The pegasus looked at the dragon like he had grown a second head which, though Spike hadn’t made sense to him. The three thribes had barely reunited, he was pretty sure that they weren’t aware of any of the other creatures.
Spike sighed at the mess that had happened long after his time, how had things gotten this way? The world seemed to have heading in such a good direction, what with the friendship school, the council of friendship and Twilight, his big sister at the helm. Had they failed? It was a tough question to consider. Spike had always liked cleaning, not the least because it was expected of him so he had grown to like it and the situation needed cleaning, badly. Luckily some ponies had finally stepped up for the call and he was beyond grateful to Sunny for her dedication. It warmed his heart to see how much she cared for Twilight, her friend thought if he were being honest it somewhat irked him that there wasn’t a figure of him.
Which kind of tied up to the whole reason he was there. Because something very important had been taken from him. Something, he had to admit, he treasured even if he hadn’t acted on it.
“Uh” That was all Zipp said and Spike rolled his eyes as he awaited for realisation to sink in. He didn’t expect it to happen soon, he had seen that look of jock shock in Rainbow Dash’s eyes a million times and he just about expected to…
Right on time Zipp acted as he knew she probably would.
“Nah, nah it’s cool” She didn’t try to define what cool was, like awesomeness and coolness were just intrinsic values that everyone knew. Spike knew the type and he also knew what to do. Throwing up his most sarcastic look, the one he had usually reserved for when Twilight had made mountains out of molehills and predicted doom and gloom over something as trivial as a misplaced cupcake or a slightly moved chair he just waited for Zipp to notice it and stop talking.
“Yes. Cool. So why are you here? What possible reason could one of the heroes of Equestria past have to visit? Wait am I just that awesome? Is this because I can fly better than everyone else and-“
Spike stopped her because he knew that if he didn’t she would go on and on about her many qualities. In many ways Zipp was different from Rainbow Dash, he had to admit. She didn’t crave the attention and constant need for validation probably because she had had it all her life. But the ego….the ego was still there.
Spike didn’t need to hear that. Nopony needed to have their ego stroked that much, not even him, and despite how good it felt to be recognised as a hero of Equestria the type they apparently didn’t make figurines out of (and what was the deal with that?) he liked to believe he had matured beyond letting himself get praised over and over just because it felt good. Clearly.
The old Spike would have let her continue, but then Spike had had years to mature, and being Twilight’s assistant, while thankless at times had gained him a healthy dose of self respect. Twilight had always considered his opinion just as important, if not more than that of the element bearers, and while they were still summoned for the great emergencies, and he shivered at the Mayo incident that had nearly destroyed Equestria he was the one that Twilight turned to in her day to day. Yup, though Twilight had gotten breathing techniques down to a science and though she wasn’t nearly as neurotic as she had once been throughout her life Twilight had still been Twilight and she had Twilighted a lot.
“That’s not why I’m here” He said and the serious tone in his voice was enough to stop her rambling. This was serious, she could tell, and her fantasies and ideas about why she could possibly be being visited by a savior of Equestria would have to wait. No, something was clearly wrong.
“Then…what is it? Is there trouble? Should I rally up the troops?” Part of being part of the royal family was that she could theoretically do that. Not that it had ever been needed, outside the royal guard their city had mostly been safe.There was petty crime, sure, but nothing that would require an army.
Spike laughed for the first time and that did help Zipp feel better.
“Nothing like that…just, you know those old stories? The ones with Twilight and me and our friends?”
Zipp nodded. “Of course, it’s all Sunny ever goes on about! Twilight this, Applejack that, Pinkie there!” She too rolled her eyes “Honestly it gets to be a bit much sometimes, how much she praises the…I mean you…I mean, no offense?”
Spike waved a claw. “None taken, but if you know the stories you probably about Discord…” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement and he continued before she had a chance to do more than nod. “Well when Discord first emerged from stone Twi and her friends got manipulated and separated and though I tried to bring Twilight to reason-“
“…it wasn’t until she reminded them of their elements that she activated them and you managed to trap him in stone again. Together…Don’t tell me you came here to tell me the same stories Sunny always tells” She looked at Spike’s unamused face and a very familiar squeak to Spike came out her lips. “Sorry”.
