Spike the Hunter

It started with a dream. It wasn't his usual dream of Rarity feeding him gems either. This dream felt terrifyingly real and he wasn't himself. He was something wild, powerful. He felt like an entirely different dragon. It was nice at first. He was running on all fours moving at speeds he could never muster before. He didn't know where he was heading. He moved across Ponyville so fast he could barely make out the landmarks. The young dragon climbed to the top of city hall using his claws to grips the sides of the building. Spike made it to the top of the building. The entire town was laid bare before his eyes. The feeling…..this power was incredible and he had it inside of him all along.

He spotted a white blip in the distance. It looked like a small bunny. Is that Angel? He looked different to Spike somehow. More tender, more juicy. His eyes were locked on the rabbit and his body surged with energy in anticipation. Spike descended the tower and made his way to the rabbit quickly. He was moving faster than earlier. As he got closer, he caught the rabbit's scent out of the air. He slowed to a stop as he could spot the rabbit. Moving silently, he crept into a bush that allowed him to spot Angel without being seen. His body was in a state of euphoria. A few steps separated him from his unsuspecting prey. Angel was eating an apple. Spike took a step forward. He leaned back and prepared to pounce the young rabbit. All of a sudden, he heard a noise from behind him. Angel looked up and immediately run away. Spike was absolutely livid. His quarry was too fast. Even with his new speed, Angel would be impossible to catch.. Turning his attention on the one who disrupted him, he saw Fluttershy. Angel was gone but this prey would prove more nourishing.

Spike suddenly turned his attention to the unsuspecting pegasus. The euphoria was not only back but even stronger than before. "Angel. Please come out!" She was looking for Angel but he was long gone. A devilish idea popped into the dragon's mind. He stepped on a stick. Fluttershy turned around and called, "Angel? Is that you?" She was walking toward the bush. Spike's plan worked perfectly and now his prey was walking into his clutches. All of a sudden, Spike's head started to pound.

Spike was in absolute agony the pain was becoming unbearable. He was on the edge of conscious as he saw Fluttershy who reached the bush and stare at him with a mix of shock and worry on her face. He passed out as he felt himself fall into unconsciousness. The pain faded away as he fell into a peaceful slumber.

Spike awoke the next day and immediately felt sore all over. He could barely muster the strength to get up as he crawled out of bed. He looked around and realized he was back in his little bed in the library. Maybe it was all a dream. He was sore because he probably slept wrong. As Spike walked down the stairs, he saw the clock. It was 1:30 p.m. Where is Twilight? She should have woken me up? Spike was still sore as he made his way to the kitchen .

As his stomach growled, images of Angel and Fluttershy flashed in his head. "Ugh! That stupid dream again." Spike thought aloud as he opened the fridge. He looked at the assortment of fruit and treats. None of it appealed to him. He was never one to be to picky about what he ate. He preferred jewels overall but he was never against eating fruits or plants. Now he could barely stomach them. He closed the fridge and went to a chest next to the kitchen. This was where he kept the jewels he ate. Nothing! He didn't feel like eating them either.

His ears picked up on a small sound in a room across the hall. It was Owlowiscious. He was sleeping in the dark room next door on a pedestal. Spike walked slowly into the room where the owl was slumbering. He stood at the door of the room watching the owl as he slept. Drool escaped his lips as he eyed the bird. His body suddenly felt light as he started creep forward on all fours towards his prey.

When Twilight Sparkle walk into the house, Spike was standing in the door of the reading room. Spike didn't hear her enter. He was too focused on his prey. Hunger had blocked out everything except him and his prey.

"Spike, I am glad to see you're awake. What happened last night?" She shouted only to receive no response. "Spike," she called him again and heard a loud crash.

Spike had gotten too eager in his attack. He tried to jump at Owlowiscious from the ground instead of climbing the wall to strike from a better vantage point. Owlowiscious was now awake and fully aware of Spike's intention.

Owlowiscious had flown past Twilight out the front door. "What's wrong, Owlowiscious? Where's Spike? Is he okay?" She said worried for her assistant. Spike walked out of the room and looked at Twilight with a look that Unicorn had never seen before. She almost didn't recognize her number one assistant who was walking on all fours and baring his fangs at her with a hungry look in his eyes. She called out weakly, "Spike? Is that you?"

Spike let loose an bone chilling roar that shook the entire tree. The roar had made him feel powerful. Twilight was paralyzed for a second before she braced herself and her horn started glow.

Spike was about to lunge forward across the room and pounce on his victim. When he found himself in a bubble of magic, he struggled against the magic enclosure to no avail. Spike looked on as his prey walked forward towards the bubble. He stopped struggling and bided his time. He would have wait for his prey to let her guard down. The voice in his head told him so.

Twilight walked toward the bubble. She was glad Spike wasn't moving. It required a lot of concentration to hold the spell in place especially when he moved around a lot. He seemed to be docile now, but she couldn't risk him getting loose. "What was happening to Spike," she wondered

to herself. She needed to find a cure for Spike. The only person who could possibly help her was Princess Celestia and Spike was in no shape to send a letter.

Spike was watching his prey carefully. She couldn't hold this bubble forever and he would seize the opportunity to strike the killing blow. She was pacing in front of the bubble. Spike eyed her trying to decide which part of her he would feast on first after he finished her off. The thought of the meal made him salivate.

