Out of the Pan, Into the Forest

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Chapter 1

The wine was splendid, most would say that find themselves in this position, sipping delicately on finely crafted glass filled plentifully with perfectly aged wine made from the best grapes of harvest, aged beautifully while sitting on the couch in front of a roaring fire next to my wife, asleep, resting on my shoulder. It's times like this where I tend to look back on my life, remembering the good moments as well as the bad, to recant the stories of how I acquired my wealth, how I built my house, how I conquered and tilled the land to my desire, how I gained my reputation and power throughout the land, and how I was banished from the ponies who raised me, only to have them... you know what, why don't I tell you that one now.

It all started many hundreds of years ago, back when Luna had just returned from her banishment, back when the crystal empire's resurfacing was the newest news, and back when Discord was temporarily released to try and do good... he he he, I remember that, it wasn't even a decade before he was entombed in stone again, and that was only after they found him. But back to the point, I was a lowly assistant, living by my guardian's means, the one who took me after the one who raised me decided it was best to live with my hatching mother, but I doubt she knew what that would entail for me.

Her name was Twilight Sparkle, a very powerful lavender coated unicorn, in fact she was the Element of Magic. While she’s technically my ‘mother’ in that she hatched my egg, she’s more like a boss or guardian than family, mostly because she didn’t even see me after the day she hatched me until she requested an assistant to help her run the canterlot library, and even then she treated me like a slave. If it wasn’t for Celestia making sure I got payed for the work, I would’ve quit the first week I started working. But I don’t want to give you the wrong impression, she isn’t really a mean pony, she’s just lonely and not used to interacting with others, it wasn’t really until a month later that she asked me about myself, but since then we had become good friends, actually, I think I was her only friend until we moved to Ponyville.

Oh, now that’s an old story, Celestia’s sister was trapped in the moon because she wanted to keep the world in eternal darkness, and when the stars aligned on the thousandth year, she escaped, kidnapped Celestia, and was defeated by the Elements of Harmony, lead by Twilight. You know, now that I think about it, the other five elements were the only friends I remember her having.

Sorry about that, I tend to ramble on at times, do stop me when I do next time. Anyway, we lived in the town’s library, an old tree that was carved out to make room for books and living quarters, just a block away from the town square. It was a nice and cozy little place, the kind of place you dream of settling with your family to play, not that I saw most of it. No, a grand majority of the time I was forced to spend in the library, doing the Job that Twilight was supposed to be doing, in fact, the closest thing I remember her doing to work was rearranging the library once a year, while having me do it practically every other week, other than that, she only picked out books to “study” during every second she wasn’t either out with friends, sleeping, or eating, oh, who am I kidding, she’s been read while eating for years.

So in every way other than in paperwork, I ran the library, I sort the books, I take care of the customers, I clean the shelves, I cook the food, I wash the floors, I clean the sheets, all with rarely a thanks from her, especially now that she had other friends, she barely had time to spend with me.

But I could deal with that, a job’s a job, work is work, but I can’t say Celestia has been treating me any better. I used to talk with her every day, but then it got to every other day, then every week, but since we’ve moved to Ponyville, I’m lucky if she sends a letter that isn’t addressed to only Twilight. I can’t even say she remembers who I am, if she recalls the person that she raised with her own hoof, taught with her own words, even slept in her very bed when I was but a hatchling.

But regardless of all that, I can’t say I had a bad life in the slightest, I had a warm bed to sleep in every night, even if it was a dog bed, warm food every day, again that I had to prepare, and a solid roof over my head, that I had to maintain. I was happy, I was at peace, I would’ve wanted this time to last until my final days, but it was not to be.

The trouble started on an otherwise uneventful day, the sun was again shining brightly as it had done throughout the summer, the soft and gentle breeze brought a cool refreshing chill from the heat, the birds were out and singing graciously, while in the calm meadow which our story shall begin, a lone doe was feeding upon the grass, calmly chewing its food without any worry of danger, and why should it be? This was practically a safehaven for them, even though it is in the Everfree Forest, it was still far from any real threat, no manticores, no ursas, no hydras, only the rare occurrence of tinberwolves, and they were becoming more and more of a rarity. Yet even so, it would never rid itself from its cautious nature, to freezing in its place and gaze towards even the slightest sound or motion, which this doe does not hear.

