The Apex Predatorby DaklnChaptersSignum DeiMatutina InfirmitatemCorpus TransmutareA Reward For Your PatienceOK, this might continue...Signum DeiAnother successful celebration from the Party Queen herself; Rarity’s birthday was as wonderful as ever. Pinkie was especially proud of her accomplishment, because she had received a letter from a fan of her pastries a couple months ago, suggesting she should try a new recipe called the Red Velvet. Only now was she able to attempt to make it, however, simply because she couldn’t think of any better time to unveil a new recipe then, for Pinkie, the most extravagant time of the year, Rarity’s birthday. And yes, it was a big hit. Rarity absolutely loved it, as well as the six gifts she had received from her friends. “That one’s from me,” said Twilight Sparkle, as Rarity grabbed a small bag off of the table upon which the presents were sitting. She lifted out the contents to reveal... “A scroll?” Rarity quizzically asked. “I don’t mean to sound rude, darling, but what am I supposed to do with this?” “Oh, it’s an enchanted scroll,” Twilight replied with a wave of her hood. “It will enhance your magic, thus allowing you to multitask easier. “ “Oh, wow! That’s wonderful, dear! This is exactly what I needed!” It was Rainbow Dash’s turn for her present to be opened. Rarity unwrapped the lightning striped container with her magic, revealing a new book that read: “Equestrian History of Fashion”. The light in Rarity’s eyes sparkled, “Rainbow, how did you find this rather lovely book?” Rainbow Dash gave a little chuckle, “I was checking out Daring Do and the Legend of The Dark Knight, and happened to stumble across that book, I thought you might enjoy it.” Fluttershy’s gift was a hoof-knitted purple and white scarf which, of course, matched Rarity’s coat and mane. “Do I look fabulous with this sweater on?” Rarity asked everypony, while receiving an obvious gratification and pleasurement, which was brought with a unified “hurrah!” From Pinkie Pie, the recipe for Red Velvet, which was brought to Rarity along with the dessert. Rarity opened her next present, finding a shiny new sewing machine inside. “Oh thank you very much Applejack!” Rarity gave her gratitude, “I desperately need this!” “Ah shucks, it was nothin’” Applejack smiled, while remembering the reason why she had bought Rarity a new sewing machine in the first place. Last time she had been to Carousel Boutique, she noticed that Rarity’s old sewing machine was getting a little rusty. Actually, a more accurate description would be that she wouldn’t shut up about how rusty it was, in which case Applejack decided to give her a new machine to quiet her down. And finally, it was Spike’s turn for his present to be opened. What Rarity pulled out of a wooden box (that had some nicely carved decorates) was a set of Dragonscale sewing needles, which had been made from his own scales. “Spike, but how?” Spike had spent three months making them. Rarity was both shocked and touched by the sheer dedication that Spike had committed to something so small. Rarity’s emotion was too strong to let Spike answer. “You’re the best friend any mare could ever have, Spikey-Wikey” she had cooed before kissing him on the cheek. Although the kiss was, to him, what would be a gift from Lauren Faust to us, Spike was saddened by what she had said, for he wanted so much more… “Goodbye, everypony,” cried Rarity as her friends exited the Carousel Boutique, “See you at the field tonight!” Yes, it was true. Though the ponies were leaving, the party was not over just yet. They had planned to meet in the field on the outskirts of Ponyville three hours after the party to watch the skies for the once in a lifetime arrival of Faust’s Comet. Based on how many lights she saw were off, Twilight Sparkle surmised that they would be the only ones there. She hadn’t really told anypony about it, save for her friends. She figured the rest of Ponyville either didn’t care or already knew. But out of all of her friends who were excited for the comet (that just happened to be coming around on Rarity’s birthday), none of them had shown more excitement about it than her Number One Assistant: Spike. He knew that this was going to be the only time he would be able to see it with the friends he now held so dear. A dragon’s lifespan is significantly longer than a pony’s, which meant that he was going to see the comet at least four more times over the course of his life. But this was going to be special. This would be the only time he was going to see the comet and have somepony to share the moment with, as far as he knew. Twilight stared in confusion as she saw Spike hang his head in sadness as they walked home from the party. “Spike?” she whispered with motherly concern, “what’s the matter?” Spike barely acknowledged her existence with a low grunt. “You seemed like you were having a good time at the party. What happened?” “I dunno, Twilight,” Spike groaned in reply, “It’s just… With what Rarity said… I feel kinda cheated… and hurt.” “What?! Spike, that’s ridiculous! She said you were the best friend a pony could have! That’s the kindest thing I have heard her say about anypony, and that right there is saying something!” Spike said nothing. Instead, he replied with a look that read ‘You know what I mean’. “Oh… I get it! You feel hurt because Rarity simply called you a friend, and you want more than that. But, come on. You don’t think that’s asking a little too much from her?” “I just wish she would at least acknowledge my feelings!” “At your age, Spike, for her to even think of such a thing would be illegal! She’s an adult mare! You’re a baby dragon!” “For how much longer?” This threw Twilight off. “What?” “How much longer do I have to be a baby, Twilight?” Twilight thought about this for a moment. “Well, Spike… I can honestly say I don’t know. But even if you weren’t a baby, there’s still the dragon aspect to take into consideration. As far as I know, ponies and dragons aren’t supposed to mix. Do you honestly think it would work between you and Rarity?” “I’ll have you know,” Spike retorted, “That it has worked in the distant past! I’ve read a couple of books on dragons in my spare time, and I found out that Discord himself, before he turned into the trickster you know and love today, was in fact half dragon and half pony!” “Spike… That has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard, and I have heard some pretty weird things in my life.” “No, think about it! Draco is an ancient word for dragon, and Equus is an ancient word for pony... But, listen, we’re getting off track! I’m asking you, is there any possibility that a relationship between me and Rarity would work?!” “I’m not sure…“ Twilight replied sadly. Then, suddenly, a brilliant idea formed in her head, and her eyes sparkled with excitement. “But I bet you there’s something at the library! Come on!” The sun’s rays began to slowly diminish as it quietly vanished through the horizon. Twilight had just realized the time of day, and insisted that she and Spike should quicken their pace to the library. Just when they arrived at the front door, Twilight began looking through the large collection of books. “Okay Spike” she said while her back was turned away, “I want you to help me find any books on dragons.” “But Twilight”, Spike interjected, “last time we tried looking for books on dragons, we couldn’t find any! And why are we looking for them anyway?” “Glad you asked Spike”, she turned towards him, “the answer is really simple actually. After finding out about my lack of dragon knowledge, I asked Princess Celestia if there were any books on dragons over at the Royal Canterlot Library. She said no… But luckily the Princess promised me at that time, that if her researchers find anything new and publish the information, she’ll have it delivered to me, in which she obviously did.” Twilight had a hint of pride in her tone of voice, it’s not very common for a pony to own such rare books on anything dragon related! Twilight was thinking about starting her own collection of rare books, since this would be a great start, and she enjoyed knowledge that only few ponies knew of. “You still haven’t answered my question.” Spike impatiently glared at Twilight while she was fantasizing. “Oh, sorry about that, you can tell I get carried away sometimes.” She smiled, and then cleared her throat, appearing as though she was about to give a large, well thought out speech, which didn’t excite Spike one bit. “I was just curious to see how the aging process of dragons work. By comparing them to a regular pony’s lifespan, I can calculate and see how long it’ll take for you to legally date Rarity.” Spike’s eyes widened, “Can you really do that?” “Sure!” She smiled at Spike, “well… Assuming that the lifespan of a dragon isn’t complicated. Other than that, it’ll be a piece of cake!” Hope for knowing when to date Rarity gave Spike enough motivation to look through the books; He began to pick them up one-by-one, reading each title, and scanning for anything dragon related. A moment of searching passed as Spike began to become impatient, which was followed by distraction. There was a book he found called: “The Fundamentals of Evolution and Nature”, which strangely caught his attention; so he began reading it until a loud noise startled him. “Ah-ha!” Twilight squealed in excitement, “The Dragon Studies, one of the rare books I own!” Twilight began vigorously reading through the printed pages as Spike waited for an answer. A moment passed as pages of the book were turning; finally Twilight said something to herself. “That’s interesting.” “Yes?” Spike said while peering over her shoulder. “Turns out there are two ways a dragon can grow: through greed, and through generosity. All of the dragons we’ve seen have grown through greed. The Draconis Liberalis, as they named it, has a different form. Instead of having its body designed for being on all fours, like a pony, it is designed to walk on two. They are generally more slender and more flexible than the Draconus Avarus.” “Walking on two? Just like I am right now?” Spike asked as he lifted