Cadence lifted an eyebrow in confusion of the dragon’s choice, before her muzzle twisted in a frown as she spoke; her tone holding barely contained irritation.

“After all the augments within yourself and to others you chose the mare who you love the least, a mare who would have given anything to be in your arms and to raise your child, and yet you do not love her, at least in no romantic sense, that much is true…so why her, Spike?” She questioned with a narrow of her eyes as he sighed loudly.

“I’m so sick and tired of playing this game, I have a...well from what Discord has shown me from Death himself, a son to raise, I love Pinkie Pie, I always will and she’ll always hold a special place in my heart, but for me to just mindlessly ignore my child….my flesh and blood that has ramifications I will never be able to forgive of myself, ever” he spat with a tone of malice for himself as Discord only scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“And this is why I’m glad we can’t have irritating brats with mortals, eh, Cadence? Anyway, it’s of no use trying to convince him to go after the suicidal mare, his mind is made up it seems, how shallow.” He laughed with a small amount of mirth forcing Spike to turn towards the Draconequus and growl with a small amount of green embers spewing from his mouth.

“Says a careless, mindless God who eradicates everything in his path, buck you Discord!” the reptile spoke coldly as the spirit only chuckled while summoning another portrait of Twilight, swaying the image of her in his eagle talon before closing it firmly, evaporating it from sight with a small sigh.

“You would say such words with little knowledge of immortals, drake. Tell me though, have you ever given serious thought as to what will happen when both the unicorn and earth pony pass from this life? I hear Death is not very….forgiving of those trying to force their way into his realm, if that is your attempt of direction, Scales.” He laughed harshly as Spike closed his eyes, curling his claws in rage as the God had seem to already know of Spike’s plan to bargain with Death…not a very wise one in hindsight.

“Maybe not, but I have to try, I can’t give up on them...I just can’t. Weather you aid me or not is of no concern, monster!” he answered as Discord only gave him a dark grin.

“Enough, you two, Discord you have proven your use, now leave, I will not tolerate you being in my domain without permission any longer.” Cadence spoke coldly glaring at the God who winked at her with his right eye before snapping his tail and forming Rarity’s couch once more into existence before laying comfortably on it with a yawn.

“Yet my presence seems to be very much needed, Goddess of Love. I can see it in your eyes that you need a male in your bed, must be so lonely going to bed at night and having sleepless dreams without the warmth of another near your body, eh?” He chuckled softly making the Alicorn growl at him, her eyes glowing pure pink in outrage.

Before she could unleash her fury on him however, Spike still needed a question answered and he would not allow a small dispute to deny him of it.

“Wait, before you two fight, which I have no doubt you will before throwing yourselves into bed it seems,” Spike ignored Cadence’s snort of anger and Discord blowing a kiss to her with a wink “Tell me Discord…what will happen if I chose Twilight?” He whispered slowly making the mix matched animal put an eagle talon to his chin and stroke his beard which detached before he caused it to burst into orange flame and ashes before it had immediately reassembled back into its original shape.

“What do you think, Spike? The two of you shall have a happy ending, well…as happy as you could have when the prize is nothing more than a sniveling brat and an unhappy mare that will never be loved by you but hey…two out of three is not bad, eh?” He answered making Spike grit his fangs at the casual, boring tone of the God before him who had for some reason put ice skates onto the ends of the couch and was skating effortlessly on the ceiling.

“Life’s not a BUCKING fairy tale, Discord I know what I’m doing is only for my child but that does not mean that something bad won’t happen to her because of my choice right?” he asked to Discord who merely stretched and yawned loudly.

“No use showing you the future if you have already anticipated the answer now, hey reptile? The two of you will never get married, never fall in love and shall only be together for the kid, sounds pretty basic, Twilight won’t be suicidal, I promise you that, but she will eventually fall for one who will take her heart since you keep ignoring her, I forgot who though and frankly don’t care but she’ll die a mortal death, for what it’s worth, free of guilt or regret well except that small detail of falling head over tail for you but that problem corrects itself, eh?” He replied calmly with a roll of his eyes, transforming the couch into a griffin, a familiar one Spike realized as he noticed that Discord was riding an unconscious Gilda, using his own wings to keep the two afloat.