But unbeknownst to the doe, another creature was in the meadow that day, hiding in the nearby bushes with a similar, but far more sinister purpose, one that involved his razor sharp claws and vicious fangs. He was silent in his motions, learned over much practice and careful patience, moving only inches at a time, waiting for the perfect time to strike. The doe did not stand a chance, the beast struck as silently as it crawled, not a leaf was shaken by time it hit its mark, driving its fangs and claws into its neck, killing it instantly.

Though this was not some snarling, mindless beast, it did not carelessly feed upon its prey as soon as it killed, no. As soon as it released the body from his jaws, he made sure it was no longer suffering in its demise, and after apologizing to its lifeless body, he carried as much as he could over his purple, scaled shoulders. Being no bigger than the body itself, he had to partially drag the body to a nearby stream, where the cover was much denser and it could finally quell his restless stomach in peace, even if he did not enjoy doing it, nor did he particularly like the taste, but he knew needed to do this.

For months now he has been having occasional cravings, clenches and turns of the stomach that demand that certain kind of food, it didn't happen often, once a week if he only ate small 'meals', but each time he felt worse and worse, thinking about what his friends would think if they ever saw him like this, but he knew the cost of withholding his urges were far worse than the alternative.

He still remembers that first week, the first time he had acquired this strange craving for something he could not pinpoint, but after attempting to quench it with various vegitables, fatty foods, gems, and even dirt by the third day, but it only seemed to get worse. He could barely sleep those nights, the pain was agonizing, excruciating, and even with Twilight's attempted help, nothing could be found in their library home to help, mostly due to equestria's absence of draconic knowledge.

But something changed the fourth day, when he and Twilight went again to Fluttershy's house to see if she could help, and while both of the girls were talking, he had taken a look at one of her animals in a new light. He did not enjoy it, in fact he fought it most vehemently, but he knew then and there what he needed to do to sooth his pains: he needed to consume meat.

Yet even knowing this fact, he desperately tried to search for another answer, desperate to escape this dilemma, that was until the sixth day of his torment, when he broke down, cringing in pain, until he shouted to himself, "ALRIGHT! I'LL DO IT!" Glad to know that his caretaker was out of the house at the time, he immediately ran out of the house, through the town, and into the forest, close enough that he would not get lost yet deep enough that he knew he would never be seen by anyone wishing to keep their hide from the forest's reputation.

That's when his instincts kicked in for the second and final time in his life: his eyes slit, his breathing slowed, he crouched down, and almost slithered into a nearby bush. He silently scoured for any kind of motion, silently navigating through the brush and eying his first target, a cockatrice with its back turned to the young drake, allowing him to pounce undetected until his razor sharp claws and fangs were buried deep into the beast, killing it nearly instantly. It was only upon reflection that he knew how lucky he was on his first kill, mostly due to them almost never being found in groups outside of mating season, but also due to the fact that it was practically helpless without its gaze, which could've frozen his small body instantly. And it was only after sinking his fangs into the creature's flesh and wolfing down the first few mouthfuls of meat that he came out of his trance into a scene of disgust, though his stomach was still craving desperately for the meal, and he reluctantly satisfied it.

But this meal would not be the same as those many others he regretted having, today he had an audience, one that held eyes of fear that even his most horrendous nightmares would not dare to show. The eyes that once held innocence, the eyes that spoke of the care this world could bring, the eyes of unfathomable kindness, were now shaken in unequaled fear and drowned in unfathomable sadness. But he did not see those eyes when they saw him, not for many pieces of flesh did he see them, if only for a moment.

The eyes darted away as soon as he saw them, but he knew exactly what he saw, he saw the eyes of one of his ’friends’, the yellow coated pegasus who was known throughout the land for her unequaled kindness and care for others, but that was not the mare he saw today, he saw the eyes of a frightened mare, one that feared her very life was about to end as soon as their eyes met. He could only sigh in defeat, knowing this day would eventually come, but never that it would come so soon, he slowly finished off the carcass and bathed the blood off his scales and headed back to town with his head hung low, but took much longer in his distress, having forgotten the way back several times.

“Mmmmmnn... Yeahhhh... m... mn... ah! Oh, good morning honey!”

“Heh, good morning, sleeping beauty. Have a nice nap?”

