Dreams of a Dragon

Chapters

Chapter 1: a Familiar Flashback
Chapter 2: Growing Pains
Chapter 3: Beat Down
Chapter 4: One-sided Confrontation
Intermission Part II, Walk of the Silenced
Chapter 5: Ravaging Beasts
Intermission Part III, Pink Conversation
Chapter 6: Instincts
Chapter 7: Trap
Chapter 8: Tactical Retreat
Intermission Part I, Walk of the Silent

Chapter 1: a Familiar Flashback

Author's Note

This is my first shot at making an actual story.
grammar might not be perfect, (or even good), and that is because English is not my native languague
Therefor I would like to hear some criticism. How can I make this story better?
And maybe some comments about how bad this story is. Then I know that I should stop writing all together. :P
Oh well, I hope the story gets better as it continues

Chapter 1: a Familiar Flashback

Chapter 1
a familiar flashback from a long pasted time.

* happening right after the dragon migration*

He sighed happily after hearing the familiar sound of crushing twigs under his feet. Heavily breathing and somewhat exhausted after a short chase caused by a trio of angry teenage dragons, but luckily saved by a transportation spell. The transportation spell was well executed, because this time he didn’t end up with burned scales.

While trying to catch his breath, he looked around to determine where he was, how far had they teleported? Where did they end up? Were they still in danger of being chased by three angry teenaged dragons? He looked around to answer the questions he just came up with, only to find that they were in a small forest clearing, most likely out of harm’s way. He saw no angry teenage dragons, But the only familiar things he saw were three ponies.

One pony was a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and a matching tail. A mare made for supersonic speed, with a brash attitude to match her appearance . The other was a white beautiful unicorn ,so soft and sweet as marshmallows. With a long dark purple colored mane to complete the perfect beautiful picture with a nice looking frame. He considered this beautiful goddess the mare of his dreams, and his not so secret crush. The last pony was also a unicorn. This unicorn was a lavender colored mare, and the one that had probably saved them all with her quick thinking and magical skills. This pony held many titles for him: boss, best friend, caregiver or caretaker, and maybe in his younger days even the title of ‘mommy’. But if you asked him about that particular title, he would say that it wasn’t true.

These ponies were named Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle. And they were his friends. Three of his friends to be exact.

All these ponies had just saved his life. At least if the teenage dragons were really thinking of killing him for disobeying their orders. The result of those disobeyed orders was still in his hands. A phoenix egg, with yellow and orange colours. The only egg that was left, because the other eggs already hatched.

“Phew, that was a close one” He said, partly trying to lighten the mood “Thanks you guys”

“Of course, what are friends for” The lavender mare said with a smile on her face.

He was suddenly hit with a realization. The reason why he went to the dragon migration was to find out who he was, and where he belonged. but after seeing the dragons, and their behaviour, he knew he didn’t belong with them. He belonged with his pony friends, his real friends. Kind of like a family. The only family that he ever really knew. After all, who he was is more important than what he was.

“Friends, you are more than just friends, you are my family” with that statement, he was drawn into a group hug. He was happy, thinking that he had found the place where he belonged. Like the egg that he carried with him, will find its place in the world as well.

“GAH” Spike almost jumped up from his sleeping position. Still feeling a bit fuzzy, he immediately checked his surroundings. It is always a good thing to be careful, especially when you are sleeping in the Everfree Forest. But by now it almost had become second nature to spike to check everything what happens around him.
After not seeing anyone or anything that could threaten him, nor seeing the thing that startled him from his precious sleep he relaxed. Spike calmed down and set himself in a more comfortable position on the tree branch he was sleeping on. It was not the most comfortable bed, but it was at least a save place, being about 10 meters from the ground. It was one of the many things spike learned during his unwilling stay in the Everfree forest.

After laying himself back down, Spike let his dream sink in. Dreams could tell you a lot about yourself. But this was not actually a dream for him, but more a kind of flashback to a different time. A blast from the past. It was one of many dreams he had in the past few weeks. Dreams about his past life. A different kind of life. A life he hadn’t thought about in quite some time.

“Why do I keep dreaming about these kinds of things” Spike asked to no one in particular. His dreams were all about a different kind of time. A more naïve time where a younger spike the dragon lived in. It was in this time where he thought that he belonged somewhere, and that he had actually found the place where he belonged. A time where he thought that he could live with ponies, and a time where he thought that it didn’t matter that he was a dragon. And it was the time when he was sadly naïve enough to think that ponies could be your family. the family for a dragon.

Spike thought about his dream, while he was laying there while trying to relax, and chuckled bitterly. “Poor young and naïve me, you have no idea what will be waiting for you in the future” He said to himself with a sad smile. He again didn’t know who he was talking too, there was no one around him. Of course he now knew what time had in store for him, because He was living it at this very moment. The life of an scorned and exiled dragon. It was the life of a loner, someone who didn’t belong anywhere or to anyone.

It was a life that he could never have predicted at the time of his dream, especially not after his journey of self-discovery. But fate can be cruel, and life will never stay the same. The lesson he had learned from life itself. At least that is what Spike got out of it all.

Chapter 2: Growing Pains

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 3: Beat Down

Chapter 3 Beat Down

After standing up, and muttering some curse words that aren’t appropriate for any audience, he continued his way to his cave with an aching ankle.

another thing spike learned was that life has a strange sense of humour. He had just been given an example. Life lets him fall down while he was thinking about falling down in his flashback.

Life has either a sense humour, or punishes the ones that aren’t paying attention to their current state. The phrase You are destined to fail if you don’t think about your current situation´ comes to mind.

Spike shrugged this of. He is probably thinking these kind of things to deep through anyway. The best thing he could do was continue his way, and that doesn’t involve becoming a philosopher

This thought makes him think about his only philosophy in life: ‘’Expect the worst, surely if things can get worse.’
This might sound pessimistic to some people, but to Spike it sounds more realistic. He could be attacked by Timberwolves, even on a sunny day like this.

Spike just walks for a while, thinking about his dream before he was rudely interrupted by that tree root. A tree root which he burned, having nothing else to cool his anger and frustration with.

“Expect the worst, surely if things can get worse” he said to himself while he sees a squirrel cross his path.

The squirrel itself is just minding its own bisness , probably looking for food in this lighter part of the Everfree forest. The squirrel doesn’t even take note of Spike’s existence, being busy with is quest for food.

He finally found a nut nearby a few bushes, when suddenly a snake pops op. the squirrel is apparently not prepared for this and starts running in a panicky fashion, with the snake chasing him down.

Spike watches this play of life until the squirrel and the snake are both out of sight. He chuckled. If the squirrel was prepared, than he had a better fighting chance. The squirrel can strengthen himself against the coming danger.

Spike sights. “and this brings me back to my dream” He said. Again, he isn’t talking to anyone in particular. "Past Spike also thought that things couldn’t get any worse”

Spike kicked a small rock in front of his feet, while a frown started to creep over his face.

I wish he would have expected the worst that day

He walked of road onto the grass field in the hope to find his friends. They should been close, because this was the finest place for a picnic in whole ponyville. And there were no other ponies in sight

He looked over the grass covered hills and flat lands, feeling the still shining sun on his scales. Spike looked left and right, and a few minutes later he found six colourful beings shaped like ponies on a hill right in front of him.

As he started walking towards that hill, Spike could recognize all the ponies who were there. A lavender alicorn, a standing yellow Pegasus with a soft pink mane. A pink earth pony who was jumping around, an orange earth pony with a cowboy hat, a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow coloured mane flying in circles around the picnic area, and of course a beautiful white unicorn with an elegant purple coloured mane drinking some thee.

Spike’s heart jumped a little with happiness. He could finally hang-out with them. Just a little time among his friends. After all his work, and after being put down by all the other ponies in town.

“I really hope twilight doesn’t mind this, being later with my errands and all”

As he finally began climbing the steep hill, he could hear laughing and giggles coming from the top of the hill. It must be a really fun picnic.

Spike started moving faster, as fast as his feet could move him, until he could finally make out some voices.

“Twilight, that lunch was truly delicious, that must have taken the whole morning” An elegant lady-like voice said.

The response came from a familiar voice

“ Why thank you Rarity”

That voice that took credit for his work belonged to twilight sparkle. Why did she always do that? Taking credit for things he had done. This wasn’t the first time.

Spike arrived at the picnic spot with that thought still in mind. He would have said something against Twilight, but that could mean that she becomes angry with him. And that was something that wouldn’t benefit his situation. He knew when to let things go, just like he had done this morning.

“Umm, hello girls, enjoying your picnic?” He said, trying to get the groups attention.

His action worked because all the mares turned their attention to him. Pinkie, as always, looked at him with a bright smile on her face. “Oh, hi Spike” She said.

Twilight expression was not an happy expression, but more an expression filled with wonder. Rainbow dash’s expression was not much different. It almost looked like something didn’t go according to plan.

He wondered what was going on.

But Twilight quickly turned her expression into a smile before he could ask. “Hi spike, you are here early. Oh sorry, the basket case is already empty”

“Yeah, I finished my work at the library as soon as possible to get here…” Spike began before he was interrupted by twilight.

“And it is a good thing that you are so early, because I need you” twilight said with a louder voice

“Really, you need me?” He asked happily

They needed him, Spike thought. Were they waiting for his arrival to do something fun with him. Finally this day is getting better, and spike could practically feel his smile grow. No more condescending ponies. Only he and his friends.

“I need you to bring back this book to the carousel boutique while you are doing the rest of your errands , I borrowed it from Rarity. And it is best for a book to be inside as soon as possible” Twilight said.