“So…no real bad consequences to my choice then?” he wondered as Discord only scowled and switched Gilda for a cane, top hat and monocle.

“No good sir, I’m afraid not, well at least none that Death has revealed to me anyway. Pick either mare and apparently you get a ‘happy’ ending, each with their own dark paths, life’s funny that way, don’t you agree? Of course as I said before, speak words that can alter their paths and you may be able to prevent both from meeting such…gruesome ends, so chose your words carefully, drake.” He chuckled emotionlessly, clicking his tongue which made an enormous sundial watch appear over his lion paw and made him drop to the ground but he seemed unfazed or hurt from the drop.

“Wait, please I just have-”

“And we are out of time, thank you Spike the dragon for playing ‘Pathetic mortal lives!’ Tune in next time and you could have a chance to win immortality, tell him what he’s won, Jerry.” Discord yelled into the air as cheerful music blasted from all corners of the room and a loud, obnoxious voice answered back with forced cheer.

“Spike the dragon has won the honor of being thrown painfully back into his physical body and has been denied access to call upon the God of Chaos and Disharmony for the remainder of his life time, congratulations, Crystal Savior and thank you for playing, brought to you by Diseased Stallion cigarettes, smoke ‘em while you got ‘em!.” The voice boomed back with humor as Spike’s eyes widened in panic.

“WAIT-” he screamed which was all for naught as his spiritual body instantly evaporated into blue light causing Discord to grin before turning towards the annoyed Alicorn.

“So, Princess Cadence…shall we do this the easy way, or the hard way?” The God spoke with a dark glint in his eyes as the Alicorn merely sighed with a roll of her eyes.

“Hard.” She replied in a bemused tone while her eyes alighted pink once more making Discord chuckle.

“Oh, Cadence, you flatter me.” He laughed before summoning two spheres of pure blue energy in both limbs before changing at the dark Goddess with a roar.

*****************************************************************************************

The reptile awoke with a painful gasp, sweat dripping down his face as he wiped a claw over it before calming down slightly to reflect on the decision he made while sitting up and drawing his claws over his face slowly as he tried to breathe.

“I’m doing this for my...son. To not make him a bastard, or Twilight a lone mare trying to raise a kid on her own and myself for….to redeem myself, do I even deserve such though? Could I atone for my sins and for once not be looked at by every creature as a…..monster?” He pondered softly to himself as he rose off the couch and stepped slowly towards the front door.

Every step was agonizing and felt forced, repeated as he questioned to himself the words he needed Twilight to hear to mend what he had broken, to correct his faults after all he had done to her, though not for himself but for their child.

“I rejected a mare who loved me more then I will ever understand and now that I shattered her heart, who is to say she will even forgive me? Mother, please….I need your help. I know you can’t be there for me anymore but please look at Twilight. LOOK AFTER YOUR STUDENT!!!” He screamed to himself while wiping his face once more and reaching towards his ear fins for a cigarette, only to find nothing but air greet him in his midst.

“Shit, I forgot to grab a smoke.” Spike growled to himself, hating himself more as the clocked ticked on while he began to run to the hospital, ignoring the angered and hated glares of the ponies around him, feeling their gaze on his back as he trekked closer to his destination.

The reptile swore that he could hear voices of ponies whispering behind his back which he shrugged off carelessly, in no mood to deal with faceless voices who could only speak of ill words away from him making him walk faster until he at last saw the hospital within range, looking up at the slightly cloudy sun and thanking his mother for a blessed morning before walking towards the entrance and seeing a sight he never expected
.
Fluttershy herself was outside the hospital walls, leaning near the doors with her back to it as she sat on the dirt, unfazed by the squirrels, chipmunks and birds around her trying to get her attention as the mare smoked a cigarette calmly, closing her eyes and trying to relax from what seemed to be no doubt an ordeal she had just gone through.

“Fluttershy, what are you doing here?” Spike asked the Pegasus who opened an eye, which narrowed slowly then blinked as she only sighed loudly, closing the eye and using her tail to remove the nicotine, tapping the ashes onto the ground before she replied in a monotone voice.

“Waiting for Pinkie Pie’s results after her...disagreement as she put it with Twilight. Whatever had happened, sure did a lasting imprint to both of them.” She responded before placing the cigarette back into her mouth and taking another drag as Spike looked over her in confusion.

