I'll be waiting...

by Zweiterversuch

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Sad, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Spike
Length: 18877

Legends mention a shiny kingdom. It was ruled by mystical and beautiful beings. It was said that it was always sunny there, without any wars or hunger. What a beautiful kingdom that would be. I pray everyday for the legends to be true.

I fell through a hole and I can't get back up.
The cave is deep and dark. I hear noises coming from the cracks in the walls, and I swear there are eyes watching my every step.
The cave trembles. Debris falls from above and I sense something heavy getting closer.
The tunnels are big and wide. Anything could live in here.
My heart shrinks at sight of emerald flames at the end of the tunnel.

Published 2014-06-26 11:50:04 UTC
Last updated 2014-06-26 11:50:04 UTC

Race against time

I'll be waiting...

My lungs, my legs, my every muscle ached, burnt and hurt like I had never experienced it before. And yet I didn't even contemplate the possibility of stopping or even slowing down in my race. Instead all I did was try to keep in mind that if I ever stopped, if my knees ever touched the ground, I 'd never be able to stand up again, at least not in time.
That was surely the reason why I kept running through the dark passages of the cave without a single doubt in my heart. It was a curious thing. Not too long ago these very same passages filled my head with dark fears and terrors undreamed of before, and now they felt all so familiar, that it was almost as if I considered them a second home, or rather a friend's.

From behind a mare yelled my name. She was way behind, panting, tired and she complained often about my hurry.
It was uncalled for at the time, but I couldn't help myself to feel very understanding, even sympathetic for her. I had dragged her along with words and promises of riches beyond her imagination to a race against time and death without knowing my motivations, my goals or my reasons for coming to what others believed was a cursed and forbidden place. But despite the guilt that consumed me, instead of offering her rest, it was better to poke her pride and greed to force her to continue.

"Don't fall behind, don't stop or even slow down!
We're almost there! Mountains of gold and gems await you, a treasure only worthy of being taken by the infamous Wild Rose."

I heard her hoofsteps come closer. Like before praise was to her like oil to the fire. I needed her like that. I needed somepony's strength to support mine, to show me what being strong looks like so I can imitate it.

Wild Rose ran at my side. She was pale and and her brown mane was soaked in sweat. But despite being in such deplorable state, her only eye showed an almost hellish resolve and her scars seemed to turn reddish, as if the flames inside of her were about to burst through her skin.

"You are pretty tough...for a preacher.
What would it be of my reputation...if I were to be bested by one such as you..."

The wounded mare smiled me with an overflowing, wild and dangerous confidence few of the best and healthiest of us had or, at least, displayed.
Unfortunately I couldn't smile back. I felt like doing so would cost me my remaining strength. All I could manage to do, without risking to faint, was thinking about running faster.

The wind blowing through the giant underground tunnel carried then a familiar voice to my ears. It was the voice of one I believed a friend, a mentor, but who believed me an enemy in an unexpected twist of destiny, the cardinal's.

"Look!!! There it stands, the evil sealed in here!"

It was already too late.
The echo repeated the Cardinal's words of encouragement to the soldiers, throwing them into battle.
It was obvious to me then that I had failed again, twice to the same friend.
I couldn't prevent it from happening, nor could I warn him about the one he was about to face. But still I couldn't bring myself to walk, despite the complains of my partner and my body, to a friend in need.

Author's Note

I am sure that was the last chance I had to fix the whole problem. But unluckily Theodore's voice was louder than mine.

Short explanation for the origin of this story:

About eight months ago (maybe even more) I had an image in my mind involving ponies: Twilight standing at the entrance of a cave at the top of a mountain, looking down at the frozen land that once was known as Equestria, with the only being from her past being Spike, her former assistant, but thousands of years older, senile and chained to the solid rock.

This fic is a the spiritual sequel to that story.

The most important scene in that fic was their meeting.

"Ah! I remember you! Twilight Sparkle, right?
Long time no see, Twilight."

"Spike...is that you?"

The whole point of the story was to show what Spike's life had been after Equestria had fallen due to an unknown catastrophe.
The citizens of the old kingdom were still alive, but they lived in an underground city. And it was Spike who was in charge to give fire and heat to them through small tunnels carved in the mountain.
The ruler of that underground city was Spike and Rarity's descendant, Leona. Unfortunately the princesses had fallen and Spike and Rarity's daughter's bloodline was the only one strong enough to rule thanks to the unicorn magic of her mother and the inner fire of her father.
Unfortunately Leona blamed Spike for a the cursed existence of their bloodline and held him captive in the heart of the mountain.

The Cave

"Help!! Somepony help!!"
I fell through a hole and I can't get out!!

Submerged in absolute darkness I yelled towards the upper side of the cave, hoping, naively, that my pleas would reach another traveler that, like me, had decided to foolishly go over the mountain and not around it, like everypony else.
That hope, together with my faith in a belief that had been branded onto my spirit through years of repetition, made me company for the first couple of days. But as soon as it became obvious to me that my food supplies wouldn't last, and as soon as I was unable to spout a single word due to the dryness of my throat, that hope and that belief left me and I saw myself surrounded not only by darkness, but by loneliness and despair.

Even if it was not what I worried about the most inside the underground cave, the ominous periods of silence in it certainly were what I hated the most, especially because of the countless little sounds and noises that followed them giving undesired wings to the darkest side of my imagination. I found myself thinking of beasts that lurked in the depths of the cave. Beasts that with a single swipe of their claws, or with just one of their bites could easily rip my head off my body and put a bloody end to my story. I thought about giant spiders, meat-eating moles, underground manticores and other monsters and associated every noise I heard with their approaching steps.
It was during these times, in which my imagination took over me, that I couldn't think of moving away from my spot. I waited, without making the slightest sound, for any sign of movement in the distance. My fears had forced my eyes to accustom themselves not to see, as this was impossible with the scarce light, but to notice movement in the dark. I could stand several minutes staring in front of me, looking for whatever seemed to move, waiting for the noises to cease and for my exalted mind to calm down once more.

Whenever the silence started though, contrary to the times when the crawling and cackling noises of the cracks filled the air, was when I felt the most the effects of the cave on my mind.
Complete solitude is a horrible thing. Not the kind of solitude you have chosen, but the one that has been forced upon you.
In the silence I felt the need to talk and so I whispered broken songs of worship and moved forward looking for an exit that could bring me back to the world of sounds, light and color on the surface, for my mind could not bear being surrounded by such eerie emptiness.
It was when the tunnel was quiet that I became more aware of my hunger and thirst and when I tried to look for the brightest side of a maybe more brutal, but less painful and quicker death than the one caused by hunger and dementia.

After my walks through the stillness of the tunnel I was always surprised to find myself nowhere near to where I started. I noticed the change thanks to the change of the acoustic of my surroundings.
Sometimes my whispered songs sounded clearer, giving me hope once more, making me believe I was indeed coming closer to an exit, while some other times my lyrics died inside the fissures of the rock meaning I had gone even deeper down the underground tunnels below the forbidden mountain.

After a while days and hours became meaningless for me. I cared less if ten or twenty or even less days had passed while I was down there.
I could only divide my day in four activities that repeated themselves over and over again in what seemed to be the rest of my life: to sleep, to walk, to fear and to curse myself for ever having the brilliant idea of going over and not around the mountain.

What an Idiot I was. I made the decision not because it'd spare me some time or because it'd make my journey any easier, but because I merely wanted to experience being in a place so sacred to us, ponies. As a pony striving to become a messenger of the teachings of the holy princesses I could not resist the temptation to experience being that close to the place where, according to our teachings, their kingdom was thousands of years ago.
The path over the mountain had no guards to guard it. The reputation of the mountain was more than enough to scare farmers, merchants and travelers away from ever using it. Although apparently it wasn't enough to shoo silly, overconfident cleric-trainees like myself away.

I remember I was already playing with the idea of going over the mountain long before I even spotted the bifurcation of the road that leads to Märisch, my destination at the time, a small farmer town in which I was supposed to take over the newly built sanctuary.
As the dedicated and overexcited rookie I was, I had left my home town many days before I actually had to in order to reach Märisch, which gave me enough time to use the longer path and still reach my destination in time.

As soon as I saw with my own eyes the gargantuan size of the gray mountain and its peaks the matter was settled and the decision made. I had never seen something so big before and so full of historical and spiritual significance in my life.

As I made my first step up the steep and dusty road I could already feel how a weird sensation of excitement invaded me.
To me everything the mountain had to offer was magical and awe-worthy. After all it was there that not only the princesses' kingdom was once upon a time, but it also was the place where the greatest battle of good against evil had taken place, and where the latter had finally been defeated for good by the princesses' and their kingdom's sacrifices.
The sun shinned upon the other side of the mountain forcing the shadows over me and my road. But I was alright with that. It helped me imagine the events that once took place there:

The kingdom was covered in shadows, the howls of the unnamed evil that befell it surely resembled very much the terrifying sound caused the gusts of cold wind that blew hastily through and around the sharp peaks of the mountain and its holes. The whirls of dust, picked up from the ground by the wind, surely were like the illusions the evil summoned to its aide when the battle was at its peak. And the cold sensation of being in the shadows for too long must have been exactly what the ponies at the time must have felt while they saw their rulers do battle in the sky above them.

My story was taking wings on its own. As I made my way up the highest place I could go without equipment, I swore I could hear the clash of metal and the whistle of unicorn spells breaking the air. When I reached said place and saw once more the sun shine. I felt what I assumed enlightenment must feel like. My body fell to the ground and I cried, touched by my version of the story told to me many times before.
I saw the mountain reach for forest and river, even claiming a great part of the plains as its own. It was bigger than my eye could ever hope to see at a single time.

"...and by the time we arrived with reinforcements we saw no longer the pearl white towers of Canterlot, nor the lush green of the fields around it, but the dead and dry gray of the rock our once glorious kingdom and homeland had turned into."

To my mind came then the words of prince Blueblood, one of the few survivors of the catastrophe and the one who brought back the former iron order to our then lawless society.

