the response picture. Rainbow gained an octave as she squealed her delight for all to hear.
“Yep, and it gets better as the letter states Princess Luna on the verge of a heart attack.” Spike showed her the letter. When she finished reading it between sentences, she lost her voice as she had no more air to laugh with. The process repeated with every pony he came across. The reactions were identical. Applejack tried her best not to show her grandmother for fear she would copy Luna’s reaction and died as a result. Spike even dared to show the three misfits, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The three fillies suggested getting the image published in the paper. Spike considered the ramifications of this action and decided against it.

That night, after he’d received a flogging from Twilight who found out about the public debut of the scene to her friends, Spike settled down with Twilight, handing her a warm cup of coco. She’d grown so tired having to do everything manually that she wasn’t looking forward to the party, especially after the pictures. The little baby dragon snuggled up to her. She reciprocated by resting her tired head on his. She was asleep in minutes. It was then that it happened…

Spike woke up from his slumber into memory lane. His sudden rise startled the other dragons.
“Is everything alright?” Scalia asked. Spike looked around the border of the mountaintop.
“I was about to ask you guys that. I thought I heard something. Did you?” the other dragons looked around, some of them sniffing the air.
“No, nothing.” the yellow one replied. There was silence as they listened again.
“Maybe the wind blew a rock off the edge of something.” Scalia suggested. Spike was unconvinced. He rose to his feet and took a few steps forward. It took him a few seconds before he began to hear a light bristling sound, then a flap.
“Feathers… Gryphons!” he shouted. Every dragon scampered to their feet, excitement in their eyes.
“Dinners on them tonight, boys.” the round red dragon said, patting his belly. The flapping sound came closer.
“Where are they?” Scalia asked. Spike listened carefully, his frills moving up and down like ears. He flashed his gaze upward and saw not one, but dozens of gryphons diving down toward them.
“Shit!” he called out, grabbing Scalia and diving forward. The others did likewise as the gryphons swooped down and angled up to climb once again into the sky.
“Damn them. Do they think we’re pushovers? Our kind are the greatest creatures in the world.” Spike helped Scalia up and looked at the climbing gryphons.
“Let’s remind them.” His eyes changed once again and his voice grew distorted. Wings of black emerged from his back and he took to the sky with the others. The five of them split off in their own directions, lashing out at whatever gryphons were in their path. Spike managed to get two, letting them fall to his home, ready for cooking. The others fared similarly. two by two, the gryphons fell, but with every one that fell, seemingly dozens more replaced them.
“This isn’t working, there are too many, Spike. We can’t get them all.” as if to prove the yellow dragon’s point, one gryphon managed to tear into his wing, disabling his flight. He fell fast, trying his best to slow his descent with his good wing. He thought he was done for as he reached the last few feet, but he was caught by Scalia while Spike blocked the gryphons’ path to her. That left the other two to fend for themselves as the endless onslaught bore fruit in their favour. The two dragons had lost too much blood. And as they were weakened, their enemy dealt multiple finishing blows. They both fell faster than the yellow dragon, plummeting over the edge of the mountain, already dead before they touched ground.
“No!” Scalia cried out. Spike, with his magic, slew as many gryphons as he could see, but there were always so many more out of sight. One of them managed to clip him, distracting him long enough for another to knock him out mid-air. The dark wings vanished and Spike was sent over the edge with the other two. He heard Scalia call out to him, but he couldn’t respond.

He awoke. How much time had passed, he was unable to tell. He wondered how he was still alive. The answer was a very sturdy and flexible tree branch. He’d landed in it; roughly half down the mountain. With sore joints and dried blood that stretched his softer scales, he struggled to stand on the branch. His magic took hold and he flew back up to the peak of the mountain. He peeked his head over the edge, seeing the swarm of gryphons feeding off their fallen comrades as well as the dragons, including Scalia.
“No!” he called out, covering his mouth afterward. But it was too late. They’d heard him and spotted him. Seeing the sight before him drew on the darkness within and rage emerged, darkening his scales like never before. As the gryphons flew towards him, intent on killing him, he clenched his fist tightly.
“You’ll pay for this. I’M TRULY ANGRY… YOU SCUM!!!”

Twilight awoke with a start. She’d had a nightmare. Spike had returned, still a baby, his giddy face gleaming at her. She went in to hug him, but his face transformed into that of King Sombra’s and he’d devoured her whole, sending her falling into her greatest fear, like the door had done back at the Crystal Empire.
Sweat rolled down Twilight’s face, and matted her fur. Her body was soaked in perspiration. Her heart was pounding and she was fully awake. With a sigh, she removed the sheets from the bed and tossed them in a hamper. She used her magic to place clean sheets and covers on the bed, and then she went off to bathe, eliminating the prospect of staining the new bedding in sweat. The news that she’d received earlier that day troubled her. While she was happy that Spike was alive, it caused her great pain that he wasn’t willing to return because of something she’d done. The worst part was she didn’t know what it was she’d done. Perhaps it had been the flogging she’d given him for distributing those photos to her friends. No, he’d been laughing through the beating, using one of the pictures as a medium for his laughter.
She collapsed into tears as she realised that she’d never see him again even though he was still alive. The water rained down on her body and it felt heavy, much like her emotions. She contemplated suicide at that moment, drowning herself. It would be a punishment to him should he hear about it. But she couldn’t well kill herself. Her nature forbade it, at least until she figured out why he wouldn’t return.
Defeated by her mind, she finished her shower and prepared to go to bed once more, with a warm cup of coco like he used to make. As she planted the mug down on the bedside table and prepared to get in, she heard a loud knocking on the front door. She groaned heavily as she went to investigate.
“We’re closed. If you can’t read the sign, you shouldn’t be coming here.” she opened the door to insult the newcomer some more, but halted as she looked upward at the tall figure in the dark. She couldn’t figure out what it was, but the lightning storm that had been scheduled revealed this person’s identity in a flash. With purple scales and green frills, Spike stood before his old friend, covered in blood that was not entirely his own.
“Spike…”
	
> Chapter 3: New Beginning, Old Environment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Spike…” Twilight was speechless. Her whole world crumbled around her as the sopping wet dragon, slicked with blood that washed to the ground stood at her doorstep.
“Twilight…” he groaned. He sounded weak as he fell forward. The pony didn’t know what to do, and instinct told her to jump out of the way. Spike hit the floor with a loud thud, a groan following close behind.
“Oh my goodness.” she gasped, proceeding to help him inside. Spike floated in the air, surrounded by Twilight’s magical aura. The pony herself rushed to her bedroom door and wasted no time levitating the weak dragon inside. There was a slight knock on the doorframe, followed by Spike’s annoyed groan.
“Ow.” Twilight winced as she realised her mistake.
“Sorry.” she said as she rushed to prepare the guest bed for him. Gently, and with renewed accuracy, she laid the dragon to rest with his head on the pillow. The covers had been forced to the end of the bed and as the aura faded from around Spike, it reappeared around the covers which floated above him, coming to rest over his battered and bleeding body.
“You can have a shower tomorrow, right now you need rest. What happened to you?” the dragon didn’t answer. He simply looked at his old friend with distant eyes. The room was silent, save Spike’s wheezing and it became clear to him that she was not going to leave him alone without an answer.
“Gryphons.” Twilight observed the wounds not covered by the bedding, gently wiping away some of the blood around one of them.
“Looks like you’ll have a permanent scar over your eye. They say that mares like scars, but with Rarity, she might become that much more difficult for you to obtain.” she joked. Spike just huffed, a waft of smoke rising to the roof.
“Funny.” he muttered. Twilight leaned away from him, unsure what to do next. There was an eerie chill in the room as nothing was said for a matter of minutes. She searched for something to say; anything that could beak the wall of awkwardness between them. There was so much she wanted to ask him, but she didn’t want to pressure him into leaving again. Perhaps something casual would be a good start?
“So how have–.” she was cut off by a light snore that escaped the dragon’s mouth. She inspected the noise to find he’d fallen asleep.
“Poor guy; he must have been exhausted.” she whispered to herself. She reached a hoof to his face and turned his head. She then proceeded to kiss his forehead, avoiding the blood that had begun to dry on his surface.
“I’m glad you’re home.” she left him to his rest and returned to her own fresh bed. As she relaxed herself, she thought about what had just happened and she smiled. Her best friend had come home.
This’ll be one hell of a friendship report to Princess Celestia. she thought as she closed her eyes.

The following morning, Spike awoke to the smell of cooked vegetables, hay fries and the sound of gems clanging together. He knew right away that Twilight had planned on trying to persuade him to stay by feeding him his favourite foods; or what once were his favourites. As he suspected, a bowl of gems accompanied some hay fries and vegetables on a tray as Twilight opened the door. She’d gone out of her way to make this. Too bad it wasn’t going to affect him in the way she wanted.
“Morning.” she said in a cheery voice. He knew it all too well. It was the voice she’d use whenever she was nervous about something. It was obvious to anypony or anyone what she was nervous about.
“Morning.” he replied in a not so cheery tone. He sat up and leaned against the bed post as she placed the tray of food on his lap.
“How did you sleep?” she asked. Spike ignored the question at first, sniffing the contents in front of him. Clearly, nature had made him paranoid to an extent.
“Well enough… considering.” he took a few hay fries and wrapped his reptilian tongue around them. He then proceeded to pull them into his mouth where it closed. Twilight searched for any signs of chewing, but noticed none.
“Is everything alright?” she asked. Spike had torn the fries apart using nothing but his tongue, turning it into a few piles of mash as he constricted around the thin sticks. He swallowed, loud enough for her to hear.
“Of course not.” he said nothing else as he tried a gem next. A fire ruby, like the heart-shaped one he’d given Rarity was first on his list. He tossed the gem into his mouth and visibly chewed on it, more vigorously than necessary for a single gem the size of Twilight’s hoof.
“You said Gryphons attacked you. Why?” she asked. Spike stopped chewing and rotated his eyes, pointing them upon her. Twilight felt as though they were a pair of canons about to go off at any second.
“My home was just beyond their border. They disagreed and claimed it as theirs. Reasons led me to abandon it. It’s of no use to me now. Which brings me here.” He removed the tray from his lap and hopped out of bed, ripping the sheets that had stuck to him from his body which had used the dried blood as a medium. Twilight kept at least a meter away from him as he made his way out of the bedroom.
“Where are you going?” she asked, worry filling her voice. Spike stopped and turned to her.
“To the shower. This blood isn’t a fashion statement, I’m sure Rarity would agree.” he closed the door after him, leaving Twilight to ponder his attitude towards her.
Spike leaned against the door for a moment, bringing his hand to his face. As he dragged it down, the scars matched the path of his fingers, including the one over his eye. Fresh blood emerged from the scratches which caused him to curse under his breath. He hurried to the shower and turned the knobs. As a cold blooded creature, the temperature didn’t bother him, but the hot water that touched his scars hurt. He crouched in the tub as the water sprayed all over him and he watched as the tub turned pink against the white porcelain.  He knew coming back was a mistake. He should have tried for another brood and a dragoness with colour dissimilar to Rarity. But he was here now and he would suffer the consequences… for a time.

Twilight sat on the couch, staring at the unused fireplace. She was off in her own little calculating world. What had she done? She knew he was happy the day he left, but what caused all that to change? Did he realise some sort of truth that even she couldn’t fathom? All sorts of questions bubbled away in her head, each one dismissed as quickly as they came.
She was distracted by a knocking sound. She jumped as she realised she’d made plans with Rarity in the morning.
“Oh no. If she sees Spike… Well she was going to see him eventually, right?” She hurried over to the door and opened it.
“Twilight, darling! So nice to see you again.” the white mare said.
“We saw each other yesterday, Rarity.” Twilight muttered, stepping aside to let her in.
“I know, but twice in one month seems so… rare these days, you know?” she stepped inside and waved her mane to one side. She’d changed it once again. It was now without curls and hung beautifully straight. A strand had made its way between her eyes and rolled into a curl.
“Are you alright, darling? You look positively distraught. Has that time of the year crept up on you?” Twilight blushed red and shook her head, messing up her own mane in the process, much to Rarity’s chagrin.
“Oh, nononono, nothing like that. It’s, uh… Something came up last night and I haven’t really… bounced back yet.” As Twilight spoke, she heard the sound of the shower stopping, which she hadn’t noticed until it was gone. She gasped and smiled at Twilight with a devilish grin.
“Oh, I see what’s going on. Twilight, you little minx. As our current youth says; ‘working it under those books and plain appearances’.” If Twilight could grow any redder than she already was, she would have. 
“No, it’s not–.”
“You have nothing to hide from me darling, I understand you’ve got needs, as we all do. I’ll forgive your neglect regarding our meeting this time, and the next. After all, it does take us time to… to. Twilight?” Rarity had noticed Twilight’s distant look. She waved her hoof in front of her, receiving no response.
“What in Equestria…?” The shower room door opened, catching Rarity’s attention. Her eyes burst out of her skull as she laid eyes upon… her Spikey Wikey.
The purple dragon rubbed his head with the towel, avoiding the scars that he’d reopened and softened with the water. He stopped as he noticed Rarity standing there, with a look of pure absence. It matched the same look Twilight possessed for unknown reasons. He removed the towel from his head and held it in his hand.
“Twilight, you done goofed.” he said, thinking of nothing better that could soften the situation. Rarity broke her stance first, spouting gibberish to the tall figure before her.
“Wh-bu-you… I-whe…How? When? I… Is that you Spikey Wikey?” Rarity was speechless at first and Spike cringed at the familiar nickname that he’d outgrown long ago. He turned his gaze upon Twilight who had hung her head in readiness for what she knew was coming.
“Yeah, it’s me. What of it?” Rarity was uncertain about the question.
“W-well… um… you’re back, you came back. This is amazing.” she was beginning to presume things again, which pissed Spike off to no end.
“I’m not staying.” Rarity had begun to move toward him, but stopped at the sound of his words.
“What? Why not? What happened to you?” The dragon growled at her which caused her to retreat back beside Twilight who hadn’t moved from her spot.
“I’m between homes right now. My visit is temporary. So let’s get one thing straight. I’ve no intention of coming home and picking up where I left off. I don’t want to be your friend, I don’t want to have anything to do with any of you. I’m just here to get cleaned up, heal my wounds and them I’m out of here. No amount of hay fries or gems can change that.” Twilight squeezed her eyes shut as she felt tears well up inside of her. Luckily, she was facing away from him so he couldn’t see. Rarity on the other hand was speechless and shedding tears visibly in front of him.
“But… Spike. Why did you leave in the first place?” The young dragon ignored the question and walked around her.
“I’m going for a walk to stretch my legs. Perhaps I’ll get a job so I can pay rent.” he said. Twilight turned her head away so he couldn’t see her face. As soon as the door closed, she took a deep breath and burst into tears. Rarity hurried over to her side and caught her as the violet mare’s legs failed her. She held her friend tightly, mixing her own tears with Twilight’s.
“That wasn’t Spike… that’s not the same dragon we know and love.

