Several miles outside of Canterlot, Spike slowly made his way across the landscape. The small dragon turned around to the city to see the sun rising high above it, illuminating the tall castle in the center. Most of the fires that had sizzled out left only small smoke trails, returning the distant view of the city almost back to normal. But inside his heart he felt a pain lingering from the thought of what caused those fires. Adjusting the small bag he had over his shoulder, he turned around and continued walking.
Ever since he escaped a few hours before, Spike was intent on staying out of sight. Because every guard pretty much knew who he was because of Twilight, he was afraid that if he was seen trying to leave the city, they would bring him back to the castle. While they didn't directly say it, it seemed as if he and the girls were being kept confined inside the palace, being asked to turn back every time they wanted to go outside. Despite that fact, Spike was determined on his goal. The moment Velvet left the room, he got up from his fake sleep and quickly made his rope out the window and past the city walls.
Spike had no idea where he was going. He had no way of being able to find Twilight by just walking like this, but for some reason, he felt something inside. Something tugging at his soul telling him to walk west from Canterlot. Whatever it was, it was strong inside of him, and he was willing to follow it if it meant a chance at finding her. Glancing back at his bag, he hoped the things he brought could help him in some way to fix this thing that has happened. He only wished he wasn't the only one trying to do this though.
Even though he couldn't believe there wasn't a way to bring Twilight back to her senses, the girls didn't seem as eager as he was. What more he was astounded at was what the others had said to him the night before. After they left the princess, he was already insistent on leaving the castle right then to go and find Twilight, but each of them didn't want to help.
Fluttershy felt that everything was too frightening for her to deal with and refused. Rarity said there was too much going through her head to decide what to do. Pinkie Pie was too eccentric about all the things she never gave her answer, but Spike could tell she was unsure about everything. And then Applejack, who said herself she didn't know what to do, therefore choosing to stay.
Rainbow Dash however was the only one who didn't say anything against the idea. The difference though, she hadn't said anything at all. As soon as they left the room where Celestia took then, she left them immediately and locked herself in her room. Spike sighed as he thought about her; ever since she admitted her guilt for not helping Twilight, Rainbows demeanor had completely changed. She wasn't as eager when she spoke, her voice attempting to hide the pain she had inside. 'Rainbow, I know are hurt. I feel it too.'
Sighing, he trudged onward away from the city. The young drake wanted to try to-
"Spike!"
Spike froze at the sound of his name being called. Looking back, he covered his eyes and saw a pegasus flying his direction "Shoot, it must be one of the guards! The princess must have sent them after me!"
Afraid that whoever it was wanted to stop him, he turned tail and began sprinting as fast as he could to go. His claws scraped in the dirt as he pumped his legs, going faster to escape his pursuer. Looking back, he noticed the Pegasus was gone, but a shadow passing overhead showed it wasn't far. Panicking, he pushed even harder to get away, not wanting to be taken. "No, I'm not going back!" He shouted at himself.
Spike then noticed a small rock outcropping to his right, the large boulders a possible spot to escape.Seeing his chance, he quickly turned and ran towards the stone area as fast as he could. Skidding down underneath one of the overhanging rocks, he quickly crawled beneath the big stone to give him cover from his pursuer. Sitting quiet for a moment, he listened as the flapping wings past overhead, meaning he wasn't in the clear yet. "Come on, get out of here. Go look somewhere else!" Spike quietly shouted to himself.
"Spike! Get out here! I saw you run into those rocks!"
The young dragons ears perked up at the raspy voice calling out. "Wait a minute. That sounds like..." Crawling forward, he stuck his head out just far enough to look up into the sky to see his answer confirmed. "Rainbow?"
Rainbow Dash was hovering up above the boulders, her head scanning back and forth around the area as she looked for him. "Come on Spike, quit hiding, its me! I know why you are out here!"
Glaring, Spike pulled his head back under the rock. "She must have come out after they found out I was gone. The others probably aren't far behind either." Out to the left in the distance, he noticed the tall trees that were on the outside edge of a forest, giving himself a new target to reach. "Those trees are perfect. She won't be able to fly through and see me as well, giving me a better spot to hide." His only challenge was how to get there.