The sound of Spike’s falling heart was almost audible. He looked at the book in the middle of the picnic area, while Twilight picked the book up with her purple magic, and handed it to spike.

“thank you spike, and please do not forget your other choirs” Twilight said, but then turned around again to face him. “I don’t know what I should do without you”

Spike was just about to say something when rainbow dash came flying around with such a speed that the leafs fell from the nearby tree.

“Hey” The brash cyan mare said with a bit of a raspy voice “Now that the basket is empty, and this picnic kind of over. Why don’t you all come see my new trick I prepared for the next season at wonderbolt academy?”

From the other ponies came sounds of approval, and they all stood up to follow their blue coloured leader.

“Oh and Spike, could you bring the basket back the library?” Twilight asked without waiting for an answer, because after that question she joined her friends in their journey to watch the new trick performed by the great Rainbow Dash. While leaving the slightly bigger baby dragon alone.

Spike felt more alienated and alone then he had felt all day as he watched his friends leave without him. Without even saying goodbye

After a few minutes of staring still in the grass and being lost in his thoughts, Spike started to move his feet back to his original rout leading to the quills and sofas store. With his head hang low, and his now longer arms practically dragging on the ground. He should have had a good time right about now.

Was this fair, being left out of an picnic he himself made?

Was it fair, being left out on a fun day?

He wasn’t even invited or considered for that fun day.

He just continued his way, when he saw other ponies again. None of these ponies were alone. Cheerilee was talking to Big Mac, an conversation which seems to be going well. Because Big Mac and his lady friend couldn’t stop laughing.

Spike also passed Snips and Snails. Both of them had a pony equivalent of a skateboard with them. They were trying to jump over a fountain, at least that was what spike could make out of it. He never really understood those two.

He also saw the CMC in the distance, climbing a tree. Maybe for a tree-climbing cutie mark? Spike really didn’t know. But he hoped that the would get their cutie marks soon. Not only because they were his friends, but because they would stop putting themselves and others in danger. Even if their attempts of getting a cutie mark were often highly dangerous, they always made him laugh. The CMC were good friends, and when he is free to do what he want, he often joins them in their quests of crusading. They were the only ponies besides the friends of twilight, and a few others, that still wanted to be his friend. Or at least keep him company.
Spike took a quick look around him, and noted that he was the only being that was alone. He sighed at this, and saw that he had finally arrived at his destination: the quills and sofas store. Which he entered.

One would think that picking up an order is something that is done quickly. But not in spike’s case. At least two hours had passed since he entered the store. It was because of that damn sales pony who showed spike all the corners of the whole story, trying to sell him a sofa. Spike kept repeating that he didn’t need a sofa, but that pony just wouldn’t listen. Spike was sure that he would still be in the store if that’s pony’s shift hadn’t ended. But at least this pony wasn’t afraid of him.

It was when spike finally got to the desk of the store when he was met with another problem. The store clerk behind the cash register was afraid of spike, crawling up in a ball and muttering something like: “Don’t kill me” and “I have a family” over and over again. Spike’s size may have increased but he was still slightly smaller than the average pony. Was he really that terrifying? It took at least an hour for spike to convince the store clerk that he wasn’t going to eat him, his family, the money in the cash register, or his pet dog. It might have been funny, if it wasn’t so pathetic.

He delivered the book to the carousel boutique, after passing a group of unfriendly looking young teenage colts who just glared at him. He hoped to find the CMC or at least Sweetie belle. But he found that the place was free of any sign of life. He hoped that he could see a friendly face for the first time in his day. Or at least someone who talks to him like is belonged.

Spike finally started to walk back to the library, with the twilight’s errand save inside the picnic basket. After this long day of disappointment, he just wanted to go home.

“Hey” A loud voice said from a distance.

Spike turned around to see the group of colts, among the ponies currently present on the busy street, who were standing near the carousel boutique. He didn’t know if they were talking to him. And if they were talking to him it couldn’t mean anything good for him. So he turned around again and keeps walking like nothing happened.

“Hey we mean you, you overgrown lizard” Another voice sounded. This voice was a lot deeper than the other one.
Spike turned around again, only to see flying rocks aimed at him. Rocks that were probably thrown by them. The same rocks that hit him right in the face.

“Stand still, and we will give you a real fight against us instead of little fillies”

Spike heard speeding hoof stamping behind him, and knew that he was in real trouble now. He knew that he had to get out of there, and started running. Only to be tackled by a blue colt who was standing right in front of him.

Spike made a large smack on the ground, and landed on his arm. He couldn’t help but to scream in pain. Had he broken his arm?
He had no time to find out, because his head and open mouth were pushed back into the dirt when he tried to stand up. He could feel and almost taste that something in his mouth began to bleed.

Spike lifted his head out of the dirt, and tried looking up again. This time he wasn’t knocked down immediately but was met with the sight of a group of eight angry looking teenage stallions. They may be young, but they were almost the size of full-grown stallions. One was standing on the now flattened picnic basket and said “Oops, did that belong you, I’m so sorry”

“That was part one of your lesson, scale face” The blue stallion that had knocked him down said.

“We will teach you how to fight fair”

“No, that isn’t true Lighbolt” Said another stallion to his friend. “We are here to teach him how it is fighting an unfair fight”
“Yeah, two little fillies against a scaled freak, and a us against that scaled freak sound like equal fights. Thank you for the reminder Crash” the blue stallion said against his green coloured Pegasus companion, while he took a glance at the crowd of ponies looking at him and his friends while they were surrounding Spike

Spike would have laughed at the fact that somepony named their Pegasus born child ‘Crash’, if the situation wasn’t so dire. But he couldn’t help but to smirk a little at the fact.

“What are you laughing at scaly?”

“Yeah there is here nothing to laugh at, or are you retarded?” “Did your mother drop you when you were an egg or something?”
“No” Spike began an attempt to explain. “It’s just that you are named Crash, and that you are also a pegas ….”

Spike was hit with a punch to his stomach before he could finish his explaination. He was knocked back to the ground, while he was gasping for air. Air that the punch knocked out of him.

“This is a serious situation little lizard, please get that trough your thick scaled head” Crash said.

“We heard from Mary rose that you, a scaled faced monster, harassed her little daughter and her friend” The stallion named
Lightbolt said. “ And we are here to teach you something”

“We are going to teach you the experience of being in an unfair fight”

Spike now knew what this situation was all about. “I can save this” He thought.

“Listen please” he said almost begging. “I would never hurt a little fill-“

This time it was a punch from a unknown unicorn colt that cut him off.

“Shut up, you scaled up monster” he said with a ravaging voice “Are you calling my mother a liar?”

“No, of course no-“

“THAN SHUT UP” the unicorn colt screamed, silencing Spike

Lightbolt Broke the circle the group of stallions were standing in, and walked up to Spike.

“We are also going to teach you a lesson about getting bigger” He said while putting an arm around Spike in a mocking attempt to be friendly.

“You know what they say about dangerous animals” He smiled. “You must tame them while they are still young”

“And that is exactly what we are going to do with you” the unicorn colt said while he also stepped forward.

“And taming an animal might require removing its teeth and claws” Crash said with an unpleasant smile, while Lightbolt grabbed Spike so he couldn’t escape.

“Alright boys, are you ready to teach this abomination a lesson?” the unicorn colt asked, and the other stallions nodded their heads in agreement.

“Good, than let’s start” He said when he hit Spike in the jaw with his Hoof.

It was then that an all-out fight started with Spike against the group of teenage stallions. Spike wrestled himself free, but was getting hit from all his directions. He was quickly overpowered and started screaming for help. He screamed at the watching crowd of ponies.

“PLEASE HELP MEEEE” he said with a begging voice, while one of the colt was grabbing him so that the others could punch him without resistance

“PLEEEEAAAASE HELLLLP” Spike screamed before his breath was taken by another barrage of punches.
“Nopony is going to help you scale face, why would they help a monster like you?”

Spike looked at the crown in between punches, kicks, and him screaming in agony. Those ponies were just watching. Watching a senseless beating, with no intent of helping him. Some were whispering to each other, while others were smiling and even nodding in approval. Others just walked away. And after a few minutes, a few minutes with a dragon screaming in pain and beaten until he bled, the crowd fell apart. Each pony just returning to their daily routine.

The beating went on for half an hour, until the stallions finally stopped kicking, and punching, and leaving Spike motionless on the ground with pain blazing through his entire body.

“Boys, I think he learned his lesson” Crash said.

“Are you sure?” Lightbolt said “I think he can take some more pounding, he has his ugly scales”

“No this is enough” The unicorn colt said. “or do you want to become some kind of baby puncher?” “Even the other ponies might show some sympathy if we keep going like this.”

“Yeah, you are right” Lightbolt said “come boys lets go, but don’t forget to give him his final present”

With that all the other ponies started to walk away from Spike, but not before spitting on him.

It was when the others were out of hearing distance, that one colt walked toward Spike..

“I’m taking this as a trophy” the unicorn colt said while he lifted a tooth he knocked out of Spike’s mouth up with his magic. “I hope you don’t mind”

The unicorn started to walk away. “you know, we should do this more often”

Spike was finally left alone after those threatening words. Spike just laid there for about 15 minutes, waiting for lessening pain. Ponies walked right past him. Most of them didn’t even look at him. They probably thought the deserved this for helping two fillies getting their kite back.