I cried for Princess Luna and Princess Twilight, for Princess Cadence and Princess Celestia, for the brave elements of harmony and every citizen that was involved in the battle. I felt moved by their bravery and unwavering hearts at the time of their sacrifice, moved to the point where I just had to pray and thank for their sacrifice for us.

I lowered my head at the sun in the horizon and began to mutter fancy words accompanied by what I know call "delusional tears".
It was then, after that religious experience, that my journey into the hell of the cave began. The mountain shook and rumbled and the ground began to break under my hooves.
At the time I thought, maybe due to the lingering excitement of my experience, that the remnants of the unnamed evil wanted to get rid of me, me that had just been touched by the holiness of the princesses.
I jumped and ran down the mountain, evading the opening fissures the best I could, but at the end I fell straight into one, leaving a pitiful gasp as my last word.

More than sleeping, cursing my stupidity was what I believed helped me the most at the time. I could spend long periods of time cursing myself for my decision, only interrupted by a short song every now and then.
While cursing I believed time moved once more towards an end I was desperate to reach, be it the end of the road to cement my despair or the end of my life as to get over my suffering.
This useless activity didn't last long, though. There was a time, or a day, in which a different sound broke my cursed chant and brought my attention back to something else.

The first one I hit was light and it was easily kicked away by the natural movement of my hooves walking, making a very particular sound when hitting the walls of the tunnel, a sound that literally woke me up from my mental drowsiness.
The second one I felt against my hoof was heavier and harder. This one I was unable to move, not even by putting my whole body when pushing it. That one picked my interest and curiosity and prompted me to look carefully for another one.
The third one was not alone. Right next to it where a couple more pieces lying around on the ground. There were some light ones and some heavy ones as well. Even more curious than before I reached for the one I felt the closest and held it in my hooves.
I was surprised to notice it had a very particular shape, one nature could not give to it, but dexterous hooves could.

There were some pieces on the ground that were long like cylinders, some others were like spheres with long dents and soft, round cavities.
On some I could even feel fine detail and decorations.
Invaded by a feeling different to the usual hopelessness I moved forward through the sea of crafted pieces of something.
The sweet sounds caused by my hooves moving aside the pieces on the ground was somehow enchanting, funny even.
But although I liked it, I still moved carefully enough between them as to not draw the attention of something else in the shadows.

Who knows how long I walked. It felt like an eternity to me, but it might as well have been a couple of hours.
Following the path those pieces of craftsmanship had let me through I saw the end of the path grow brighter. Not much though, but still it was better than the pitch-black darkness I had been in for so long.
I came closer to that light, finally, after who knows how long, being able to use my eyes again to find my way through the world around me.
I could not see the clear shape of the pieces of craftsmanship on the ground, but I could see a faint shade of color on them.
They were white...kind of.

Strangely enough in my head I began to picture the ruins of a city. I began to think about what I might find there. Vases, armor, furniture, clothing, sculptures the more I thought about what I could find up ahead, the more compelled I felt to advance, caring less and less about the noise I could be making.
Even if it was a ruin it didn't mean it was an exit. On the contrary, it surely meant I had come to the deepest part of the underground labyrinth, but the idea to see at least things a pony had made, prompted me to go there, not to mention the light that seemed to come from that direction. The light was a rather weird, faint, greenish glow that seemed to die out at times only to return once more brighter than it was before. It's source seemed to be at the end of the tunnel littered with white pieces of something.
I kept walking entranced by it. I didn't care about the noise anymore. I even felt so brave as to jump on a pile of white pieces only to get a better view of the strange glow.
In the distance a greenish flame burst for a couple of seconds and disappeared. It seemed to repeat this process over and over again.
I believed it was possibly caused by a gas leak somewhere down there, but I discarded that possibility quickly enough.
The pieces of white craftsmanship seemed to increase their number around it, creating what for me looked like a sea of white rocks, in which burnt a shy and feeble greenish flame.

I slid down the pile of white pieces and walked towards the flame. It was a heat source, it was a light in the darkness, even a companion if I used my imagination, and more obviously it was a certain way to die if I ever felt like it.
My sudden and careless movements were the start of a chain reaction that caused the fall of the biggest pile of pieces upon me like an avalanche. But at the time I saw it like a blessing. It brought me closer to that mysterious flame faster than I could have ever hope to run.
When the avalanche lost its strength I was surely just a couple of hundred meters away from the greenish flame. I was temporarily stuck, but it was alright. I was sure I could free myself anytime I wanted it.
I decided to stare at the flame and sink into its hypnotizing intermittent glow, but suddenly the flame stopped and I was like before, in the darkness, but this time I was unable to move.

Something moved there. For a moment I hoped it was my imagination, but something I saw told me this was very much real.
From where the flame once was two gigantic emerald eyes stared at my general direction. My heart froze inside my chest and my body became as stiff as the pieces of craftsmanship surrounding me.
The eyes rose and went as high as the cave would let them. Whatever those eyes belonged to was humongous. I saw them move around in the darkness looking surely for me. But even for them this darkness seemed absolute. It was the first time I was glad for it.
But the advantage darkness gave me was easily rendered useless when the beast of the emerald eyes, after a long and deep inhalation that seemed to suck all the air in the cave, breathed a green column of roaring fire over my head, not only revealing the truth of the flame to me and its true power, but the shape of the one the emerald eyes belonged to, a dragon.

Some of the dragon's scales were purple, some others were lime-green, but so thick and sturdy that no normal sword, spear or bullet could ever hope to pierce them. On his head he had a line of long sharp looking and curved green spines that seemed to go down all the way to his pointed tail. They seemed to sprout from his elbows and knees as well, even on the lower side of his jaw as some sort of dragon beard.
Its massive figure stood tall over the white sea of pieces, that now with the help of its green flame I could recognize as countless shards of broken sculptures of smiling ponies looking at me.

It was a horrible sight and I was right in the middle of it.

With the strength fear had infused in my body I managed to free myself from the shattered sculptures and ran as fast as I could.
My movements caused even more avalanches that the dragon obviously noticed. With movements faster than what I had ever imagined the dragon's claws tried to get a hold of me. I managed to dodge a couple of his swipes, but at the end he caught me.

The dragon brought me closer to his mouth. Finally the death that I had been thinking about so many times before had come to me, but unlike those times I thought about it, I didn't feel prepared to die.
With all the air I could fit in my lungs I screamed in panic. I struggled and called for somepony's help even though I knew there was no pony around but us, and if there were he or she could do nothing about it.
The dragon continued to pull the claw he held me in closer to his mouth as I continued to scream.
I thought I'd die, but something unexpected happened. A voice that wasn't mine echoed in the walls of the cave and asked me gently to be silent.

"Be quiet.
Nothing will happen if you don't scream like that again."

A talking Dragon

The dragon was talking. It was talking to me.
I have to admit that at the time, more than following his instructions, I quieted down because I was shocked to hear a dragon talking so well our language.
It was the first time that one of my family had seen a real dragon and surely the first time in centuries somepony heard a dragon's voice.
The cage the dragon had made around me with his claws opened slowly like a blooming flower and for the first time our eyes met.

"What are you doing here?"

The dragon's voice was deeper than a stallion's ever hoped to be and his breath smelled like soil and coins. He had to ask me the question twice before I could tell him who I was.

"My name is Tome. Tome of Müllhound. I am but a humble cleric on a journey."

I spoke loudly, partially due to the fear that I still felt, but also believing that I needed to do so in order for the dragon to understand my words.
Surprisingly the dragon placed a finger over his mouth and blew gently in an almost childish gesture.

"Shhhhhhhhh...
You're too loud, Tome. Talk lower."

Without waiting for my reply, the dragon suddenly breathed a small ball of fire through one side of his mouth, far enough that I couldn't feel the scorching heat, but close enough to be bathed by its light.
Under the greenish light the dragon inspected me from mane to hooves as if making sure I was indeed what I claimed to be.
I on the other hoof didn't need to look attentively to know for a fact that the dragon was what it was. His face was covered with small scars and some sort of white dust that I believed was caused by the countless sculptures. Strangely enough, though, his expression was nothing like what I expected to be a dragon's. It was somehow calm and the fact that he was using his fire breath more like a tool and less like a killing method, made him look even non-threatening.

"I see. Then, let me ask you, where is that Müllhound you talk about?"

In vain I tried to explain where my hometown was located. The names of the rivers, mountains and towns I told him were of no help. Almost as if he had never heard of them. My thoughts at the time were that this dragon had surely never left these tunnels. He was most likely unaware of the world outside.
I wanted to keep telling him names hoping he'd understand where I came from, but talking for so long was something I had not done in days.
And the fact that during those days I had not tasted a single drop of water made it even worse.
I coughed without end, unable to formulate long sentences.

"I...I am sorry...I have been trapped down here for days...
without a slice of bread to still my hunger...or a cup of water to moist my throat."

The dragon remained silent for a moment and still without saying a word carefully brought me over his snout and let me fall on top of it.

"Hold yourself, Tomas. It might be a bumpy ride."

He then turned around towards the side of the tunnel his size had been blocking and started to walk. I couldn't stop noticing that by doing so he made almost no sound, or at least he didn't made as much noise as a dragon of his size would.
I couldn't see where I was being taken. Despite having his fire as a source of light, the dragon didn't use it to move around in the tunnels. He just continued walking, knowing for a fact the tunnel would bring him where he wanted to.
Still somewhat suspicious or rather incredulous of his calm behavior I had the need to ask where he was taking me.

"Where are we going...sir dragon?"

In the middle of my question I realized I didn't know the dragon's name or even if he had a name I could call him. So I opted to be as polite as I could and call him "sir", something I considered better than mister or simply to call him dragon. To be impolite with something that could eat me with such ease didn't sound like a bright idea at the time.
The dragon's snout moved when he let a muffled laugh, forcing me to fight to stand steady.

"Call me Spike. Sir Dragon sounds too weird for my tastes."

"Spike", what an unusual name for a dragon. At the time I remembered a small dragon that was mentioned in the the stories of the crystal empire with the same name. For a moment I thought whether this Spike was the one they mentioned or not, but unable to come to an answer I decided to ask him.