“I always do with you as my pillow. What time is it?”

“Almost time for dinner, you getting hungry?

“For the food you make? Always.”

“Alright, let’s go grab a bite to eat.”

Chapter 2

“Mmmmm, splendid dinner as always. What was that sauce you put on the chicken?”

“Thanks, it was a mixture of garlic, paprika, brown tourmaline, and red wine. But I think I went a little overboard on the tourmaline.”

“Well I thought it was fantastic. Care to go back to our place on the couch in front of the fire? I’m missing my snuggly pillow.”

“Oh, alright, just don’t go dreaming of a world made of gems. Your teeth are sharp you know.”

“I said I was sawy.”

“Aw... how could I not forgive that face,” I said as I leaned over and kissed her briefly while leading her to the couch for another peaceful night of her asleep in my arms which I don’t think I will ever get tired of.

But I don’t think that’s why you’re all here, you’ve been waiting patiently for the rest of the story, hopefully not angry after that sudden interruption.

Now where was I? Oh yes, it took me hours longer than it usually took to get home, didn’t help that I started walking in the exact opposite direction, but either way I found myself on the familiar route back to town. But little to my knowledge at the time, the news of my actions were spreading like wildfire in a desert of dry wood, and it all started with Fluttershy.

Well, I wouldn’t really say it was her fault, she was really more of a pawn in a game that nobody willingly played. She was actually out to gather some fresh herbs for tea that she and Rarity were going to enjoy when she spotted me, so it was technically Rarity’s fault, but I highly doubt she intended what happened, or could have even guessed that when she arrived at the timid pegasus’s house that she would be so frightened out of her mind that she could barely form words, let alone sentences.

Yet after some calming breaths, Rarity did managed to gather that Spike killed and ate something, she also heard that the shy yellow mare saw its hooves shake with each bite. Both Rarity and Fluttershy could barely keep her stomach down when she recounted it, but Rarity still needed to ask if it was indeed Spike, to which she got an affirmative nod.

What immediately followed was a mystery to me, so many different tellings, so many different ponies, it was hard to tell whose mouth spoke what first, but no matter what, the result was the same, an angry mob. Unfortunately this wasn’t the typical angry mob, there were no torches, no pitchforks, only the loud yelling and rough banging on the doors of both the Library and City Hall, so much so that the council that was meeting that day was forced to deal with them.

Twilight, Mayor Mare, and four other officials were nearly barraged by a sea of angry ponies, all condemning the baby dragon assistant for crimes of murder and cannibalism. To which Twilight attempted to ask for proof of such allegations and was quickly discarded with the telling of how Fluttershy witnessed the act and has been too frightened to come out of her house since, as well as tales of ponies always being frightened of the ‘beast next door’, which Twilight could not refute. She knew he was always seen this way from ignorant ponies, always getting stares, always being avoided, always being picked on and harmed because of what he is, rather than who he is, but with this many, even a few of her personal friends among them, she had no choice. She used the Royal Canterlot Voice she learned from Celestia, to quiet the crowd and alert them that Spike is to be brought before her without harm and is to be judged for his alleged crimes, which seemed to please the crowd for now, allowing them to disperse without causing further damage to the building, and allowing the second larger crowd in front of the library to learn of her announcement.

It wasn’t until about an hour or so later that I finally made my way back, first attempting to stop by Fluttershy’s house to try and talk with her, I knew she wasn’t going to answer because of her deathly fear of adult dragons and as I started walking back to town, I was trying to think of a way to talk with her, but the citizens didn’t give me much time to think before I was tied, gagged, and forcefully drawn to the center of town where they yelled for Twilight to come out.

She appeared from the courthouse in a timely and regal manor, shouting towards the crowd about the rumors they’ve been hearing are finally going to be confronted of their truth. She walked to me, still tied and gagged and undid the gag while shouting again, asking if I was in the Everfree Forest earlier today. I answered yes and heard an almost roar of murmurs and hate filled glares that stopped when Twilight asked if I saw Fluttershy there. I knew I had to be honest, so I said that I saw her just before I started heading home, and once again the crowd bursted with murmurs and glares that died as Twilight asked what I was doing when I saw her. I said I was eating when she saw me, and the crowd rushed me, only being restrained by Twilight’s loud shout to stop, pausing before asking her final question.

