//Clouds of dust spiral out of the mountain of settling rock and dirt. Ash floods into the hole torn in the surface. That was the least pleasant experience I have had in my entire life.
\\And seriously, who was that drakeling?
//I claw a handful of dust out of my eyes and try to read the scratchings on the ankh in my hand.
Spike: 'I live a strange aeon.' There wasn't enough room to scratch 'in'. Unless you drew an arrow and wrote it on one of the sides, but that would make it look terrible... grammatical incorrectness, terrible inscription design. Not sure which is worse, really.
//The bones of Osto Bacchus, several dead bodies in coffins dug up by her team and the machinery of her whole operation lay below thousands of tons of stone. Nothing remains beside the ankh in my hand.
//Out of the hole I can see the sun, starting to rise far away. It shines past where a forest once was, and illuminates the cavern.
//...Crap, I can't get out.
Spike: If I had a pick, or a rope of some sort...
//Technically, I can get out of here, I just have to wait an unspecified amount of time...
//Nope. There must be some cave or passage hidden in the shadows around here because I am not waiting in a dirty hole to wait to grow wings.
//YES, I UNDERSTAND YOUR PERSONAL QUEST IS TO EXPERIENCE AS MANY DIRTY HOLES AROUND EQUESTRIA AS POSSIBLE.
//I didn't think you were clever enough for puns.
//BACK AT YOU.
Spike: ...Twilight?
//Silence.
//WHY IS IT THAT YOU CALL HER NAME AS SOON AS YOU'RE IN TROUBLE? ARE YOU WORRIED THE SEXUAL TENSION SHE CREATED ISN'T GOING TO RESULT IN EVACUATION OF YOUR DICKSNOT IF YOU DON'T SEE HER SOON?
Spike: Screw you. Twilight is a good friend and I'm not going to let you weird up that situation.
//SHIP FUCKING SAILED, MORON. SHE HANDED YOU A BOOK OF DRAGONS AND PONIES BANGING LIKE RABBITS AND ASKED YOU TO STUDY WHAT'S IN IT. AS DEMONSTRATED BY CIRCUMSTANCE TIME AND TIME AGAIN, YOU HAVEN'T FUCKING GOT A CLUE, SO LET ME SPELL IT FOR YOU: YOU, DRAGON; SHE, PONY. SHE WANTS YOU BANG BANG.
Spike: Okay, one, her words were totally not that at all --
//YEAH, SHE JUST MADE IT _SEEM_ LIKE SHE WANTED TO MOUNT YOU.
Spike: _And two_, if I had taken her advice it would have really helped against the spiderpony I was fighting earlier.
//SCREW THAT, JUST KEEP BURNING DOWN FORESTS AND COLLAPSING HILLS INTO THE GROUND. I THINK AT THIS POINT WE COUNT AS AN ECOLOGICAL EVENT.
Spike: 'We'? You must be going soft on me, instinct.
//I KNEW YOU WANTED A PART OF YOURSELF HARD.
Spike: That was a stretch.
//SO'S THIS: UNSOLICITED ADVICE FROM UNCLE INSTINCT. GO FUCK YOURSELF.
Spike: If I could do that I wouldn't be suffering from whatever it is you think I'm suffering from.
//PART TWO OF ADVICE GO FUCK YOURSELF: DON'T TRUST YOUR MENTORS. I DON'T LIKE HOW EITHER OF THEM ARE ACTING.
Spike: You don't like much, do you.
//I LIKE IT WHEN YOU SHUT UP.
Spike: Either of them? What do you mean?
//TWILIGHT, OBVIOUSLY, WANTS TO PIN YOU DOWN AND SLATHER YOU IN HER MAREGREASE, TOTALLY TRANSPARENT, BUT I'M HAVING A BIT OF TROUBLE FIGURING OUT WHAT CELESTIA WANTS.
Spike: Celestia?!
//YOU KNOW, THE PERSON WHO DECIDED YOU WERE IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO APPEAR TO IN DREAMS. LISTEN UP, LITTLE ONE, BECAUSE THE ASSCARRIAGE WITH THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IS SPEAKING: ONE, YOU AREN'T IMPORTANT, SO SOMETHING'S UP; AND TWO, CELESTIA IS BAD NEWS. BAD, BAD, _BAD_.
Spike: You're totally wrong with this one. (Oh, and everything else, too, but especially this one.) Celestia is the reason civilization has persisted and flourished for the last thousand years; her philosophic, philanthropic, technological and thaumic contributions to Equestria are the major contributor to the high standard of living we enjoy.
//WHATEVER. WARNING DELIVERED. HAVE A SHITTY LIFE, STOOGE.
Spike: Wait, 'delivered'? Did someone tell you to say this? Why are you telling me to watch out for Celestia?
//NOPE. BYE.
Spike: 'Swings, you're such an ass.
//OH, I ALMOST FORGOT TO MENTION: IN SUPPORT OF THE QUEST TO GET AN ACTUAL DRAGON TO BE YOUR MENTOR, THERE'S A TUNNEL HIDDEN IN SHADOW AT THE NORTH END OF THE CAVERN, JUST A FOOT ABOVE NOW-GROUND-LEVEL. LATER.
//Cool, he was telling the truth. Guess that guy's only a jerk 99.9 percent of the time.
Spike: Time to get going. I, uh... I'll come back some day and fix this. I promise.

