One Year Later

Chapters

Is It Fear That Spurs Me?
Is It Truth That Guides Me?
Is it hope that follows me?
Dragon's Worth, The first month: What is Hope?
Is it the impossible that motivates me?
Is it the Forbidden that Represses Me?

Is It Fear That Spurs Me?

It was summer once again. Colts and fillies outside revelled in the joy of the daylight, their laughter permeating the air like a damp humidity. It neither comforted nor soothed Twilight Sparkle’s soul, instead reminding her of a past failure.

One she was still suffering and paying the price for.

Twilight nervously paced around the entrance of her castle, checking, re-checking and triple-checking the entire contents of her saddle bags. Blankets - check. Fire rubies and emeralds - check. Emergency flares - check. Twenty-three page apology note addressed to a certain purple dragon... Check.

“Twilight, dear,” a calm voice reassured her, “It will be fine.”

Twilight turned to Rarity, who was standing along with the rest of her friends. She tried to smile at her friend but could only manage a melancholy look. “I - I know Rarity. It’s been so long...and - and I’m so worried…”

Of all six friends, Rarity was the one who took the news as hard as Twilight. She never really showed it, but the white unicorn had definitely cared deeply for the baby dragon.

“We’re all worried about him,” Rarity replied. She pulled Twilight into a hug. “But all we can do is hope for his speedy and safe return.”

Twilight nodded, suppressing the lump forming in her throat.She bit softly on her lower lip, trying to suppress the tremble.

It had been one whole year since Spike’s furnace had gone out. The single source of a dragon’s flame and key component to keeping him alive had been overused and extinguished - and it was all Twilight’s fault because she used his dragonfire as a simple messenger service.

“But what if he isn’t even there?” she asked, a touch of desperation in her voice. “I - I tried visiting them…”

She had been forced to leave Spike with an elder dragon - a being so ancient he remembered Luna before she was Nightmare Moon. He had given an ultimatum: leave Spike with him for one full year, and he would attempt to save the young dragon’s life.

Applejack placed a foreleg around her shoulders, also pulling her into a hug. “Sugarcube, please stop doing this tah yerself.”

Twilight had tried teleporting to the cave two months into the year but had found it empty and abandoned. The only signs there had ever been life there was the giant crater the elder dragon had left during their last encounter. Renewed despair had gripped at her heart, only subsiding when she finally got back home.

A letter was waiting on her study desk, written in sharp and angular characters.

‘Do not test my patience, youngling. You will see the hatchling at the end of the year and no amount of magic, begging, scrying or prying will allow you access until I approve.’

She shook her head. There...was still hope.

“C’mon Twilight, stop being so sad,” Pinkie chimed in. Even though she held a broad grin, her cotton-candy mane had been a little flatter than usual for the past year. “I’ve got Spike’s ‘Welcome Back to Ponyville’ party all planned out!”

“Yeah, I’m sure the little tyke is fine!” Rainbow Dash said, pumping a hoof against her chest a few times. “That guy is tougher than most ponies credit him for.”

Fluttershy could only offer a meek smile of support. She took a few steps gingerly towards Twilight, nuzzling her softly. “We’re here for you, Twilight. No matter what happens.”

Even as supportive as her expression and voice was, a sudden lance of cold fear briefly spiked in Twilight’s heart. The very real possibility of not finding her little brother alive and well was not a fear the alicorn was prepared to deal with at all. Fluttershy was used to burying her animal friends and the almost-sad expression on her face made Twilight fear the worst.

“Girls…” Twilight began, breathing out a shuddering sigh. “Th - thank you. Thank you for helping me through this.”

Very slowly and carefully, she began to draw magic towards her horn. Long-distance teleportation was difficult, but at least she had a strong arcane anchor to the location - a very strong and emotional anchor.

“I’ll…” she began, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “I’ll bring him back - I swear.”

The magic finished coalescing. In a bright flash of light, the alicorn vanished.

**** ****

Twilight shivered involuntarily as a nippy wind bit at her coat. The teleport had gone flawlessly, depositing her at the precipice of the large mountain. Squinting her eyes, she gazed up towards the mountain, the peak disappearing into the clouds and atmosphere above.

Celestia’s sun hung high in the horizon, providing enough warmth to stop her from freezing solid. Hazarding a glance over the edge, a sudden wave of vertigo washed over her - just like last time.

‘I doubt much has changed since the last time,’ she thought to herself. There was still no civilisation for as far as her eyes could see in the desolate wasteland.

“It’s time to do this, Twilight…” she whispered to herself, turning to face the entrance of the cave. The crater was still there - where she had barely escaped death exactly one year ago. Right now, it felt just like it was the other day that Luna, Spike and herself were here.

Her legs didn’t respond properly as she walked stiffly towards the cave entrance, her legs feeling like wooden boards.

Finding herself staring up at the gaping maw to Al’Mal’Gorath’s lair, she gulped nervously. Hesitantly bending down in a submissive bow, she called out.

“O - O great dragon…” she began. “It is...It is I, Princess Twilight Sparkle. I have returned one year later as you instructed.” She closed her eyes, her voice suddenly wavering as she continued. “I have come for my brother, Spike the Dragon.”

Several minutes passed painfully, before a shower of gems and jewelry could be heard from inside. Her heart did several summersaults as deep thundering footsteps echoed from out the cave entrance and through the ground she stood up, but she did not dare get up from her bow.

Almost immediately, Twilight could feel when the elder dragon’s gaze was upon her. She shivered again, not from the cold this time.

“Ah, for a while I had thought you had almost forgotten, youngling,” the dragon’s rumbling voice said. “Get up - a Princess has not bowed to me for centuries.”

Twilight got back up to her hooves, her whole body trembling slightly. The red-scaled beast towered over her, his fire-bronze eyes boring down deeply into her core.

“I - I have come for Spike, Al’Mal’Gorath,” Twilight stated, her voice still wavering with fear and uncertainty.

His eyes narrowed, a jet of steam blowing out of his nostrils at Twilight in a snort of contempt. “So you have not abandoned the hatchling like I thought you would.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide, “Why would I do that?” she cried out. “He’s - he’s my b - brother,” she added, her voice choking slightly.

The dragon’s head retreated back into the cave. “Follow me, youngling.”

Gulping, she nervously obeyed the dragon. She took each step hesitantly, quickly matching her pace to keep up next to the beast. He moved slowly, especially for this size.

An acrid smell filled Twilight’s nostrils, causing her to wrinkle her nose. A smell of brimstone and sulphur burned her nasal passages in discomfort. An intense heat also began to build up the deeper they went into the cave, a healthy sweat very quickly breaking out all over her body.

Before she had a chance to regret not bringing water, or even bringing saddlebags in the first place, Twilight was greeted by the single most excessive and magnificent sight she had ever seen.

The beginnings of understanding began to gnaw at the edges of her mind as she tried to take in the sight of Mal’Gorath’s hoard. Gems, jewelry and gold lay piled up throughout the chamber. Some gemstones were bigger than Twilight’s body twice over. There had to be more wealth here than the rest of Equestria combined.

The ground shook as the dragon climbed onto the pile, before digging his wings into the hoard and shaking his body. Gems and gold scattered everywhere as he slowly buried himself deeper into the mountain of sheer wealth.

Once fully buried, with just his head exposed, Mal’Gorath closed his eyes and lay completely still. Twilight glared awkwardly up the dragon. “Um...I’m sorry, good sir but...Spike? Where is he?”

A claw emerged from the pile of gems, a talon pointing towards a far corner of the cave. “The hatchling remains over there, waiting for your return.”

Her heart thumped in her throat as Twilight followed the direction Mal’Gorath’s talon pointed at. Her legs no longer felt like wooden planks, instead now feeling heavier than lead weights as each step dragged her towards her baby brother.

This was it. This was it! Finally, she got to see her baby brother! Tears began streaming down her cheeks as she slowly managed to pick up speed, before running at a full gallop towards Spike.

She called out, finding a small hollow in the cave wall. It was obviously where Spike had been staying this whole time. “Spike! I’m back!”

She poked her head into hollow, a broad grin on her face.

“No…” she whimpered, the grin dropping off completely. “No...no no no no nononononono.”

Her legs gave out from under her, the alicorn collapsing onto the ground. Trembling hooves reached out as an expression of horror and despair overcame her face. “No...No!” she cried out.

A tiny, bleached-white skeleton lay curled up in the dirt in front of her, clearly that of a baby dragon.

“Spike!” she sobbed, her whimper turning into a wail of despair. “I’m sorry!”

The despair rapidly raced through her chest and heart as a powerful surge of magic lanced from her horn towards the skeleton, enveloping it in her aura. Pure holy-magic pumped from deep inside Twilight’s magic-source into the remains as she attempted every single healing spell she knew, even inventing new ones on the fly.

