Remember What They Did Here...
Spike stared into the casket. The lifeless body of Iron Pen was still. His forest green hair was half burnt. His grey fur had faded across his face and over his sealed eyelids which would forever hold his pale golden eyes captive. He didn’t move. He didn’t breath. He wasn’t laying. He wasn’t anything. He wasn’t alive. He was only lifeless, or rather, absent of life, if that makes any sense to you. There are many ways to convey the pure and simple truth of the situation. There wasn’t going to be a happy ending. There was no last-minute elixir that could save him. Iron Pen was gone for good. He was dead… Spike watched as the casket lid closed.
Spike watched...all the way to the end. He watched the casket fall in slow motion down to it’s new home. It was falling, even if no one believed it. Down it went, six feet down, to it’s final display. It hit the bottom with a loud echoing thud that cried out to everyone that was near. It was still, but it was not quiet as the thunder began. Tiny orbs of glass began to fall, one by one, out of the sky. Their clear and round worlds melted as they collided with the casket. They fed the flowers that came raining down in families over the casket. Eventually the glass orbs killed the flowers by suffocating them. Their poor white faces died as they wilted in the rain. The rain, yes, the rain that masked the salty tears of only two beings. The loud glass orbs collided with the more salty silent orbs that cascaded down the cheeks of Spike and Iron Pen’s brother, Mythic Pen, or just Myt as he prefered.
Spike wrapped his great arm around Myt and guided him back under the easy-up which shielded the rest of the ponies at the funeral from the stinging rain. Myt’s showed not an ounce of despair. It was so painful to the point where no more tears came, and only more death took hold of his mind. His tear ducts were dry, his face turned to dust, and his conscience was as a desert. With the way things were now, he was ready to jump in after his brother and give up his own ghost. But, Myt knew that his brother wouldn’t want that. Iron would want Myt to carry on. Myt continued walking until he was met by the last ponies to see Iron Pen alive. Big Mac, Flash Sentry, and Soarin greeted Myt with hopes to comfort him during his time of loss. However, it was not only a loss for Myt, but Spike as well felt as though he had lost someone.
Spike didn’t know Iron Pen all that well, but it wasn’t the years that gave Spike his sympathy for the deceased. It was something else. He contemplated the events as he remained under fire from the sky. The glass orbs were pelting him still and melting against his scales. Spike’s fiance stepped up to him. Applejack placed her hoof on Spike’s back just below the wrapped up stub which took the place of a missing wing. “Spike. Are ya all right?” Her soothing countrytime accent pulled him away from the bottomless grave of sorrows. Spike walked back to the easy-up. He shielded Applejack with what was left of the wing he still had.
Princess Twilight Sparkle stood up and walked to the front of the crowd. A small orange filly with violet hair trailed behind, close to her mother. Twilight commanded her daughter to go to her father. The little filly slowly walked over to her father with her head low. She took refuge between the front hooves of Flash Sentry who gave a weak smile to his daughter. Twilight wanted to smile at her husband and daughter, but she stopped herself out of respect for the matter at hand. She faced the crowd and began, “Today we give our time, to give respect to this fallen soldier. He was one Canterlot’s best guards. I knew him for the words he wrote and spoke. His words inspired many of our other guards, including my dear husband,” Twilight paused, “my dear husband whom he saved. I did not know him personally, but I wish I had.” She looked at Myt who stared at her with hope for more good things to come out of her mouth. “I’m sorry, but I do not have too much to say. Whoever wishes to speak, may, if they wish.” On the verge of tears, Twilight raced back to Flash and hid her face into his shoulder.
Big Mac stepped forward. “I know I ain’t one for words, but I just wanted to take the time to say thanks. Thanks for savin’ us, and-” Big Mac turned to face a certain zebra, Zecora. “Thanks for gettin’ me home to my wife.” He stared at the ground for a bit. “That’s all.” The gentle red giant walked solemnly over to his wife. Zecora rested against his side.
“I don’t like it…” Soarin stared into the flames of their campfire. His usual wonderbolt uniform was replaced by a stiff and dirty camouflaged uniform that was half cotton and half “plastic”. He never did like it, but he was talking about something else. “I don’t like camping here. We’re too close to the changelings!”
