Spike found himself running faster than he ever thought possible. His stubby legs carried him over these empty streets, their rhythm mirroring the rapid thumping of his heart. Each thud against the earth felt like a drumbeat heralding a revelation that echoed in his mind. Twilight Sparkle. The very name sent shivers down his spine and ignited a flicker of hope in his chest.

Memories flooded his thoughts of scenes he never thought he would relive ever again. Library evenings were filled with the rustling of pages, and the gentle guidance of her voice as she droned on about friendship and magic. So much silence may have passed, but those cherished moments remained crystal clear, bonded eternally in his heart. Could she still be out there? The thought was both thrilling and terrifying.

He didn't speak a single word, instead, his mouth simply dribbled out random syllables into the void, begging for answers that eluded him. What if she had returned, broken the veil that separated their worlds? What if she could finally clear the mysteries shrouding their collective disappearance?

Every step he took reverberated with unanswered questions, a cacophony of confusion and longing that thundered in his mind. Why did they leave? Why did she run away? Why was he left to navigate the labyrinthine streets alone? Each query clawed at his consciousness, a relentless pursuit of clarity that felt more elusive with every heartbeat.

As he wandered through the empty streets, the vacant buildings around him loomed like sentinels of a forgotten era and melted into the encroaching shadows. The world he had once known now felt foreign, a ghost town haunted by memories. It was as if the very fabric of reality had unraveled, leaving only hollow echoes where joy once resided.

As he forged ahead, muscles straining and breath coming in and out in sharp bursts, Spike pushed through the confusion engulfing him. Twilight Sparkle, with her endless knowledge, could illuminate the dark corners of his mind. Hope danced like fire in his chest, fueling his determination as he dashed through the winding paths of Ponyville. Went on for hours without stopping, his eyes focused and sharp, his ears tuned to the slightest sound. He searched for Twilight and her voice. He wanted to hear it again, the confirmation, narrow the direction. His mouth was dry and his body was starting to hurt from the exertion, but he couldn't stop.

His search was becoming desperate. Spike didn't dare stop for fear the voice would never be heard again. No, that couldn't happen. If it faded away for good his will might just crumble beneath the weight of the hopelessness. He had to keep going. He had to find a way out of this horrible nightmare.

"Twilight, answer me!!" His voice cried out, his throat starting to ache. He had to find her. This had to be more than just a figment of his imagination. It had to be real. He desperately needed it to be real. The thought of this being just another delusion was too painful to imagine. "Please Twilight, speak to me!" He called out, his voice hoarse and raspy. "Where are you?! Why can't I find you?!"

Spike fought against that silence, a relentless tide of emotion surging through him. He kicked and screamed, his voice raw with the desperation of loneliness and a profound yearning. Each cry was a testament to his undying hope. And the lack of a reply was the coldest mockery ever to happen this whole week.

His legs began to falter. The fitful energy that had propelled him forward ebbed off, leaving him vulnerable. With the bitter realization that the world would stay silent, his despair sank in as the ground beneath him betrayed him. He tripped over an unseen, spinning the world around in his gaze.

The impact was jarring. The earth met his body with bloody ferocity, causing scales to shred from his skin. The pain surged through him as all his mentality turned physical. The wounds on his body mirrored those on his heart. A vivid loud tapestry of crimson agony echoed out of his mouth, against the backdrop of all this silence.

Shaking and shivering, screaming out like an infant abandoned on the road. All he could do was lay there, mixing all his physical and emotional pain. Echoing over in all directions, bouncing off of empty buildings, barren paths, and lone streets, crashing back into his frills. All of it left him gasping for breath, a fierce storm of hopes crackled in a thunderous horror of failure.

As he lay defeated on the cold ground, a world once vibrant and beautiful dissolved into a sea of hopelessness that he thought he could swim out of. This was a lie, a straight-up utter denial of the cold and heartless truth, leaving him grappling with the profound isolation at had been at the edge of his spine for so long.

