This is a story about ends.

//All is dark. A creature approaches with a light.
Creature: Drakeling. Can you hear me, drakeling?
//Is she talking to me? Ow, my head. What just happened?
Drakeling: If you could not talk so loud, maybe, that would be great. Who are you?
C: ...I am that which I am.
//Riddles. Because I need more questions.
Drakeling: Ooh, I've got one: what's big and white and looks nothing like a sphinx?
C: Cease. Today is an important day for you, drakeling. You enter now a land with noble roots, but ones that have been frayed by the approach of evil. You will find many who seek their own benefit at the expense of righteousness, but also many opportunities for the goodness to shine like a star.
Drakeling: I must be entering everywhere that's ever existed. What's with the cheesy language?
//The figure, less a horse than a force, raises her head back.
C: Mockery? Enough advice. Wake up. And try to play the part, lest you be killed.
Drakeling: Wait, no, I didn't mean--
//The creature's light is snuffed out. Nonexistence returns.

//The middle of the woods, below a small cliff and waterfall. I awake with a strange purple mare standing over me, opening one of my eyelids.
//I shake my head and she lifts her hoof away. My eyeball is dried out; how long has she been holding it open?
Strange Purple Mare: Finally, I was starting to get worried. Are you awake? How do you feel?
//I close my eyes. I feel confused, disorientated, vulnerable, caught out of the loop. I feel like I'm in the wrong world, that this is nothing I know and so much is expected out of me when I know so little.
Drakeling: ...I have to pee.
SPM: Uh, o-kay. I guess you were out for a long time. And you're talking, which is good. Talking's good. ...Anything else?
//She has a different voice than the creature before. Was that a vision, or is this?
Drakeling: It feels like my brain is on fire.
SPM: That's... less good.
//Should I grab my head and ask what happened? Should I know what happened? Should I not?
SPM: You hit your head pretty badly; you should stay still for now. I've called Nurse Joyful and she's coming as fast as she can.
//The mare lifts each of my eyelids and inspects my eyes. I scratch at the ground with my foot, feeling uncomfortable.
Drakeling: ...What are you doing?
SPM: Looking for oddly dilated pupils. Although that might be a mammal thing.
Drakeling: Why...?
//I'm not a mammal? I feel warmblooded...
SPM: Sign of concussion. Do you feel like vomiting at all? Oh, are you hurt anywhere else?
Drakeling: Hm. I can't feel my hand.
SPM: What?!
//She looks down.
SPM: Oh, that's because I was stepping on it, sorry.
//Sharp pain floods up my arm.
Drakeling: --!! I can feel it now!
SPM: Good!
//She beams.
//I grab my hand and clutch it close to my chest. Claws? What are those, scales? What the hell is a drakeling, anyway?
//A pony in a nurse's outfit bursts into the clearing, carrying a bag of medical supplies in her mouth. Sweat pours down her forehead.
Nurse (Joyful?): I came as fast as I could, Twilight. Is he still unconscious?
Twilight: Nurse Joyful! I'm so glad you're here.
Drakeling: 'Lo.
//Twilight steps back, giving me room to breathe. The air tastes different when a pony's not hovering right over me.
Nurse Joyful: Just stay right there, Spike, I'm a trained medical professional.
//'Spike'? Is she talking to me? I can't see who else it would be...
Spike(?): 'Kay.
NJ: How long has he been out?
T: About ten minutes. There was no blood; he just hit his head and went limp.
Spike: I can't believe the pupil thing is really important.
//I look down as she opens my eye. The pager on her leg reads "Everfree Forest, 13:43".
NJ: Spike, stay still. Has he vomited, unconsciously or consciously?
T: No.
NJ: ...You're a very lucky drakeling, Spike, and you are a very lucky unicorn, Miss Sparkle.
T: Don't I know it.
NJ: Do you feel like standing up?
Spike: Yes please.
//I stand up.
Spike: I don't--
//My legs give out under me. Nurse Joyful and Twilight rush over, and I stand up again with their help.
//Oh yeah, I have a tail. Forgot about that.
T: What was that?
Spike: Whatever it was, it's gone now.
NJ: Even if you can stand on your own, you should take it easy. Lean on Twilight.
T: What were you saying, Spike?
//...I think I should pretend like I know what's going on. The vision I saw seemed kind of ominous.
Spike: I don't know what I was thinking.
//Technically true.
T: What do you mean?
//...That was not as revealing as I wanted, crap. Uh...
Spike: I woke up after... what, ten minutes? What if I never woke up? Or what if I had died, or been paralyzed completely, or lost my entire memory?
//...Holy crap, I _have_ lost my entire memory! I've lost everything, my whole life! Who am I? What am I doing here?
Spike: ...
T: You can't blame yourself for hitting your head like that, Spike.
Spike: It sure feels like I can.
//I still have no clue what happened. Come on, throw some exposition my way!
T: Well, don't! I'm at least equally responsible for what happened!
//I sincerely doubt this pony, Twilight, would kill me for losing my memory like the 'Creature' from earlier said. She seems genuinely concerned for my welfare, but am I willing to take that chance?
NJ: As a medical professional, it's not my place to ask just exactly what that was, but if you two guiltbirds could take care of it later...
Spike: Uh, right. 'Course.
NJ: Excellent, eyes forward. How many hooves am I holding up?
//One. I stare at Nurse Joyful. Is that really a person's name? It sounds silly.
NJ: Yes, it's supposed to be a silly question. Answer it anyway.
Spike: One.
NJ: Good. What's your name?
Spike: Spike.
//I think.
NJ: Hers?
Spike: ...Twilight Sparkle.
NJ: Mine?
Spike: Joyful.
NJ: Where are you?
Spike: ...Everfree Forest.
NJ: What's the capital of Equestria?
//...Crap.
Spike: Hold on, let me remember...
//Twilight and Nurse Joyful lean in closer. I look to the sky, and a sudden ray of light bolts down.
Spike: Thirty seven point one million bits margin of error two hundred thousand as of last year.
//She pronounced capital with an 'a', not an 'o'.
NJ: ...Was the snarky answer really necessary?
T: Spike lived in Canterlot for years and we've visited it dozens of times. He's just being cranky.
Spike: Sorry, just woke up.
NJ: If you think you're not going to be okay, Spike, don't hesitate to say so. Are you sure your memory is all right?
Spike: Yes, I'm fine.
NJ: I still want to see you in my office in a few days to follow up. I'll be expecting an appointment with you soon. You know where my office is. Twilight, if anything happens on the way back, page me.
//Twilight nods, and Nurse Joyful leaves.
T: I'm so glad you weren't hurt, now we can go tell--
Spike: I lied. I don't remember anything. Who are you?

