You only recognize what you have...
A Late Lesson
A Two-Part Story by InfinityBreach
Part 1
“Spike!”
A pair of emerald eyes opened, reacting to his name being yelled. The dragon those eyes belonged to sat up, books falling off of him.
“Ugh, Twilight, what is it?” Spike mumbled.
“You fell asleep cleaning up the library, AGAIN. This is the third time this week, Spike!” Twilight scolded, her lavender eyes glaring into him.
“Sorry…” Spike said, slowly picking up the books around him.
“I know the past few days have been busy, but you have to take your job more seriously. I can’t research magic and friendship if everything’s out of order. Besides, it’s not that tough to just pick up and put away some books!” Twilight exclaimed, using her magic to pick up most of the books on the ground and move them to the shelf.
“You know what? No!” Spike yelled, kicking some books out of the way. “It may be easy for you; but I’m just a baby dragon. I don’t have magic, and I’m not strong enough to pick up more than a few books at a time!”
“Spike, I’m sure with some hard work and dedication you coul-“
“No I couldn’t! I don’t know what you’ve been researching the past few days, but it’s left me up all night fixing your mess! Even when you’re out with your friends I’m still stuck here cleaning!”
“Spike! What has gotten into you?!”
Spike stomped over to Twilight’s face. “I’m just tired of this! I’m tired of this stinkin library and I’m tired of everything! You came here to make and learn about friends, and yet I’ve made none! I don’t even have time to, because you make such huge messes that you can clean up easily, yet leave me to clean it all up which takes an entire day!”
“Spike, what are you talking about? We both have the same friends!” Twilight yelled back. “It’s not my fault that you’re too lazy to at least finish your job!”
Spike balled his claws up and let out a frustrated yell, before running outside, slamming the door behind him.
Twilight threw the door open, scanning the crowd outside the library for her number one assistant. Realizing that he was long gone, she walked back inside, letting out a sigh.
“What has gotten into that dragon…?”
-∞-
Applebloom was walking throughout Sweet Apple Acre’s orchard, collecting stray apples that lay on the ground, when she saw a familiar friend walking down the road close by.
“Hey, Spike!” Applebloom shouted, dropping her bucket and running up to him.
Spike glanced in her direction, letting out a small smile. “Hey, Applebloom.”
“Somethin’ wrong Spike?” Applebloom asked.
“Just… realizing how unimportant I really am.” Spike muttered, looking over the acres.
“Unimportant? Whaddya mean?”
“Just… in the scheme of things I don’t really matter much. I live in a library, only ever leave to get groceries for Twilight, and the cleaning that takes me a whole day to do, Twilight could do in five minutes.” Spike said, letting out a laugh. “Pretty unimportant if you ask me. Don’t even have any friends I can really go to.”
Spike felt something hit his face really hard, and fell to the ground. Looking up, he saw Applebloom looking down at him.
“And just what am I to ya, huh? I at least consider you a friend.” Applebloom yelled, a few tears starting to form by her eyes.
“I… sorry, Applebloom. I deserved that. I guess I’m just a bit sad at the moment.” Spike said, staring up at the sky.
Applebloom looked down at him, before trotting away. Spike closed his eyes letting out a sigh, before hearing her return.
Next thing he knew, a small weight plopped onto his stomach. He opened his eyes to be greeted by a juicy red apple.
A smile snuck onto his face. “Thanks, Applebloom.” Spike said, taking a bite out of it.
“What are friends for?” Applebloom smiled, before flopping down next to him.
They stared at the sky together for a few long minutes, before Applebloom began to talk.
“Say, Spike… you still like Rarity, right?”
Spike gave her an odd glance. “Yeah, I still like her. I mean, she is really beautiful, her eyes are so gorgeous, and her mane is just perfect-”
“Yeah, yeah, I get the point. But… but do you think you could like anypony else?” Applebloom asked, her face beginning to turn red.
“Huh.” Spike muttered, thinking for a moment. “I don’t know. I mean, I guess. Why do you ask?”
“W-well I..” Applebloom swallowed the lump in her throat, her heart beginning to beat louder and louder. “I was just wonderin…”
Wait.
That wasn’t her heart beating louder and louder.
It sounded like…
Hoofsteps?
Applebloom’s eyes widened as she sprang up, looking around. “Spike, do you hear that noise?”
“Well, I can definitely feel what’s making it!” Spike yelled, as the ground vibrated with every step.
They heard galloping coming from further within the acres, and soon an orange mare appeared, running towards them with a worried look on her face.
“Applejack!” Applebloom yelled. “What’s going on?!”
