//-------------------------------------------------------//
                    The Way Things Were                    
                   -by Simply Midnight-                    
//-------------------------------------------------------//
//-------------------------------------------------------//
                   Secrets of the Trade                    
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Secrets of the Trade
This had to be the place...
Why did Twilight think that? Well, did there have to be a reason? She'd checked every other cave in the area, and none of them were home to Spike. So, she did the next best thing she could thing of. Look at the others.
After a while, and several more hours of trying to find him, Twilight finally stopped to rest. She remembered the good times, back when Spike was still there. Maybe, once she found him, those times could come back.
But he's been missing for almost 150 years, one part of her insisted. Who knows if he's the same Spike as before?
Twilight shook away her own doubts. No, she told herself. There's no way that could happen. No matter what, he's still the same Spike. She got up to continue her journey.
Over 150 years ago, Spike disappeared. Just like that. He just left, without any reason. There had been no sign. He didn't leave behind any letter that could give a clue as to where he was going or why, just a simple piece of parchment paper with two words scrawled on it with his messy claw-writing.
I'm sorry
That was all the letter had stated. It didn't show any reason, any cause, just that he was sorry.
Sorry for what was the question.
After that day many say that the great, esteemed Princess Twilight Sparkle had gone crazy. She'd ordered search party after search party to go look for him, and when they'd all failed and all but given up on finding him, the princess had declared it her own mission to look for the dragon she had once considered her best friend. And she would not rest until she found him, even if it killed her.
Twilight focused up her attention to the large cave in front of her. She took a deep breath, and knocked on the side of the cave. A large female dragon, with pink scales and purple spikes, came to the door. She looked around, puzzled to find no one, and then looked down at Twilight. Her eyes widened. The dragons mouth dropped, then she closed it again and shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. She gave the young alicorn a smile that could only be described as fake. She swallowed hard. "C-can I help you?" her voice was shaky, and her smile unnaturally wide.
Now, going to several dragon homes over the last century and a half, Twilight had encountered many reactions from different types of dragons. Some had been arrogant and rude, while other's had been a bit more helpful, telling the alicorn that Spike was not there but pointing her in the direction of where to find him.
But never once had Twilight encountered a dragon with this type of reaction to seeing a pony at their door. She had been literally kicked out of homes, she had been met with angry yells, but the expression of this dragon was clear in her eyes. Fear.
Twilight didn't get it. Why would a dragon, a huge, scary dragon, be scared of Twilight? A mere pony? Twilight decided not to think about it too much. "Um, yes, do you know if Spike the Dragons lives here?" Twilight craned her neck to try to see inside. She saw a large pile of jewels, and a small nest with three eggs, but nothing else much.
The large dragon nodded. "Y-yes, he does," it might have been her imagination, but Twilight could swear the dragoness was positioning herself between Twilight and the eggs so she couldn't see them. "My name is Thorne, by the way." She continued. "Spike!" she called, her voice wavering. "There's a nice pony here to see you!"
Twilight heard stomping. Loud stomping. She felt the ground shake under her. Four large purple feet appeared in front of her. She had to crane her neck to see his face. The dragon looked down. Their eyes met.
"Spike?" Twilight said. It was more of a whisper. He had grown so much. He was just as big as the other dragons she'd seen. But he was still here. He was still Spike.
"Twilight?" he said at the same time. The world seemed to be crumbling around him. He'd spent so long trying to stay away from ponies, and he thought it'd been going so well. Now she was here. He felt sick.
They stayed that way for a while, just staring at each other. Thorne took a hint and left the two outside of the cave, giving them some space.
Twilight swallowed. "You've changed." she said, referring to his larger form.
"You have too," Spike said. It was true. Twilight was much taller now, almost as tall as Princess Cadance. Her mane had gotten longer and wavier, and her horn had gotten much sharper.
"Why did you leave?" Twilight asked. She felt like she might cry.
Spike sighed. "Twilight, you have to understand that my reason for leaving were beyond your control. I was a dragon. You were ponies. There was no way I could have stayed there. The earlier I left the better."
"That's not why you left. It never bothered you before. Why would you just one day decide that ponies weren't the place for you? There has to be something else."
Spike chuckled softly. "You know me all too well, don't you, Twi?" he shook his head. "There is something more." he turned his head towards the pony that raised him. "Have you ever where I came from, Twilight?"
Twilight nodded. "Well, yeah. Several times. Remember when I decided to put together that whole research paper on where you came from? I wasn't really able to find anything, though..."
"Did you ever wonder why?"
"Well, yeah, I guess, but all the information was confidential."
Spike nodded sadly. "That's because the government kept it hidden." Spike took a deep breath. "I was stolen."
Twilight blinked. "Stolen? What do you mean?"
"Just that," Spike said. "Ponies would come to the Dragon Lands and negotiate with mothers who had eggs. They would offer her gems, or anything else. If the mother refused, which the mother often did, then they would kill her. They killed my mother, Twilight. They killed her." Spike's voice was shaky, and he had pulled his face down so he could be at eye-level with her. "And when they had little fillies and colts hatch me, did they care whether I was ready or not? No! Of course they didn't! That's why I don't have wings. When you hatched me, I was premature. My wings hadn't developed yet. Do you know how hard it was to find a mate without wings? Without wings, you can't hunt, you can't migrate, you can't do any of the things you need to do that make you a dragon."