//A library built into a tree. Twilight closes the front door behind me, and in silence closes all the windows. When she is done, she presses her head against the stairwell.
T: Everything.
Spike: Everything.
T: _Everything_ everything?
Spike: Saying a word twice doesn't change its meaning.
T: And _why_ didn't you tell Nurse Joyful?
//I shrug. It's probably best not to mention the vision.
T: There must be some sort of spell for this.
//Twilight starts looking through the library's collection of arcane tomes, placing them back as she rejects each one.
Spike: You can cast spells? Are you any good at it? I'm not sure I want a novice spellcaster mucking about with my head.
T: All unicorns can cast spells, but I... what do you remember about me?
//Nothing, we've been over this.
Spike: I know your name is Twilight Sparkle; you're a unicorn from Ponyville, a town where a library inside a tree is a mundane sight. You know who I am and who Nurse Joyful is, and... that's all I know.
T: Nothing else? Not being friends for years, ever since you were a little hatchling -- a tiny dragon? We were ordered to Ponyville by the old Princess to study magic? Wacky adventures learning how to make and keep friendships? Sending reports about our learning to Celestia?
//I shrug. Nothing in the library triggers any memory. The telescope is shiny, though.
T: ...Do you remember anyone else?
//I think for a moment. Who was that pony in the dream?
Spike: I remember a tall pony, the size of a horse, white with wings and a long horn. Is that anyone?
//Twilight stops her search for books, and puts my head between her front hooves. She looks at my eyes. I'm a bit taller than her (and a bit slimmer, too).
T: Celestia? Why would you remember Celestia?
Spike: Why would I remember Celestia?
//A long pause. Twilight lets go of me and continues shuffling through the shelves.
T: ...I have no idea.
//I hop up on a table and start idly swinging my legs. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do.
Spike: So how did I hit my head?
T: You were chasing a bird that had stolen an amulet from you. I tried to give chase, but by the time I caught up to you, you were going over the waterfall.
Spike: Didn't you say you were equally responsible for what happened? How are you responsible for that?
//She takes a quick breath.
T: The only reason we were in the Everfree Forest was to gather more lactarius deliciosus mushrooms because I couldn't gather enough on my own to make Zecora the tea I promised her next Tuesday with the time I already scheduled for mushroom gathering on Wednesday, because I forgot to take into account the lactarius deliciosus's similarity to the lactarius rubrilacteus which also grows in the same region because I hadn't yet read that far in my mushroom guide because I decided to sleep in Monday!
Spike: It definitely sounds like it was all your fault.
T: I was lazy and you paid the price, but I can fix this. I think.
//What if you can't?
Spike: Who's Zecora, anyone I know? Knew?
T: A zebra who I'm good friends with; lives in the Everfree Forest. Ah, here's the section!
//Twilight levitates a few books off of the shelf, using magic from her horn. She inspects the books for a half minute, face darkening.
T: No, no, no! Detecting Confabulations, False Memory Syndrome And You, The Dark Science: Creating Memories Vol. 2, nothing about recovering lost memory!
Spike: Why would a public library have a book called "The Dark Science: Creating Memories"? And why would there be a _second volume_?
T: A particularly lax library oversight committee and strong historical relevance clauses in censorship laws. Also, no one goes to this part of the library.
Spike: Why not?
//Twilight shakes her head and mutters:
T: No one likes magic theory.
//A knock on the door.
Voice From Beyond Door: Twilight? Are you home?
T: (Hey, could you do me a favor?)
Spike: (Not say or do anything?)
T: (You catch on pretty quick!)
Spike: (Staying paralyzed with indecision is really my only gameplan here.)
//Twilight opens the door.
T: Fluttershy!
Fluttershy: Oh, I'm sorry. If I knew you were reorganizing I wouldn't have come; I'm afraid I'm giving you more work.
//Twilight levitates the book inside and puts it on a pile.
T: What? Never mind; it's nothing. How did the book treat you?
FS: It was wonderful.
T: Good, good!
//Twilight motions to close the door.
FS: The incubus was no trouble at all once I'd done a little research; thank you again for digging that book out for me.
T: It's no problem at all! If you'd mind, I'm also in the middle of a little research right now, so...
//Twilight smiles. It looks more sheepish and prompting than false.
FS: ...Twilight? Is something wrong?
//Still smiling.
T: ...No!
//Twilight closes the door.
Spike: (You are a terrible liar).
T: (I hate lying to Fluttershy.)
//From beyond the door, Fluttershy says:
FS: Twilight, I'm sorry if I'm being forward, but I think something _is_ wrong.
Spike: (Why? Do you feel guilty?)
T: (No. I can never get away with it.)
FS: Please open the door.
T: (Before I met Fluttershy, I never imagined that empathy could be a supernatural ability.)
//Twilight opens the door.
T: Come on in.
FS: I do hope I'm not imposing, but you look very worried, and I know if I had a problem I'd feel just awful if no one wanted to help me.
T: I'm not the one with the problem.
Spike: Hi, Fluttershy.
//She looks at me for a long while. I swing my legs and look around; an owl swoops through the window to perch on the telescope and then flies away.
FS: It sounds like you're saying that for the first time.
//Damn, she's good.
T: He lost his memory.
FS: Oh? I'm sorry to hear that, Spike. It must be so terrifying for you, not knowing where you've been and what you've been doing. Do you mind if I ask how far back you can't remember?
Spike: Nothing. I have nothing at all. How old am I, anyway?
//Fluttershy holds a hoof to her mouth.
FS: ...My goodness...
//Twilight sits down in front of a bookshelf, staring at it in defeat.
T: Nothing. I have nothing at all. Not one good book.
//Fluttershy looks down at the floor, pawing at it once. Then she looks back and forth between us purple folk.
Spike: Hey, do you use that telescope all that often?
T: No, why?
//I shrug.
Spike: Just wondering.
FS: This is just... horrible!
//Fluttershy launches into the air, flying about with nervous energy and yellow wings.
FS: You don't remember a single thing? Who you are? Who you've been? Who we are, and who we've been? Adventures or lessons learned or moments with close ones? Do you remember anything?
//'We'? Close ones?
Spike: ...Were you guys my friends before this happened?
T: Spike, we _are_ your friends.
FS: And we always will be, no matter what.
Spike: Then do I want my memories back? Be honest; I wasn't a serial killer of some sort?
FS: No, of course not, Spike! Um, the serial killer. You aren't a bad person.
T: Besides, the event of total amnesia could be considered a change in personhood that would free you from any responsibility for your hypothetical grisly murders.
FS: Do you feel you want your memories back?
//...Yes, I do. No matter who I was.
Spike: ...Maybe being any sort of person is better than being no person at all.
//A clock spits out a small green bird and chirps eight times. The sun outside is rapidly fading.
T: Celestia's wings, it's getting late. Fluttershy, would you mind staying here with Spike for a while? I want to see what the magic library in Canterlot has on memory restoration.
FS: Of course not, it would be terrible to have to be alone right now.
T: Thanks.
//Twilight walks out of the room, and a POP is heard. Fluttershy sits down next to me.
FS: If there's anything you want to ask about, or anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask.
Spike: Right now, I don't have enough understanding about anything to form a question to know more. But thank you.
FS: ...I'm sorry.
Spike: You apologize a lot, don't you?
//Fluttershy smiles, and nods.
FS: Don't worry. In time, you'll know enough to start asking questions. One day, you may start to find answers.
//For a minute, I stare at the setting sun through the window left open by the owl.
Spike: Actually, I do have a question. What's an incubus?