“There’s some sorta movin’ statue headed this way from the forest; both of you hop on my back. Ah reckon it’ll be safer in town.” Applejack commanded.
“Golem?!” Spike shouted, jumping onto her back. “There’s a golem of all things headed towards us?”
“Yea, that. Twilight’s gotta have a plan or somethin.” Applejack mumbled, before charging straight for town.
-∞-
Twilight floated dozens of books in front of her at a time, skimming each one. “Golems, golems, golems…”
Suddenly, all the books dropped except for one. “Here we go!”
Right as she said that, a group of ponies entered her library, looking worried.
“So, what’s the deal this time?” A cyan pegasus asked, flying above the others.
“I’ll get to that in a second, Rainbow. Glad to see you’re all here girls.” Twilight said, walking over to the group. She looked over them, before seeing Spike surrounded by three other fillies.
Letting out a sigh, Twilight said, “How about you four go and play over there for a moment while us adults figure this out?”
The three fillies instantly ran to the area Twilight had located, while Spike hung around for a moment before sulking towards them.
“Okay; Fluttershy, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie. What we’re up against this time is a golem; a creature made of minerals of sorts; this time being mostly stone. Golems are powered by an natural arcane gem that is in the middle of their chests.” Twilight explained.
“A gem…?” Spike muttered to himself.
“And Ah’m guessin we can’t just wait for it to run out?” Applejack asked.
“I work with those types of gems often.” Rarity mentioned. “Trust me, they don’t run out easily.”
“That’s right, Rarity. So there’s only one thing we can do!” Twilight exclaimed.
“Beat it to a pulp?!” Rainbow asked, a grin on her face.
“Ask it nicely to go away..?” Fluttershy questioned.
“THROW IT A PARTY!!???!?” Pinkie yelled, popping up next to Twilight.
Twilight took a step away from Pinkie before continuing. “No; we need to overload it with magic.”
Twilight began pacing back and forth in front of her friends. “Now I bet you’re wondering; why don’t I just use my own magic to overload the arcane gem? Well, my magic isn’t strong enough. Even the magic of every unicorn in this town isn’t strong enough.”
Twilight’s horn began to glow as a case appeared in front of her. “But there is one type of magic that’s strong enough to conquer anything. The Elements of Harmony.”
“No way!”
The girls turned to the outburst on the other side of the room. Spike defiantly stood there, with his arms crossed. “You remember what Celestia said; you can’t just use the Elements as a fix-all! They are unpredictable in the outcomes they create. That golem headed here isn’t evil; hay it doesn’t even have a soul to be evil with!”
Twilight glared over at Spike. “And what exactly do you propose we do then? Let it destroy the town?”
“How about using a freezing spell? Rocks break easily when frozen. Or what about just a simple break spell targeted at the gem?” Spike stated.
“Spike, I know you’re still upset about this morning, but you aren’t an Element of Harmony. You don’t have a say in this, so let me do my job.” Twilight coldly replied, before walking out the door.
The other girls stared at Spike with a smile. “Don’t worry; we’ll be fine!” “Don’t sweat it, sport.” “Don’t worry your sweet little head about us, Spikey Wikey.” Then they all followed Twilight outside.
“What’re you gonna do Spike?” Applebloom asked.
“Nothing. It’s not like I can do anything.” Spike muttered. He began walking himself upstairs as the three girls watched him.
“I’m kinda worried about what Spike said.” Applebloom whispered to her two friends. “What do you think Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo?”
“They’ll be fine!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “I mean they have Rainbow Dash with them!”
“I don’t know, Spike seemed pretty serious about the whole Elements thing…” Sweetie stated. “Maybe we should watch them, just in case?”
“Yeah! Then Spike could just write a letter to the princess if something goes wrong!” Applebloom said.
“Eh, I’ll go. Just to see how awesome Rainbow Dash is, though!” Scootaloo said.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SPECTATORS YAY!” All three yelled, before running out the door.
-∞-
Spike laid in his bed upstairs, staring at the ceiling. “Maybe I really should just go somewhere. Maybe back to Canterlot… I’m sure Celestia could use me for sending letters. Hay, at least she’ll listen to me…”
Spike stood up, having his mind made up. “If I’m not going to be appreciated here, I’ll just go somewhere else.”
He pulled out a piece of paper, and began writing. Right as he finished up, three fillies burst through the front door.
“Spike! Spike! Spike! You have to get the princess!” Scootaloo begged.
“They all went down! We need help!” Sweetie shouted.
“Woah, woah, girls; what are you talking about?” Spike asked.
“Twilight and the others. The golem knocked them out!” Applebloom stated.
