Spike

Spike

Tonight. It's going to happen tonight. And it'll happen again, and again. Because it needs to.

Manehattan is a pretty good town. Food here's pretty good. Gems are plentiful. Most of the ponies here are happy, constructive members of society. Normal, you could say.

But, then, some of them are monsters like me.

Yes, I am a monster. Not the kind of monster you'd tell your foals and fillies of during bedtime stories, where a hero in shining armor slays the monster, and everything ends up "Happily Forever After". No, I am a killer. I have been for most of my life. Ever since my best friend's death.

I know what you're wondering. I didn't kill her.

I don't remember much about how she died. I was just a baby dragon when it happened. But, Dad said it'd be better for the both of us if I didn't know. An--

I called him "Dad" again. He's not my real father.

Discord adopted me. Apparently, being part dragon, he took pity on me.

Anyway, that was...fifteen years ago? Speaking in pony terms...

But this is now. And now, I see a pony stumbling out of a bar that has that look in his eyes.. That sort of...sunken, hollow, unapologetic look. Being a monster myself, I can easily recognize it. It's almost looking like into a mirror.

I take note of everything about him. This colt stands taller than most colts, with muscle definition to match. He's obviously a heavy physical laborer. His coat is an earth-y brown color. His mane and tail are a dark blue, both short in length, reinforcing my theory of him being a  physical laborer. And his Cutie Mark is a pickaxe. That's the cinch, it would appear he works in a mine of some kind.

And he's a pegasus. Oh, man, I love pegasi.

Even though I want to charge him right now, and practice my special brand of justice right here in the street, that isn't what Discord taught me.

First, he taught me to always make sure that my victims deserve it. I usually do this doing a little bit of breaking and entering. There's almost always evidence to their guilt in their home.

Which means I've got to follow this pegasus to his home in the sky.

Something you probably know about dragons is we grow in accordance to our possessions. Wanna know something new?

Because I grew up with Discord as a father figure, he gave me a unique gift that no other dragon has. I grow abilities in accordance to my possessions. For example, for my tenth birthday, one of my gifts was a kite. I loved that kite. But, what I loved even more, was when I grew wings because of it.

So, I'm more than capable of following this pegasus to his home in the sky.

The colt shakily ascends, headed toward Clouddale drunkenly. He is a good 100 feet away from me, and about 10 foot in the air, before I even start to prepare myself.

I stretch my wings out, and prep the rest of my body for flight. I still revel in the glory of the wings : the jade scales and purple skin stretch along their length in a manner so draconic it's cliché. I hunker down further, my saddlebags containing my possessions swaying slightly. The colt is getting smaller and smaller into the distance, enough to the point where I know I have to move, or else I'll lose him

"Let's go"

I kick off the ground, propelling my body further into the air than if I had just used my wings. A nearby lamppost sways due to the force of my kick. As I ascend, the earth below gets further and further away. The colt barely visible in the distance, as his mane and tail match the starless night. Unfortunately for him, his coat betrays him to my vision, and I accelerate towards him. Due to my strength, which comes from being a dragon, a monster, and Discord's underling, I'm within stalking distance of him in ten seconds flat.

It's almost funny, watching him try to fly despite being drunk. It's kinda like watching a newborn feebly attempt aviation. If I weren't as empty inside as I am, I might have laughed.

My momentary lapse in focus causes me to lose track of the colt. A quick survey of the sky left me with no other choice than to conclude that the colt had ascended into the city in the sky. Fearing I overshot him in my distraction, I immediately ascend straight up.

Luckily, I did not overshoot him by too much, being in easy view of him from roughly thirty feet away. He stood in the doorstep of what I can only assume is his house, fumbling through his saddlebags for his keys. I reach into my own saddlebags, grabbing not keys, but instead a little vial of a grey potion, and stalk closer to the colt. My mind wanders to the As soon as I see the door open, I throw the vial on the ground at his feet. The potion spreads out, touching his hooves. The fumes from the potion rise up to his nose, and cause him to sway, and finally collapse, totally asleep.

I drag the unconscious body into the house, closing and locking the door. This is the last time he'll go through the door of his home. Whole, at least.

~-~-~-~~-~-~-~~-~-~-~~-~-~-~~-~-~-~~-~-~-~~-~-~-~~-~-~-~~-~-~-~~-~-~-~~-~-~-~~-~-~-~~-~-~-~~-~-~-~~-~-~-~~-~-~-~~-~-