and examined his feet. “Exactly” Twilight replied, “it is such a rare thing to see, or even hear of a Liberalis, dragons are usually… Well, very greedy!” “And how does this solve the age thingy?” Spike coughed. “Oh! Sorry!” She blushed a little, “I got carried away again.” The reading lasted for what seemed like hours to Spike, after calculating everything from what Twilight read, she finally broke the silence with some grim news. “I’m sorry Spike.” She said with a frown, “since dragons live for a very long time, it takes a while for them to grow.” “What do you mean Twilight?” Spike had a confused expression. “This means… That by the time you are at a legal dating age, Rarity would probably pass away through old age.” The news hit Spike like a two ton brick wall, crashing down at him all at once. The shock made Spike’s body shake. He let his knees fall to the ground, and began hitting the floor with his claws. “No! This can’t be! I love Rarity, and now when I can finally be old enough, she’ll be gone?!” Twilight felt a bit ashamed of herself for upsetting Spike, while watching Spike cry to himself, she finally thought of something to say to calm him down. “Don’t worry Spike, all is not lost.” “What are you saying?” Spike lifted his teary face from the floor. Twilight gave a grin, “I have heard that when you see Faust’s Comet, you can make a wish.” Spike calmed down, “Are you sure Twilight? That idea seems a little-” “Trust me!” She interrupted with an even bigger grin, “you just have to try it for yourself.” She looked outside and realized the time, “Oh! The girls are meeting us right outside of Ponyville. Let’s go!” Spike hastily got up and joined Twilight in her rush to their destination. Twilight and Spike met with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity, who were all laying on a green hillside, watching the last glimpses of sunlight vanishing from the clouds. “Sorry we’re late” Twilight apologized. “Ah shucks, it don’t matter. You weren’t even that late at all!” Applejack gracefully responded, “Now come an’ take a seat, and wait with us fer the comet!” The mares, and Spike, conversed with each other until Fluttershy spotted a bright light in the sky. The light grew larger and larger, until it was close enough to reveal its heavenly shape. Everypony had a surprised expression as the large comet slowly made its way across the sky. Spike smiled and closed his eyes, I wish I can be good enough for Rarity, for her to understand my love for her, and to acknowledge it. Suddenly, Pinkie’s tail began twitching, and then spazzing. This, of course, shocked the company, and brought their searching eyes to the sky. Even though the comet was about to leave their sight, a small flicker of light began flying towards their direction. It came closer, and closer, and closer, until it crashed through the clouds, and into the fields ahead of them. “Whoa! What was that?!” Rainbow Dash yelled in a nervous, yet excited fashion. “That was a meteor” Twilight exclaimed, “I guess a piece of Faust’s Comet broke off or something. Come on girls, let’s check it out!” “Is that a really good idea?” Fluttershy quietly said while hiding behind Spike, who didn’t notice her until she spoke up. Twilight gave a good laugh over Spike’s surprised expression, “don’t worry Fluttershy! As long as we don’t get hit by its landing, which we obviously didn’t, we’re safe from it! Now let’s check it out!” A large dusty crater replaced the once peaceful grassy fields. The group made its way to the edge of the crater. Everypony became a bit nervous, except for Spike, who found this whole situation an answer to his wish. After the dust cleared, an area of green light was shown. Spike decided that he should check it out, and began to run down the newly formed crater. “Don’t get near that rock, Spike!” Twilight yelled at him. “I thought you said that this was safe?” Rarity asked, Twilight gave a thoughtful expression. “The thing is… I have a weird feeling about this meteorite. I don’t know why, but I just feel uneasy.” Twilight noticed that Spike wasn’t listening to her, and kept on running. Twilight began to panic, and began yelling at him. “Spike! Stop!” Spike didn’t hear Twilight’s yelling, and continued to travel down the steep slope. Twilight panicked even more, and began to gallop down the crater towards him. After what seemed like forever to Twilight, Spike arrived at the dusty impact zone. Spike approached the meteorite, and began to examine it; the meteorite looked like a large, glowing, green crystal that had an interesting mossy texture. Spike curiously observed the extraterrestrial rock for a bit longer, until noticing that he was feeling light-headed. His nose was also unexpectedly bleeding. It seemed as though the world was spinning as his body fell to the ground. The last thing Spike remembered seeing was Twilight Sparkle frantically galloping towards him, and then his mind went blank. Matutina InfirmitatemSpike found himself in a hazy space. Vibrant colors stretched out to what seemed like eternity. Confusion enveloped Spike’s mind as he stood up to scan the area. He noticed a large pool of black water right in front of him; as Spike looked into it, he noticed that the water was too dark to tell its depth. After examining it for a bit longer; Spike felt a force push him into the water. He screamed as his entire body felt nothing but unfamiliar cold while being submerged into the blackness. Pain also pierced his flesh; as he was squirming in agony. Then, in contrast with the cold, extreme heat pulsed through his body like molten lead, Spike’s heart began to pump faster and faster at a dangerous rate. The heat spread from his chest down to his arms and legs, and felt a dense, searing pain blast through his bones, as if the unseen force had a bone to pick with his marrow. During his turmoil, blurry visions appeared in his mind. Spike saw Rarity’s face; she was frightened and weak, a feed tube in her nose and blood trickling out of the side of her mouth, which strangely gave him feelings of anger and horror. He also saw an outraged stallion yelling at something, but didn’t quite see what the stallion was yelling at. The stallion was screaming what seemed like hurtful slurs and insults, throwing rocks at the unknown object. Many other random scenes of discomfort went through Spike’s mind; he saw many glimpses of Rarity, Twilight and his other friends. There were quick scenes of happiness, (like a scene with him, Rainbow Dash and Rarity laughing about something, but what it was, he couldn't tell) and quick moments of what seemed like pure chaos (a monstrous beast was tearing up Ponyville without even touching anything. But for some reason, this creature seemed familiar). The visions kept on coming though Spike, until they abruptly stopped, and were replaced with falling... falling... Spike woke with a start. Beads of sweat raced down his forehead, and the bed upon which he was currently resting was the finishing line. His head was pounding, each individual throb an excruciating promise of a thousand more to come. His vision was blurred, and occasionally, it would split into two separate images in his view, each one demanding his full, undivided attention. In his current state, that was simply too much to ask for. His eyes weren't the only blurry part of him. When he tried to recall what had happened the night before, the last thing he could pull up was him and Twilight leaving to see the comet. After that, it was a haze. He lifted his claws up to his head to rub his temple in a feeble attempt to remember the events of the night before. But, try as he might, he was unable to renew any memories. Finally, he lowered his claws in defeat. Then, without warning, nausea hit him harder than a freight train, and he found himself desperately searching for a bowl in which to hurl. He didn't have to look far though, because, as luck would have it, he found a bowl sitting next to the bed. And in the short window of time before he buried his face in said bowl, he also spotted a stain on the carpet, which he presumed to be his own vomit. "Jeez," he thought in between retches, "What the hay happened last night?" With the last retch came a small belch, but even as small as it was, it was enough to shoot a small flame from his mouth, which ignited the former contents of his stomach, instantly turning it into a vapor floating over his head. Thankfully, it didn't smell as bad as he would have thought. In fact, it smelled... good. Weirdly so. Spike had ignited vomit before, at a time when Twilight had the flu and he was taking care of her, thinking it would be a quicker, cleaner, and less smelly way to clean out the bowl. Oh boy, was he wrong! The flame had turned the bile into an acrid black smoke, whose fumes were so foul, so absolutely noxious, that it caused Spike to come down with his own case of the flu. After Spike and Twilight had evacuated the library, they had to call Fluttershy over to take care of them, as neither of them were in any condition to take care of themselves. But for some reason, the same did not apply here. The fumes that were given off by his upheaval couldn't even be called fumes. Steam would have been a more appropriate word. Said steam smelled, surprisingly enough, like tea tree oil. Or was it Aloe Vera? Did Aloe Vera have a smell? In any case, the steam also shared one other trait with tea tree oil, that being it's soothing, cool vapors, which seeped slowly through Spike's nostrils, easing his headache and relieving his nausea. Normally, such an occurrence would have confused him to the point where the mere thought of what was wrong with the situation would revive the headache. But it was too early, he was too tired, and the rest of his body was in too much pain for him to really care. Feeling a little trickle on the corner of his mouth, Spike lifted a claw and wiped his mouth clean. As he did this, the back of his claw brushed against his upper lip, and he felt something crusty there. Curious as to what it was, he picked at it a little bit until a little speck of whatever it was fell into his palm. The