The skeletal remains remained motionless as the white-hot aura of Twilight’s healing spells faded. “No Spike! Why?!” she sobbed again, the despair and desperation growing deeper. She dug further into her memories, trying to remember any spell that could help.

A brief flutter of hope surged in her chest, as a chaotic green aura filled her eyes. Sickly black bubbles of magic enveloped Spike before simmering away, leaving no change on the baby dragon.

The hope started fading away fast, Twilight clawing at more ideas. Her eyes darted to the sides as one final solution finally came to mind. Even the magic Sombra had used, while forbidden, was still documented. But this magic...she remembered reading about it and finding one solitary spell book as a filly. The contents scared her so much she had thrown up, causing her to swear to never repeat or utter a single word since.

A eerie blue glow surrounded her horn, a similar cloudy blue smoke escaping her eyes as an even darker magic channeled through her magic-source. Like a frosted breeze, the spell floated towards the skeleton, hovering around and through the bones. Rime gathered, despite the heat of the cave, wisps of blue magic weaving themselves between the joints and cavities.

Two near-solid orbs of the magic formed in Spike’s hollow eye sockets. For a brief moment, Twilight allowed herself to smile in hope, before the orbs fluttered and petered out, the rest of the magic fizzling with it.

“Necromancy?” Mal’Gorath’s amused voice sounded behind Twilight. She turned to face him, a sense of utter defeat filling her completely. “Not even necromancy can save something so long dead, youngling.”

“I...I just wanted my little brother back…” Twilight whimpered. Her voice grew into a desperate wail. “Y - you said you could save him! How could you have failed!”

The dragon’s snout rocketed forward, stopping inches away from the alicorn as a deep rumble sounded from inside his throat. “Fail? It was not I who failed the hatchling, Twilight Sparkle. I kept my word - I would attempt to save his life.” He drew back, still glaring down at her. “It was you who had failed him, long before he was ever brought before me.”

Twilight no longer had the strength to even keep her head up. She collapsed completely, dragging herself to curl around the remains of her little brother.

It was her fault.

It was her fault.

It was all her fault.

Her despondent sobs echoed in the caverns. All she wanted to do was just die - let the earth open up and swallow her. She didn’t deserve any better. She didn’t deserve her friends or the love they gave her.

Spike was gone.

And it was her fault.

In the distance, Twilight was vaguely aware of Princess Luna’s voice calling out.

“Twilight Sparkle!”

Author's Note

A very close friend of mind passed away today. This chapter has been in editing for the past few weeks, but now on the day I want to publish it I'm having a hard time re-reading it. *EDIT* Thank you all for the well wishes and condolences. It's a hard time for all of his friends and family (myself included), but we'll move forward and push on.

I hope all the errors have been caught and sorted.

Please leave a comment on your thoughts (on the chapter) and I'll tend to them post-haste. There is still a lot that's going to happen in this story (Hence the 'adventure' tag).

Is It Truth That Guides Me?

Author's Note

In Loving Memory of Gremlin Geddes.

Never has the world met such a unique soul.
Your kindness and generosity touched the lives of many, helping them when no one else would. A man who could always fill a room and those around him with laughter. He was brutally honest to a fault, always dispensing the best of advice whether you wanted to hear it or not. His loyalty was unmatched, dropping everything to help those in need and he remained so up until the very end.

The world has lost a special kind of magic with his passing. You will be missed, my friend.

Is It Truth That Guides Me?

Twilight woke up as a hoarse scream tore its way from her throat. Her whole body shivered as rivulets of tears streamed down her cheeks. She drew in ragged breaths, her heart hammering painfully in her chest.

She sat bolt upright in her bed for a few moments, before an overwhelming sense of bile and sickness forced its way from her stomach. She was barely able to teleport to the bathroom in time before unloading the contents of her stomach into the sink.

For the past several months, Twilight had been practicing her teleportation and transposing spells. Despite her royal duties, she had surprisingly large amounts of free time. She had developed an obsession with learning this type of magic to the point she had re-invented the spell twice now, each iteration more efficient than the previous one.

The captain of Celestia’s personal guard had shown great interest in learning her techniques but had stopped bothering her very quickly. Twilight suspected Celestia had a hoof in that.

Her ears twitched and swiveled towards the door as a faint magical signature tickled her magic-source. Various spell threads and arcane energies resonated against the ley-lines to a certain harmony.

Twilight heaved a heavy sigh, recognising the leftover signatures of a teleport spell. Each spell had its own tune and her obsession with it meant she recognised it immediately, like recognising the difference between two differently tuned violins.

There it was again...teleport. Like she could have just teleported her reports and scrolls to Princess Celestia. Like she had been doing for the past year.

She splashed water on her face and wiped it off, before swishing a mouthful of water and spitting out the leftover taste of sick. She pulled in a calming breath before taking a few shaky steps outside.

“Twilight,” a soft and warm voice greeted her. Twilight leaned into the alabaster-white coat as a large wing draped over her back in a comforting manner.

Telling Celestia had been...difficult. She was practically a mother to Spike during his early years and Twilight had almost lost all resolve to actually share the news with her mentor about the baby dragon’s uncertain fate.

“It’s okay, Twilight,” Celestia said soothingly. “It was only a bad dream.”

Twilight was ashamed to admit that Celestia didn’t cry like she had expected, instead offering her love and support just like the rest of her friends did. Ever noble and ever kind, Princess Celestia had helped one of her little ponies when they needed her most.

“Wh - why didn’t Luna come…?” Twilight croaked, the scream having left her throat hoarse. The past year had been plagued with nightmares, but each time Princess Luna had come to help her.

“This dream was different, Twilight.” The larger alicorn nuzzled the younger Princess. “By the time we felt the magic surges, you were far too deep in your nightmare for my sister to help you.”

Twilight shivered. She had a habit of sleep-casting spells. As a filly, she had set her curtains on fire more than once. A horn-ring was usually enough, and she had been able to keep it under control recently, but the sheer terror at losing Spike again…

“I heard Princess Luna right at the end, but barely…”

“We had caught the magic surges and she was able to break you from the nightmare before anything bad had happened,” Celestia said. Twilight just nodded meekly into her mentor’s embrace. “It’s okay, Twilight,” she continued. “You are safe now.”

“It was...so real, Princess...all I saw was his tiny…” she couldn’t finish the sentence. “I want him back so badly…”

The Sun Princess simply nuzzled her ex-student softly, not saying anything. It was still in the early hours of the morning. The sun wasn’t due to rise for at least another half-hour.

“Did I really cast…?” Twilight hesitantly asked. She attempted to shrink away, but the large wing hugging her cut off all escape paths. Luna had told her that ever since King Sombra, wards existed to pin-point and detect dark-magic whenever it was cast.

“We don’t have to discuss it if you don’t want to Twilight,” Celestia said. The tone in her voice sent an unpleasant shiver down Twilight’s spine. So the answer was yes - she had cast necromantic magic; and she would have to deal with the consequences sooner rather than later. That part of the nightmare was actually true: she had stumbled across a single tome long ago.

“It’s been one year,” Twilight breathed after a while, pushing the the thoughts to the back of her mind. “Today, I mean.” She allowed herself to smile up at Celestia. “I get to...I get to see him again.”

Celestia didn’t say anything for a while, only tightening her hug around Twilight. She nuzzled her before finally saying. “Just remember - wait for him. Al’Gorath is not one to break his promises. Wait for him to send for you, Twilight.”

The young alicorn tilted her head quizzically - ‘wasn’t his name Al’Mal’Gorath? And Luna had referred to him as Mal’Gorath.’

She shelved the questions to the back of her mind for later, instead just nodding up at her mentor.

**** ****

There was a certain problem having a conclusive personality like Twilight’s: it always jumped to conclusions. It was already lunchtime, and while the day was not over yet, she had heard no news from the elder dragon she had left Spike with exactly one year ago.

So the most logical conclusion she jumped to, was of course the fact that the worst had happened. Mal’Gorath had obviously either forgotten about her, or maybe he had been attacked and defeated on his way here.

It was a good thing the floor was made of crystal, else there would be a visible circle worn into it where Twilight had been pacing around for the past three hours.

She flumped down onto her throne, hanging her head with a defeated sigh. She was about to give up all hope, heaving a despondent sigh, when the doors to the castle burst open.

Twilight looked up with a hopeful look on her face but it dropped rapidly as a panic-stricken Roseluck charged up towards her.

“Princess Twilight!” the cream-coloured mare gasped out, pausing just in front of her. Twilight couldn’t tell if her bend down was from a curtsy of respect, or from the need to gulp in mouthfuls of air between words. “Th - th - there’s a m - m - monster out in P - Ponyville!” she stammered between breaths, the terror obvious in her voice.