He didn’t really expect help from other ponies, but it would just have been a nice thing to do. He lifted himself up, and wiped some blood from his mouth. He picked up the flattened basked with broken squils, and just started walking towards the library. He didn’t look at anyone during his journey back, knowing that nopony would want to talk or even look at him.

He could almost hear them think when they were passing by.

“Look there goes that filly harasser”

“He really is a monster”

He finally made his way back to the library. And lucky him, twilight wasn’t back yet.

He sighed, at least he could clean himself up before he had to face princess twilight sparkle. That was a relieve.

He opened the door to the library and heard a breaking sound. The hinge was now completely broken, and the door was almost falling out of place. He apparently also forgot to buy a new hinge.

It was now too much for spike to handle. He let out a scream in frustration, causing ponies who were passing the library to flee in fear.

Spike slammed the door shut, and let it hang on just a single hinge.

Author's Note

WARNING: bad grammar is possible.
This chapter is a little darker, and I will replace it when this chapter is not well-recieved.
I gave the initial chapter to a friend of mine, and he said that this story needed more Consequences to make it more realistic.
The confrontation between Spike and the group of stallions is partly written by him.
A story about a dragon and magical ponies should be realistic, like everyone knows.

Chapter 4: One-sided Confrontation

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Intermission Part II, Walk of the Silenced

Intermission part II, Walk of the Silenced

Spike’s POV

“Why, Spike, why did you do this?” I heard a rather non-sympathetic voice ask form behind me, while I was standing right infront of a dark Everfree Forest. That annoying voice belonged to the prestigious Princess Twilight Sparkle, who with her magic, was the only source of light in the entire darkened fields outside of Ponyville. The night sky truly was beautiful, even I couldn’t deny that on an evening just like this

Again with that question, I was so tired of the hearing that same question over and over again in past few days, that my body showed physical exhaustion when I turned around to face her. As I finally managed to turn around, I was met her eyes for the first time in a while now, and thanks to that horn glowing on top of her head, I couldn’t make out what kind of expression they gave. No sign of sympathy, not that I expected any at this point

“Why did she ask such a stupid question” I thought to myself. I had answered her question countless times now, with the same answer again and again. An answer that was truthful, and delivered with fear. Only to be ignored again and again by the elements of Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity, Honesty, almost the whole town of Ponyville, and of course the element of Magic who was still standing right in front of me at this very moment.

I was so tired of the answer that I decided to give her another one. An answer better suited for my current feelings toward her royal majesty. Why should I even bother giving her a real answer?

So, as an answer I just stared at her, just staring. Nothing more, nothing less. I had decided that I would not give her anything anymore. No sadness, and no anger. No expression to reward her decision of banishing me, only indifference. She doesn’t deserve it anymore. She was not worth the energy.

I also wanted to give another message to her royal highness. I wanted to make clear that I didn’t care for her anymore. Her existence just stood in the way of my gaze over the darkened grass fields of Ponyville. Just like they didn’t care for me anymore.
She had the same worth to me now , as the meat I could rip of her bones. If I were to eat meat of course.

Even though I knew my life in Ponyville was over, I still wanted to say so much to her. I wanted to say that the only banished me for the sake of her title as Princess of Magic. I wanted to explain the neglect and abuse I had to go through. I wanted to say to her the reason why I staid even though I was neglected and forgotten. And I wanted to ask why she threw away the last remnants of friendship between us so easily. What did I even mean to her?

But instead of asking her, we just continued with our little staring-contest until I decided that this was enough. She wasn’t even worth my time anymore. My new life was knocking on my door, and was anxious to get in.

Besides, I knew asking her was now pointless, she would just silence me like she had done the past few days. Why would she even listen to him, only friends listen to each other’s side of the story.

And I finally knew the truth about this friendship:
We stopped being friends a long time ago, Even before this whole mess begun.

I turned around, not giving her another look, and went straight into the dark Everfree forest, passing a few rows of trees and turned around to stare at the light the alicorn princess was emitting for one last time. A silent goodbye so the speak.

Twilight didn’t leave for a couple of minutes, probably on the lookout for me, if I decided to go back too that wretched town. With her sharp eyes the studied the edge of the forest, for the slightest sign of life, or claws, green scales, or emerald coloured eyes. Or something else that belonged to me. She just watched while I stared back at her from a distance. She couldn’t see me, but I could see her clearly.

“Give them the monster they want you to be” a voice said in the back of my head. “Attack her, and let them see how a real dragon crime looks like” the voice said again filled with rage, and bottled up anger. i looked down, contemplating, but I couldn’t give in. What could a young dragon do to an alicorn princess anyway?

When I looked up again, I saw that the source of the purple light was leaving. I watched between the trees as the light source was getting smaller and smaller, until the princess of Magic had returned to her home. Twilight returned to her normal life, a life without much worry. The life where I was once a part of, but was apparently not important enough to keep around. Something one would cast away once it had outlived its usefulness.

While she returned to her life without fear, I was facing one of uncertainty and worry. “A constant struggle was lying in front of me” I thought when I finally turned my back on Ponyville.

“I wonder if she noticed it” the voice in the back of my head said to me.

“Remember the crystal empire?” the voice asked when I couldn’t thing of a response to my own mind’s question.

“Do you remember your worst fear?” the voice asked with a curious tone. “She said that the was never going to send you away, remember?” the voice said with an almost mocking tone. “She probably just made that promise to shut you up” the voice said with a now slightly dark tone.

“But that doesn’t matter right now. But do you think that she has noticed that she broke that one promise”

My conscious did have a point, and when my realization hit me, my conscious voice decided to finally shut up, but not before adding one last thing to my inner conversation

"She just realized you worst fear, and shoved me away like garbage"

It didn’t matter anymore at this point though, Twilight was long gone, and I was on the verge of entering my new life.

I let out a sight, passed by a few tree only to hear sounds of breaking twigs and crisping leafs behind me. I turned around and I saw nothing in the dark forest. Almost nothing at least, because there was a kind of a pink flash from the corner of my eyes when I turned around again. Only to be met with as shocking, pink coloured. surprise.

“Hello Spike” a normally so happy sounding voice said right in front of me.

I opened and closed my eyes a few times until I saw the pink figure clearly. In front of me was standing Pinkie Pie, with a worried expression on her face, and slightly bloody bandages covering her head and front legs.

“Pinkie, what are you doing here?” I exclaimed in wonder. She wasn’t supposed to be here right now.

“I came to see you silly”

To be continued.

Author's Note

WARNING: POSSIBLE BAD GRAMMAR.
this is part 2 of the intermission story.
I didn't have much time to write this, but I hope it is good enough.

Chapter 5: Ravaging Beasts

Chapter 5 Ravaging beasts:

Spike passed rows upon rows of tree, nearing the source of the screaming. He was getting closer, he could almost feel it. It was like Spike’s senses sharpened. He could clearly hear the twigs and leaves crushing beneath is feet. He could see tree branches right in front of him, and smack them out of the way before they could hit him in the face.

Spike also could smell the air so clearly, that he could almost taste it. And because of that, that Spike wished that he didn’t have these sharp senses. The air was filled with an unpleasant smell, too say the least. It could be described as a piece of rotting flesh mixed with decaying wood.

“Damn, not them again” Spike muttered, while his eyes started to water from the smell, and at the same time quickening his pace. Wiping your eyes is not a good idea when your claws are extended.

Spike now knew what caused the screaming from the probably unsuspecting ponies, for he had smelled this odour many times during his stay in the Everfree Forest. And that smell could only mean one thing:
“Timberwolves”

Timberwolves were always weird creatures in Spike’s eyes. Not organically alive, but they could not be described as inanimate objects that just happened to move. No, they were almost animals, wild and ferocious. Not mindless beasts either, but hunters with minds and brains to form a strategy and thoughts , but mostly acting by following instinct.

“To put it simply, they are predators” Spike thought. Spike had encountered the Timberwolves many times now. From the very beginning it looked like the Timberwolves targeted Spike for no apparent reason, most of his current scars originated from an encounter with a Timberwolf. Spike reasoned that they were just eliminating the competition while they are still young. Even a full pack of Timberwolves is no match for a fully-grown dragon.

While having trouble with the wolves in the beginning, Spike learned to avoid them. He did this by not trespassing in their hunting territory.

“the only problem was that my new home is located in their hunting territory” Spike thought, while an irony fuelled frown creped onto his face. He had to learn to fight the Timberwolves for that reason. And is spike’s honest opinion he was now quite good at at…….

“!”

Spike philosophical thoughts about Timberwolves and his own pat on the back were cut short by the bright light coming from between the trees, among other things. He was now so close to his destination that he could almost see and hear the clearing between those trees. And he didn’t like what he heard.

There were faint sounds of snarling and growling in the air, as well as silent but unmistaken sound of whimpering. Probably coming from the Timberwolves and their unfortunate would-be prey.

“How many are there?” Spike asked himself when he came to a screeching halt from his little sprint through the forest right before the clearing. He decided to approach this with caution, because he knew throwing yourself into a battle leads to mistakes and injury while one of his fingers unconsciously ran over the big scar from his eyebrow to his chin.

Spike moved, without making a sound, closer to the clearing, until he found a large tree to hide behind. From his new found hiding place he glanced over the forest clearing to finally understand the current situation.

The clearing was not big, only around 100 to 150 meters in length. The sight was very clear as the sun was shining and no clouds were currently visibly in the sky. The ground was covered in grass and sand.