little speck was dark reddish-brown. It was blood. Dried blood. This managed to bring back an inkling of a memory. It wasn't much, but it was enough to clear up a lot about what had happened last night. They had gone to see the comet, and supposedly, a piece of it had fallen into the field before them. Personally, he didn't think it was a piece of Faust's Comet, because that had never happened before. After that, it was hazy. Either way, something had made his nose bleed. Spike looked around and saw, amongst the many bookshelves that hugged around the circumference of the room, as if they were the wallpaper, the door to the bathroom. I better clean my face off, he thought to himself, getting up out of bed and lethargically shuffling over to the bathroom, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he did so. Once there, he turned the faucet on to its hottest setting and waited until the water was giving off steam so thick it could be cut with a knife. He cupped his claws under the flow of scalding water and was unphased by it. The same applied when he splashed the piping hot water onto his face, save for the fact that the heat cleared up his sinuses as well as the fogginess in his head, that one would feel after waking up. Spike just wished that that applied to his memories of last night. He searched through the sink cabinets for something he could use to scrape of the scabs underneath his nose. After a little bit, he managed to find some steel wool and, upon seeing it, winced. His scales were weaker around his face, and thus, were more susceptible to pain, meaning that this was probably going to hurt, if only a little bit. But at least that would be better than having a bunch of unsightly scabs under his nose. He squirted a little soap into the steel wool, put it under the water and, working up a lather, began scraping his philtrium. As he did, the heat and steam continued to clear his head, and in this moment of clarity, a wild thought appeared. Since when have I been tall enough to use the sink without my stool? he thought. As the realization hit him, he stopped scrubbing and his eyes widened. He realized that he had never gotten a chance to look at himself in the mirror, and promptly looked up... Spike could not believe his eyes. 5 minutes earlier... Twilight awoke slowly, with Applejack gently pushing her shoulder "...and I thought MY jokes were bad..." she slurred groggily as she woke, having been pulled from a dream... it was... something about a pencil... and maybe there was a clown in there... It didn't matter, it was gone now. "What was that, sugarcube?" asked a curious Applejack, having heard the nonsensical mumblings, but not fully understanding. Twilight took a moment to look around, and saw all of her friends standing around her with worried stares painted on their faces. "She said something about her jokes being bad" Rainbow Dash replied. "I wouldn't worry about it though." "And I neither," Rarity chimed. "After all, it only seemed like the ramblings of an interrupted dream. It's nothing, really." "What do you mean, it's nothing?!!" Shouted Pinkie Pie, "a joke that's not good is like a cake without frosting! Or a PB&J without the J or the PB, or--" "Girls!" Twilight giggled. "Please! Just give me a second to get up and breathe!" "Aw shucks," replied Applejack, "We jest got a little worried is all, what with you not getting any sleep by the time we dosed off." "Well, what can I say? I was taking care of Spike all night. Ever since he touched that meteor, he's been throwing up all over the place and his nose's been bleeding, the poor thing. I don't know when I got to sleep last night." "You finally crashed at about four in the morning," Fluttershy finally piped up. "You fell asleep on the floor right in front of the bedroom. I got up to get a glass of water right around the same time. I couldn't just leave you there like that, so I made a pallet for you." "Thanks, Fluttershy." Twilight smiled. Then, from behind the door, Twilight heard the most unpleasant sound of retching and coughing, accompanied by the sound of sloshing liquids. "Ohh... Listen to him!" She groaned sadly. "He sounds so horrible!" Then, the sounds changed from bad to worse, as the retches switched to sounds more akin to strained screams, and the liquid sounds became as frothy as that layer of bubbles that appear atop a soda when it's first poured. "You should probably make him some soup", said Fluttershy. "You know what?" replied Twilight, "That is a wonderful idea, I'm going to do that right now." And with that, she went into the kitchen and grabbed a small pot. But before she could turn on the burner, a pleasant smell caught her attention. "Do you smell Aloe Vera?" she asked. "Hmm..." replied Rarity, upon taking a whiff herself, "More like tea tree oil, darling. But where is it coming from?" And then, just as quickly as it came, it went. Twilight found this a little odd, but decided not to worry about that and turned on the burner. "Now, what would you recommend, Fluttershy?" she asked. "I would use tomato bisque," Fluttershy answered. "That always seems to do wonders whenever one of my patients has the flu." "OK, then, tomato bisque. Let me see if I have that" Twilight mused as she searched through the cupboard. It took her a little bit, but she managed to find a can of the stuff, the contents of which she promptly poured into the pot, which had just begun to warm up. Suddenly, a scream emanated from the room in which Spike was currently resting. An unfamiliar voice, a foreign voice. A stallion's voice. The girls said nothing, not even hesitating to rush into the room from when the scream had come. Throwing open the door, they were all ready to fight whoever it was that was attacking Spike. They could not believe their eyes. Corpus TransmutareThe room was completely silent. Spike would have felt very uncomfortable from the many stares the mares were giving him, if he wasn’t already stupefied by his own appearance. Ever since Spike fell unconscious from whatever it was in that meteorite, his form had changed dramatically overnight. Spike gave a glance at the many large eyes that were focused on his body, and said nothing. After what seemed like hours, Twilight finally broke the silence with a shaky question. “Spike… What happened to you?” Spike seemed a little scared, and began to tear up a little. “I don’t know.” Spike’s voice was a lot deeper than what was remembered. The other mares were silent, and continued to observe Spike’s new form. Spike was much taller than what he used to be, almost as tall as Big Macintosh. His scales were also richer in color, and were nicer looking too. His spikes were longer, and had a fine point. And Spike’s body was lean and muscular. Twilight took note that Spike’s body structure was in the same shape and size as a Draconis Liberalis: A dragon that grew from generosity. “Spike, when did you notice your change? Do you feel anything new?” Twilight asked as she was trying to make sense of the situation. All Spike did was stare blankly in front of him, still tearing up a little. “Please Spike” Twilight insisted, “I want to know what happened to you. Perhaps you could tell us a bit more of what happened last night?” Spike looked at his newly larger claws, and played with them a little. All Twilight did was wait for his reply, as he collected his thoughts. “I remember... running at that meteorite and... I got too close... Everything went dark after that... I had a weird dream... and I woke up like this... That's all I remember.” Twilight was a bit disappointed; she'd hoped that Spike would have remembered everything in greater detail. “How do you feel right now Spike?” Spike quickly answered, “I don’t know, I still feel sick, though I’m not puking anymore, so that’s an improvement.” Twilight and some of the company giggled quietly. “No Spike!" Twilight giggled, "I meant how do you feel with your… New form. I don’t know or understand how dragons age yet, but it looks like you’ve become a Draconis Liberalis." Spike suddenly felt more comfortable hearing this news; but he was still confused. “What about the meteorite, and me falling unconscious?” Twilight gave it a good thought, “I don’t know, but luckily I managed to gather a sample of that meteorite. I might even find answers once I take a look at it!” Rainbow Dash quickly flew around the new Spike, which startled everypony, especially Spike. “Aw Yeah! You look awesome Spike!” “Oh... um, thanks?” Spike said in his deep voice. Hearing this made Rainbow Dash squeal in excitement. “Once you feel better, you should try giving those legs a good run, I want to see how fast you can go with them!” Applejack rose her eyebrow, “Are you sure that’s safe? I mean, we don’ know if Spike should be horsing around like that yet.