//All is dark. A creature approaches with a light.
Creature: Drakeling.
Spike: I found out who I am, by the way; I'm Spike.
C: A rose's embrace by any name.
//That's sweet of... hold on, is she calling me a prick?
C: Your adaptation to the role expected of you by those around you has been quick. It is fortunate that you followed my advice, young Spike, and played the part. A gear that twists away from its position is quickly mangled in the machine.
//Does this pony say anything in a straightforward manner?
Spike: Someone said you looked like Celestia. Are you Celestia?
C: Yes. I am Celestia.
Spike: Okay. Why is that important?
//Celestia pauses, blinking once.
C: It is possible, if you are clever, to reach conclusions even from what little information you are given. What sort of entity communicates with others through the network of dreams?
Spike: I'm not asleep.
//She looks amused.
C: Oh? What happened after you asked your once friend what an incubus was?
Spike: She ignored me, made some chickenblood soup that I really think was just hot water in a red bowl and I sat down in front of the telescope to watch the stars.
//Celestia smiles and nods.
Spike: I closed my eyes because I was tired, and the slumping forward was really because my back was in an awkward position for about an hour fine I'm asleep are you happy.
C: What kind of person holds coherent conversations in her sleep with a mysterious visitor, on the advent of great change in her life?
//'Her'? I'm not a girl.
Spike: ...Someone who's worth the attention of power. I can't tell if that says more about you, or me.
C: You are worthy of my attention, young Spike, not for who you are, but for who you will be.
Spike: I don't know either.
//A tiny sphere emerges from behind Celestia's ear. With only the slightest movements of her head, it zooms far in front of us, and inflates to colossal size.
Spike: You must win a lot at marbles.
//The sphere looks perfectly smooth, blue and green with streaks of white.
C: This is your world. More correctly, this is my world, for I have created it from the raw nothingness that came before it, and I oversee all within. You are simply one note in its song.
Spike: Why's this part white?
//I touch it. It's cold. That's snow.
Spike: Oh, it's snow. Right.
//Celestia looks on patiently as I stir away some floating whiteness with a finger. Those parts must have been clouds instead of snow. There must be a whole bunch of white things in the world that aren't snow.
C: It is normally the hoof of a deity that intercedes upon this world, Spike.
Spike: Oh, sorry.
//I watch the world slowly roll away for a minute. Hold on, how did I know that was snow?
Spike: Wait, I've never seen snow before. Or heard of it.
C: I am of the understanding that this is how amnesia works.
Spike: Then how do I even know what it is? Scratch that, how do I even know how to talk? Why do I remember motor control if I don't remember anything else?
C: It is one of the peculiarities of the brain's physical structure, little drakeling. You hit your head very hard, but you are neither dead or dumb yet.
Spike: 'Yet', she says. Real motivational speaker, you are.
C: Your mid-life encounter with tabula rasa is liberating, in a way you do not appreciate.
//Tabula Rasa? I haven't met anyone by that name.
//The world stops rolling, and simply hovers in front of us. With a dramatic wave of her wings, a large section of it is highlighted, and is set toward us in a specific orientation.
Spike: It looks like a bunny seducing a giraffe.
//She mutters:
C: You know, they always say that, but I never manage to see it...
Spike: Anyway, how is not remembering anything 'liberating'?
C: Do you see this land?
Spike: The bunny, the giraffe, or the giant--
C: All of it is called Equestria, and you live somewhere in it. All children born into this world, foal and hatchling and cub alike, are born without knowledge of language, motor skills, categories of precipitation--
Spike: 'This' world? Is there some other planet I should know about?
C: While all of those with ability are shaped and biased by their upbringing, never able to divide the state of the world from their own experiences.
Spike: Uh... okay.
//The highlighting fades.
C: Your rare circumstance allows you to enter the world with an open and questing mind, not subject to the limitations present in the minds of others. You can see the world as it is, not how others wish you to see it.
Spike: Then why'd you tell me to play the part in the first place?
//Celestia stays silent for a long while, staring at a part of the world. She eventually responds:
C: Some of us must put on an act for others to advance the greater good.
//I stand up, to stretch out my leg.