But that was where the beauty ended, because Spike saw something at the other end of the clearing that made his jump back a bit.
There were five Timberwolves there, all standing in a circle around one tree. It was like a pack of dogs barking at one cat hiding in a tree, or that time Winona chased Opalescence in the tree nearby the carousel boutique. Stupid cat.

But there was one big difference, there were no cats hiding in the tree. Unfortunately for many animals in the forest, Timberwolves don’t chase or hunt cats. Their eyes were always searching for a bigger price.

Instead of cats hiding in the tree, there were three ponies leaning on one side of the tree. Spike could see that they were trying to defend themselves, even though he could not see much of it. The three ponies were standing in the shade caused by the tree. But Spike could see kicking hooves just outside of the shade, sometimes with branches, trying to defend themselves by kicking the Timberwolves back.

The ponies were silent, probably exhausted or just too busy concentrating on surviving the attack.

Finally knowing about the situation, Spike decided to take action. He followed the ponies example by picking up a large branch lying a few inches from his feet. He knew he was in for something that could be described as the ‘fight of his life’. Even spike hadn’t fought five Timberwolves at the same time during his time staying in the Everfree Forest.

Spike looked one final time at the Timberwolves who still didn’t seem to notice him, and at the sun to determine its exact position in the sky above. Lesson one in the art of hunting. Now knowing exactly where to go and the way to turn so the sun would be shining on his back and not his eyes, Spike clenched his branch turned weapon in his claws, and was ready to jump up from behind his tree with the full intention of helping the innocent ponies. That was the right thing to, right?

But in a fraction of a second, Spike’s mind began to be filled with doubts and objections. It was like his brain functions suddenly took over his instincts to attack and defend, just at the moment spike’s feet were about to detach from the ground. now his feet were standing still, were feeling stiff and refused to move forward.

“Why should I help these ponies?” Spike’s mind, speaking in a darker version of Spike’s own voice, seemed to ask a question to Spike physical body. Now spike’s mind began to work at full steam, with thoughts flooding his mind. This seemingly effected his whole body, until Spike managed to finally get his mind back on track.

“Why should I risk my own body and life for ponies I didn’t even know?” was the first question that came to mind when Spike’s feet apparently decided to listen to him again.

Didn’t I learned anything during the past three years?
Am I really still so naïve as before?

It was like a whole other side of Spike just woke up from the depths of his mind, and an inner monologue filled with experiances from the past began began.
“Do you really think everything is going to be alright when you save these ponies. You don’t even know them, you are at a serious disadvantage against five opponents, so why would you want to?”

“Do you really think they will be grateful when you come in to save them? They will probably run away immediately flee from the terror of five Timberwolves and a newly arrived dragon fighting over their next meal. For them you are nothing more than an oversized lizard with teeth. They will not help you, they will only be scared by you.”

“that is the only thing ponies are around you, scared. And what will happen if they flee? They are probably from Ponyville, of course they would run back to those traitors. They will tell that you are here, and they will immediately know it is you. Who else could a teenage purple and green dragon be? This will probably get the attention of our favourite Princess Of Magic, and she will come again to banish you”

“She can try” was the first thing Spike said on his own.

“you can lose everything you have now, even if it is not much you have. Do not risk that.”
“Ponies are all the same, and no good can come from all this”

Spike’s internal struggle continued as he took a few steps toward the ponies, leaving his hiding place. Still having the branch in his claws, he looked over at the Timberwolves, who were slowly closing in on the ponies.

It looked like it would go on forever, and Spike indecisiveness just continued.

It was at that moment that Fate apparently decided to step in, and forced Spike to make a decision. One of the hooves sticking from the shadow of the tree was cut when a Timberwolf jump forward the ponies to make a kill. The attack failed when the wolf was kicked back, but the damage was already done. A few screams filled with pain and desperation were heard from the shadow, and de kicked back Timberwolf quickly got back on his feet and one again joined his few hunters.

The Timberwolves that seemed to synchronize, and all at once they took a stance. They were ready to attack once more, but this time as a group. It was unlikely that the ponies would survive it.

Spike rapidly took a decision, just when the Timberwolves were about to jump toward the ponies, and leaped in the direction of the clearing.

To be continued…

Author's Note

WARNING BAD GRAMMAR MIGHT BE PRESENT
I am not really proud of this chapter. But I haven’t uploaded anything in a while, so I felt that it was somewhat necessary
I will edit this chapter when it is not well received.
I really should get a proof-reader and an editor.
Have fun reading this ( or maybe not)

Intermission Part III, Pink Conversation

Intermission Part III: Pink Conversation

Using the moonlight and after having adjusted my eyes to the darkness present in the Everfree Forest, I could clearly see the bruised and damaged pink party pony. She looked even worse than the last time I saw her, which was a few days ago. Her front legs were covered in now bloody and old bandages which looked like they needed to be changed days ago. A very similar bandage covered her forehead and one of her eyes. The rest of her body looked pretty ravaged, bruised, and small shallow cuts were present everywhere.

“Pinkie, you are supposed to be in the hospital, what are you doing here?” I exclaimed in wonder. Well at least some of my emotions returned.

“I came to see you silly” was the response from the normally so happy looking pink party pony. Well that doesn’t explain anything. At least her voice was happy sounding, even though it sounded tired and a bit weak compared to normal circumstances.

I felt my emotions returning rapidly for the first time since I stared my journey toward the Everfree Forest with Twilight. Curiosity apparently took over: Why was she really here? And How did she find me after her situation for the past few days?
“What?” that was the sad excuse for response to her explanation, but it was the only one I could think off right now.

“I said that I came to help you, off course”

“Help me, what are you talking about, and when did you get out the hospital?”

Pinkie gave kind of a pained expression, like she was suffering from a severe case of migraine before she started explaining, it could be her head injury. At least that was what I thought, I couldn’t really make out any facial expressions.

“Well Spike, I don’t know how long it has been since Ponyville has been attacked.” The pink mare stared to explain in a more happy sounding voice “I don’t even know how long I have been unconscious, but…”

“It has been a few days” I interrupted her a bit impatiently. My stance of annoyance from a few moments ago seemed to have returned, beating out my newly found emotions. Maybe it was the mention of that damn village. I was so tired of this whole situation. It could also be her happiness that caused annoyance. Pinkie always has a tendency to jump from manic-depressed to insanely happy looking.

“Ah ok, thanks Spike” Pinkie spoke like I didn’t interrupt her. “I don’t know how I ended up at the hospital, or how I ended up unconscious.”

“You really don’t remember what happened”

“nopidope” Pinkie said. “I mean I know what happened. I remember that I was at Sugar Cube Corner. You know, watching the cake Twins while Mr. and Mrs. Cake were away. They take off a lot together since the twins are born, I sometimes wonder why. Well I asked Mrs. Cake once, and she says that they need some alone time now and then, but I don’t really know what she means by that. But it is the same explanation Cranky and Matilda gave when they kicked me out of their house at night. But I don’t think Mr. and Mrs Cake have returned yet. They would probably get a heart attack or something if they saw Sugar Cube Corner now”

I let out a silent sigh while Pinkie continued talking. If I had a watch I would probably check the time right about now.

“Suddenly I heard a loud Crash from downstairs” Pinkie apparently decided to get back on track. “the Twins started crying, and as a good babysitter I took the foals with me to look what happened. If it was something threatening I could get them to safety through the backdoor. You know sometimes I wish I was a Pegasus, then I could just fly through a window..” She really started to sound happy again, like her wound were nothing and nothing had happened the past few days.

“you are digressing again” I tried not to sound too annoyed. Even though I don’t know why I should hid my current emotions.

“Oh sorry Mr grumpy dragon. I know Ponyville has just been attacked, but you should get some sleep”

I gave her a stare that could literally beam out annoyance, I didn’t know if it was effective. It was still dark after all.

Pinkie continued. “Well after I came down stairs with the twins, I saw that green Monster that looked like….oh why am I telling you this? You were there from that point.”

She then looked at me with one eye, staring for a little bit before she spoke again.

“Have you lost your memory too?” Pinkie asked while staring at me.

“No” My voice sounded almost angry, with a slight hint of impatience

“Whoa Spike, again with the grumpiness. It is not my fault that Ponyville was attacked and that we are here”

She was right, this situation was not her fault. She didn’t even know what happened to me.

“You are right, Sorry”

“it doesn’t matter Spike. Now where was I?”

“let’s just say at the point where I left you” It looked like even my voice decided to cut her a break. It’s sounded more patient and dare I even say happy now, even though it was a bit forced. Like the old saying goes: Smile and nod, smile and nod.

“Well, after you left I decided to take your advice and ran toward the forest, with the foals on my back of course. It was not going really fast because my legs and eye. On my way I passed a lot a chaos, and not the fun kind like a party gone wild. I heard ponies screaming about a green Monster while they fled their burning homes. Maybe there are more of them running around”

Pinkie stopped to think for a second. I always wondered how it worked inside her mind to be honest. Twilight once thought it was filled with cotton candy.

Pinkie suddenly continued
“that is about the last thing I noticed before I was hid in the head with something hard. That really is the last thing I can think off. It might have been a rock, at least it felt like one. My sister and I played rock-throw when we were younger, and let’s just say she has got a pretty strong throwing hoof. The next thing I know is waking up in the hospital this evening with Pound and Pumpkin laying in a bed next to me, sound asleep”

“Are they alright?” I asked semi-interested. Just a question to keep the conversation going. Not that I didn’t care for their safety.

