While I was gone, Spike went feral.
-
For a while, he was trying to run the library all by himself. He did it without enthusiasm.
As the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, he started to wonder.
Started to wonder what he was doing in this strange place inhabited by four-legged mammals. They were living by arbitrary rules. Their traditions and celebrations were dull and repetitive. They were talking about things that were meaningless to him.
They lived in a different world altogether.
Spike started to feel that he had no attachment to Ponyville, or even the equine civilization.
I understand that he tried to approach Rarity one last time, in an ultimate effort to hold on to his friends and the world he grew up in. He had come to think that she was the only one who could hold him back.
But Rarity rejected him. She had no other choice. Spike had become a mere shadow of his former self.
“It was dreadful”, Rarity says, “I tried to give him the love and care he needed, we all did. But without you, he had become an empty shell. Spike had been a background character in his own life. You, Twilight Sparkle, had been the main protagonist. When you vanished, you took the Spike we knew and loved with you. The only thing left was a pitiful creature who didn’t even know who he was anymore.”
And so Spike decided to leave Ponyville. For a while, he would live in an abandoned hut at the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. But even this primitive structure appeared increasingly alien to him. So he migrated deeper into the woods. Slept on the forest floor. Started digging for gems.
-
When I eventually discovered his trail, I could tell by his footprints that he had reached an impressive size. I was starting to wonder whether I was truly prepared to face him.
I was finally able to locate his roost, a cave under a cliff about one day’s travel away from Ponyville. The area around the entry was littered with bones, the remains of deer and grizzly bears, I presumed- I didn’t feel like giving them a closer inspection. I had raised Spike as a strict vegetarian. He had become a major predator. The top of the food chain, by the looks of it.
It was quiet at first and I didn’t know whether he was actually home.
He picked this exact moment to announce his presence by producing a sound that further strengthened my belief in the size estimates I had established earlier. Luckily, he was merely snoring, indicating an afternoon nap. Still, I was glad I had already emptied my bladder a while earlier.
-
I set up my tent on top of the cliff, casting a spell over myself as well as my gear so that Spike would not be able to pick up my scent.
For several days, I was merely observing him in his natural habitat. The new Spike was truly a sight to behold, an awe-inspiring saurian demigod. He was moving through the forest with grace and agility, capable of sneaking through the undergrowth like a giant feline as well as crushing obstacles and foes like a deranged elephant bull when he needed to. Part of me couldn’t help but feel proud, a strangely maternal feeling that was, of course, utterly misplaced.
How misplaced, I should soon find out. A dragon this size got to eat.
Watching him hunt, tearing creatures apart with the same claws he used to tickle me with when I was a foal was a highly traumatizing experience. I had been wondering about ways to bring him back to civilization- now, with the screams of his prey ringing in my ears, I was wondering whether I even wanted him back.
-
I have never been able to read minds, but sometimes I was able to catch tiny glimpses, pictures, emotions. Whenever I got close enough to Spike’s brain, I would probe it with a spell, to see whether there was anything left of my little assistant in this mass of muscles and murdering madness.
He hadn’t been talking to anypony for a long time. He had already forgotten how to talk at all. I even started to believe that he had lost the ability to think (if that was a gift he had ever possessed in the first place. His long history of tricking me with whoopee cushions suggests otherwise).
Memories of his former life were flashing through his primitive mind, but they had become meaningless to him. They were random daydreams with no connection to his present self.
It became abundantly clear that I would not be able to simply walk up to him and plead with him to think about the wonderful times we’d had. In his eyes, I would just be another tasty-looking quadruped, begging for a place in his gullet.
-
I was searching for a spark of his former self with which I could reignite the fire of his soul.
I finally realized that the answer wasn’t in him, but in me. I was the one who had created him. If I was to bring Spike back, I had to rebuild him with my own memories.