The relentless pain coursing through him was not merely physical. It was a crushing emotional weight that made every breath a struggle, every heartbeat pushing away all those good memories. The absence of Twilight and their close-knit group was palpable, an aching void pressing heavily upon his chest. It all suffocated the flicker of joy that once resided there.

A gallery of familiar voices that each represented a piece of the colorful tapestry he called friendship. Twilight’s voice held the weight of wisdom, her deadpan knowledge cutting through the noise with clarity. Rarity’s open generosity was marked by her graceful charm. Applejack’s bare-to-the-bone honesty served as a reminder of integrity and strength. Rainbow Dash’s loyal pride sang of courage against even the most terrifying monster. Fluttershy’s soft, kind tones soothed the soul even in the blackest night. And Pinkie Pie’s laughter cut through all doubt and sorrow no matter the deepest pit one found oneself in.

The crying faded into plain tears streaming down Spike’s cheeks were a mix of sorrow, dirt, and the blood of his torn scales, symbols of the battles of denial he fought inside himself. Each expectation to hear the voice of Twilight Sparkle, her hoofsteps echo toward him, and picking him up was gone. The world was silent and dead. It was a cold hard truth that had been staring at him from the moment he had awoken in this hell.

He tried to find the truth, but there was no truth. He tried to deny it, but there was no point in denying it now. He tried to fight this cold reality, desperate to never cave against the urge of utter depression. However, the silence was a cruel and hateful beast. The world was empty, a lifeless shell of what it once was. There was nothing here for him, no comfort or safety, only a bleak and endless expanse of loneliness. He spent days trying to claim any possible truth, but even his assumption of their hatred.

There was no hope, and not even their hatred could comfort him. All the emotions and feelings were draining from him, leaving him a broken husk, a shattered dream that could never be whole again. His last grasp of sanity was fading fast, and there was no way to stop it.

All he could do now was... accept it. He was alone and always would be. There was no point to continue his existence in the world of denial. He couldn't escape, and he didn't want to anymore. Nothing was there to run to, or from. It was time to just give up and let it all pass him by.

However, he wasn't alone, never was alone at all. The monster that had stolen everything from him was always there just out of sight. It was watching him the entire time with confusion and curious interest. He couldn't feel its presence, a constant shadow hanging over his shoulder, but never cast into his sight.

Instead, it kept watching, wondering just what his next move would be. It opened its mouth again. "Spike...Please wake up..." The whispers of Twilight echoed from the bowls of its stomach. The meaning of these words escaped the monster, but did bring reactions from the dragon previously.

This time the dragon heard the sound again but didn't dare turn toward it. He kept looking upward, firmly claiming his imagination and doubt would no longer consume him. The beast knew otherwise. This source could never be her as Twilight had been dead for days now. She had long decayed in the creature's digestive tract.

This curious voice echoing from its stomach started happening yesterday when the beast nearly devoured Spike whole. It was the only thing that unknowingly saved Spike's life. The creature was unsure just how her voice escaped its prison, nor did it seem to have much control of it yet, unlike the other processes that have been at play since the dragon woke up.

It had killed so many since arriving in this dimension. Shattered the Elements and that accursed Tree to dust long ago. Bent the winds to an utter standstill, left the Sun and Moon turning as the only unphased piece of reality. But to manipulate another’s voice, to twist it and bend it to its malign purpose? Was that even possible yet?

Could it be that after wandering for so long, was the beast finally evolving? The notion sent shivers down the many pelts over its frills. Each resonated with distorted whispers of long-dead souls. The creature couldn't deny it anymore. The dragon's presence was beginning to stir something deep inside its twisted insanity. An emotion, buried and locked away, hidden behind the eon of isolation and murder. A primal instinct that once belonged to the beast's mortal form, and was lost after the endless consumption.

The cracking of its neck stopped. Its mouth opened and a mixture of millions of voices whispered out. "You... are... a very... curious... dragon!! Do... I... Know... you?"

******

Author's Note

Yeah, I am cruel. Just a classic trick of the mind, not really. Now his desire for their return has shattered completely, and he can move forward. Spike's depression arc is over. The next chapter is the season two finale and with it comes the biggest surprise yet.