"Are you the same Spike that saved the crystal empire from King Sombra thousands of years ago?"

I couldn't see Spike's eyes or anything else of him. I just waited to hear his voice again.

"Do they still talk about that?"

To know that was more that I could ever hoped to find when I decided to go towards the green glow in the tunnel. As a preacher of the princesses' teachings I knew well about the most popular stories of their kingdoms. The one about "Spike, the brave and glorious" is a well known tale for young fillies and colts, used for teaching them the values of courage and loyalty, as well as to teach them that if you put your mind into it there was nothing you couldn't do. To meet the dragon of the tale was incredibly unreal for me, so I just had to ask him if I was actually dead or if it was nothing but a dream, to which the dragon simply replied with another muffled laugh.
To know where he was about to take me became less important. It was better to know instead why he was here, underground, so close to what once was known as Canterlot and its premises.

"But what are you doing here, Spike? Weren't you supposed to be in the crystal empire?"

Right after I had finished asking my question I became aware of how unnecessary it was. Princess Cadence and her husband, Shining armor, had been called to support Equestria's capital when the unnamed evil befell it. It was surely only natural for them to bring along the empire's champion with them. His participation wasn't mentioned in the record of Prince Blueblood, but his presence here was more than enough to prove that he had indeed partaken.
Before I could change my question, as I felt that I could not waste any chance to ask, Spike answered it.

"In the crystal empire? Why?
I was supposed to be here with Twilight and the others."

The over-familiarity in his voice when he called the princess name was something that I could have never hoped to hear in my life from a breathing being. But it was Spike, the brave and glorious that was talking.
The image I had about the princess and Spike changed immediately. I had always thought about them as a ruler and a champion, but the way he talked about her made it think they were friends.
I wanted to inquire more about his relationship to other great characters of his epoch, but a tickling sound in the distance caught my attention.
It was a clinking and high-pitched noise, like the one water does when drops fall on frail porcelain.

"Drink, but don't spit in it."

With great care Spike took me off his snout and placed me on a wet surface over which water seemed to flow. I clearly could hear a bigger stream nearby. I asked Spike if it was safe to move to which he replied with a bright green ball of fire in order to illuminate my path.
The light reflected on the crystalline water was beautiful, making the for me already precious liquid seem even divine.
Without a second to waste I dipped my head inside the stream and began to drink from it, putting it way up in the list of important things I had to do at the time, right above breathing.
With each gulp of sweet water I felt how my health and strength returned to my body.

"It's delicious, Spike! Who would dare to spit it out?"

I heard Spike's breath come closer and at the same time I heard him picking something made of stone up the ground. Judging by the sound it made, it was filled to the brim with liquid. Apparently it was there where all the water from the stream flowed to.

"You never know, Tome."

Spike took two big sips out of it and put it back in its place beneath the fall of the stream. I had clearly more than enough to still my thirst. But Spike obviously didn't have enough.

"Spike, won't you drink anymore?"

Softly he asked me then if I wanted more. After I told him I had had my fill, he picked me up again and deposited me on top of his snout once more.

"When I was smaller, that cup was enough to still my thirst for days, but now I can only have a considerable drink when it is full and it won't be full again until tomorrow."

We walked again and like before I was unaware of where he was taking me. This time I didn't care though. I was completely sure it wouldn't be a bad place.

"So, Tome, tell me, how exactly did you come here?"

I proceeded then to quickly answer Spike's question. I told him about my destination and explained to him the reasons why I was transferred to the old farmer town. Spike was a good listener, but at the mention of the mountain we were beneath he stopped and interrupted me.

"What did you call this mountain, Tome?"

The answer to the question was obvious for me. Everypony knew the name of the mountain the kingdom of Canterlot had turned into.
Keeping in mind that Spike had not been in the outside world for thousands of years though, I naturally answered.

"Sealed Mountain."

Spike remained silent. There was something about these news that shocked him, but for the life of me I didn't know exactly what it was.

"Sealed Mountain, huh? A very fitting name after what happened I guess.

Tome, you told me why you came here, but you still haven't answered my question. How did you end up here?"

I told Spike about my foolish decision and about the earthquake afterwards. I decided to omit the parts when I cried or when I prayed to the princesses. Somehow I thought it was embarrassing to talk about it.
At the end of my story the dragon had nothing to comment on, besides my bad luck and poor choosing.

"Tome, while I can do something about your thirst, there's nothing I could offer that you could eat.
And an exit is something I haven't found either."

I remained silent at the clear statement that it was where I would die and there was nothing even Spike, the brave and glorious, could do to save me.
I suggested to break the mountain down. I assumed that a dragon of his size, even bigger than the ones Prince Blueblood claimed to have seen, could use his strength to tear a hole big enough for the two of us to leave.
Spike flatly declined. The only reason for doing so he gave me was that it'd make too much noise.
It surely was a confusing answer for me. Who would discard a sure way to freedom just because it was a noisy one?
I asked about the reason he might have for giving more importance to the silence that I had come to dread, than to the freedom I had dreamed about.
To my question Spike replied with another.

"What do you know about what happened here, Tome?"

Even though I knew that Spike had no idea of the world outside, I couldn't help but feel somewhat offended by his question.
My clothing, although clearly damaged, dirty and worn, was proof of my clerical knowledge. The white and blue of my jacket were a connection to the colors of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The many crests down my sleeves were the cutie marks of the four princesses, as to leave clear that my work was nothing but means to spread their teachings. The ones located in a circle on the left side of my chest, right over my heart were the ones of the elements of harmony, as to imply that the values they stood for were also in my heart.
And on my back, the biggest crest of them all, the crest of the holy sect, showed who had bestowed authority upon my humble self.

Still I didn't want to brag about my theoretical knowledge in front of one that had literally been there when the events I had only read in books actually occurred.
I merely answered what I knew. I knew about the great unnamed evil that came from the north and that it literally devastated every town city and kingdom that stood in its path until its defeat here, in the former Canterlot. I told him about the princesses and the alliance of all species and their betrayal. I mentioned the great battle, prince Blueblood's valiant efforts to return with reinforcements to the battle, and the fall of the unnamed evil at the hooves of the princesses.

To my story Spike had much to add.

"Your version is a little different to mine, Tome. Also the end is not correct."

Spike started his tale at the beginning. Apparently it was a sunny day when it all happened, when the news of the fall of the griffon city arrived at the princesses ears, and the impeding doom the unnamed evil brought with it already knocked on the kingdom's doors. They were many battles led by each of the princesses at different times in order to stop the progress of the invader, but all of them resulted in defeat and more victims of the conflict. At the end even the princesses and the elements of harmony fell to their despair. But in that hopeless situation, princess Twilight managed to come up with a solution.

"We're going to seal it!"

It required the magic of all the princesses, the strength of the elements of harmony, the will to live of every pony in Canterlot and any other species in all the neighboring kingdoms. So it was that the rulers of each kingdom came together with their champions and their soldiers and gathered around the white castle of Canterlot leaving their cities empty and unprotected.
Canterlot had never seen such a diversity in its inhabitants in years. Griffons, dragons, zebras, mules, ponies and other species of all around the world prepared themselves to become the seal that would prevent the destruction the evil was causing.
The idea was to surrender to the corruption it brought with it, to let it invade every being in the castle as to split its power and control and then let those he had corrupted fall into a deep sleep princess Luna would cause. In their slumber they would keep fighting the unnamed evil until it stopped being a threat.
At the time, many of the wealthiest ponies in Canterlot and other kingdoms fled. Prince Blueblood was apparently among them.

The story Spike told greatly differed from the one I had heard. Not only did it expose the greatest "hero" of the great battle as a coward, but it also claimed that the battle still continued, even today.

I surely couldn't believe it at first. I told Spike exactly that. All he did though was to start walking, bringing me again towards an unknown destination.

I took my time in order to assimilate the information I was given. One by one I went through the facts our stories shared and tried to add to mine the new pieces of information Spike had given me. Even if I didn't like it at first, some parts of the story started to make more sense than ever before, and in me started to burn a hate for Prince Blueblood and all the other aristocrats that "survived". I now saw for what they were, just a bunch of cowards and a tyrants.
As I went over the story once more in my head, I realized that Spike's participation was nowhere mentioned. I asked if maybe he had also tried to flee with the aristocrats. Spike was quick to answer that. Maybe he was offended by my question, as much as I was offended when he asked me before.

"I didn't try to escape.
I did not partake in the seal because I was to deliver a message from Twilight, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Cadence to the remaining kingdoms, as well as countless letters from the soldiers and rulers that stayed to their loved ones and those they had left in charge of their territories.
A chariot had been prepared for me. But the invasion was a lot sooner than expected. As the seal began to take effect and the ones corrupted began to fall into sleep, the earth around the castle began to rise covering it all. The pegasi pulling from the chariot managed to find a path out of the castle before the mountain consumed it. But once we were in the sky a raging peak from below cut their connection to the chariot and I fell.

I managed to throw the letters to them, but I don't know if afterwards they were able to deliver them."

It was clear to me that the pegasi had failed their mission. No message was delivered to any of the courts of the kingdoms that partook in the great war. Queens, princesses and princes, as well as citizens, mothers, children and wives, none of them knew exactly what happened to any of those that had marched towards Canterlot, besides the fact they had died while fulfilling their duty.
It was then I understood that Spike had become a prisoner of these rocky walls for thousands of years, living only off the memories he still had from ages past.
I felt depressed. I had been here only maybe ten, twelve days and I was already thinking about killing myself. But Spike, who had been here for centuries, didn't seem to ever have had that idea.

"Spike. How could you survive this long in this prison? I have thought several times about dying while trapped in here. One of my motivations to go to your flame was to possibly die consumed by it."

Spike remained silent once more and just continued walking. Maybe he had had the same thoughts as I did before, or maybe he was just shocked to hear the ease with which I expressed my willingness to choose death over pain. I never knew the reason for those moments of silence. All the told me was his reason to remain alive.

"Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash all of them were still fighting somewhere I couldn't reach them. I couldn't let myself die.knowing that. What kind of expression would I have if I ever were to meet them?"