Spike made a pained face as he remembered events literally thousands of years in the past and how curt and short Twilight had been then with stress. Sure Discord had ultimately turned out to be a good guy, after reformation from Fluttershy but he sure had been scary at first.
“Right, well during that whole debacle I was named the new Rainbow Dash.” He waited for realisation to sink in and when it didn’t he repeated it. “I was named the new Rainbow Dash.”
Finally she got it.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. Look I’m not mad or anything, I turned out pretty good myself” He beamed, and flexed his muscles and his not so tiny wings anymore “And I did accomplish a lot of good.” She nodded as he continued. “And it’s not like I’m that relevant anymore what with being dead and all.”
“I meant to ask that, how are we talking exactly? Are you a zombie? Should I be concerned?” She shook her head, careful her mane didn’t get messed in what was quite a Rarity like fashion. “You’re not going to eat my brains right?”
“Not unless you’ve got any rainbow mouth cookies” He looked at her blank stare, so not all friendship lessons had been preserved. “Don’t worry about it, really. The point is…” He paused to think about what he was going to say. “Look years ago I’d probably be a bit upset that you were replacing me, the replacement, but right now all I have is a few words of advice. Because to you Rainbow Dash is just a figure with a pretty awesome mane who was good at flying but for me she was a friend. And something Rainbow Dash did…something you should do as the new Rainbow Dash, is to never abandon your friends.”
“Didn’t she like pretend to be injured because she couldn’t choose between victory and her friends?”
Spike nodded. “She always came back in the end though. She never left her friends hanging. Look there’s probably things about your friends that you don’t like, right? Or your sister? Things that annoy you?”
“Yeah, truth be told sometimes Izzy is a bit much, and what’s with Hitch placing all his value on being sheriff? Seems a bit weird not going to lie, and my sister? Why does she have to Broadcast our entire lives to the world? Like hello have you heard of privacy sis?”
Spike let her ramble on for a bit. It was actually quite nostalgic, if he was being honest.
“The point is, despite all that they’re still your friends and family and you still care about them, right? Rainbow could wear your ears out complaining when something didn’t make sense or when Rarity was being a diva, but they were still friends.”
“But I’m a lone wolf! A solitary star! I like my silence sometimes.”
“And that’s fine. Nocreature is saying that you have to be attached at the hips at all times, or that you don’t get time for yourself. One of my friends, Rarity, she often took weeks for herself on personal projects and you can bet we didn’t see much of Applejack’s tail come harvesting season or Twilight when she had a lecture to prepare. “He rolled her eyes, it had been an all too familiar thing to happen. “But in the end despite their diferences, despite their annoyances, despite it all they were still friends. And friendship….well friendship is magic. But more than the power it’s about the good it can bring it-“
“…you sound like Sunny” Zipp pointed out, flatly. Spike smiled. “Really? I rather thought I sounded more like Twilight” They shared a laugh at that. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Time for myself is fine, and I don’t have to agree with everything my friends do or say and we can still be friends. Did I get that right?”
“Pretty much. Look, obviously you’re not one to one Rainbow Dash, but if you keep those things in mind I think you’re going to be just fine.” He put a claw to her shoulder, reassuring her that things would be fine. “And just between you and me? I think that y-“
“Oh MY GOSH! EVERYPONY! You won’t believe who just showed up here! SCORE! I hope you’re watching this stream because this is mind blowing! It’s-“
Spike shut up, adjusted himself and gave Zipp an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I should probably deal with that.” He said.
Spike hummed to himself. He was glad that some things were in the past, his Cloudsdale anthem for exemple was one he was glad there was no record of but some of the things that had been kept through the ages, stuff like his friend’s actions and the value of friendship had been kept. He was glad for it too, some things were, after all worth remembering.
Author's Note
It's been years since I've written a pony story, but what can I say? I watched the movie and was inspired. Please leave your thoughts and comments below as I would love to hear them :)
