Real
“Princess Celestia, who are my parents? I asked Twilight, but she didn’t know.”
The white alicorn regarded the speaker with a small feeling of dread. Her flanks heaved slightly as she exhaled, preparing herself. Her kind gaze swept over her most faithful student, and her draconian companion. She had promised herself that she would tell the truth, the whole truth.
“Spike, you don’t have parents. Wait,” a golden clad hoof was held up, forestalling the questions on the tips of the unicorn and dragon’s tongues. “Let me finish explaining. Twilight, my amazing student, you weren’t supposed to pass the egg hatching test. That test; it was designed to be unpassable.”
“But Princess, that makes no sense. I clearly passed it; I hatched Spike…and made him fully grown…and turned my parents into potted plants…”
“Yes you did Twilight. It was one of the most amazing feats I have ever witnessed in my lifetime.” Twilight, ever eager to please her Princess, beamed at praise. Her purple cheeks gained a lovely rose color.
“It is made more impressive by the fact that it should not have been possible. The test was not to hatch the egg, but to deal with failure in a proper way. In some ways, you failed the test. You pushed yourself until you preformed a miracle, and it is because of that miracle that I took you to be my faithful student.”
The young unicorn began heave. She had failed a test! A test; her first test for Princess Celestia! Should she fail her next test on purpose to make up for not failing the egg test? No, wait, that would be failing that test! What should she do-
“Twilight, calm down. I am not going to ask you to fail a test. Just understand this my student; there will come times when you will fail. What is important is that you recognize that you have failed, that you stop repeating the action that is causing you to fail, and that you learn from it. And remember this, everyone fails. Even I have made mistakes, and I have failed at tasks.” Outside, the full moon, complete with its mare, hung low in the starry sky.
Calming down, the purple filly nodded with great enthusiasm. One would think she would hurt herself by nodding so hard. She would not let down her Princess!
“However, this conversation is not about failures, or tests. It is about Spike. Twilight, Spike, I would never take an egg, or any child, from its parents. That is one of the highest cruelties that can be committed.”
The firelight from Celestia’s private fireplace reflected in the growing moisture of the purple and green dragon. Despite just coming out of infancy, the clever dragon had already leapt to a horrendous conclusion.
“My parents…they’re dead, aren’t they?” Crystal clear water ran down his face. The water complied onto his slightly pointed chin, and dripped down to the tile floor with a barely audible plop.
Twilight Sparkle moved to comfort Spike, only to be silenced by a word from her mentor. “No.” The two younger beings snapped their heads toward the ancient one in the room. The fire crackled slightly.
“Spike, you never had any parents. That egg that was hatched that day had been constructed out of wood and painted over to mimic a real egg. It was a fake egg. The miracle that Twilight preformed that fateful day was the giving of life to something that never had it.”
Twilight gasped. Spike’s reaction was far stronger. “YOU’RE WRONG! YOU ARE LYING! I AM REAL!” That crystal clear liquid poured freely as the young drake roared at the ancient alicorn. Her rainbow hair, ever waving in the unseen breeze, was pushed back slightly.
Spike spun quickly, facing the exit of room. Tears formed perfect spheres as they were flung across the room. One landed directly on Celestia’s cheek. “I AM REAL!” He ran out of the room, slamming the door open to the alarm of the two guards outside. A trail of the clear liquid was flowing behind him.
“Spike!” Twilight galloped out of the room without a glance at her mentor. The white alicorn remained seated, a single tear gathering in her right eye. It slid out, slowly tracing her hair, and came in contact with another glob of water.
Larger, faster now, it flowed downwards, gaining momentum. It launched itself from the virginal snow-white hair, and landed with a ringing ping on the ground.
She stood up, and walked out with the grace and dignity her position demanded. The crown weighted heavily on her head, forcing it down slightly. The guards fell into formation behind her.
“Please do not follow. This remains a private affair.” The one on the left saluted, and they returned to the door. The Princess of the Sun continued to walk regally, following the trail. Behind her, the fire began to dim.
Twilight, a young purple prodigy, found her friend and companion in his room. Comic books of colorful heroes were thrown on the ground. The sleeping basket was overturned, and the young drake was wailing with his clawed fists on a wall.
“I am real. I am real. I am real.” The chant was soft, yet clear; the voice was a higher pitch than normal. Purple forelegs wrapped around the dragon in a tender embrace.
“You are real Spike.” Sobbing, the dragon spun and hugged the unicorn as much as his tiny body could. A tearstained face pressed itself into a shoulder; scales clouding from the moisture.
“You heard her. She said…she said my egg…it was fake. It was not real. If it was not real…how can I be real? I feel real…”
The forelegs squeezed slightly harder. A hitched breath. “You feel this Spike?” The spiked head nodded in the shoulder. “This is real. All of this is tangible and real. You think, you feel, and therefore you are. Never doubt that Spike.”
“I am real?” His voice was lower now.
“You are real.”
A warm feeling entered the two young beings. And then an external warmth also enveloped them as wings wrapped around the two. Each were held by a single gold covered foreleg that gently held the two.
“You are real Spike. Though the egg may have been fake, Twilight's miracle created you. And you are real. This feeling is real, all feelings are real. Hold onto that Spike, and you will find yourself.”
The love and pain had never felt so real to the young dragon; Spike felt more alive than ever.
He was real.
Author's Note
First story, so I thought I would start in a one-shot. Tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.