//The catacombs quickly give way to a simple dirt tunnel with no branches. I'd turn something into a torch to see better, but there may be enemies down here I'd like to avoid. If they weren't, say, caught in a hillside collapse.
//My foot strikes a stone as I'm walking. A sound comes from down the cave, like someone drawing in air.
Nameless Mutterer: No! Go away! Leave me alone!
//I freeze, leaning against the wall. Sound takes over for light, and I hear nothing but the dim echo of the cave.
Nameless Mutterer: Please! Just leave me be!
//Did that sound... tearful?
//I shift onto my other foot, as quietly as possible. This could be a trap, or even if not the voice could lash out at any moment.
Nameless Mutterer: Are you... are you still there?
//The voice sounds female, but with a rasp to it that I can't place. Certainly not a dragon; maybe a mare who enjoys a pipe?
//A mare who enjoys a pipe. Wow, I really just thought that.
Nameless Mutterer: ...I don't want to be a subject anymore.
//A subject? This voice was an unwilling participant in Osto Bacchus's experiments? It could still all be a ruse to trick me into speaking, but maybe I should know more...
NM: ...Hello?
Spike: Uh, hi?
//Immediately an outburst comes from the cave walls.
NM: No! Please, no more! I won't help you any more, so go away and be done with it!
Spike: Hold on, what--
NM: Please, just go! I'll -- I'll hurt you! I'm serious, I mean it! Don't make me, because I will! I really will!
//This response to my greeting is better than expected (if still odd).
Spike: I'm confused. Who do you think I am?
NM: ...
//I hear a silence, but the silence of a person who is there. It sounds different.
NM: ...Who are you?
Spike: Spike. I'm a Hero, I defeated Osto Bacchus and her crew.
NM: Was that the loud rumbling?
Spike: Oh, you heard that...
NM: I think the whole realm heard it.
Spike: So if you were a subject in the experiments Osto Bacchus was performing, or if her crew gave you trouble of any sort, you don't have to worry about that from now on.
NM: ...Who are you?
Spike: Uh, Spike.
NM: Spike?
Spike: Spike.
//Silence returns, but it is a different silence. It is the silence of someone thinking.
Spike: I didn't mean to bother you, miss -- missus -- or mister -- uh, friend, but I'm afraid I can't find a way to the surface except through your territory. So, um, if I could be so bold as to ask you a favor...
NM: What are you?
//The question derails my train of thought.
Spike: Um, what?
NM: What are you? I'm looking at you, but I can't seem to figure out what you are...
//It can see in the dark. Glad I decided to go the peaceful route, then.
Spike: I'm... a dragon.
NM: Hhh.
//I think that was a sound of thinking hard. Or sudden cardiac arrest; can't be too sure.
NM: You don't look like a dragon.
Spike: Imagine me on a big pile of gold and several times larger.
NM: Don't dragons have wings?
Spike: At a certain age.
NM: I thought dragons were born with wings.
Spike: And I thought people respected the bodily integrity of others, but here we are.
NM: Do you have a fever?
//...
Spike: No. Why do you ask?
NM: No reason.
//What a strange question to ask. Who is this odd person?
Spike: So, about that way to the surface...
NM: Oh! That's blocked off.
Spike: Darn! What's blocking it off?
NM: A tree root grew over the entrance. Which is strange; it wasn't anywhere near there last week.
//Good, that must have burnt off in the fire by now. Score one for ecological disasters.
NM: How fast do tree roots grow?
Spike: Dunno. Say, what's your name?
N-M: I'm Na-Mira. Who are you?
Spike: ...Spike.
N-M: Oh, right, you said that earlier. What are you doing here, anyway?
Spike: ...I said that earlier, too.
//This silly person can't remember two minutes ago.
N-M: Did you? You did... oh! Hihihihihihi!
//That is most certainly the oddest laughter a creature of this world can produce.
N-M: You're a Hero! Isn't that right?
Spike: Yeah, and I was wondering--
N-M: What is it a Hero does?
//With all these questions, I can barely ask for directions to the surface!
Spike: Well, I help people--
N-M: How? Where? Which people?
Spike: --that are in dangerous situations they're not prepared to handle. For example, I defeated Osto Bacchus and her crew so the people of this region wouldn't have to see their dead dug up and experimented on.
N-M: You did?! What are we standing around here for, then?! Let's get out of here!
Spike: Back the way I came there's no exit. Could you take me to the exit that was blocked by the root?
N-M: Sure, follow me!
Spike: I can't see in the darkness.
//Another silence returns as Na-Mira contemplates.
N-M: Are you sure?
Spike: Am I sure -- of course I'm sure!
//Maybe a little rude, but this person is starting to wear at my patience.
//A long silence follows. Did I offend her/him/it?

The Lamiequus pokes The Drakeling in the upper body!