Spike wandered the streets, ignoring the glances he received from the ponies who thought they recognised him. He made his way to the market district and searched each store for a ‘staff wanted’ sign. Nothing, not even Sugarcube Corner was hiring. The dragon growled in frustration.
“Perhaps I can assist Twilight like I used to in exchange for tenancy back at the Library.” He crossed his arms and thought the whole thing through.
“No, that should be a last resort. I’m smarter than that. Assistant Librarian isn’t a good enough job title for me. Ah, what do I care? It’s only temporary. Though I’d rather not spend the majority of my time around Twilight. I can’t afford to have her dissuade from leaving again.” Spike sighed and made his way to the Town Hall.
Maybe Mayor Mare’s got something for me. She was always looking for helpers when I was around. Spike walked in the direction of the town hall. It was hard to miss. The clock tower gave it away instantly.
“Why do they never improve upon historical landmarks? That clock should have broken before Twilight and I even moved here.” he said as he noticed the dusty surface of the clock’s face. He made his way to the front entrance, only to walk into Rainbow Dash.
“Hey, watch where you’re…” the turquoise Pegasus noticed the familiar purple scales and the design of his spines and frills.
“Spike? My Celestia, you’re back. And you’re packin’ some serious scars. It’s good to see you again. How’ve you been?” Spike smiled for once. Rainbow Dash wasn’t the kind to get all teary-eyed over the past. She was the type to quite literally pick up where they left off.
“Not too good, Dash. I think I made a mistake coming here. I should have stayed where I was.” Rainbow Dash shrugged.
“Well you’re here now. Might as well take care of any unfinished business you had when you left last time. I can tell you’re not here for keeps.”
“Yeah… I think Twilight and Rarity will try to change that outcome though. And I don’t plan on rekindling the friendship with anypony. Sadly, that includes you.” The Pegasus shrugged the comment off.
“Whatever. It’s not my place to push your decision aside. We can be casual acquaintances, if you’d like. So what brings you to the town hall? Looking for the mayor?” Spike nodded.
“Yeah, I’m looking for some temporary work to keep me busy, and I’d rather not return to being Twilight’s assistant. You?”
“I just finished talking with her. I’ve placed an ad out for flyers. I’ve been named the Senior Manager of the ‘Weather Control Agency’. And I’ve had to make improvements on the system, which means letting a few of the staff go. I’m currently hiring. It’s a shame you can’t fly. I think a dragon would make an awesome team mate and perhaps a mascot.” she began to laugh. Spike smiled and cracked his neck.
“Actually, I can fly.” Rainbow Dash stopped her laughing and looked at him.
“How?” Spike closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Unlike when he fought the gryphons, his eyes didn’t change colour and the purple mist didn’t appear. His scales remained as reflective as usual. A pink aura like Twilight’s magic emerged around his chest and a pair of wings sprouted from his back. Rainbow Dash stared wide eyed as the wings flapped once.
“Uh, I think you did it wrong. They’re… upside-down.” Sure enough, Spike’s wings were the wrong way around. The wing membranes were at the top and the wing joints themselves were at the bottom.
“No, they’re supposed to be like this. It works just as well as any other pair of wings. Plus it looks cooler.” he said, giving them another flap before folding them away. Rainbow Dash smiled.
“Now that I think of it, yeah, it does look cooler. Normal wings buck the world, right?” she mused. Spike chuckled and nodded.
“Buck yeah.”
	
> Chapter 4: Consequences Of Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After having accepted a job with Rainbow Dash, Spike realised what he had done. He’d done exactly what he said he wouldn’t do and became friends again with Rainbow Dash.
“Shit!” he said to himself as he wandered around the old town. He passed by the Apple family farm and noticed that everything had recently been repaired.
“Looks like the boss has been trying stunts again.” he mused. Looking beyond the housing, he noticed the enlarged yard, where more apple trees grew, some smaller than the others. They’ve expanded. He thought, walking on before Applejack, Big Mac or worst of all, Applebloom showed up. Thinking he’d heard the familiar sounds of the Crusaders, Spike hurried his pace, finding himself going toward Fluttershy’s home.
“Damn it!” he muttered as he realised this too late. Fluttershy had just stepped out of her front door. She took one look at the dragon, yipped in fear and shot back inside with the slamming of the door. Spike sighed.
“She hasn’t changed.” he was about to proceed away from the area before the familiar voice called out from behind the door.
“Spike? I-is that you?” Fluttershy’s voice was so timid, it was unmistakably her that had spoken. Spike felt trapped. He couldn’t just push Fluttershy away given her gentle nature, but he didn’t want her to become attached to him again. So he did the only thing he could think of. He walked on, pretending not to have heard her.

To Spike’s surprise, Pinkie was nowhere in sight. He half expected her to bounce out of his bowl of gems that morning, or appear out of the shower head, being as weird as she was. Perhaps she mellowed? he thought as he stopped in front of Sugarcube Corner once more. He could feel his stomach rumbling as he’d interrupted his own breakfast that Twilight had made. As he thought back, he realised that he’d made a mistake. But it was no use looking back. He had to keep looking forward; focus on the here and now, and right now, he was hungry. He stepped through the doorway into the shop. To his surprise, Pinkie was nowhere to be seen. He first saw Pound and Pumpkin Cake, chasing each other through the room. Mrs Cake quickly put a stop to their play as she entered the room.
“Oh… Spike? Is that you? My, you’ve grown. We thought you’d left Ponyville. Pinkie was pretty upset about it. She thought she’d done something to upset you. Her exact words were indecipherable, but we could tell she blamed herself.” Spike huffed with amusement.
“I got back last night. It’s only a temporary stay. Thought I’d come and visit for old time’s sake.” he lied. Although he had wandered around the town for nostalgic reasons.
“What can I get for you today, love?” Mrs Cake asked. Spike took out a small handful of bits he’d taken from the pile of treasure his group had formed in a pit beneath the wooden chair he sat upon.
“I think I’ll try… one of Pinkie’s cupcakes. The flavours have always agreed with me.” he replied. Mrs Cake smiled and grabbed a cupcake from the tray. She placed it on top of a napkin and handed it to the young dragon who in turn gave her the bits it cost. With a single motion, he tossed the cupcake in his mouth, closed it, mashed it up with his tongue and swallowed the lot. A smile made its way onto his lips.
“They’re just as good as I remember. Where is Pinkie, anyway?” Mrs Cake smiled and pointed to Twilight’s Library.
“She said she was going to talk to Twilight about something important. She said something about her ‘Pinkie Senses’ tingling.” Spike looked out to the Library and frowned.
“Perhaps I should check it out. Much as it would pain me.”
“Why dearie?” Spike hesitated. He knew that the Cakes could keep a secret, but was it worth telling her?
“Okay, I’m gonna level with you. I made a big mistake leaving in the first place, but I can’t just go back and pretend like nothing’s happened. I left to sort some things out in my head, but it was too late to come back. I’d made some friends and the whole thing got complicated.”
“What did you have to sort through?” Spike looked away. He’d decided to tell her a partial truth behind his leaving, but what the truth was still eluded her.
“It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s all in the past. I have plans for the future, and they’re not a part of it, much as I might wish they were.” Mrs Cake didn’t press any further than that. She could see in his eyes that she wouldn’t get anything more from him. Whatever his secret was, he was determined to keep it. She believed for a moment that he’d break a Pinkie Promise to keep that very secret, and take it to his grave.
“Why don’t you go and see what’s up, dear? You may discover something that will help you decide once and for all what you should do.” She left the room, taking her foals with her. Spike remained where he was, staring out at the tree that was once his home, his sanctuary and refuge.
“The least I can do is to make sure that my problems don’t get them hurt.” he whispered and he made for the door.

“Gosh, Twi. That doesn’t sound at all like the Spike we all used to know an’ love. You sure the dark magic ain’t fried his brain or somethin’?” Applejack removed her hat to rub the top of her head.
“I’m sure, AJ. Spike’s just… he’s outgrown us. Prolonged exposure to his kind’s ways have left him… distant toward ponies. He gave Rarity the cold shoulder, and we all know how he used to feel about her. She was right, that isn’t the same Spike we all knew.” All six ponies were sitting around in a circle, having heard the news from Rainbow Dash about his return.
“I dunno, he seemed fine to me.” said Pegasus replied.
“And the poll isn’t in your favour, Dash.” Spike opened the door, having overheard the conversation.
“Twilight’s right. I’m done playing pony. My stay here is only temporary after all, which I’m sure I’ve repeated to at least three of you more than once. On weekends, I’ll be searching for a new place to stay. Maybe somewhere up North. No, the Crystal Empire  is there. West then, beyond Canterlot or Neighagra Falls.” The six ponies looked at the dragon as he walked in. Spike noticed immediately that Twilight’s eyes were puffy, indicating she’d been crying.
“Been chopping onions, have you?” he asked. Twilight rose to her hooves and ran straight into her room, locking the door behind her.
“How can you be so cruel to her?” Applejack demanded.
“Buck you, that’s how.” The purple dragon smiled as the orange farm pony rose to her hooves, ready to charge.
“Why you ungrateful little…” Fluttershy quickly went to Applejack’s side and began to persuade her out of fighting him.
“Please, don’t fight, guys. We’re all friends here.” she replied.
“Yes, you all are. However, I’ve severed my link to you five. We’re not friends, Rainbow Dash knows this.” The rainbow Pegasus  avoided eye contact with everypony in the room.
“Yeah…” she replied, sheepishly.
Ah can’t believe you hired this jerk. Ah’m goin’ home.” Applejack stormed out of the Library, dragging Fluttershy along the wooden floor. Spike grinned at the display and called out to the farm pony.
“Eat me, don’t forget to write.” he shut the door just as Applejack was about to charge him. The thud could be heard from inside, followed by the pained cursing of one of his oldest and dearest friends, now just one less pony to care about.
“Now that was very rude, Spike.” Rarity spoke up.
“Quite the keen eye you have there, for such a drama queen. But I wouldn’t expect less from a filly who plays dress-up with live ponies.” He began a sadistic chuckle as he opened the door for Rarity to run crying out of the Library. That just Left Pinkie and Rainbow Dash.
“So, who you gonna attack next, Spike?” Dash asked. The dragon gave the matter some thought.
“Well I can’t very well insult my boss, and Pinkie’s pretty much faultless, aside from the creepy ability she possesses of popping up wherever and whenever she wants…” As Spike searched for a fault Pinkie possessed that he could assault her with, she’d already begun crying and left the Library through the closet door.
“I didn’t even think of anything that would cause her to cry.” he said, holding out his arms in disbelief. Rainbow Dash rose to her hooves and walked right up to Spike, showing no aggression, despite her history and personality.
“I don’t know what’s causing you to forcibly lose your friends, Spike, but I suggest you get over it. You may just end up an addition to the Princesses’ garden right next to Discord.” Spike grinned as she walked past him to the door.
“Are you sure the elements will work with hatred in their hearts?” Rainbow Dash paused and looked back to him. The truth behind his words surprised her.
“More to the point, are you sure Twilight would allow that to happen?” Rainbow Dash closed the door and faced him once again.
“Why wouldn’t she?” she demanded.
“Think, Dash. Use that brain of yours. It needs exercise just as much as the rest of you does. Twilight and I have a history that transcends all the years you girls have known her. Our bond is stronger than the Princesses’ bond with each other. She made me. And while Twilight’s will is unbreakable when it comes to protecting Equestria from danger, if I’m no threat to it or its inhabitants, then Twilight will not be able to go through with sealing me away like Discord. She can’t do that to Family; she doesn’t have that kind of resolve. The worst she can do is send me away, which isn’t that big a deal for me.” Rainbow Dash was speechless. She thought it through and she knew he was right. Either way, he won. The Elements of Harmony were useless against an opponent who isn’t a threat to Equestria.
“But don’t worry. I’ll be out of your manes soon enough.” He then proceeded to grab Rainbow Dash by the head and kiss her forehead. She drew back into the door, shocked by his action. Spike just laughed at her and turned to go and do his own thing.

Twilight heard the whole thing. She herself played Spike’s reasoning out in her head, and judged him correct in every aspect. She couldn’t banish him to a stone prison like Discord. Their bond was deeper than that. Or at least, it was on one side of the bond. She looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes were red and her mane was out of place yet again. She looked how Spike seemed to act: insane. She began to go over her journal entries, mainly the ones involving Spike. She used to write about him a lot when they first met. He was the latest thing when she was a filly.
As she read through every journal entry she’d made regarding Spike, she found herself reading under the moonlight. She looked up at the night sky, wondering where the day went. It felt like only a few hours ago since shed entered the room.
“A night as black as his heart and a moon as empty as mine. I wonder if our bond allows him to feel what I feel? I guess not. I can’t feel what he’s feeling. I feel so… alone.”
Twilight zoned out. Her body moved on its own to the bedside table. It took hold of the mug from last night and threw it on the floor. The smashing sound was loud and it caught the ear of the thing that pained her the most.
“Twilight?” he called out. She didn’t respond. No, it was more like she couldn’t respond. She wanted to, but her body didn’t do what she wanted it to. She watched as she took hold of a broken bit of the mug and began to press it against the area just above the back of her hoof. She could feel the pain, but her body kept forcing the ceramic shard to go in further, further, further. Blood trickled out of her like a pinprick in a plastic bag full of water.
She couldn’t stand the pain, but her body refused to give her control. She heard the casual steps of her dragon and saw the bright light from the fully lit Library as he opened the door.
“HOLY HELL! WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA ARE YOU DOING?!” he shouted at her, running to her side. He forced her down. Her body squirmed under him as he gently pulled the ceramic shard out of her hoof with his teeth. He activated his dark magic and growled at the roll of bandages that were in the emergency medical box in the drawer beside his bed. The roll came over, covered in a dark aura that flashed purple lightning and bubbled green. He forced it to wrap around her hoof and sealed it with a pin.
“What are you trying to do? Have you gone mad? What the hell was that?” Spike released her from his grip, but she just sat up and crawled into his arms, shaking like a scared little filly. Despite his wariness of the position he had been placed in, he held her. His mind raced with possibilities as to why she’d done this.
“Twilight… are you suicidal?” she didn’t reply, but just let out a whimper. She squeezed him tightly and buried her face into his chest. The poor mare was shivering, just as confused by her actions and her inability to stop herself as he was.
“Don’t tell me I caused this? This is the last thing I want.” He looked down at Twilight, remembering all the times she had smiled at him, all the times shed played the role of big sister. Now it was his turn to play the role of big brother.
Damn, I’m stuck here now. I can’t leave when she’s like this.
	