Spike: Here's hoping you won't ask me to put on a pony costume or something else freaky.
//In case you haven't noticed, I'm a dragon, not a pony. I think.
C: We will get your tasks in a moment. For now: you may have heard something about me in your waking hours. Can you remember what it is?
Spike: Hmm... was it, 'sending reports about our learning to Celestia'?
//Celestia laughs heartily.
C: It was a time of great mirth for me.
Spike: Are you the Princess of Equestria, then?
C: A deity becoming royalty, in the opposite of the more usual, but I abdicated that throne.
//You can do that?
Spike: Why?
//Celestia turns away. She closes her eyes for a long time, as the world beside us fades away.
C: That is a question not answered simply.
//Oh boy, storytime!
C: In the early days of my world, millenia before your existence, power and rule were synonymous: those who ruled did so because no one could stop them; the idea of who _should_ rule was meaningless. Naturality dominated all social systems, and the lives of all intelligent creatures were subject to continued terrors. The strong singularly dominated the weak, and took from them whatever they could for the reason that they could. I looked upon this result with great dismay, but I could not figure out how to make any lasting change.
Spike: At some point you had to, the world's not like that now.
C: One idea arose centering around divine authority: if perfection could be distilled into, or found residing in, religious doctrine, then could those most representative of religious doctrine be the necessary rulers? The answer was no, but it inspired within me another question: instead of the rule of those most able to imitate the gods, why couldn't a goddess herself rule?
Spike: But that didn't work?
C: Depends, if you consider over a dozen centuries of relative stability and happiness a failure.
//The deity who cares about the world as her own, and whose arrival was possibly the best thing to happen to it... got up and left one day?
Spike: Then why'd you leave?
C: If mortals require a deity to live in harmony, do they deserve to get it?
Wavering Voice One: ...Hello Twilight, I heard you were in town, so I wanted to ask...
Spike: The hell was that?
C: You're dreaming, Spike. That was real.
Spike: Reality affects your dreams?
C: It does mine.
Wavering Voice Two: ...I don't want to give you the wrong impression...
C: Our time is quickly finishing, so I will tell you this: you may think your own thoughts about power and the ability to rule, but she who rules Equestria today does not deserve to; she is false, a con mare and a crook. She is, plainly, evil.
Spike: Why? What's she done?
C: You'll find out.
WVO: ...damaged his memory? He has no idea who even I am?...
C: You must venture forth as a just storm, bringing my judgment to the mare who has made herself beyond reproach. Become a beacon for your people, one that binds the scattered together by your will and lights a path for them to follow. Gain the power, and learn the world, so that you yourself know why the false Princess of Equestria must be overthrown. Destroy her, and bring Equestria into a new day.
Spike: 'Just storm'? 'Beacon for my people'? You're throwing a lot of metaphors and I'm not catching them.
//I need a metaphor glove.
Spike: Why are you telling me this? I'm not a Hero or anything, even if you say I'm going to be...
//Celestia lowers her head, spreads her wings, and speaks in a low tone:
C: ...It is possible I may reverse the loss which has been inflicted on you. But I need the resources of Canterlot Castle to do it.
Spike: What?!
//Is that really true?!
WVT: ...hit his head pretty bad.
WVO: I'm sure...
C: I see a mountain region where dragons are huddled together, fearing violence at the hands of ponies trying to take the land and resources for themselves. I see a city filled with oppression and hostility, keeping labor and income in the hands of the privileged by the thick of a truncheon. I see an heiress with an ailing father poised to tear Equestria apart through imperceptible monetary schemes. I see a vile creature looking to raise a legendary battalion to walk the world once again under her control. I see a seasoned warrior training a fearsome army to take the throne by force. And I see a false Princess who has allowed these threats to arise, only maintaining tenuous control of Equestria through the assistance of her powerful friends. She has to die for the good of the world. Kill her.
//Regicide, then. Why couldn't she have said that in the first place?
Spike: Is that really the task given to me by the creator of the universe? A deity wants some putz with a crown dead?
C: It is. Awaken.
//I wake up.

