A Not-So Draconian Adventure

by Rock-Lee

The End

The tears of Spike fell silently as he faced his own fears and doubts. He felt trapped between two worlds, unable to find a clear answer about which path to take. Confusion and anguish overwhelmed him as he clung to the fragile balance between his desire to belong and his need to be valued and respected.

In the tranquility of the night, with the echo of his own sobs resonating in the air, Spike allowed himself to feel all the emotions that had been bubbling inside him. There were no easy answers or instant solutions to his problems, but at least, in that moment of vulnerability, he began to understand a little more about what he truly desired.

Spike sank to the ground, leaning his back against the cold mirror. The silence of the night weighed heavily on him, and the tears continued to fall as he confronted the painful truth of his thoughts. Was he betraying his friends by finding happiness elsewhere? Was he a bad friend for wanting something different, something that made him feel free and valued?

"Why did they do this to me?" he repeated in a whisper, feeling a mix of anger and desperation. "I was happy... I understood their problems and their mistakes, but now... now I can only think about how I'm better off here. Why am I such a bad friend?"

The reflection in the mirror offered no answers, only mirroring his distress. Spike stayed there, hugging his knees, trying to make sense of his emotions. He knew he loved his friends and his family in Equestria, but he also knew that he had found something valuable here: a sense of belonging and freedom that he had never felt before.

"Maybe... I'm not a bad friend," he murmured to himself, trying to find comfort in his own words. "Maybe I just... I just need something different. And that doesn't mean I don't love them."

As Spike continued to reflect, time seemed to stand still. His voice desperate for his own consciousness to believe his own words, but it was impossible, he could only feel like a horrible friend who didn't deserve his friends from Equestria, nor his friends from the human world.

Spike remained there, leaning against the mirror, feeling trapped in his own mind. The tears kept falling, his breathing heavy and uneven. The night was cold and lonely, and the echo of his sobs seemed to resonate in the vast darkness.

In the midst of his anguish, he heard soft footsteps approaching. He looked up hopefully to see someone familiar, and found...

"Young Drake," a tall woman would say, perhaps even the size of Bright Mac, with skin tone similar to Vice Principal Luna's, and a beautiful mane that seemed to reflect the moonlight like a mirror.

"...C-Crystal?..." Spike would say with wide eyes as he tried to identify if that human woman was really the alicorn who watched over the universes and had brought him there in the first place.

The woman gave a faint, almost ethereal smile as she looked at Spike with eyes full of understanding and wisdom. "Yes, Spike. I am Crystal," she responded in a soft voice that seemed to resonate in the quiet night.

Spike, unable to contain his amazement and confusion, slowly got up from the floor, wiping his tears with the sleeve of his shirt. "What are you doing here? Don't you have more families to ruin?"

"...A low blow, Mr. Drake," Crystal would say with a hint of shame and sorrow in her voice before sitting down beside him.

"I'm sorry," Spike murmured, feeling a little embarrassed by his impulsive reaction. "It's just that... I'm so confused and lost. I don't know what to do."

Crystal nodded understandingly, her eyes filled with compassion. "I understand, Spike. You've been through a lot, and it's natural to feel this way. I'm not here to judge you, but to help you find clarity in your heart."

"And why didn't you do it before instead of doing this?" Spike would say, looking at her sideways with a furrowed brow.

"Because I needed you to start having these thoughts yourself before I could help you."

Crystal kept her gaze on Spike, her expression calm and serene as she spoke. "I couldn't just give you all the answers, Spike. There are lessons one must learn for themselves. But now I'm here to help you find the path that suits you best."

Spike fell silent, processing her words. Despite his anger and frustration, something in Crystal's voice calmed him, made him feel understood. "But what should I do? I feel like I'm betraying my friends in Equestria by being happy here. And if I go back, I'm afraid of losing what I found here."

"That's how anyone feels with a decision...After being sent by my parents to the mirror world, I felt happy, I had saved my sisters from such a job, but slowly... I started to regret it, they stopped visiting me, Celestia and Luna focused so much on their royal duties that they forgot their duties as sisters... The letters stopped coming, Discord stopped appearing, and slowly I could only... I could feel like I was forgotten"

"...It's hard, isn't it?" Spike said softly, his words filled with empathy. "Feeling torn between two worlds, two lives. But... how did you find a way to move forward?"

Crystal sighed. "I haven't Spike...For decades I had the idea of choosing a better universe... Going there and forgetting everything but...I couldn't do it"

Spike looked at Crystal with a mix of curiosity and surprise. "Why couldn't you do it? What stopped you?"