“Never took you for a smoker. Got another one you can lend, please? And how are Pinkie and Twilight?” He asked the mare who opened her eyes, raising an eyebrow as she reached out a hoof towards the saddlebag Spike had not noticed closely hidden beside her body and took out a pack of the Equestrian brand of cigarettes he was so familiar with before tossing him the pack, which he clumsily caught.

Opening it, he noticed only one out of the twenty had been taken out, rendering it brand new before taking another from the small box and alighting it with his flames, inhaling deeply before exhaling out his nose, expelling a large cloud of gray smoke as he watched Fluttershy do the same before he gave her back the pack.

“To be honest I never really was into it, thought it was a disgusting, bits wasting habit. But after watching you do it for years and noticing recently how dull and bland my life really was not counting my marefriend, I decided to...liven things up a bit. I’m twenty two, Spike. I’m not getting any younger, and to be honest. I’m a grown...bucking mare and this is only my first pack,” she paused, blushing a bit at seeing Spike’s surprised expression on her vague use of words, not knowing she was one to swear making her clear her throat before taking another, larger drag of her tobacco.

“As for Twilight and Pinkie Pie, they fought one another like their lives depended on it, Applejack was the one to find Twilight, I would have helped carry her here but Pinkie was already dragging me to the hospital, she’s asleep now and I chose to take a break, Twilight should be awake though...Spike, whatever you done to affect their friendship, I only pray you make this right. If it were any creature else, I might have punched you in the jaw...if I had the courage that is but for you...all I can do is tell you to try to make amends with them, you seem to be the only one holding Twilight together.” She whispered before taking one last drag of her nicotine and exhaling it out her mouth, flicking the remains to the side with her tail before standing, putting on her saddlebag and walking inside.

The dragon was left alone with his thoughts, ponderings on the words he would say to his best friend as he inhaled one last drag of his cigarette and tossed the remains away, breathing loudly while running his claws over his face slowly.

With as much mental courage as he could muster, he entered into the hospital, seeing Nurse Redheart walk towards him before asking her where Twilight was assigned, after saying thank you for her assistance, he dragged himself to her room and stood near the door, looking with dread over what he would find before slowly turning the knob and opening it, seeing the mare’s coat with dried blood, her face swollen, bruised and had stitches, looking hazard, her right eye completely shut as the blankets she had been given were thrown to the floor, her left eye trailing to meet her visitor making her snort angrily through her nose as she narrowed the eye.

Spike stood awkwardly in front of the open door, losing his nerves of what words his brain had conjured up to...repair what he had broken, such a deep, trustworthy and meaningful bond ruined all because he gave her permission to explore his body when he was with another, then fled like a coward once she had not only confessed her love to him but told him she was going to have his child and now...after surviving a very brutal, rage induced battle with one of her best friends now he had come crawling back to ask for her forgiveness, all because he did not want to see her go down such a bleak and unfulfilling road of despair, this was his mess, his mistake, his sins...it was time to be an adult and make amends.

“If I had the strength, I’d punch you as hard as I could in your jaw right now….what do you want?” She asked, her voice filled with spite making Spike wince, he deserved that, they both knew it.

“To apologize, I...I just came to say I’m sorry and that-”

“You want me now? What, after all the times you rejected me to my face, how you said you wanted nothing to do with me, you now come back, because of what? You needed a consolation prize, Spike?” She whispered darkly causing the dragon’s ear fins and tail to drop.

“It’s not like that, Twilight, I swear..please, if you only let me explain-”

“I told you if you walked out that door don’t you ever come back and do you remember what your reply was? ‘Don’t plan to.’ That was the reply you gave me, Crystal Savior.” her tone was as lethal as venom as she spat the last word with mockery.
“Twi, please…..you don’t know all I been through ok, you really don’t...I can’t...I can’t tell you just how much I’m sorry for what I done to you, seriously, words can not express-

“This is not some bucking romance novel, Spike! This is real life, I’m pregnant with YOUR child, I fought against your mate, I allowed you to take the two most precious things I hold dear and you….you defiled them for some cheap entertainment. I wish I’d never gone to that entrance exam that day.” She sniffed, making Spike’s heart drop at how sincere her words sounds, how sad and lonely she felt.