The distance was at least a hundred yards to the nearest tree trunk. If he tried to just sprint with her here, there was no chance he could make it without being caught, let alone noticed. He would have to somehow get her attention somewhere else just long enough to make it. Eyes looking back and forth around him, he saw a small stone in the crevice of the wall by his side. Seeing that as something perfect, he used his claws and scraped at the surrounding rock, chipping away at the hard material until the stone fell free into his grasp.
"Perfect." He said with a grin. Looking out from beneath the ledge again, we watched as Rainbow continue to search the area for him, ducking back and forth between the other rocky areas as she scouted. Waiting until she wasn't looking in his area, he prepared his arm, clenching the rock in his claws. "Come on... Come on." The moment she flew to the ground behind a boulder, he saw his chance.
"Now!"
Jumping out of his spot, Spike threw the rock as far as he could into another crevice away from Rainbow. As soon as the rock collided with the stone, the loud smack rang through the air and reached the Pegasus's ears. Shooting up into the air, she burst towards the source with breakneck speed. "Now's my chance!" Spike screamed to himself.
Standing up, the small dragon sprinted as fast as he could towards the trees across the clearing. Digging his claws into the ground, he pushed himself harder than he ever had before in his attempt to get away. He knew if he could get away from Rainbow Dash, then the others would have no chance of catching up to him. This have him hopes as the trees were only thirty yards from him now.
"Almost there.... Almost there!" He yelled out between his raspy breaths. His lungs burned from exhaustion, but the drive to save his family was far stronger than that. He looked back over his shoulder towards the rocks behind him and smiled when he noticed Rainbow had not come back up from the rocks. "Good, she's still looking back there. Now I just have to- Oof!"
Running full speed into something wasn't something the young dragon was expecting. Falling onto his back, Spike brought his claws up to his head to rub the sore spot on his head. "Ow, what the heck was that? The tree wasn't until..." He paused as he opened his eyes and saw his obstacle. "Crap."
Rainbow Dash was standing in front of him, the rock spike had thrown bouncing up and down in her hoof. A large frown was plastered across her muzzle down at the dragon. "So, thought you could lose me like that, huh?"
Grunting, Spike crawled off the ground and brushed the dirt off his shoulders. "I should have figured that you would be fast enough to find that."
Rolling her eyes, Rainbow threw the rock behind her. "What the heck are you trying to do Spike? I was calling to you back there and-
"You know damn well what I am doing Rainbow!" Spike screamed out.
Rainbow took a step back from his outburst. "Spike, what is wrong-
"I am not going back to Canterlot with you so you guys can keep me there. I am going to save Twilight." Readjusting the bag on his shoulder, he took a deep breath and stared right into the mares eyes. "If you don't want to help her after everything that has happened, that is your choice. I am not going to sit by while she is hurting with nopony to be with."
"Spike please listen to me, I didn't come here to-
"To what, take me back to keep me locked up while the princess goes to kill her!?" Spike clenched his claws in anger as his breaths came in quick intakes. "I saw the group of lunar guards preparing outside of the castle when I left. They are going to go after Twilight, and I am not going to let them get to her before I do."
“What did you plan on doing Spike? Taking off on your own to find her?" You do even know how hard that would be for you?" Rainbow retorted.
"I don't care how hard it will be for me. As long as she is alive, I will not let her be alone. I can bring her back from whatever happened, I know I can."
"Spike listen to me, I want to-
"I don't want to hear anything more you have to say." Spike growled through his teeth as he walked by Rainbow. "I will walk to the end of Equestria if that is what it takes to find her. I don't care. Twilight is my family, and you never abandon your family."
"Spike, can you please stop talking so I can-
“You may not know how much I love her, Rainbow, but Twilight means everything to me. You can go back to Canterlot with everypony else that doesn't want to-
"SPIKE! Are you gonna help me find her or not!?"
Spike froze mid step to what he just heard. Flipping around, his mouth shuttered several times before he could finally form words. "Wh-what?"