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes in an annoyed gesture. “You worry too much Applejack, I’m positive that Spike is fine. I mean, look at him!” She pointed at Spike with her hoof, “See those muscles? See his shape? He is obviously perfectly fit to have a little gallop afterwards!” Twilight heard this and flinched, “Rainbow? Technically, since Spike is bipedal, it is classified as a ‘run’, not a gallop.” Rainbow Dash didn’t care at all and ignored her. And along with Rainbow’s excitement, Pinkie Pie joined in. “Wow! Since Spike has turned into new Spike, and he’s no longer old Spike, does that mean I should host a new Spike party? That would be fun! I love having parties! It'll involve a lot of cake, balloons, games, and many more fu--!” “Whoa there Pink!” Applejack grinned, “we don’ wanna show the public the new Spike just yet. Not until we know what’s going on with him.” “There’s nothing wrong with Spike! Just get over it Applejack!” Rainbow spat, annoyed, which made Applejack a bit angry. “Am ah the only pony around here who doesn’t have a good feeling about this?! Fluttershy, what do you think about Spike?” As the group turned their heads towards Fluttershy, they noticed that she was not there. Instead, she was poorly hiding underneath the table in the other room. “Fluttershy, I know that you’re terrified of dragons, but this is Spike! He doesn’t even look like any dragon we’ve seen either!” Twilight gave her a push towards the other room. Fluttershy followed nervously behind Twilight. “See?” Twilight pointed her hoof at Spike, “He's the same baby dragon you met two years ago.” Fluttershy gave a nervous expression, and remained quiet while keeping her distance. “Fluttershy, don’t be scared, it’s still me.” Spike said with his deep voice. The voice startled Fluttershy, and she galloped behind the closest object, Rainbow Dash. During their conversation, Rarity had been speechless. Even though that thing was still Spike, there was something different about him. Was it his body? His voice? Spikey-Wikey was no longer the cute dragon she befriended a long time ago, he was something new. But what was it? And would this change anything? Rarity examined Spike; his body looked as though it was a work of art, sculpted by the hooves of the greatest artists of the Equestrian Renaissance, hundreds of years before. His scales each shined with the glistening and gleam of the rare earthly gems she had worked with so many times by now. His thin lustrous spikes, which evenly traveled from the back of his head down to his long tail, looked as though they were the product of a master craftpony, complimenting Spike’s slender and smooth body perfectly. Initially, Rarity had never had such an emotion with anything that wasn’t hanging on the wall in a Canterlot museum, but this was different. She was awed with Spike’s new form. “Um, Rarity?” Spike felt a little uncomfortable being stared down by Rarity. Rarity noticed what she was doing and shook her head, “S-s-sorry about that Spike... I-I-I got a little... distracted.” “You haven’ been talkin’ this whole time Rarity!” Applejack noticed, “an I want to know, what do you think about the new Spike?” Rarity gave it a thought, “Spike is…” The tension nearly killed him. “T-t-tall?” Spike felt like dropping to the floor from the disappointment, but instead made no reaction toward Rarity’s answer. “Tall?” Applejack replied, “good ‘nuff fer me, though I still would use other words.” Applejack started trotting out of the room, “Ah think it’s about time we leave Spike alone, he has been feelin’ ill and should rest.” Spike raised his voice to attract their attention and to stop Applejack, “Please don’t worry about me, I actually feel fine. Better than fine, I feel perfect!” Spike did a couple of jumps and imitated a boxer to show that he had energy. "I tell ya, I've never felt like this before! It's like I downed a gallon of coffee or something! I could take on the world!" “Are you sure Spike?” Twilight became worried, “your body has just gone through a lot.” “Yes, and also, this new energy gives me confidence! I feel... Good. Great! More than myself!” Spike turned to Rarity. "Rarity, I know this is kinda sudden, but..." and then went down on one knee. “Will you go out with me?” A Reward For Your PatienceHey, guys. It's been a while since I've updated this story, huh? It's so crazy to think about the fact that I first began to upload this story almost two years ago now. But, you know, a lot of things got in the way. My cowriter, Kyle, who was supposed to be my support, ended up getting his mission call, and left, leaving me alone with my story... Let me put it this way; if you want a story I have come up with to stay alive, DO NOT LET ME PROCRASTINATE! Because, it is a slippery slope, my friends. I procrastinate a little bit, and then a little more, and then a little more, and before you can say "salsa verde", the story dies in my mind and I stop caring. Yeah, that's why I'm posting this chapter... To break the bad news. As much as I claimed the contrary not too long ago, this story is officially canceled. I wish I could say otherwise, but, try as I might when I attempted to revive this fanfic, my brain had already moved on a long time ago and didn't want to return here. Plus, you know, I have college, Grandma has cancer, I'm becoming an adult but I'm refusing to grow up, I have other things on my plate, and I can't worry about The Apex Predator anymore. It is no longer my top priority. With that said, however, I'm not going to be such a dick as to not tell you the rest of the story and leave you guys hanging! I've done that for long enough, and you guys deserve better than that. So, to reward you guys for your everlasting patience, I am going to finish this story for you guys, by giving you the Reader's Digest edition of what I had in mind. Up to this point in the story, Spike's been transformed into an adult, bipedal dragon by the meteorite that fell the night before, and asks Rarity out, out of the confidence his new look has given him. She accepts, and they go out on a modest date. While out there, they share some good moments together, and their relationship begins to slowly form. However, their date is interrupted by a rather rude stallion who sees their "interspecies pairing" as a sin and starts hurtling rocks at them. Most of them miss, and they both just try to ignore him to avoid ruining the date. But then, one of his rocks clocks Rarity in the face, which pisses Spike right off, and he starts marching towards the stallion to give him a piece of his mind. The stallion throws one last rock, but Spike catches it... Without thinking... In midair... Ending the argument right there, Spike and Rarity go to Twilight's to conduct some experiments, and they come to the conclusion that not only did the meteorite advance his physical age, it also gave him telekinetic powers. From then on, it divides into two side stories; Spike testing out and working out his telekinetic muscle, mostly in the form of pulling pranks with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, and fluffy shipping moments with Spike and Rarity building their relationship and getting closer. Then, one day, while the two of them are at an art gallery, Spike pops the question to her, and they get engaged. A little later, they go for a carriage ride in the mountains, but there's an asshole behind them who wants them to go faster. Spike solves this by pushing him aside, accidentally pushing him off the cliff. The victim survives, but only just, so Twilight advises him to limit his powers. A couple months later, on Nightmare Night, Spike and Rarity get ready with two costumes she designed. I never thought about her costume, I just figured it would be something like a vampire pony or something, but the costume she designs for him is a leather warrior outfit similar to Strider from Lord of the Rings, with a hooded cape. Rather than hunt for candy that night, they go out into the outskirts of Ponyville, searching for diamonds and gems suitable for their wedding bands, while still wearing their costumes of course. However, while they are out there, they're attacked by a group of Diamond Dogs who want their stash. In the scuffle, Spike kills two of them and scares the rest of them off, but not before Rarity sustains a mortal wound. Horrified, he rushes her to the hospital as fast as his legs can carry them both. He gathers their friends, but unfortunately, it's too late, and Rarity dies from internal bleeding. Spike, the Mane 6, and Sweetie Belle are devastated, but Spike takes it hardest of all. Then, he discovers that the doctor who took Rarity in is the same guy who threw rocks at them for dating a few months back. Because of this, he comes to the conclusion that the doctor, named Doctor Appleday, allowed Rarity to die because of his prejudice. This sends him into a fit of rage, where he nearly kills the doctor, then storms out of the hospital, contemplating what to do next. After an intense, psyche splitting discussion with himself, he deems two parties responsible for the death of his fiance: The Diamond Dogs, and the doctor, and decides to exact revenge upon them. Still wearing his Strider outfit, he goes down to the Diamond Mines, home of the Diamond Dogs, and goes on a vicious rampage, slaughtering every last one of them, men, women and children alike. When he is done, he next goes to Dr Appleday's house and puts him up to a test. He has inflicted the same injuries Rarity suffered onto the doctor's wife, and gives him an ultimatum. If he can save his wife, Spike will know that the doctor allowed Rarity to die, and will kill him, but if the doctor can't save his wife, Spike will admit that he was wrong and leave him alone, at the cost of his wife's life. Either way, he is paying a heavy price. However, when Appleday checks on his wife, she is already dead, to which Spike replies, "Oops. Looks like I lied. Just like you lied to me." Furious, Appleday tries to turn the tables by claiming innocence, and instead placing the blame upon Spike's head for not getting her to the hospital in time. Spike reacts to this by blowing up his house and going on a rampage through Ponyville, injuring many and killing Appleday in the process. Twilight sees the carnage and tries to fight him to get him under control, but Spike has completely lost his mind, tearing through buildings and ripping ponies to shreds, leaving havoc and destruction in his wake. After what seems like an eternity, Twilight realizes that there is only one way to stop him, and she uses magic to grab the horn off of a Celestia statue nearby, using it to impale Spike, killing him. The story ends with a funeral for Spike and Rarity, and a cliffhanger involving a certain chaos god in which said god revives Spike and promises to revive Rarity and make his dreams come true... In exchange for a... Favor... Well, there you have it. That is the entire story of The Apex Predator in a nutshell. Is it good? Is it bad? Is it everything you ever hoped for when you favorited this story? Or is it a huge letdown? Whatever you think, whatever you say, comment below, let me know! Thanks for sticking around for as long as you guys have, and I'm sorry this story is dead. Until next time... PEACE OUT!!! OK, this might continue...Now, don't get your hopes up just yet, but there is the possibility of another writer adopting this story for me, and thus allowing it to continue. Nothing entirely solid, yet, but I will keep you posted.