Spike: Hey!
N-M: Hhhck! Quit swinging your arms!
Spike: Don't do that to me! It's weird!
N-M: You're really hot.
//My train of angry thoughts comes to a screeching halt. What?
N-M: Are you sure you don't have a fever?
Spike: No! I mean, yes! Can you take me to the exit?!
N-M: Sure I can. It's blocked off by a root, but if you're really a dragon, you can breathe fire. Can you breathe fire?
Spike: Yes.
//Na-Mira breathes oddly again, thinking.
N-M: Then I'm going to stand behind you.
//A hoof-sized something, very cold, pushes me forward from behind. I walk along the wall, slowly.
N-M: So, you said you're a Hero, right?
Spike: Yeah. What did you say you were doing down here?
N-M: Hck... I didn't.
//Also, what's with the weird noises?
Spike: I know, I would have remembered.
N-M: It's a... it's not a long story, actually, now that I think about it. A few friends and I wanted to take the trail to Canterlot. Or, whereever--
Spike: A few friends? Are they around?
N-M: I haven't seen them in two weeks. One of them was a griffon named Teddy, the other -- hck, the other looked like a big snake demon? Illusionist Kelpie, she was.
//If there is one thing I would like to meet less than a Kelpie or a snake demon, it is the unholy union of the two.
Spike: Nope, haven't seen either. Maybe they escaped the area.
N-M: I hope they stayed in town or in the area. We should probably check with the Hillians; they took us in as soon as they saw Wafa in disguise.
//Wafa. I sincerely hope that is not the same monster as I fought earlier.
Spike: The who?
N-M: Uh, the Hillians? They live here? Unless Bacchus drove them out within a week or so they've still got to be there.
//Within a week? Didn't the gatekeeper say: 'Oh, yah. Big ponies with dark suits and far away eyes. Arrived a few months ago, now.'?
Spike: Uh, Osto Bacchus has been here for months. Unless my source was unreliable, though he did disappear oddly...
N-M: Uh, no! It was very clearly ten nights ago my friends disappeared and those goons started dragging me off to take measurements.
//How rude!
//The room ahead is filled with thin light, peeking through the burnt tendrils of absence, where roots once were. I walk forward quickly, steadying myself against the wall.
Spike: Exit, coming right up. Where's the largest hole?
//I turn around to look up at the roots.
//In front of me in the pale light, also looking up, is a beast whose body and legs are that of a dark pink pony and whose head is that of a great snake, fangs one foot long and curved inwards.
Spike: Gaaah!

The Drakeling falls backwards, away from The Lamiequus!

//Na-Mira whirls around, searching desperately in the darkness.
N-M: What?! What is it?! Another goon?!
Spike: Snake!
//Na-Mira lifts a leg to kick.
N-M: Where?!
//I breathe, and think for a moment. Why is this surprising?
\\The combat text did say 'Lamiequus' back there, after all.
//Hush we're not supposed to comment on the game's technical limitations!
Spike: Uh... sorry. I think I might have overreacted.
//She lowers her leg and stands less tense.
N-M: Oh. You meant me.
Spike: Sorry, it wasn't what I was expecting. Er, not 'it', you; or your body's, uh... lack of standard biological form.
N-M: You can't see in the dark?
Spike: I thought we established that. You had to lead me.
N-M: Hck, _duh_, I knew you can't see _things_ in the dark because they're the same as ambient temperature, but even cold-blooded I'm fairly thermal--
Spike: Dragons don't have infrared.
//Na-Mira holds a hoof to her chin (where her chin would be). A long time passes as she stares at the cavern floor.
N-M: You know, I always assumed they did, but I never thought to ask...
//Twilight pops into existence next to me in a burst of scentless air, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
T: Hey Spike, sorry it took so long, I ran into my old infothaumics professor and we just -- WHAT THE CELESTIA IS THAT?!

The Unicorn leaps backwards, away from The Lamiequus!

The Unicorn points at The Lamiequus and casts a spell! The Unicorn casts Helium Flash!

//Na-Mira screams.
Spike: Twilight, no!

The Lamiequus jumps away from the beam!

The beam expands in the narrow hallway! The soil is caught in the spell! The soil has been burnt to a crisp! The Drakeling is caught in the spell! The Drakeling's right upper arm has been singed!

//DAMNIT OW I THOUGHT YOU COULDN'T FEEL FLAME
//I don't know! Twilight's crazy, she's not normal!
Spike: Stop! It's not an enemy!
T: _Then what the hell is it_?
Spike: A friend, who was showing me the way out to the surface!
T: Spike, there's a small list of people in the world who you can be friends with. _A snake-faced monstrosity is not among them_.
N-M: _Sorry_, then, if I don't look like another halfwit standing around turning grass into crap. How would it be most convenient for me to die?
T: Quietly!

The Unicorn points at The Lamiequus and starts to cast a spell!

The Drakeling grabs The Unicorn by the left ear with his right hand! The Drakeling grabs The Unicorn by the right ear with his left hand!

Spike: Stop! You're being unreasonable!

//Twilight stares at me from beneath her horn, head lowered. We both blink a few times and look around; I let go of her ears and feel a bit silly.