> Chapter 5: Renewed Faith Complicates Things
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Time had always been a symptom of the dangers Spike and his friends had faced, ever since Nightmare Moon. Time always moved forward, like a wave, never turning back unless hit against a wall. But for Spike, a wall was out of the question. His wave had faded out in the vast mass of water that was solitude. No longer could he continue to act so carelessly around Twilight. Or perhaps she was the proverbial wall? Yes, Spike had hit a wall; his oldest friend. The knowledge that she could kill herself if he’d left her again grounded him. And now he had to deal with five very upset mares, not to mention their families and three very vengeful ‘Crusaders’.
Spike sighed as the predicament struck him like a lightning bolt. He’d managed to calm Twilight down with his special brew of hot chocolate, which she’d spilled the first time when she took it with her bad hoof. She wouldn’t be walking or reading books for a while.  The two of them were sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace. Spike had leant himself against the couch with Twilight leaning against him. He remembered a time he could do this without the couch sliding along the floor against his mass.
“Every time…” he began, catching her attention. She looked at him with swollen red eyes and a worried expression.
“Every time something seems to go bad for you, you always end up getting what you want. You wanted to find the Elements of Harmony, you became them. You wanted your friends to get over their differences when facing Discord, you made it happen. You tried to cancel your brother’s wedding, the bride was fake and you rescued the real one so he could marry her. You wanted nothing more than to pass the test Celestia gave you in the Crystal Empire, you sacrificed that goal so I could save an empire and you ended up passing your test because of it. The list goes on. If luck was an Element of Life, it’d be you, Twi.”
Twilight smiled at him and nuzzled his chest. She abandoned the hot chocolate and cuddled with him.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Spike, you don’t have to stay.” Spike huffed in annoyance.
“Yes, I do. I owe you that much, after everything you’ve done for me.”
“What have I done? I’ve worked you to the bone, acted like a slave driver, used you in magical experiments, like with the moustache.” 
“You gave me life, food, a place to sleep, love. You taught me the differences between right and wrong, you taught me how to read and write. And if it weren’t for those experiments, I never would have gained the ability to harness the magic that hatched me. Besides, I liked the moustache.” he chuckled. Twilight giggled as his comment and his scales both tickled her in different ways.
“It’s good to have you home though, Spike.” she said. Spike felt a familiar pang in his heart. One he’d spend the day trying to eliminate.
“Twi…I’m not staying. I’m just going to help you get back on your hooves as it were. When you no longer need me, then I’m gone. Nothing’s changed except for the length of my stay. I’m simply repaying a debt.” Even Spike didn’t believe what he’d said. His voice betrayed the sincerity of his words.
“At least… for now.” he added. Twilight squeezed him tightly and fell asleep. With a heavy but silent sigh, Spike wrapped his arms around her and hoisted her up into the air. He carried her to her room and gently placed her down on her bed.  He picked up the small shards of the mug and held them in his hand. He removed a hair from one of them and then proceeded to swallow them all down.
“Not as good as gems, but still high in fibre.” He looked down to Twilight once more and brushed a lock of her mane from her face.
Don’t do anything stupid before I get back. I’d hate to have to explain this to your friends.” he picked up a quill and wrote on a small piece of paper.

I’m going out.
Will be back before
morning. Don’t do
anything stupid.

Spike

He left the note on the bedside table and closed the bedroom door behind him.
“I’ve got more blood on my hands than I care for.” he said, looking at the recently cleaned claws that were his hands.

Applejack paced her room, still steaming over what Spike had said to her.
“Buck me? BUCK ME? That little shit thinks he’s invincible now he’s gone and grown twice my height. Well Ah’ll teach him. Y’all don’t mess with the Apple family and get away with it. Ah don’t care how Twilight feels about it, Ah’m gonna deck him the next time Ah see him. Ah don’t care if he feels it or not, it’ll be a great stress reliever.” She stomped her hoof on the floor, rattling the wood around her. Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door. The orange mare calmed down and descended the stairs from her room to answer it. To her surprise and slight satisfaction, it was Spike.
“Well, well. If it ain’t the Apple bucker, figuratively speakin’.” she said. Spike said nothing to that as he looked at the Library behind him which could just be made out in the distance.
“Let’s not beat around the bush… figuratively speaking.” he said.
“Yeah, let’s not.” Applejack turned around and prepared to buck him with her hind legs. As she went to take a powerful kick at him, she felt two large claws grip her hind hooves.
“Why you-WOAH!” Spike dragged her out of the house and threw her across the front yard. She managed to land on her hooves and prepared to charge the dragon.
“You’re not getting’ away with this, Spike.” she declared.
“Hit me all you want after I’ve said what I came here to say.” he replied, sitting down where he was. This caught Applejack off guard, but she didn’t buy it. She charged him, fully intent to at least give him a lump. She reared her head forward and tried to ram him bull-style, but she heard a sigh before she was grabbed by the head and lifted into the air.
“Woah! Hey, put me down, that’s not fair now!” she yelled at him.
“Not until you agree to listen to me first. Like I said, you can buck me up till I’m black and blue after that.” he said. Applejack growled at him, but ultimately agreed to the terms.
“So what you wanna talk about? Or are you gonna say some fancy stuff that’ll really make me wanna pound ya?” Spike clasped his hand around Applejack’s mouth, sighing in frustration.
“I’m on a deadline here, AJ. Shut up and listen.” Applejack, though annoyed, complied with his request. With the silence eerie between them, Spike prepared his lie.
“As you well know by now, I couldn’t give the furry crack of a rat’s behind about any of you anymore,” he began. Applejack shifted in her place, itching to take a swing at him.
“But I feel I owe a debt to Twilight for bringing me into this world. Which is why I’m going to help her. But I need your help as well.” Applejack rubbed her head in confusion.
“Ah don’t see the… urgency you seem to give this conversation, Spike. Hurry up and gimme the details.” she said. Spike growled at her.
“Fine. I caught Twilight trying to kill herself earlier tonight.” Applejack rose to her hooves and backed away.
“W-what? No, she wouldn’t. Why would she try to kill herself?” Spike looked at her.
“Why do you think? I left her. I abandoned her. She’s obviously been talking herself out of it up until tonight. My coming back has made things worse, especially after I treated her and all of you like shit. I can’t leave until she’s in the right frame of mind. And I’m sure you want me gone as much as I want to go, but in order to do that, we need to work toge–.”
“Ah don’t want you to go Spike… Ah just wanna know what’s gotten you so angry. Why did you leave?” The conversation ended there.
“You’d rather hear why I left than hear the plan I have to save Twilight from herself? Maybe I should have gone to the Element of Loyalty instead.”
“Ah wanna know what caused you to do this to Twilight. Ah think if she knew, she might feel better. Or at the very least, not suicidal.” Spike saw logic in her idea, but he was not going to give up that information. But he could partially sate her thirst for it.
“I left because of my own stupidity. I won’t say more than that. Look, are you gonna help me or not?” Applejack couldn’t refuse this request. If it was to save Twilight, then she’d team up with Discord if she had to.
“Alright. It’s a deal. Now about that other deal we had…” Spike rose to his feet.
“Yeah, later.” he said. Applejack stood there, stunned for a second.
“Hey! You said Ah could beat you senseless when we were done.” she called out. Spike turned around and continued to walk backward with a smile and his arms outstretched.
“You’re the Element of Honesty, not me.” he then proceeded to run away, prompting Applejack to chase after him. To their joint surprise, they both found themselves laughing as they chased each other through Ponyville, waking the neighbourhood.
“Uh-oh. Spike, we’re in trouble now.” she said, abandoning her goal and galloping alongside him.
“So we are. I think I hear one of them saying’ raise your torch and pitchforks’.” he replied, prompting a laugh from the farm pony. She looked back and yelped in surprise.
“Oh boy, they really do have torches and pitchforks.” The two picked up their pace and laughed together as they tried to flee from the tired and angry mob. Spike noticed what he was doing and barked a single laugh.
“What am I thinking?” he yelled out. Using his magic, he grew his wings, their structure reversed like before. He took to the air, hovering above Applejack.
“Don’t get the wrong idea, AJ.” he said, grabbing her from around the stomach. She yelped in surprise as she was lifted into the air. Not far, but their speed doubled.
“You might wanna hold on tight.” Spike said, turning her around. Applejack wrapped her hooves around his neck and her hind legs around just below the wing joints. Spike made a sharp left turn and flew straight for two blocks, then he made another left turn.
“This is like NASCARRIAGE.” Applejack called out above the howl of the wind.
“NAS-what?”
“It’s a race with carriages. But the only direction they go is left.” Spike laughed as he made another left turn. Then he kept true towards the Apple farm, bypassing the angry crowd who were two blocks away, going in the opposite direction. Spike grinned as he felt the wind whip his face.
“You know, I think I get why Dash likes flying so much. It’s a great feeling to have the wind on your face and your body gets cool which cancels out the heat you feel when you exert yourself.” he said. Applejack just bunched herself up closer to him, trying to keep the cold from freezing her mane off.
“Ah don’t know about you, but Ah feel like I’m in the Northern Mountains right now.” Spike slowed his flight and descended upon the farm. He made for a gentle landing and he released Applejack as his wings were absorbed back into his body.
“Y’know, Spike. Ah don’t think your reason for leavin’ us was good enough. And Ah’m not entirely sure you are either. Y’all could up and leave now you’ve told me Twilight’s on the verge of killin’ herself, but you won’t go. You’ll stay because you still care about us. Now, no matter what you say or do, you won’t change my mind. Ah’ll let the others know the situation with Twilight in the mornin’. You’d best get some rest. Ya’ll look like you haven’t slept in days.” Applejack hugged the purple dragon and then gave him a light punch on the shoulder.
“We had our conversation, and that was my beatin’. Wear it with pride.” she then turned around and went back into her home, leaving Spike to return home.
As he approached the front door to the Library, the realisation that he’d just regained his friendship with Applejack and that it was more solid than ever, hit him.
“Shit!”
	
> Chapter 6: Sins of the Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spike awoke with a somewhat good feeling. Perhaps it was the fact that his wounds weren't hurting as much? Or perhaps it was simply one of those days where you feel good. The young dragon stretched his body, feeling the popping of the joints as he forced his way out of the bed at the same time. He looked over to the still sleeping mare and groaned.
“Well, there goes my mood.” he said, noticing the bandage around her hoof. He looked out to the window, watching the sun rise slowly into the sky. He hurried over and closed the curtains, wanting to avoid waking her just yet.
“I won’t let you kill yourself, Twilight. No matter what.” he silently paced across the room, opened the door and closed it behind him very gently. He looked at the unkempt Library and huffed.
“She really has slipped over the years. How could they not have noticed this before?” Spike frowned as he jumped off the ledge, landing next to the mug Twilight had abandoned the previous night. He picked it up and carried it into the kitchen. His eyes widened at the state of the place.
“What in the name of Celestia went on in here? It’s like Dresden.” he said. He stepped through the cluttered pile of rubbish that had collected and tried his best to avoid touching the mouldy dishes that were stacked to the roof. He heard something making pig-like noises behind the cupboards.
Without warning, something grabbed him by the wrist and tightened around him. A strange tentacle-like thing pulled him towards the rubbish, while another reached out and grabbed his neck, pulling him in the opposite direction. Spike began to scream as tentacles of all kinds wrapped themselves around him and began to drag him into the mess of filth that was the state of the kitchen.

Spike awoke once more, gasping for air. His sudden start roused Twilight from her own slumber.
“Mm, what’s going on?” she asked irritably. Spike ran to the door and hopped over the stairwell to examine the kitchen. Sure enough, it was as clean as ever. He walked back up the stairs and sighed at Twilight.
“Weird dream.” he replied. Twilight groaned and threw the covers over her head. Spike chuckled and closed the door again, descending the stairs. He made his way back into the kitchen and prepared breakfast. By the time he was done, Twilight emerged, groggily.
“Damn, I was gonna give you breakfast in bed, like you did for me. I never thanked you for that, did I?” Twilight gave him an unamused look.
“What?!” he demanded, placing the tray on the dining table which she sat down at. Twilight just looked at him, showing an angry look in her eyes.
“Why’d you really save me? Clearly you don’t really care about me or the others any more. And there’s no need for you to stay, now that you’ve told everypony that I’m a danger to myself.” Spike didn't respond right away.
“Wait, how did you–?”
“I got the note. It was obvious why you left the Library in the middle of the night. Not to mention I heard you and Applejack running from the angry mob.” A small whine escaped Spike’s mouth before he looked away.
“Sorry about that.” Twilight sighed and began her meal.
“Just go, Spike. I was doing fine before you came back.” She’s avoiding her feelings. Spike grinned as he looked down at the mare.
“I’m gonna go with ‘no’.” Twilight snapped her head up and looked at him.
“What?”
“Like it or not, you’re damaged. And it’s only gonna get worse after I leave… unless I help you return to your usual bookwormy self.” Twilight rose to her hooves and eyed him dangerously.
“Get out of here, Spike. Or I’ll–.”
“You’ll do what? Get that guy who can make me? What was his name? DJ Doesn’t Exist?” Spike laughed, sitting Twilight back down in her chair by force.
“Eat your breakfast. I react differently when a meal I make is wasted. As for what I’m gonna do, I got work. If you don’t wanna see me again, then fine. I’ll be out of sight, doesn’t mean I’ll be gone.” he left the Library with an evil chuckle and took to the sky for Cloudsdale.

