Chapter 2: Funeral

Blueblood stood there motionless after receiving hearing the answer for Twilight Sparkle, he forgot how to think, move and talk, it was a miracle he was still breathing albeit slowly. For a full minute the basement was more silent than a graveyard until Twilight spoke.

“I’m sorry.”

Rage filled the prim and proper unicorn upon hearing those words. Blueblood let out an enraged scream as he tackled Twilight to the ground, the rest of the ponies present shocked by his sudden outburst. Before any of her friends could act again Twilight felt a tremendous pain on the left side of her face almost sending her right into unconsciousness, she barely made out a scream from her friends before seeing a blurry rainbow streak hitting against the mad stallion on top of her.

It took her some seconds for her head to stop pounding and a few more for the buzzing around her to stop. The moment Twilight regained full conscious she found herself on her hooves again supported by Rarity and Pinkie Pie while in front of her Rainbow Dash and Applejack were struggling to keep the prince down. The left side of her face hurt and burned like nothing she had ever experienced before, she had her fair share of scars and bruises thanks to all her adventures, experiments and whatnot, but this pain was something new for her. Thankfully her eye was fine and thus was able to see in full detail the face of the prince. Twilight flinched in fear when she saw nothing but hate on his eyes and wondered for a moment if she was truly alive, those eyes held nothing but death for her, slow, painful death.

“RELEASE ME!” Blueblood roared trying to get up but was firmly held in place, he couldn’t use his magic as Rainbow bit down his horn “RELEASE ME I SAY!”

“Not until ya’ll simmer down!” Applejack ordered while using her lasso to hold his two back legs and one of his forehooves together “Just look what ya did to Twilight.”

“And I’m not finished yet, release me, NOW!” Blueblood commanded again struggling even harder against the two mares “I’M GOING TO MURDER YOU, TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” he roared again and for a brief second he regained enough movement just to move a few inches toward his target.

“I’m sorry.” Twilight said again despite the pain, her words only enraged the stallion even further.

“Don’t you DARE say that.” Blueblood hissed “Don’t you bucking dare.” he tried using his magic despite the cyan mare biting on his horn, the result was shocking pain all over his form but he barely showed any signs of it. “R-release me!” he ordered once again, his voice sounding a bit broken.

“I-it was an accident, we didn--.” Rarity began but was cut off.

“An accident?! How can a DRAGON die from an accident, EEHHHH!?” Blueblood snapped at Rarity harshly but his question was left unanswered, just a look of guilt flashing through the faces of the four mares he could see, specially on the yellow one told him enough “What in the name of Celestia were you doing!?”

“I’m sorry.” Twilight said, tears falling from her eyes, some mixing with the blood still dripping for her left cheek “I’m so, so, so sorry. I’m sorry Spike.” Twilight murmured and Pinkie hugged her as best as she could without harming her.

Blueblood charged his horn again, this time with far more power than the last time, ending in the same result but also shocking Rainbow with his magic as well. His body shocked violently as muffled screams escaped his muzzle, when it was finally over he just laid there with his face against the floor. Rainbow was stunned for a moment thanks to the raw magic power of the prince but soon recovered, she was about to bite his horn again when she felt him relax under her. Curious she looked down at the white stallion and then to Applejack, who also noticed it, both of them looked closely at Blueblood to see if he was planning something.

“He chose to be your assistant, did you know?” Blueblood asked against the floor, his voice barely understandable “He chose to be with you when he had better things to do, some of them even vital, but he turned them away, you know why?” the six mares were now looking down at the unmoving prince, confused “Just because he was able to send things to aunt Celestia and she to him, just because it would make things easier for you as her student, he wanted to help you during your studies because you were his ‘best friend’, nothing more nothing less.” Blueblood gave out a hollow chuckle.

“I begged my aunt to reconsider, that it was too dangerous, that is was pointless for him! But she convinced me saying it was good for Spike, that didn’t stop me or Cadence from keeping a close eye every now and then.” Blueblood sniffled “He was very smart, you know? Ever since he was little he was aware just how different he was and how others treated him, just because he is…..was a dragon, and yet he was kind, helpful and nice. Spike...he, he was destined for greatness.” in a sudden jolt of movement he snapped his head up only to pierce swords against Twilight, his eyes filled with tears and his face showing the same anger and hate as before. “He was to become a symbol of peace and unity, a sign that harmony is for all, no matter who or what you are.” His voice voice began to break down, almost choking himself between sentences.