“Maybe if you’d shut your mouth they wouldn’t hear us.” Iron Pen rebuked Soarin’s complaints.
“Why don’t you ‘shut up’ and mind your own business?” Soarin shouted even louder than before. “Fool.” Soarin muttered under his breath.
“Haven’t you ever heard? It’s better to remain silent and taken as a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. And well,” Iron smiled, “you open your mouth a lot.”
“Aren’t you opening your mouth as well?” To this, Iron just shrugged at Soarin. “Ha! Looks like I got the last laugh.” Soarin beamed with triumph.
Iron dropped all expression from his face. “Also Soarin,” he said, “he who laughs last, thinks the slowest.” Iron maintained his stoic expression.
It took him a while, but Soarin finally caught on to what he just said. “Why you little-”
“Enough of that!” Spike scolded Soarin; pointing his gun at him. “Iron is right, and if you don’t shut up I’ll shoot you myself. That way, you won’t have to worry about the changelings.” All was silent. Spike lowered his gun and put the safety back on.
Big Mac and Flash Sentry stood by the fire, heating up their rations in separate mess-kit pans. They both stared at Iron. They seemed annoyed by his presence. Iron let out a sigh as he lifted up a tin cup filled with a steaming hot neon yellow fluid. “Hot lemonade anyone?” Iron took a sip of his drink and offered small lemonade packets to the others. They shook their heads and continued to ignore Iron Pen.
Flash looked up at Big Mac. “So, you and that zebra?”
“Her name is Zecora.”
“Right yes, of course. So… What’s it like?” Flash didn’t so much as blink as he asked the question.
“Well, she’s a nice mare.” Big Mac was oblivious to what was really being asked.
“No. I mean what is ‘it’ like?” Flash made a rather inappropriate gesture with his hoof to get the message through to Big Mac. “That.”
“Oh,” Big Mac smiled, “well that’s good too.” They both fell into a quiet chuckle.
“So Mac..” Flash couldn’t contain the laughter about the topic. “do you two ever get into positions? Or anything like that?”
Iron Pen had been listening, and he didn’t want to hear anymore of it. “Can you two please stop.”
“What?” Both Flash and Big Mac said in unison.
“You should be ashamed of yourselves.” Iron retorted.
Both Big Mac and Soarin laughed again. “What’s the matter? Can’t handle a little sex talk?”
Iron Pen was not amused. “Bad experiences?” Flash laughed. “What, did you walk in on your parents?” The two of them continued laughing until Iron stood up.
“My mother was raped.” All of the sounds in the air had suddenly been murdered. Soarin smiled.
“Talk about being a real bastard, huh?” Soarin chuckled, but no one else joined him. That was too far.
Iron Pen stared at the ground. Spike looked at Flash and Big Mac. “What would your wives think?” Now Flash and Big Mac said nothing. “Flash, you even have a daughter.” Now Flash was hit by this metaphorical bullet. No one, except Spike, watched Iron Pen walk off in the distance.”
“What was that about?” Soarin groaned.
Spike just stared his daggers, sharper than usual, towards Soarin. “He respects and cares about mares’ virtue.”
Soarin scoffed. “Sounds a bit old fashioned to me.” Soarin took out a small bottle of amber liquid and took a quick swig. Spike promptly snatched the bottle and tossed it in the fire. All was silent again. None of them spoke another word for the rest of the night.
Spike looked up to see Iron Pen with his eyes locked on the stars, praying.
To everypony’s surprise, Braeburn stepped up. “I don’t know much ‘bout him, but he saved my dear Soarin from near death.” Braeburn turned to Soarin, gave a subtle wink, but there was no smile. “I thank him for that, at least.” Braeburn walked off, disappearing from the crowd along with Soarin.
Applejack shook her head at her cousin’s actions. She looked up to Spike. “Do ya wanna say anythin’?” Spike looked down at her. She could see the tear stains on his cheeks underneath all the rainwater.
“Yeah, I do.” Spike gave his fiance a light peck on the lips before walking up to confront the crowd.