“Okay, now you all have your assignments, get going. I expect you all to be done within ten minutes. Ready, go!” Rainbow Dash called to the new flyers. The ponies in training, along with Spike shot for a cloud each. Dash’s pet turtle, Tank hovered in the centre of the training area, marking the location the clouds were to be bunched up in. Spike wasn’t the quickest of the group, but he wasn’t the slowest. His size alone slowed him down and he wasn’t very aerodynamic. This caused him to be the fourth fastest flyer in the group. Rainbow Dash watched him with a mixture of uncertainty and nervousness. The conversation they’d had the previous day left her… rattled to say the least. She hadn’t felt both emotions like this since she’d performed in front of the Wonderbolts.
The final cloud was in place and Dash blew the whistle. She looked at the time and nodded with satisfaction.
“Not bad. Eight minutes and fifteen seconds. You’ve got time to spare. But I think with more training you can all do better. Cloud Shape, you lost your grip on the second cloud and had to fight with it before it would move. Aero, you spent most of your time making sure your mane wasn’t out of place and went for the smallest clouds possible. Airway, you were the exact opposite, which is also bad because you went for the bigger clouds, leaving the others to deal with the smaller ones. Spike, you might wanna work on your manoeuvrability. Those wings of yours ended up slicing some clouds in half, doubling the work for the others. That aside, you did well. Now we’re going to distribute these clouds again and bunch them up one at a time. See which one of you is the fastest. Aero, you go first because I feel like you need to suffer before you can actually be of use to us.”
Rainbow Dash flew over to Tank and helped him out of the large cumulonimbus that the group had made. The little turtle’s propeller spun around madly as he followed his mistress to the sidelines.
“Spike, could you do the honours?” she asked. Spike smiled and cracked his knuckles.
“With pleasure.” he said, going so far as to dive into the cloud. He sliced it up into dozens of smaller clouds and spun around, using the wind he’d created with the force of his wings to separate them and distribute them throughout the field. He re-joined the group of ponies as Aero made his way out onto the field. Alone, he’d gone over the ten minute mark, which upset Rainbow Dash to no end.
“That was pathetic! Stop stressing about your mane and do it properly. Nopony else is going until you get under ten minutes.” Aero sadly tried again, just managing to scrape a single second under the mark. Dash grumbled as she had the field set once again.
“Alright Pretty boy, get back in line. Up next is Cloud Shape. Make me proud, C.” Aero whimpered, trying to fix his now Pinkified mane as Cloud Shape eagerly flew into the field. Her time was within five minutes, beating the group’s best.
“Okay, does anypony know why she was faster on her own, than all of you were as a whole group?” Nopony knew, but Spike spoke up.
“Because we’re inexperienced as a team. We get in each other’s way and delay the process by doing so.” Rainbow Dash smiled.
“I thought you’d know, Spike. Well done. You’re absolutely right. The mistakes you all made dragged out the time it should have taken you all to complete the test. For trained teams, the time limit is a single minute. Spike, why don’t you give the individual task a shot next?” she seemed to warm up to Spike again. This time he saw it coming. He wasn’t about to screw up his plan like he did with Applejack. He’d managed to lose Dash’s trust in him and he didn’t want her to gain it again.
“Hey, Coach. What’s your personal best?” he asked. Rainbow Dash grinned.
“Need you ask? I can do this in Ten seconds flat.” she said proudly. Spike raised his hand and stretched out his clawed fingers.
“I’ll beat you in five seconds.” he declared. The whole team, including Tank, dropped their jaws. Rainbow Dash just looked at him eerily.
“The day you beat me will never come, Spike. My speed is my pride and you won’t be able to take that from me. Not in a million years.” Spike casually hovered over to the edge of the field.
“The others started in the centre. It’s easier that way.” Dash said. Spike grinned at her and shook his head.
“Not for what I have in store.” he called back. Rainbow Dash shrugged and gave him the signal to go. Spike immediately brought his wings as far back as he could and with one powerful thrust, blew every cloud to the other end of the field. Then he made a bolt for one end. Two seconds had passed when he reached the end of the line of clouds. Rainbow Dash dropped her jaw this time, the realisation that he may beat her in the allotted time dawning upon her. He bunched every cloud he could get together, not missing one. The third second had passed. With all his speed, he lunged for the centre of the field. The fourth second had passed. And the fifth arrived just as he placed the large cluster of clouds in the centre.
Rainbow Dash gasped, her personal best divided by half.

With Rainbow Dash defeated, in order for her to continue training the others, Spike had to make the point that she was still the fastest Pegasus in Equestria. With that in mind, her pride was less hurt and she continued the course. Spike made a mental note that her mind was the easiest to warp, since she rarely used it.
With the training over, everypony was sent home, except for Spike.
“Spike, a moment, please?” the rainbow maned Pegasus waved him over. The two of them sat down on a cloud and waited for the other to say something.
“So what’d you hold me back for? Still sore that you were beaten by a dragon twice your size?” he smiled at her. Rainbow Dash ignored the comment and looked at him.
“AJ told me about Twilight. Is it true or was she trying to get me to hate you because of it?” she asked. Spike hesitated for a minute.
“Wait, so if it’s true, you’ll hate me for letting her resort to suicide?” he asked. Rainbow Dash shook her head.
“Oh, uh… no. Just… I don’t know! Twilight’s one of my best friends, and I’d be mad at whoever caused her pain. But I can’t be mad at you because… well you were a friend once too, and I’m sure you had your reasons for leaving in the first place and all this thinking is giving me a headache!” she rubbed the sides of her head in circular motions.
“It’s true. I stopped her just in time.” he said. Rainbow Dash sighed and nodded.
“Come on then.” she rose to her hooves, stretching her wings in the process. Spike looked at her in confusion.
“Where we going?” he asked. Rainbow Dash smiled down at him and  pointed in a seemingly random direction.
“If this is happening, I’m gonna need a drink.” Spike nodded and followed close behind her. It only took them a minute to make it to where Rainbow Dash had pointed. It was a pub of sorts. How Cloudsdale could even carry inanimate objects on its cloudy surface always befuddled the young dragon, but somehow they managed to get kegs of beer and vineyards up in that bitch.
The pair landed just outside the entrance and made their way in. The place was already filled with ponies who had finished their jobs for the day and were drinking away the stress that it had brought. Dash found a table for two near the end and nabbed it before anypony else could, while Spike ordered the first of a number of drinks the two would share.
“Okay… what’s your plan for helping her anyway, Spike?” Dash asked. The young dragon took a swig of his bottle and considered the question.
“I figure the best I can do is play the obedient tenant, do whatever crappy job she asks of me and keep a close eye on her at all times. I figure I could watch her at night, but that’d just play havoc with my mind. Which is why I wanna ask you guys to watch her one night each over the course of the week.” Dash took a drink from her bottle and nodded.
“Sounds legit to me. I’ll check with the others. Pinkie’ll probably do it with ease, but the rest of us might need to think of something that will keep us awake.” she said. The two shared more drinks as they tried to sort out the plan regarding watching over Twilight.
“But answer me this: Why do you care? You’ve tried so hard to make a point of hating us. Why are you so determined to see this through?” Spike knew he couldn’t beat around the bush with Rainbow Dash.
“I… I don’t really hate you guys. I just don’t want you to get attached to me again. It’ll make it more difficult when I leave again.”
“So don’t leave. Unless your reason for leaving is good, I don’t see why you should pack up and go through it all over again.” Spike sighed, finishing the fifth bottle.
“I just… I made a mistake the first time, and I can’t take it all back. I’d be living with constant reminders that I did something for the dumbest reason and I can’t handle that. Not to mention I’ll be riddled with constant nagging regarding the reason as to why I left in the first place.” Rainbow Dash started her seventh bottle, now two ahead of the dragon.
“To be honest, I don’t really care why you left. Because you came back, and I think that should be all that matters.” Spike nodded and began his sixth bottle.
“So what’s the deal with you and Rarity? You fall out of love or what?” Spike nearly choked on his drink.
“You really wanna talk about the one Pony you’d need a chisel to break your way in just to plough?” Dash spit her drink across the table, narrowly missing Spike. The ponies surrounding them paused and looked at the spectacle. Dash wasn’t able to control her laughter. She covered her mouth afterwards and reduced her laugh to a hysterical giggle.
“I’ve never heard her put quite that way before.” she began. Spike smiled.
“It’d be a new experience for her too.” Dash laughed again, bringing the bottle away before she could take any more.
“Could you let me swallow this?” she asked. As she began, Spike decided to be evil.
“Though she might have heard that one before.” Dash began a coughing fit as her drink went down the wrong way.
“You dick!” she choked. Spike began to pat her on the back, helping her to clear her throat. Her face was red from all the blood flow to her head, and Spike was enjoying himself.
“Shit!” he said.
“What?” Dash asked, drawing his attention away from his train of thought.
“Oh, nothing. Just bucked something up again. It’s not important.” Dash smiled at him and the two continued to socialaze throughout the night.

The distant rumble of Thunder awoke Spike from his blissful sleep. He felt good again, but better than he had at the beginning of his nightmare. But something was off. At first, he thought he was in another nightmare. Then he noticed the placement of the room he was in, and the light colours. Some posters of the Wonderbolts were placed up on the walls.
“The hell?” he whispered to himself. A light snore caught his attention and he looked down at the matted turquoise Pegasus with the messed up rainbow mane as she lay under her satin sheets. Spike’s eyes widened. He could then smell the stale perspiration in the air, among other things. The setting brought it all back to him in a flood of memories. He’d just screwed up big time.
“SHIIIIIIIII-.”
	
> Chapter 7: Time Will Show And Time Will Tell
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“IIIIIIIT!” he whispered as loud as he could without waking the seemingly satisfied mare beside him. Oh, buck no. This is bad, this is very, very bad! I never wanted this to happen. Bucking alcohol enabling my idiot drive! I’m screwed! Literally and figuratively. Oh man! These thoughts played in his mind non-stop. He traced his fingers over his scars again, avoiding the claws this time. Wait, she had more to drink than I did. If I leave now, she probably won’t remember anything. Then it’ll be my secret to keep.
Sadly, that plan was shot to shit as Dash stirred before waking up. Her eyes were groggy and her body felt numb.
“What’s…”
“Oh, GOD DAMMIT!!!” hearing Spike’s voice made her jump, the energy reserved for such a feat was somehow discovered.
“Spike! What are you doing in my house?” she demanded. The dragon looked at her with a very unhappy expression on his face.
“We slept together, Sherclop.” This information took a moment to register in Rainbow Dash’s mind. The result was… unexpected.
“Oh… okay then.” She then proceeded to relax her body once more and lay her head on the pillow.
“WHAT?!” Spike shouted at her. Dash looked at him with disinterest.
“You find out we slept together and all you have to say is ‘Okay then’? Think about what this means. Not to us, but to the others.” Spike was growing hysterical.
“I did. And I came to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter. I sleep with Fluttershy all the time. Granted, you’re my first dragon, but you’re definitely not my first male. I’ve had rounds with Applejack, Big Mac, who is not surprisingly well proportioned. The first Grand Galloping Gala I went to with you guys, I had two of the Guards the night before we left. Then there was that Doctor guy who lives in the blue box, Cheerilee, all of the Wonderbolts who still won’t ask me to join, no matter how many times we do it in a full group. And… Oh, Derpy once or twice. She’s pretty good. Probably why I haven’t fired her.” Spike subconsciously began counting off the total number of partners she’d been with.
“So… taking into account that there are twenty seven Wonderbolts… Including me, you’ve been with at least thirty six partners of different genders?” Spike asked. Rainbow Dash nodded modestly.
“Oh, and don’t tell anypony, but Soarin’s a herm.” she replied. Spike grew confused.
“The buck is that?”
“Oh, right… It means he can literally buck himself. He’s got two for the price of one.” Spike crumpled his nose at the thought.
“No wonder he likes pie so much.” Rainbow Dash laughed, after which there was an awkward moment of silence between them.
“What about Twilight?” Spike asked. Rainbow Dash looked at him.
“Huh?”
“Did you ever sleep with Twilight?” The Pegasus shook her head.
“Are you kidding me? Twilight’s impossible to sleep with. She makes up all these excuses, like a condition that she has that prevents her from having sex for fear of death. I actually checked with Nurse Redheart. No such condition exists.” Spike laughed.
“Yes there is. It’s called class. She’s too posh to plough.” The two of them shared a laugh once more.
“You know. I’m curious why you asked me if I’d done Twi. You didn’t ask If I’d slept with Rarity or Pinkie, you went straight for your oldest friend.” Spike cleared his throat, but said nothing as his brain worked a way around the subject.
“It’s just that… this whole thing with her being suicidal and everything… It’s got me thinking about her safety, so she enters my mind often, like now.” Rainbow Dash smirked at him and nodded.
“Riiight. Something tells me you’ve changed the direction your heart’s pointing. You’ve completely dropped Rarity and are going for the easier prey. Clever, but given the circumstances, it’ll all be in vain.” Spike growled low at her.
“Okay, okay. No need to eat me over a few choice words.” Spike huffed at that.
“Too late, Dash.” he waved his finger between the two of them, receiving a similar huff in return.
“Tell you what, it’s still the middle of the night. What say we… pick up where we left off last time and see if we can beat ten seconds?” she mused. Spike wasn’t that amused with her pun. He looked out the window and sighed.
“Oh, what the hell.” he said, jumping in the bed.

Spike entered the Library with a hobble. If dragons had a walk of shame, this was it. His frills were drooped like a pony’s ears and he winced every time he took a step.
“I’m home! Sorry I didn’t come home last night. I got caught up with the ‘Byke of Cloudsdale’. She brought a whole new meaning to the term ‘Loyalty’.” Spike looked around and listened for a response. He neither heard, nor saw anything.
“Twilight?” there was an eerie feeling in the air that unnerved Spike.
“Noo!” he growled as he made his way up the stairs and kicked the bedroom door open. Nothing. He ran back downstairs in a blur, checking every room, every corner and space of the Library. He ran outside and scanned the area around the tree. He went so far as to climb the tree and searched every inch of the branches.
“Twilight!!!” he shouted.
“Down here, Sugar Cube.” a familiarly Yankee voice called from below. Spike looked towards the source of the voice and saw Applejack with Twilight, new bandages around her existing wound as well as her other hoof.
“Tell me she didn’t!” Applejack moved her hat to scratch her head.
“Ah caught her just in the nick o’ time. Nearly died she did. Redheart’s given her some medication. She’s pretty outta it right now.” Spike leaped out of the tree and landed with a heavy thud right in front of the two ponies.
“So I can’t have one night to myself without her trying to top herself? Typical Twilight. You always bring me into your mess. You’re such a sad bitch.” he growled. Twilight, who had been leaning against Applejack, opened her eyes groggily and gave Spike a goofy smile.
“Heey… There he is. My ol’ buddy bud-bud.” she proceeded to wobble into the Library and take a seat on the couch across from the fireplace.
“What did Redheart give her? She’s higher than the Spurs Needle in Seaddle.” Applejack handed over a small bottle of pills. Spike read the label.
“Methylphenidate. She gave her Ritalin?”
“Ah guess. What’s it supposed to do?” Applejack asked, looking at the bottle.
“It’s an anti-depressant. It should help her fight back against those suicidal tendencies, but I wouldn’t rely solely on it. I think I’m gonna have to have her take these without her knowing. As Celestia’s student, she’d be too proud to take them. But I don’t think these could cause her to act so… scatterbrained.” Applejack shrugged.
“Oh, wait. Ah think I overheard Nurse Redheart saying something about Valium.” Spike jumped.
“Jeez, where did she get her degree? In a cereal box? Valium and Ritalin can have bad side effects. But I suppose if taken at the right time apart from each other, it may be okay…”
“How do ya’ll know this stuff?” Spike shrugged and looked back at Twilight.
“I read some of the books to pass the time when I was bored. Hindsight’s a bitch.” Twilight began singing to herself in a slurred tone.
“Alright, I guess I’d better… deal with this… thing.” he said. Applejack gave him a hug, which he did not expect.
“What the…?”
“Like Ah said, Ya’ll ain’t gonna convince me that you’ve abandoned your love for us. Ah’ll see ya ‘round Spike.”