Spike: Na-Mira's not going to hurt either of us, Twilight.
T: It has a _name_?!
N-M: Also gender and feelings, so you can watch your tongue!
T: Oh, I will _so_ turn you into paste, girl, you don't even _know_--
Spike: Twilight!
//She stops in mid-gesture and stands with her head high, glaring at Na-Mira.
Spike: I can't ask you to like everyone I get help from (and I doubt I'm going to like everyone who helps me) but I think it's fair to ask you _not to threaten to kill them_.
//Na-Mira takes a tentative step forward, pulling her fangs back.
N-M: I know we started off on the wrong hoof, and you probably think I'm as ugly as I definitely think you are, but if you're willing to look past the fact I'm part snake then I'm willing to look past the fact you just tried to kill me and maybe things will get better from there.
T: ...
Spike: Twilight.
T: Fine. Where are we going?
Spike: Aren't you going to apologize?
T: No. Where are we going?
N-M: We were trying to find the exit here that was blocked off by a root. Spike said he could burn it off with dragonfire.
Spike: It's probably burnt off already. Where was it?
T: 'Already', what do you mean, 'already'...
N-M: Just over there, by the far wall.
//We look over to the far wall. A mound of ash lies in the hole to the surface.
//In a little voice, Twilight says:
T: Oh no. No, no, no!
//Twilight rushes through the opening to the surface. I run after her and Na-Mira follows behind.

[[SAVE LOCATION]]

//The sky above the forest is the color of a beautiful person, left out to dry for a week and cut up.
Spike: Hmm, the way that cloud is shaped, it looks like decaying adipose tissue. Do you see it?
//Smoke drifts up from the distant forest fire, building towering pillars up into the clouds that weave light into strong reds and yellows in the sunrise. Surrounding us is a forest like television tuned to a dead channel, charred and lifeless. There is nothing left above head level.
Spike: No? Just me? Okay.
N-M: This... this forest, there was a forest here. Right?
//Twilight whips about and yells,
T: What did you do?!
//ISN'T IT KIND OF OBVIOUS?
Spike: I didn't mean to, really...
T: _Didn't mean to_?!
N-M: You did this?
Spike: It was an accident!
T: And that makes it any better?!
Spike: ...It was a life or death situation.
N-M: The Hillians, they had groves for the animals to graze... the animals ran away before I could get close. But I wouldn't wish this on them. I wouldn't wish this on anybody.
//I didn't see any groves.
T: Do you know how much damage this is going to do to the ecosystem, regional geopolitics, biodiversity -- do you have any idea?!
//She's not going to listen to anything I say until she's done yelling, so there's no point in responding.
T: Seven rare species of tortoise found their home in this forest. Three unique species of skylark, that lived only here. At least a dozen famous flowers grew only in the Valley's soil, wide fields of them in the north tended for generations. Gone! Agriculture, lumber, tourism, ecological study, pilgrimage -- every single life that shapes this valley and is shaped by it in turn you have destroyed with your stupid careless mouth!
//Na-Mira looks bewildered for a moment.
N-M: I had no idea this valley was settled.
//Didn't she get here two weeks ago? How could she not know that?
T: What are you going to say when the death toll comes out? When you have the blood of X innocent people on your hands, where X is a number _significantly greater than zero_?
Spike: ...I don't know.
//Twilight snorts and trots away furiously.
T: I can't deal with you right now. I'm going back to Canterlot.
//In a puff of scentless air, Twilight disappears.
//Na-Mira walks quietly to my side, stepping over ashen root holes.
N-M: Your friend was very angry.
Spike: She's right to be angry. People are going to lose their lives because of me. Even those who see the fire in time will lose everything they own, and have to flee. There's no way I can warn them.
Na-Mira: Spike.
//Na-Mira puts a hoof on my shoulder. She looks at me with eyes that look more like a cat's than you would imagine.
N-M: A good friend once gave me advice when I made a horrible, terrible, absolutely awful--
Spike: Advice, get to the advice.
N-M: Never consider the past when making a decision. Only look at the world as it is now. (Though you have to take into account the world is as it is now because of the past, and a lot of the time the past predicts the future -- you know, it's not the best advice and I never really understood it.)
Spike: To be honest, that cheered me up.
N-M: It did? (Wow, I'm awesome!)
Spike: Yeah. It showed me no one else has this life stuff figured out either.
N-M: Hihihihihihi!
//Maybe that's what I need to do. Laugh, no matter how many mistakes I make.
N-M: What was your friend's name again?
Spike: Twilight Sparkle.
N-M: Twilight said she was returning to the Canterlot expedition. There must be someone there who can contact the ponies of the Valley in time.
Spike: Even then, it might be too late.
//Stop, go back a second. Canterlot expedition?
N-M: And she may even get the ear of Princess Celestia herself, if she designates it important enough to hear. That would be a huge help. Now, if we could find Wafa, we could see about rounding up some of the Hillians...
//'ML: No, but there are catacombs underneath it that served as a haven for snake demon worshipers until the third century in Celestia's rule.'
Spike: 'Canterlot expedition'? You mean, the group of pilgrims... who are going to found Canterlot?
N-M: Hck, yeah, what else would I mean?
//...Could it be?
Spike: Na-Mira? What year is it?
//Na-Mira flicks out her tongue in confusion. She looks at the ground.
N-M: Why...?
Spike: Princess Celestia disappeared a year and a half ago. Canterlot was built seven hundred years ago. And I think the 'Hillites" you were talking about, that took you and your friends in, were snake demon worshipers who lived here around that same time.
//Na-Mira takes a long time to process this.
N-M: ...The Hillians aren't here anymore?
Spike: Afraid not.
N-M: What happened to them?
//'ML: An Equestrian official declared worship of any deity but Celestia illegal, and had them all slaughtered.'
Spike: ...Middle management.
//UH, NO, THEY ALL GOT FUCKING IMPALED.
Spike: Really, really violent middle management. They had quite the philosophy on heretics seven centuries ago.
N-M: Teddy and Wafa... if not by the spear, then, at least by old age, they must be...
Spike: I'm sorry, Na-Mira. Are you really from the past?
N-M: ...How could this happen?
//I shrug.
Spike: Dunno. Twilight's good with magic, not me. Jumping almost a millennium into the future without noticing isn't on my list of martial arts moves.
//Na-Mira sits down in the dirt and ash.
N-M: Everyone I ever knew is dead. How am I supposed to deal with that?
Spike: ...
N-M: Oh, what am I going to do?
//A wind blows in from the south, swirling up ash. I shield my face. Na-Mira closes her eyes, and then snaps them open.
N-M: You! Your name is Spike, right?
Spike: We've been over this. Yes.
N-M: And you're a Hero?
Spike: Again, yes, we've had this exact--
//Na-Mira stands up.
N-M: Are you a good person?
//Uh...
//HELL TO THE NO, FANGFACE, DRAKELING HERE JUST BURNT DOWN A FOREST INSTEAD OF DEALING WITH HIS LUST IN A HEALTHY WAY--
Spike: I just burnt down a forest.
N-M: _Are you a good person_?
//Her forcefulness is surprising.
//How should I know whether or not I'm a good person?! I have no idea who I am!
Spike: ...I want to be.
N-M: Then I'm going to help you. If you're going to make amends for this, you're going to need help.
Spike: I've put enough people in danger because of my lack of strength, I can't let that happen to anyone else.
N-M: Fair enough. I've never been in a fight but I'm certain I would end up just hurting myself.
//Never? Sometimes I forget most people go through their lives without using violence as their primary problem-solving tool.
N-M: Heroes need quests to go on, right? They need to know -- need to know what's going on in the world?
//I think I know where she's going with this.
Spike: The task of keeping track of everyone to help is too big for one person alone--
N-M: So I can help you help them, by finding out what's happening where and when. I'll be... an information gatherer, of sorts.
Spike: Do you really want to do this? The life of a Hero is tough and I can't say it will be any better for you.
N-M: What better way to see how the world has changed in seven hundred years?
//Na-Mira grins goofily, past her fangs. I'm forced to grin as well.
N-M: Sir Spike, Hero of the Future, what mysteries puzzle you on this day?
//I look at the ankh still in my hand.
Spike: There's an old silver dragon named Quine. I want to return something of his, but I don't know where he lives in the Aquinatics or how to contact him. Could you find out either of those for me?
//Na-Mira salutes and wiggles her fangs.
N-M: On it! Information Gatherer Na-Mira is on the case!
//She runs away into the charred forest, kicking up grey dust.
Spike: Na-Mira! Wait!
//From far away, she calls:
N-M: What is it, Sir Hero?
Spike: North is that way!
//She sits down for half a second, then springs back up, running north into the distance.
N-M: I knew that!
//What a silly bint.