“they are doing fine, as far as I can tell”

“Alright, good. But Pinkie, your story doesn’t explain how you got here”

“I was getting to that, I was getting to that, take it easy.” She said in her usual Pinkie-like style.” So I wake up and start walking. I didn’t know where I was until I saw a nurse passing by. She wasn’t too happy looking, but I decided to follow her. She was the first person I saw in 10 minutes, there were no doctors or anything. It was that nurse Redheart, you know her right?. Well the point is that she doesn’t like me very much, so I kept my distance. About ten minutes later she came across another nurse, and they started to talk about stuff”

“What did they talk about pinkie?” I asked, wanting to get to the point.

“Oh you know, just stuff. They talked about a mass meeting that was happening that evening. They were kind of mad about the fact that they couldn’t come because they had to take care of the people in the hospital, but apparently the doctors were going. I first thought that they were talking about a party, so I almost wanted to go right away. After I had checked on Pound and Pumpkin off course.”

It was not like she needed to explain herself to me, I knew that she was a good foal sitter.

“But it was a good thing I didn’t, because it turned out that it wasn’t a party at all. They said that Twilight was going to do her royal duty by banishing the monster that attacked Ponyville. I thought that there were more than one. Oh well, after that the nurses went their separate ways because one pony, that sounded like a dog, came running down the hallway”

It finally began to make sense to me.

“I used that chance to get out of the hospital, and looked for Twilight, which wasn’t hard. Who else would use a purple glowing light while walking toward the Everfree Forest. I wanted to help her, because it seemed like no one was following her. It is dangerous in the forest even for a Princess. I could also help identifying the monsters. So I followed her, and suddenly saw that you were walking behind her. You were not looking to happy. I figured that you were going to help Twilight with banishing these monsters. But Twilight suddenly turned back after a few minutes of standing still. I was almost tempted to speak to her first, but I wanted to thank you for what you had done”

“Ah” was the only thing that came out of my mouth. This explained a lot. Pinkie really didn’t know about the whole ordeal that happened the past few days. Was that the reason for her ignorant happiness?

“Silly me, I forgot the one thing I was going to do here”

No surprise to me, I was accustomed to being forgotten.

“Come here Spike” And the pink mare suddenly jumped forward to hug me, which was quite a feat because of her damaged legs. “Thank you”

I was surprised and simply said nothing. By opening my mouth I was sure to ruin this moment. It might even be the last moment of happiness I experience while being here. Even though I didn’t know what to make of all of this. How would she have reacted when she was conscious during all of this?

Pinkie finally decided let me go after a minute or so.

For the first time during this conversation I felt genuine Emotion. It felt like concern. Was it wise to tell Pinkie the truth? It probably was because she would find out anyway. It was probably for the best that I ease her into it. I choose to leave my doubts be, at least for now.

“So when is twilight going to be back” the Pink mare asked curiously.

This was going to be harder than I thought. She looked so happy in the reality she currently lived in. It made me almost feel sorry for her. She had been through a lot, even if she didn’t realize it herself yet.

“That is just it Pinkie, Twilight is not coming back” my voice sounded as calm and smooth as possible. That took a lot out of me, and I realized how tired I was.

Pinkie’s expression almost turned to a shocked one. “what she left you all alone the banish these Monsters, that isn’t fulfilling her princess duties” it sounded like somepony had personally offended her.

“No pinkie, that is not true”

I now had Pinkie’s undivided attention, her one eye staring me straight in the eyes.

“She thinks she has fulfilled her duties by banishing me, the monster who supposedly did all of this”

to be continued

Author's Note

WARNING TERRIBLE....YOU KNOW THE REST BY NOW
again not sure about this chapter, I will change it If it is deemed bad.
this is an important question: is there someone out there who would Iike to be a Proof-reader for this story?
Or does anymone know a Proofreader who would like to do it?
You see,my knowledge of the English language is failing me, and it could make this story unreadable if I continue like this.
But then again, this story is not really relevant to begin with.
Bij voorbaat dank

Chapter 6: Instincts

Chapter 6: Instincts.

Spike’s feet hit the grass-covered ground with a small dud. Not really the most impressive entrée ever created, but that didn’t matter in the situation at hand. Spike just dashed forward with his wooden weapon in a firm and steady grip. There was no time to think anything anymore. Well, at least he was trying to stop thinking about everything. He had made his decision, even though that decision was taken unconsciously, and he seemed to move toward his objective without a hint of hesitation. At least for the ones that could not hear what was going on in his head:

Spike was trying to banish his doubts about his decision to the back of his mind while he was running. This could be described as the last lesson he Learned from Twilight: If you have a problem or something that could be considered an inconvenience, than banish it as far away as possible.

Spike had to remember that this was important, because in fights like this you have no time to waste, especially if that time is spent arguing with yourself. But that didn’t seem to bother Spike’s nameless inner voice:

“What are you doing? Do not give your life for those miserable ponies. Sure, you are a dragon, but you never fought with five Timberwolves at the same time. Don’t you see that nothing good can come from this all, especially for yourself”

That was one annoying voice, it made Spike wonder if he sounded like that when he was talking.
“Oh, will someone please shut me up”

Spike’s respond came out of nowhere, it even surprised himself, and his nameless voice a bit. He couldn’t even tell if he just thought about it, or if he had said it out loud as well. Was he really talking to himself again, in a time like this? Then again, it wasn’t really surprising considering he was just arguing with himself, but at least the argument took place in his head where nobody could hear him bicker with himself.

Maybe he made his comeback so suddenly because he could not think of a good answer to his inner voice’s questions. Spike had to admit it: even though the voice was annoying, it made a pretty good point. Just a before. But there was no time to think about that now. There were ‘miserable’ ponies who needed to be saved.

Spike now focused on the situation at hand while still moving forward. The Timberwolves hadn’t noticed him yet, thank Luna, and that at least meant that he didn’t talk to himself again. The Timberwolves were just standing there, ready to jump at their struggling prey. The prey in question hadn’t moved an inch from their positions either, standing completely still probably frozen with fear. At least that was what Spike assumed because he still could not see the ponies, and had no idea who they were.

The ponies in question were really lucky that the Timberwolves hadn’t attacked them yet. But a new question, if not important question suddenly came to Spike’s mind:

“How the heck am I supposed to do this?”

Surely, he had made his decision. He was going to help these ponies, no more doubts about that, and no regrets. For now at least.
But with his sudden dash toward heroism, he had abandoned all the strategy he had, or any strategy he could have made to make this fight easier to win for him. Or just a bigger chance of surviving this fight.

For example: Spike now felt the sun shining on his bare scale-covered head, and he had to close one eye because he was walking straight toward the sunlight. If he had had more time, then he would have circled around the clearing instead of running right through it. That way he could attack from behind the Ponies current location without having the sun shining in his eyes

There was another advantage that one of his strategies had. If he attacked from behind the ponies’ location, he would be coming out of the forest with the element of surprise and take out one or two Timberwolves with one attack. Then he could continue his attack while the remaining Timberwolves were still surprised. He had to be really quiet to do that of course, but he was likely to pull it off. He could that get away before the Timberwolves reassembled themselves, with or without the ponies if necessary.

But now he was just running toward his fight like an unprepared idiot, but at least he could be considered as heroic unprepared idiot. And heroic unprepared selfless idiot with a stick in his claws to be precise. It almost looked like of his childhood fantasies. The one that involved him in a Knight’s armour, a small army of Diamond dogs , and a white unicorn in a princesses’ dress. He would then fight-of the small Diamond dog army, easily overpowering them with his muscles. The beautiful white unicorn would of course reward him for his efforts with a kiss

If only fantasies were true, but man did he feel stupid, especially if he remembered that the only reason to jump out of his hiding place was because the Timberwolves seemed to line up for an attack, and were about to jump. But it turned out that the Timberwolves, for some reason, stopped their synchronized attack. They were just standing there, just like before Spike jumped out of his hiding place at the other side of the clearing. Now he could even scratch the wold heroic from his ‘heroic action’. It had all been rendered unnecessary.

But this also opened a few chances for him, if you think about it for a second. Spike was close to his target, but the Timberwolves still had not noticed him . If he continued his straight forward path toward the Timberwolves , then they would surely detect him. Either by smell or by sight. But if he took a right turn into the Forest, then he could still sneak up on the Timberwolves and take action with a surprise attack. It was almost like his original plan. And better yet, he could finally stop thinking and focus on his one-man army counter attack. For a moment everything seemed to come together in favour of Spike the dragon.

Sadly that moment never came. It was almost like the universe wanted him to know that he was still Spike the dragon. The eternal victim of physical comedy and random cruelty and stupidity. It was like back in Manehattan when he was caring luggage for the then ‘pony of his dreams’ with the best of intentions. After he had fulfilled his task he was rewarded with some kind of Hot Dog. That well deserved reward was quickly taken away from him, even before he could properly enjoy it, by a bird who just happened to fly by and grab his food. And that was just on example how the universe seemed to hate him sometimes.

In this case it happened just as Spike turned right to go into the forest when a voice came from the Timberwolves’ position.

“AAAH A DRAGON, He.. !” One of the ponies had noticed Him, as her voice sounded echoed over the clearing. The strange thing was that the voice stopped mid-sentence, maybe it was cut off by one of the other ponies. Unfortunately the damage had already been done, as pony wasn’t the only one that had noticed him now.

“Are you kidding me?!” Spike’s inner voice shouted out frustration

It was the first time Spike and his nameless inner voice agreed on something, because Spike’s hand would probably have connected to his forehead if this was a less serious situation.