“I’m a happy camper!” Twilight cried out with glee, waving her hooves in the air.
“Oh, good. Then you can shove this marshmallow in your gob and shut up.” he said, handing her a stick with a marshmallow on the end. He’d placed one of the Ritalin tablets in the marshmallow.
“Stick that in the fire, take it out and then swallow.” Twilight giggled.
“Spike, don’t talk dirty.” she said, pushing against him. Spike growled low at her.
“Shut up and eat, shut up and eat, shut up and eat.” he chanted to himself as Twilight slowly placed the marshmallow over the fireplace.
“Right, now make sure it doesn’t catch fire. These things are a bitch to put out.”
“Did Rainbow put out?” Spike looked at the lavender unicorn in shock. Had she just said what he thought she said?
“What?”
“I can smell her on you, Spikey. I’ve been around them more than you have, especially… the last three years. Ooh, flaming mallows!”
“Wait… since when can you smell other ponies?” Twilight looked at him and scrunched her face.
“I drank milk that tasted funny. Redheart said it was good for me.” then Twilight giggled and hugged Spike. The young dragon froze in place. He noticed the burning marshmallow.
“Your… flaming mallow is burning.” Twilight laughed again.
“Spike, I said no dirty talk.” The dragon withheld a groan and pointed to the marshmallow on her stick.
“Oh, the puffy mallow! Uh, how do I get rid of the fire?” she asked, waving the stick around.
“Well definitely not like tha-OW!” The marshmallow had flown off and landed squarely between his eyes. Twilight laughed at this and rolled along the floor.
“You’re lucky I’m fire-proof.” he said, grabbing the soft goo from his face. He held Twilight down with his foot, forced her mouth open and dropped the marshmallow into her mouth.
“There. That ought to hold you for the evening.” he said. Twilight stood up and smiled at her friend.
“I have a secret.” she began. Spike huffed in annoyance.
“We all have secrets, Twi.”
“No… My secret’s specifically about you.” she began. Spike sighed in resignation, giving her his full attention.
“Alright, what’s the secret?” he asked.
“Fine, I’ll tell you. But you can’t tell Spike.” she said. After the condition registered with him as idiocy, he accepted.
“Fine, I won’t. Now what’s the secret?” Twilight leaned over to him and smiled.
“Dad smokes in the carriage. Celestia is okay with it, but we can’t tell Mum.” she said. Spike sighed, forcing back a growl.
“Not that, secret, the other Secret.”
“I’m Mare Do Well. Shhhh!” Spike growled this time.
“Damn it, Twilight!” The mare laughed aloud, clutching her sides. “The secret about m-… Spike.” Twilight sighed in submission.
“Spike hates me because I didn’t find him when he left us like last time.” The young dragon looked at her, huddled up in the corner of the couch, her sad face masked slightly by the dopey effect of the Valium.
“I… Spike could never hate you for that, Twi. He knows you tried to find him, because Scootaloo told him.” The unicorn looked at him.
“Spike? Who told you that? What is the other one? I’ll get him for… wait. Why are you talking in third-person? Have you been hanging around Trixie? Was it a threesome? Why didn’t you invite me?” She began to ramble on about random things, the last one intrigued him, but he said nothing on the matter.
“Twilight. It’s time to go to bed. Come on, I’ll tuck you in.” Twilight smiled at him and giggled as her head hung over his arm.
“This is a world gone topys-turvy! I like it. It’s like Rainbow Dash when she was victim to the Poison Joke. Remember that?” she asked. Spike chuckled.
“Yeah, I remember. We had Appleteenie, Rainbow Crash, Hairity, Flutterguy, Spittie Pie, and then you.” he replied.
“Yeah, Twilight Flopple.” she said. Spike laughed.
“Damn you, Hindsight.” he mused. He placed Twilight down onto her bed and wrapped the covers around her in a tight cocoon.
“Spike?” she called to him. Spike looked at her and smiled.
“Yeah?” The lavender unicorn blushed slightly as she moved her eyes over to her bedside table.
“Could you read me a story?” she asked. Spike opened the drawer in the table and pulled out a copy of ‘Daring Do and the Jade Wing’. He smiled and nodded, opening the book from where she’d left the bookmark. As he began reading, he didn’t get through three pages before she was asleep. He placed the bookmark where he’d stopped reading and closed the book quietly, sliding it back into the drawer and closing it as quietly as possible. He leaned over the bed and gently held her face in his hand. He bent down and kissed her forehead. But instead of leaving it there, His mind was drawn to her lips. Asleep, she would have been none the wiser.
He brought his face closer to hers, his own scaly lips brushing against hers. He kept his eyes on her closed ones to make sure she didn’t wake. It would have been difficult to explain to a fully functioning Twilight what he was doing with his face so close to hers. He could taste her breath as she sighed in her sleep; the smell of marshmallows was fresh on her. He curled her top lip with his own. He was so close. With his free hand, he clenched his fist, hearing the sound of his knuckles crack. He reared his head back slightly, freeing her lip before he drew it closer again and…






Author's Note:

In case anypony was wondering, the term Byke is derived from the word Dyke, which is a disparaging term for Lesbian, just as the word 'Nigger' is to a black person. In short, Byke = Bi-sexual.

	
> Chapter 8: Unexpected Results
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spike sat on a tree branch outside the Library, staring up at the moon. His mind was racing. Thoughts bubbled to the surface. Why had he done it? What was wrong with him? Was it right? Was it wrong? He played the memory back in his mind…

He was so close. With his free hand, he clenched his fist, hearing the sound of his knuckles crack. He reared his head back slightly, freeing her lip before he drew it closer again and… He slithered away, just as his lips skimmed the tips of the hairs on her face. He hurried away from there in silence, slinking out the window to here…

He covered his face in shame. What was happening to him? It was just like before. Only now he was more confused about it than ever. Did he really try to kiss Twilight? Was that even what he wanted? He just didn’t know any more. His mind was a mess on the matter. He’d spent too long here. It’s only been four days. That was four days too many. With the shit he’d gotten himself into, ignorance would have been bliss. Had he not known Twilight’s suicidal tendencies, had he not returned and pushed those tendencies into direct and uncontrollable action…
He wanted to scream. He wanted to go back in time and prevent himself from ever leaving Ponyville in the first place. Or perhaps he would go back just far enough to shorten the number of gryphons he’d lost his brood to, so he would still have a home in the mountain. But he was thinking in hypotheticals, as if it was possible for him to change the past. Twilight’s little excursion backward a week proved it impossible. Now, Spike was truly lost. He missed the days he could just threaten any problem away with his dark magic. Now the problem was within himself and what little part of his old self remained was fighting for control, or at the very least, symbiosis.
“Spike?” a voice called out to him from below. He looked down from his moonlighting to see the unmistakably messy-maned Pinkie Pie. His second encounter with her since he’d arrived.
“Pinkie. Hi.” he said. The Pink pony vanished from his view, only to end up right next to him. He jumped, no longer used to her abnormal method of travel.
“So, watcha doing?” she asked, sitting beside him. Spike looked back up at the moon.
“Searching for a miracle.” he said. Pinkie followed his gaze and smiled. She then looked down at the open window that was Twilight’s Bedroom window.
“I know why you left, Spike. It’s so obvious, I’m surprised nopony else has figured it out.” she gave him a kind-hearted smile.
“What do you mean?” he asked. Pinkie scoffed at him.
“You of all people should know that I’m not as… silly as I seem, Spike. The reason you left is the very reason you won’t leave now, why you’ve devoted yourself to remaining here even though you want nothing more than to leave. All these things have one specific thing in common. This is a jigsaw and your confession is the final piece to the puzzle. But maybe that puzzle is only a piece of a much bigger puzzle.” she lost him.
“I don’t get what you’re saying Pinkie. Puzzle analogies were never my thing.” he said. The pink pony just sighed.
“I’m saying, this isn’t just about you, Spike. This is about all of us. You’re scared to reveal why you left because you’re afraid of what we’ll think. We’re your peers, Spike, we always have been. And Twilight is to you, as Celestia is to her… to a certain extent anyway. I know the truth about you Spike. But you don’t have to worry about me spoiling the ending. I made a promise a long time ago not to interfere with this sort of thing. It was a Double Pinkie Promise, Spike. I’m just here to perhaps enlighten the smarter readers, and confuse the buck out of the dumber ones in this story.” Spike looked around himself.
“Story? What are you talking about?”
“I’m just being me. I’m breaking the fourth-wall. Is it still called ‘breaking the fourth-wall’ even though it’s a book?” she asked. Spike gave her the most confused look ever.
“What?!”
“Nevermind. I’ve done my job. You won’t hear from me until the ending. But is it at the ending of this story? Or perhaps the next? Oops, Spoilers!” And with that, Pinkie was gone. Spike was left there, more confused about what she’d just said than he was about his own personal dilemma.
“Freaks me the buck out!”

Twilight awoke the next morning feeling refreshed and surprisingly more lively than she had been in what felt like an age. She went to stretch her body, but found herself wrapped up in a bundle of bed sheets. She felt a strange tingling sensation on the surface of her lips; a sensation she found oddly satisfying. She reached her hoof up through the cocoon of covers and touched her mouth. The tingling vanished and she instantly wished she hadn’t done anything. She licked her lips, sighing as she struggled to free herself from the expertly made tuck-in.
The bedroom door opened and Spike held in his hands, another tray of food for Twilight.
“Haha! Did it right this time. Breakfast in bed.” Twilight was unsure how to react. She could remember nothing after her second attempt to take her own life.
“What… how… Am I in Heaven?” she asked. Spike barked a laugh at that.
“Please, with the shit you’ve tried to pull in the past two days, you’d be in Hell if anything. Fortunately, you’ll have to settle for the devil incarnate that is me. It’s like that whole relationship between him and Sadam Hoofsein. You’re Hoofsein.” Twilight shook her head, trying to clear away the fogginess of last night.
“The book detailed them as gay lovers.” she replied.
“Oh yeah. Nevermind then. Last I checked, you don’t have a penis. Or did you change that in the last three years?” He placed the tray down across from her and helped her sit up.
“Spike… I haven’t forgotten what you said yesterday. Clearly you don’t want to be friends. So stop trying to make me happy.” she said. Spike groaned, audibly holding back the urge to say something, much to Twilight’s Chagrin.
“Technically, that was the night before yesterday. And you don’t remember last night, which may be the only reason I’m not strangling you right now.” he said. He smiled on one side of his face, hiding it from her.
“What did I do?” she demanded.
“You flicked a burning marshmallow on my face. and every time I referred to it the same way you did, for example: when I said ‘your flaming mallow is burning’, you told me not to talk dirty.” Twilight rubbed her head, trying to recall the night’s events prior.
“How did I get here?” she asked.
“You can scold Applejack for saving your hide this time. I spent the night over at Dash’s, getting… reacquainted with her. Nurse Redheart did as she does and nursed you back to health.” Twilight looked at her bandages and frowned.
“They’re too tight. Could you redo them? You’re better at it than the hospital is.” she asked. Spike didn’t hesitate to comply as she reached her hooves out. The speed of his response surprised her. As he unravelled her bandages, he flashed a quick glance at her.
“Last night, you mentioned a secret you had about me.” Twilight gasped, jolting her hooves back away from him. There was a moment’s hesitation before she held them back out for him to finish.
“What did I say?” she asked. Spike loosened the bandaging slightly and began to wrap her up again.
“You said you thought I hated you because you didn’t find me like last time, and that was why I wouldn’t come back.” he replied. He finished the first bandage and began with the second.
“And is it true?”
“No. I could never hate you for failing. I know you tried for two years to find me, and that would have more than made up for it. But it wouldn’t explain why I left in the first place.” Twilight flexed her hoof as the second bandage came off before Spike went to rewrap it.
“Why did you leave, Spike?” she asked.
“I can’t say.”
“Why not?”
“Because… it was a stupid reason; one that I regret to this day. It doesn’t matter anymore. What’s done is done.” Twilight felt her heart flutter as Spike held her hooves in his hands even after he’d finished bandaging them.
“So… will you stay now?” Spike gently squeezed her hooves, making sure not to hurt her.
“I… don’t know yet. I get this nagging feeling, in the back of my mind. With all the crap I’ve put you all through these past few days…that aside, I can’t help but feel that my business with the Gryphons isn’t over. They’re not the kind to just let live those who have killed members of their race. I just hope they think me dead among my friends back hom… in the mountain.” Twilight pulled him closer.
“I won’t let the gryphons get you, Spike. I’ll take the matter to Princess Celestia if need be.” Spike shook his head.
“No. That’s the last thing I want. If they come looking for me, then I’ll have to leave. If anything, to save you guys from having to deal with them. I’ll come back if I feel it’s safe to do so.” He knelt there beside her, holding her hooves for what seemed like forever.
“You never stopped caring about us, did you Spike?” The young dragon sighed and shook his head.
“No. But I’m still gonna be a total ass hat though. It’s kinda fun.” Twilight laughed, looking back to the tray.
“Join me for Breakfast?” she offered. Spike smiled and made his way around the bed, sitting on the other side from her. She cuddled up to him and he placed his arm around her. He took a grape from the vine and placed it in her mouth. She smiled at him and giggled.
“Shall I chew it for you too?” he offered sarcastically. Twilight just grinned at him and showed him the contents of her mouth.
“Ugh.” he said, looking away. “Grape breath.” he said. He grabbed another grape and added it to her mouth.  She daintily took each grape from his hand and proceeded to tease him by showing him an empty mouth, indicating she was ready for more.
“Where’s a corn cob when you need one?” he said, placing the last grape in her mouth. The dragon sighed and moved on to the bananas.
“This is going to be weird.”

With a full stomach, Twilight was in heaven as she sat in bed with her long lost friend having returned to her.
“Welcome home, Spike.” she said as she reached up to give him a kiss on the cheek. He smiled and lowered his head so she could reach him.
“It’s good to be home. But we have to admit… It’s not going to be the same.” Twilight nodded and buried her face into his chest.
“But it could be better, if we play our cards right.” the two of them sat there for an hour, just enjoying each other’s company. Spike had lost all sense of confusion as he held Twilight in his arms. And the realisation hit him like it had many times before. His bond with her had grown even stronger than it once was. He let out a chuckle followed by a single word.
“Shit.”
“What?” Twilight asked. He just shook his head.
“Just something I’ve started doing every time I regain my friendship with someone. I kinda wanna go all the way with it whenever I fail to keep you guys at a distance.” Twilight wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but she shrugged and snuggled up to him all the same.
“Whatever, I still love you.” she said. Spike chuckled and grinned at her.
“Love you too, Twi.”
	