//Twilight's tree/house. The telescope angles up and out the window in front of me. Someone has put a blanket around my shoulders.
Rarity: Is there a reason, Twilight, that the library is absolutely buried in the written word? More literally than the usual?
//Books cover the floor of the library about a foot deep, except for little paths that wind through the mess to different shelves. Rarity and Twilight are walking in one of the pathways.
Twilight: I've been trying to find spell research that deals with memory, but magical healing is a tricky subject and information doubly so -- not to mention there are no peer-reviewed publications focused on either topic until the last one point five years.
R: Ah, yes, and who do we have to thank for that, again?
T: How many times do I have to say that it wasn't her fault? There was no 'secret magic blacklist', just an unfortunate configuration of tax codes and grant distributions.
R: Of course; a deity would never impede scientific progress.
//A journey across the land to fight the good fight, and defeat a powerful evil monster at the end (I'm sure hidden away in a terrible underground lair in a bog somewhere where people are tortured daily and the air is acid)... that sounds dangerous...
R: It's not as if the ex-Princess was exactly _straightforward_ in her dealings, dear. I mean, you of all ponies should know that best.
T: And what exactly do you mean by that?
R: Twilight, come on, girl! Are you so infatuated with the old mare that you can't see how many tests she put you through?
T: You mean, _existential threats to Equestria_?
\\And totally like I'm meant to be some sort of... hero, or something. I mean, come on, this is crazy! Heroes are the slay-the-dragon, rescue-the-damsel-in-distress kind of guys, and I just happen to be a dragon!
R: Balderdash. It is dreadfully obvious all true dangers which we have been through were manufactured. Every single one, false as her divinity. You've never wondered why each and every 'threat to Equestria' was unforeseeable in the extreme?
T: And why doesn't it seem that way to me?
R: Rationalization?
//...But I totally want to do it. A little drakeling wandering the land, challenging evil with only his fists and personal charisma? Come on -- _total_ _badass_. Besides, what better way to experience what the world is about than by attacking it head-on, and who better to do it than someone with no attachments? You say I'm meant to be a hero, and I agree! I'll be a Hero in the name of Celestia, bringing justice to the cruel and defending the weak!
T: It's not like that.
R: Then explain to me, Twilight, how none of the threats we seem to have defeated had any retrograde impact on contemporary society, despite seeming so dramatic and intense. You know, beyond the easily planted, odd rumor?
T: You sound like a conspiracy theorist!
\\You just want to do this to get your memories back.
//...
\\Admit it, it's true.
//Celestia told me about the world and what I should look out for, what I should be doing instead of worrying about the past and feeling sorry for me. A pony like that I can certainly get behind.
R: I will agree with you on one thing, dear. 'Celestia did it' _is_ a valid answer for most everything.
//A telescope could be very useful on a journey across the land. If my opponents are going to be as powerful as Celestia warned they would be, maybe it would be best to scout them out before I attack...
T: Now, Rarity, I know this is going to be a huge favor to ask, but--
R: Spike? What _are_ you doing with the telescope?
Spike: Twilight, you said you didn't use the telescope all that often. Would you mind if I had it?
//Twilight looks bewildered.
T: Uh... 'had it'?
Spike: Uh, is personal ownership not a thing in Equestria? Like an if-a-thing-exists-everyone-uses-it deal, or can people possess things?
T: Y-yeah, Spike, you can have it, but I'm more confused about why you want the telescope at all...
R: It allows him to see what is far away before it comes near.
T: Really, because I heard smart ponies would put it a certain place--
//I leap from the stairs with the telescope in my hand, eliciting gasps from both unicorns. The landing is no trouble.
R: Do be careful, dear, you might hurt yourself!
Spike: Girl, you are not nearly old or Southern enough to be calling people 'dear'. It just sounds like you're trying too hard.
T: Spike! This is Rarity, a good friend of yours and mine, and memory loss or not you have no right to be rude to her!
Spike: ...Sorry, Miss Rarity. No offense meant.
R: I accept your apology, Spike.
//I start searching through the stacks of books, looking for anything that might help. Do they have a 'Hero' section?
\\Wait, start looking for information about dragons. It's likely there's someone who knew you.
//Don't Twilight and Fluttershy know who I was?
\\Yeah, but they're ponies. You probably didn't spend much time with them. There has to be a dragon who knew you.
T: ...Spike?
Spike: Do you have a book on non-avian overland migration patterns in here?
R: Why, Spike, would you be looking for something like that?
//To find out where be dragons.
Spike: Hey, I lost my memory, right? Relearning everything has to start somewhere. What about biographies of current political leaders? An autobiography will do.
//I need to know who the false Princess is if I'm going to defeat her.
T: Any particular reason?
Spike: Just curious.
//I try to smile and hope it doesn't look cheesy.
R: While I cannot say I understand what it could possibly be like to lose one's entire memory, you do seem rather... less distraught than I would imagine.
//Oh, hey, this looks interesting.
T: And also gathering very specific things. The Healing Power of Calm Meditation? What's with you, Spike?
//I shrug.
Spike: I dunno, it looked interesting.
R: Spike, as a rule Twilight and I never lie to our friends, and we would appreciate it if you would return the favor.
//...Do all of Twilight's friends have supernatural lie detection?
T: Spike, you're not asking for and picking up books at random, this is a pattern. What's with you?
//Do I tell them? About the vision? I don't know if I can lie well enough to get them to believe something else, and maybe the fact it's the truth will convince them...
Spike: A vision. Right before I woke up, I saw a vision.
T: Uh oh.
R: A vision of what, dear?
Spike: The creator of the universe herself appeared to me. She said the oppressed were her kind, and I am to be her champion.
T: 'Creator of the universe'? You can't mean--
Spike: Celestia told me to lead Equestria to glory, and that's what I'm going to do. I will learn what it means to be a true Hero!
T: ...the hell?
R: Dear, when a deity is talking to you, you don't _listen_. It's bad form.
Spike: I want to be a beacon of justice and light for those who go without at the hooves of others, and for Celestia.
T: Spike, Princess Celestia disappeared a year and a half ago! No one has seen her since!
R: And there's doubt the Princess was even Celestia herself, instead of a con mare taking advantage of the gullible. I mean, she was defeated several times, you do know?
Spike: My mission was revealed to me in my dream: I cannot stop until I am powerful enough to defeat the current, false Princess, and bring harmony back to Equestria!
R: ...Best of luck with this one, dear.
T: Spike, is this really what you want to do? There's nothing else that will satisfy you?
Spike: I don't know who I was or who I am, and even going on this journey to find out I may never succeed. But I know who I must be, and this is it.
R: You're certain? This wasn't, say, one of those _other_ occurrences that happen while a person is sleeping? _Dreams_?
Spike: I want to see the world. I want to do my part. What else is there for me to do? Watch the sadness of distant friends who once barely knew me, as I struggle to rebuild someone else's version of my life?
//Rarity bites her lip. After a moment, Twilight bows her head and sighs.
T: ...Okay. I'll help you pack.
R: Twilight! Are you sure?
T: If this is what he wants, yes, I'm sure.
//Rarity, in a disagreeing mood, shakes her head. Her mane falls in front of one eye.
R: This must be simply a drakeling fantasy, gone to his young head. The poor boy has too many chemicals in his system. I'm sure we could find a way to help with that.
//I keep looking for books.
Spike: I don't need any help of that kind, thanks.
R: Really? Come here; I'm sure I can make you feel differently...
T: In the library, Rarity. Really.
Spike: Hey, what are -- get away from me!