Twilight walked toward the bubble and looked at her assistant. Other than the fact that he was drooling at her like a diamond, it was her friend Spike inside the bubble. She could probably reason with him. She knew her Spike was somewhere inside that drooling creature. "Tell me what's wrong Spike. I only want to help you so please tell me how I can help," she was pleading with Spike and for a second it looked like it was working.

Spike heard his prey and something started to stir in his head. He needed to warn Twilight but…the pain from last night returned more intense than ever. His head felt like it was splitting.

"Twi-….get out….can't control …run," he pleaded as his vision became red. Something was coming and he knew it wanted hurt Twilight.

"Spike, I am not going to leave you. You're my," Twilight never finished that statement.

Spike let loose a torrent of flame that broke destroyed the bubble and left a huge black hole in the wall of a bookcase behind Twilight. Twilight was still stunned by the perfectly round hole Spike had managed to make less than foot away from her head. All of a sudden, running away seemed like a good idea. She turned and ran for the door. As soon as was at the frame of the entranceway, Spike tackled her to the ground.

Spike said standing over a confused Twilight who was in an immense amount of pain. She wouldn't have to long to think about it. Spike had twisted her front ankle and she barely had the energy to stay conscious after that vicious tackle. Running and magic were out of the question. I guess this is were it ends. Done in by her number one assistant. She'd never thought she go out this way. She looked at Spike. He was standing over her mouth open. His fangs dripped with saliva and anticipation. She heard words in her mind. It sounded like Celestia. What was she saying?

"He is your responsibility, Twilight," said Celestia in her mind.

"I am sorry, Princess. More importantly, I am sorry, Spike," she whispered to Spike as she lost consciousness. Before she went completely unconscious, she heard a loud thud followed by a huge crash.

Twilight woke up and gasped, "Spike!" She was in a hospital room. All her friends were around her looking at her with melancholy looks on their faces.

"Calm down, sugarcube. You need to worry about yerself now, Twi." Applejack was trying to change the subject.

"Applejack is right, Twilight. You need to rest so you can get better." Rarity joined in trying to get Twilight to go back to bed.

"Don't worry, Twilight. Once you're all better, I will throw you a huge party to celebrate you getting better. It will be so much fun," Pinkie said with forced cheer.

Fluttershy was looking down avoiding eye contact and Rainbow Dash was looking everywhere except Twilight's direction. It was obvious her friends were avoiding talking about Spike. Twilight started cry.

"Where is Spike? Please, tell me. I can take it. Please." She was trying to stop crying in order to look stronger but it was clear that she wasn't doing a good job.

"Spike is locked up, Twi. Princess Celestia is on her way to take Spike away from Ponyville." Applejack told her everything about how she heard the roar from town, how she had managed to push Spike off of her, and how it took the magic of several other unicorns to bring the baby dragon under control before he hurt anyone else.

Twilight was utterly distraught. This was all her fault. The same words ran through her head over and over. My responsibility, my responsibility. "Can I see him?" She squeaked through a crying voice. The room was quiet for a second. Then a calm, kind voice broke the silence.

"You will my most faithful student, but first, we need to talk."

Spike remembered being tackled by Applejack and sent flying back into the library. He was about to retaliate before a bunch of unicorns used their magic to pin him to them ground. After that he woke up in a cell, a heavy metal collar around his neck that was bolted to the ground. He was going over it in his head, especially the almost killing Twilight part. How could he hurt her? What was happening to him?

Spike felt something deep down that started to force their way to the top of his mind. It pushed him to do things. He thought last night was a dream. It wasn't. It was real. Suddenly, he heard someone entering the building.

"Spike, are you okay?" As Spike saw Twilight, he looked away from her. She was injured and he had done it. He remembered standing over her and it made him so ashamed. He couldn't face her.

"I'm sorry, Twilight. I didn't want to hurt you. I just," Spike started to tear up. He never wanted to hurt Twilight. The fact that he did made him feel absolutely horrible. Twilight started to cry and Spike started to turn around.

"It's not your fault, Spike. I should have paid more attention to you. Princess Celestia is going to help you." She was trying to stay strong but he could see she was exhausted mentally and physically. She had forced herself to come here before she was ready.

"Spike, I am going to take you to a friend of mine who specializes in dragons. He will help you through this process. Once it's all over, you can come back to Ponyville. I'll give you a chance to say goodbye." Princess Celestia left Twilight alone with Spike.

"Spike, Princess Celestia doesn't know when you will come back. She won't tell me much about this pony but she says he's an expert when it comes to dragons. Whether you decide to come back or not, it is up to you, Spike. I want you to promise me something though. I want you to promise me that we will see each other again, no matter what." Spike didn't know if he could make that promise. This "expert" may very well kill him with his so called "help". He looked at Twilight. If he said no, she would be devastated and that's when it came to him.

"Only if you promise me, you will go on living normally. I don't want you to stop being yourself just because you don't have me around. Oh! Tell Owlowiscious that I am sorry about attacking him. So do we have a deal?" He extended his hand through the bars. It was best he could do considering his situation.

"Deal." she said grabbing his hand smiling. She really wanted to hug him goodbye but under the circumstances that was impossible. She went outside to let the Princess know Spike was ready. Princess Celestia walked back to Spike. He had managed to keep himself composed, but he wouldn't let it out in front of the Princess.

"I'm ready, Princess Celestia." Spike said.