"Are you going to come with me and help me find Twilight or are you going to walk on by yourself?" Rainbow asked with a grunt, finally able to tell him her goal from the beginning.
"You... You mean you aren't here to take me back? You want to help her too?"
"Of course I want to help her, she's my best friend!" Rainbow trotted up and sat down in front of Spike. "Twilight has always been there for us through everything, and she has always done the best she can. Whatever is happening to her, she doesn't want this. I know Twilight, and she would never want to do the things that happened in the city."
"But I thought you had stayed in the castle with everypony else?" Spike questioned, "You didn't want to talk at all when I began mentioning leaving to help her."
Rainbow's ears dropped to her head at those words. "I know and... I'm sorry for that. I was just so upset at everything that was happening I didn't want to talk to anypony then. When I went to bed though, I kept dreaming over and over again that Twilight was back home with us in Ponyville, living happy with all of our friends together. I knew I just had to help her now. I did hear how the other girls were too unsure about coming, I chose to just stick with you and we could do it together. I went out my window earlier, but when I flew to over to your room you were already gone."
Spike just stood motionless for several seconds before he could blink again. All this time he wasn't the only one feeling the same way as himself, and he was trying to get away from her. "So... All this time I was running from you, you were just trying to get me so we could work together, huh?"
"Yeah. I know how much you love Twilight, and I want to help too. Whatever that Crimson pony did to her, I know we can get her free." Rainbow smiled down at the small drake and held out a hoof to shake. "What do ya say?"
Looking down to the hoof, Spike pushed it aside and leaped up onto Rainbows chest and wrapped his arms around her neck for a hug. At first she was startled, but then put both of her hooves around him and returned the embrace. Knowing somepony was here to help him made Spike so much happier now. "Thank you, Rainbow."
What caught Spike off guard was the drops that fell onto the topic his head. Leaning back, he looked up and was shocked to see Rainbow Dash crying. "Hey, what's wrong?"
The cyan mare blinked several times to clear her moist eyes. "It's just... This whole time when Twilight was feeling bad, I never tried to help her. I knew something was wrong, but I never took the time to try and figure out what was happening." Pausing to wipe away a patch of tears, she tried to speak again, but her words caught in her throat, unsure of what else to say.
"Hey, don't say that Rainbow..." Spike whispered, "...this isn't your fault. None of this is. We never could have known some crazy dead pony was going to do this to Twilight. But right now, you are here, and that is what matters."
Rainbow couldn't help but smile from how kind Spike was. He truly was a good friend, loyal to the point of possibly surpassing her own level. Everything he did was for the thought of those around him, always making sure that they were happy and healthy. Even the small act of him reaching up and wiping away a stray tear from her fur was something so kind... But as he began to gently caress her cheek, she couldn't help but turn a deep red from a blush.
Pulling back, she smiled awkwardly and chuckled. "Hehe, woah there Casanova. Getting a little comfy there."
"Wh-what?" Spike stuttered before a blush washed over his face too. "I... I was just trying to make you feel better and-
"Hey don't worry about it." She said with a chuckle. Putting a hoof on his shoulder, she gave him a real smile this time. "And thank you Spike. Twilight is truly lucky to have someone like you."
Returning the smile, Spike put his claws on top of her hoof. "Thank you for not giving up."
Pulling her hoof away, Rainbow turned sideways and nodded at her companion. "Now come on, lets go find her."
"Alright then!" Spike yelled out as he ran up and hopped onto her back, positioning himself in front of her wings and putting his claws around her neck. "Lets save Twilight!"
Bursting off of the ground, Rainbow took to the skies high above the trees and to the clouds. Not sure where to go, she decided to head the same direction Spike was going in the first place. He had a fire in his heart and a drive, and that was just enough in her books to go with. 'I will make up for not being there for you. I won't leave you this time.' She thought to herself.
Behind her, Spike looked out past her mane to the great and massive land of Equestria far below him, a land so vast and magical. Although it was beautiful, he only cared for one specific thing, and no matter where it was, he was going to find it. 'Don't worry Twilight..' Spike thought as he gripped his new allies neck tighter, 'we will find you. And we will save you.'