The Drakeling breathes fire!

R: Aaaughhaa!!
T: Watch the flames!
R: My emerald! He scorched my emerald!
Spike: Huh, I was expecting that to do more damage.
R: Damage? I'll show you some damage, you ungrateful little--
T: Rarity, I think it's time for you to leave.
R: ...Ungrateful little...
T: Do I have to say it again?
R: ...Fine. Tell the whelp next time he touches _me_ I intend to spread his bodily fluids all over the next continent! Good day!
//Rarity slams the door on her way out.
Spike: Celestia's wings, what was her problem?
T: ...Just keep packing.
//Crazy pale bint.

//Finally, I'm on the road. Dragons are predators by nature, so I didn't take any food since I could find it as I go. Not sure how I know dragons are predators; probably an innate feeling.
//...If dragons are predators by nature, does that make ponies prey?
Spike: You know, when I said I was going on a journey to find myself, I thought the phrase implied 'alone'.
T: You know what implying does, Spike. It makes an imp out of ly and... I think I messed that up.
Spike: How am I supposed to be a champion of my people with a possessive purple pony over my shoulder like my mother the entire time?
T: I'll be far, far away before you start to fight, so don't worry about that. Do you like the cloak, though?
Spike: Silver, purple, and red. You must be the world's most studious clown.
T: It's a special cloak; no one can recognize me wearing the hood up.
Spike: Right. It's good to know you're so prepared to follow me against my will.
T: I'll be frank with you: you won't be strong enough to beat me off for a long time.
Spike: ...Twilight?
T: What? Do I have something in my teeth?
Spike: ...Nevermind.
T: Besides, I need a break. It'll help me catch up on my reading, and I've always wanted to travel more.
Spike: As long as you leave the Hero stuff to me. After all, what kind of champion would I be if someone helped me every step of the way?
T: While I would never want to get in the way of your stark lack of knowledge about sidekick appropriativity, do you know where the current Princess lives? Or who she is? What bodyguards, if any, she has? Where any of your dragon brethren live?
Spike: ...It's in these books somewhere, I know it.
T: On that note, I don't know why I'm carrying these. Here you go.
Spike: Oof!
T: The current Princess, false or not, is called Princess Hazel. She is a master of magic, and possibly the most intelligent pony in the land. From the havoc of the absence of Princess Celestia she calmed Equestria and restored order. Legends of her prowess tell that no trick will work more than once against her because of her studious nature, and her vast array of knowledge means no defense can be mounted against her.
Spike: ...I have a lot training to do.
T: Yes, you do. Oh! Do you smell that?
Spike: Uh, no?
T: It looks like you'll have an opportunity to get on that training right away. Later!
Spike: Wait!
//How does she just disappear like that?
//A small green pegasus swoops down from the sky, and lands in front of me!
Pegasus: Oh, hey there. What's a dragon doing in these parts?
Spike: Uh, hi. I'm going to Forlegsandria. This is the Clove road, right?
//There's a large dragon population in Forlegsandria, so I want to go there. Maybe there will be someone who recognizes me.
Pegasus: Aw, what a shame! I'm coming from there, going to Ponyville. Wouldn't it have been cool if we could be travel buddies?
Spike: I... guess?
//She seems... nice? A bit more odd than nice.
Pegasus: I really think you should come with me to Ponyville.
T: (Celestia, pushy much?)
Spike: (I thought you said you were going to stay hidden!)
T: (She can't hear me; peanut gallery comments are fair game.)
Pegasus: Well?
Spike: Sorry, Forlegsandria is a big city so I'm hoping to find some other dragons there.
Pegasus: Hmm...
Spike: (What's with the sniffing; why do ponies do that?)
T: (Shrug.)
Pegasus: Oh, I know why you're going to Forlegsandria...
//That smile is not less weird than the sniffing.
Pegasus: Yeah... you look like you're at that age for a dragon, too... I understand. I was at that age not too long ago, too, and I know how it is.
Spike: Excepting the, you know, pony/dragon thing...
Pegasus: It's hard to get someone to sympathize at that age... but if you want to know the truth, I've been having a bit of the same exact troubles myself recently.
Spike: That's great. What's with the wings?
Pegasus: I know I'm not a dragon, but I'm feeling generous if you are, so let's call it a thing, eh?
Spike: A thing? What do you -- aaaughh!!
//The Pegasus attacks!

[[SAVE LOCATION]]

The Pegasus nuzzles The Drakeling in the lower body with her fuzzy snout!

Pegasus: Just lie on your back; it'll be easier this way.
Spike: No, get away from me!