//I climb the hills of the Valley's north; it looks as lively as the name. Grey stone walls mark boundaries between fields of flowers not long gone; covered with soot, they divide empty space. Further on and further on, there are signs of inhabitants and signs of flight. Little else remains.
//I have quite the time to think.
//The town of Horsens approaches. In the distance I can see only blackened beams, stretching on for at least a mile. The dirt road turns to cobblestone soon enough. It is the only change in landscape as far as the eye can see.
//Far in the distance I see a standing pony. Cloaked in black, it waits under the exit gate of Horsens, the only part of the town left standing among the burnt wreckage. From underneath a shadowing hood I feel its stare, and I draw near. A breeze begins, forceful, that tries to push me backwards. The pony holds ground, and I draw nearer.
//STOP.
//Stop what?
//NOTHING. JUST WANTED TO RUIN THE TENSION.
Spike: Ugh, you're such an asshole.
//It narrows its eyes below the hood.
Spike: Uh, sorry, not you, I just meant the voice in -- you know, just talking to myself, I'm so crazy, hah-hah...
//The wind continues.
Spike: Ahem. Sorry.
//I brush the ash off of my cloak (it smudges) and pull it closer.
Spike: Excuse me.
//Its accusation cuts like a knife:
???: I can never excuse one such as you!
Spike: Oh. Hi, Pitaya.
//Pitaya Mendax throws off her hood, eyes smeared with congealed rage.
PIT: How casually you greet me. Is this how you feel towards your death, and the death of others?!
Spike: Straight to the point, then. I'm a horrible murderer and I need to die for the good of the world.
PIT: You speak so lightly of your end, as if it were a flight of fancy, or a dream. There will be no such mockery when demons are gnawing on your bones!
Spike: You know not of what you speak.
PIT: Do not insult me! I have seen it in a dream. You are the power of death itself, stripping flesh from mind, and for me to bring that on you would be too great an end! I will see you beg, eternity over eternity, imprisoned in a hell too comfortable for a malevolence of your proportions!
//Huh. My followup response of 'everyone knows you crack open the bones to get the marrow' is ruined now.
Spike: Let me get this straight. You waited here--
PIT: Days I have tracked you, and years on end I will extract your due.
Spike: Until I came walking through so you could throw some dramatic words at me and try to kill me. Is that right?
//Silence, but for a breeze.
Spike: And you did this instead of helping the refugees find food, water, new homes and work.
PIT: Do not attempt to chastise me!
Spike: Instead, you decided to hunt me down. Good job on that, by the way; I'm sure following the only set of footprints in the ash was difficult. Is the only tool you have to solve problems to hit it with something hard? Or is real work too difficult?
PIT: The evil of your make is not the only evil ponies must face; the apathy of good mares to evil deeds is a wrong that needs right. One I am righting.
Spike: That's why you want to torture me for a thousand years? 'Because no one else is brave enough to'?
PIT: I trusted you once, thought that dragons could not all be spirits of evil and destruction as they say. I was a fool. You are a leech to the souls of mares, but I will take from you your spirit instead of you from the good and innocent.
Spike: Oh, so it's a drakeling thing, then? Remove me from the world, instead of expecting everyone else to control themselves?
PIT: My destiny is to contain you, to suck the poison in your soul from you and spit it as a snake's. Celestia herself has charged me with this holy mission, and I must not fail!
//Celestia herself?
//SHE THINKS CELESTIA TALKS TO HER; WHAT AN ABSOLUTE WHACKJOB
//The pony charges!