“The Crystal Empire already saw him as a hero, maybe even as a symbol. Buck it all,“ Blueblood gave out a long growl like sound followed by sobbing as he began to hit the ground with his free hoof “Spike was going to be b-better than me, he was going to s-stand *sob* proud and s-s-strong at our side!” Blueblood slowed his free hoof as he shot one last death glare towards the mares in front of him “And you took him away from us.” his face slowly morphed from anger to sadness as he cried softly.

“L-look pal, just because Spike was your friend too doesn’t give you the right to want to kill somepony!.” Rainbow said looking down at Blueblood, her own eyes filled with sad tears.

Blueblood stopped his wailing with an almost somber laugh “Friend? You think Spike was my friend?” He looked at each mare (Rainbow and Applejack as best as he could) noticing their confused stares and faces, he focused his gaze on Twilight for a few second and then gave out a very hollow laugh, one that made the six mares feel very uncomfortable. “Oh, this is too rich.” he laughed some more as tears kept on falling from his eyes, his laugh loud and eager managing to send shivers down the spines of the mares “I don’t know if I should feel pity or amusement, even after all this time you never figured out, did you? Princess Twilight Sparkle.” he said with venom upon her title and name.

“Figure what out?” Applejack asked, suddenly dreading where this conversation was heading.

“Cadence and I are the niece and nephew of princess Celestia and princess Luna. Our only living family members.” Blueblood smiled a little as he chuckled darkly while the mares stared at him nervously “And Spike is my ADOPTIVE cousin,” the mares felt something inside of them suddenly paralyze as he continued “but since aunt Luna was in the moon at the time Spike was hatched,” Blueblood locked his gaze with Twilight as he smiled softly at her, making Twilight feel light headed “I firmly believe the answer is pretty obvious, don’t you think?” Blueblood said mockingly at the mares, but the sudden feeling of dread and realization made the air in the basement so thick that breathing turned into a challenge “You think I was bad, that I was dangerous? You think you are safe from punishment? Better start praying, all of you, aunt Celestia will be here soon.”

As if invoked by Blueblood himself there was a flash of golden light so intense entering through the broken door, that illuminated the entire basement blinding the ponies inside for a moment, after the light faded slow and weak steps of something metallic hitting against the wooden floor echoed all over the basement. The six mares started to shake in fear, Rainbow and Applejack releasing Blueblood and slowly backing away to where their friends were as a multicolored, flowing mane began to make its way inside the basement.

Seconds later the almost ghastly and wet face of princess Celestia met them, her eyes closed as a small trail of tears fell from their corners, ever so slowly she walked in a steady collected pace until she was besides her nephew, who was already up on his own accord, Blueblood nuzzled his aunt before stepping back. Celestia opened her eyes slowly revealing a pure golden light emerging from them. The six mares were frozen in place by fear.

“Where is my baby?” Celestia asked softly.

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*3 Days Later, Canterlot*

Twilight and the rest of her friends sat in silence on their seats waiting for the ceremony to begin.

They were sitting in the front row, almost directly in front of the empty coffin and the smiling picture of Spike. Twilight turned her head to the right ignoring the lingering pain of her injury and the itching of the bandages to see her friends wearing a black veil over their faces, except for Applejack who wore a black stetson hat. Up until now Twilight had enclosed herself in her own thoughts, ignoring the world around her, but now she could hear the murmurs and the sobbing inside the room.

Turning her head to the left she saw some of the high ranking officers of the Royal Guard without their armors, and instead wore a suit similar to that of Shining Armor, despite everything their faces remained as stoic as ever. Behind them she could see some of the important figures, celebrities and nobles of Equestria, some of the ones she could recognize were members of the Wonderbolts, Fancy Pants and his wife Fleur, Hoity Toity, Sapphire Shores and more. Behind them were some ponies she didn’t recognize except for Pony Joe and some of the staff members around the castle she barely remembered.

Looking behind her she could see her parents and some residents from Ponyville, mostly family members of her friends, most of them looking sad except for her parents, especially her mother who was crying hard against the chest of her husband as he held her tightly. Twilight dreaded looking to the front once more, this time looking past the empty coffin and directly to the royal family sitting just a little behind the coffin. She saw Cadence crying her heart out against her brother who held the same stoic expression the other officers had, then she locked her gaze with Blueblood for a split second, suddenly feeling even worse than she already had been for the past three days.

“Where is my baby?” The way princess Celestia had asked that question and her subsequent answer pained her heart, but the reaction of the princess was something that would haunt her as long as she lived.

It felt like hours before Celestia reacted, at first she had giggled, then she chuckled and lastly she laughed hard and loud, a laughter colder than ice and emptier than space, she laughed for minutes barely stopping to breathe, and as she went on the laughter slowly turned into cries and screams of sadness, her eyes stopped glowing, the river of tears cascading from them increasing as she dropped to the ground letting her crown slip off of her head. Her voice sounded harsh and painful, almost like she had already screamed and cried before coming to the library (Blueblood later confirmed it). Even so, the pain was so evident in her actions and in her face it was impossible not to cry just by seeing her as destroyed as she was.