The Drakeling punches The Pegasus in the right front leg with his left hand, bruising the skin!

Pegasus: What are you, crazy?!
Spike: I was about to ask the same thing!
Pegasus: I'm trying to help you!
Spike: This is no kind of help!

The Pegasus charges at the Drakeling! The Pegasus attacks The Drakeling but he jumps away! The Pegasus rushes by The Drakeling!
The Drakeling counterattacks! The Drakeling kicks The Pegasus in the left back hoof with his left foot, bruising the bone!

Pegasus: Ow! Hey, you can't hurt me! Not unless I tell you to hurt me!

The Pegasus buffets The Drakeling in the face with her wings but The Drakeling covers his eyes!
The Pegasus charges at The Drakeling! The Pegasus collides with The Drakeling! The Drakeling is knocked over and tumbles backward!
The Pegasus grabs The Drakeling by the left upper arm with her left front hoof! The Pegasus grabs The Drakeling by the right upper arm with her right front hoof! The Drakeling is pinned!

Pegasus: Calm down! I don't want to hurt you! I want to make you feel good. Just let me do that, okay?
Spike: Get off!
Pegasus: I will, at the end!

The Drakeling breathes fire! The Pegasus is caught in the dragonfire! Her mane has been singed and an eyelid has been burnt!

Pegasus: To hell with this! I'm out of here! You're crazy, kid, with a capital K!

The Pegasus was chased away!
Spike earned 10 experience points!
Spike is now level 2!

[[SAVE LOCATION]]

Spike: Wha... hoo... what the hell was that?!
//What a crazy green bint!
T: You mean, besides pathetic? That was barely adequate for even a schoolyard fight. Claw out her eyes next time; little tip from the playground.
//'Defeating evildoers' somehow doesn't carry with it 'being attacked by absolute strangers with no provocation", maybe the wording should be changed...
T: That fight took too long, it's getting dark out. We should probably set up camp for the night.

//The middle of nowhere on the side of the road. Well, the middle of nowhere on the side of the road with a fire and two bedrolls and a large chunk of meat in my claws. My companion, Twilight Sparkle (?) is nibbling at the grass, reading a book.
Spike: Sorry I couldn't find anything for you to eat.
T: Don't worry about me; I'm not part of your journey.
Spike: Do ponies eat chicken? We might be able to find some chicken along the way.
T: Ponies are vegetarian, Spike.
Spike: Ah, okay, got it. As soon as we pass by a river I'll scoop you out some fish, then.
//Twilight sighs and flips the page. After a while I finish eating, and lie down to sleep for the night.
T: Going to sleep already?
Spike: A strong body's maintenance is rest.
T: The first part you need to work on is a strong body. Here, maybe with my help we can find a way for you not to look so pathetic in a fight.
Spike: Wha?
T: Put up your hands; we're training.

T: I'm not your ally, but it would be pretty boring if you get beaten too quickly.

//For a few hours after dark, I spend some time training with Twilight.

T: Right there, you need to use your feet and lean. That's how you got pushed over today.
Spike: Like this?
T: Almost. If you learn how to use your legs and arms independent of each other, you can bounce around the battlefield easier. It's probably useful at your size.
[Dashing Rogue Punch] was mastered!
Spike: Dashing Rogue Punch, eh? Sounds just right for me!
T: It's said that the werewolf fighter Tyler was able to snap any pony's spine in an instant with this technique. Use it well.
Spike: ...Slightly less enthused...

//In my sleep I see again a vision.
C: Spike... Oh, Spike...
Spike: Yes, Celestia! I hear you!
C: Spike, you must be careful on your journey into the vast unknown. There are many who would corrupt and waylay you, some not as obvious as others.
Spike: I understand, Celestia! I will be true!
C: A young boy meant to be a hero, with a powerful purple sorceress as his companion... I have seen something like this before, and you must be wary of both those who call themselves your allies, and your enemies.
//Before? What happened then?
Spike: I will keep my eyes open for all dangers!
C: Before you leave, Hero Spike, I have a few words of wisdom to impart to you.
//Then what were the words beforehand?
Spike: I'm all ears. Well, not literally, because that would likely not be a competitive organism with a niche to fill and--
C: When I created the world, young drakeling, I tried to make a people of grace and power, magnificent in their way to match the world I created for them, a people great enough to call my own. But I am not perfect, and it took many attempts.
Spike: But your power shone through in the end! It must have!
C: Hah... yes, my Spike, it did. It was only when I hewed the first dragon, the first of your people, from the metaphorical stone did I see a creature worthy of my glory, and I placed it in the world without hesitation. In my haste I neglected the residents already placed there.
Spike: What happened next?
C: As you said, competition. It turns out the niche of fire-breathing flying death lizards is a particularly small one, and a population bottleneck coupled with increasing aggression from the more organized species led to ruination. But all was not lost, for in my wisdom I prepared dragonkind with a tool set to overcome any challenge.
//I think fire-breathing flying death lizard is enough of a tool set, myself.
C: Dragons have, or as you will soon learn, had, the ability to create descendants in more diversity than other creatures; in fact, dragons could mate with any sort of creature at all. Through circumstance and coincidence, after many great and terrible conflicts across the world, the only blood of the dragon left in the world today is inseparable from the blood of a phoenix, and different from dragons as they once were.
Spike: Phoenix? Does that mean, I can burst others into flame with my breath, and they're reborn?
//Celestia smiles, amused.
C: No. It is more in line with what mortals know as Gregor Ponydel's Three-Stage Theory, discussing the contemporary phoenician drake: 'in the beginning, "dragons" are hatchlings, who will one day grow to be full dragons, but between them is the time of the drakeling'.
Spike: And I'm a drakeling.
C: Yes. Due to various intermingling of dragon and phoenix traits, drakelinghood is a special time for two reasons. Firstly, like a phoenix, you may only successfully mate at this stage in your life, and like a phoenix only with members of your species.
Spike: Uh, okay, not sure how that's going to affect my journey, but go on.
//Wait, did I have a girlfriend? Uh oh, that could be bad...
C: Secondly, on the condition of either fruitful or fruitless mating, dragonblood magic tries to express the biology of the alternate partner, but the first non-dragon blood it encounters--
Spike: --is the phoenix's.
C: Yes. Carried by a dragon's design, phoenix-like qualities are delivered to both the alternate partner and the host, the most important of which is a phoenix's immortality.
//Holy crap!
Spike: Really?
C: I would not lie to you. This is a warning of danger.
Spike: Danger? That sounds useful!
C: Exceedingly so, but not for you. Think about this: immortality is almost nonexistent; it cannot be bought or crafted or designed or machined or pleaded or begged or stolen or made with magic, or anything else a pony could do...
//Oh. Shit.
Spike: Except me.
C: For immortality, some would find the freedom of a drakeling a meaningless cost.
Spike: I've finally become a sex god and I can't even enjoy it.
//I don't really mean it, but I just don't know how to respond to all this.
C: Humor might be the correct response. There may be no other way to respond to the patently absurd. Absurd, after all, does mean what should not be.
//The vision fades away, and I continue sleeping.
C: Defeat the false Princess, Spike... See through her lies...

