Spike and the Labor of Love

by Nature Quill

Rating: everyone
Tags: Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life, Human
Length: 1173

The labor of love is a great task to accomplish, especially for a teenage dragon.

Spike lived a happy life. He was raised by the loving unicorn Twilight Sparkle. Since the day he had hatched, she had taken care of him and raised the baby dragon as if he were here own son. Yet, Spike always looked at her as more of a sister than a mother. On the day of his birthday, though, he wishes to find out who his real parents are, but the events that follow his request are unexpected.

Ahron lived a complicated life. He was orphaned ever since he could remember, which led to him making mistakes he would regret forever. His only friend his roommate whom he had known for years. Yet when he finds a green haired child crying in the park, he thinks he might have found a way of redemption for at least some of his past. No, not all of it. He could donate all of his money to charity and volunteer for 5 years of community service and it wouldn't put a dent in his bad karma.

Destinies unexpectedly intertwined reveal themselves, bonds long since severed begin to reform, and memories shrouded by the past become clear. The labor of love is a strong one, but you're not supposed to face it alone.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-28 05:40:02 UTC

Prologue

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Spike stared up at the banner, announcing his celebratory day. He sighed and turned his back to it, staring at the floor. He appeared to be deep in thought. A purple pony on the other side of the room noticed this. She set down the broom she was using to sweep up the stray confetti coating the floor and trotted over to Spike, placing a hoof on his shoulder. The dragon had grown quiet a bit over the years, now he was just a bit taller than the average pony, but Twilight's alicorn nature allowed her to grow much taller than a normal pony as well, but at the moment she was only about a foot taller than her friends, so she could still look down at her assistant.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked him. "You were really quiet the whole party."

He sighed. "Twilight, who are my parents?" He asked. His voice was dripping with sadness. Not just the normal mock sadness he usually portrayed, using it as an excuse to down a tub of ice cream. He was honestly sad, and had clearly been thinking about this for awhile. His tone nearly broke Twilight's heart, and she unwillingly sighed.

"Well, I'm kind of your mom, don't you think?" She suggested. Spike's sad gaze turned to a monotone expression.

"No, I mean my real parents," He said. Twilight looked slightly taken aback at this, obviously not the response she was expecting.

"Spike, I'm not sure who your parents are, but if you don't think of me as one, what am I to you?" She asked, tears were forming slightly in the corners of her eyes. Spike swatted her hoof off his shoulder.

"I don't know Twilight, I just... I just don't know..." He muttered. He put a claw up to his face, attempting to hide his tears. "But I can't keep living my life like this. I can't just keep acting like I'm a pony. I'm a dragon, and I'll have to leave some day. When that day comes, I want to have someone to turn to,"

"But Spike, you don't have to! I'm an alicorn now! I basically immortal, we can spend our lives together, without having to worry about losing one another! You don't have to lea-" She argued, but was interrupted by Spikes counter claim.

"NO! TWILIGHT YOU DON'T GET IT! I can't live like this! I have to leave at some point, and I at least want to have some family when the time comes! Now, I'm going on a walk, I'll see you later..." He shouted, then began towards the door.

"Spike! Come back here this instant! We need to talk about this!" She hollered to him.

        "I'M GOING ON A WALK!" And with that, he was gone, not to be seen by an residents of Equestria for a long time.

         The cool night air brushed across Spike's scaly skin. Most ponies might have been bothered by the cold breeze, but his dragon scales gave him protection from the elements. Heck, he can even take a bath in lava and come out unscathed.

         Anyways, as he walked along the path, he gazed up at the vast expanse of stars hanging in the sky. As he viewed the beautiful glimmering patchwork of light, his eye was caught on an especially bright star. The cosmic wonder stood out from the rest of its companions.

         As he gazed at the miniature miracle, a childish thought wiggled its way to the front of his mind. The dragon might have just dissed the thought in any other situation, but he was desperate for answers. He took a deep breath and said, in barely a whisper.

          "I wish to find out who my real parents are, the ones who made that egg." He whispered. For a second nothing happened, then the star he had wished flashed brighter for a moment then dimmed out entirely. Spike blinked for a second. "Well, that was weird."

         All of a sudden a light glimmered into existence right in front of Spike.  It had an ominous glow to it that seemed to beckon the purple reptile in. Said dragon reached out his claw and just as his fingers touched it, his arm froze entirely. No amount of struggling was going to free him. Then, the light began to spread from one finger to his palm and eventually his entire arm.

         He wanted to scream for help but found his voice caught in his throat. The light had spread to his entire body and was inching it's way up his neck. As the light consumed his head, his brightly illuminated form disintegrated,  as if it were a mound of sand. And in it's place stood nothing. Spike was gone.

         A small park laid silent in the ominous night. A cool breeze rustled the branches. A lone human walked along the path leading the through the park. He was wearing a black leather jacket and black jeans to accompany it. His hair was a dark color that seemed to be on the border between black and brown, with an eye patch on his right eye. A cigarette was perched in his mouth and the orange glow it gave off was multiplied tenfold by the dark night.

         As he took a long drag, there was a flash of light and thump. He started coughing up the smoke from his lungs and strained to find the source of his startling. When suddenly, a new sound pierced the air. It sounded like...crying? The man followed the noise and pinpointed it to an oak tree.

         "Trees don't cry. Did his girlfriend dump him or something?" He said to himself. As he neared the trunk, the crying grew louder and louder. Finally he poked his head around the other side... To find a little crying child.

         The boy's hair was a light green, and his eyebrows were probably the same color, but the man couldn't tell since his face was buried in his hands. He wore a purple and green short sleeve shirt and purple shorts, accompanied by purple shoes with green soles. He was sobbing profusely, curled into a ball.

         The man looked around for any signs of the little boy's parents. Seeing no one in sight, he sighed. Taking the cigarette out of his mouth, he flicked it into the grass behind him and stomped it out. That was when he noticed the little kid had stopped crying. As he swiveled back around, said boy had indeed stopped his sobbing and was staring at him. The man stared back for a moment and gave a little nervous chuckle, giving a little wave.

         "Uh, hi. How are you?" He asked. The little kid continued to gaze at him then let out a scream.

         "Ah! Pirate!" He shouted. The man stared confused.

         "Pirate? I'm not a-Oh," He said, touching his eye-patch. "Why is that always kids' reactions?"