He said that he had chosen to remain here, guarding their sleep and awaiting for their awakening. He joked about the many times he imagined their expressions when they saw the kind of dragon he had become.

"They would surely freak out."- Spike laughed - "For them it would be only an instant ago when they saw my little self, barely bigger than a school colt, and now they'd have to see me stand several hundreds of meters above the ground.
I honestly hope Fluttershy isn't too scared to not talk to me again."

Instead of the mighty dragon I believed him to be, Spike then came more off like a thousand-years old child, that surprisingly had still managed to save that part of himself through the eons. I had no doubt that if the princesses were to wake up that day, they would be shocked by his size, surely, but they would even be more surprised by the fact that despite all the years that had passed, he still was the same dragon they knew.

"I am sure the great Fluttershy won't shy away from talking to you, Spike. She won't even notice the difference."

Spike laughed a little louder than ever before, both at my comment and the way I called Fluttershy "the great Fluttersy".
If my colleagues had heard me, they'd have been quite shocked by my behavior, but I couldn't help myself from laughing either.

Finally we reached our destination. It was a massive underground cave like many one could find in the tunnels, but with a single difference: this one had a thin beam of light descending from the ceiling of the cave.
I was surprised and enchanted by the simplistic beauty a thin beam of light could have when surrounded by such thick darkness. But now that I could see, somewhat, Spike's expression, I realized that this light we saw, was not there when he left before.

"Sunlight!"

It was impossible for me to hide my excitement at our discovery. I asked Spike to take me closer to the source of the beam. I just needed to see the sky outside once more.
Like I asked him, Spike put me in the palm of his hand and brought me closer to a crack in the mountain barely bigger than myself. At the other side of it I saw once more the cyan blue sky and white clouds, puffy like cotton, being blown gently by the breeze I had not felt against my fur for such a long time.
Immediately, and motivated by the clear opportunity to leave, I tried to climb through the passage towards the light. But the walls of the crack were slippery and despite my efforts all I did was slide down to Spike's hand.

"Well, Tome. Does it look like you can get out?"

From above I explained to Spike the situation. It seemed impossible to climb through it due to the slippery walls. But to my surprise Spike had an idea and I saw, with my own eyes, his smile for the first time. That honest smile...I don't think I'll ever forget it.

"You are a lucky pony indeed, Tome. There might be a way for you to get out."

He brought me down to a dry, dusty and white surface that I recognized as the rock all the shattered sculptures were made of. He asked me if I could see my surroundings well enough, to which I answered that I couldn't.
He began to breathe at the upper walls of his cave as if wanting to impregnate them with it. I didn't understand the purpose behind his actions until later, when with a little spark he lit the walls above us illuminating completely the cave I could unmistakably call his room.
Hundreds, maybe even thousands of white sculptures stood at different heights around us. If I were to use a better analogy I'd say it was like standing in the middle of a coliseum with its stairs filled with smiling spectators carved from white rock.
Astonished by the sight, by the way the green glow of Spike's flames brought the statues to apparent life, I didn't say anything until Spike had placed me at the start of a corridor flanked on both sides by a line of statues.
I wanted to ask him what that was. I was really curious to know whether or not he had made the statues. Judging by the varying size of some of them I assumed they were, but I wanted to be sure. Surely he had to make them bigger and bigger due to his own change in size. His claws weren't adequate to carve the fine details of smaller statues anymore.
I walked along the corridor looking attentively at the beings they were supposed to represent.
The names of the ponies Spike carved out of the stone were written below, so it was that for the first time I witnessed what Applejack the honest truly was like.
At first glance I realized that Spike's statues, more than a mere copy of what he saw, were the embodiment of an emotion or a feeling he associated with those he had portrayed.

The statue of Applejack the honest was brimming with life and energy. Her eyes, despite being made of stone, seemed to shine with an unusual straightforwardness and purity that no other sculpture or painting, I had seen, had.
With an old-fashioned stetson hat over her head and a lasso held in her mouth the athletic mare looked at something with an undeniable resolve. What that thing was I did not know, all I knew what that she would not be beaten by it.
Next to her stood other statues of the elements. All of them were depicted in the middle of some sort of activity that, judging by their smiles, they seemed to enjoy.

Princess Twilight's statue read calmly a book with a soft and gently grin adoring her lips, while the statue of the great Fluttershy was singing with countless birds, one of which seemed to be slightly out of tune with the rest.

The statue of Rarity the beautiful was working on some clothes. Maybe it was only my imagination at the time, but even her statue was more beautiful than any other mare I had encountered in any of my journeys.

The statue of Pinkie Pie, the random, was about to take something out the oven. She wore a lovely apron and baking mittens decorated with air balloons. She crouched slightly with a wide smile on her face while her curly mane and tail, despite the stiffness of the rock. seemed to dangle. I remember that while looking at her statue I had the urge to taste whatever she was baking.

The statue from Rainbow dash the loyal was the weirdest one for me. It showed a cloud and the back of her head, with a single one of her hooves up in the air. I could not see her face clearly, nor the shape of her body. But the whole statue seemed to shout her reply:

"I'll be there in a second."

It was weird that those muted statues told me so much about the ponies I had studied for years. What they wanted, what they were like, what they liked, every statue seemed to show a different and new aspect of them.

But besides their statues were many more.

As I kept walking I met three little fillies filled with energy and an almost silly determination to achieve something I didn't know, but I was sure they would accomplish.
There was the statue of an old mare resting on her rocking chair looking calmly and nostalgically in front of her. Right next to it was the statue of a big stallion, smiling slightly with a single straw of wheat pressed between his lips.
I saw hard-working mares and stallions doing many different tasks. I saw a teacher and a nurse. I distinctly recognized a mayor, a couple of farmers and a trio of mares as beautiful as the flowers on their flanks.

Somehow it was overwhelming. So much that when I found myself at the corner of the corridor, I realized how wrong I had been about it all, about what I believed happened back then, thousands of years ago.
I felt like crying, but before I could shed the first tear Spike spoke.

"Now, go down that path. It shouldn't be too dark now that this side is illuminated. Also don't worry about light near the end, there will be a light up ahead."

Spike pointed at a small passage into the rock that was decorated, as far as my eyes could see, with many carvings on the walls, the ceiling and the floor.
I was not afraid of it. I trusted Spike, despite the short time we had shared, I knew he'd not send me to a place where I could not return from.
But still I felt somehow compelled to know what lied beyond.

"What lies there, Spike?"

Looking me straight in the eye, Spike gave me the most unexpected answer.

"At the end of that corridor you'll find Canterlot Castle."

"C-C-Canterlot Castle!!??"

The heart inside my chest jumped causing my throat to shrink and the air in my lungs to escape. Spike repeated once more the name of my destination with calm and gave me a warning.

"Yes, Canterlot Castle. And you better leave your excitement here, Tome.
As I told you before the princesses and the others are still fighting evil in their sleep. You should make no sound or noise, no matter how faint it might be, that could awake them. You will not talk, nor will you scream, squeal or cry, be it out of sadness or joy, understood, Tome?"

For a second time Spike kept staring at me trying to discover through my actions any sort of doubt in my answer.

"Understood. I will not make a single sound, Spike."

A smile formed on the dragon's face and after expressing his wishes for my luck, he let me go deep inside the carved passage.

Sleeping Canterlot

As I mentioned before, every inch of that passage was decorated with one of Spike's carvings. They showed images, scenes or even complete stories of all the sleeping inhabitants of Canterlot and apparently other smaller towns.
It was like talking a walk through Spike's deepest thoughts and memories. Thought's he'd surely not tell me right off the bat, but he assumed I'd see in my trip to the castle.
He was present in every carving, and although some depicted an older, some others a younger version of himself, his personality seemed to remain the same.
On some of the carvings were even words scratched on the rocks' surface, revealing Spike's thoughts at the time of the carving's completion.

"Princess Celestia really likes cakes. I wonder if she has ever baked one though."

"Trixie likes to brag, but she's really nice when you come to know her.
I wonder why she didn't come."

The carving showed many different ponies, realizing many different activities. There was one of them playing in autumn as the leaves fell off the trees. One that showed Spike and the others clearing the fields from the snow of winter. Many of them showed parties where everypony was dancing and Pinkie pie, the random, seemed to have the most fun. Competitions, events, marriages and adventures the ponies had, all of them were there, forever captured in stone.

As I made my way deeper inside I noticed that Spike's carvings began to turn more and more imaginative. In the carvings he had grown in size, but the ponies around him remained the same. His notations had changed also.

"Snip and snails will surely be surprised at how big I have become when they see me!"

"When we meet again will Peewee recognize me?"

"I don't think I can fit through the library's door anymore."

Spike showed scenes that surely had never taken place. His older self ran against Rainbow Dash the loyal. He also lifted several ponies off the ground while from above they celebrated his strength.
Some carvings showed even his romantic side. He looked at a unicorn's shape carved in the moon. Mountains and clouds seemed to have that shape also in some of his other carvings.
In many of his notations he wondered if a certain pony, he cared not to mention, would like his appearance.
In some of them he was sure she would, while in others he admitted there was no way that could happen.

At some point as I made my way down the corridor, the light of Spike's flames seemed to be unable to reach any deeper down and so that part of the corridor was submerged in shadows. I recall being upset by it, for there was one of the most beautiful carvings of a mare suffering under the poor lightning. Curious about it, I slid my hoof across the surface of the wall hoping to make out the shapes of the characters depicted. But the carving was completely destroyed.
Here and there I could feel shapes I assumed were from Spike and the mare he so often depicted, but at the same time I felt long and deep dents caused by claws and fangs. Spike himself had surely destroyed them. It was a dream of his that he simply couldn't stand seeing anymore. He never told me, but I think I knew why.