He walked closer to her, as he neared her bed he reached out a claw and wrapped it around her hoof before she jerked it away, like she just got struck by a cobra.

“Don’t touch me.” she hissed harshly, tears running down her good eye before she wiped them away with a hoof and looked away from him.

“What can I do..please, please tell me what I can do to make amends, Twilight. I’m sorry...I truly, honestly am sorry, I never wanted to hurt you, I never meant to hurt you but if you had just-”

“Don’t you dare try to put your blame on me, Spike. I did all I could aside from just grabbing your face and kissing your lips as hard as I could to show you just how much you meant to me...how much I loved you….what I would do or give to be with you. But you were already taken..if only….if only I had walked out of the party to chase after you, if only I had….so many scenarios could have been played out if I had just a little more courage and yet….I probably still would not have been the mare you would have fallen in love with...don’t drag me down with you, Spike….I’ve paid for my sins in full, yours are still stained to your scales.” she muttered with a snort, leaning her head back on the pillow and closing her eye, trying to do what she could to get rid of what she had hoped was only a dream.

Silence resonated throughout the room, the two only breathing before Spike curled his claws, and lashed his tail.

“So there is no hope for us then, is that what you are telling me, Twilight?” He questioned making her whisper so softly he could barely hear her.

“There never was.”

“What of….our child then? Will you raise it on your own?” He asked making her give a soft chuckle.

“Don’t have much choice if the father never wants to be around, now do I? No, to be honest I thought of getting rid of it, but I’m not such a monster to willingly just have an abortion. I would regret it for the rest of my life, we both know that...I could never deal with such guilt….but I could never bring a child into this world knowing he or she would never meet their father, never live a happy and carefree life of simple bliss like a family should, so….I decided to allow the baby to be born and then...give it up for adoption.” She spoke as a lone tear trailed down her closed eye.

“Adoption? But Twilight, what kind of creature do you know that would willingly take a dragon and unicorn hybrid? My species can’t stand each other, never mind a mixture of two species, and your own lives in fear of mine. Do you honestly think-”

“Then maybe I’ll just give it to Celestia so she can be a bucking grandmother, seeing as how you are such her special little boy!” She screamed, her left eye wide open as she exhaled harshly through her nose, panting from yelling, ignoring the beeping that came due to her blood pressure rising on the monitor near her.

“What does it matter to you anyway? You don’t want to be part of our family, I know I could never get your image out of the baby’s likeness and we both know I could never have the heart to murder my child...I doubt any mother could, I’ll figure those details out when I come to them. If you come to save your soul from the pits of Tartarus, you failed….monsters like you don’t deserve a happy ending. I’m tired, and I don’t want to talk about this anymore...please close the door on your way out.” She wheezed sharply, before turning away from him and levitating the blanket onto her body, a single tear trailing down her eye before she closed it and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Spike sat there stunned, his right claw gripping the edge of her blanket so hard he tore through the fabric.

He had thousands, millions of words he wanted to say to her to try to change her mind, to try to make her see that he was going to change, to reshape her future into a happy one.

But a simple, even soothing thought entered into his mind to stop him from opening his mouth and lashing out at her like he believed he ought to do….that he had shifted the direction of the destiny Discord had shown him, of the dark path at least...of her committing suicide through alcohol poisoning.

He had changed her future with his words, though it saddened him that neither of them would want to have the child in their lives, her choice was reasonable, it was wise and honestly….it was best course of action for their son, he knew.

Blinking, Spike stood up, reaching a claw out to stroke her tail one last time before he stopped himself...it would only damage him more emotionally if he lingered any longer.

So he walked slowly out the room, and with one last glance back at his former best friend, he closed the door and once again walked out of her life, though this time he knew it was permanent.

Dejected and depressed from his conversation with Twilight, Spike never even realized he had bumped into the pony until he collided with her, looking into the tired, and sadden eyes of Nurse Redheart who smiled softly at him.

“It’s such a shame to have a pony you admire the most turn their back on you, eh, Spike?” she spoke softly making him confused on how she could have known what he was going through.

“I don’t know just how-”

“Please, Spike, I've lived for a very long time, don’t play coy with me on matters of the heart.” she responded making him shiver uncomfortably.