“I told you they would react that way, You should have thought about that”

Spike just realized that he had made plans for himself, his surroundings, the Timberwolves, but not the ponies cowering against the tree. That just shows again that all the plans you make mean nothing if the situation at hand turns out differently. The irony that the person you are trying to rescue betrays your location, and endangers the rescuer made it all the more painful.

it all happened so fast, but it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds. But for Spike it seemed like minutes upon minutes, while the growling beast turned away from their cowering prey and started to face their attacker. Spike was nailed to the ground at this point. Petrified if you will. A mixture of fear and helplessness. It was time for a change of plans.

It was almost like the time with the teenage dragons. Heavily outnumbered (at least until the ponies showed up) and in quite a bit of danger. But that was then, and Spike had changed. He was not going to show what ponies could do against jerky dragons, but what a dragon could do against a pack of Timberwolves.

There was an unsettling silence between the two groups during the following seconds, not a single muscle was moved, save for the growling coming from the Timberwolves. Even sounds from the rest of the forest could be heard. The two groups were still sizing each other up before the confrontation

Spike meanwhile, could feel his heart beat inside his chest going fast and faster, until all the heartbeats started to blend together. His muscles started to tense up. The stick in his head started to crack under the strain from his claws. He was ready to go now. It was time to let go of planning, and rely on strength and wit. It was time to let the beast out.

Spike had nothing to lose anymore. No more strategy, no more plans or battle tactics. It was like his body knew that, and acted accordingly as Spike slowly faced the Timberwolves and let out a low sounding growl. The growling from the Timberwolves intensified at the same time, and birds could be heard fleeing from their homes in the trees surrounding the clearing. The fight was set up, and now started the wait. Who would make the first move, the Timberwolves or Spike?

The Timberwolves chose first, and they were the ones that moved. Slowly and steadily four of the five Timberwolves moved forward, not breaking their formation. Only the fifth Timberwolf stayed behind to guard their already secured prey.

Spike’s senses were at their peak, his eyes still sizing up his opponents. He was prepared, he was now ready to fight. His instinct had taken over from his mind, and at the very moment that one of the four opposing Timberwolves got into an attack position. The Timberwolf dashed forward, and broke the formation of his group by advancing alone. Spike was not far behind, and also quickened his pace

The distance between Spike and the Timber wolf was covered in no time. Makes sense if both attacking parties move toward each other. They were now almost face to face, and that is not the most pleasant position. Spike was hit with the full force of their breath at close range. He could get over the smell, but his eyes stared to water.

The Timber wolf was the first one to attack thanks to Spike’s small inconvenience. The wolf jumped in the air, bringing out one of his front claws and swept at spike’s face. But it wasn’t that simple. Spike had planted his feet firmly in the ground at the same time, bringing him to a screeching halt. This gave him the chance to lean back, and bend his back just in time, and dodge the attack. It was a very close call as Spike could follow the Timber wolf’s claw that was sweeping just above his head.

Spike made his counter attack just as the wolf’s claw was on the other side of his head. He did this by grabbing the wolf’s claw with his own left hand. At the same time he jumped, and kicked the Timber wolf back, and in the process the pulled the wolf’s claw off. The timber wolf fell to the ground with a sound reminiscing of stepping on a dog’s tail by accident. Wood scattered everywhere after the wolf hit the ground.

Spike got up, and started moving again. He now had two weapons in his hand, the stick and the still moving claw along with the leg of the timber wolf. He had to move. The other three attacking Timberwolves were coming for him. And to make matters even worse, the other Timberwolf was now advancing toward the ponies.

Spike knew that he had to pass his three attackers to get to the far side of the clearing, but he now had neither the time nor the concentration to think about a solution. He just kept on running until an quick idea formed inside his head. If you yourself cannot think of something original then you copy from others. He had seen this in one of his comic books before. He decided to meet the attacking force head on.

He ran forward, making himself smaller in the process. At the same time, he took note of his enemies’ position in front of him. The Timber wolf in the middle was closest to him. It followed by the Timber wolf on the right, who was sticking close to the one in front. A standard attacking formation. At least that would have been the case if it wasn’t for the Timber wolf on Spike’s left. This one was lagging behind, and there was quite a gap of space between it and the Timber wolf in the middle. And there was another obstacle for him: the body of the now struggling Timber wolf, the one that Spike had kicked back, was lying between it and Spike.

This gave Spike opportunity. While he picked up speed, he used one of his arms to shield his face, and more importantly his eyes. His then used his right claw, the one with the wooden stick, to guard on of his sides. He was now ready for his frontal assault, a tackle. This plan was a bit of a gamble. He was going to tackle the Timber wolf in the middle, and shield himself from the attack from the right. But his left side was now completely open en vulnerable, but it was also the side that had the least chance of being attacked because of the wolfs positions. But it was a risk worth taking, because if he could pull this off, then he had passed four of the five Timberwolves.

There was no more time for doubt, the action was about to begin. The Timber wolf in the middle was ready to jump, but Spike tackled it right in the chest before it could get high in the air. The timber wolf corrected itself before it could fall to the ground, only for spike to kick back one of his paws. As a result the Timberwolf stumbled on the forest floor.

The second Timber wolf joined in, coming swiftly from the right, just as Spike suspected. It happened just as Spike jumped over his previous attacker. This time it was easy to hold the Timber wolf off, and the stick hit its target with full force. The Timber wolf stumbled back while a small ‘yelp’ sound could be heard.

“Well, this isn’t the disaster I expected to be honest, you might even pull this one off” the nameless inner voice commented.

But at the exact same moment Spike’s winning streak was unfortunately broken. Even when things just as things started to look good for him. The third wolf, the one on the left, seemed to have picked up on his speed. And it was apparently not slowed down by the first Timber wolf that Spike knocked down earlier.

The Timber wolf leaped into action, and Spike was too slow to defend himself. He still tried to move himself out of harm’s way but he didn’t seem to be fast enough to do that. Spike had gambled, and he apparently lost.

The wolf slashed with his claw, and it connected to spike’s left shoulder. The talons ripped through his scales all the way to the middle of his back. And Spike could feel every moment of it.

Spike, more like an animal then a civilized being, let out a scream of pain. A sting of pain went through is arm, almost causing him to drop the timber wolf’s claw still present in his left hand. He could feel the scratches on his body, the warm blood that was now dripping from his back and his arm. He could even hear the little blood drops hit the ground with a silent ‘splash’.

“Damn it” was the only thing spike muttered with a gruff sounding voice, while looking at his wounds all the while he continued to run. It was bleeding, and the scratches looked quite deep, but he could still use his arm, and his claw at the end of it. He could only hope that blood loss didn’t become a problem for him.

He had to press on, or else everything would have been for nothing. He was going to save these ponies, even if it was the last thing he would ever do. Not just for their sakes, but also for his own. He was truly angry now.

Spike could move on. He had to, and fortunately for him he could. the Timber wolf that just attacked him had apparently made a desperate attack on him, and smashed itself into pieces before he could land on his four claws. Spike didn’t even see it at this point, but he could hear the satisfying sound of a pile of wood smashing on the ground from behind his back. Four Timberwolves were now temporarily out of commission, there was only one to go now.

Spike’s eyes were locked onto the last remaining Timber wolf, who was still advancing toward the ponies. Even though spike hadn’t stop running, he knew that he couldn’t make it in time. The wolf was too far away to engage in close combat. And to make the situation worse, his left arm was now hanging limp to the left side of his body, barely holding on to the wooden weapon in his hand. Spike didn’t even know if he could survive another close confrontation.

He had to think to come to a suitable solution before it was too late. He could hear the other four Timberwolves reassembling from behind his back. That could become a problem for later, but that is future Spike’s problem. Spike had to focus on the situation at hand now. What did he still have that could help him? What could he use?

Luckily for him, the answer came when he looked at the wooden stick in his right hand.

The answer was so simple, that it surprised Spike that he didn’t think about it earlier. It was like a lightning bolt hit his brain. And what happens when a lightning bolt hits a wooden object, something in terms of a tree. It catches fire. He had almost forgotten that he could breathe fire.

Spike brought the wooden Stick to his mouth, and quickly exhaled a green coloured flame. This part of the plan went smoothly. Now came the painful part. It was kind of unfortunate for him that his wounded left arm was his throwing arm. His face winced from the pain, as he let the Timberwolves claw fall, and readied the ‘burning stick turned spear’ to be thrown

The Timber wolf had his claw in the air and was ready to strike the three ponies, when spike took a stance and threw the burning stick. The stick made its way through the air nicely angled, and made its way to its target when it started to get closer to the ground.

“RUN!” Spike yelled, getting the attention of both the Timber wolf and the three ponies cowering at the tree. The timber wolf turned around to see the source of the scream. Spike still couldn’t see the ponies, but had at least given them a chance to escape from danger.

It all happened so fast after that. The timberwolf was hit right between the eyes, Just when it had fully turned around to see Spike . This caused it to run amok while the flame slowly spread to the rest of its wooden body. The Timberwolf was clearly in pain and the flames caused growls of pain and agony to escape from its mouth. The ponies at this point were nowhere to be seen, and had taken Spike’s advice to flee.

“I told you they would not stick around” Spike’s inner voice said. But that didn’t matter now.

The burning timber wolf tried to aim itself at Spike in one last effort to attack the dragon, but didn’t succeed and fell to the forest floor right in front of Spike’s feet. The body of the apparently dead Timberwolf began to twitch in a most unpleasant fashion, and the smell of burning wood entered Spike’s nose.