“I didn’t know him in years, but I knew him in heart, in mind, in soul. He was a brilliant stallion. Yes, he was. But, behind his bright and intelligent eyes. He was a tortured soul. He never fit in because of his beliefs. Some would have called his views old fashioned, but perhaps he was ahead of his time.” Myt’s tears came back as he listened to Spike. Spike continued. “Haunted by his past, he appeared to most as a jerk. But at heart, he was better than everyone of us. Including me. He was faithful. He believed in being the best that anyone of us could be. Iron had a firm belief that all of us could be great. He believed in us. You may asking yourselves how I know this. Because,” Spike couldn’t hold it back as the dams in his tear ducts were shattered. The flood came down, “because he told me as he was dying.” The memories came back. They always do. They were powerful, enough to make a dragon cry.
“We’re gonna DIE!!!” Soarin screamed as he flew through the falling rocks. Flash was leading the way out of the collapsing canyon.
“Keep going!!!” Spike yelled at them all to keep going. His wingspan was too big to fly in the small canyon space, so he ran. As he did, he fired at the changelings that came chasing after them all. “GO, GO, GO!!!”
The canyon exit was close, but the raining boulders and swarm of changelings were even closer. Flash and Soarin came to a halt as the exit suddenly filled up with boulders. Iron Pen ran past Big Mac and Spike to the blockade of rocks.
“It’s hopeless!” Flash cried as he tried to move the heavy boulders. “Iron, what are you-”
“Where there is a will, there is a way…” Iron Pen laid his back against one of the boulders and began to slowly prop it open by pushing with his rear legs. “GAHHH!!!” There was an opening big enough for them to get through. Soarin was the first one out, then came Flash and Big Mac. “Spike GO!!” Iron yelled out in pain.
“I’m commin- AHH!!!” A boulder came crashing down, landing on top of one of Spike’s wings. Iron dropped the boulder and ran over to Spike. “I’m stuck! Just go with out me.” Iron still attempted to lift the boulder off of Spike, but he couldn’t.
“I’m not leaving you.” Iron pulled his bayonet. He raised it high, then in one swift strike…
“AHHHH!!!” Spike screeched in pain as he lost all the nerves from his crushed wing. Iron lifted him up and began to drag him towards a new opening that appeared. Spike weakly climbed through the opening, a blood trail from his missing wing followed.
Iron jumped through the opening, and the canyon sealed itself up along with a whole changeling swarm.
“We did it!!” Flash exclaimed over the sounds of the rest of the canyon collapsing.
“What makes you so sur-” Iron was cut off by a magical blast. A single changeling had escaped the doomed swarm in the canyon.
“NO!!!” Spike charged at the changeling and shielded himself with his other wing.
“He saved us all.”
Spike brought the full force of his hand crashing down on the changeling, snapping its neck.
“But he couldn’t save himself.” Everypony watched as Spike cried
“Don’t you die on me now!” Spike held the dying Iron Pen in his arms. “Why? Why didn’t you listen to me?! I told you to go.” Spike was confused, angry, and sad all at the same time.
“Spike, you understand.” Iron smiled. “Only you could. And, you have a fiance waiting at home to marry you.” He started coughing. “Looks like she owes me one. Heh.” He coughed again. there was blood. “Do me a favor Spike. Live well. Teach your children the right way to liv-” He stopped moving. His eyes were glassy, and his face was pale.
“If any of you dare say he wasn’t a hero, then shame on you.” Applejack cried for Spike as he gave these last words for Iron Pen. “He was a hero. He was a visionary. He spoke the truth about how to live life. Do not live in laziness. Live as if every day is your last. None of us know when we may pass away, but we should do our best to follow what Iron has told me countless times before, again and again.”
Spike’s voice faded as his words were no longer his own. They were now Iron Pen’s last testament to life.
“Treat others with respect. Love one another. Value your family. Teach them kindness. Kindness is the light of our spirits. But, that light can never shine if we speak in vain and disturbing tongues. Speak of the good. Keep the relationship between you and your spouse a special thing by speaking respectfully of it. The world could be an even brighter place, just imagine, if we all let our light shine across the world. It would be brighter than the stars, brighter than the sun. I may not live to see that day, but that is no excuse for anyone to stop striving for that kind of world. I hope, and I pray, that after I’m gone, my friends may live to see that glorious day of peace.”
In loving memory of John
my dear friend and mentor
1947-2014