Light returned once more to the corridor and I could see again Spike's carving and notations.
These were more childish, surely the first ones he had done after he realized he was trapped down here.
I continued peeking at Spike's mind, this time under a blue glow that seemed to come from the other exit of the corridor.
Spike's art here felt stiffer. Also it weren't carvings, but drawings of chalk and scratched stone.
Many of the ponies depicted had large X´s over them. Some of the ponies had their eyes or lips misplaced, or their position was odd. Some even seemed to have broken bones in my opinion. Right next to those ponies were other drawings that showed a clear sign of improvement, but that Spike still marked with an X.
I guessed that part of the corridor was where Spike practiced. He had surely drawn something, compared it with his model and scratched it when he judged the drawing did no justice.
All the ponies and other species depicted here had the same expression. Their eyes and mouth were closed and they all seemed to be sleeping soundly while sitting on their behinds. Their forelegs were stretched out to the sides as if they were trying to touch something at their sides. Immediately I thought about a chain, a chain all these ponies and beings were a link of. It reminded me a lot also of that foal's game one played in school, but unlike that one there was some solemnity to the one Spike showed me.
I finally exited the corridor and understood the meaning behind Spike's drawings.

The castle's yard was filled with many different ponies, young dragons, buffaloes, Zebras, horses, all of them holding each other's forelegs in an apparently unending chain around the castle.
The world was submerged in a pale blue light that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.
I made my way through the chain as I promised Spike, without making the slightest sound, which was quite hard keeping in mind that I very much wanted to express my awe in some kind of way.

Everypony was somehow frozen in time and that I mean literally. They surely looked the same as they did thousands of years ago. The scratches in their armor were as fresh as the day they were made and the grass under my hooves was still green and undisturbed.
The birds in their nests still fed their little ones. And as I made my way through the kitchen I noticed there was still spilled coffee that had not touched any surface.
The chain of ponies went around the castle several times like a spiral and entered through the main doors towards the royal hall.
Despite the lack of sound, there was still a muted whisper in the air, the particular sounds of thousands of sleeping ponies breathing softly. No matter where I went I could still hear it. It was almost as if the castle itself dreamed as well.

I followed the chain of ponies, not remembering exactly what I was supposed to do in the castle. They all converged into a massive hall in the very heart of the castle.
At the sight I found there I almost broke my promise to Spike, but with a little bit of luck was able to keep it.

"The...the princesses..."

Those words never left my mouth. Instead they floated in my head with the ones that followed them.

"Princess Twilight, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence."

I was already overwhelmed by the sight, but they were not the only ones in the room.

"The...the elements of harmony..."

All of them were breathing softly, sleeping, dreaming and alive.
I saw them with my own eyes. The ones I had only read about in books stood before me, still trying to get rid of that evil that once almost destroyed us.
The little strength I had threatened to leave me. But still I managed to keep standing.

Princess Twilight was surely beautiful. Even more so than I had ever imagined. I could say the same about the other princesses and the elements of harmony. Their beauty was out of this world.

Carefully I walked around the room looking at all the princess from every angle I was allowed to. It was then that I noticed scribbles on the wall again. It was Spike's writing.

"Twilight and Spike"

Beneath Twilight's name was a single horizontal line. Under Spike's name though were several lines one placed higher above the other.
It was a growth chart. Spike had come here at some point and had kept track the height difference between the princess and himself.
I imagined a small Spike sitting exactly where I was standing while looking for who knows how many hours at their friends, without being able to talk or touch them, despite being that close.

Suddenly I remembered my objective. And after bowing down before the princesses I went into one of the rooms of the castle looking for a piece of cloth long and strong as Spike had told me.

I left the castle and its sleeping ponies behind and went into the passage with Spike's carvings once more.
This time the greenish light from Spike's flame had disappeared and the darkness of the passage seemed to be infinite.
Worried I hurried up towards the exit with the piece of cloth in my mouth.

"SPIKE!!"

As soon as I was out of the passage I called Spike's name loudly. For some reason I was afraid something might have happened to him.

"Shhhhhh...
You took longer than expected, Tome.
I fell asleep for a moment there."

Again with a small spark of his fire breath, the walls of the cave were lit with green flames.
I apologized and showed Spike the cloth I had brought with me. He took me and the cloth in his hand and brought me closer to the crack through which the sunlight came.

"Ah! I almost forgot."

With his free hand Spike reached for one of the corners of the cave. I saw then a mountain of gems and gold, more than enough to buy a country.
With care he placed five of the biggest gems I ever saw and a dozen of old equestrian bits in his palm and told me to take them.

"I don't think you have a single bit left on you and giving food for free is something not many do."

I saw him smile once more. After all I had witnessed in those carvings and inside the castle, I could not easily part with him. But by the looks of it this was already our good-bye. Acknowledging that moment as such, there was only one thing I felt like saying.

"I'll come back to visit, Spike! I swear!"

He laughed softly, but quickly moved his head from side to side, telling me not to do so.

"You better don't. Now there's a way out, but who knows if that hole will be here tomorrow."

I tried to explain to him that I could not leave him there alone.

"I...I can't leave knowing you will be here, Spike!
I'll go and buy some food. Enough to be here for years!"

Again he laughed, but this time a little louder than before.

"Stop being stupid, Tome. You're leaving and that's final."

He enveloped me, the gems and the coins forcibly with the cloth I had brought and stuffed me in the crack like a bullet.

"Spike what are you doing!?"

Spike just spoke for the last time before I left the cave.

"These rocky walls are not natural, Tome. They still exist because the Evil has not been totally defeated. But this crack, like the one that brought you down here, are a clear sign that it is getting weaker.
Some day these walls will fall completely, the kingdom will rise from underground and all the citizens of Canterlot and Ponyville will awake from their slumber.
When that time comes, Tome. Come visit me. I'll surely have a place near a small town you have surely heard nothing about.
I am sure you won't miss it. It has a fashion store shaped like a carousel and a bakery that looks like a cake. It also has a large oak three that serves as a library and huge fields of apple trees."

"SPIKE, WAIT!!!!!!!"

From beneath me came an unbelievable pressure that pushed me upwards, towards the exit.

"SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE!!!"

The next thing I saw when I was able to free myself from the grasp of the cloth was the blue sky and a flying bird.
The mountain was several meters under me and in the distance I could make the yellowish ceilings of the houses in Märisch.
To be outside again was an indescribable feeling. To feel the warmth of the sun against my fur once more almost made me ignore the fact that I was really high up in the air, without a single mean to slow down my fall.
Quickly, and in mid-air, I managed to grab the gems and bits Spike had given me.

The fall was not a pretty one. I tumbled and rolled down the side of the mountain breaking several bones. Luckily the cloth had got stuck several times, slowing me down enough to survive the fall. I ended up right next to the bifurcation of the road that leads to Märisch.
Understanding the irony I laughed, causing me to hurt all over.

The next traveler brought me to the hospital of the small farmer town after I had mentioned that her service would be handsomely rewarded.
The one that picked me up was a mare covered with scars, with an eye patch on her left eye and a brown and wavy mane.

"Hmph! Be honored that the great Wild Rose has decided to help you in your time of need."

I think I fainted after hearing her words.

The town of Märisch

*****************************************

After a long recuperation in the town's hospital. I was able for the first time to carry out my duties as the one in charge of the sanctuary dedicated to the princesses.
Despite the feelings I might have had when hearing for the first time I'd be in charge of the small institution, after a couple of days I had become completely annoyed by it. It was something in the building's structure, in its decoration, in the way the ponies that came there acted, or maybe even all that together that simply irritated me.

The first couple of days it was easy to act according to the rituals and traditions I had been taught by others, but when the first week turned into the second I was completely sick of it all.
I decided to continue doing only what I believed didn't go against what I had learned in the caves beneath the sealed mountain.
It was so that I stopped completely gathering offerings for the sanctuary and decided instead to concentrate only on the story-telling that fomented important values and the schooling of little foals in the arts, the arithmetic sciences, music and singing, putting aside every aspect that could lead them to a submissive thinking towards and established social order that was completely wrong.

Right after I had made my decision I had seen myself in deep troubles. Without gatherings there was no way to pay for any maintenance to the sanctuary and I myself had nothing to eat. Luckily my lessons and my stories interested my students so much that every now and then, one or the other would bring me a couple of apples or a piece of bread so I didn't had to turn to bed with an empty stomach.
I still had Spike's gems and coins, but not even by gathering all the riches in town they'd have enough to pay for the smallest of the gems.
I also found a cheap way to fix the church by simply doing it myself. I asked the father of one of my students to teach me how to use certain tools properly. He wasn't willing to do it for free, but he gave himself content with several expensive bottles of wine the former cleric of the town kept hidden under the altar, and which I had no use for.

My days passed by one exactly like the other. I started the day by cleaning the parts of the sanctuary I cared about the most, leaving unattended others such as the altar for Prince Blueblood and the other lying rich vultures. After that I prepared the tables and chairs for the fillies to come to school that day and once they were all seated and with their eyes set on the blackboard, I began my lessons.
Afterwards I usually preached to the adults, trying to put more emphasis on the values the princesses and the elements stood for and less on the ones that forced them to give me their hard earned bits.
In the night I shared a couple of drinks in the pub with the stallions and mares that came back from the fields. I drank water or milk most of the time, something the other stallions found laughable. I laughed along those that did nothing but laugh, and hit hard those that decided to hit me for something as trivial as the contents of my glass.
I guess the only thing that did change every now and then were the contents of the letters Wild Rose left during the night at the sanctuary's door.

I had never seen the mare again after she left me in the hospital. But she seemed to watch me at every single moment of my day.
Many of the letters she left contained her comments on my actions during the day, on my lessons for the children, on my fights in the pub. But none mentioned the reward I still owed her.
Several times I left a reply at the sanctuary's door before turning to bed, hoping she'd take it when leaving behind another of her letters. But I simply found my letter unopened right next to the one she had left.
She was a strange mare indeed. And the way of expressing herself even more so.

"Read this letter with grace and pride, for it is the Wild Rose who writes it..."

I did my best to read it as instructed, but I ,more than honored, felt confused.

It took a couple of months before my strange behavior upset the higher-ups in the holy sect. No money had been coming from Märisch to the vaults of the principal seat, and that was a crime they could not let slide, for it was a crime against the princesses themselves, according to them.
Luckily the Cardinal knew first hoof about my work in Müllhound, where I had the chance to help him during his preaches to the masses for several months, and had decided to look into this matter himself, as a favor from a friend to another.