For a moment, Twilight filed away her worry about Spike. If Ponyville was under attack then this needed her immediate attention. Her own personal worries shouldn’t affect the citizens of Ponyville in any way.

Steeling her resolve, she stood up proudly. “I’m on my way,” she said, a determined frown coming over her face. She thought of teleporting, but decided if it were truly a monster attack, any amount of mana, no matter how miniscule, would be needed.

Charging towards her front door, a tiny flick from her magic-source swung the doors open.

Her jaw dropped at the sight awaiting her. Ponies everywhere were in a flat panic, screaming and running into various objects and other ponies. It was text-book comical, if it weren’t for the fact that their panic definitely meant something was wrong.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Twilight tried asking a passing earth pony, but was rudely brushed away as he continued to run screaming in terror. All she really could do was throw a disapproving frown in his direction.

Twilight looked around again, making note of the general direction the majority of ponies were running away from. The south side of Ponyville seemed to hold the most tangible threat, considering the general population were so keen on vacating it.

With a slight huff, she held her head tall and began a steady march towards the apparent danger. None of the other fleeing citizens paid her much mind.

It must be quite the dangerous beast if it had the whole town acting like this? She hesitated for just a moment. What if she was getting in over her head? What if she wasn’t equipped to handle this threat?

...What if it was Mal’Gorath with news of Spike’s return?

Breaking into a full gallop, Twilight sprinted as fast as she could manage. Yes! Of course, how could she be so stupid? Of course it would be Mal’Gorath!

Upon reaching the now very vacant southern park of Ponyville, the alicorn skidded to a halt, wings flared out in a show of force and authority. She mentally kicked herself for simply not flying here instead. Old habits truly die hard.

At first she couldn’t spot anything. The area looked fine save for a blatant lack of ponies. Her eyes squinted, looking out for anything out of place.

Just down the road she spotted an upright figure walking towards the town proper. Her breath caught as she started to define a few familiar features on the creature.

He was tall, almost twice the height of a normal pony, when standing upright. His jaw was still round, but squarish features were starting to show on it. Bright green spines sprouted upwards in a proud crest on top of his head.

The limbs were lithe and powerful, long claws protruding from each digit. Purple scales adorned the creature’s hide, his tail ending in a powerful lance. A ragged scar ran up his left side and up his cheek, although it was well faded.

Emerald green eyes contemplated Twilight Sparkle with a slight frown as he said nothing.

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat, not remembering when tears had started flowing from her eyes. She took a hesitant step forward. “Spike...is that you?”

The young dragon looked at her for a few moments more, before breaking out into a toothy grin.

Is it hope that follows me?

Twilight Sparkle felt a soft, downward weight pressing against the left side of her cheek. Actually, no….her cheek was pressing against the soft object. Dimly, she was aware of a blanket laid over her.

Her eyes fluttered open sleepily. A slight shuffling and the faint noise of general conversation drifted its way into her consciousness. Pushing herself up, she saw five other ponies seated to the left of her bed.Pushing herself up, Twilight managed a half-mangled moan before properly scanning the occupants.

“Ugh…my head,” she said. Her five friends turned to look at her. In an instant they were flocked around her bed. Concern was plastered on their faces. “What’s wrong girls?” she asked, righting herself up properly in the bed. “Was I...sleeping?”

“Yes, dear,” Rarity said. “It looked like quite a restless sleep, as well.”

“Why are you all gathered around my bed, then?” Twilight asked. She pulled up the blanket subconsciously as a sense of unease built up.

“You… um... had passed out, Twilight,” Fluttershy said. She offered her a meek smile in response to Twilight’s confused look.

“Wait...why did I pass out?” Twilight asked. She shook her head, hoping to jumble her memories back into place.

“You mean...you don’t know?” Rarity said. Her brow knit with concern for the alicorn in the bed.

The five friends shared a worried look at Twilight’s confusion. Rainbow Dash hovered a little closer, placing a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “I think we should just...show you.”

The ponies parted, revealing a young dragon sitting quietly in a chair in the corner. He held a worried look on his face, and despite obviously aging up considering from when she had given him to Mal’Gorath, he was definitely the same dragon.

Twilight promptly passed out again.

**** ****

“I told you it was a bad idea,” a raspy mare’s voice said.

“Ah think it’s a little strange how she’s reacting, don’t you?” a familiar farmpony’s voice replied.

A very elegant voice interjected. “Girls, I believe Twilight just needs some time to... adjust!”

Very quickly, Twilight was aware of her five friends descending into a rather annoying argument of what was best for her. She wanted to shout at them to all stop, but a deep masculine voice did that for her.

“Girls! Please, I’m sure Twilight will be fine,” the voice said. “Give her some space to breathe, geeze.”

The murmuring quickly died down. Twilight opened her eyes again and found them immediately focusing on the purple dragon. He held a disapproving frown on his face, his arms crossed.

“Are you going to pass out on me again?” he asked sternly. When she responded with a shake of her head, his expression lightened up. “Sheesh, Twilight. You had me worried for a second there. I don’t remember you being so fainty before.”

Twilight flung the blankets off rapidly as she leapt towards the dragon, pulling him into a powerful hug. Tears were in her eyes again as the biggest grin spread across her face. “I missed you, Spike!”

Spike’s eyes were wide for a moment, before he, too, smiled. Wrapping his arms around the smaller pony, he hugged her gently back. “Yeah, I missed you too, Twi.”

Pulling away, Twilight kept her hooves on his shoulders, almost sizing up the dragon. “I’m...I’m so happy you’re alive, Spike.” A fresh wave of tears flowed as she suppressed a sob of joy before pulling him into another hug. “I’m so happy you’re home.”

The hug he returned was warm and reminded Twilight of the love she used to share with him as a baby dragon so long ago…

Except he wasn’t a baby dragon anymore.

Gears clicked inside Twilight’s brain as she slowly processed this info. He was taller than her by quite a margin and his voice was certainly deeper. His scales were somewhat larger and definitely tougher than what he had as a baby. His crest and spines had lengthened and his eyes held a weathered look behind them.

Gasping loudly, Twilight pushed Spike away, a look of panic on her face. “Spike! Have you been hoarding again?” Her voice rose in panic as she started prancing on the spot. “Oh no, this is bad. We need to isolate you! Stop you from accumulating thi -”

Spike cut her off with a claw over her lips. “Easy, Twi, I’m not hoarding,” he said in a soothing tone. “Not in the traditional sense.” He broke out into a smile and chuckled lightly, removing the finger. “Al’Gorath taught me a lot in the past year. One of them was the value of family.”

The alicorn’s panic-attack subsided as quickly as it had come. She stared wide-eyed at the young dragon. “You mean…?”

Spike pulled her into another, softer hug. “Let’s just say…” he began, before taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out. “I’m glad to be home, Twilight.”

The two remained like that for a while, unable to say anything at all.

Twilight’s eyes trailed along to Spike’s left side. “Spike...what happened here?” she hesitantly asked, her eyes taking in the faded scar. The jagged line had cut through his side, the scales missing where it had cut.

Spike’s smile faltered. “It happened a long time ago, Twilight,” he said soothingly. “It’s a story for another time.”

The alicorn was about to interject when a claw pressed across her lips silenced her.

“Another time, Twi,” he said with a faint smile. “In the meantime, I am really hungry. Got any lunched cooked up?”

**** ****

Lunch was a quiet and awkward affair. Their friends had elected to leave Twilight and Spike alone, to allow for a proper moment to catch up. Predictably, all they had done was sit in total silence as they occasionally glanced at each other.

“So…” Twilight began, offering what she hoped was a friendly smile. “How have you been?”

Spike’s eyes glanced up at her, before he ate another spoonful of soup. They hadn’t had time to prepare anything special, so Twilight put together a sweet potato and butternut soup that was left over from the night before. The dragon had offered to help but Twilight was adamant to do it on her own.

“I’ve been good,” he replied, before having another spoonful.

“That’s...good!” Twilight said. She had barely touched her own bowl of soup. Moments earlier she had been so happy to see her adoptive brother, back but now…? He seemed like a stranger. His eyes carefully took in everything around him and even his movements were measured.

What exactly had happened to him during the past year?

“Spike…” Twilight began. She hesitated when his eyes looked up to her, one of the ridges above them raising slightly. “I...I need to know. What happened to you, I mean.”

Spike carefully placed his spoon back into the bowl. Twilight was about to start a tirade of apologies and explanations before he silenced her with an upright extended claw. “Al’Gorath taught me a lot more than I would have expected.”

“What did he teach you?” The question was out before she could stop herself.

The young dragon stood up from his chair, before circling around the dining table. He trailed a claw along the edge of it. Each step he took elevated Twilight’s heartbeat and breathing as panic grew inside of her.

Stopping half-way, Spike brought his open palm up to his face. Taking a deep breath, he breathed out a controlled jet of flame.