For minutes nopony did anything until Fluttershy stepped forward, gently nuzzling the princess making her cries softer, after a couple of seconds Celestia looked up and saw the great pain, shame, guilt and sadness in the eyes of the shy pegasus. Celestia nuzzled back at Fluttershy sweetly.

“H-h-how?” That came out of Celestia’s mouth barely louder than a murmur and so lifeless that it only made the six mares feel even worse, if that was even possible at that point.

Explaining what they were doing and what happened took almost an hour in between cries, sobbing and lectures, not from Celestia but from Blueblood, Celestia was devastated, that much was clear, on the other hoof Blueblood held not only sadness but hate in his heart, Twilight had felt it. None of the mares could blame him for that. When they finally reached the part of Spike’s sacrifice Celestia stopped crying and did the unthinkable. She lunged to Fluttershy and hugged her, hard. The shy mare returned the hug as she cried over the white coat of the Sun Goddess. Then she got up and signaled Blueblood to leave with her. Blueblood protested, angrily demanding justice or some kind of punishment but Celestia said nothing, she just ignored her nephew and kept on making her way out of the basement and the library, Blueblood following her shortly after but not before he shoot another death glare towards the bearers.

The six friends left the library hours later, Rarity insisting to take Twilight to her home. The very next day news that princess Celestia had fallen into a deep depression spread like wildfire across Equestria but the cause was, thankfully, unknown. Celestia refused to come of her room for two whole days until the morning of the third day as many ponies across the land received private summonings to attend to the castle immediately, including the Bearers, the why was explained inside the contents.

And so here they were now, waiting for Celestia to arrive and begin the funeral of Spike Dracone Solaris, Prince of Equestria.

For ten more minutes everypony waited patiently before the sound of opening doors behind them was heard, in walked both the princess of the day and the night, the latter wearing a transparent black veil and the former wearing nothing at all except for her crown. Both walked in slowly making the ponies inside go silent as they passed, all of them bowing as best as they could before their rulers. Finally, the sisters arrived at their destination at the back of the podium placed at the right side of Spike’s picture, Luna shared a nuzzle with her big sister murmuring something at her, Celestia nodded softly before taking her spot in the head of the podium.

Celestia closed her eyes and breathed deeply before speaking “Many believe that, after seeing so many ponies pass away, whatever the circumstance, has prepared me and my sister throughout all these millennia. Making us immune to the pain of said loss.” Celestia’s eyes snapped open “My little ponies, I can assure you this is untrue, the loss always hurts, it’s always there, it’s a reminder to all that we cannot enjoy the company of those who were once close to us, especially that of our friends and family.” she took a moment to steady herself and breathe before continuing “I have seen the passing of thousand of my beloved subjects, I have seen the pain on each one of them when somepony dear to their hearts pass away, I too have suffered that same pain, my father and mother, my uncle and aunt, countless friends and one hundred and fifty eight generations of Blueblood’s, the descendents of my dear brother.”

Celestia stopped to scan the room quickly, she smiled tenderly before speaking “All of you knew Spike in one way or another, but very of you had knowledge of Spike’s rank and title.” She took a deep breath trying to calm her pounding heart “When Spike was hatched, a miracle on its own accord, I took him in and cared for him, I-I tended to him with w-what little free time I had, I----h-he made me feel truly needed, his laughter always m-making me s-smile after a long day, a-and I---” Celestia stopped bringing one of her wings to cover her mouth as tears finally began to fall from her eyes “P-pardon me, I-I can’t….I ….I just can’t.” Celestia sniffled loudly trying her best to control herself, Luna got up from her seat but the free wing of Celestia flared, signaling her to stay put.

“H-he was six months old when he first spoke, ‘Mommy’, that was his very first word, and he said it to me with that oh so adorable smile of his.” Celestia whimpered as she smiled looking at her left, directly to the smiling picture of the young dragon “M-my little baby, he became *sniff* my little baby that exact moment and I h-his mommy, I--I--oh my dear sweet baby.” Celestia couldn’t take it anymore, she broke down and cried against the podium, none of the presents moved, mostly because they were crying themselves or to shocked to see their princess in such a state, for a full minute this didn’t changed a bit until Celestia got up and looked directly at the six Bearers, who had their eyes filled with sour tears, just as she was.