When the cardinal arrived that afternoon, a sign hung from the main door of the sanctuary clearly stating that today there would not be any preaches or lessons and that under no circumstances I should be bothered. It was not necessary to mention that the cardinal was an exception to the rule.
After I opened the door we greeted each other with a respectful bow, mine of course deeper than the cardinal's, and then when we were alone with a warm hug, the kind those who share a vocation share.

"I am truly glad to see you again, Tome. I just wish better news were the reason for my visit."

Theodore d´hampir, that was the cardinal's name. He had been born as the only son of a devote family that descended directly from Blueblood's lineage. His factions were clearly aristocratic and he possessed a strange beauty that even captivated stallions from time to time. His eyes were blue like sapphires, his fur was a light-grayish yellowish brown, and his short mane and his beard were black like tar. His way of talking was many things but crude and abrupt.

"Cadinal, it is an honor to have you here. Although your visit might not be for the best reasons, I feel overjoyed by your presence."

We both laughed after the formalities were done. When alone we were more accustomed to be less formal.

"Life seems to treat you well, Tome. It was not too long ago that you were a mere helper and now you are in charge of your own sanctuary.
It won't be long before I should worry about you being a competitor for the seat of the leader of the sect.
And yet I hear that despite the love and respect the inhabitants of this town show for you and your work, your achievements for the holy sect are not as plentiful. There are even rumors of a rebellious attitude from your side.

I understand, Tome, that your start was not an easy one. As I heard you were robbed by local thieves on your way here, and were unable to perform your duties to the sect for some time, but months have passed since then, and honestly there is no excuse."

I didn't know how to reply to Theodore's statement. Had it been the me from before, I'd have surely replied promptly with promises of improvement and even more gatherings for the holy sect, but the me now didn't want to give a single bit to an organization that was founded by rats that had cemented their fortunes by taking advantage of the desolated hearts of those left behind after the loss of Canterlot.
Still, even if Theordore was Blueblood's descendant I considered him of a different sort. I had worked with him and I knew that his love for the princesses weighted more, than the gold coins in his or his friends pockets.

I proceeded to lock the door of the room where we were, the door and every single window I saw open.
Theodore questioned my odd behavior and my lack for an answer, but I replied simply that as soon as the door and the windows were closed I'd talk.

"Theodore, there is something you must know.
This, all of this is nothing but a lie."

At first Theodore didn't know what I was talking about. So I elaborated on my story. I don't know why I believed telling him was a good idea.
I guess it was because I believed him my friend. He and I had shared many things during the months he spent in Müllhound. He had told me about his insecurities, about the changes he'd do if he were ever to be the leader of the sect, about dreams he had to sacrifice in order to become a servant of the princesses.
Like they say I spilled the beans to Theodore.

"The princesses are alive, Theodore!"

Theodore, like the cleric pony he was, twisted my words trying to make them sound reasonable to his ears.

"Of course they are alive, Tome. They live as long as we uphold the teachings passed down to us.
It is our sacred duty to keep their words throughout eternity."

I tried to explain to him that I meant they were alive less in an spiritual sense and more in the sense in which they were....well, alive. But for Theodore it seemed impossible to understand it that way.
It looked like he needed proof, and so I showed him the cloth that had helped me escape the cave.

"Look at this Theodore and tell me what you see."

I placed it carefully in Theodore's hooves. The cloth was dusty and some spots were ripped, but its beauty still remained.
Theodore examined it in silence for a couple of seconds, doing it rather in order to amuse me. But after a while his expression changed and he muttered just a couple of broken sentences.

"T-this is Ca-Canterlotian cloth.
Tome, where...where did you get this!?"

I told him then about my early departure and my plans to go over the sealed mountain. I told him about my religious experience and my travel to the depths just afterwards. I didn't mention Spike though. It wasn't necessary to do it in my opinion. All I wanted to let Theodore know was that the princess lived and that it wouldn't take long for them to return and reclaim what was rightly theirs.

"So...So they are alive, Tome?
The princesses and the elements, even the castle still remains down below the sealed mountain?"

I simply nodded. Theodore almost fainted though. He seemed to be elated by the news, even more than I was.
I only went to fetch him a glass of water, it took me surely less than a minute, but by the time I returned something in Theodore had changed.

"We have to get them out of there.
The princesses...they surely need my help!"

Theodore seemed to be possessed by the idea of going to the princesses aide. To tear down the mountain by force and bring back the lost kingdom to the surface. In vain I tried to calm him down and to explain to him, that the princesses would take care of the mountain on their own. It might take a while, but at the end, like in our the teachings, they would prevail.

"The princesses are sure to win the battle against evil, Theodore. There is nothing we can do to help them in that fight. But we can change back this corrupt system that has been founded using their name into something that resembles more what they wanted at the beginning and less what the greedy ponies of the past made of it."

My words didn't seem to have any effect anymore in Theodore's mind. He just kept hugging the cloth I showed him as if it were his most beloved possession.

"Cowards, bastards, betrayers, all of them!
How could they dare to leave the princesses on their own when they needed them?
Surely they needed somepony to stand by their side. Surely they wanted somepony to come to their rescue.
Curse the blood the flows through this veins, the blood of the coward Blueblood!

Tome! It is time for us to act! Your meeting with the princesses was surely a way for them to let me know they need my help.
And unlike my cowardly ancestor, I won't doubt if asked to throw away my life for the divine rulers of this land.
This time the reinforcements won't be late, but first in the sacred battle against the unnamed evil!!"

Like a sword Theodore swung his scepter around the room, resolved to use all the power invested on him to bring down the sealed mountain. I realized my mistake then. I should have kept quiet about what I saw. Unfortunately it was already too late. Things that I couldn't stop anymore had been set in motion by my careless actions.

"Theodore, wait! I told you that isn't the kind of help we can offer the princesses! What we can do is..."

"Silence!!
I believed you shared my love for the princesses, my respect and loyalty to their teachings.
But now I see you are not willing to march to battle with me for them.

You ask of me to wait, while they suffer trapped underground, captives of that unnamed evil.
Wait for another time when there might be nopony to help them?
How can you expect me to do that, Tome!? Me, their greatest champion and spreader of their word!

Many things I could forgive and overlook for a friend, but this is not one of them!

Guards!!"

Little resistance offered the locks of door and windows before the massive bodies of the Cardinal's guards. They broke in before I could even react. The tips of their spears directed at the base of my throat.

"Take him to the jail. Tell the pony in charge he has been arrested under direct order of the holy sect, accused of the highest treason to ponykind."

"Theodore, you don't know what you are doing!! You will be of no help for the princesses if you march towards the mountain. You might even destroy everything they have worked for!"

He did not reply with words to mine, but with a kick to my face.

"Take him away already. And bring me feather, ink and parchment."

**************************************

Wild Rose

**************************************

The calm and almost monotone atmosphere of the small farm town changed drastically during the days after my arrest.
Theodore took over by overpowering the town's mayor with his own authority and through threats that were reinforced by the arrival of several dozens of soldiers each day.

Despite using force at first, Theodore still wanted to gain the villagers to his side by words. He constantly preached about the princesses being beneath the mountain and his intention to return the land to its former glory, promising prosperity and abundance in years to come . When asked about me, he commented on my betrayal and pointed at a small tower, a little taller than the biggest house in town, where I had been taken to.

"Theodore! You don't know what you're doing!!"

My screams, thought clearly audible, were ignored by the ponies that passed close to the tower. Once in a while I saw a cloaked figure stand below it for a few instants looking up to me, but it always went away before I could say anything.

As expected I had no visits. A single soldier came the very night I regained consciousness to inform me that my sentence would be carried out after Theodore returned from the expedition to the mountain. Naturally I tried to convince him of helping me out, but it was useless.
I spent several days in prison looking through the bars on my window at the constantly growing army Theodore was going to use to march to the tunnels under the mountain.

Heavy armored lancers, foot soldiers, archers, gunners, even special cannon units gathered in the small town. Even if the citizens of Märisch said nothing, from my cell I could see fear in their eyes. The foals had stopped playing around in the dusty streets and the only pub in town had become for use exclusive of the soldiers. Food in town seemed to have become scarce too. Not once did I see the gathered soldiers take any by brute force, but most of it was being used to feed the growing army. It had never happened before that a mare had to beg for food for her foal, and yet under Theodore's occupation it had become a common sight.

I didn't just watch through my window at the growing misery of town. I also did try to come up with ways to escape the prison. But as inexperienced I was in the matter and with the little time I believed I had judging from the size of Theodore's army, I was unable to come with a plan to escape.

Over and over again I asked the guards next to my door to let me see the Cardinal. Somehow I still believed that I'd be able to reach to him, to bring him to put an end to all that was happening, if I just had a word with him. But the guards just kept quiet and immobile.
Often I thought about Spike. My nights were actually a continuous torment that had taken shape in my dreams, dreams in which I saw that unnamed evil roam the land freely again, while the accusing eyes of the princesses, the elements of harmony and Spike were all directed at me. It was my fault after all. Why...why did I tell Theodore? I should have kept quiet. Spike never told me to keep the secret, but I understood it didn't need to be said. It was obvious.
Every now and then I was unable to tolerate my own stupidity and hit myself trying to cause as much pain as I could. But after the brutal beat up I still was in prison as the culprit of more and heavier crimes that Theodore had accused me of.

One day, I don't exactly remember which one, a squad of black robbed ponies came to town. Behind them there were several strong looking stallions pulling from an elongated cart that transported something long and thick covered by a dark gray blanket.

They were far away from my tower so I couldn't see their faces, but I could still recognize by the design of their robes, that they belonged to the holy sect.

Theodore, the cardinal himself, seemed to greet them quite respectfully. After a long talk during which they pointed at the unknown object they had brought along several times, Theodore called a group of stallions I knew were dexterous hoofworkers and constructors, for among them was the one that had taught me how to use hammer and nail.
Theodore gave them a short order and then they were under the command of the black robbed ponies, that immediately after they were given control over them, began to impart orders.