[[SAVE LOCATION]]

Pitaya kicks at the Drakeling with her left front hoof, but the Drakeling dodges away!

//I didn't even need to use my Dashing Rogue punch to dodge that. She's not very good at this without her sling...

Spike: Pitaya.

Pitaya kicks the Drakeling in the lower body with her right rear hoof, bruising the scale!

//And not even using Terrae Corpus (you know, if the land hasn't forsaken me or something). What was she really expecting to do?

Spike: Pitaya!

Pitaya bites the Drakeling in the left upper arm, bruising the scale!
Pitaya has latched on firmly!
The Drakeling breaks the grip of Pitaya's left front tooth on the Drakeling's left upper arm.

//Come on, really?

Spike: Pitaya, stop it! _Pitaya_!!
//She stops for a second, and screams:
PIT: _WHAT_?!

The Drakeling grabs Pitaya by the upper body with his left hand!
The Drakeling throws Pitaya by the upper body with his left hand!
Pitaya's right front leg skids along the ground, bruising the muscle and tearing the skin!
Pitaya's ear skids along the ground, tearing apart the cartilage!
Pitaya slams into the charred wooden pillar! Pitaya's lower body takes the full force of the impact, bruising the muscle and bruising the stomach!
Pitaya slams into the ground!

Spike: Never stop in the middle of battle, what are you, a moroooouugck--
//I throw up red all over the cobblestone. Why am I suddenly sick?
PIT: Even your own body knows of your evil; it purges you and tries to escape...
Spike: Actually, that's just grossulars.
//I haven't had anything else in three days.
PIT: Why else would you be sick?
Spike: It certainly wasn't your kick.
PIT: I am infused with the power of Celestia herself, I know--
Spike: Let me guess, she told you in a dream to do the thing you really wanted to do in the first place?
PIT: This... this is my town, this is my home, and you burnt it to ash, you monster, you... of course Celestia would tell me to defeat you!
Spike: Let's assume I'm truly evil in the first place, not just an idiot who made a mistake.
//WHAT, YOU CAN'T BE BOTH?
Spike: Why would a goddess of good tell you to pay evil unto evil?
PIT: To remove your corruption, as a cancer is torn from the body...
Spike: And tears apart the body in the process. Pitaya, paying evil unto evil is not a good act, or a command of a good goddess. It's meaningless self-interest at best!
PIT: Are those who selflessly throw themselves at a better world self-interested?
Spike: Every villager wants the witches dead. Some of them are more willing to do it.
//There are ways to stop evil without becoming wretched yourself. I have to believe that.
\\Then why are you trying to kill the Princess? Wouldn't that just cause greater destabilization than before?
//...Shut up...
PIT: You would seek to prove yourself innocent? Of this crime?!
Spike: Not innocent. Neither am I guilty. Pitaya --
PIT: No! No more talk! I will have you controlled!

Pitaya reads from a scroll, casting a spell!

Pitaya: /That which is dead does not leave/
Spike: I'm just going to throw it out there that you're not a unicorn. You know, in case you've forgotten.
Pitaya: /That which has plenty, starves/
Spike: ...What's with that freaky voice?
Pitaya: /He who serves us kills our servant/
//The ground rumbles.
//BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD
Spike: Okay, stop reading, storytime is over.

The Drakeling breathes fire! Pitaya is caught in the dragonfire! Pitaya's black cloak has been singed!