She took a deep breath to steady herself before continuing “ ‘N-nothing c-can p-prepare you for the loss of a child’. *sniff* Mothers say that, and now I k-know *sniff* I know w-what it m-means. I had a speech ready, b-but I c-can’t do it, my little baby is g-gone, but there is s-something I can take great pride in.” Celestia smiled tenderly, as best as she could in her current state, and gave a low bow to the Bearers “My son was still young but he sacrificed himself *sniff* to save a friend without a second thought, and for t-that, and so many reasons more, I am proud to say he was my son.”

Celestia looked at the picture again, tears filled her eyes once more before walking towards it and kissed the picture right on his forehead, then Luna walked next to her, supporting the white alicorn as best as she could to her seat, once she was near it Cadence launched herself against Celestia and hugged her tightly, finally Celestia broke down completely and began to wail and sob against her dear niece.

Twilight vision was blurry with tears but decided to look around the room again, unsurprisingly most of the presents were also crying in silent respect, even the stoic guards were crying. One of them, another Captain if she remembered correctly, got up and walked to the podium, the eulogies began with him.

For almost two hours the six Bearers were bombarded with heavy doses of pain, regret, guilt and shame. For each passing eulogy only served to make them realize just how little they knew about their dragon friend, the firsts ones were some of the heaviest because it made them realize, especially Twilight, that they knew nothing of him while they were living in Canterlot, aside from him being Twilight’s personal assistant. Worst of all, it made them see that even after three years of ‘knowing’ him they hadn’t asked him even once about it.

All of the officers had told how Spike became the influence or their motivation to enter into the Royal Guard or to reach the rank they were at know, including Shining Armor. The most emotive of all was of the Grand General of the Guard, he told he was about to commit suicide, jumping from the secluded part of the Royal Garden into the bottom of the mountain before Spike walked into him, Spike was only six years old at the time, he hadn’t even started his training as an assistant but still he just went and sat next to the him. The stallion broke down as he told how he had open up to the little hatchling, revealing him how his father thought of him as a failure for not passing the rank of private, how his brother and sisters blamed him for the death of their mother and just how sick and tired he was of life. The dragon had just told him “Mommy says that choices are difficult and many ponies take the easy ones but not the right ones.” The dragon got up with a jump and extended his claw to him “I don’t know much about choices, but I think all you need is a friend, can I be your friend?”. It had taken only those words and the true offer of friendship to save him and help him achieve the place he was now at.

How could they ever imagine Spike had done so much? He may not be a symbol of protection, of a hero on his own accord to Equestria like they were, but the little things he had done were mind boggling.

Spike was the responsible for making Fancy Pants who he was today simply because, by telling him the truth of how bad idea an investment in gem digging, especially in diamond dog territory, really was while almost all of the other nobles encouraged him on doing so. Fancy decided to take his advice and, much to his displeasure, received news how the other ones who invested on the project went to bankruptcy in less than a month, while the nobles who had encouraged them suddenly grew in wealth. For listening the truth of the ten year old dragon he was saved from ruin and just a couple of year later, made his way into the noble houses. With that simple act Spike had not only teach him that honesty was important, but that by giving a chance to others something wonderful could come out of it.

Not only that, but he had helped Pony Joe open up his shop, being the only time he pulled his rank to take bits from the royal treasury and, in a generous act, donate them to him. No wonder he was so well received by the donut pony.

Hoity Toity was saved by Spike in a different manner. Spike had saved him from being robbed and probably murdered by a diamond dog, thus gaining a friendship with the, at the time, novice fashion designer.

Sapphire Shores met the drake after one of her failed auditions, she had decided to quit her dream of becoming a singer, but after bumping into him and a few words of encouragement from the drake and an improvised performance in the middle of the plaza, also encouraged by him, earned her first step into becoming a superstar, in his words “You just need to show your talents to those willing to see it, well, hear it in your case, hehe.” She had also learned a lesson of kindness that day.

Spike had touched almost every single one of these ponies in a deep and meaningful way, of course, not all could say what they wanted to say, some broke down before they could say anything, others in mid-euloge and some just left without saying anything escorted by the royal guards posted outside the room.

Twilight wanted to say her own eulogy but after hearing so many depicting her once number one assistant as a personal hero or great friend, she felt so tiny and insignificant compared to them, and by the looks of it her friends felt the same. Finally, she saw Blueblood walk to the podium, him marking the last eulogy.

“I don’t have anything epic or grand to say, after hearing such great tales and stories about my dear cousin has made me smile even in this dark times, all I have to say is that, no matter where he is now, we must continue on and strive to live as happily as we can, I’m sure that thats what he would wish for. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all for taking your time to come and give your last goodbye to a wonderful friend, a magnificent dragon and an unforgettable prince, may his memory never fade from our minds.”