Feeling uneasy due to the sudden appearance of the mysterious ponies I turned once more to my guards and tried to obtain any kind of information about them. Like before they just ignored me.

After a couple of hours I found out what kind of artifact it was the hoofworkers were asked to assemble. It was some sort of gigantic crossbow, used surely to shoot the long and thick object I knew now was an arrow, the biggest one I had ever heard of.
I couldn't sleep that night thinking about the purpose Theodore had given to that arrow.

It was that same night that the army marched towards the mountain leaving the town empty. A couple of torches burnt at the entrance of my cell, held by the same two guards of the nights before, but besides them, even my prison seemed to be devoid of all life.
The silence of the night was only disturbed by the soft, irregular purring of the torches and the rude singing of the crickets in the grass. That was at least until the first explosion.

The very foundation of the tower shook violently accompanied by the deafening roar and wild flames caused by gunpowder.
Soon the smoke caused by the explosion reached us. The two guards, still confused by the unexpected attack didn't react fast enough and where blown away by two small explosives thrown at them from the cloud of smoke.

"Piece of cake."

A voice I had not heard in months advanced towards my cell with rhythmical and calm steps. The explosions that had taken care of the guards had also destroyed the door and through its smoking rests I saw Wild Rose step into my cell.

"To have the honor of being saved twice by the infamous Wild Rose...Tome, you are indeed a lucky stallion."

I had been called that many times before, but I always thought it was the opposite.

Wild Rose looked exactly the same as in our first meeting. Her brown and wavy mane fell on one side of her face partially hiding the eye patch that covered her missing eye. Her body was full of scars, but they all seemed old and almost about to fade away.
She looked down on me with her single brown eye while a confident smile, that would soon disappear, adorned her face.

"Come, we have to escape while they are away."

She didn't have to tell me twice.

As we made our way downstairs I asked her about her motives for rescuing me. The mare simply replied that it was nothing of my concern.
Naturally my opinion differed from hers, but at the time I had other things in my mind.
When we were finally at the entrance of the prison, Wild Rose turned to the right, while I turned to the left.

"Where do you think you are going, Tome?"

It was quite strange to be called by my name so often by a pony, I was sure, I never gave my name to. Still I didn't feel like asking her.

"Please Miss Wild Rose, follow me."

Wild Rose doubted for an instant whether or not she should follow me. I didn't wait for her reply and instead began to run towards the Sanctuary. To hear her hoofsteps behind mine was proof that despite my egoistic demands and rude behavior she accepted.

"Ha! You owe the infamous Wild Rose not one, not two, but three favors, Tome."

"And I think I'll owe you even more Wild Rose. But don't worry about it. Your reward will be more than you can imagine."

The mare laughed and with an strangely sweet tone of voice commented on my apparent ability to say the words a mare wants to hear.
When we reached the Sanctuary I asked Wild Rose to blow up the entrance for me, something she did swiftly and without even blinking. The entrance of the newly built Sanctuary was reduced in an instant to a pile of rubble and dark smoke.

Without a single second to waste I went towards the altar hoping that Theodore had not decided to inspect down there.
Luckily what I had left there was untouched. The gems and bits Spike had given me were still all accounted for.
I put the gems and coins in front of Wild Rose and offered them as her reward for accompanying me in my mission.

"These gems are more valuable than this very town or its neighboring cities. I'll give them and these Canterlotian bits to you if you agree to come with me."

It didn't seem like Wild Rose could hear me. To see such a fortune in front of her eyes was maybe too much to take in at the time.
She stared at the bits and gems and after a while she stared at me.

"You are indeed a stallion full of surprises, Tome. I certainly didn't make a mistake when falling for you."

Being the last one a comment I could not ignore I replied in the only way I could.

"Wait, what?"

"It's not important. Tell me, where are we headed then?"

I put the gems back underground and told her our destination.

"We are going to the sealed Mountain."

At the mention of it, Wild Rose's expression changed and the idea of money didn't seem to be as appealing to her as before.

"Hmph! you ask too much for a mere fortune. It looks like at the end our paths won't meet beyond this point."

I saw the mare turn her back to me, walking towards the pile of rubble that marked the exit of the sanctuary.

"Wait, Miss Rose! There are more! These are not the only gems I could give you. Under the mountain there lies a pile of gems and gold, enough
to buy three countries, even four depending on your haggling skills.
It'll be more than enough to build an empire of your own.
Imagine your name in every street and building, your face in coins and statues all over your own empire!"

Wild Rose stopped in her tracks. The idea of possessing her own empire seemed to be quite tempting.

"You talk often about riches, Tome, but riches aren't the only things a mare cares about.
What about the fame? What about the glory?"

"Oh, it will be yours and yours only! No foal, stallion, or mare in the world will claim not to have heard the name of the infamous Wild Rose."

Slowly Wild Rose turned her head around. She looked me in the eye and asked for one last thing.

"Tempting...tempting indeed. But there's still something missing."

Without anything else to offer I offered it all to her.

"Please, come with me, anything you want will be yours. I won't stand a chance without you."

I lowered my head as a sign of complete surrender to whatever wishes she might have. I was prepared to do anything to help Spike and correct my error. And in my opinion it was Wild Rose the only one with enough strength to help me stop Theodore. With her explosives we would surely be able to block the army way or even bring part of the mountain upon them before they came to closer to Canterlot.

The mare put her cold hooves on my cheeks and made me look her in the eye.

"You better don't forget your words, Tome. The Wild Rose will take what has been offered to her, even by force if necessary."

I had seen the look in her eye before. It was the same Spike had when trying to find out whether I lied or not. Realizing that by keeping my word she was in all her right to take my life if she wanted to, I confirmed my offer and left it clear that I wouldn't go back on my word.

"I mean my words Wild Rose, even if it is my life what you want, I won't think twice to give it to you."

To my surprise she smiled and before departing she said just one last thing.

"Good. Then lets get you that treasure."

Both of us left the sanctuary behind and ran towards the gray mountain in the distance. I couldn't understand at first why Wild Rose had said she'd get me that treasure, but after giving it some thought I understood that as one that had offered everything to her, the treasure, even if in my possession, would still technically be hers.

I asked the mare if maybe she needed to get some sort of provisions before we headed for the mountain, but she pointed out that with her remaining bombs and the amount of gunpowder Theodore had taken along, it would be more than enough to take care of his army.

The mountain grew in size as we came closer. The hole Theodore's troops had made in the mountainside was still smoking and it made it look like the gigantic mouth of a beast about to awaken.

**********************************************

The fire under the mountain

Already from far away I could hear the cannons and arrows directed at Spike. By the sounds of it Theodore was not holding his punches against him. But apparently even his strongest weapons and the continuous rain of arrows could not hurt severely the thousand years old dragon.
All he could hope to achieve was to lower Spike's morale and rise his with his words.

"You foul, unnamed evil, know that your end will come by the hooves of those that follow the princesses teachings!
No more will your figure threaten the peace of the citizens of our land, nor will your shadow torment their sleep!
Accept your defeat and fall, fall in the princesses' name!!"

Our position regarding the battle taking place in front of us a pretty advantageous one. Spike and Theodore's army were locked at different ends of a tunnel with Spike defending his side and Theodore pushing forward from the other. Thanks to a couple detours, twists and turns Wild Rose and I were coming from a somewhat smaller tunnel that was located right next to Theodore's army. Under other circumstances that would have been the worst side to stand on, but all the soldiers and even Theodore himself were so immersed in the battle that they didn't even notice we were approaching.

With a swift movement of his gigantic tail Spike swiped away the hundreds of arrows aimed at his face and chest.
He had been pushed into a corner, but it was solely because he, for some reason, didn't want to have their blood in his claws, despite how easy it'd have been for him. He still was a child after all. This might be the first time he might have to fight for this life.

"It looks like you've used more your tongue than your ears in your life.
I've grown tired of explaining that I am not the one you believe me to be!
Just retreat if it is really Canterlot you fight for!!!"

Out of Spike's mouth a green sea of flames flooded the ground of the cave turning it into a glowing pool of molten rock. No soldiers were caught in the green inferno, nor did any fall victim to the scorching sea of liquid stone. The army stood right behind it, its foot soldiers and armored units rendered useless, depending now only of the arrows and cannon balls that had proven useless until now.
But Theodore wasn't about to surrender, not when he was that close to the princesses he so much worshiped.

"Cursed beast!
Prepare the crossbow! Cannon units, archers units, gunners, fire at will, create a wall of smoke to hide the location of the red javelin!
The princesses will be free today!!"

The constant explosions of the cannons and the rifles, and the zooming sound of the arrows filled quickly the air and it became hard to hear what Spike or Theodore were saying.

Despite our intentions of joining the fray, our bodies, mine and Wild Roses, were in no condition to fight. But as Wild Rose had mentioned with all the gunpowder Theodore had brought along it'd be easy to bring down the mountain upon them. Killing was something Spike did not want to do, but to take a life was something Theodore was dead set on achieving, and something I was more than willing to do as well, if it meant saving Spike's life.

Before the smoke became too thick I managed to spot a big group of barrels right next to one of the walls of the tunnel. All I did was tell Wild Rose about it and before I noticed it she was already tying all her bombs together into some sort of explosive wreath that she threw in the appointed direction.

My directions and Wild Rose's throw were the only things were managed to do before falling on our knees due to our exhaustion.
I didn't need to hear the explosion or see the rock falling on top of me to know there was no way me or Wild Rose could get out of there after the barrels exploded.
Even if we managed to survive the explosion or if we were not crushed by a single rock, we wouldn't be able to move ourselves or any of the rocks that would trap us.
Seconds before the wreath exploded Wild Rose said something I couldn't clearly understand due to the countless sounds that filled the air.

"...At the end the only capable of putting and end to the Wild Rose's legend was none other than the mountain that had sealed once the destiny of a kingdom..."

It was then that the mountain trembled and cracked. The screams of the soldiers that fell because of the explosion were quickly overshadowed by the cracking sound of the rock breaking apart. The dark smoke escaped through the new fissure on the side of the mountain while the earth shook around us. Big rocks started to fall from the ceiling of the cave. The biggest of them all was about to squash Theodore and the rest of his army when something apparently stopped it.