> Chapter 9: Matter Over Mind
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Rarity stood before one of her many ponnequins, her latest design still incomplete. She stood there, staring at it. Usually, the idea would come entirely, but with this dress, she was making it up as she went along. Her mind tried so hard to focus on the task at hand, but she was constantly being distracted by the events of the past few days. Her heart was aching constantly since she’d been dropped like a rock by the dragon she’d once known. She didn’t love him in return, but appreciated his admiration for her. Or that was what she thought. Now there was something nagging at her. Why was she so upset over him having finished with his crush on her?
The familiar hoof steps of a younger mare approached her.
“Sis?” Sweetie Belle’s voice reached out to her. Rarity tore her gaze away from the incomplete dress and looked upon the beautiful figure that was her now maturing younger sister. She smiled at the younger mare who reached a hoof up to her and wiped a tear from her eye. Rarity was surprised to see the tear as she hadn’t realised she’d been crying.
“Oh dear. How indecent of me. A lady should never cry.” she said, trying to regain a little pride in front of her sister.
“I disagree. Why else would we be able to cry if we aren’t supposed to when we’re sad?” Sweetie belle offered her sister a handkerchief, who in turn took it with great appreciation.
“I suppose you’re right. Thank you.” Rarity said. The younger mare sat down and hummed a little tune to her sister as she grabbed a royal blue cloth roll from the rack and unrolled it with her magic, placing it next to the incomplete design as a suggestion to Rarity. The fashionista blubbered a laugh and nodded.
“Very good. It goes very well with the pale yellow.” she began.
“It reminds me of the beach, blue and yellow.” Sweetie Belle said. Rarity nodded. That was the theme she was going for.
“I don’t think Spike is really gone, Sis.” Sweetie said.
“What makes you think I was crying over that jerk?” Rarity asked. Sweetie belle smiled under her sister’s gaze.
“Well, that question just now makes me think so, because that wasn’t what I was talking about.” Rarity blushed as she’d realised her mistake.
“He’s…not cruel by nature. I think he’s trying to make you all hate him. I don’t know why, but I think I’d do the same thing if I were in his… do dragons wear shoes?” Rarity looked at her sceptically.
There was a knock in the door. Sweetie Belle made her way over to answer it. She took one look at the knocker and smiled.
“Rarity, it’s for you.” she called out.
“Coming!” she replied cheerily. The figure at the door chuckled.
“Subtle.” Sweetie Belle opened the door further to allow him entry. She didn’t notice the second figure until she stepped through.
“Oh, hey Twilight, I didn’t see you there. I though Spike had come on his own.” The two figures smiled and addressed her properly.
“Well I need to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t try and finish what she started with the mug.” Spike began. Twilight stuck her tongue out at him cheekily.
“And I need to help him apologise to Rarity because he’s an ass and will undoubtedly stuff it up. Because that’s what he’s hoping to do.” she retorted. The two of them grinned at each other.
“Looks like you two have gotten back together… in a non-romantic way.” Sweetie Belle said. Rarity entered their field of vision and stopped. She took one look at Spike and grew a dark face.
“Twilight, darling. Welcome to the boutique.” she said, ignoring Spike presence.
“Hello, Rarity. I thought it would be a good idea to pay you a visit.” Twilight said. Rarity hurried the unicorn into the lounge, leaving Spike with Sweetie Belle.
“I get the feeling they’re embarrassed of me.” Spike said. Sweetie Belle chuckled and closed the door behind her.
“I like it when she pretends we’re not there. I always manage to best her by playing around with her designs. Then she addresses me and I win.” Spike laughed.
“You’re still as cheeky as ever, I see.” They walked together into the lounge. The eye contact was instant. Spike kept his gaze on the white mare as he grinned, passing by some very nice designs. He was going to take a little revenge for all the times he’d helped her and she discarded him at the end of the day. He found an unused ponnequin and stood behind it, drawing Rarity’s attention.
“Hey Sweetie Belle, look. Scalret Pimpony.” he then proceeded to dry hump the doll. Sweetie Belle burst out laughing as Rarity screamed at the display. Twilight hid her face as a big blush began to form.
“Spike, cut that out right now!” Rarity galloped over to the dragon who in turn, leaped over her and clung to the ceiling, his clawed feet digging into the roof.
“Now I have your attention, I’ll say what I came here to say.” Twilight moved away from beneath Spike, the fear of him losing grip and crashing on top of her frightened her slightly. Rarity looked at the dragon’s feet and growled at him.
“You’ve had plenty of chances to get it good with me. You could have responded positively to my expressions of love for you, you could have denied me from the very beginning. Instead, you dragged me along. You made me believe I had a chance with you, you used me and dropped me back into Twilight’s care at the end of the day. Granted, you rewarded me with gems and the like, but they weren’t what I wanted in the greater scheme of things.” Spike removed one foot from the ceiling, revealing the holes he’d left behind, then then dug into another part of the roof, which made Rarity groan.
“I’ll admit, I was young… er. A baby dragon, I can see how that wouldn’t make for a life partner. But if you simply said that you’d wait for me to grow up, I might have waited for that. You know when you ask somepony something and you get an answer that doesn’t make any sense? It was kind of like that with us. You see, I’m grown up now. But because you didn’t give me any sign that you’d wait for me… well look where we are.” He released his grip on the roof and landed on the ground with his hands. He spread his legs and flung them around in a dual-roundhouse kick before pushing against the ground to land on his feet.
Rarity and the others stared at him with awe.
“I’m stronger, faster, and more powerful than you. Your love for gems could have been requited, what with dragons being natural collectors of such things. But you’ve lost it all because you didn’t say four little words; ‘I’ll wait for you’.” He’d strolled up to Rarity and was now in his face. She was speechless yet again and Twilight was having a hard time getting the image of Spike humping the ponnequin out of her mind. Sweetie Belle had emerged from the kitchen with drinks for everypony.
“I…” Spike shushed her by placing a finger over her lips.
“Hush little filly, don’t say a word… Spikey’s gonna buy you a mocking bird.” he then returned to Twilight’s side, singing the rest of the tune.
“And if that mocking bird don’t sing, well forget the diamond ring.” he said. Twilight cleared her throat.
“How was that for an apology?” the dragon asked.
“Perhaps we should have booked an appointment at the spa.” Twilight replied, looking back at the events that just unfolded. The young dragon chuckled.
“Mud fight.” he called over to Sweetie Belle who giggled in response.
Rarity sucked in air and glared daggers at the dragon.
“And what about now, Spikey? Surely you didn’t come to that realisation all of a sudden? So what changed? What caused you to stop loving me?” she challenged. Spike grinned at her.
“Dunno, maybe it was the lack of green.” he replied. Rarity hated that colour to no end.
“Well I’m sorry if I don’t mix and match poorly, unlike some dragon I know, who has a thing for moustaches.” Spike laughed.
“I’m over those. I’m thinking of growing a goatee now. And I’ll make sure it’s as green as your envy.” he said, leaning over her.
“Who or what could I possibly envy?”
“Oh, come on. I’m sure Scootaloo told you about the white dragoness I was shacking up with who looked like you but didn’t smell like raw fish from the tail down.” Rarity growled at him.
“Oh, that is the rankest cynicism.”
“In which way? Literally or figuratively?” he asked, motioning to her flank as he stated the prior. Rarity frowned at him.
“You’d probably think both, you’re that dense. But let’s move on to you, shall we? You’ve grown tall, sure, but I’m willing to bet you haven’t grown any longer since the day you left.” Sweetie Belle and Twilight watched the fight go either way; neither one ready to get in between it.
“I think Rainbow Dash can attest to quite the opposite.” he retorted. Rarity growled at him.
“So you’ve had a session with the whore of Cloudsdale then, have you? I’m not surprised.”
“Oh yes. We discussed your sex life briefly afterward. It had to be brief because there wasn’t much of a sex life to talk about regarding you. You can try Rarity, you can try so hard to make yourself look pretty for the Stallions, but once they get a load of your dried up old prune of a pussy, it becomes public knowledge that you have the sex appeal of an aardvark.”
Rarity subconsciously sat down on the floor afterward, still eager to face him?
“At least I wasn’t tricked into believing I had a shot with somepony as talented as myself.”
“Oh yes, the fashionista with a superiority complex; whoops, tautology. Face the facts, Rarity. You hide behind your make-up and your designs because you believe that your natural self isn’t worth the life it was given.”
“Spike! Stop now. Keep that up and she’ll be suicidal too.” Twilight gave Spike a bemused look, which he caught instantly. The dragon leaned closer to Rarity, his head beside hers and he whispered into her ear.
“Just remember that I’m done with you.” he stood at his full height and walked to the other two ponies.
“Remember why I’m doing this, Twi.” he said, going past her. He let himself out and closed the door ever so casually. Twilight looked at the now rattled designer.
“Sorry, Rarity. I’d hoped he’d actually apologize for everything he’d said. But it seems as though he’s still in conflict about whether to stay.” Rarity looked at her friend.
“You mean he didn’t mean any of that?” she asked. Twilight shook her head.
“At least… not all of it. He’s trying to make us all hate him so we won’t miss him when he goes again. So far that’s all gone to hell with Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Now I’m beginning to accept him into the group again. I can tell that he won’t try to upset Fluttershy, and Pinkie’s surprisingly evasive, given the situation.” Rarity rose to her hooves and sighed with relief.
“Thank goodness. The things he said to me… I nearly died of a heart attack. The white mare grabbed one of the drinks that Sweetie Belle still had on the tray and guzzled it down. “He planned this out well. I didn’t think he could do something like this. Plan his own social exile before he even returned?” Twilight shuddered at the thought.
“Well I don’t know about you, but I’m determined to keep him here. He’s just trying to protect us.” Rarity nodded.
“I understand, darling. I’ll try my best to ignore today’s poor attempt at an apology.”

Spike remained by the front door, listening to the conversation that ensued afterward. His plan had been thwarted yet again. Being an asshole was starting to become redundant.
“Shit!” he muttered to himself as he strolled back home to the Library.
	
> Chapter 10: Calm Before The Storm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	There was an eerie calm about the town as three days had passed after Spike’s little visit to the Carousel Boutique. He could feel something was on its way, and it threatened to separate him from the friends he was making. He mentally hit himself as he agonised over the thought of leaving them again. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid.
He sat up on the roof of the Apple Family barn and looked down on Ponyville. He’d spent the morning trying to escape Twilight as she’d entered her… season. As a baby, he never had to worry about her going after him, but now he was an adult, certain pheromones from both parties would be as impossible to avoid as the results of being ensnared by each other promised to deliver. He shuddered at the thought. Despite his attempts to do otherwise, he’d re-established his friendship with Twilight and tightened the bond; and sexually pursuing her was a method of reversing the outcome that he shuddered to think about. 
Rainbow Dash had been a mistake and he knew it. It was further damaging to find out that those she had claimed to be with denied having had any such relationships with Rainbow Dash. Even Applejack, who couldn’t tell a lie to save her integrity, found the idea offensive. Spike explained their reactions to her and she’d revealed to him that it was all a lie. She’d only ever had sex once before him. She didn’t reveal who with, but Spike had a pretty good idea.
The young dragon smacked his tail against the wooden surface of the roof, feeling the vibrations from the impact through his buttocks. He scanned the sky, hoping they would remain as clear as usual, aside from the odd Pegasus every now and then, one in particular leaving a trail of falling letters as she skimmed across the sky in a rather uncoordinated fashion. Spike took one of the letters that managed to fall towards him. Coincidentally, it was for Twilight; the return address revealed it to be from her parents.
The dragon skimmed his talon across one edge of the envelope and pulled out the contents. He read over the letter and smiled. The answer to Twilight’s suicidal problem may have just fallen into his hand. He placed the letter back in the envelope and ignited it in a green flame, sending it off to his friend.
“Maybe a baby sister will work wonders on her. I can see myself packing her bags in five minutes.” he chuckled to himself as he rose to his feet and hopped off the roof. His wings shot out of his back and he was in the air before he touched the ground.

Twilight was busy in the Library, happily humming to herself as she tidied the place up. She’d rearranged all the books and was half way through dusting the tables when a green flame flashed in front of her and a letter appeared in front of her, already opened.
“Spike, your curiosity astounds me.” she said as she picked up the letter. She looked at the return address and hurriedly opened the note within the envelope.
The ponies who were reading silently in their own areas nearly lost the use of their eardrums as an excited shriek escaped the Librarian’s mouth. Windows would have shattered, had the tree been fitted with any.
“Oh my gosh! I’m going to have a baby sister!” she cried out, hugging Carrot Top who looked up from her gardening book.
“Congrats, Twilight.” she said before the unicorn was running into her room, calling out Spike’s name.
The dragon had just entered the door when he heard his name called out from upstairs.
“Yeah, yeah; I’m reading your mind. I’ll pack your bags in a minute.” he strolled through the Library, his wings retreating back into his body. He stretched himself out afterwards.
“Ooh, that transition was a little off. I’ll have to watch out for those.” he said to himself as he twisted his body, forcing his spine to pop, which felt fantastic. His housemate rushed down the stairs and hurried over to him.
“Isn’t this great, Spike? I’m going to be a ‘big sister’, not just a little sister, but a big one too.” she clopped her hooves together in joy before wrapping them around Spike and giving him a big kiss. Clearly, she hadn’t thought about where she’d kissed him as she trotted away happily.
“Oh… I’m sure you were a big pain to Shining Armour at times.” he muttered as he went off to pack Twilight’s bags.
Twilight, who had been so excited at the news, left the Library to tell her friends. It wasn’t until she’d taken a few steps from the tree that she noticed a familiar sensation tickling her lips. She paused, brought out of her reverie of sisterhood. Bringing her hoof to her lips, she caressed the tingling spot on her mouth and it rushed to her cheeks. It felt like pins and needles in her face. She shook her head madly, trying to get blood flow back into her cheeks, but she just ended up tickling herself with the mild stabbing sensations that came with the symptom of localised blood flow deprivation.
She tried to recall what she’d done prior to getting this strange sensation and it dawned upon her. She’d kissed Spike. And not just a kiss, but a full-on smooch. As this realisation hit her like a sack of bricks, she blushed redder than Big Mac’s coat.
“Oh, Celestia!” she said, running full speed to the only pony she could rely on for advice in the matter that had just crept upon her. And she headed for the Carousel Boutique.

“Oh, darling! Your reaction is symptomatic of the most obvious thing in this world.” Rarity declared as Twilight explained the situation.
“I know what’s wrong with me, Rarity. I came here to ask you for advice on how to proceed with this.”
“Well you can’t ignore it, darling.”
“Why not?” Rarity gave her painfully regal laugh as the replied.
“I used to be a dragon lover, like you. But then I took a talon to the roof.” she extended a hoof to her ceiling which still showed the Rarity-proclaimed battle scars of the fight that occurred  three days prior.
“But what do I do?” Twilight urged, becoming hysteric as she thought out scenarios in her mind, but her data was insufficient to return working result.
“I suppose there’s nothing you can do until you discover he shares your feelings,” Rarity paused for a moment. Twilight… are you sure you actually love Spike in this manner, and it isn’t just your seasonal… for lack of a better term, horniness, getting the better of you?” Rarity had a point, and Twilight considered it.
“I’m sure. Because I felt this once before my season started. Which leads me to believe he does feel the same way.”
“So you kissed him today and your lips started tingling, and before that, you woke up with the same tingling? You think Spike kissed you in your sleep?” Rarity asked. Twilight shook her head.
“Maybe he stopped himself at the last second. The first time wasn’t as powerful as this one, which leads me to believe he may have been struggling to resist kissing me that night.” Twilight was working her mind furiously, trying to gather more relevant data for her conclusion.
“Perhaps you should ask him about it. If he acts strange around the subject, then tell him how you feel and wait for his response.” Twilight blushed as she played that thought through her head. She began to jump ahead to the evening activities and she giggled.
“Is the sex starting now? Darling, much as I love pairing two ponies, or in your case a pony and a dragon, if you’re going to start staining my couch, I’m going to have to kill you.” Rarity pointed a mop in Twilight’s direction. Twilight snapped out of her fantasy and giggled sheepishly.
“Sorry, Rarity. I’ll head off then. Got to see a dragon about a kiss.” she teased.
Twilight felt really giddy as she made her way back to her Library. She was mentally psyching herself up to tell him. Maybe I’ll ignore all that and just ask him out on a date. See what he thinks. If he says yes, then perhaps I’ll tell him how I really feel. I can’t lead him on like Rarity did, though.
The unicorn’s thoughts were interrupted as she entered the Library and saw a very familiar figure standing before her, surrounded by other figures.