//In the morning, we pack up camp without a worry, and make our way towards Forlegsandria. Two ponies circle overhead for a while and then fly off, though I am surprised to see a gargantuan dragon fly overhead towards Ponyville.
T: I can't wait to get to Forlegsandria, I've heard their library is one of the most extensive in the world, even rivaling Canterlot! Could you imagine, a library that matches that of the City on the Hill, and it's open to the public? I can't wait to be inside!
Spike: Cool.
T: And the scrolls, they have a series of scrolls written long before 1000 years ago, sent between nobles of rivaling tribes! I already know what they say, of course, but to see them in person? How could I not be excited!?
Spike: Awesome.
T: Not to mention the Rosesetta Stone itself, carved into marble in the earliest days of pony history that lets us uncover the meaning of artifacts written in long forgotten and dead languages. Can you imagine carving into something ten feet high and eight feet wide and knowing it'll be a part of history some day? Can you?
Spike: Wow.
T: I know! And...
//Twilight's nose twists in an odd way. She spends a second to think, then pulls the hood up around her head.
T: Were you planning on visiting the dragon district in Forlegsandria, Spike?
//Quickly taken out of autopilot mode, I shake my head and regain awareness of my surroundings. We're only a few feet from the gates.
Spike: I was planning on it, yeah.
T: ...I have to go. I'll catch up with you at some point. Be careful.
Spike: Wait, what's--
//Without a flash or a hustle, Twilight Sparkle simply disappears.
Spike: --happening?... I should get to the dragon district.

//The dragon district is lifeless for the first few blocks. Deeper in, bruised bodies start to pile up. Young full dragons and even a few elders are piled on the sides of the streets, trying to breathe past broken ribs and nursing small but not threatening wounds. In the center square, an immense silver dragon lies curled around a broken fountain pouring water over his head, unconscious. Above in the sky, a speedy blue pegasus circles around.
Rainbow Dash: Well? Anyone else want to take on the great Rainbow Dash? Or are you all just weaklings?
//I very much want this to be just a misunderstanding.
RBD: You dragons are criminals. Every single one of you are disgusting. I don't know why Princess Hazel keeps you alive!
//...Crap. I very, very much want nothing other than to go away and come back tomorrow. But what kind of Hero would I be if I ran away at the first sign of trouble?
\\I don't know, an intelligent one?
//You would be surprised at how often intelligence and heroism are at odds with one another. But I must be a champion of my people, no matter the cost.
Spike: *Gulp* Hey, you!
RBD: Who said that?
//She whips around, tossing a rainbow mane through the sky as I hide behind a pillar. I eventually step out and speak again, fists raised.
Spike: Do you... have a problem with dragons?
RBD: Depends on who's askin'! You some kind of tough... heh, nevermind.
//She plummets to the ground a few feet in front of me, smashing into the cobblestone and sending debris flying all about. I cover my head as a stone strikes my leg, and the dust cloud blocks out the sun for a moment.
Spike: I'm a Hero, and that's all you need to know!
RBD: Heh-heh, listen, kid. You should probably know, your friends are jerks.
Spike: ...?
RBD: Sent you out here, probably said something like, 'Only you can defeat the Avatar of Speed, 'cause you're the Hero we're looking for' or whatever, right? Eeeeeehhh, wrong. Turns out you're the sacrifice they sent out to appease me.
Spike: Sacrifice?
RBD: I'm not going to spell it two ways to you, kid; you're a drakeling, I'm a mare, put it together. But today's your lucky day, maybe Pinkie's smiling on you or something, 'cause I'm not really in the mood right now. So do yourself a favor on your lucky day and get the hell out of here.
//I desperately want nothing other than to turn around and leave. But I can't leave. Hero, not Hero, champion or no champion, the first sight I see is a bunch of people broken at the hooves of an arrogant pony, and for that I will not stand!
Spike: You... did you do this? Answer me!
RBD: What, these losers? They did this to themselves, mostly. I just helped them along a little.
Spike: Why?
RBD: Eh... seemed like fun. Nothing better to do. Dragons are criminals. Are you gonna scram, or what?
Spike: I won't accept any gift from such a monster, not even mercy! Fight me!
//Rainbow Dash stretches her wings and clears her throat.
RBD: I don't like playing rough with my new toys, but kid, you brought it on yourself...