It was one of the questions I dreaded hearing, one that I hoped this entire mob was not forming over, but it was, she asked me if I was eating something I killed. The crowd was silent, waiting for my answer with agonizing patience, like they were waiting for the signal to strike, and they got it: a faint, whisper of yes.

They didn’t wait an instant to lunge at me, hooves closing to me faster than I could think possible, but they never reached me. They had been stopped by Twilight and her magic, placing a barrier between me and them, staying only long enough for her to lift me off the ground and place me down next to her, still tied motionless. She explained that if she would have let them do what they were going to, that they would be no better than they thought I was, which put serious pause to most of the group, and she said that I was to be banished from Equestria, never to come back in all my years, and was to be escorted by her herself to the border with all of my belongings, so I would have no material reason to come back and they seemed to think of this as the best option, but did not let up with their pursuit of us as Twilight levitated me to the library

Finally, after she closed the door, she undoes the bindings around my hands and feet, and alerts me that she casted a sound proof shield spell, so nobody will hear or disturb us, and I thanked her for that. But it wasn’t long after when she could no longer hold back her tears, throwing herself to my feet and apologizing for what happened, saying that it was just that everyone was so furious and she couldn’t think of anything else to do without hurting me and I could only pat her on the back saying it’s alright, even if it wasn’t.

I held her until she regained herself enough to speak coherent thoughts again, but I still wish she hadn’t, she said that one of the reasons she’ll be sad is because of all the work she’ll have to do now that I’ll be gone, but I tried not to take it to heart saying that she could get more help, but her retort was that she didn’t have the money to spend. I tried to be casual, I tried to be polite in saying that she could pay them with what she was using on me, but she responded with the fact that she only gave me a dog bed and “table scraps” as if she thought nobody would ever work as much as I did for those few things.

I don’t have any idea why she said it that way, I still have no idea, maybe it was because she was under so much stress and because she was losing her oldest friend, but at the time I didn’t want to take it. I went off on her, yelling about how little she gives me by using her own words against her, telling her all the work I do that she didn’t even know about, screaming about how rarely she even talks to me anymore, and shouting that she not only threw me out of our home, not only out of our town, but out of the entire country we live in, only because she has no jurisdiction over more. To which she only sighed in defeat, still on the verge of tears, knowing that it was all true, but thinking to herself that I would be alright in the end, fooling herself to think that I will find better friends than the ones here and now, which is true in a sense.

But regardless of the fact, I was only enraged as I went back up to our room and grabbed the few gems I had stored away, as well as my journal with a few pens and ink, and lastly a framed picture, one I still occasionally look at today, It shown the six of them, having a good time together, if I had a single picture of them with me, I would’ve taken that one, but I didn’t. I was almost out the door when Twilight came to see what I took, almost saddened that I left my bed, and when she asked why I didn’t grab it, I took a deep breath and engulfed it in flames, to which she didn’t hesitate to try and put out while I made my way out.

Outside there was still a crowd of ponies shouting, accusing me now of killing Twilight and trying to go for me again, but stopped by Twilight’s magic as she made her way back out of the library while trying to retain her regal stature, a lesson I dreaded she learned from Celestia that royalty must never show emotions, even in the most troubling times. I made my way through the crowd with little difficulty, as if I was escorted by the royal army itself, but I would think that they could stop a rock from slamming against my head, knocking me to the ground momentarily before continuing on until the forest’s edge.

It wasn’t the most pleasant farewell, but to the untrained eye, one might say it was ceremonious in a sense, if not for the anger in the crowd as Twilight spoke to me one last time, saying that I am to never return to Equestria after leaving its borders through this unforgiving forest, and how I was going to be punished if I were to return. But I didn’t really pay attention, I was only focused on the unknown darkness before me.

“Mmmm... such a big emerald... don’t mind if I...”

“Oh damn, not again! Honey! Honey!”

“Mmmm, oh. What? What!?”

“You started biting again.”

“I’m sorry, I guess I was more tired than I thought. How late is it?”

“Just in time for bed.”

“Hm, alright. At least that way I get to snuggle up even closer to you.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Chapter 3

“So what’re your plans for today honey?”

“Well, I’m thinking about picking the Marjoram patch after breakfast, they look ready.”