Spike sighed, taking the time to collect his thoughts during this moment of silence. It was like standing right in front of a Campfire, and his body seemed to like the warmth coming from the Timberwolf.

But Spike knew that the fight was not over yet. In fact it was far from over. He had fought with five Timberwolves, but had only truly defeated one of them A clear indication that the other Timberwolves were still active was that the Timber wolf’s claw, which Spike had dropped earlier, was now crawling at his feet. It apparently wanted to desperately get away from him, as the talons made their way faster and faster through the sand and grass covered area. It was like the claw had a mind of its own, and wanted to return to something.

That something was pulling itself together behind his back, as the sound of wood hitting another piece of wood intensified behind him.

“Does it ever end?” Spike asked himself right after the Timberwolf’s claw had passed him. With an annoyed sounding sigh, he readied himself to turn around, and face his enemy once again..

To be continued.

Author's Note

WARNING, TERRIBLE GRAMMAR MIGHT BE PRESENT IN THIS STORY.
I finally finished another chapter, and I don’t really know what to think of it.
But I hope it is sufficient.
I will edit the chapter if it is not well received.
And if you think it is bad, let me know.

Chapter 7: Trap

Author's Note

Well, here is the next chapter, And i hope you can enjoy it.
I will edit this chapter if it is not well recieved.

!!EDIT!!: I am going to edit this chapter to make certain aspects less prominent(or scratch them entirely if I see fit).
I see now that Spike's mental state might be a bit off.
* edit are now complete*

Chapter 7: Trap

Spike readied himself for the coming fight he had dragged himself into, but he really didn't want to turn around this time. He already knew what was coming, because he had seen it before. Spike accidently let out an angry, but silent growl pure out of frustration. It looked like his animal instincts hadn't completely left his body He could still feel his body tense up, ready to take whatever action was needed. But the feeling was a bit different than before

Spike felt something different , besides the thumping and stinging pain in his still slightly bleeding arm and back. It was an unmistakable dose of fear that had entered his body, leaving his legs and arms slightly shaking. It was something he hadn't felt earlier this day. Was it also part of his dragon/animal instinct? Was this the reason why he felt different than before? Spike knew he was in danger, and up against something much larger then himself. It could be that his instinct was telling him to flee instead of fight. Whatever the case was, Spike was just standing there, nailed to the ground while he saw the last of the Timberwolf's paw crawls away from him.

It must have been a couple of years ago now since he last saw this phenomenon, but the sound of wood coming together on a big pile, along with logs, twigs and branches that came flying out of the forest was almost identical. It was the assembly of a giant Timberwolf.
He thought back to that time, as more memories came to Spike's mind: there was growling and howling sounds made by ponies, the most unconvincing Timberwolf puppet that ever existed, and one of the worst acting performances Spike had ever seen.

“I can't believe I almost fell for that trick" Spike's thought

But Spike wasn't fooled back then. That was because one element was lacking from the equation, the Timberwolf's breath. And unfortunately for Spike it was very much present this time, as a slightly warm foul-smelling wind hit his back, accompanied by a loud roar that shook his very core. But Spike didn't move an inch. At least there was still some distance between him and his premature death.

"Might as well turn around, I am probably going to die anyway, so why not with a bit of dignity. With a bit of luck, I could even end up in heaven" Spike thought to himself. " No, Stop thinking like that, it is way to early to just give up. "I just need to try to come up with something that will save my life"

That was easier said than done at this point. Every fibre in Spike's body told him to run, and his brain seemed to agree, but where should he run to? He was still in the open and clearly visible. He could not hide. And running didn't ensure victory: The Timberwolf was much larger than him, and would probably run him down in no time.Time, which also meant that Spike couldn't circle around it. Spike had to get out of the open and into the forest first, hoping that the forest was dense enough to slow the Timberwolf down.

Fighting was the other obvious option, but Spike found himself again in a desperate position. There was the matter of size that formed an obstacle for Spike. The giant Timberwolf was probably much faster than him because of its long legs, and spike would certainly lose a direct confrontation based on brute strength, Besides Spike was already wounded.

Spike knew he had to turn around now but he took one last look at the ground in a last attempt to come up with something. It didn't even need to be a plan, but something that could help him in one way or the other. It could be small rocks or stones for all he cared, it worked the last time. He continued to look at the ground not knowing what to do, as he saw that a big looming motionless creature-shaped shadow had fallen over him. How did that giant thing manage to sneak up on him? The shadow was not motionless for long, as a it's monstrously large claw began to rise in the air, ready to strike him at any given moment.

Spike, knowing that he had to do something at this point continued to look at the ground. There were still no stones. "Can't things go the way I like them to go, if it is only for one time" Spike thought "If I could just change the things into my favour then I would..." Spike's mind lay blank for a while, when a imaginary light bulb was suddenly being plugged in. "Change the setting, THAT'S IT" Spike thought.

He was still looking around the forest floor. There might not have been any stones for him to use, but the burning Timberwolf which he had defeated earlier now lay motionless in front of his feet. This gave Spike a number of well needed options to carry out his plan.

"I think that I know what to do" Spike thought to himself. "I just have to..." Spike's thoughts was cut short, party by himself and partly by soft growling, which was now dangerously close to him. Spike had no more time to waste, not even for explaining his plan to HIMSELF. That again, he never has time to lose. He quickly moved his body with the last ounce of willpower, Fighting back his fears and forcing his shaking legs and hurting arm into action. Grabbed the burning pile of wood in front of him and picked it up. Spike was once again grateful that he was a dragon, and that he had tough scales.

Spike had grabbed the burning Timberwolf by its front legs, and gave it a yank while he finally turned around, making a 180 degree circle, and swung the burning Timberwolf right into his attacker's head. This caused the detachment of Spike's Timberwolf's front legs, leaving Spike with the two slightly burning limbs in both claws.

The giant Timberwolf recoiled a bit, swiping his claws in front of his face in an attempt to remove the burning wood, but no serious damage was done, at least not yet.

"Well time to go" Spike gave into his instinct, and indirectly his fear. He ran, using his fear as an advantage, as fast as he could in the opposite direction of the Timberwolf. He reached the first rows of trees when another roar reached Spike, causing his to run even faster. He shielded his face against the incoming branches and twigs, as he made his way deeper into the forest.

Spike saw the irony in his actions. First picking a fight, and than running away like his life depends on it. He could almost hear a younger version of himself say: "you'll see what us ponies do when confronted by a huge group of jerky dragons." But this time he took the cowards way out because of bigger plan. It was a good thing that he had lived with a neurotic, by the books, unicorn after all. He had to be ready to perform under stress if she started to behave crazy, or run away as fast as he could when things went south. And he was doing just that: run away.

"[i/] I have no time for the past right now, I got to Focus!" Spike thought as he jumped over a dead tree, when suddenly in another case of irony, one of his feet got caught behind a branch, causing him to almost falling down when he reached the other side. He stopped his fall with his claws, causing him to drop one of his Timberwolf limbs.

"Damnit!” He yelled out in frustration.

This was not a good moment to fall down and stop moving, the Timberwolf wasn't supposed to catch up yet. The ground was shaking underneath Spike after a large footstep was heard from behind him, followed by loud roaring and growling. The Timberwolf had recovered faster than expected, and was, unsurprisingly, still chasing him.

"Well, so much for hiding" Spike thought. The Timberwolf was getting closer, which Spike knew by the increasing sound of the power which the earth shook underneath him.

Spike quickly stood up again, and made a run for it, leaving one of his scorched wooden weapons behind. He quickly picked up speed, and ran as fast as his formerly chubby body could handle. He had to get to his target before the Timberwolf caught up with him. He could feel the wind in his face, and his heart pounding in his chest. He could swear that he felt the warm breath of the Timberwolf on the back of his neck, but the bad smell stayed out. He must been imagining things. Nonetheless, it caused him to move even faster, passing many trees in a small amount of time.

Spike noticed one thing as his little sprint continued: the forest was getting less and less dense while the chase continued. Spike didn't even need to shield his face against branches and twigs anymore. The sun's light also found its way through the trees above, while the forest was for the most part still dark, it was making things much easier to see. He was getting closer and closer to the 'civilized' world beyond the Everfree forest, and closer to his immediate target.

"At least I can afford to miss my destination and run further" Spike thought as he continued running. " There are enough ponies to distract Fido if I reached Ponyville"

that thought was followed by another piece of Spike's mind:"My current sanity status worries me sometimes"

No time for arguing with himself, Spike had to run, jumping over every obstacle in his way, circling around every big tree, and slapping the occasional branch out of his face. He tried everything, he zigzagged, and jumped through particularly densely growing tree groups in hopes of slowing the Timberwolf down. Unfortunately it had little to no effect, but Spike had to be sure that the giant Timberwolf wouldn't catch him at the very last minute.

Spike jumped through a particularly densely growing group of trees, again hoping to win some space between him and his attacker. He made it to the other side without a scratch, making contact with the leaf covered ground and kept running. He looked at his immediate surroundings and saw that he was almost on a path-like area. There were less trees, and the ground was more sand like with grass. Spike began to smile, because he recognized this place. A shadow had fallen over him, blocking out sunlight from above, and making it slightly colder. Spike looked ahead to see what caused the shadow, and almost ran into a large stone wall. It was the same cliff Spike encountered when he first discovered the Timberwolves that were living in the Everfree Forest so many years ago, the same day that he had sold himself to an orange coloured earth pony.

The cliff stretched for too long to just walk around it. The Timberwolf would catch up to him anyway. But Spike had no intent to run around it or climb over it.