“No, Spike!” Twilight yelled as she leapt out of her seat. “What about your furnace?”

Spike just gave her an incredulous look as the flames licked and surrounded his hand before subsiding into a faint glow. “He taught me a little about dragon magic.” The glow intensified before he lifted it away with his other claw, weaving it into an odd and angular letter that Twilight didn’t recognise. “He taught me a little history.” The character floated towards the table before landing on it.

A flash of light and the symbol imprinted itself onto the surface of the table. Spike smiled warmly, tracing one of his digits along it.

“He broke me down and taught me hope,” he continued, weaving another symbol before imprinting it next to the first. “And taught me the value of my friends and family.”

“Spike, what are you doing?” Twilight asked, hesitantly moving closer to examine the strange script. The imprints hadn’t marred the surface of the table at all, almost appearing like a shadow on top of it.

Spike resumed his seat, giving a slight chuckle. “I also learned that I’ll never be able to cast dragon magic.”

The alicorn’s head swivelled towards the dragon, giving a small gasp. “Oh no! That’s horrible, Spike!” A wave of sympathy built up in her as she quickly walked to his side, placing a foreleg around him comfortingly.

“It’s not all that bad,” Spike said, hugging her back. “I mean, yeah I can’t use traditional dragon magic but that didn’t stop me.” He puffed out his chest, holding a claw upwards. “That’s why we invented a new type of magic! Just for me!”

Twilight felt tears welling up in her eyes. That’s the Spike she remembered and loved. Brash, confident and always obsessed with the ‘rule of cool,’ as he put it. “I’m glad that you’re…” she trailed off, trying to think of a proper way to put it, “capable, Spike, but that still doesn’t explain what you wrote onto my dining room table.”

A wistful smile spread across Spike’s face. “Just two words, an amalgamation of dragon, unicorn, and a few other magics. The first is ‘hope,’ so that I know what this place means to me. The second is ‘home.’” He hugged Twilight tightly. “Because the only place that would ever feel like home is where you are, Twilight.”

The alicorn didn’t have an answer for that. Pride swelled in her chest. She nuzzled into the chest of her adoptive brother.

“The girls told me you were worried sick while I was gone.” Spike’s voice was filled with worry. The mare looked up to see that same worry reflecting in his eyes. “How did you manage the past...year?”

She remained silent for a long while. Slowly the gears turned in her mind as the painful memoriescrept forward again. At first she couldn’t sleep, the worry driving her sick to her stomach.

When sleep finally did start coming to her, she was plagued with endless nightmares, almost every one of them needing Luna’s intervention. The cold fear of losing Spike every night had almost driven her insane.

“I didn’t, really,” Twilight managed to say. “I missed you so much that I had nightmares. I thought I’d never see you again - that I’d never get to say how much I care for you and love you, Spike.”

Vaguely, Twilight was aware of the dragon’s arms wrapping around her in a tight hug.

“But...my friends kept me together. They reminded me each day and made sure I didn’t dissolve into a total wreck.” Twilight gave a dry chuckle. “But, I guess the one thing that kept me sane the most was...hope.”

“Hope?” Spike asked.

“Hope that I would see you again. Hope that I’d see my little brother that I’ve cared for since I was a filly.” Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat as she pulled away from the hug, offering a smile. “Hope that even after all this time, my little Spike would come home to me.”

Spike returned the smile. “Hope,” he said wistfully. “Even Al’Gorath recognised the importance of hoping for something.”

Twilight nudged Spike with her hoof, a sudden frown on her face. “Okay, stop. You and Celestia call him Al’Gorath, Luna calls him Mal’Gorath and as far as I know his full name is Al’Mal’Gorath?” She raised an eyebrow. “Am I missing something here?”

Spike chuckled, motioning for Twilight to take a seat as he did the same. “Only a few things. I’ll let you know in time, Twi. Heck, he taught me a lot of things.”

The alicorn paused for a moment, the frown deepening slightly. “Tell me.”

Author's Note

I'm sorry.

I really am sorry for the trick I pulled (again).

I promise it won't happen again.