“Wow, they came in early this year? I can’t wait to use it to spice up some new dishes.”

“I swear, one of these days you’re going to get me fat.”

“And I’d still love every bubbly ounce of you.”

“Oh, stop it. Do you need help with the dishes?”

“No, I’m fine. Just make sure you only pick the ripe ones this time.”

“You’re never going to let that go, are you.”

“You know I’m not.”

It is a wonderful thing to have a life like this, a loving wife that laughs pleasantly with me when we go to do our morning chore, smile with me when we eat our meals in peaceful silence, and the shared urge to throw anything we have in our hands to the ground the instant we hear the other is in trouble. Truly it is a paradise.

But again, I doubt you’re here to listen about how good my life is, you’re here to hear how I got here. Now let’s see, where did I leave off? Oh yes, my wife was starting to eat me when I got banished.

So into the darkness I went, to find a new life to live in this wild land. True I had been in the forest before, many times, but never had I ventured far from town or after dusk, which was now my only option. I decided to travel as far as I could until nightfall, seeing that it was still a few hours away, while making sure to take note of my surroundings, checking for anything I might be able to use or fear and by the time night fell, I was a good five or six miles away, into what I could only guess was uncharted wilderness, bunkered down in a hollow tree that was still live enough to safely light a fire to keep myself warm.

I hardly slept that night, I was thinking about what had happened, what had caused my misfortunes, what had caused my banishment. It seemed as though it was destined from the start, my birth and heritage alone saw to that, and it made me angry. At first, it was only anger towards myself, about what I was, about my body’s naturally ‘scary’ shape, about my razor sharp claws and teeth, about my fire breath, and especially my need to eat meat in order to live. Then my anger shifted to the random people who didn’t know anything about me, about who I was or what I have done for them, judging me solely for how I looked, creating stories to scare their children straight by me eating them if they misbehave, which I never pretended I couldn’t hear. Lastly my anger turned to my ‘friends’, to what little they had done for me over the years, though I admit my first birthday there was wonderful, but after it, I hardly got more than a smirk or laugh at my expense, even when I tried setting up things for them, they ignore me and Celebrate something somewhere else, rarely telling me.

The anger was fueling me, making me think that I could go back and show them the monster they made me out to be, but when I thought about it, it made me sad for proving them right. I wasn’t a monster, I wasn’t the beast that will kill them in their sleep, I wasn’t the snarling dragon who set their children on fire to gourgue on the remains, I was the simple assistant for the town’s library, a newly hatched dragon, now alone.

So the next day I set off again, walking until I could no longer withstand the pains in my legs at what I could guess was 20 miles from town at about mid-day as the sun was shining through the gaps in the trees. As I searched for a nice place to rest, I stumbled across a small cave just behind a fallen tree’s uprooted roots.

I was no fool, I didn’t just peek my head inside right off the bat, I actually took the time to look at the hole itself to see if I can figure what made the hole, and after setting my stuff down on the fallen log, I sat before it and looked intently at its shape, size, and any markings. It was a decently sized hole, big enough that I could crawl into but not with much room, it was nearly circular, though a bit fat, it didn’t have any tracks near it, and it seemed to go on for at least a few feet, but as my legs were burning and the justified fear of what might lay inside, I grabbed my things and moved to a hidden vantage point close enough that I could see if anything came out.

It was a boring wait, sitting on stakeout for nearly two hours, but as I began shifting to grab my stuff, there came a soft growl from the hole. I didn’t move, I stopped and peered as quietly as I could towards it just in time to see its head emerge. For what he saw, he was glad he took the time to wait, emerging from the hole came a beautifully colored snake.

Well, I shouldn’t say that so blatantly, after all, at the time I saw it only as a black snake with gold on its back, due to the fact that my mind was still radiant of my anger. But looking back, I could tell that it was a scitalis: a rarely seen serpent that is known for its internal heat and the markings on its back that are said to be so beautiful that it lures you into becoming its next meal. Of course that’s not true in the slightest, sure its markings are elegant and wonderful, but they prey on mice for the most part, cooking them whole as they are swallowed.