Spike had finished packing and had gone out to get some lunch before the inevitable trip to Canterlot. He imagined himself being selected to babysit on occasion; a concept that bothered him slightly. Nearly every emotional wall he’d placed up had been destroyed by the Elements of Harmony. His friends had redeemed him and he was feeling mostly good about that. But the lingering doubt that everything would be fine still waned on his mind. He hadn’t been using his magic much, and he felt that he needed to maintain perfect condition of his every ability. “The calm before the storm.” His mind let out.
He sat at a table for two in front of a commonplace take-out restaurant, his usual order of hay fries and burned ‘Caesar Salad’ barely touched. He looked up to the sky and saw that the sun was shining a little more brightly than usual.
So many things plagued his mind, and he wanted them all either answered or gone. One thing in particular ate away at him. It was connected to the second. What if danger struck Ponyville and Twilight was hurt as a result. These two things burned away at his heart and he felt darkness take hold. I’ll destroy any who threaten the peace of Equestria. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, ridding his mind of such thoughts. Dark thoughts hadn’t really reached him since he’d returned to Ponyville, and his attitude was just a remnant of a powerfully dark emotion; desire.
Spike checked the time on the clock inside the restaurant and sighed. It was time to get Twilight ready for Canterlot. He rose to his feet, leaving the barely eaten food at the table. He tossed some bits on the tray and headed out the door.
As he made his way to the Library, he wondered how the train ride would fare for the two of them as Twilight’s season of heat had only just begun. Would he have to protect passing Stallions from her? Would he have to protect himself from her? Would he have to lock her in the cubicle and take up another one altogether? Twilight was unpredictable when it came to these times of the year.
The Library door was within his view and he reached for it.
“Hey Twilight, I thought for dinner we could get your mother to make her special macaroni and…” he was cut off as a choice number of spear blades met his throat, each blade bearing the engraved symbol of Celestia. “…Cheese.” he croaked afterward, eyeing the metal in front of him. He glanced up to see Twilight being treated similarly, Celestia herself standing next to the dishevelled unicorn.
“What is this?” Spike demanded, his irises turning a slight pinky shade as he fought off the darkness that threatened to seep out after seeing Twilight in that situation.
“Hello, Spike. I’m sorry we couldn’t meet again under better circumstances, but I must insist that you come with me immediately. We have a matter of great importance to discuss with you, and Twilight and her friends cannot be involved in this.” Spike heard the Princess’ request and a single thought entered his mind as he foresaw this outcome.
Shit!
	
> Chapter 11: The Bonds of Loyalty
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Alright, you got my attention. Let’s go.” Spike said without any argument. The guards removed their spears from around Spike’s throat and proceeded to escort him out the door.
“No!” Twilight cried, fighting past the guards that still held her in place. Their spears nicked her throat, but she ignored them as she fought her way to her oldest friend. She was knocked back by a barrier erected by her mentor, Celestia.
“No, Twilight. I’m fully aware of your situation, and normally, I wouldn’t interfere with your reunion so unprofessionally, but I’m drawing on straws here. The situation is desperate in order to avoid a terrible outcome that the Elements of Harmony can’t fix.” Celestia was gentle with her student, but strong enough to stop her from moving against the wall. Twilight struggled as hard as she could.
“Twilight, I’ll be fine. Come and say goodbye before I leave.” Spike said with a casual demeanour. Celestia released the Barrier and Twilight followed at a calmer pace. A carriage was waiting outside to transport the Princess and the dragon back to Canterlot. Handcuffs were placed around Spike’s wrists, labelling him a prisoner. The other five Elements had noticed the ruckus and had made their way over to inspect the trouble.
“Hey, what are you doing with Spike?!” Rainbow Dash demanded of one of the guards. She failed to see Celestia standing beside Twilight.
“Spike is being placed under arrest for breaking the truce between our kind and that of the gryphons. The peace treaties have been broken and as such a resolution is required in order to avoid war.” Celestia replied.
“But Spike’s not a pony, he isn’t involved in the treaties.” Twilight argued. Celestia shook her head.
“Spike is pony-hatched. The treaties state that he is officially one of us.” The six ponies grew dismayed faces.
“Exactly how has he broken the treaties any who?” Applejack asked.
“He has been charged with the mass slaughter of numerous scouting parties within their territory.” There was a minute’s silence. The ponies expected Spike to make a complaint about the charge but he said nothing.
“Is it true, Spike?” Twilight asked. Spike looked at her and shook his head.
“I would argue that the gryphons are exaggerating their territorial status, but I think I’ll save it for the hearing. Assuming you’re not going to pull that out of character for Equestrian law?” Spike asked, glaring at the Princess. Celestia swallowed for a second before entering the carriage.
“Say your goodbyes, Spike.” she muttered. The young dragon looked to Twilight immediately. The pony ran to him. He raised his bound arms and rested them over her neck, pulling her into a tight embrace.
“I’ll come back soon, Twi. I promise.” he whispered into her ear. The mare broke down and cried on his shoulder. Spike just continued to hold her close, saying nothing else the entire time. When Twilight had composed herself again, her eyes were puffy and red. She smiled at him reassuringly and reached out to kiss him. Spike didn’t hesitate to return the kiss. Some of the guards shuffled around in their armour, uncomfortable with the display before them. The other five ponies looked around to make sure nopony else was watching, and that they weren’t giving the couple revolted looks.
Twilight broke the kiss with a blush. “I love you.” she declared, giving him a second little smooch. The young dragon smiled.
“I’ll come back for you…” he turned his eyes back towards Celestia. “One way or another.”
Celestia winced at the statement. She knew then that things would not go as smoothly as she’d hoped.

The carriage had left Ponyville and was making its short trek to Canterlot. Spike sat in the carriage across from Celestia who looked at the dragon with cautious eyes. Spike had been sitting back with his eyes closed, possibly asleep. Celestia wondered what the future held for Spike and her student. Given his statement, war might have been inevitable from the start. She knew Spike would have gained a draconic personality during his years living with them, but she’d hoped that his love for his friends would trump that in the greater scheme of things. Now, she wasn’t so sure.
The carriage jerked as it touched the stone walkways of Canterlot’s Royal Palace entrance. Spike’s eyes snapped open, surprising the Princess. He was more animalistic than she’d expected. The guards circled around the carriage, waiting for Spike to emerge. Celestia went first, walking clear of the circle before Spike emerged. Unicorn Guards immediately placed warding spells around the dragon, cutting off his magic. One of two methods he required to escape if the shit hit the fan was blocked off from him. He was led into the palace, where the main hall seated the Royal court, including Blue Blood who looked as pompous as ever. Spike tested his magic, seeing transparent magical spikes piercing his surface. His core magical centre was cut off from the rest of his body. His confidence was reduced to half, but he was certain he could escape should the need arise.
Spike looked around to see the High king of the Gryphon Kingdom seated beside the thrones of the Royal Princesses. His eyes focused on the young dragon as he came into view. Spike was forced to stand in the centre of the hall. The trial was about to begin.
“Spike. You are charged with the deaths of no less than several dozen gryphon scouts, who were found killed near the border of their territory. How do you plead?” there was a mare reading from a small piece of parchment. She was dressed like a judge, but lacked the presence to be called one.
“Not guilty. The Gryphons reside in the Eastern and North Eastern regions East of Equestria. My home was situated five miles south of their border. I never directly attacked their people, but instead left them be unless they approached my mountain peak.” Spike replied. The Gryphon king huffed in contempt.
“Royal guards investigated the site of the most recent assault and concluded that their bodies were in fact within their border.” the mare stated. Spike looked at the Gryphon king who had a smirk on his face.
“Really?” Spike asked. The mare nodded. “Did the guards find blood?” he asked. The king’s smirk dropped immediately.
“What?” the mare asked.
“Well, the only way for them to prove that those gryphons died in that place is if the area was covered in blood, and not just their bodies.”
The mare checked her records and raised a brow. “There doesn’t seem to be any case of blood having been discovered on anything but the bodies.”
“This is ridiculous! Where he killed them does not matter. The fact still remains, my subjects have been slaughtered. I demand recompence!” the king rose to his haunches and pointed a talon at the dragon.
“And you should know that there were six of us. If you’re demanding revenge for your lost flock, then should I not also be demanding revenge on the brood that said flock stole from me?”
“That would be the case if you were someone of importance among your kind.” the king replied. Spike grinned.
“I’m a pony-hatched dragon that once belonged to Princess Celestia’s pupil. In Equestria, that’s just short of Nobility. In Dragon territory, I’m an infamous Crimelord that not even the Dragon King bucks with. So what say you?” Spike was grinning from cheek to cheek, giving himself a crazed look.
Celestia interrupted the banter and walked up to Spike. “While I agree your place in our society is more or less accurate… Spike, the Gryphon king is threatening to go to war if you don’t agree to go with him. Every pony in Equestria will be in danger.”
Spike was surprised to see Celestia was silently pleading with him to do the right thing. He could see it in her eyes. A chuckle escaped his lungs, drawing Celestia back a step.
“So you say you’re being threatened to give me up, regardless of the trial’s outcome, all for the sake of protecting your kingdom?” he asked. There was uncomfortable silence for the next few seconds.
“Y-ye-.” Celestia was cut off. There was a loud crack as Spike’s clawed foot collided with her face. There was an audible gasp from everypony in the court as Celestia flew back into her throne, which wasn’t strong enough support the force her body made against its back. Luna leaned away from the broken throne, her eyes wider than the plates she often ate from.
Spike stood straight and ripped the cuffs apart, making a pair of nice bracelets for himself.
“You all think I give a shit about Equestria? There’s only one thing I care about, and I’m going to kill any gryphon or pony that gets in my way. Royalty is no exception. So prepare your bodies, bitches. I’m about reign hell down on the Gryphon kingdom, and any ponies get in my way are going to be treated like gryphons too. Since the truth is irrelevant, I’ll kill on sight. So you all better duck. Because I’m about to turn left, and I don’t wanna smack you with my dick!” Spike laughed at the ruckus he’d caused and headed for the nearest window. The royal guards followed after him as fast as they could, but he was out of there before they could gather themselves.
“Celestia, Luna! I expect you to aid our people in this time of need.” the Gryphon king replied. Celestia had been knocked unconscious, which left Luna in charge to make the ultimate decision. She rose off her throne.
“My apologies, your highness. But the treaties dictate that under circumstances such as this, when a dragon, pony-hatched or not declares war on either of our species, the other is to refrain from aiding in order to preserve the pride of the one at war. Those were the conditions your great grandfather signed with Celestia four hundred years ago following the war between our species. As today’s urban youth pronounces it; ‘you’ve made your bed, now lay in it’.” Luna said. Some members of the royal court had gathered their heads after the fiasco with Spike and had verbally acknowledged their agreement with Luna’s decision.
“But the treaties were broken.”
“Then we have nothing further to discuss and you are a trespasser on our land. Be gone with you.” The gryphon king growled at the dark princess.
“You will regret this, Luna. I shall send every single gryphon under my rule to fight against you and this dark dragon.” with that said, the gryphon king swept away from the palace, intent on returning home.
“So it’s a three-way war, your majesty?” asked one of the Nobles. Luna made a heavy sigh. Her mind was just as confused as the ponies she’d surrounded herself with.
“No, we’re going to help Spike. This is not the first time I’ve disagreed with my sister’s judgement, but I’m certain that she was in the wrong. Too many dangers these past few years have made her paranoid and she’s beginning to care more for the safety of Equestria than the justice she once deemed the highest priority. If somepony among you believes I have made a mistake, please, let me know. I don’t know what I am doing and I would like a nudge in the right direction.” Nopony objected to her decision. The next war was beginning immediately, and Luna would be leading it against the advice and authority of her older sister, when she woke up.

Spike ran as fast as he could through the back alleys of Canterlot’s streets. As he ran, he tried picking the locks on his broken handcuffs. He’d managed to get one of them off, but the locking mechanism on the second was proving too difficult for him to control. While he would just use magic to remove the cuff, the wards the guards had placed on him were still in effect. He had to rely on his strength and speed. Dark magic had been taken off his agenda, but regular magic was something they hadn’t taken into account. With that, Spike’s wings shot out of his back, their reverse position making it extremely easy for the guards to find him, but he could handle them. He could handle anything.
“I’m coming home, Twilight. Just wait for me.”

The Librarian looked up from her book as she thought she’d heard her name.
“Twiight!” the soft whisper of Fluttershy’s voice reached the unicorn’s ears and she looked toward the source. Fluttershy was floating just outside her bedroom window, in a rush to get in.
“Fluttershy? What are you doing here? Come in through the front door like everypony else.” Fluttershy yipped quietly as she forced her way through the window, disobeying Twilight’s order.
“Fluttershy!” Twilight exclaimed, clearly frustrated with the Pegasus. “What’s going on?”
The scared yellow Pegasus took a second to calm down. “Oh, Twilight. It’s terrible. All my animals went mad. They’ve up and left my home and they all went west. It isn’t the time of the year for them to migrate and even Angel bunny, who doesn’t leave my side hopped as fast as his little bunny legs could take him.” Fluttershy stopped to take a breath. “Something’s coming, Twilight and the animals can sense it.”
Suddenly, Rarity and Applejack burst through the door.
“Girls, what is this? A siesta?! Get out of my room and go about your business.” the lavender unicorn demanded. Applejack placed her hooves on Twilight’s shoulders and took in a deep breath.
“Twilight, Gilda’s back and she’s hurtin’ bad. Dash is with her right now and she’s sayin’ that the gryphons are goin’ to war against Equestria.” Applejac let in more air and continued. “She said that she was attacked by her own kind because they found out she was tryin’ to warn us.”
Twilight grew wide-eyed as she registered this information in her head. “Negotiations must have broken down in Canterlot. That could mean Spike’s either on the run from both the gryphons and us… or he’s dead.” the latter option didn’t sit well with anypony. Twilight hurried out of her room and told Applejack to lead the way to Gilda.
It was a three minute gallop to the Apple Family farm, where Gilda was resting on a bale of hay. She really looked worse for wear.
“Goodness, Gilda… how did all this happen?” Twilight asked.
“My boyfriend likes it rough, what do you think happened? The others caught me trying to warn you dweebs. And why did I do it? Mainly because I still like Dash, but I also owe that ass of a dragon my life twice, so I just have to do all this once more and I’d be ‘Even Steven’ with him.” Gilda coughed up some blood as she spoke.
“That doesn’t look good. Well, let’s get you healed so you can repay your debt to Spike once more.” Twilight lifted the Gryphon with her magic slowly.
“Dash?” Gilda called out. Rainbow Dash was by her side in an instant. “I missed you.” Gilda raised her talon to Rainbow Dash who took it instantly.
“You can tell me just how much you missed me when you’re up and flying like the old days.” Dash replied. Sadly, things don’t always go as planned. Another gryphon landed on the levitated Gilda, slamming her back into the ground. This one was bigger and darker; a big male.
“NO!” Dash cried out, checking Gilda to see if she was still alive. Dash couldn’t tell if she’d bought it or was knocked out by the impact. The big gryphon kicked Dash away from her friend and three more joined him, circling the five ponies, sans Pinkie who was nowhere in sight.
“Look what we have here boys, a bunch of fillies and a near-dead pony lover.” The big male picked Gilda up by the neck and tossed her to the group. Twilight caught her in her aura and rested her next to Dash who stood over the gryphon to protect her from further harm.
Twilight looked at the four big male gryphons and saw a wildness in their eyes that contrasted Spike’s when he first came back. These gryphons were elite. A chorus of screams sounded throughout Ponyville and Twilight realised that the war had begun as quickly as it had been declared. And a single thought came to her mind. Spike.
	
