This is a story i’ve been wanting to tell for a while. i’ve told two stories before, and this is one I had actually planned long before those two. at some point, I hope I get to it.

He fears that if he does one wrong thing in their eyes- they could see him in the exact way that they see Thorax.

the version here is spike realizing that the ponies see him as “the one good dragon” and that they demonize all the other dragons, and see them as scary and unable to be reasoned with. they freely talk about how ‘aggresive’ dragons are in front of his face, saying that he feels more like a pony to them. I feel that this is something that largely contributes to his identity struggles. In this image, spike finally decides he’s had enough of the bigotry that the ponies spout towards dragons. He’s been endlessly loyal to twilight, because he fears that after all, he’s still a dragon, and someday if he messes up, twilight would abandon him. he wants to be proud of being a dragon without feeling the need to surpress his dragon side for the pony’s comfort.

@Mr.Myoozik
Crystal empire. The story I mentioned in my last comment is basically “what if Twilight didn’t stand up for Spike when he tried to vouch for Thorax’s innocence?”

It’s NOT a happy set of events.

Leave and never look back? Wonder where they want to leave from

Yeesh.

Giving hard “Grief is the price we pay” vibes.

Oww…