//Pitaya makes a religious gesture and continues chanting:
Pitaya: /A crown lost has forger seen/

The cobblestone tendril bursts from the ground! The cobblestone tendril bursts from the ground! The cobblestone tendril bursts from the ground! The cobblestone tendril bursts from the ground!

Spike: Oh, this _is_ bad.
Pitaya: /The world ends./

The cobblestone tendril slams the Drakeling in the upper body, bruising the muscle and shattering the right false rib!
//whyyyy

//IT'S NOT THAT I'M GOING TO DIE, NO, IT'S THAT I'M GOING TO DIE ONLY HAVING LIVED IN YOU. THAT'S THE REAL TRAGEDY.

//I wheeze, and muster my strength:
Spike: Go to hell! _Celestia, put your world on my shoulders_!

The Drakeling breathes in and focuses, casting Terrae Corpus! The Drakeling's scales become as hard as rock!
//A strength fills me from a place unknown. Pain wanes away, like motivation draining out of a sink.

The cobblestone tendril swings at the Drakeling, but the Drakeling dodges away!
The Drakeling strikes the cobblestone tendril with his Dashing Rogue punch, but the attack glances away!

//I suppose not being turned into several chunks of dragon is a good enough motivation.

The Drakeling breathes fire! The cobblestone tendril is caught in the dragonfire! Pitaya is shielded from the flames!

\\Behind you! And to the left!

The cobblestone tendril swings at the Drakeling, but the Drakeling dodges away!
The cobblestone tendril swings at the Drakeling, but the Drakeling dodges away!
The cobblestone tendril slams the cobblestone tendril, shattering the cobblestone! The severed part flies off in an arc!
The cobblestone tendril slams the cobblestone tendril, shattering the cobblestone! The severed part flies off in an arc!

//Two down, but not the ones I want!

Pitaya: Did you... did you say 'Celestia'?
Spike: Yes! I follow her as well!
Pitaya: _Liar_! You abuse her name to justify your own creed! I will silence you!
//I suppose that was to be expected.

The cobblestone tendril slams the Drakeling in the right hand, denting the scale!
The Drakeling strikes the cobblestone tendril with his Fist of Justice, shattering the cobblestone! The severed piece flies off in an arc!

//Now, before she has a chance to turn away!

The Drakeling breathes fire! Pitaya is caught in the dragonfire! The scroll shrivels and is burnt away!
The cobblestone tendril slams into the ground!

//Pitaya braces herself against the pillar behind her and takes out her wand.
Pitaya: Never! I'll never give in to your evil!

Pitaya points a wand at the Drakeling and starts to cast a spell!
//She's holding it backwards.
The beam strikes Pitaya in the mouth! Pitaya is stunned!

Pitaya was defeated!
Spike gained 4000 experience points!
Spike is now level 18!
//Crazy vengeful bint!

[[SAVE LOCATION]]

//I walk over to Pitaya's twitching body and kneel down.
Spike: Listen. I know you can hear me, because you don't have... uh, you can't talk right now.
//WHAT AM I, THE IDIOT OUTCAST COUSIN NO ONE TALKS ABOUT?
//I wish you were a real person so I could get far, far away from you.
Spike: There are better tools to help the world than the sword. Try them first. You didn't even ask me to explain myself! You decided before you saw me I was guilty, and--
//She was there when I started the forest fire.
Spike: ...Oh, yeah, whoops. Yeah, so all of this looks pretty bad, but you understand the situation I was in. I understand better now. The correct choice would have been...
//To die, instead of harming others? I mean, I don't want to say my life is more valuable than others', but would I have really done that?
//I notice a vial of golden liquid on her belt. I take a swig, just enough to heal my rib, and put it back.
Spike: (Ugh still tastes like wood.) What I mean is, I've learned. I won't put myself in a situation where choosing between that and death are my only options, not again. I did wrong in the past, but no such wrong will come from me in the future, so you don't have to fight me to prevent future atrocities. There won't be any.
//She was talking more about punishment than prevention.
Spike: You shouldn't be so focused on punishment. It doesn't matter what I did; just what I will do, and I can assure you -- when we first met, weren't we trying to be Heroes together? I still want to be a Hero -- I'm not sure what you want, but a Hero isn't it. Heroism is a tricky thing, but if I've learned one thing, it's...
//What was that thing Na-Mira said? Without the verbal clumsiness, and odd fang accent?
Spike: ...'The past is a lesson, not a duty'. A wise old mare told me that. And, just between you and me...
//I lean in closer.
Twilight: Words, words, words.
//Twilight stands in the cobblestone street, below the Horsens exit gate.
//Interrupting mentor says what?
Spike: Hi, Twilight. Haven't seen you in a while.
T: I've been helping organize the relief and fire control teams. It's been a long three days.
Spike: It's been four days.
T: ...
Spike: Sorry, go on.
T: You need to get going. Amends, chop chop!
Spike: Uh, right. I suppose you haven't seen the enemy I've been lecturing after combat, instead of killing her.
//Throwing about my power with disregard can hurt people that I never meant to hurt, as a recent forest fire has shown me.
T: I was wondering why you were talking to that pole.
Spike: Twilight? How much have you slept during the past few days?
T: ...Do you have an abacus on you?
Spike: You should really get some sleep.
T: And you should really mind your own business. Auditory hallucinations only start after forty-eight hours of sleep deprivation.
Spike: It's been ninety-six.
T: ...I still have work to do.
//In another cloud of scentless air, Twilight disappears.
//I turn to Pitaya, who is still twitching slightly.
Spike: So, uh, as you've seen, we've really got this handled, so, even though I appreciate the help, um...
//Man, these sorts of things are always awkward.
Spike: Uh, bye. I guess.
//I leave. There's not much else to do.