So after a short while watching the scitalis smell the air with its tongue, I again turned to leave for deeper woods when another noise catches me off guard. It wasn’t a loud noise, one that would’ve passed me bye if I hadn’t needed to pick up on them while I hunted, so I waited. The scitalis itself continued to smell the air as it slid around the roots, stopping briefly where I sat to look into its home before continuing out to what I can guess is search for food, and just as my hunting nature told me now was the time to follow it, I saw the movement I was looking for.

It was fast. It was a blur. A black blur. But I followed as quickly as I could, at a safe distance of course, taking note of where the scitalis was going, as to predict where the ‘blur’ was heading. We followed a good five minutes before reaching a short, open field. The scitalis continued on into the thick grass, trading most of my visibility of it for where I last saw the blur.

Again I waited in the bushes with my things slung over my shoulders, waiting for any movement or sound. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the last of the scitalis’ black scales disappear in the grass before the black blur finally focuses, slowly crawling out.

It was another dragon! It was another dragon about my size, though a bit higher if it stood on its hind legs, like I usually do, along with a much longer tail. It had black scales over its body with many cuts, scratches, and marks of clear violence, with dark red spikes going down from its head to the end of the tail as well as white horns on the sides of its head that were pointed so far back that they were nearly touching its neck as it crawled slowly into the field as it followed the scitalis. I on the other hand, kept to my bush, mostly due to the fear of what it might do if it saw me, so I waited in the shadows.

Watching it was almost like an out-of-body experience, seeing another creature hunt for the first time in my life, seeing as it slithered through the grass and waiting for the perfect time to strike. It leapt up into the air, pouncing onto the scitalis with its claws and teeth barred, killing it as soon as it landed, picking it up in its claws and turning back to where it came, incidentally coming directly towards me.

It was about this point that I panicked because this was the worst-case-scenario: the potentially dangerous creature you know almost nothing about, heading towards you. Lucky I had enough sense not to move, sticking to the thought that if I don’t move it won’t notice me, but I flinched as I heard it speak.

It had a soft, almost gentle voice, feminine if I ever heard one, complaining about how easy it was to kill the scitalis, as well as saying how good it will taste with the rat in it. I didn’t think about what it said, only on the fact that this might just be the first female dragon I have ever seen. But still, I didn’t want to take many chances, I knew nothing about her or what she was doing here, so I kept hidden as she went on, past the fallen tree, eventually leading to her own hide-out. Well, I shouldn’t say hide-out, it was more like a campsite, because that’s what it was: a fire and a chunk of leaves forming what I could guess was a bed under what I assume is a makeshift shelter, a slanted roof. And I continued watching as it brought its kill to a stump and began slicing it up with its claws, assumingly preparing it for dinner, when I took an eventful step onto a twig.

Yes, yes, I know. The old cliché of stepping on the twig, but that’s what happened. The dragon turned as soon as it heard and looked right at me, shouting angrily with claws barred, asking if anything was there and the consequences that will happen if they don’t come out. I couldn’t really argue with that, after all, I had secretly followed it to its home like a predator would, waited in the bushes, and watched its every move, so I raised my arms up, belongings in hand, and walked slowly into the open, declaring that I meant no harm.

It chuckled at that, saying I wouldn’t’ve been any threat at all, saying that I looked like a pansy who couldn’t even kill a wounded mouse. I kinda joked it off, asking if I could finally put my hands down, which it did before asking me why I was stalking her. I took a heavy sigh and said that I had been abandoned by my home and happened to see it killing the scitalis, and after explaining that it wasn’t called a lava-snake where I’m from, I said that it was the only dragon I’ve ever seen that looked around my age.

Apparently, it took offense, not liking being called an “it”, apparently SHE was a girl, and had a name: Kzibas. Of course I apologised and introduced myself before she suggested we take a seat by the fire, I mentioned that I wouldn’t want to interrupt her diner but she said she didn’t mind and could share a few bites, which I declined just before a familiar feeling went up my esophagus again, but instead of ‘burping’ it out, I held my mouth shut and re-sent it with my fire. To her, it looked at first like a burp, but what I did with it confused her, especially seeing the green ashes floating away, prompting her appropriate response of, “what the hell was that?”

“Honey! Do you remember where you put the grain? I can’t find it.”

“I thought you were just going to farm the harvest.”

“Yeah, but while you were busy mopping the floors, I thought I’d feed the pigs.”

“Well, if it’s not in the shed... I’ll help you look for it after I’m done with this wet mop.”