SpikeDash.... FTW
2995117 Which is the killer for me.
Making Celestia stupid annoys the heck out of me.
Because dumb leaders don't rule happy nations for even 20 years, much less a thousand.
Idiot-balling characters who should know better for the sake of the plot is a bad move in any story.
3205869 if you think about it, she only makes bad decisions when ALL of equestria is in danger. past that, she seems to do just fine. what's royally annoying is that it always seems to work out in the end, so she never gets in trouble.
and a question to the writer:
why is the next chapter coming out next week, if it's already done? do you prefer to do a weekly update thing, or does it still need editing?
3205613 shipping? Hmm... Is that what you see?
3206002 the chapter is done in rough draft form, but needs more detailed wording and editing still.
3206093 Maybe....Tho that may be because IMOP SpikeDash is awesome............!LoL!
Congrats on the feature! Glad to see this story moving along, and growing ever grander!
3205869
Until you are forced to kill your family without any remorse, you honestly can't critisize Celestia... Even if her choices are plain stupid... And also suspention of disbelief (look it up)
I saw a few errors, but I like how this chapter got 'the ball rolling'
It is sad that Spike and RainbowDash are the only ones who actually try to do something what makes sense while everyone else are just totally blind or acting stupid.
I just hope that Lunar guard or Luna herself with a sword of darkness will not attack Twilight when Spike and RainbowDash will be in the middle of talking with her, ruining the only chance for them to save her.
The worse case scenario what I fear is that Luna attack Twilight with sword of darkness and Twilight will take the sword from her and become even more corrupted, because seriously, outside of Spike and RainbowDash, everyone in the story are acting so blind, they given up on Twilight or just does not want to see what is happening in her head, even her friends does not considered the fact that maybe they, as Twilight best friends may have a chance to convince her to use elements to heal herself, not a princess what tried to kill her or other princess what attacked her, sigh.
3206586 Considering it's only teen I don't think so.
Aand there we have a typo. Freaking brain just can't shut up about it.
3208823 ok.... I'll try and fix that when I can
3207645 thanks for the explanation of your thoughts. It is always great to see people share what they think will happen in the story. I hope this fic continues to entertain
Hmmmm
3208911
Np.
I just hope that you will stop writing Celestia and Luna as so blind and stupid to not notice what is going on, because it just feel a bit forced upon them and now even Twilight friends are acting that way, at the very least let them realise that it is their fault that this all happened as Twilight wanted help ( in the past Celestia tried to help, but the pony didn't want that, Twilight wanted somepony to help her but was betrayed instead, can you please make Celestia and Luna finally realise it instead of going 'Twilight is evil and insane and it is not our fault that it happened' ).
After my last comment a while ago...
2348088
...it looks like nothing has really changed. Everyone is being way too angsty and/or stupid. They're all completely out of character. None of them should simply be giving up on Twilight like this.
3209166>>3209786
Yes, completely ignore the fact that if Celestia wasn't glued to the Idiot Ball back when Crimson was alive, we wouldn't have a story at all.
3205994 Equestria is ALWAYS in danger! It's kinda like South Park, where one reporter on the show back-handedly commented that the town was completely destroyed frequently.
3210409 That's rather an indication that the entire timeline and plot of the story needs more depth when every aspect of the primary conflict relies on characters being dumber than they should be.
An intelligent character can make a genuine mistake, but that mistake must feel like one they would reasonably make given their expertise and familiarity with a given topic or problem.
You could expect a brilliant master chef to mistakenly think a CD player is a drink holder, but you would not expect him to suddenly forget how to caramelize garlic, for example... UNLESS, circumstances hindering his mindset are presented: he's totally whacked out on goofballs. THEN it makes sense he'd manage to burn water!
3210409 Please, spare me the bad jokes. All the ponies (with the possible exception of Luna) are completely out of character. On top of that, far too many scenes are devoted to having everyone stand around aimlessly while acting like angsty idiots, as opposed to actually doing something that moves the plot along. That is bad writing, plain and simple, and absolutely none of it is required to tell this story.