(Maybe).

~~~

Let me know if you like the story. If you've faved it, leave a like as well.

Minor spoiler: Spike will eventually start walking on all fours instead of upright, but this will be due to a major character-development point.

The next chapter will be a flashback chapter detailing a part of Spike's year with Al'Mal'Gorath.

Thanks for reading!

Dragon's Worth, The first month: What is Hope?

When Spike woke, only one thought occupied his mind. Only one need consumed his waking desires, begged and pleaded his body for a single request.

Hunger.

Deep and powerful, a hunger clawed at his stomach and chest, eliciting raspy breaths and painful moans. It was like a frozen spear driving deep into his core, forcing the baby dragon to shiver as its coldness spread through his body.

The tips of his claws tingled with a chilled numbness as he clumsily pushed himself upright. His whole body was sluggish, sending him stumbling forward into a bountiful pile of gems.

Gems.

His eyes widened, an acidic saliva forming in his mouth and throat as he saw the delicious, delectable gemstones surrounding him.

Spike… want…

A low rumbling thundered around Spike, the baby dragon barely registering the noise.“Eat, hatchling.”

A claw reached out, grabbing one of the larger rubies, the numbness causing him to fumble and drop it. His eyes bugged out as he lunged forward towards the falling gem, snatching it up again before it would be lost.

Noisily stuffing it into his mouth, the dragon bit down as his diamond-hard teeth crunched up the ruby with ease before he swallowed it.

A tidal wave of warmth spread through his body. A resurgence of heat and feeling tingling at the tips of his claws. Wriggling and stretching his digits, he grabbed a fistful of gems and shovelled it down his throat.

A haze took over his mind, blurring the lines between consciousness and unconsciousness. By the time he had finally gained enough mental faculties to process the world around him, he was laying belly-up in a pile of gems and gem dust.

Spike let out a loud groan, before burping loudly. His claw reached and rubbed his belly tenderly. “Euhhh... I overate…” he moaned, closing his eyes.

A deep rumbling made the young dragon jump back up to his feet. He wobbled for a moment before stumbling back down onto all fours. “Whoah!” he cried out, unsuccessfully trying to steady himself.

“Have you had your fill, hatchling?”

Spike nearly soiled himself. His whole body went rigid, eyes wide and looking straight down at the massive hoard of gems beneath him. Slowly, his eyeballs turned upwards. “Holy moly,” he breathed at the size of the massive beast of muscle, scales and sinew towering over him.

‘My life is a monument to regret,’ Spike thought to himself. Very suddenly, he found himself acutely aware of the numerous crumbs and powdery remains of the various rubies, emeralds, topazes and other gemstones he had gorged himself on.

The sheer massive snout moved forward towards the baby dragon. The dull red scales were criss-crossed with scars from long forgotten battles. Just how could something be that big?

“I - I - I - ,” Spike began, immediately scrambling away from the other dragon. “I didn’t mean to! I didn’t know it was your hoard, I’ll replace the gems I swear!”

The fiery bronze eyes narrowed as the beast’s head moved even closer.

“P - p - please don’t hurt me!” Spike cried out. He flung his arms above and around his head, clenching his eyes tight. He waited for the inevitable crunch or swat

The deep rumbling voice broke through Spike’s “Now, why would I do that, hatchling?”

Spike tentatively opened one of his eyes, peering up at the elder dragon. After noticing the placid look on his face, he just as carefully relaxed his pose. “So...you’re not going to eat me?”

The elder dragon let out a booming chuckle, his head shaking side to side slightly. “I have no interest in cannibalism, hatchling.”

“And...you’re not mad that I ate a ton of your gems?”

“I gave them willingly.”

Spike repressed the smile wanting to tug at his lips. “So...you wouldn’t mind if I got a little peckish later and I ate some more?”

The elder dragon responded by snorting out a thick cloud of soot, completely covering Spike from head to toe.

“I take that as a no,” he said after coughing out some of the soot loudly. He gave a small shake, the black dust falling off of him, before sitting gently down onto the mountain of gems. “So...why aren’t you mad?”

“I have no reason to be angry at a piece of my own hoard,” the larger dragon huffed, before his large head drew away, the gargantuan body slithering away. Spike’s jaw had dropped in sheer awe at the size of him.

Wait...did he just say, a part of his hoard? Spike’s eyes went wide as he stood up. “W - wait...what did you mean? I’m a - a - part of your -,” he began in a shaky voice.

A powerful rumbling erupted throughout the chamber as the elder dragon’s tail lifted up, a shower of gems and gold cascading off of it, before he slammed it back down again. “You were abandoned here by your previous caretaker. By right of possession, you are now my property.”

Spike blinked a few times. “Wait...how did I…?”

The larger dragon turned and moved forward towards Spike again. “Get here? Your caretaker left you here. Through her arrogance and neglect, you had almost died the cruelest fate a dragon could face.”

Spike shook his head, trying to jog his memory. The last thing he remembered was feeling cold and falling asleep. But...how long ago was that? He slowly gripped his shoulders, hugging himself as he repressed a shiver. “T - Twilight...left me?”

“The Arcane Princess could not do with a dragon that was dead - so she left you here with me.”

Spike made an odd choking noise as he tried to process this information. Why would Twilight leave him? She had promised...she had promised never to leave him! He was her number one assistant…

The low rumbling of the other dragon’s voice pulled Spike from his thoughts. “Perhaps an explanation is in order, hatchling.”

“E - explain what?” Spike asked. He was still hugging himself tightly, starting to shiver with the cold realisation of the situation. Twilight had...left him?

“Your Twilight Sparkle neglected your health as a dragon and it nearly resulted in your death, young Spike.”

Spike hiccupped. He fell down onto the gem pile, hugging himself even tight. Wide eyes stared at his knees as he curled into a ball, tears forming and spilling as he hiccuped again. “No…” he whimpered. “I don’t believe it…”

“This is the truth, hatchling,” the dragon rumbled, before turning and slithering away deeper into his lair. “I will return for you once you have worn yourself out.”

**** ****

Spike lost track of time. He didn’t know how long he had been crying for, only knowing that his tears had tried long before his lungs had started to ache from the wailing. Half-lidded eyes regarded the chamber with a dull look. He rocked back and forth slightly, mostly out of a sense of boredom overcoming his mind.

The cave was truly cavernous in size - various tunnels and passages around what he presumed was the main chamber. Idly, his mind calculated the nett worth of the gem and gold inside this chamber alone.

“Huh,” he remarked, picking up a small emerald and examining it. This chamber alone was worth more than Canterlot Central Bank’s entire fortune. He throw the gem across, a slight pinging noise ringing through the chamber as it landed among its peers.

A loud thundering echoing deeper into one of the tunnels marked the return of the elder dragon keeping him here. He looked on impassively as the massive beast crawled and settled his gargantuan weight in a circle around Spike.

“What do you want?” Spike asked as the dragon finally settled. A snort of steam engulfing him was the response.

“It is not a matter of what I want, it is a matter of what you want.”

Spike glared - or as much as he could glare at the massive dragon staring impassively at him. “What do I want?” he huffed. “I want to know how I got here. I…” he repressed another tired sob. “I want to know why Twilight abandoned me…”

A claw extended from the dragon, its agility and nimbleness surprising Spike as it rested inches from his chest, pointing at it. “What burns in your chest, hatchling?”

Spike looked down at his scaled chest, before looking back up at the dragon, an eyebrow raised. “Huh?” he blurted out stupidly.

“Where do you think your fire comes from, Spike?” he asked, the claw inching slightly closer.

“Uhm…” He was sorely tempted to say ‘magic’ but something told him it was a stupid answer. “I...I actually never thought about it. I just use it…”

Spike thought he caught the hint of a smirk on the other dragon’s face as his claw retracted. “A wise answer.” Spike’s puzzled look prompted him to continue. “There is no shame in admitting you do not know something, so long as you strive to correct this.”

The ridge above Spike’s eye raised. “So...where does my dragon fire come from, then?”

The talon extended outwards towards his chest. “In every dragon’s chest lives a powerful ever-burning furnace, fueled by gemstones and other materials. It keeps a dragon’s blood warm and allows us to breathe fire.”

Spike frowned slightly as he mulled this information over in his mind. his own claws gripped his chin lightly as he sifted through this new piece of information. “Makes sense, actually,” he said after a while, shrugging.

The elder dragon snorted briefly before his whole body shook, sending a shower of wealth throughout the cave. He gave him an incredulous look. “You understand the core of a dragon’s anatomy through a brief description?”

The younger dragon shrugged, picking up one of the gems from the ground and eyeing it carefully. “Well, yeah. I mean, thinking back on it, it did explain the constant hunger pangs for gems and why I was snacking on them all the time. Plus, that also explains when I became...cold...and Twilight…” he trailed off, abandoning the gem as he hugged himself again.

The chamber remained still for a long while. Neither dragon moved, or showed any intention to.

Finally, the elder dragon began twisting his body left and right, sending another shower of gems and gold all around the room. Spike flung his arms up to protect against the wealth raining down on him. After a few tense seconds, the bountiful assault subsided.

Peering between clenched eyelids, he saw that the dragon had buried himself underneath his hoard, leaving only his massive head exposed and looking directly at him.

“It is good you show such intuition, young Spike,” he began, the fire-bronze eyes boring down at him. “You may yet become my most prized possession in my hoard, my most valuable asset.”

Spike’s eyes widened slightly, unable to speak as the dragon’s voice thundered around him.

“You must hope for a better future, little Spike.” The hint of a smile flashed across his maw. “For where you have been discarded by one, I will teach you.”

Spike finally found himself able to speak, albeit weakly. “T - teach me what?” he asked.

“You have been denied your heritage by your previous masters,” the dragon began, before a powerful rumbling emanated from him, causing the gems to skitter and shake around them. “I will mould you into what you are truly capable of, young Spike. Have hope, for your future is unwritten and I intend to shape it into something truly magnificent.”

The rumbling continued to intensify. It took Spike a few seconds to realise it was building up from deep inside the dragon’s throat. “But...I don’t even know what to call you…” he managed, feeling very silly immediately after saying it.