Spike ran outside as fast as he could; and saw it. Six of his friends laying on the ground completely knocked out, the golem only a few more meters from the town.
“Spike! You gotta get Celestia!” Applebloom yelled.
“There’s no time.” Spike grumbled. “We have to get rid of that gem!”
“Wait a sec.” Sweetie’s eyes widened. “Spike, don’t you eat gems?”
“Yeah I do, but there’s no way I can get up there. It’s too tall…” Spike muttered, before getting an idea. “It’s too tall! It’s too tall!”
He turned to the crusaders. “You three. Get me everything.” Spike commanded.
“What do you mean?” Applebloom asked.
“Just everything! Anything you can get your hooves on!” Spike yelled.
The three fillies ran in different directions, to gather whatever they could.
“I guess this morning I was wrong about a few things. I do have friends. The crusaders, and even the girls are my friends. In fact, this town is full of my friends. I may not be an Element of Harmony…” Spike’s eyes flashed a darker shade of green. “…but I will do whatever it takes to protect my friends!”
He turned around, only to be met with a large pile of items, and three exhausted fillies piled on the ground.
“Is this… is this good enough…?” Applebloom asked.
Spike nodded his head, before leaning down and reaching his arms around Applebloom. “Thanks for being a great friend.” Then he let go, and looked her in the eyes.
Applebloom’s face was as red as the apples she picked, but she listened to every word that came out of Spike’s mouth.
“I’m going to do something extremely dangerous, okay? I need you to evacuate the town… just in case things go south.” Spike explained.
“What?! I can’t let yo-“
“Just GO!” Spike bellowed, his voice deeper than before.
Applebloom and the other crusaders ran off, as Spike looked at the pile of items.
“All of this is mine.”
Spike’s limbs began to extend outwards.
“All of this is.. mine.”
His teeth began to elongate into fangs.
“I.. want… more..”
His eyes turned to small slits.
“SPIKE WANT!”
-∞-
Twilight opened her eyes, her vision blurred. On the other edge of town was a dark figure, tearing into something.
“The golem…” She mumbled, before standing onto her legs.
The other elements, though unconscious, began to float around her.
“Aim… for… the chest.” She muttered to herself, as her eyes began to glow a pure white.
A rainbow beam burst from her and her friends, aimed right for the dark figure.
It only took one moment, and she saw a small object falling to the ground.
“As the Element of Magic, I know what I’m doing.” Twilight happily sighed, as her friends slowly began to wake up. “At least the golem is gone now. I can’t wait to see the look on Spike’s face.”
Twilight heard a crowd of ponies galloping to the scene, and she turned to greet them. “Hello, citizens of Ponyville; my friends and I have gotten rid of the golem and hopefully minimized the damage done to your properties.”
She saw the crowd break apart as Applebloom walked out, tears streaming from her eyes. Applejack quickly ran up to her, holding Applebloom in her hooves.
Twilight watched in confusion at the angry glares she was getting from the crowd.
“What’s… wrong everypony..?” Twilight asked.
Applebloom struggled in her sister’s hold before getting up and walking to Twilight. “I know that you got into an argument with Spike this morning, but this has gone too far! You can’t just get away with this!”
“Oh my…” Fluttershy muttered, flying to the fallen object.
“Um Twilight…?” Rainbow mumbled.
“Applebloom, what are you talking about?” Twilight asked.
“SPIKEY WIKEY! NO!” Rarity yelled from far away, making Twilight turn around.
Applebloom didn’t think to stay for another second, and sprinted to where Rarity had gone.
Many of the ponies in the crowd also ran to where Rarity had yelled; where the fallen object was. Twilight rushed her way through the crowd, pushing past multiple ponies.
Applebloom stood next to the object, tears flowing from her eyes. She attempted to speak, but her words were muffled in sobs.
“Spike…?” Twilight whispered, looking at the object.
There was Spike; a pained expression on his face. He looked as though he yelled out in shock. His entire body… was now stone.
“Spike?” Twilight muttered, rushing up to his petrified body. “What happened? Somepony please; tell me what happened!”
Sweetie walked up to her, a few tears rolling down her face. “You all got knocked out, so we got Spike… I guess he decided to use his greed growth to protect us.”
“And he did!” Scootaloo yelled, jumping through the crowd. “He had that golem out like it was nopony’s business! But then you.. you just!”
“You hit him, Twi.” Applebloom mumbled. “You hit him with your elements or whatever, and now he’s like this. He told you not to use them, and you did.”
Twilight looked at the body of her number one assistant, before finally letting her grief overtake her.
“What have I done…”