//Twilight and I walk on one of the trails leading out of the Valley, into the outer Aquinatics. There is still a long way to go here, but we're making progress.
Twilight: You're making better time than I expected.
//She's had a few more hours of sleep today.
Spike: Must be running away from all the mistakes I made.
T: Hah! Trust me, if you're worried about someone finding out, don't.
Spike: That's nice of you to say, Twilight.
T: I hold you wholly accountable and I'm the only one who matters, so there's nothing to wonder about.
Spike: ...You are a master at making others feel better.
//I've decided to keep a tighter reign on fighting from now on. The forest fire happened because I wasn't strong enough, or fast enough, or smart enough to win without it. If I can avoid combat entirely, things like that won't happen in the future, and I won't tarnish the reputation of dragons by being associated with that type of thing...
//I hope.
//Twilight perks up.
T: Oh! Speaking of a bad transition, have you been reading that book I gave you?
//Er... Celestia told me not to...
Spike: You know, I haven't found the time--
T: It's okay. It is a really interesting document, if you go slow and study each page it's understandable.
Spike: It's not that--
T: Spike, you don't have to be embarrassed! It's a part of growing up!
Spike: Celestia told me not to read it.
//The smile fades. For a long minute, Twilight silently trots beside me, staring at the ground.
T: Celestia appeared to you in a dream again?
Spike: She never stopped.
//I would have starved if she didn't wake me up to surprise a nearby deer.
T: If you don't mind me asking, Spike, when...
Spike: Last time? Two nights ago. Said you were a trustworthy ally and a loyal friend.
//She said nothing of the sort.
T: Hah, the Princess always liked me; that makes me feel better.
Spike: Were you two close?
T: I was her favorite student.
Spike: What was she like?
//Twilight Sparkle pauses for a long while, choosing words carefully.
T: Amazing. She amazed others with both simplicity and grace.
Spike: What else?
T: Wonderful. To look upon her was to inspire the wonder of worlds.
Spike: You like her, then.
T: Yes. She was iconic. The demeanor of nobles and duchesses was a detailed attempt to imitate Celestia; the physical ideal of the female form was hers. The Princess was, is, a symbol of righteousness to everyone in Equestria.
Spike: Did that blur the lines between personal worship and religious worship?
T: Hmm, maybe. I'm not sure there ever was a line. All this happened very slowly. So I hear; I wasn't alive for most of it.
Spike: What did you think of her?
T: When I was a young filly, she was fantastic. The Princess was an object of fantasy, to use as I pleased -- blech, wrong word choice. Was a component in childhood fantasies, that everyone has, you know.
Spike: No, I don't.
//What part of 'total memory loss' is not understandable?
T: Uh... I would imagine things like meeting Princess Celestia in person, and her being so impressed with me she'd make me a Princess as well on the spot. I mean, silly, just silly things -- could you imagine? Me as a Princess?
//AVOID SUBJECT WITH HUMOR.
Spike: Total nightmare. You'd strip the castle down and organize it into its component bricks.
//Twilight laughs for a while, and we walk past tall shrubs (or maybe short bushes) lining the trail. I think she's laughing a bit long...
T: When I got older, I thought she was enchanting. She weaved enchantments that would swirl and pulse and frankly I spent too much time staying up late reading descriptions of them. I was so drawn in, I wanted to be her student.
Spike: And then--
T: And then she was friendly. Up until I moved to Ponyville, I really think Princess Celestia was the only person in my life who acted like a close friend.
//There's an adjective not in use. Is 'nice' what I'm looking for?
Spike: Was she nice?
T: ...I've been avoiding that word.
Spike: Because you're a schoolmarm?
//Twilight rolls her eyes, but I see a snicker.
T: Because it depends on perspective. The Princess was nice to me, and to most people in Equestria. Her enemies would tell another story. Rulers are like that.
Spike: Would, if they still existed?
T: ...It's scary how accurate that is.
//No, this is it; it must be.
Spike: Was she honest?
//Stormclouds gather on the far horizon, above the peaks of the Aquinatic Mountain Range. They loom dark and ominous. Twilight eyes them with suspicion, stopping in place.
T: Not as much as I would have liked.
//Twilight closes her eyes and sniffs the air, cloak shifting slightly over her shoulders and back.
Spike: 'Swings, again with the sniffing?
T: Excuse me for using every sense available to me, I'll see myself to the next Remedial Plato's Cave as soon as I'm done -- oh drat, and I thought she was going to be doing something useful.
//After a spell, she disappears in a puff of odorless air. I look up.
//Far in the distance but approaching is a speeding, light blue blur with a rainbow mane.