Signum DeiAnother successful celebration from the Party Queen herself; Rarity’s birthday was as wonderful as ever. Pinkie was especially proud of her accomplishment, because she had received a letter from a fan of her pastries a couple months ago, suggesting she should try a new recipe called the Red Velvet. Only now was she able to attempt to make it, however, simply because she couldn’t think of any better time to unveil a new recipe then, for Pinkie, the most extravagant time of the year, Rarity’s birthday. And yes, it was a big hit. Rarity absolutely loved it, as well as the six gifts she had received from her friends. “That one’s from me,” said Twilight Sparkle, as Rarity grabbed a small bag off of the table upon which the presents were sitting. She lifted out the contents to reveal... “A scroll?” Rarity quizzically asked. “I don’t mean to sound rude, darling, but what am I supposed to do with this?” “Oh, it’s an enchanted scroll,” Twilight replied with a wave of her hood. “It will enhance your magic, thus allowing you to multitask easier. “ “Oh, wow! That’s wonderful, dear! This is exactly what I needed!” It was Rainbow Dash’s turn for her present to be opened. Rarity unwrapped the lightning striped container with her magic, revealing a new book that read: “Equestrian History of Fashion”. The light in Rarity’s eyes sparkled, “Rainbow, how did you find this rather lovely book?” Rainbow Dash gave a little chuckle, “I was checking out Daring Do and the Legend of The Dark Knight, and happened to stumble across that book, I thought you might enjoy it.” Fluttershy’s gift was a hoof-knitted purple and white scarf which, of course, matched Rarity’s coat and mane. “Do I look fabulous with this sweater on?” Rarity asked everypony, while receiving an obvious gratification and pleasurement, which was brought with a unified “hurrah!” From Pinkie Pie, the recipe for Red Velvet, which was brought to Rarity along with the dessert. Rarity opened her next present, finding a shiny new sewing machine inside. “Oh thank you very much Applejack!” Rarity gave her gratitude, “I desperately need this!” “Ah shucks, it was nothin’” Applejack smiled, while remembering the reason why she had bought Rarity a new sewing machine in the first place. Last time she had been to Carousel Boutique, she noticed that Rarity’s old sewing machine was getting a little rusty. Actually, a more accurate description would be that she wouldn’t shut up about how rusty it was, in which case Applejack decided to give her a new machine to quiet her down. And finally, it was Spike’s turn for his present to be opened. What Rarity pulled out of a wooden box (that had some nicely carved decorates) was a set of Dragonscale sewing needles, which had been made from his own scales. “Spike, but how?” Spike had spent three months making them. Rarity was both shocked and touched by the sheer dedication that Spike had committed to something so small. Rarity’s emotion was too strong to let Spike answer. “You’re the best friend any mare could ever have, Spikey-Wikey” she had cooed before kissing him on the cheek. Although the kiss was, to him, what would be a gift from Lauren Faust to us, Spike was saddened by what she had said, for he wanted so much more… “Goodbye, everypony,” cried Rarity as her friends exited the Carousel Boutique, “See you at the field tonight!” Yes, it was true. Though the ponies were leaving, the party was not over just yet. They had planned to meet in the field on the outskirts of Ponyville three hours after the party to watch the skies for the once in a lifetime arrival of Faust’s Comet. Based on how many lights she saw were off, Twilight Sparkle surmised that they would be the only ones there. She hadn’t really told anypony about it, save for her friends. She figured the rest of Ponyville either didn’t care or already knew. But out of all of her friends who were excited for the comet (that just happened to be coming around on Rarity’s birthday), none of them had shown more excitement about it than her Number One Assistant: Spike. He knew that this was going to be the only time he would be able to see it with the friends he now held so dear. A dragon’s lifespan is significantly longer than a pony’s, which meant that he was going to see the comet at least four more times over the course of his life. But this was going to be special. This would be the only time he was going to see the comet and have somepony to share the moment with, as far as he knew. Twilight stared in confusion as she saw Spike hang his head in sadness as they walked home from the party. “Spike?” she whispered with motherly concern, “what’s the matter?” Spike barely acknowledged her existence with a low grunt. “You seemed like you were having a good time at the party. What happened?” “I dunno, Twilight,” Spike groaned in reply, “It’s just… With what Rarity said… I feel kinda cheated… and hurt.” “What?! Spike, that’s ridiculous! She said you were the best friend a pony could have! That’s the kindest thing I have heard her say about anypony, and that right there is saying something!” Spike said nothing. Instead, he replied with a look that read ‘You know what I mean’. “Oh… I get it! You feel hurt because Rarity simply called you a friend, and you want more than that. But, come on. You don’t think that’s asking a little too much from her?” “I just wish she would at least acknowledge my feelings!” “At your age, Spike, for her to even think of such a thing would be illegal! She’s an adult mare! You’re a baby dragon!” “For how much longer?” This threw Twilight off. “What?” “How much longer do I have to be a baby, Twilight?” Twilight thought about this for a moment. “Well, Spike… I can honestly say I don’t know. But even if you weren’t a baby, there’s still the dragon aspect to take into consideration. As far as I know, ponies and dragons aren’t supposed to mix. Do you honestly think it would work between you and Rarity?” “I’ll have you know,” Spike retorted, “That it has worked in the distant past! I’ve read a couple of books on dragons in my spare time, and I found out that Discord himself, before he turned into the trickster you know and love today, was in fact half dragon and half pony!” “Spike… That has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard, and I have heard some pretty weird things in my life.” “No, think about it! Draco is an ancient word for dragon, and Equus is an ancient word for pony... But, listen, we’re getting off track! I’m asking you, is there any possibility that a relationship between me and Rarity would work?!” “I’m not sure…“ Twilight replied sadly. Then, suddenly, a brilliant idea formed in her head, and her eyes sparkled with excitement. “But I bet you there’s something at the library! Come on!” The sun’s rays began to slowly diminish as it quietly vanished through the horizon. Twilight had just realized the time of day, and insisted that she and Spike should quicken their pace to the library. Just when they arrived at the front door, Twilight began looking through the large collection of books. “Okay Spike” she said while her back was turned away, “I want you to help me find any books on dragons.” “But Twilight”, Spike interjected, “last time we tried looking for books on dragons, we couldn’t find any! And why are we looking for them anyway?” “Glad you asked Spike”, she turned towards him, “the answer is really simple actually. After finding out about my lack of dragon knowledge, I asked Princess Celestia if there were any books on dragons over at the Royal Canterlot Library. She said no… But luckily the Princess promised me at that time, that if her researchers find anything new and publish the information, she’ll have it delivered to me, in which she obviously did.” Twilight had a hint of pride in her tone of voice, it’s not very common for a pony to own such rare books on anything dragon related! Twilight was thinking about starting her own collection of rare books, since this would be a great start, and she enjoyed knowledge that only few ponies knew of. “You still haven’t answered my question.” Spike impatiently glared at Twilight while she was fantasizing. “Oh, sorry about that, you can tell I get carried away sometimes.” She smiled, and then cleared her throat, appearing as though she was about to give a large, well thought out speech, which didn’t excite Spike one bit. “I was just curious to see how the aging process of dragons work. By comparing them to a regular pony’s lifespan, I can calculate and see how long it’ll take for you to legally date Rarity.” Spike’s eyes widened, “Can you really do that?” “Sure!” She smiled at Spike, “well… Assuming that the lifespan of a dragon isn’t complicated. Other than that, it’ll be a piece of cake!” Hope for knowing when to date Rarity gave Spike enough motivation to look through the books; He began to pick them up one-by-one, reading each title, and scanning for anything dragon related. A moment of searching passed as Spike began to become impatient, which was followed by distraction. There was a book he found called: “The Fundamentals of Evolution and Nature”, which strangely caught his attention; so he began reading it until a loud noise startled him. “Ah-ha!” Twilight squealed in excitement, “The Dragon Studies, one of the rare books I own!” Twilight began vigorously reading through the printed pages as Spike waited for an answer. A moment passed as pages of the book were turning; finally Twilight said something to herself. “That’s interesting.” “Yes?” Spike said while peering over her shoulder. “Turns out there are two ways a dragon can grow: through greed, and through generosity. All of the dragons we’ve seen have grown through greed. The Draconis Liberalis, as they named it, has a different form. Instead of having its body designed for being on all fours, like a pony, it is designed to walk on two. They are generally more slender and more flexible than the Draconus Avarus.” “Walking on two? Just like I am right now?” Spike asked as he lifted and examined his feet. “Exactly” Twilight replied, “it is such a