“I am Al’Mal’Gorath.” The giant’s lips parted in a wide and particularly toothy smile. “But you shall call me Al’Gorath, young Spike. Study my teachings and you will learn the worth of your dragon’s blood.”

Spike nodded numbly. Despite having all hope completely stripped from him, despite the towering pit of despair he had been left in… he felt a small glimmer of it build up in his chest.

Is it the impossible that motivates me?

Twilight stared blankly at the dragon sitting across the table from her. For a few seconds, she remained motionless with an intense frown of concentration on her face.

Suddenly she threw her hooves into the air, giving a loud and exasperated groan. “That didn’t tell me anything at all about his name! I’m just as confused as before!”

“Whoah, Twilight, calm down,” Spike said, holding his claws up defensively. He waved his wrist in a circular motion. “His name is actually just Gorath. Those extra bits at the beginning? Those are his titles, Twilight.”

The alicorn’s expression returned to a blank look. “They’re...titles?” she blankly asked.

Spike nodded. “Yeah. He only has two, but they’re very important to him.”

Twilight frowned slightly, mostly out of curiosity than anything. “What are they?” she asked.

“The first one is ‘Mal’,” he began. His claws did that same waving motion, as if they would help explain his meaning. “It’s hard to explain as there’s no direct translation - but it roughly means ‘strength’ or ‘mighty’.”

Twilight found herself leaning forward eagerly. This was information that had never been recorded in the history books, at least not in any official capacity. “So, his name roughly means…” she began, but hesitated, letting Spike finish her sentence.

“Gorath the Mighty.”

She nodded in understanding. A title like that definitely made sense for a dragon like him. “That’s still leaves ‘Al’,” she added.

Spike pointed one of his digits, not in any particular direction, though. “It’s from an old language during his youth. It apparently died out with the pony who gave him that title.”

Ancient history? Long forgotten languages? Now Spike was speaking a vocabulary she understood! She leaned even further forward, ears perked and her eyes with with an inquisitive curiosity.

“It means ‘friend’.” Spike said. The frown returned slightly on Twilight’s face. Was that a hint of sadness she detected? “He only lets very few call him Al’Gorath.”

Twilight leaned back slightly, allowing the new information to properly settle. “Oh,” was all she could really say. “That… explains why you and Princess Celestia called him Al’Gorath and Luna called him Mal’Gorath.”

Spike nodded, taking another spoonful of the soup. “Hey, this is really good,” he said, looking down at the bowl.

Twilight felt a blush creeping up to her cheeks, allowing herself to smile faintly at the compliment. “Thanks… I’ve had to learn how to do things a little better around here the past year.”

The alicorn sniffed, unsure of how tears had gotten into her eyes. She jumped slightly as a purple palm touched her shoulder. She looked up to see Spike smiling gently at her.

“Hey, I’m here now.”

The tears disappeared as she felt a warmth grow in her chest at his smile. Unable to muster the strength to reply, she just smiled back.

***** *****

After they had finished lunch, Spike had quietly excused himself and buried himself in Twilight’s library.

She had opened a public library a few months ago, delegating somepony as a proper librarian. Even so, the alicorn had kept a private collection of the rarer tomes and scrolls, more to feed her bibliophile tendencies than anything.

Twilight stood in awe at the doorway as the dragon pulled books off of the shelves, skimming through their contents before neatly discarding them into piles around him.

“...Spike?” She gently asked, scared of interrupting his zen. Before he was given to Mal’Gorath, the only type of book he would willingly touch or read were comic books. To see him so fervently sifting through and absorbing all the information…

Twilight tried repressing the cold pit of worry in her stomach. The dragon before her… was it really still Spike? A year was a long time to teach an impressionable mind.

A sob was creeping up her throat when a disgruntled noise broke her train of thought. “Yes, Twilight?” Spike asked, leaning back to peer around one of the few towers of books.

“Oh - I, er… was just…” she stammered nervously. “I was just wondering what you were looking for?”

“A book.”

Twilight blinked a few times, Spike apparently taking her silence as a satisfactory answer and resuming his hunt for whatever information he was looking for. She spluttered a few times before finally gathering her senses again.

“Wh - what book are you looking for?”

This time, without popping his head out, he replied. “An old history book. I’m looking for some stuff.”

Twilight waited a few seconds for him to elaborate. When no further answer came, she let out a slight sigh of frustration before making her way over to the dragon. His nose was buried deeply inside of one of the books, eyes darting left and right as he absorbed the texts.

“Pah!” He grunted softly, setting it on top of another growing pile.

“What… kind of stuff are you looking for, Spike?” Twilight asked. She tried to keep her voice calm and slow and hide her irritation. This was getting her nowhere slowly. Why was Spike so engrossed?

Very slowly, the dragon turned and looked at Twilight dead in the eye. “When I was with Al’Gorath he taught me a lot about magic, and more importantly the history of magic.”

Twilight’s ears perked up at this. She took an eager step forward.

This time Spike actually seemed to register her eagerness and continued. “I can’t use normal magic, Twilight. So he was able to create a hybrid of pony and dragon magic for me.”

He picked up another book, flipping it over as he skimmed the contents page before discarding it again. “A...hybrid magic?”

“Yeah, pretty cool, right?” he asked rhetorically. “And I learned some history of some really old magic, some that doesn’t exist anymore.”

Twilight found herself riveted to the spot. “But… I’ve studied almost every kind of magic out there. I’ve read about every type of spellcasting from runic to holy chants.” Her face contorted slightly in further confusion. “How can magic stop existing?”

Spike sighed softly, shifting his body around to face her properly. “Al’Gorath is old, Twilight. Like, really old. He was friends with Princess Luna when she was young.”

He paused for a few moments to let the weight of his implication sunk into the alicorn. Understanding started to dawn on her face before Spike continued. He had probably lived to see civilisations die… to see the birth of archmages and their rise and fall.

To see the first inventor of magic, and to witness the death of its last user.

“If you want to know history, why not ask those who have lived it?” Spike offered, raising one of his eye-ridges. “It’s not like we don’t know two immortal alicorns who’ve lived history.”

Twilight paused for a few moments, blinking owlishly. She had… never really thought about asking Princess Celestia about world history. She had always figured that it would be a waste of Celestia’s time.

And the last time she had pressed Celestia about something, she had been sent to Ponyville to make friends.

‘And save the world, too,’ she idly thought to herself.

The two fell into an awkward silence, Spike taking the opportunity to turn back around and continue his research. Twilight couldn’t help but simply watch him flip through pages with such zealous determination, before setting aside and taking a new book.

He had an odd sort of rhythm as he worked. Even as his pointed digits paged through swiftly, he kept a flowing gentless that showed care for the knowledge within the pages.

Twilight wasn’t sure when he had set down the last book, or when she had laid down on the crystal floor to watch him, but the exasperated yell Spike gave as he leaned back jolted her out of her stupor.

“What’s wrong, Spike?” she asked. The sudden cry had caused her to jump to her hooves, ears swiveled forward in alert.

“I can’t find anything I’m looking for!”

The alicorn gave him a blank look for a few moments. She made an odd ‘snrk’ sound while hiding the reluctant smile behind a hoof. “S - Spike… maybe you’re not looking hard enough?” she managed without giggling.

The dragon leveled a flat stare at her before getting up. Twilight frowned, her wings ruffling slightly. “Hey, you’re not going to forget about putting all these books away, are you?”

The alicorn had to hold back a grumble as Spike rolled his eyes at her. The audacity! There was proper protocol to be adhered to; rules to follow and overall just general good practices.

“Spike, I know you spent a year away from all civilisation, but I still expect you to hold a certain level of standards and etiquette when working with books and literature.

A deep rumble reverberated throughout the room. Twilight could feel the tingling crawling up her hooves through the floor as the bookshelves themselves seemed to quiver in fear of the unsettling noise.

It took her a few moments to realise that the sound was coming from Spike’s chest. Her wings unfurled slightly as she recoiled, before Spike spat out a tiny lick of flame into an open palm.

She blinked a few times before looking closer at it. It was… a small shard of gemstone. The flames dancing around it were too intense for her to determine the type of stone it was. “What are you doing, Spike?”

The dragon responded by clenching his eyes tightly, clenching his teeth seemingly in concentration. A few moments later the shard glowed more so than it was, floating upwards and hovering slightly above his palm.

Twilight could only watch in horror as the gem shard splintered into even tinier versions, the flames still very much alive and burning. In an instant, they zipped around Spike, creating an inferno that slowly swept through all of the books lying on the floor behind him.

She was half-way through casting a spell when she recognised the tell-tale signatures of arcane magic. No, it wasn’t just arcane; it took her a moment to realise that several other strands of magic were delicately interwoven into the spell. No wonder she hadn’t picked up at first.

Spike still held his eyes closed as the spell-shards simply picked up the tomes and texts, before neatly slotting them into the book shelves.

Her jaw went slack at watching the display. A small part of her brain was screaming to fetch a quill and paper - after all, she was witnessing magic she had never even thought to have existed.

The more rational parts of her brain were barely held in check by the sheer fascination of Spike’s magic - considering that they were enveloped in arcane fire.

A few minutes later, all the books were back in their respective spots unharmed. Spike breathed a sigh, offering a smile to the still-gaping alicorn. “Phew, that cost about two days.”

“Spike!” Twilight almost yelled. “What in tartarus were you thinking! Books and fire don’t mix well together!”

He gave her an incredulous, somewhat wide-eyed look of disbelief. “Relax, Twi. I had it under control.”

“Also, what do you mean by two days?”

He tapped a digit against his chest, before releasing a puff of black soot from his mouth. “That tiny gem would’ve lasted my furnace about two days.”

Instantly, Twilight’s incredulity was replaced with fear as she zipped forward, wings outstretched in alarm. “No! You can’t do that! What if it goes out again?” Her voice cracked suddenly with her worry, her face twisted with concern.

“Relax, Twi!” Spike said again, gently pushing her away. “I have it under control. I’ve eaten enough gems to last me two months at least, provided I don’t have to send any letters or burn anything.”