“You’re not Nurse Redheart.” He snarled as she only offered a cruel smile before her eyes flashed green for a second.

“And they say you are supposed to be the dull one, reptile, amusing, really.” She chuckled forcing Spike to take a threatening step towards her as she only scoffed and threw him up against the wall, forcibly detained he saw a long, crooked black horn mesmerize from her forehead emitting green magic which held him before she revealed her true form as the Queen of the Changelings, Chrysalis.

Spike released a dark laugh from his lips while the Alicorn ran a hoof up his chin and back hoofed him across the face.

“You were a mortal who I was supposed to feast off of, instead you allowed yourself to travel a road most mortals would have taken their own lives if not given an option of either mare, it appears my older brother, Discord owes me forty bits.” She smirked causing Spike to roll his eyes.

“So what does the Goddess of Illusions want with little old me, you already no doubt know of all the shit I had gone through.” He snarled making her click her tongue.

“Agreed, I had originally come here to murder four of the Elements of Harmony and no pony would suspect a thing, but now I find myself...entertained by such a low life bag of scales such as you...ohhh...if only dear little Luna had not laid that curse upon you, now we are forbidden from interacting with such a pathetic piece of shit, a shame really, my gaze has been somewhat drawn to the choices you would have made. No matter, in truth you are no concern of mine and I can simply take all the mares lives when I so chose, call it a….bitter happy ending for both of us if you will, mortal.” She laughed harshly.

Spike struggled to be free of the magic surrounding him but she was too powerful, with a roll of her eyes she harshly let him drop to the ground.

“I suggest you chose the path you now travel carefully, drake, you have no idea how many other of my Godly family outside of Equestria wishes to win the bets they have placed on you.” She spoke softly and turning away, flicked his nose with her tail before a loud crash sounded beside Spike who jumped and turned away, looking at the source of a working nurse who accidentally dropped a toilet pail and smiled sheepishly as him before he turned back to Chrysalis only to notice with irritation that she was gone.

Letting out an angered cloud of black smoke from his nostrils, he stomped away to ask the nurse where Pinkie Pie was stationed and with a small nod of thanks went to her room.

Wiping sweat from his brow with his tail, he grimaced at how exactly he was to derail her from her own dark future path before reaching out and opening the door knob slowly, opening the door he saw the sight of the mare he had once come to love looking in terrible shape.

A leg brace was holding a broken front hoof firmly while her face had cuts and bruises, her right eye half way closed and an I.V. embedded into her right leg with a sad smile on her face while Fluttershy sat on a chair and read from a book, pausing as Spike entered the room, not even noticing the Cakes there with their foals who were now both respectfully a young colt and filly look towards the dragon, Cup Cake whispering for their children and husband to stand from their seats as they trotted out the room, not even making eye contact with the dragon.

As they left, Fluttershy herself put her book away, placed a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder and whispered something into her ear before giving her a firm hug and with a small smile at Spike she too left the two alone.

Entering into the room and shutting the door with his tail, Spike fiddled with his claws nervously as he looked around the bland room she was given, noticing all the get well soon cards and snacks Pinkie Pie had received from her friends as the mare herself cleared her throat.

Glancing towards the Earth Pony he was surprised to see that she was not angry but the look on her face was one of disappointment, making him sigh and wrung his tail in his claws as he looked into her eyes.

“Hi.” He spoke softly making her give the same reply with a gentle tone before he took a few steps closer towards her bed, sitting down, he sighed loudly and let go of his tail which fell softly to the bed.

“I’m sorry that I hurt you Pinkie...that I've done so much to break your heart and that I never even bothered to be an adult and say I’m sorry…” he said loud enough for her to hear before seeing her ears drop in the corner of his right eye as she only smiled.

“Guess I have some blame for not even bothering to hear both sides of the story, I acted irrationally and with malice, I allowed my emotions to overrule logical thinking...I never even gave you a chance to explain really...I’m sorry.” she responded calmly making him chuckle and gently reach out a claw to hold her hoof but she pulled it away slowly.