Spike paused to take a breath. Hot tears were building in his eyes. Twilight remained silent, urging him to continue. Despite everything, Spike smiled a sad smile. "And then I met Thorne. She loved me for who I was. She understood because she had come from the same place I had. Her mother was killed, and all of her siblings had been taken by the ponies. But she had somehow managed to get away."
Spike heaved a huge sigh. "I won't lie to you, Twi. Life here is hard. Since I can't fly, Thorne has to hunt and I have to stay home. We can't migrate, so we have to stay here where the weather is the same all year. But you know what? I wouldn't trade what I have here for anything in the world. I have Thorne, a home, and three eggs soon to be hatched to carry our legacy." He turned to the mare. "So that's why I left. Because once I found out what the ponies had done to me, all that they'd taken away, I couldn't stay. I couldn't live among those who had killed my mother and several others."
Twilight's eyes widened. That's why Thorne was blocking my view of the eggs... she realized. So I couldn't take them from her. "Spike, I'm sorry. You know I am. But you have to understand, when you left, we were all worried sick. We thought that something happened to you, or that we had done something to upset you. I literally dropped everything to see if you were okay. I went crazy, Spike. You should've seen the tabloids. Every single one of them talked about my trauma, and how it made me "unfit to rule" and how my title should've been stripped from me. But I didn't care, Spike. I kept searching. One piece of paper with the words I'm sorry just doesn't tell me if your safe."
"Why did it matter to you if I was safe or not, Twilight?" Spike asked coldly.
Twilight was taken aback. "What do you mean? Of course it mattered! You were my best friend, Spike. More than that. I had raised you. I had hatched you with my own magic. You were like a son to me."
"You were never my mother, Twilight." Spike spat. "My mother was taken from me, killed by your own kind!" He took couple deep breaths to calm himself. "Why are you here, Twilight?" his voice was calmer now, but it dripped with sadness. "Why didn't you give up on finding me like everyone else? Did you never think that I wanted to leave? That I had no place with ponies?" Spike hung his head low, silent, hot tears dripping from his face.
"Because you were all I had left..." Twilight said softly. Spike turned his head in confusion. "150 years, Spike. I'm immortal, and your life span is ridiculously long compared to ponies. You still have thousands of years in front of you. And me, well, I have infinite. My point is our friends didn't have that. They're all long gone. They all lived hearty, happy, and long lives, but not long enough. Everyone I knew, almost everyone I grew up with, they're all gone. I thought, if you were here, I wouldn't be so alone anymore."
"But at least you were among your own kind!" Spike exclaimed. "You will make more friends, Twilight. Those of your own species. If I stayed in Equestria, I wouldn't get that privilege." he shook his head. "Ponies really are so selfish. Garble was right. I never had any place with you."
Tears welled up in Twilight's eyes. "Spike, what are you doing? This isn't you. This isn't the Spike I knew."
"The Spike you knew is gone," Spike growled. "He is no longer a pony. He is a dragon. He is with his own kind now. You came here to know if I was safe? Well, I'm safe. You can leave now."
"But Spike-"
"But nothing, Twilight. There's nothing more to talk about. I think you should leave."
Tears spilled down Twilight's cheeks as she struggled for something to say. Spike felt a lump in his throat. He looked away.
Spike sighed. "What do you want, Twilight?" Spike asked. "Why are you still here? I thought I told you to leave."
"Spike, just come home once. Please. Just so everyone knows you're safe. Princess Celestia, Cadence, they'd all be thrilled to see you again."
"Princess Celestia is the reason this whole thing happened!" Spike roared. "She knew everything! She knew the ponies had killed my mother and so many others! She knew why I didn't have wings! She just didn't care!"
"Spike, please. I understand if you don't want to come back. That's reasonable. But please, just once. I've spent so long looking for you- 150 years! Do you know how long that is by mortal terms? I haven't seen anyone from Equestria in years! Just once. Please. For me." tears streamed down Twilight's face. "Spike... You mean so much to me. You're my first and best friend. You're my number one assistant. You're like my brother; some would even say you're the son I never had. I love you, Spike."
Those three words rung in Spike's mind. He marveled at them. Such small words, just sounds, and yet they meant so much. He considered the implications of the statement.
And then something inside him snapped.
"You never loved me..." Spike whispered. If you did love me like you said you did, then you would have tried harder to help me find where I came from! You told me that I belonged with ponies! Well guess what, Twilight, I don't! I never did and I never will! Because when I'd said I was sorry in my letter, I wasn't sorry for leaving, I was sorry for ever trusting you in the first place!" his voice had gone from a whisper to a roar, and he was seeing red.
He blew his fire breath at the air, not even caring about aim and precision that he had been taught. His flame, while still green, was now a lot larger and much, much hotter. The flame barely missed Twilight, and she flew out of the way to dodge the fire.