The way to do this was to create a homunculus, a magic phantom shaped after the image I carried in my memories. It would possess the feral dragon and force his brain to function the way it used to. It would not be the real Spike, merely an animal controlled by a brain parasite, but over time, the homunculus would hopefully be absorbed by the dragon’s own mind.
Still, I was undecided.
Was it the right thing to do? Perhaps this was what Spike was always meant to be. Talking, thinking, living in a world run by ponies, preferably without eating them- these were things I wanted him to do. That was my Spike. What right did I have to turn this mighty beast back into something that would sleep in a little basket next to my bed?
But then I saw him roast an owlbear with burning flatulence.
“Yeah”, I said to myself, “I think it’s time to get that little bugger housebroken again.”
-
It would have been smarter to ask other ponies to help me. Applejack and Rainbow Dash would have been the perfect choice for this kind of mission. But I had to do this on my own. Spike was my dragon, and if I wanted him back, I’d have to capture him myself.
There was another reason I had decided to hunt down Spike on my own. While the others had been happy to see me again after all this time, and though they were starting to forgive me for having abandoned them, it would take time to rebuild our relationship. We were not yet ready to share an adventure like in the old days.
-
Contrary to popular belief, dragons aren’t closely related to lizards at all. They are endothermic, rather like birds, with whom they share common ancestors. Still, grown dragons are resting most of the day, and of the night, for that matter, being only active during short energetic outbursts.
I needed to get as close as possible to his head so that the spell would work. I felt more confident doing this during his nap time. But as I was standing in front of his giant snout, I was struggling with the second part of the plan. I would only be able to plant the homunculus into his brain when he was fully awake. In other words, I would have to wake him, and then work my magic before he could gobble me up.
I had prepared a bundle of long ropes and now proceeded to tie him down. The trick was to make the bindings loose enough so he wouldn’t wake up, but arrange them in a way that they would tighten as soon as he would try to move.
Now to wake him up. I was shifting my weight from one leg to the other, undecided. What if the ropes weren’t strong enough? What if I messed up the spell? Maybe I should just wait until he’d wake up on his own? Nice and slowly?
It was his digestion that finally set things in motion. I wish I could tell you things had been happening differently, but this is how it was.
I could see him raising his tail in his sleep, almost as if it was slowed down just to torture me. I was shaking my head. “Oh no, please don’t... no...”
His flatulation made the entire cave tremble. But that was nothing compared to the smell. Spike was happily grunting while tears were running down my face. I had to work hard to keep my lunch down. There was only one option: Retreat! I wouldn’t be able to do anything in this cloud of...
Feeling the burning on my coat and fully realizing what it was that was engulfing me at that very moment, I made a loud, gagging noise.
When I opened my eyes, I met his. Large and green, they had an almost philosophical expression. Spike was wide awake, as if there had be no transitory period. Randomly, the thought occurred to me that this was because he had recognized my voice. That was wishful thinking, of course, since ponies probably sound all the same when they are about to vomit.
In a movement that was too fast for me to process, he jerked forward. The ropes were holding him for about a second, then they came off. The gas filling the cave had started to dissolve them. Later I would find that the same had happened to several strands of my mane.
I managed to teleport out of the cave before the dragon’s jaws could close around me.
We were standing on the clearing, facing eachother. He opened his maw once again to let out a mighty roar.
“Oh yeah? I bet you won’t even say ‘Excuse me’!”, I yelled back. Again, quite randomly, but the inside of my nose still felt as if it was on fire. I was pretty upset.
He didn’t bother to reply. Instead, he was coming right at me, almost roasting me with his flame. It’s times like these were I regret that the teleport-ability has a cooldown. I had to rely on a good, old-fashioned leap to the left.
All rational thought gone from my mind, I used a spell to unroot a nearby tree and throw it at the beast. It was like a strange parody of the times when we had been fighting as children.
The hit clearly took him by surprise. It was probably the first time he even felt real pain ever since he had moved to the forest. He didn’t look hurt, but his pride as the apex-predator sure was.