“But as much as I can forgive you...as much as I want the two of use to move on from such a dark chapter in our lives, I also want to say that I don’t want us to be in a romantic relationship together, Spike. I’ll always love you, but only as a friend.” she continued making Spike nod in understanding before his eyes widen in also remembering that even though it would seem like a mutual friendship, if he allowed her to just forgive him that she would head down a dark path, he had to find a way to keep her from trailing such a road as he coughed to clear his throat, trying to think of something.

“What if...I were to help you find another who would enjoy your company as much as I have?” He asked softly making her smile before leaning back and sighing.

“As much as I appreciate your kindness, Spike I already have somepony in mind, don’t get me wrong, you were so sweet, gentle and lots of fun to be with but we just don’t...connect. I’m sorry.” She replied causing him to brace himself as to whose as caught her eye as he asked who it was.

“A fun loving and caring soul by the name of Cheerilee, you know, the only school teacher Ponyville has, sure she’s Big Macintosh’s ex marefriend but I been told she has her eyes on mares now and well….she came in for a banana smoothie one day and we just sort of...talked. I love you Spike, honestly but….it seems we have to go our separate ways now.” Pinkie spoke, Spike hearing her voice break at the end of her sentence before he sighed softly in relief, Cheerilee was not one of pony that would cause Pinkie to go down her suicidal path, in a way….he had changed the direction of her future.

“I understand, Pinkie...thank you. I would have never thought you would have forgiven me for-”

“Hey,” She whispered making him look her in the eyes to see a serious expression doned on her face “It affects every creature around you if you hold a grudge inside your heart for something you can’t control….I forgive you, ok. And even though we part as lovers, we will never part as friends, Spike. And that’s a Pinkie Promise.” she chuckled making him laugh.

“I’m hoping this means you and Twilight can patch things up as friends now?” He asked causing her left ear to twitch and her tail to wave angrily before it settled down on the bed lightly.

Though she frowned and her eyes harden for a few seconds before she calmed down and replied “It will take some time for such raw wounds to heal but….I know we will become strong friends again sooner or later, hopefully never allowing a pony or rather...dragon to come between us again.” She answered with a slow smile making him pat her hoof before getting off from the bed.

“So what will you do now? Go back and live with Twilight?” She asked blinking in surprise as he shook his head.

“No...think I’ll travel Equestria and see what life has to offer for a few years before I come back...after all...I got centuries to do see the world but only one to make amends with my friends, eh?” He smirked as she smiled with a nod.

“Come back one day and tell me of all your adventures, understand? I’ll be sure to throw you a welcome back party when you decide to visit.” Pinkie grinned as he chuckled.

“It’s a promise, Pinkie Pie.” He responded before taking the front hoof she held out towards him and kissed it. Wishing her the best of luck with Cheerilee before giving her a firm hug, Spike turned and walked out of the room, smiling and hugging Fluttershy who gave him one more cigarette before he left and walked out of the hospital, feeling an enormous weight being lifted off his shoulders.

Breathing in the cool, refreshing air as he walked away he looked towards the sky before seeing a figure above descend as he was shocked to see his mother, Celestia land near him.

Nothing but silence was spoken between them before she took a step forward and hugged him firmly “I may not like you, but I’ll always love you...my son.” she whispered into his right ear fin as he felt tears brim to the corner of his eyes and could do nothing more as Celestia released him and without a word lifted off the ground and into the sky.

Spike watched his mother fly gracefully away from him before plucking the cigarette from his left ear fin and lighting it with his flames.

Sighing loudly, he looked at the slightly clear blue sky and felt the warm rays of the sun upon his scales before blinked and taking a deep drag of his nicotine, he walked towards his temporary home to plan out just where he wanted to travel on his hopefully life changing journey. He knew it did nothing to change the sins staining his scales and eventually he would have to answer for his crimes that he had done, almost forgetting how he had to go to court for fighting Snips and Snails even.

Life was no bucking fairy tale, things were not always going to go perfectly or smoothly for him and he would one day have a mature conversion with Twilight if they should ever meet again he knew but for right now, right this moment...Spike was fine with that and he could live his life the way he wanted.

Author's Note

Shit, I know it's a route very few would choose but it's one I wanted, it's now the orginal route though, even though I can't remember what that way, it's a hell of a way to end a story, that's for damn sure, hope you all enjoyed the ride and thank you.