Crystal sadly smiled. "Because, despite everything, I still had a purpose. My duty was to protect the universes and ensure that balance was maintained. I couldn't abandon that, even when I felt like my own world was crumbling... But then, you came along, watching you grow like my own nephew, I just realized what I missed, how my sisters...They meant everything to me, but I didn't deserve them, not until they realized the harm I received...I couldn't let them abandon me like that"

"So, what should I do?" Spike finally asked, his voice full of vulnerability. "How can I find a balance between what I want and what is expected of me?"

Crystal looked at him tenderly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "There's no simple answer, Spike. But I believe the first step is to be honest with yourself about what you truly desire and need. You're not betraying anyone by wanting something different. You have the right to seek your own happiness and to feel valued."

Deep down, Crystal felt like a dirty hypocrite, there she was, talking about life advice she didn't even follow herself, but it wasn't the time to worry about that.

"Tell me Spike...Do you think your friends could improve if they tried? Do you think if you give them your point of view, everything could get better?"

Spike fell silent, pondering Crystal's words. His thoughts were tangled, but he began to see a thread of clarity.

"I want to believe they can improve," he finally responded, his voice trembling but full of hope. "I know they're good people, it's just... sometimes it seems like they don't realize how they affect me. And I, well, sometimes I'm not clear enough with them."

"...You're a very mature and responsible young man, Spike, even more than me," Crystal would say with a small sigh of disappointment. "Do you... think you're ready to try to improve things?"

Spike fell silent, letting Crystal's words resonate in his mind. The night felt a little less cold and lonely with her by his side. Eventually, he nodded slowly, feeling a mix of determination and fear.

"I think so, Crystal," he replied honestly. "It won't be easy, but I want to try to make things better. I want to be honest with my friends and my family. I want them to know how I feel and what I need."

"That's all I needed to know," Crystal would say before giving the mirror behind them a light tap with her thumb, causing it to glow, and Spike to be absorbed into that mirror, thus returning to his original world, leaving behind a lonely Crystal, trying to feel happy that the only person she identified with had surpassed her.

"I hope you find your way, Spike," she murmured to herself, knowing that the young dragon had a difficult journey ahead of him, but also trusting in his ability to face the challenges that would arise.

The next thing Spike would see would be the bright light of...a hospital room? Had it all been a dream?...

"Uggh...Turn off the light," Spike would say, putting a claw in front of his face, trying to shield himself from the light... until his eyes snapped open. "...Claws."

Before he could say anything else, a gasp would be heard, and a tray would fall to the floor, causing Spike to turn around to see...Twilight...His Twilight, his best friend and sister, with her eyes still bloodshot, and dark circles under her eyes, but...with tears of joy streaming down her equine face.

"SPIKE!" Twilight would say trotting towards him to wrap him in the tightest hug her hooves could give him.

Spike would momentarily be stunned by Twilight's sudden appearance and her warm embrace. Everything seemed so real, so tangible. Had it really been a dream? He held onto Twilight tightly, feeling a mixture of relief and confusion overwhelming him.

"Twilight...are...are you really here?" Spike would ask, his voice trembling with emotion and disbelief.

"Yes, Spike, I'm here," Twilight would respond with a soft voice, gently stroking Spike's head. "I've been so worried about you... You don't know how much I've missed you."

Tears threatened to flood Spike's eyes as he absorbed the reality of the situation. He had missed Twilight more than he had imagined, and now, with her in front of him, he felt like a part of his heart was finally complete.

"I... I missed you too, Twilight," Spike admitted, his voice barely a choked whisper drowned in emotion. "I can't believe you're here."

Twilight smiled at him tenderly, her eyes shining with affection. "I'll never let you go through something like that again, Spike. I'm here for you, I always will be."

Spike allowed himself to relax into Twilight's comforting embrace, feeling a sense of peace and security that he hadn't experienced in a long time. Although the road ahead was still filled with challenges and difficult decisions, at least now he knew that in that moment, only that embrace mattered.

Comments

[Sudrian Engineer]

I WOULD say this is a very interesting ending... but the story is still marked incomplete, and I know there a few loose ends to tie.

This has been an amazing story so far, and I am excited to see the last chapter!

[Rock-Lee]

11905911
I still have to write the epilogue, should I mark it as complete?

[Sudrian Engineer]

11905912
No no, was just explaining how I could tell there would be at least one more. Incomplete is right because there is still a chapter not published

[Yaakov Lubin]

Is there going to be a squeal to this story?

[nightshroud96]

And so it seems Spike is back in Equestria.
Kind of wonder how things are gonna look in the future/sequel.

[SethFilms]

damn, heres hoping for a sequel of some type 🍻