Not The First

I woke up and stretched. "Good morning, Spike!"

As always, he said nothing. He'd become quite quiet since dropping in on my little campsite. Of course, that was only natural, what with having to know you were a dying remnant cast aside by a malevolent universe. But I digress.

I could tell what he was thinking. We were like brother and sister, best friends, two peas in the same... whatever that thing is that peas grow in.

"You're right, Spike. I should do something today. But what?"

I looked around at the various attempts I'd made at survival. A slowly diminishing stack of sandwiches, courtesy of my Number One Assistant. A brand new water purifier, that was barely holding together over a tiny flame. Said flame fed by splinters of wood from the bindle stick plus a few hairs and bone bits and dried organs. A waste pile, for- well, waste. Oh, and Sparkle. She was there too. She was different from the other mes because I'd used bone splinters to pin a smile on her face. Pinkie would be proud!

What was there left to do?

"I know!" I plucked up Spike and hugged him. He was a little cold, but he was a reptile. Right? Dragons are reptiles? Right? "I need to remake my weapons! Stronger, sharper. C'mon, Spike; let's hop to it!"

I couldn't move very fast anymore. My legs were getting weaker. My stomach was bulging out, like I was retaining water. Or pregnant. Both were impossible of course. I kept thinking there was something I was forgetting, something important about the way my body was changing, but I couldn't figure it out. And Spike wouldn't tell me.

I wondered if he was doing okay. Between the non-speaking and the fact that I never saw him eat or drink, I was a tad worried. I figured that he was eating flesh while I was asleep, so that way I wouldn't be uncomfortable with him eating, well, me. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'd been eating me, too.

Heh. That sounds kind of wrong.

But I was still worried, because Spike wasn't looking too good. He was kind of pale, and some of his scales were falling out. He seemed kind of thin. I even saw a tooth drop out, though his foot quickly covered it.

Anyway. What was I doing?

Oh right.

I still had my hammer. Though it had a big crack in it. I decided to make another one.

I also still had plenty of knives, but I thought I could use a couple more. One can never have too many knives.

Ooh, a me with a complete spine! I could make a whip...

The axe. Hatchet. Whatever. That was the most important thing. Once the sandwiches ran out, it'd be back to flesh rations. I'd have to tell Spike eventually, I guess. However it went down, I'd need the hatchet. I needed a way to chop apart the bodies.

A few hours of sweaty work later, I had some passable new tools. Spike had stayed by my side the whole time, like a good dragon. I'd told him some stories I was sure he'd never heard before. Mostly because I was making them up as I went along. Like the story about time breaking and this ugly bipedal creature with a wrinkly head and no eyes helping the hero to fix it. Or a story about Fluttershy taming a manticore in the Everfree Forest. What a silly idea!

Wait, no, that one actually happened. I think. Did it happen? I feel like it did. It was getting hard to remember my old life.

One thing I remembered: my tools weren't just for meat-food. I had a target. A goal. A victim.

Princess was coming. I could feel the truth of that in my bones. And when she got here, I'd be waiting.

I smiled. "Won't this be fun, Spike?"

The smile on his face never moved a muscle.