And then suddenly Twilight felt nothing in the world but pain. Pain seeped into all parts of her body. Excruciating, painful, pain.
She remembered falling. Falling down the cliff where Spike's cave was located. Flapping her wing hurt, and she couldn't take much more pain at this moment. She teleported and managed to land on the other side of the cave. She turned around to look at herself and her eyes widened in horror: half of her wing and been burned clean off. Parts of her mane were charred, and parts of her left cheek were burned as well, though not as severely. She winced as she tried to pluck off some of the charred and misplaced feathers, but it did little to soothe her pain.
On the other side of the cave, Spike sat completely oblivious to the fact that Twilight was on the other side of the cliff, just a couple meters behind him. He didn't know where Twilight went. But he saw her teleport out, so she must be somewhere safe. Then suddenly, he heard cries coming from behind the cave. Slowly, he stalked to the other side, to see Twilight in horrible shape. A pit of dread filled his stomach as he realized that this was his doing. Twilight finally noticed the large dragon and looked up at him.
"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time. Spike was taken aback. "Why are you apologizing?"
"I'm sorry for coming back. I'm sorry that I tried to make you come home. I'm sorry that I made you upset. I'm sorry that I came here and didn't leave you be."
She looked up at him, smiling a sad smile. Her eyes were filled with sorrow, regret, and pain. "Because no matter what you may feel, Spike, I do love you with all my heart. You're accusations towards me are justified, but that doesn't mean that I don't love you with every ounce of love this broken heart can give." she motioned for Spike to bring his head lower, and he obliged. Twilight looked him in the eye. "Because I will always love you. And when I leave here today, I want you to know that you will always have a home in Equestria. You will always be welcomed." She managed to stand up, and lit her horn. "But can I ask you of one favor?"
Spike nodded. "Anything. Anything you want, just name it." his throat was dry.
"Never forget who you are. Never forget where you came from, the ponies who raised you. Never forget that there will always be a part of Equestria still in you." She kissed him on the nose. "Never forget me."
There was a flash of light, and then she was gone. Spike looked down. He saw the feathers Twilight had attempted to pluck. Several of them were charred, but there were a few still intact. He clutched them gently to his chest and moved farther. He saw her saddlebag just a couple feet ahead. He opened it up to see what was inside. There were things you would expect to find in a travelers bag, like food and water and extra layers. But there was one thing out of the ordinary. A small, wooden chest. Claws shaking, he opened it. He found a scroll with the Canterlot crest on it. It was things that had sentimental value, like Smarty Pants and her acceptance letter from Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and a picture of her and her friends, including young Spike. And something else. A small piece of parchment paper that looked like it had been folded over and over, and it had been cried on. He gently opened it, and had to struggle to read the writing on it. When he finally could make the words out, his heart ached. He read the words over and over again.
I'm sorry.
It was the letter from when he'd left Equestria. The world seemed to be spinning. Clutching the saddlebag, the chest, and the feathers in his claw, he stormed back into the cave.
Thorne saw him walk in. "Did she leave?" she asked.
"Mmmhmm.." was his only response. He found a wall in the cave, picked up a diamond from the pile of jewels, and began chipping at the stone wall until a piece of rock fell out. He stored all the things belonging to Twilight in the hole and put the rock back in. He stood back, pleased that he'd been able to find a place to store those forever.
"Spike!" Thorne cried excitedly. "Look!" Spike turned to the nest, where Thorne was pointing.
The eggs, Spike thought. They're hatching!
A while later, two male dragons were born. One with orange scales and red spikes that they'd named Blaze, and the other, a young dragon the silvery color of soot that they'd named Ash. While both of his young dragons were beautiful and healthy, wings and all, there was still one egg, bright purple, left in the nest. Spike was worried. What if it didn't hatch? Almost reading his mind, Thorne placed a claw on his shoulder. "It'll be alright, don't worry. The egg will hatch, you'll see."
And hatch it did. Three days later, a young, healthy dragoness had hatched. She was perfectly healthy, if not a bit small for her size.
"What do you want to name her?" Thorne asked, placing the child in her mate's arms. Spike pondered this question. Ember? he thought. It was a pretty name, and it would fit the theme of the other two kids, but it didn't really fit her coloring. Amethyst? It wasn't uncommon for dragons to be named after jewels, and she did have the coloring for it...
But the name for the dragons seemed clear as day when the young dragoness opened her eyes. Her vibrant, bright, purple eyes. They were eyes that Spike remembered seeing everyday for a main part of his life growing up. They were the eyes of a mother figure, sister, and best friend. They were the first eyes he saw when he was born, for a long time, every day since then.
Thorne slowly walked up behind him. "Do you have a name?" she whispered.
"Yeah," Spike said softly, wiping away tears. He hadn't realized he'd been crying. "I do."
He whispered the name, but it felt like a shout. Because while that name may have been just one word to the world, to him, it was the world. He said it under his breath, like a soft lullaby, or bluebirds song. Because the second this dragoness was born, Spike knew what to name her. The name of someone who had once meant so much to him, the name of someone who had loved him, who taught him what it felt like to be loved.
"Twilight..."