Spike knew that he was stuck if he wanted to attempt running away again. And by the sound of it the Timberwolf was trying to get through the thick tree barrier, getting closer and closer to him, running wasn't really an option any more. It must have looked like he was stuck from an outsider's point of view, just like before. And this time there was no orange earth pony to save his life. Not that she could do anything if she was here.

Spike's stream of thought was broken the sound of two trees snapping and their subsequent fall to the ground broke his concentration. Spike turned around and saw the Timberwolf emerging from the shadows of the forest, glowing green eyes scanning every area that was in front of them, until they finally locked onto his position. Spike took a unwilling step back, hitting the cliff with the back of his back, causing more pain to his already wounded body.

The Timberwolf, almost at the same time took two steps ahead, letting the ground shake every time a paw hit the forest ground. Then another paw hit the ground, and another, and another, each one hitting the ground faster than its predecessor did, and shaking the ground with more force as its predecessor did. The Timberwolf picked up speed, running toward its target it had been chasing during the last few minutes.

Spike took a deep breath, trying to relax. He knew that this wasn't the end yet.

The Timberwolf was now at full speed, and ran toward Spike, his green glowing gaze was still focused on him, watching every move Spike made. Spike on the other hand stayed motionless as he saw his impending doom running toward him. This was the moment Spike was waiting for. The time of running away, and fleeing was over now. Spike as forced his body to detach from the stone wall, which responded by letting a few small pebbles and rocks fall to the ground. All according to plan. Spike forced his wounded arm to bring the Timberwolf's claw into fighting position at the same moment.

He brought it to his mouth, as he released a puff of green fire. Spike knew that fire was an effective weapon because he had already used it in the fight against regular sized-Timberwolves. More rubble came down the cliffside, covering part of Spike's left foot. Spike mentally readied himself as the Timberwolf was running at a straight line toward him. his plan might just might work after all

Spike took his burning weapon with his undamaged hand. He quickly aimed, which was not easy because he himself was shaking thanks to the Timberwolf's steps getting closer and closer. Spike threw his 'spear' as fast as he could, all the while looking his attacker straight in the eyes. Time seemed to slow down a bit as the burning weapon flew through the air, and finally hit it's mark.

The burning stick hit the Timberwolf right in the chest, causing a bit of flame to spread, but just as before there was no real damage done. The Timberwolf just continued its way to where its prey was. It might just have been a minor annoyance to the Timberwolf, but a minor annoyance was all that Spike needed. Even the equivalent of something like a mosquito bite to a larger creature could take its attention away from Spike for just a few moments. And those few moments were all Spike needed.

It was enough time for Spike to dash forward, and to deeply inhale. Spike was now close enough to see that the Timberwolf looked a bit surprised, but that could also have been his imagination. He jumped as high as his wounded body could handle, and exhaled the largest majestic green flame that the dragon ever created right onto the Timberwolf’s head. This effectively blinded the monster while Spike's feet hit the ground again, sending a shock through his bruised body.

The Timberwolf kept running, shaking its head viciously, trying to get the flames away. It had lost all its focus and sense about the outside world. It tried to slow down but it was too late for the poor creature. It slammed with considerable speed right into the giant stone wall. Spike could swear that he could hear a small, uncharacteristic yelp among the sound of wood connecting to solid stone, from the giant creature upon impact. The thing that followed was giant scattering of wood and stone all over the forest floor, falling from the sky piece by piece while spike enjoyed the show. There was nothing left of the giant creature, only the few pieces of wood buried under the rubble, and a slightly green-coloured, foul-smelling smog which spread itself through the surrounding area.

Chapter 8: Tactical Retreat

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Intermission Part I, Walk of the Silent

Author's Note

This chapter is shorter than usual, but I hope it does it's job explaining the situation
these intermission chapters will be a break from the main story, and give more background information about current events.
it also gives the point of view to other characters.
WARNING: BAD GRAMMAR IS STILL PRESENT.

Intermission Part I, Walk of the Silent

Intermission part 1

Walk of the silent, with an expressionless goodbye.

*events take place three years ago*

Twilight’s dream sequence, and POV

It was almost completely dark when I was walking past the last buildings in Ponyville and when the screaming and yelling coming from Ponyville finally died-out . The sky above was clear, with no clouds in sight, and stars and a beautiful full moon were visible in the sky above. It was almost the perfect night, with the emphasis on almost.

Normally I would be studying, or doing something with my friends, but tonight was different. Completely different
As I walked over the dirt road onto the grass, I could not make out anything distinctive outside of the light my horn casted on the forms direct around me.

One of those forms happened to be a purple coloured being, walking on two legs, and being around the same height as a grown mare.

This being was named Spike, and he was not a pony, he was a dragon.

He was a dragon I once called “friend” but that time had passed. Because this was the night I would probably see him for the last time. This very moment, as we walked outside of Ponyville, was most likely going to be the last moment we shared together.
And the sad thing is that we didn’t share this last moment spend in each other’s company as friends. I was chosen as alicorn princess to personally take him away from Ponyville and banish him from these lands.

I was also alone because none of my friends who were currently conscious wanted to come with me. Maybe to give us a last moment alone, or because they couldn’t look at the creature named Spike anymore.

The dragon in question had his back turned to me as we walked quietly on the wet grass outside of ponyville. He hadn’t looked me in the eye since yesterday, and was probably determined to keep it that way. I could only presume is was because of the shame, or to hide his tears.

We were finally far enough from ponyville to hear nothing of the screaming coming from my small home-town.

These screams could generally be summarized in one sentence :

“Banishment is too good for this monster”, mostly followed by something gruesome. Even though I couldn’t do those kind of things, I could understand the ponies’ feeling, especially after what Spike had done. Even I could somewhat relate to that, since one of my friends was currently unconscious, and wounded.

None of us said anything, as we put more distance between ourselves and Ponyville. Everything had already been said yesterday and this morning. Hurtful words, most of the time, coming from both the dragon and me and my friends. But most of spike’s words were lost to us . it was clear what he had done, and that is why I blocked out his words. Doing that with the power of the mind, or with the power of my silencing magic. But I made sure he could hear everything verypony had to say to him, while his words of anger and sadness were lost.

Even so, there were ponies that still had to say something nice too him were the CMC, and applejack’s big brother big Macintosh. They tried to reason why spike was innocent. But their pleas fell on deaf ears.

Almost nopony took the CMC seriously, they are just kids after all. And big mac’s statement was quickly overruled by a quick talking Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.

They were also the only ponies that come to say goodbye to spike before the banishment. Getting one final hug among a crowd of ponies who could only glare and scream in disapproval. But that was the only thing they could do because Big Mac gave an example of what would happen if they tried to break-up the tearful goodbye hug between spike and the CMC. He did this by almost knocking-out a stallion who was the first who tried to break up the hug.

The CMC, respectively, got dragged away by their sisters and Idol after the hug.

I was so lost in thought that I hadn’t noticed that Spike had stopped walking. I almost bumped into him, and quickly walked back to a saver distance. Spike made no attempt at moving an inch from his new found place right in front of the Everfree Forest.

For minutes we just stood there, both of us not moving. I just stared at him, and he seemed to stare at his feet. He was just waiting there, waiting for the next thing that would happen.

Staring at him made me become angry again. He had destroyed Ponyville and put one of my friends in the hospital, and that were not even his worst crimes he commited. He had also destroyed part om my reputation as an alicorn princess by doing this, which was more of a side-note in the situation.

All my feeling of anger came back to me. How could he do such a thing? Even though everything has already been said, and I didn’t really expect an answer from the dragon in question, I couldn’t help but asked with a tone that had a distinctive lack of sympathy:

“Why, Spike. Why did you do this?”

There was finally movement within the dragon’s body as he turned around to face me. His movements were slow, giving him the impression that he was very tired. His feet were clumsy, but he managed to turn around and look me dead in the eye.

His face looked very tired and bleak. It looked like he used a lot of strength to keep his head up high. His expression on the other hand was blank. There was no sign of anger or sadness anymore like there had been yesterday, and earlier today. The only thing that gave an slight expression were his glowing green eyes.

As an answer to my question he just stared at me with those darkened, tired looking, and slightly puffy eyes. Probably form all the crying he had done the past few days. But his eyes showed also no expression of sadness, or anger. His darkened eyes showed only indifference, and a slight hint of pain.

It looked like he didn’t care for me anymore, and that he had given up convincing me of his innocence after all his pleading. He just didn’t care about it anymore.

That expression made me almost feel bad for him. With the emphasis on the word almost.

After this last almost expressionless stare, Spike turned around without saying a word to me, and walked straight into the Everfree forest. My eyes following him all the way until I couldn’t see him anymore between the trees in the darkened forest

After standing there for a couple of minutes to make sure he was really gone, I also made my journey to my destination: back to Ponyville. Back to my real friends.

I only turned around to see a what looked like a pink flash pass by the tree, only to brush it of as a reflection of my magic, because the alternative wasn’t possible.

Lost in thoughts, I just kept on walking until I finally heard the sounds of Ponyville again. The sounds were still low and full of disapproval, but tomorrow there might just be a celebration. An ending celebration to mark the end of these dark few days.

Then everything turned to black

Twilight sparkle, alicorn princess of magic, suddenly woke up from her slumber, only to unconsciously look around her room for a being who hadn’t been there for three years now. The place where his basket once stood, en where later his sleeping place on the ground one was, were empty.

While starting to think, she heard her clock eleven times over. She had overslept, and hurried downstairs, banishing her strange narrative dream to the back of her head.