Chapter 4

“Phew, I didn’t think it’d take that much out of me.”

“I told you your cooking is too good.”

“You’re right, I gotta start working out more.”

“Same. But right now, I’m gonna take a shower before the sweat sticks to the clothes.”

“You want some help scrubbing your back?”

“Hm... Tempting, but you remember what happened last time we did it in the shower?”

“In my defence, I did fixed the linoleum...”

“Yeah, but we can’t afford to fix it EVERY TIME...”

“Alright, alright. Just save me some hot water.”

“I won’t take that long,” and with that she was off, rounding the corner to get all hot and steamy. And I guess you’d love to hear all about this, wouldn’t you? Pervs :)

But I digress. You’re here to continue the tale of my banishment, and if I’m not mistaken, we left off when I received the letter as I made my introductions to Kzibas. But I have to be honest, everything that really happened for a good portion of that was me telling her about my life and everything I already told you, but if you want to be reminded, you’re welcome to. And she told me her story of how she was raised with lone dragons that died a few months ago and she was the only one of her siblings that survived this long. That was about it.

But something else happened during that time, something that I learned about much later, after I had... well, we’ll get to that when the time comes, as for right now, we must go to the courtroom of Princess Celestia. Her tall and regal stature stood firm like nearly every waking moment of her duties, listening to the common folk speak with their god, negotiating with the peacekeepers of law, and communing with dignitaries that come to share their blessing. Needless to say that it became tiring after a single sitting, but she knew it was her duty and she only needed to perform it for those ten hours each day, allowing her time to relax and enjoy the the day she brought to her people. That day however, she had needed the company of newly appointed princess Twilight in order to finish off the paperwork with other dignitaries, and decided to write a mostly formal letter to her, sending it via the draconic spell that was given to her by the nobles of Drikon that allowed her to send messages that cannot be received by anyone other than it’s intended receiver, that all fire-breathing dragons are able to do.

I don’t think I have to remind you that this was the message that I sent back, confusing the princess at first as to how fast it was responded to, then that it still contained her unbroken seal. It was not a pressing issue, but she didn’t like putting these kinds of things off, so she wrote a short message on the top of the scroll, one that could be read as soon as it opened, and resent it. She grew annoyed however, when the letter reappeared in the same amount of time as the previous attempt. She was told that as long as the receiving dragon is alive, it will send the message and be forced out as soon as they get it, so it could only mean that spike was purposely sending it back, and having made sure her schedule for the next few minutes was open, she sought to see why he was doing that with her own eyes by teleporting to the Ponyville Library herself.

What she saw there, was something that made her pause. It wasn’t a sight of a distraught library with books skewed all over the place, nor was it a spotless location of OCD cleanliness, It was one of a library that looked recently abandoned with all of its books. They were still on the shelves for the most part, but the dust had gathered and cobwebs have formed, I should know, I had to clean them off every day and let me tell you that it was a chore. She took note that there was no curtains drawn, nor was any candle alight in the house, which didn’t make sense in the middle of a work day.

She caught wind of a faint cry, causing her to suddenly twist her head towards the stairs, begging her to follow. She found Twilight in her room, or should I say our old room, crying in front of the pile of ashes that used to be my bed and asked what was wrong. Twilight jumped at the question, turning to her mentor in anguish of the recent events and the sudden shock of her arrival, replied with that she missed Spike.

The princess was once again confused, asking for what had happened, and almost regretting it after finding out as Twi recounted her tale of the whole town wanting Spike’s head on a pike and because she could not think of any better solution, she banished him. The princess was appalled to hear that fact, shocked to hear that the hatchling she raised as, and considers him to be, her son, has been banished from all of Equestria. She asks what he was said to have done to deserve this, and was shocked to hear that he allegedly eaten a pony whole.

The princess, after taking the acquisition in, asked where those rumors came from and was told that he confessed to killing and eating his meal that day, but that it was Fluttershy who witnessed the event. After hearing this, she ordered her pupil to gather her friends and meet at Fluttershy’s abode, teleporting there herself as soon as she finished the order.