"Stupid fools! What do you think you are doing!?"

Spike held the rock on his back. He had used his body to save the soldiers that had come to kill him. Me, Wild Rose, even the soldiers, the archers, the cannon units and gunners were surprised by his actions. Surprised to such degree that for a moment their war cries stopped and the soldiers wondered if the one before them was truly their enemy or not.
I was sure that was the last chance I had to fix the whole problem...
But unluckily Theodore's voice was louder than mine. I wasn't about to let it go to waste.

Bad ending Good ending

the end (1)

...the end

I was sure that was the last chance I had to fix the whole problem. But unluckily Theodore's voice was louder than mine.

"FIRE!!!!"

From behind the curtain of smoke a big crimson projectile was shot at Spike's chest. The expression Spike had let me assume that he expected, as much as I did, that red missile to pierce through his hardened scales.

"SPIKE!!!"

I yelled my friend's name, but Spike didn't seem to be able to hear me anymore. The light of his eyes became fainter until they were completely devoid of it. In vain I tried to stand up and run. None of my muscles wanted to listen to my command, they had already given me more than they could. They demanded rest despite my efforts to move again.

Theodore's victory cry was on its own at the beginning. The soldiers, after witnessing Spike's actions, didn't know if it was correct to celebrate his defeat brought by such cowardly means.
The rock that threatened to kill Theodore and his army still laid upon Spike's back, but the lifeless body of my friend still stood between them.

Never before did I harbor so much hate for anypony as I did for Theodore and myself. I wished from the bottom of my heart for us to suffer the most painful of deaths. With delight I saw the mountain tremble once more. I thought that divine justice would be done and that in the end it would be the mountain the one to punish him and me for our actions. But that delight turned into horror and disbelief once I noticed that the mountain was not going to crush us. Instead it was disappearing around us.
The rocks surrounding us grew fainter. Even the rock Spike still held began to disappear. The starry sky outside began to turn clear and the full moon illuminated marvelously the pearl-white towers of the once lost Canterlot.

Theodore prompted his soldiers to celebrate.

"Look! Look at the beauty of Canterlot! Faithful soldiers of the princesses we have brought upon their return. We have aid them in the defeat of the unnamed evil. Each one of you is a hero, even more so the ones that fell in battle, for they will be special in the princesses eyes!"

One by one the soldiers began to yell and celebrate their victory. Even Wild Rose was somewhat moved by the scene that unfolded before her eye.

"Then...then it was the dragon that unnamed evil we've feared for centuries? But then why, Tome, why would you defend it?"

I shook my head violently. Spike was not the unnamed evil. He was just one of its prisoners. Finally the princesses had managed to defeat that evil, but their victory was so ill timed, that it made look Spike's death like the reason for the return of the lost capital.

"No...no, it isn't like that.
Spike...Spike was just waiting for them to wake up. He was trapped in there for thousands of years waiting to meet again with his friends.
I...I ruined it...I ruined it all...
Everything is my fault..."

The sun rose and floated next to the full moon submerging the world in a strange twilight. The small town Spike mentioned appeared in my sight. I could see the stores shaped like a carousel and a cake, the oak tree that served as a library and the huge apple tree fields Spike mentioned before we parted.

Everpony he knew had returned, only to witnessed what we had done to their friend.

...our meeting (2)

...our meeting

I was sure that was the last chance I had to fix the whole problem. I wasn't about to let it go to waste.

Gathering what little strength I had left I managed to once more stand on all fours.
My legs trembled and twitched at the inconsiderate demands I made to them. They demanded rest, but I begged for their help just for a little while longer.
As the smoke curtain cleared I was able to see a blurry figure move towards the giant crossbow I saw the hoofworkers of Märisch work on.
Of all the the presents Theodore was the only one still thinking of Spike as an enemy.
I ran towards him through the lines of hesitating soldiers using what was left of the smoke curtain to my advantage.
Every step I took hurt like having a needle pierce the bottom of my hoof.
Despite the hatred I felt towards Theodore, I was unable to do more besides tackle him. Fortunately I was able to bring him down to the ground, gaining so at least some time.

"Tome? What do you think you are doing here?
How did you escape?

Bah!

It doesn't matter now. Get off me already! You dare interrupt me in the middle of a battle?"

Unable to come up with any new words, with the ones I had used before proven as useless, exhausted and about to faint all I could do was use my head. I smashed it right in Theodore's mouth.

"Gah!"

I drew blood immediately after the first headbutt. It ran down my forehead and out of Theodore's mouth. It's pearl white teeth were covered in the reddish mixture of his blood and his saliva. He cried due to the pain, but his eyes also reflected his anger towards me.

"How....how dhare yhou!?"

His lips quickly swelled and the words that came out of his mouth became harder and harder to understand. As a pony not accustomed to fight his body was quick to react when hurt. I must admit that I was like that once, but the many fights I got into in the pub had accustomed, somewhat, my body to the pain.
Nonetheless I was unable to put a decent fight against the healthy cardinal.
He smacked my face over and over again while I headbutted whatever part of his body I felt closer.
Naturally his hits proved more effective than mine and after a while of wrestling he got the upper hoof.
Theodore hit me relentlessly, with a fury I had not seen in him ever before. Often he quoted sentences from many important soldiers and commanders that partook in the great battle thousands of years ago.
Luckily for me, despite the anger his punches had, with the passing of time they became weaker, once more surely due to the lack of exercise in Theodore's life. Noticing then that he wasn't inflicting as much pain as he expected, and being painfully aware that his strength wouldn't last any longer he reached for a loose stone in the ground and lifted it over his head.

"...this will be the last one. It'll be the last blow, the last battle, the last day of war. Those were the words of the commander to his soldiers.
Let this be the battle that puts and end to the war. Let this be the one that will claim victory for Canterlot, Equestria, and the Princess!!"

The Cardinal was out of his mind. I wondered if by the time I met him Müllhound, under that mask of faith and devotion, already lurked this murderous, fanatic madness.
Our eyes met. I then looked at the rock. It was obvious my skull would not withstand to be hit with it. It'd surely split open like a melon.
When I looked back at him, Theodore's eyes were still fixed on mine. For an instant I thought he'd be unable to do it. Maybe, despite the madness that controlled his every movement, he still saw me as his former friend.
But then I realized that he wasn't hesitating at all. He was merely preparing himself mentally to assume the guilt brought by giving the deathblow with his own hooves.

Suddenly the earth shook once more. This time it wasn't caused by an explosion, Spike or the cannons. The earth merely shook because it felt like it apparently. But it did it so violently that the mountain above us began to crack and split. Fissures started to appear on every wall of the mountain and many of the soldiers began to care less about the fight and more about their own lives.

"What are you doing? Come here!!!"

With a single swipe of his tail Spike pulled towards him the soldiers closer to him as well as Wild Rose, protecting them from the falling rocks and debris.

The earthquake was my window. As stone and dust fell around us from above and while Theodore was distracted I headbutted him once more, this time in his defenseless stomach. The rock fell behind his back and both of us had again the same advantage over the other, namely none.

"Tome!"

Wild Rose called my name. Certainly it was because she wanted to get me to cover me under Spike as well as the others.
The earthquake continued. Neither I nor Theodore were close enough to Spike to refuge ourselves beneath him.
The strength released by the earth under us was unprecedented. Somehow it was as if something wanted to emerge from the center of the earth.
Theodore finally fell, and laid right next to me without being able to move a single muscle. We both, former friends that had attempted on taking the other's life were now at the mercy of luck, for if a single rock, large enough, were to fall upon our heads there would be nothing we could do besides hope it would kill us instantly.

"You...you...damned..t-t...traitor..."

"You...murderous...cleric..."

I laughed and coughed a little of my blood. For some reason I couldn't stop thinking that before all this happened we preferred to be less formal when we were alone.

As I looked at the ceiling of the cave while countless tiny stones fell upon us, I couldn't stop noticing that for some reason the rock started to lose their color. Maybe it was the blood loss or a simple delusion, but the stones even started to look transparent, to the point where I could distinguish silver clouds, the stars and the full moon above us.

"W-what...what is happening?"

"The...the cave..."

"....it's disappearing!?"

The comments of the soldiers made me realize I wasn't seeing this. The mountain, the sealed mountain was fading away, literally being disappearing from existence as if it had never been more than something we had dreamed about.
In vain I tried to think about the possible reasons for what my eyes witnessed. If it weren't for Spike's words, I'd have believed that I was about to wake up from a dream and that I was still in my little house in Müllhound, waiting for the mailpony to deliver to me the decision of the sect about my transference to Märisch.

"They did it! They have finally defeated the unnamed evil! Everypony, look, Canterlot is rising again!"

As Spike said. The pearl white towers of Canterlot emerged from the ground as a sign of victory of the princesses over the unnamed Evil.
The Castle and its city and the mountain they were on thousands of years ago were again for the entire world to see.
Unexpectedly the Sun rose in the horizon and joined the Moon in the sky submerging the world in twilight.
The world felt then somehow different. It was so strange. It was as if something we didn't know was missing had returned and had showed us once more what the world used to be like.
I looked at Theodore. We were both covered in blood. The expression in his face was of shame and disbelief.

"I told you...we just had to wait...imbecile..."

Theodore didn't show me his face anymore.

I turned to my side and saw how something else seemed to emerge from the depths.

"A town?"

"Some day these walls will fall completely, the kingdom will rise from underground and all the citizens of Canterlot and Ponyville will awake from their slumber.
When that time comes, Tome. Come visit me. I'll surely have a place near a small town you have surely heard nothing about.
I am sure you won't miss it. It has a fashion store shaped like a carousel and a bakery that looks like a cake. It also has a large oak three that serves as a library and huge fields of apple trees."

"So this is Ponyville, huh, Spike?
Looks exactly like you described it.
I'm already...looking forward to visit you there...
My friend...
I'll go as soon...as I feel my legs again..."

Author's Note

There's a sequel!

Please go here: to my last breath