And with that Blueblood ended the funeral, slowly the guests began to leave, some of them taking a few moments to touch, kiss of confess something to the picture of the dragon, the last to give their good-byes being Celestia, Luna and Cadence along with her husband. After almost half an hour the only ones left in the room were Blueblood and the six Bearers. Blueblood walked until he was in front of the mares, he waited until the six of them looked up to him.

“If you have come to laugh at us for our ignorance, please darling, don’t, you can’t possibly make us feel worse even if you tried.” Rarity said with an almost raspy voice, consequence of her crying throughout almost all of the ceremony. The rest of the mares visibly cringed a bit at her words.

“No, I have no desire of humiliating you any further, I will let your conscience do that for me.” The mares looked away in shame “I just have come to inform you that you will be staying at the castle for a prolonged time,” none of the mares said anything “aunt Celestia believes you must spend some time here before returning to your normal lives. Also, regretfully, you won’t be punished for anything since it was, an accident.” he remarked almost hissing the words “I will also leave in a few hours to Ponyville, there I will stay in your library, Twilight Sparkle. I have already discussed this with my aunts and they have granted me permission, you are also off-limits until I say so, understood?” the princess nodded slowly, barely looking at him “Don’t worry about your jobs, it has been already taken care of too.” he walked past them, making his leave “I will leave this thought with you though. How much do you think Spike cares for you all to put his own life in the line without a second thought like he did?” then, the prince left the room, letting the six mares alone.

Only the faint sounds of crying was heard for the rest of the evening.

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*3 Days Earlier, ????????*

“Retreat! Retreat!” a changeling clad in blue and green armor screamed through the air, making ponies, minotaurs, mules, donkeys and other changelings wearing similar uniforms run away from the city and their positions “The Murderous Six are coming! Retreat!” the changeling screamed again making the troops below him run double time.

“Sombra dammit!” a griffon cursed from behind a can of trash in a lonely alleway “we were so close to take the city back.” he said picking up a ballista and bolts “C’mon we have to get out of here before those lunatics arrive!”

“I know, I know!” a female changeling responded “Help me get this thing ou-”

*KKRRRRRROOOOOOAAAAMMMMM*

The sudden sound of something similar to a thunder and a blinding flash of light emerged a few meters behind them making them take cover instantly. A few seconds later both griffon and changeling stepped out from their hiding spots.

“What in Tartarus was that!?” the griffon shouted.

“Keep it down, idiot, do you really want to get caught by any of them?” the changeling said glaring at her partner “It doesn’t matter, we gotta go, now.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” tanking his ballista and bolts up again he spread his wings open, but before he took flight he smelled something “Hey, you smell that?”

“What are you doing, we have to go now!” said the changeling already in mid air.

“It smells like…..burning meat.” the griffon paled looking back at where the noise and flash had come from “By Chrysalis.” the griffon dropped the ballista and the bolts and ran inside the alley.

“You idiot!” the changeling hissed as she flew behind him “What do you think you….are……..sweet hive mother.” the changeling descended as she saw the remains of the alleyway, it was mostly burnt to a crisp but now she could smell it, the smell of burnt meat hit her hard, making her almost throw up.

“By Sombra, it can’t be.” the griffon said pulling the changeling out of her trance “A baby hatchling.” upon hearing those words the changeling flew next to her partner a few meters more inside the alleyway and, true to his words, there was an almost completely charred baby dragon, she knew this was the source of that foul smell but now mixed with the sight of a twisted limb, several missing scales and almost completely destroyed spines made her throw up this time.

“B-by Chrysalis, I thought all hatchlings were killed years ago.” the changeling said cleaning some of her vomit with one hoof, a sudden explosion in the distance made them both jump in terror “They’re here already!?” she screamed in fear.

*......uuuuuunnggggggggghh*

The changeling looked down to the remains of the baby dragon esceptically.

“The hatchling is still alive!” the griffon said grabbing him as carefully as he could, earning another painful moan. “C’mon, let’s go, now!” another explosion, this time closer panicked him “Now dammit!” he spread his wings and took flight, carefully holding the drake against his chest.

The changeling wasted no more time after hearing another explosion followed by screams of pain and terror, she buzzed to life her wings and took off behind his partner, leaving yet another city to burn behind them.

Chapter 2 End.

Author's Note

Here it is! Hope you like it!

Also, sorry for the delay, something bad came up and I had to be away for two days, its fixed now, but yeah, sorry.

I'm still searching for an Editor or a Proofreader for this story, if anyone wants to take the job, PM me plase!

Special thanks to all who read this, I love you all.