> Chapter 12: Homes Ablaze
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The town was bathed in screams as ponies were either being tortured or killed on the spot. The Gryphons had gone for the most vulnerable town in Equestria. Twilight and the others, along with the nearly-dead Gilda, were surrounded by four elite Gryphon hunters. One of them stood right in front of Twilight, his head arched down.
“What are any of you going to do? Ponies are weak, so there must be some reason that bitch over there chose you over her kind. What was it? Was it the fear she inspired that made her feel like she was on top of the world? Was she turned by that pitiful flight school up in Cloudsdale? Perhaps she just likes the plot.” The gryphon reached a talon over and grabbed Twilight’s flank, making her blush as well as cry out in slight pain. He let go immediately; he was not about to touch a pony any longer than he had to, disgusting creatures as they were in his eyes.
“So what makes you all so special? Perhaps you over there can tell me?” the hunter looked at Rainbow Dash as he spoke. Twilight took the chance to erect a barrier. The gryphon drew his head back, one of his feathers scorched as it touched the surface. He grinned.
“Not bad, pony. But there was a reason we were such formidable enemies to you ponies centuries ago. Our bodies produce a natural oil that acts as a solution for anti-magic. That barrier won’t hold long enough for you to gasp.” The Gryphon clenched his talon and punched the barrier. Sure enough, it shattered, knocking Twilight back into Fluttershy who yelped in surprise. The gryphons around their leader laughed as he did, their chortles sounding like a train wreck.
“So, which of you ponies has the guts to try and fight me? I mean, you won’t have any guts afterward, but you might as well show them to me before I rip ‘em out! So, who’s first?” he demanded.
Among the screams, there was an indescribable sound that repeated. It grew louder and clear as it approached. The leader tilted his head as he tried to make the word out.
“-ne, Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine!” The next thing any pony or gryphon saw/heard was a loud crashing sound, followed by bones breaking and a squawk from the gryphons’ leader. A cloud of dust erupted from the impact and everyone’s vision was barred as sounds continued to escape the wall. Ripping and chewing sounds could be heard, as well as more bone breaking. The dust showed no sign of clearing, but it was forced apart by two large, very strange wings that hung upside down from a Purple and green Dragon’s back. The ponies looked at him in awe. He was completely different from the Spike they’d seen before. He was wild and without sense. His clawed hands were stained in gryphon blood and what was once the surrounding gryphons’ leader was now a shredded husk of red meat and feathers, with bites taken out of it.
Spike’s tail flicked up and down, showing sharp, pointy barbs on the end. The gryphons took one look at him and realised their primary target was standing right in front of them.
“You son of a bitch!” one of the gryphons shouted out at him. While Spike would have made a comment on that, he just growled with glee and swung his tail. The gryphon was impaled on the spikes immediately. The muscles in the dragon’s tail worked with ease as the husk of yet another gryphon was lifted into the air and sent flying upward. He then shot toward the other two, his wings causing a trail of dirt to follow on each side of him. With two gryphons left, he went for the one on the left first. He grabbed its head and jumped over it. He grabbed the gryphon by the beak with two hands and used his weight and momentum to force the gryphon’s head to lift backwards. There was a sharp crack and the body went limp. With weight beginning to press on Spike, he flipped the gryphon open and forced it to eat dirt, resulting in its face being smashed in. He then went for the last gryphon that was too stunned by the sight of his comrades’ demise to move. With his head caught in Spike’s grip, he cried out for reinforcements before his skull caved in and he was silent as the aftermath of this battle would become.
Out of immediate danger, Spike turned to his friends and approached them. Needless to say, most, especially Fluttershy were so scared of what he’d done that they backed away. Rainbow Dash remained behind to protect Gilda.
“Yep! Just gonna stand here and keep bein’ awesome!” Spike declared as he knelt down and examined the wounded Gilda, much to Dash’s displeasure.
“Spike… how did you do that? That was amazing!” Twilight said, avoiding eye contact with the bloody masses behind her.
“Uh, hello? Awesome… right here!” Spike said as he gestured to himself. Rainbow Dash made an involuntary huff at that. “Second only to the fastest Pegasus in Equestria.” he added afterward. Spike made one last quick observation.
“Looks like Gilda’s gonna be fine. You should take her to Zecora so she can quicken the healing process.” he said, standing to his feet.
“Wait, what about you?” Twilight asked, seeming to be the only one capable of forming words among her friends.
“I’m going to look for Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.” he said. With those names brought up, Applejack and Rarity both called out their respective siblings’ names, while Dash called out Scootaloo’s.
“Spike, please hurry. Big Mac’s probably trying his best to protect them, but if he’s going up against anything like those gryphons, he won’t last much longer.” Twilight said urgently. Spike grinned at her and nodded.
“Make tracks then. We’ll meet you at Zecora’s.” Before he could fly away to save the younger fillies, Twilight pulled the dragon down to her level and gave him a strong kiss. There was a smashing sound as the wards placed around Spike’s body solidified and smashed to pieces. Spike felt like a large weight had been lifted off of his body as his scales darkened slightly.
“War is hell.” he said. With a single powerful flap, he was sky high, looking down on Ponyville. He then noticed a large platoon of gryphons flying in formation headed for the already defenceless town. He grinned with glee as his magic flowed through him like adrenaline.
“Your majesty, you brought me a present?!” he began to laugh as the magic in him built up. With a loud roar, his wings transformed into a pair of giant arms. A small sphere of dark purple energy formed between the hands, flashing with green electricity as it grew. Spike’s voice grew distorted and echoed throughout Ponyville. He imagined every head turned towards him as he unleashed the dark ball upon the oncoming reinforcements. In the distance, the swarm could be seen scattering. But it was useless as the ball exploded into a wave of dark energy and a dense cloud of red replaced the gryphons as their bodies exploded upon contact with the wave.

The crusaders, along with Big Mcintosh, were staring up at the sky in wonder as somepony they didn’t know destroyed a stealth unit of gryphons. The group that had surrounded the four took to the air in search of their new target, leaving the crusaders with a badly injured Big Mac. He collapsed to the ground as his legs buckled.
“Mcintosh!” Applebloom cried as the three fillies gathered around the battered stallion.
“Now girls… y’all have ta get ta safety. Make your way to Zecora’s. Ah’ve a feelin’ Applejack and the others will be there. Leave me behind and go, now… git!” Mcintosh croaked as his words fell in deaf ears. The young mares didn’t budge, but remained by his side.
“Ah won’t leave you, big bro!” Applebloom cried into his coat.
“And we’re not leaving Applebloom.” Sweetie Belle added. Scootaloo said nothing as she wished she had somepony to run to.
To all their dismay, a lone gryphon landed neatly near them. “Ooh, this must be my lucky day. Two ponies full of apples and a couple of scrawny toothpicks for afters.” she said, cracking her talons. The fillies leaned into the large stallion, ready for their demise as the gryphon raised her talon over her head, ready to strike. She was about to when something landed between her and her prey. A gryphon had fallen to his death, the force of impact with the ground crushed his body. his talon stuck up in the air, the claws bent at unnaturally odd angles. His wings had been ripped from his body, enabling the fall. The female began to fret as she felt a presence near her.
“What you looking at dugong?” a creepy, distorted voice called out from above. She looked up to see the blackened body of a dragon with his arms crossed, just hovering horizontally above her.
“Dragon?” she asked.
“Crazy gryphon. Whoops, tautology!” He threw his leg toward the gryphon, his clawed foot kicking her head into the ground. The impact made a small crater that stopped just short of the four ponies.
“Hello, fillies and Gentlecolts. Tonight’s special is kick-ass gryphon death with a serving of pony rescues on the side.” he said, landing gracefully in front of the ponies.
“Spike, we can’t leave Big Mac. He’s too injured to move and Applebloom won’t leave him.” Scootaloo said, jumping up to him. She ignored the black scales and green eyes.
“You say that like it’s a problem. You’re talking to the most bitchin’ dragon this side of Celestia’s rule.” The black dragon took in a deep breath and blew a massive green flame at the remaining three ponies. They disappeared from there instantly, undoubtedly headed for Zecora’s. Scootaloo shuddered at the memory of going through the fire. Spike looked back at Ponyville and grinned.
“Anypony else you can think of saving?” he asked.
Scootaloo took a second to think, but wasted no time with her response. “Miss Cheerilee!” she replied. Spike nodded and grinned up at the sky as a whole bunch of gryphons descended upon the two, having found their target.
“Ballin’!”

Twilight and the others managed to navigate the Everfree forest to Zecora’s Applejack helped Rainbow Dash with Gilda and placed her gently down on the couch that Zecora had laid out for her. Not a minute had passed when Big Mac and two of the ‘Cutiemark Crusaders’ had popped into existence outside the hut. Appljecak hurried over to her siblings while Rarity braced for a leaping hug from Sweetie Belle.
Rainbow Dash had left Gilda’s side in search of Scootaloo, but grew heavy when the little chicken of a pony wasn’t present.
“Where’s Scoots?” Dash asked, fretting.
“Spike has her. He sent us ahead.”
Twilight sighed in relief. “Then I guess so long as she’s with Spike, we have nothing to worry about.” there was a moment’s silence before Twilight looked around. “Um… Where’s Pinkie Pie?”
The group scanned the immediate area before the pink pony emerged from behind Big Mac.
“Here I am. Like I told Spike, I’d turn up near the end of the story.” she said, bouncing around the group.
“Pinkie? Wait, what story, what end?” Twilight asked, trying to find a book on the mare’s person.
“Oh, but don’t worry, Twilight. There’s still another Chapter after this one. But that only makes it the end of ‘Book One’. There’s another on the horizon according to the author.” Pinkie said, bouncing up and down on Big Mac who seemed unable to feel it.
“Pinkie, what book?” Twilight urged.
“The Darkness of Love, duh! It’s based loosely around yours and Spike’s life. Jeez, Twilight, I’d have thought you’d have read it, what with you being the bookworm and all.”
Twilight gasped as something terrible dawned upon her. “Oh no, my books!” she cried.
“Got ‘em.” a voice said from behind her. Twilight turned to gaze upon the blood addled dragon with rich purple scales, clutching a sack full of the library’s books in one hand, an unconscious Cheerilee under his arm, and Scootaloo perched happily on his head.
“Spike!” Twilight gasped, rushing up to him.
“Nice to see you thought of the books first. I feel so loved.” he chuckled. Scootaloo hopped off his head, buzzing slowly to the ground where Dash scooped her up and held her tightly. The sack of books fell to the ground as Spike wrapped his arms around Twilight, and the two of them shard a kiss with the kind of passion they wished they’d had the time for earlier on.
	
> Epilogue: Goodbye For Now
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	An eerie chill in the morning air woke Twilight from her almost blissful slumber. Despite the circumstances she was at peace, now she’d found and recognised love in its greatest form. Though Spike had engulfed himself in dark magic, he never truly changed who he was, and his love for her was stronger than ever.
She rose from one of the makeshift beds that the ponies had created after they’d all made themselves comfortable with Zecora. It was still night time and Spike was missing from beside her. She took a cursory glance around the room to find the others still sleeping; Rarity with Sweetie Belle, Applejack with Big mac and Applebloom, Rainbow Dash with Gilda and Scootaloo, Fluttershy reunited with Angel Bunny and Pinkie on her own sleeping in a very awkward position.
Twilight felt a little uneasy not having Spike next to her. She quietly hopped off the bed and crept outside of the hut. She didn’t have to look far to see Spike sitting on a fallen tree. He seemed lost in thought. Curiosity got the better of her as Twilight approached the engrossed dragon. She peeked over his shoulder to see he held a strange looking crystal in his hands. She stared at it intently, seeing a mixture of swirling dark colours within.
“It’s…called a Solma. It’s a little dragon magic that they preserved over the course of time. The Dragon King showed me how to use this, before I succumbed to the dark magic.” he held out the crystal to Twilight who gasped at the knowledge she’d been found out. With a reluctant hoof, she accepted it, staring deep into the violet stone which swirled with a strange essence.
“What sort of magic is this? Crystal magic?”
“Partially. The crystal is just a container, what’s inside is the real magic.” he placed his claw on the crystal and it lit up, the darkness inside fading at the mercy of a light glow.
“What’s it do?” she asked. The young dragon sighed and looked up into the sky. His eyes seemed worn and old to Twilight.
“It… holds a part of the soul; my soul. When I took up dark magic, I divided my soul into two parts, one to be tainted as I have been, and the other to preserve the Spike you once knew.” there was silence for a minute as Twilight absorbed Spike’s answer. She held in her hoof, half of Spike’s soul. It vibrated slightly in her grasp.
“But what if your body were to be destroyed by the darkness? How would this half of the soul be of any use to you?” she asked. Spike chuckled.
“Well, it’s supposed to create a new body around it… but there’s a method needed to begin the process, which I don’t know about. That method was lost to even my kind long ago.” Twilight felt the crystal grow heavy in her hoof.
“Why are you telling me this?” there was a moment’s hesitation in him as he looked her in the eyes. It was then Twilight noticed he’d somehow gone blind in one eye. She remained silent as he was about to reveal all to her.
“I…”




Author's Note: Well, that's book one done. Many of you will hate me for leaving so much unexplained, but that's just temporary. You'll have to wait for the next story. I might answer some questions within that. But in the meantime, you must suffer!

So long for now...
> Sequel Link
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here you go guys. I give you: The Spread of Darkness