3211916 please sir, if what you are saying is my story is crap writing, can you please explain your reasoning more? What characters are ooc and how?
I am asking so I can see where people are getting this because I have had alot of it the last few chapters
3210409
There are ways where you do not need to make characters blind for the sake of the conflict, actually, if Celestia and her friends would not be so blind and tried to help Twilight and failed, the guilt and drama would be even higher.
I personally would prefer for mane 6, Celestia and Luna to at this point be driven with guilt that they mistakes not stopped but even hasted Twilight corruption, it would make them more interesting,
I am really looking forward to the confrontation. I mean I can really feel for Rainbow Dash and Spike, despite what people think, could in fact be the element of Loyalty had it not already been taken.
Alright, Chaos, confession time:
I really don't like how the other Mane Six don't go out to try to save their friend. Yes, she's dangerous, but if they were the true friends, they would do whatever they could to calm Twilight down and bring her to her senses--at least try. While Crimson is also very dangerous and a part of her, why should they cower when their friend is also in trouble, battling her inner demons? These girls need to realize that sitting back and doing nothing will do just that; nothing! They need to get off their flanks, put down their tea, and find their flipping friend before shit gets way worse!
Twilight is in an internal conflict with her mind, which is being influenced by Crimson's musings as he lingers as part of her, in a way. She can barely fathom this situation, and without her friends to help her, she can't be grounded into figuring things out, not in this state. Before it's too late, she'll fully transform into the monster Celestia feared. Where are her friends when she truly needs them the most?
Rainbow seems to embody her Element of Loyalty right now, as she's not caring if Twilight's dangerous or not; she's her friend and will try to save her. Where are the others? Fluttershy's frightened and the others don't know what to do? Make a plan! Don't sit there and drink like a bunch of cowards! Think of something to do before it's too late, girls! You're the Elements of Harmony!
I'm sorry, Chaos, but this just makes me shake my head. I won't say anything about Celestia and Luna. Celestia is just very clung to her emotions and Luna is okay, but the other girls I am more concerned about.
3205869
Actually, the show makes Celestia fairly incompetent as a ruler.
3218149 Explain how she is more incompetent than... oh... any number of present-day leaders I could mention.
Remember, a thousand years of peace. When has our world had so much as a century?
3219381
It likely had nothing to do with her. Ponies are just peaceful.
She is competent next to our leaders, but they're extremely incompetent. :D It's like comparing a punch to the face with a baseball bat upside the head. They're both gonna hurt, one's just gonna hurt more.
3219540 You also must make exceptions for Celestia, given that much of what has happened in Equestria lately is being ADDED to the canon, leading to rather a large number of inconsistencies.
Poor Celestia can't help it if the gods creating her world keep throwing new things into her history.
3220314
Yes I can.
In all seriousness, my point was that basically this story isn't any more outlandish in terms of Celestia being a bit of a derp than anything else when it comes to the show. I can't say anything about canon Luna, she hasn't been shown enough for me to really know what she's about.
3220406 I try to fashion my stories around a world in which the entire canon was thought out ahead of time, making certain all the pieces fit in place in the timeline.
And close relatives to the main character don't just appear out of nowhere after 2 seasons.
(writes story where Twilight suddenly has older sister who is a powerful witch and resurrects da Smooze... and humans are suddenly in Equestria... because Volcano of Gloom...)
3211916
Mkay, so there's OOC and there's a bit of angst. I acknowledge that.
Now explain how that somehow makes the entire story complete shit.
Emphasis on "entire story," and I'd be happy if you could avoid circular logic.
Well it's a good thing that there is a giant fire in the distance showing where twilight is. hahaha
Great job man I loggeed on not expecting anything new here and I was all like and then I was all like and now I am really excited. I am wondering if it is gonna be hard doing a chapter based on twilights's perspective unless it is the next chapter I can't wai must read
After reading this line, I was reminded of this
Of course, listening to the radio play time and time again probably helped out a lot!
Ooh, and ignore the rest of the clip.
I take no credit for the radio play.