The tree was turned to ashes, and the chase resumed. I was throwing everything at him that got into my reach, but now that he was prepared, he was just shrugging the projectiles off as if they were flies.
I didn’t even notice I had walked over a cliff until my hooves were hanging in the air. For a second, Spike and I looked at eachother, then we both plummeted down. I had the presence of mind to remember that my teleport-spell was ready once again.
As Spike landed in the swamp at the bottom of the valley, I safely materialized on a rock a little further away.
"I... I meant to do that..."
Now was my chance. As Spike was splashing around in the bog, making it rain mud, frogs and leeches, I bethought myself of another spell I had not tried out in quite a while.
Gathering all my strength, I started manipulating the very molecules of the mud. Within seconds, it had turned into a rubbery mass, trapping and completely immobilizing the raging dragon.
The spell would only last a few minutes. It was now or never: I hasted over the bouncy surface, my lips already starting to form the words needed for the homunculus-spell.
-
The bog returned to its former state sooner than I had expected. Spike and I took a little splash of mud just before we could reach firm ground.
I gave Spike a minute to catch his breath and pull himself together. The poor thing was awfully confused. Finally, he looked at me.
“Woah, I... Twilight? Why are you so short?”
I grinned.
“Long story.” Now that was almost a Pinkie Pun, don’t you think? No? Oh well.
“Welcome back, Spike.”
He was looking at his own body, trying to make sense of it all.
“Am I a grown-up?”
“Certainly not. You just went feral.Technically, you still are. You are under a hypnosis of sorts. We should probably brace for sudden atavistic throwbacks.”
“Sudden atavasta-wha...?”
His eyes widened and he started roaring at me, wrapping me in clouds of saliva. While I was still shaking in my horseshoes, he got himself under control again.
“Oups.”
“...Yep. That’s exactly what I’m talking about.”
“My mouth tastes like wild boar...”
“Smells like one too. That’s a real mystery alright, given that it’s the last thing you ate.”
He lowered his head in an endearing gesture of shame.
“I went a little psycho, didn’t I?”
“Tell me about it. But the important thing is that you’re back, and that you can come back to Ponyville with me...”
I gulped.
“If that’s what you really want, of course.”
The dragon frowned and bent his long, powerful neck until his head was on the same level as mine.
“Well, you did kinda abandon me, and I’m totally blaming you for all of this...”
He was shaking the mud from his claws. “So I guess I’ll have to stick around so you get the chance to make up for it.”
“Oh Spike...”
“You owe me.”
“I owe you.”
-
We went back to the cave.
“I’ll go get my things. Can you give me a lift? That’ll be faster than walking up there, and I’m tired of teleport right now.”
I have to admit, it was pretty fun to use my assistant’s big head as an elevator. When I was ready to go, Spike suddenly looked awfully undecided.
“On to Ponyville! The others will be so happy to see you again... Say, what’s the matter?”
Spike was massaging his neck, his eyes trying to avoid mine.
“It’s just... I just remembered... I mean, to Ponyville? Right now? Sure, I want to go, but I can’t just leave them here...”
He pointed back to the cave entry.
I gasped. I had never seen the back of his cave.
“Oh my gosh, Spike... Are you telling me you have a... FAMILY?”
Then I remembered who I was talking to, and a feeling that combined relief and utter disappointment swept through my soul.
“You are talking about gems, aren’t you?”
He honoured me with a sheepish grin.
“Forget it, buster. Even with all the love in the world, I can’t allow you to keep that stuff.”
“Oh come on, Twilight”, he groaned, “Can’t I at least eat them?”
“Not a chance. You need to forsake your greed. You know the drill.”
He wasn’t very happy about this and got more than just a little grumpy, but thankfully he didn’t question my orders. I’m not sure what I could have done at that point to make him obey me against his will. Spanking was clearly not an option.
On the road back to town, he even let me to ride on his back, which was a welcome departure from the natural order.
When we arrived in Ponyville, he had already shrunken down to the point that we were able to switch places again.