rare thing to see, or even hear of a Liberalis, dragons are usually… Well, very greedy!” “And how does this solve the age thingy?” Spike coughed. “Oh! Sorry!” She blushed a little, “I got carried away again.” The reading lasted for what seemed like hours to Spike, after calculating everything from what Twilight read, she finally broke the silence with some grim news. “I’m sorry Spike.” She said with a frown, “since dragons live for a very long time, it takes a while for them to grow.” “What do you mean Twilight?” Spike had a confused expression. “This means… That by the time you are at a legal dating age, Rarity would probably pass away through old age.” The news hit Spike like a two ton brick wall, crashing down at him all at once. The shock made Spike’s body shake. He let his knees fall to the ground, and began hitting the floor with his claws. “No! This can’t be! I love Rarity, and now when I can finally be old enough, she’ll be gone?!” Twilight felt a bit ashamed of herself for upsetting Spike, while watching Spike cry to himself, she finally thought of something to say to calm him down. “Don’t worry Spike, all is not lost.” “What are you saying?” Spike lifted his teary face from the floor. Twilight gave a grin, “I have heard that when you see Faust’s Comet, you can make a wish.” Spike calmed down, “Are you sure Twilight? That idea seems a little-” “Trust me!” She interrupted with an even bigger grin, “you just have to try it for yourself.” She looked outside and realized the time, “Oh! The girls are meeting us right outside of Ponyville. Let’s go!” Spike hastily got up and joined Twilight in her rush to their destination. Twilight and Spike met with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity, who were all laying on a green hillside, watching the last glimpses of sunlight vanishing from the clouds. “Sorry we’re late” Twilight apologized. “Ah shucks, it don’t matter. You weren’t even that late at all!” Applejack gracefully responded, “Now come an’ take a seat, and wait with us fer the comet!” The mares, and Spike, conversed with each other until Fluttershy spotted a bright light in the sky. The light grew larger and larger, until it was close enough to reveal its heavenly shape. Everypony had a surprised expression as the large comet slowly made its way across the sky. Spike smiled and closed his eyes, I wish I can be good enough for Rarity, for her to understand my love for her, and to acknowledge it. Suddenly, Pinkie’s tail began twitching, and then spazzing. This, of course, shocked the company, and brought their searching eyes to the sky. Even though the comet was about to leave their sight, a small flicker of light began flying towards their direction. It came closer, and closer, and closer, until it crashed through the clouds, and into the fields ahead of them. “Whoa! What was that?!” Rainbow Dash yelled in a nervous, yet excited fashion. “That was a meteor” Twilight exclaimed, “I guess a piece of Faust’s Comet broke off or something. Come on girls, let’s check it out!” “Is that a really good idea?” Fluttershy quietly said while hiding behind Spike, who didn’t notice her until she spoke up. Twilight gave a good laugh over Spike’s surprised expression, “don’t worry Fluttershy! As long as we don’t get hit by its landing, which we obviously didn’t, we’re safe from it! Now let’s check it out!” A large dusty crater replaced the once peaceful grassy fields. The group made its way to the edge of the crater. Everypony became a bit nervous, except for Spike, who found this whole situation an answer to his wish. After the dust cleared, an area of green light was shown. Spike decided that he should check it out, and began to run down the newly formed crater. “Don’t get near that rock, Spike!” Twilight yelled at him. “I thought you said that this was safe?” Rarity asked, Twilight gave a thoughtful expression. “The thing is… I have a weird feeling about this meteorite. I don’t know why, but I just feel uneasy.” Twilight noticed that Spike wasn’t listening to her, and kept on running. Twilight began to panic, and began yelling at him. “Spike! Stop!” Spike didn’t hear Twilight’s yelling, and continued to travel down the steep slope. Twilight panicked even more, and began to gallop down the crater towards him. After what seemed like forever to Twilight, Spike arrived at the dusty impact zone. Spike approached the meteorite, and began to examine it; the meteorite looked like a large, glowing, green crystal that had an interesting mossy texture. Spike curiously observed the extraterrestrial rock for a bit longer, until noticing that he was feeling light-headed. His nose was also unexpectedly bleeding. It seemed as though the world was spinning as his body fell to the ground. The last thing Spike remembered seeing was Twilight Sparkle frantically galloping towards him, and then his mind went blank.
Matutina InfirmitatemSpike found himself in a hazy space. Vibrant colors stretched out to what seemed like eternity. Confusion enveloped Spike’s mind as he stood up to scan the area. He noticed a large pool of black water right in front of him; as Spike looked into it, he noticed that the water was too dark to tell its depth. After examining it for a bit longer; Spike felt a force push him into the water. He screamed as his entire body felt nothing but unfamiliar cold while being submerged into the blackness. Pain also pierced his flesh; as he was squirming in agony. Then, in contrast with the cold, extreme heat pulsed through his body like molten lead, Spike’s heart began to pump faster and faster at a dangerous rate. The heat spread from his chest down to his arms and legs, and felt a dense, searing pain blast through his bones, as if the unseen force had a bone to pick with his marrow. During his turmoil, blurry visions appeared in his mind. Spike saw Rarity’s face; she was frightened and weak, a feed tube in her nose and blood trickling out of the side of her mouth, which strangely gave him feelings of anger and horror. He also saw an outraged stallion yelling at something, but didn’t quite see what the stallion was yelling at. The stallion was screaming what seemed like hurtful slurs and insults, throwing rocks at the unknown object. Many other random scenes of discomfort went through Spike’s mind; he saw many glimpses of Rarity, Twilight and his other friends. There were quick scenes of happiness, (like a scene with him, Rainbow Dash and Rarity laughing about something, but what it was, he couldn't tell) and quick moments of what seemed like pure chaos (a monstrous beast was tearing up Ponyville without even touching anything. But for some reason, this creature seemed familiar). The visions kept on coming though Spike, until they abruptly stopped, and were replaced with falling... falling... Spike woke with a start. Beads of sweat raced down his forehead, and the bed upon which he was currently resting was the finishing line. His head was pounding, each individual throb an excruciating promise of a thousand more to come. His vision was blurred, and occasionally, it would split into two separate images in his view, each one demanding his full, undivided attention. In his current state, that was simply too much to ask for. His eyes weren't the only blurry part of him. When he tried to recall what had happened the night before, the last thing he could pull up was him and Twilight leaving to see the comet. After that, it was a haze. He lifted his claws up to his head to rub his temple in a feeble attempt to remember the events of the night before. But, try as he might, he was unable to renew any memories. Finally, he lowered his claws in defeat. Then, without warning, nausea hit him harder than a freight train, and he found himself desperately searching for a bowl in which to hurl. He didn't have to look far though, because, as luck would have it, he found a bowl sitting next to the bed. And in the short window of time before he buried his face in said bowl, he also spotted a stain on the carpet, which he presumed to be his own vomit. "Jeez," he thought in between retches, "What the hay happened last night?" With the last retch came a small belch, but even as small as it was, it was enough to shoot a small flame from his mouth, which ignited the former contents of his stomach, instantly turning it into a vapor floating over his head. Thankfully, it didn't smell as bad as he would have thought. In fact, it smelled... good. Weirdly so. Spike had ignited vomit before, at a time when Twilight had the flu and he was taking care of her, thinking it would be a quicker, cleaner, and less smelly way to clean out the bowl. Oh boy, was he wrong! The flame had turned the bile into an acrid black smoke, whose fumes were so foul, so absolutely noxious, that it caused Spike to come down with his own case of the flu. After Spike and Twilight had evacuated the library, they had to call Fluttershy over to take care of them, as neither of them were in any condition to take care of themselves. But for some reason, the same did not apply here. The fumes that were given off by his upheaval couldn't even be called fumes. Steam would have been a more appropriate word. Said steam smelled, surprisingly enough, like tea tree oil. Or was it Aloe Vera? Did Aloe Vera have a smell? In any case, the steam also shared one other trait with tea tree oil, that being it's soothing, cool vapors, which seeped slowly through Spike's nostrils, easing his headache and relieving his nausea. Normally, such an occurrence would have confused him to the point where the mere thought of what was wrong with the situation would revive the headache. But it was too early, he was too tired, and the rest of his body was in too much pain for him to really care. Feeling a little trickle on the corner of his mouth, Spike lifted a claw and wiped his mouth clean. As he did this, the back of his claw brushed against his upper lip, and he felt something crusty there. Curious as to what it was, he picked at it a little bit until a little speck of whatever it was fell into his palm. The little speck was dark reddish-brown. It was blood. Dried blood. This