Twilight felt a cold pain through her chest as she looked down at the floor. It was like a needle through her heart, jabbing at the memory from exactly a year ago.

“Twilight, are you alright?” Spike asked, his voice now also filled with worry.

“I… it was all my fault, Spike,” she said, barely a whisper. “I didn’t take care of you properly and you almost died.”

She jumped slightly as she felt scaly arms enclose her. “But I didn’t, and I’m alive Twilight.”

“...Celestia doesn’t know yet.”

“Come again?”

“Celestia doesn’t know you’re back,” Twilight said. “I… I promised her I would send a letter, or visit her when I... “ she hesitated, before swallowing noisily. “When I found out what had happened to you.”

The embrace tightened. “She was like a mother to me, for a while,” Spike said softly. Twilight couldn’t see his expression but the pain in his voice was clear.

“Hey, Spike, I have an idea.”

He nodded, Twilight picking up on the motion.

“You still need to find what you’re looking for and I know that Canterlot’s library is far more extensive than what I have to offer here.” Spike remained silent, only pulling away from the hug as he kept his claws gently gripped on her shoulders. He maintained a pensive look. Swallowing, Twilight continued her train of thought. “We could visit Princess Celestia at the same time.”

Spike kept eye contact with her before nodding once.

***** *****

Twilight had to admit that the journey to Canterlot was a lot less exciting than she had anticipated. The current compartment was empty save for herself and Spike. Then again, being a Princess did afford her quite a few perks, one of which was the ability to have a first-class cabin - even if she had insisted on travelling normally.

Her friends had all offered a teary farewell, with Pinkie Pie determined on throwing an extra-extra special ‘so-glad-you-aren’t-dead-and-have-come-back’ party.

Twilight had a hard time giggling at that.

Some of the ponies had given Spike a wide berth and a wary look, but they seemed to release a collective breath when they saw him accompanying a Princess.

Twilight had opened her mouth several times in order to try and strike up conversation but had fallen short every time, instead maintaining the silence between them.

Even when the train had come to a stop at Canterlot Station, Spike kept a determined look and simply strode to his destination. The only thing stopping the guard from intervening was Twilight nervously smiling and waving them away.

Eventually, after having stopped the third group of patrol guards, Twilight took wing and landed in front of the dragon.

“Spike, what has gotten into you?” she hissed in a low voice, all too aware of the various judgemental looks being shot their way by the various nobles.

She flinched at the cold stare he leveled, before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Like a clock unwinding, his shoulders slumped as he breathed out slowly. When he opened them again, they were soft and… normal, again.

“Sorry,” he breathed, “I’m just… I just want to see the Princess really badly.”

“I do, too, Spike.” Twilight’s face was creased with worry as she slowly forgot the ponies around her. “But you’re charging in there like she’s wronged you somehow. Why do you want to see her so badly?”

He blinked a few times, before shaking his head and sighing again. “I just have a question or two I wanted to ask her.”

**** ****

By the time they had arrived at the castle proper, the entire guard were at high-alert. Guards had been posted at every corner of every corridor; and what unsettled Twilight the most was that every single one of them kept a keen eye on her and Spike.

There were still a few nobles mulling about despite the extra security although they did carry nervous looks about them, mostly aimed towards the extra security. They had barely even noticed Twilight and Spike almost marching through the halls towards the Solar Court.

Twilight wasn’t sure whether to be surprised or not when the two found the throne room empty except for its usual occupants: a few Royal Guard and Princess Celestia herself. The knowing look Celestia leveled at her told Twilight all she needed to know.

They were expected.

The guardsponies bowed as they entered, a light pink blush touching Twilight’s cheeks as she smiled nervously at them.

“My dearest Twilight Sparkle, and Spike the Dragon,” Celestia began warmly. “I’m so glad to see you two again, and in good health.” She paused, her eyebrows lowering down into the slightest of frowns. It was the type of frown that you didn’t use when angry, but rather when concerned. “Although, I must admit that you seem to be in such haste.”

Twilight couldn’t remove the nervous grin she was wearing, now feeling the sweat bead up against her fur and face. Spike never lost the determined frown on his face. Even before he took his first step forward, Twilight saw the guards shift their focus towards him.

“What’s wrong, Spike?” Celestia asked.

The young dragon glared at the alabaster alicorn for a few moments. Twilight could feel her heart beating in her throat as she resisted the urge to shuffle and prance her suddenly itchy hooves.

“How long?” he asked in a low whisper.

Celestia responded with a neutral and silent look.

“How long did you know?” he asked again, his left claw clenching tightly into a balled fist. “How long did you know about me? About Twilight?”

Princess Celestia closed her eyes and let out a measured sigh, before turning to her personal guard. “We require a moment alone, please.”

The guards responded with a salute before filing out of the room. Celestia’s magic gently closed the door, before the aura intensified for a moment. Twilight’s eyes went wide, her heartbeat quickening as she recognise several warding and shielding spells being cast around the room.

When she opened her eyes, they focused on Twilight who could only let out a tiny whimper. “Twilight, what do you remember of Spike’s hatching?”

“I...what?” she stammered, blinking a few times. Celestia simply waited with a patient look on her face. Even Spike slowly turned his attention towards Twilight. She felt very suddenly in the spotlight, except she didn’t know what she was on stage for.

Celestia made no motion to explain or repeat her question, only raising an eyebrow slightly.

Twilight’s brow wrinkled slightly as she started jogging her memory. “I… remember that after feeling like a failure -,” Celestia tittered slightly, but otherwise didn’t interrupt her, “ - the sonic rainboom startled me so much that a magic surge took hold and I hatched Spike’s egg.”

Celestia nodded knowingly. The gentle smile that followed did little to ease Twilight’s thoughts, as she felt herself take a step backwards. “That is a very good summary of the events of that day,” she said. “But what actually happened? With you?”

The lavender alicorn’s eyes darted between Celestia and Spike, both with an expectant look on her face. She swallowed noisily, managed a nervous smile.

“Please, Twilight,” Celestia insisted.

Her mouth felt very dry as she pressed her lips tight for a moment. “I...I felt like a failure that morning,” Twilight started, her voice just above a whisper. “My whole world was crumbling down, like everything I had believed in was falling apart. Wh - when the rainboom happened, I had thought it was some divine retribution to punish me for my failure and I… just lashed out. I didn’t think about what magic I casted, I just… did it.”

“Tell her, properly, Princess,” Spike firmly interjected.

“Tell me what?”

Princess Celestia let out a small sigh as she bowed her head. Her eyes were closed and Twilight could see she was facing a difficult decision. “Spike’s egg was cold and infertile and by the time of your test, was well over a century old - yet you managed to hatch it.”

It took Twilight a few seconds to puzzle out what they were trying to imply. As the realisation hit, she could only feel a cold pit empty out in the bottom of her stomach as her eyes went wide.

“Spike, by all means, was brought to life purely by your magic, Twilight Sparkle.”

“By some miracle of the arcane, you brought back the dead,” Spike added.

The marble floor very suddenly rushed upwards in Twilight’s vision as she passed out.

Author's Note

...okay, maybe not as long as I was hoping. Certainly not long enough to make up for the stupidly long waiting period from the previous chapter.

I have a few other projects (one with a ready-to-publish chapter) that's going on, and I hope to keep a rolling ball of all of them.

As always, comments/suggestions/feedback is always appreciated by us writers. And thank you for your patience.

Is it the Forbidden that Represses Me?

Twilight made a mental note to try and either see a doctor about her recent fainting problem, or at least seek some sort of professional help in dealing with it. It was becoming a recurring habit, one that she hoped to kick sooner rather than later.

She groaned slightly, the sound coming out more of a whimper than anything. Her legs felt far too weak to even attempt standing up again.

A gentle warmth wrapped around her. Twilight gave a small ‘eep!’ as she was lifted upwards slightly, before being set down on what felt like pillows.

She did not want to get up right now.

“Twilight,” Celestia’s voice said, warm and gentle as always, “You have to get up.”

With another groan, she forced her eyes open and took in her surroundings. At least they had moved her somewhere more secluded: one of the side rooms to the main audience chamber.

Spike was leaning against a corner, arms crossed as he looked around moodily. His expression immediately lightened the moment he saw Twilight was awake. “Twilight!” he said, almost leaping across the room. “You need to stop doing that!”

“I know…” she replied.

“Are you seeing someone about it?”

Twilight shot him a glare, before sighing and relaxing her shoulders. “No, but I’ve already made a note to do that.” She pushed herself off of the pillows, wavering for a moment before standing up.

Her ears flattened slightly at the sight of the burly unicorn mare adorned in royal guard armour, keeping a steady eye on both Spike and the young alicorn. So that’s why Spike was acting so grumpy.

Celestia turned to the guard, holding her head high with a slight, authoritative frown on her face. “Captain, I will require you to take an oath of silence.”

The guardspony snapped a salute. “Yes, ma’am.”

It took Twilight a few moments before she realised, but when she did her eyes went wide in surprise and a barely suppressed fear. Celestia’s horn lit up. A tiny spark of magic hovered between the two before it zipped into the tip of the guard’s horn and disappeared.

It was a magically-induced oath. The guard would never be able to speak of what happened in this room, ever.

Princess Celestia turned back to Twilight. For some reason she looked… older, as if the ages of the millennia wasere finally starting to wear on her. “Twilight, we need to talk.”

The younger alicorn wilted at her mentor’s words. Her ears splayed back as she bit her lower lip, not even realising the uneasy step she had taken backwards.

“A lot has happened these past few days, more so than you may be aware of,” Celestia continued. “Shortly before young Spike’s return, I was contacted by Al’Gorath regarding his abilities, nature and safety.”

“Safety…?” Twilight asked. Safety from what? Or... whom?

Said dragon let out a frustrated groan, getting up from his corner. “How about we just address the elephant in the room, already?”

Celestia leveled an even look at Spike for a few seconds, before finally hanging her head and sighing. “Twilight, what do you know about necromancy?”