What she saw there only confirmed her fear, as Fluttershy was cowering over a puddle of tears still flowing out of her while being comforted by her animals. She calmly walked over and asked what was wrong, briefly startling the mare before saying that she felt so guilty over what she had done to one of her closest friends. The princess admitted that she had heard of Spike’s banishment only today, and that she was the start of the rumors that gotten him banished. She shot up at the remark, saying that she never told anyone that Spike was eating somepony! She said that she only saw him eating a deer, and the way he looked while doing it made her so frightened that she forgot who Spike was, she only saw what he was. A dragon.

The princess comforted her on her mistake, it was not something she could overcome easily, and understandably so, for even though the timid mare knew many carnivorous animals, she was only fearful of the draconic kinds. The princess also took note that Fluttershy was not the start, but because she did not explain herself clearly, another of her student’s friends mistook the feast for something much more sinister, but not wanting to bring that up twice, she asked if Fluttershy could make some tea, because she had asked the others to come to her home as well, which Fluttershy happily obliged to do.

It took a few minutes before they finally arrived, long enough that the tea had already cooled to a moderate temperature and was already being enjoyed by The princess and the timid mare. Twilight spoke as soon as they entered, declaring that she had done what she asked, and awaited further instructions like a soldier. The princess calmly told them to have a seat and enjoy some tea, which confused the 4 gathered at first, but complied shortly, waiting for all the friends to sit before asking what they knew about the situation with Spike, looking towards AJ first.

She said she didn’t know anything, she was in the middle of harvest for the last few days with her brother, which opened to door to Pinkie opening her mouth, jibber jabbering about all sorts of things, eventually saying that Spike was a big meanie pants because he took away one of her friends and never had a goodbye party for either of them. Rainbow was surprisingly cowering behind the couch, shivering out of her fur, and when Celestia asked what she knew about it, she meeped! Yeah that’s right, the great and powerful Rainbow Dash meeped! But she followed with a laugh and the classic line “you know, it’s a funny story...” before revealing that when she heard about the incident, she thought it was a prank and even went as far as to spread it like wildfire, being sure to stick around for the reactions as her exaggerations became more and more horrifying, even bringing the ‘joke’ to her co-workers when she had to report back shortly after.

Then it came to the mare that started it all, Rarity. She still held her noble appearance, especially before royalty, and clearly explained that after hearing about Spike and his actions from Fluttershy, she felt it necessary to report it, asking for everyone to check their loved ones to make sure they’re there, and rushed to her boutique to see if Sweetie Belle is alright, where she stayed for the rest of the day, so distraught that she only made one dress that whole time. And so the princess asked what she thought after Spike’s banishment, but to her astonishment, Rarity cocked her head and while puffing her hair up, proclaimed that she never really liked the beast in the first place, saying that she only associated with him because of his connections and her overly generous nature. She either didn’t notice, or flat out ignored the shocked and disgusted faces of her friends and ruler while continuing to talk about how every time he comes up in conversation with her customers, they would say how dangerous it is to have such a savage beast loose in their town, and even saying that if it wasn’t for Twilight, they would’ve skewered him the second they saw him.

They were all at a loss for words, even the anger within Pinkie was dwelled into disgust for even thinking against her dragon friend, and before long the princess got the nerve to speak. The first thing out of her mouth was the fact that she had no idea the town thought this badly for Equestria’s crowned prince simply for his uncontrollable attributes, and in the stunned silence she asked the group, but Rarity in particular, if they really believed that Spike had eaten a pony, to which the five nodded, before she asked why they did. Rarity said that Fluttershy told her that Spike was eating somepony and it terrified her to tears to see it.

It was surprising to hear Fluttershy with such a strong voice, but she interjected the fashionista by saying quite clearly that she only said she was frightened by the ways the hooves moved when he was eating, nothing more. That it was only her projection of her fear, or worse, what she wanted to hear, that made the story of a dragon eating a wild deer into such a vicious crime of eating a civilized pony. And it was then that Celestia added that if he did not eat it, he would have starved to death, because it seems that he finally grew out of his child eating stage, and now requires meat to live, for the rest of his life.

“Alright, you’re up. I made sure to save a few seconds of hot water for you.”

“Thanks honey. I don’t know what I’d do without you.

“And I wouldn’t know what I’d do without you. I think I’d still be in that cave if it wasn’t for you.”

Author's Note

I don't even know what I'm doing anymore... I practically rushed this whole chapter...