managed to bring back an inkling of a memory. It wasn't much, but it was enough to clear up a lot about what had happened last night. They had gone to see the comet, and supposedly, a piece of it had fallen into the field before them. Personally, he didn't think it was a piece of Faust's Comet, because that had never happened before. After that, it was hazy. Either way, something had made his nose bleed. Spike looked around and saw, amongst the many bookshelves that hugged around the circumference of the room, as if they were the wallpaper, the door to the bathroom. I better clean my face off, he thought to himself, getting up out of bed and lethargically shuffling over to the bathroom, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he did so. Once there, he turned the faucet on to its hottest setting and waited until the water was giving off steam so thick it could be cut with a knife. He cupped his claws under the flow of scalding water and was unphased by it. The same applied when he splashed the piping hot water onto his face, save for the fact that the heat cleared up his sinuses as well as the fogginess in his head, that one would feel after waking up. Spike just wished that that applied to his memories of last night. He searched through the sink cabinets for something he could use to scrape of the scabs underneath his nose. After a little bit, he managed to find some steel wool and, upon seeing it, winced. His scales were weaker around his face, and thus, were more susceptible to pain, meaning that this was probably going to hurt, if only a little bit. But at least that would be better than having a bunch of unsightly scabs under his nose. He squirted a little soap into the steel wool, put it under the water and, working up a lather, began scraping his philtrium. As he did, the heat and steam continued to clear his head, and in this moment of clarity, a wild thought appeared. Since when have I been tall enough to use the sink without my stool? he thought. As the realization hit him, he stopped scrubbing and his eyes widened. He realized that he had never gotten a chance to look at himself in the mirror, and promptly looked up... Spike could not believe his eyes. 5 minutes earlier... Twilight awoke slowly, with Applejack gently pushing her shoulder "...and I thought MY jokes were bad..." she slurred groggily as she woke, having been pulled from a dream... it was... something about a pencil... and maybe there was a clown in there... It didn't matter, it was gone now. "What was that, sugarcube?" asked a curious Applejack, having heard the nonsensical mumblings, but not fully understanding. Twilight took a moment to look around, and saw all of her friends standing around her with worried stares painted on their faces. "She said something about her jokes being bad" Rainbow Dash replied. "I wouldn't worry about it though." "And I neither," Rarity chimed. "After all, it only seemed like the ramblings of an interrupted dream. It's nothing, really." "What do you mean, it's nothing?!!" Shouted Pinkie Pie, "a joke that's not good is like a cake without frosting! Or a PB&J without the J or the PB, or--" "Girls!" Twilight giggled. "Please! Just give me a second to get up and breathe!" "Aw shucks," replied Applejack, "We jest got a little worried is all, what with you not getting any sleep by the time we dosed off." "Well, what can I say? I was taking care of Spike all night. Ever since he touched that meteor, he's been throwing up all over the place and his nose's been bleeding, the poor thing. I don't know when I got to sleep last night." "You finally crashed at about four in the morning," Fluttershy finally piped up. "You fell asleep on the floor right in front of the bedroom. I got up to get a glass of water right around the same time. I couldn't just leave you there like that, so I made a pallet for you." "Thanks, Fluttershy." Twilight smiled. Then, from behind the door, Twilight heard the most unpleasant sound of retching and coughing, accompanied by the sound of sloshing liquids. "Ohh... Listen to him!" She groaned sadly. "He sounds so horrible!" Then, the sounds changed from bad to worse, as the retches switched to sounds more akin to strained screams, and the liquid sounds became as frothy as that layer of bubbles that appear atop a soda when it's first poured. "You should probably make him some soup", said Fluttershy. "You know what?" replied Twilight, "That is a wonderful idea, I'm going to do that right now." And with that, she went into the kitchen and grabbed a small pot. But before she could turn on the burner, a pleasant smell caught her attention. "Do you smell Aloe Vera?" she asked. "Hmm..." replied Rarity, upon taking a whiff herself, "More like tea tree oil, darling. But where is it coming from?" And then, just as quickly as it came, it went. Twilight found this a little odd, but decided not to worry about that and turned on the burner. "Now, what would you recommend, Fluttershy?" she asked. "I would use tomato bisque," Fluttershy answered. "That always seems to do wonders whenever one of my patients has the flu." "OK, then, tomato bisque. Let me see if I have that" Twilight mused as she searched through the cupboard. It took her a little bit, but she managed to find a can of the stuff, the contents of which she promptly poured into the pot, which had just begun to warm up. Suddenly, a scream emanated from the room in which Spike was currently resting. An unfamiliar voice, a foreign voice. A stallion's voice. The girls said nothing, not even hesitating to rush into the room from when the scream had come. Throwing open the door, they were all ready to fight whoever it was that was attacking Spike. They could not believe their eyes.
Corpus TransmutareThe room was completely silent. Spike would have felt very uncomfortable from the many stares the mares were giving him, if he wasn’t already stupefied by his own appearance. Ever since Spike fell unconscious from whatever it was in that meteorite, his form had changed dramatically overnight. Spike gave a glance at the many large eyes that were focused on his body, and said nothing. After what seemed like hours, Twilight finally broke the silence with a shaky question. “Spike… What happened to you?” Spike seemed a little scared, and began to tear up a little. “I don’t know.” Spike’s voice was a lot deeper than what was remembered. The other mares were silent, and continued to observe Spike’s new form. Spike was much taller than what he used to be, almost as tall as Big Macintosh. His scales were also richer in color, and were nicer looking too. His spikes were longer, and had a fine point. And Spike’s body was lean and muscular. Twilight took note that Spike’s body structure was in the same shape and size as a Draconis Liberalis: A dragon that grew from generosity. “Spike, when did you notice your change? Do you feel anything new?” Twilight asked as she was trying to make sense of the situation. All Spike did was stare blankly in front of him, still tearing up a little. “Please Spike” Twilight insisted, “I want to know what happened to you. Perhaps you could tell us a bit more of what happened last night?” Spike looked at his newly larger claws, and played with them a little. All Twilight did was wait for his reply, as he collected his thoughts. “I remember... running at that meteorite and... I got too close... Everything went dark after that... I had a weird dream... and I woke up like this... That's all I remember.” Twilight was a bit disappointed; she'd hoped that Spike would have remembered everything in greater detail. “How do you feel right now Spike?” Spike quickly answered, “I don’t know, I still feel sick, though I’m not puking anymore, so that’s an improvement.” Twilight and some of the company giggled quietly. “No Spike!" Twilight giggled, "I meant how do you feel with your… New form. I don’t know or understand how dragons age yet, but it looks like you’ve become a Draconis Liberalis." Spike suddenly felt more comfortable hearing this news; but he was still confused. “What about the meteorite, and me falling unconscious?” Twilight gave it a good thought, “I don’t know, but luckily I managed to gather a sample of that meteorite. I might even find answers once I take a look at it!” Rainbow Dash quickly flew around the new Spike, which startled everypony, especially Spike. “Aw Yeah! You look awesome Spike!” “Oh... um, thanks?” Spike said in his deep voice. Hearing this made Rainbow Dash squeal in excitement. “Once you feel better, you should try giving those legs a good run, I want to see how fast you can go with them!” Applejack rose her eyebrow, “Are you sure that’s safe? I mean, we don’ know if Spike should be horsing around like that yet.