Twilight’s brain was fast approaching a critical mass of fear at the mention of the word of ‘necromancy’. She swallowed, the sensation all too painful, as her chest started going numb. “I…” she managed as a small whimper. “It - it’s… I…”

Princess Celestia placed a hoof gently on her shoulder, giving a soft and reassuring smile. “Twilight, you are not in trouble.”

The lavender alicorn nodded meekly, swallowing again in hopes of wetting her suddenly very dry mouth. “I know… that it is the highest form of treason and forbidden by all schools of magic - and that… all known texts have been destroyed.”

Celestia maintained an even look at Twilight, but made no motion to say or do anything. In response, Twilight spluttered meekly a few times as she took a defensive step away from her.

“Twilight, you are not in trouble or danger in any way,” Celestia said. Her tone reminded Twilight so much of an old mother trying to coax who had stolen from the cookie-jar - warm and reassuring.

“...except for one.”

It came out as a hushed whisper. Almost immediately she clasped her hooves over her mouth, eyes wide and terrified of the words she had just uttered.

“Except for one.” Spike moved into view, an unreadable look on his face.

“I - I was just a filly!” Twilight burst out, now backing herself rapidly into the corner. “I didn’t even know what I was reading!” Breaths were coming in and out rapid-fire. The lack of proper air-supply only sent Twilight’s panicked brain further into a wild spin.

“Twilight, calm down!” Celestia’s voice cracked sharply; a whip focusing Twilight’s thoughts. Her breathing paused for a few very long seconds, before the purple alicorn slumped down against the corner she was leaning against.

“I’m… I’m sorry, Princess…”

“Please, Twilight,” Celestia said, her voice gentle again. “I cannot stress enough that you are not in trouble or danger in any form.”

Twilight looked up at Celestia, so desperately wanting to believe her. But… Necromancy was bad.

Of all the sins one could commit with magic, bringing back the dead was the highest above all. She didn’t even want to think about the sort of punishments she could face just knowing a piece of the old texts even exist. She might be stripped of her princesshood, or banished to the far reaches of Tartarus.

There existed no worse crime in the laws of magic than that of necromancy.

Twilight could only let out a pathetic whimper.

Celestia shuffled her wings slightly before letting out the tiniest of sighs. It was purposeful, letting her composure slip ever so slightly. “What you did during Spike’s hatching was not necromancy.”

While it didn’t alleviate her panic, the surprise and shock did allow Twilight to catch her breath and tone down her hyperventilating.

The white alicorn continued, a hint of hope noticeable in her voice. “Twilight, what you did during Spike’s hatching was something I haven’t seen for several thousand years. Something I had thought so sadly extinct.”

Twilight blinked a few times.

“Wh - what…?” Twilight managed to ask.

Celestia opened her mouth, about to say something, when Spike stepped forward. “Twilight. How old is Princess Celestia?”

Twilight had a slight indignant look on her face as she turned to Spike. “How does that have anything to do with this?” Twilight asked.

Undeterred, the teenaged dragon continued. “How much of history do you think Princess Celestia has seen?”

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but snapped it closed again quickly as a fresh memory resurfaced. He had brought up this exact same point back in her library. She elected to make a quiet “Oh…” instead.

Finally, Princess Celestia intervened as she held a wing out to cut off Spike. “I had made you my personal student for your ability to create new magic, Twilight. Like the type that had hatched Spike.”

Twilight wasn’t really sure what to feel anymore. The entire day had been a massive rollercoaster of emotions, but at least some level of relief spread through her at realising she wasn’t in trouble.

“The purity and sheer life radiating from that magic is something I haven’t seen for so many eons. You had renewed my hope of such holy magic seeing the light of day - to rediscover ancient laws of magic so long forgotten, my dear Twilight, “Celestia continued. The warmth in her voice held a definite tone of pride as well. “So please… calm down. Spike is the most unique being in existence right now.”

Twilight took a few moments to finally get her breath back under control. “H - how?” she managed to ask.

“I can’t use dragon magic, Twilight,” he answered. “Not properly, at least. I told you already -” he flashed a cheeky grin “- I use a hybrid between the two; and it’s thanks to you that I’m as awesome as I am.”

“This…” Twilight gulped, before taking a deep breath. “This is a lot to take in at once.” She allowed herself to shiver slightly. Briefly, a wave of relief started to flow through her.

“I just have one request, Twilight,” Celestia said, causing the young alicorn to lock up again in sudden apprehension. Seriously? More? After receiving no reply, Celestia continued. “I would like for you and Spike to study this phenomenon. Now that I have truly seen the results of your entrance exam all those years ago, I cannot think of a pair better equipped to research and possibly revive a magic that has been dead for thousands of years.”

Twilight made a small ‘meep’ sound as she looked up at Celestia with wide eyes. A small flicker of… something, went off in her chest. Princess Celestia was asking her to be a student again? The prospect of immersing herself in research again was tantalising to say the least, however she didn’t want to abandon her duties as the Princess of Friendship, in addition to her friends.

But… it did provide the chance to make up all that lost time with Spike. She glanced over at the drake to see him look back with a neutral expression. How much had she last in the past year? How much of her little baby brother was still there?

“Do you accept, Twilight?” Princess Celestia asked. She had a gentle smile on her face again.

Swallowing hard, Twilight nodded.

***** *****

It had been a long while since Spike last had access to the Canterlot Archives - although the last time was when Twilight was freaking out about trying to find a time travel spell.

The only result of that expedition was a severe case of paranoia, a tummy ache for a day, and a bad mane day for Twilight. So, all-in-all, about average for living with her.

Of course, it was a little different now. Now they actually had a reason - a valid one - to be here.

Watching Twilight work with books always brought a smile - even if an internal one - to Spike’s face. As a filly, she never had the chance or time to properly peruse the pool of knowledge the Canterlot Archives offered.

Books floated around the mare, re-organising them into a better reading order. Normally, Spike would have wanted to be the one doing this research, but with Celestia having made the request personally Twilight was at near fanatical levels of enthusiasm.

He couldn’t help but feel some of that energy rub off on him as well.

Twilight had commandeered the entire left wing of the Archives, even going as far as to move the shelves aside to make more room for studying. Spike silently chuckled to himself as he pulled up a chair and sat next to her.

He would have liked to help, but in a situation like this he doubted there was much he could contribute. Twilight had a plan and trying to deviate from that plan would only result in intense world-ending migraines.

“Gah!” Twilight grumbled loudly. Very suddenly, her magic flared up as several books flew into the air. She brought each one in front of her before setting it aside, examining each title with enough scrutiny to balance the royal budget.

Without saying a word, Spike stood up and went to one of the bookshelves. He slid out a thin hardcover book, the label reading ‘Magicka Myriada, The Extensive History of Magic in Equestria,’ before bringing it over and holding it in front of Twilight’s vision.

“I figured you’d be missing the eighth volume,” he said. “It’s very easy to miss seeing how small it is.”

Twilight blinked a few times, before her magic grasped the book. “Th - thank you Spike,” she said. She had a slight bashful look as she opened the book, starting to skim through the pages.

Spike wanted to be hopeful that the Archives would yield something, but a cynical little nag at the back of his mind reminded him to keep his expectations realistic. They were researching a long-dead magic, after all. They’d be lucky if they could find even a brief mention or reference, let alone any useful information.

“I found something!” Twilight squealed. Internally, Spike face-clawed as he leaned over to the now beaming alicorn. Of course she would find something so quickly.

“Well, what is it?” he asked. Even if he maintained a ‘cool-guy’ calmness, he was also very curious to know exactly what secrets there were to unlock. Al’Gorath only could only teach him so much after they had discovered how sheer volume of arcane mana had infused Spike’s soul.

On the page was a single small symbol with a caption underneath it. Spike recognised the specific stylisation of the symbol, the nature of the curves and slants. It was very similar to the one he had labeled ‘Home’ back at Twilight’s tree-castle, with only one slight extra mark underneath one of the curves.

“The Library of the Lost,” Twilight began reading out. “Often thought of as a mystical place and a mere legend, it is said that the Library of the Lost is the place where all knowledge goes to die. Very few records exist depicting the exact nature of this place, but there are some ancient religious texts mentioning its existence and that revere it in an almost god-like capacity.”

She remained silent for a few moments as she stared at the words. Spike frowned as he leaned closer to the symbol, examining it carefully.

“Hey, Spike,” Twilight said, snapping the drake out of his concentration. “Doesn’t this look like the mark you left on my table?” she asked, turning to him. Her brow was raised slightly, the curiosity evident in her voice.

“Yeah, I was just puzzling that out now,” he said. Grabbing a quill and paper, he hastily scribbled out the symbol he knew, holding the two next to each other. “Al’Gorath told me this translates to ‘Home’ - but if it’s even the same word, what would it be home to?” he asked.

Twilight turned back to the book and Spike’s drawing. “It’s slightly different, maybe it means something else?”

Spike remained silent. Another mystery, another path that needed exploring. But, at least they had a path to explore now. “We need to find out what this Library of the Lost is,” he said.

“And maybe find it, too,” Twilight continued. “I’m sure we’ll find the answers we’re looking for there.”

The purple dragon could only nod in agreement. But even then, the similarities bothered him. The symbol left an itch in the back of his brain, a craving to find its real meaning. He needed to know.

Turning away from the study desk, he strode deeper into the Royal Archives. They had a lot of reading left to do.

Author's Note

That symbol that Spike drew, representing 'home' has a LOT of meaning and will be cropping up in the future. Let's just say, that it doesn't mean what they think it means. Even if the text definition given to them is technically correct.

This took a lot longer than I wanted, but mainly because I have an unfortunate lack of editors and proof-readers at the moment.

Speaking of - Calling proof-readers and editors: I need help in editing and proof-reading future chapters of One Year Later, and for my other projects as well xD