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes in an annoyed gesture. “You worry too much Applejack, I’m positive that Spike is fine. I mean, look at him!” She pointed at Spike with her hoof, “See those muscles? See his shape? He is obviously perfectly fit to have a little gallop afterwards!” Twilight heard this and flinched, “Rainbow? Technically, since Spike is bipedal, it is classified as a ‘run’, not a gallop.” Rainbow Dash didn’t care at all and ignored her. And along with Rainbow’s excitement, Pinkie Pie joined in. “Wow! Since Spike has turned into new Spike, and he’s no longer old Spike, does that mean I should host a new Spike party? That would be fun! I love having parties! It'll involve a lot of cake, balloons, games, and many more fu--!” “Whoa there Pink!” Applejack grinned, “we don’ wanna show the public the new Spike just yet. Not until we know what’s going on with him.” “There’s nothing wrong with Spike! Just get over it Applejack!” Rainbow spat, annoyed, which made Applejack a bit angry. “Am ah the only pony around here who doesn’t have a good feeling about this?! Fluttershy, what do you think about Spike?” As the group turned their heads towards Fluttershy, they noticed that she was not there. Instead, she was poorly hiding underneath the table in the other room. “Fluttershy, I know that you’re terrified of dragons, but this is Spike! He doesn’t even look like any dragon we’ve seen either!” Twilight gave her a push towards the other room. Fluttershy followed nervously behind Twilight. “See?” Twilight pointed her hoof at Spike, “He's the same baby dragon you met two years ago.” Fluttershy gave a nervous expression, and remained quiet while keeping her distance. “Fluttershy, don’t be scared, it’s still me.” Spike said with his deep voice. The voice startled Fluttershy, and she galloped behind the closest object, Rainbow Dash. During their conversation, Rarity had been speechless. Even though that thing was still Spike, there was something different about him. Was it his body? His voice? Spikey-Wikey was no longer the cute dragon she befriended a long time ago, he was something new. But what was it? And would this change anything? Rarity examined Spike; his body looked as though it was a work of art, sculpted by the hooves of the greatest artists of the Equestrian Renaissance, hundreds of years before. His scales each shined with the glistening and gleam of the rare earthly gems she had worked with so many times by now. His thin lustrous spikes, which evenly traveled from the back of his head down to his long tail, looked as though they were the product of a master craftpony, complimenting Spike’s slender and smooth body perfectly. Initially, Rarity had never had such an emotion with anything that wasn’t hanging on the wall in a Canterlot museum, but this was different. She was awed with Spike’s new form. “Um, Rarity?” Spike felt a little uncomfortable being stared down by Rarity. Rarity noticed what she was doing and shook her head, “S-s-sorry about that Spike... I-I-I got a little... distracted.” “You haven’ been talkin’ this whole time Rarity!” Applejack noticed, “an I want to know, what do you think about the new Spike?” Rarity gave it a thought, “Spike is…” The tension nearly killed him. “T-t-tall?” Spike felt like dropping to the floor from the disappointment, but instead made no reaction toward Rarity’s answer. “Tall?” Applejack replied, “good ‘nuff fer me, though I still would use other words.” Applejack started trotting out of the room, “Ah think it’s about time we leave Spike alone, he has been feelin’ ill and should rest.” Spike raised his voice to attract their attention and to stop Applejack, “Please don’t worry about me, I actually feel fine. Better than fine, I feel perfect!” Spike did a couple of jumps and imitated a boxer to show that he had energy. "I tell ya, I've never felt like this before! It's like I downed a gallon of coffee or something! I could take on the world!" “Are you sure Spike?” Twilight became worried, “your body has just gone through a lot.” “Yes, and also, this new energy gives me confidence! I feel... Good. Great! More than myself!” Spike turned to Rarity. "Rarity, I know this is kinda sudden, but..." and then went down on one knee. “Will you go out with me?”
A Reward For Your PatienceHey, guys. It's been a while since I've updated this story, huh? It's so crazy to think about the fact that I first began to upload this story almost two years ago now. But, you know, a lot of things got in the way. My cowriter, Kyle, who was supposed to be my support, ended up getting his mission call, and left, leaving me alone with my story... Let me put it this way; if you want a story I have come up with to stay alive, DO NOT LET ME PROCRASTINATE! Because, it is a slippery slope, my friends. I procrastinate a little bit, and then a little more, and then a little more, and before you can say "salsa verde", the story dies in my mind and I stop caring. Yeah, that's why I'm posting this chapter... To break the bad news. As much as I claimed the contrary not too long ago, this story is officially canceled. I wish I could say otherwise, but, try as I might when I attempted to revive this fanfic, my brain had already moved on a long time ago and didn't want to return here. Plus, you know, I have college, Grandma has cancer, I'm becoming an adult but I'm refusing to grow up, I have other things on my plate, and I can't worry about The Apex Predator anymore. It is no longer my top priority. With that said, however, I'm not going to be such a dick as to not tell you the rest of the story and leave you guys hanging! I've done that for long enough, and you guys deserve better than that. So, to reward you guys for your everlasting patience, I am going to finish this story for you guys, by giving you the Reader's Digest edition of what I had in mind. Up to this point in the story, Spike's been transformed into an adult, bipedal dragon by the meteorite that fell the night before, and asks Rarity out, out of the confidence his new look has given him. She accepts, and they go out on a modest date. While out there, they share some good moments together, and their relationship begins to slowly form. However, their date is interrupted by a rather rude stallion who sees their "interspecies pairing" as a sin and starts hurtling rocks at them. Most of them miss, and they both just try to ignore him to avoid ruining the date. But then, one of his rocks clocks Rarity in the face, which pisses Spike right off, and he starts marching towards the stallion to give him a piece of his mind. The stallion throws one last rock, but Spike catches it... Without thinking... In midair... Ending the argument right there, Spike and Rarity go to Twilight's to conduct some experiments, and they come to the conclusion that not only did the meteorite advance his physical age, it also gave him telekinetic powers. From then on, it divides into two side stories; Spike testing out and working out his telekinetic muscle, mostly in the form of pulling pranks with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, and fluffy shipping moments with Spike and Rarity building their relationship and getting closer. Then, one day, while the two of them are at an art gallery, Spike pops the question to her, and they get engaged. A little later, they go for a carriage ride in the mountains, but there's an asshole behind them who wants them to go faster. Spike solves this by pushing him aside, accidentally pushing him off the cliff. The victim survives, but only just, so Twilight advises him to limit his powers. A couple months later, on Nightmare Night, Spike and Rarity get ready with two costumes she designed. I never thought about her costume, I just figured it would be something like a vampire pony or something, but the costume she designs for him is a leather warrior outfit similar to Strider from Lord of the Rings, with a hooded cape. Rather than hunt for candy that night, they go out into the outskirts of Ponyville, searching for diamonds and gems suitable for their wedding bands, while still wearing their costumes of course. However, while they are out there, they're attacked by a group of Diamond Dogs who want their stash. In the scuffle, Spike kills two of them and scares the rest of them off, but not before Rarity sustains a mortal wound. Horrified, he rushes her to the hospital as fast as his legs can carry them both. He gathers their friends, but unfortunately, it's too late, and Rarity dies from internal bleeding. Spike, the Mane 6, and Sweetie Belle are devastated, but Spike takes it hardest of all. Then, he discovers that the doctor who took Rarity in is the same guy who threw rocks at them for dating a few months back. Because of this, he comes to the conclusion that the doctor, named Doctor Appleday, allowed Rarity to die because of his prejudice. This sends him into a fit of rage, where he nearly kills the doctor, then storms out of the hospital, contemplating what to do next. After an intense, psyche splitting discussion with himself, he deems two parties responsible for the death of his fiance: The Diamond Dogs, and the doctor, and decides to exact revenge upon them. Still wearing his Strider outfit, he goes down to the Diamond Mines, home of the Diamond Dogs, and goes on a vicious rampage, slaughtering every last one of them, men, women and children alike. When he is done, he next goes to Dr Appleday's house and puts him up to a test. He has inflicted the same injuries Rarity suffered onto the doctor's wife, and gives him an ultimatum. If he can save his wife, Spike will know that the doctor allowed Rarity to die, and will kill him, but if the doctor can't save his wife, Spike will admit that he was wrong and leave him alone, at the cost of his wife's life. Either way, he is paying a heavy price. However, when Appleday checks on his wife, she is already dead, to which Spike replies, "Oops. Looks like I lied. Just like you lied to me." Furious, Appleday tries to turn the tables by claiming innocence, and instead placing the blame upon Spike's head for not getting her to the hospital in time. Spike reacts to this by blowing up his house and going on a rampage through Ponyville, injuring many and killing Appleday in the process. Twilight sees the carnage and tries to fight him to get him under control, but Spike has completely lost his mind, tearing through buildings and ripping ponies to shreds, leaving havoc and destruction in his wake. After what seems like an eternity, Twilight realizes that there is only one way to stop him, and she uses magic to grab the horn off of a Celestia statue nearby, using it to impale Spike, killing him. The story ends with a funeral for Spike and Rarity, and a cliffhanger involving a certain chaos god in which said god revives Spike and promises to revive Rarity and make his dreams come true... In exchange for a... Favor... Well, there you have it. That is the entire story of The Apex Predator in a nutshell. Is it good? Is it bad? Is it everything you ever hoped for when you favorited this story? Or is it a huge letdown? Whatever you think, whatever you say, comment below, let me know! Thanks for sticking around for as long as you guys have, and I'm sorry this story is dead. Until next time... PEACE OUT!!!
OK, this might continue...Now, don't get your hopes up just yet, but there is the possibility of another writer adopting this story for me, and thus allowing it to continue. Nothing entirely solid, yet, but I will keep you posted.
