Memories past light the present, and foretell the future

Movement. Slow movement. Senses were beginning to flood back to the weakened drake. He felt his battered body being dragged through tough soil. His eyes opened weakly, to only catch glimpses of his surroundings. The forest was steadily vanishing. Orange and blonde, yellow and red, as well as a darker orange and magenta blurs were taking him somewhere. Indiscriminate noises filled the air as his eyes slowly closed once more. His mouth was moving, but making no real noise. The noises grew louder. Crying and screaming were the most prevalent. He felt lighter soon after the medley of screams started to cease. Wind. A light, but powerful sensation rushing past his scales, making a slight chill go up his spine. It felt nice on his overheated body. This feeling was short lived. Soon, sensation in his body and mind faded again. Darkness loomed over his body, suspending him in nothingness once more.

“Well done Goraan,” he soon heard by a familiar voice. His eyes opened slowly. The pain was gone, though his movement was still restricted by numb limbs.

“It's you again,” the young dragon weakly mumbled to the familiar voice. Spike's inner voice was starting to regain strength. The amber light shined down on him once more, the elder dragon making his presence known to the young one once again.

“You have learned the 'spark' quite quickly, an impressive feat for one of your tender age,” it complimented. Spike simply closed his eyes.

“What is the 'spark', and why did I shoot lightning from my body?” he asked tiredly.

“In our tongue, it is referred to as Zov. As dovah, we carry the very essence of the world around us. This 'spark' is the ability to use the world's own pulse to create the fire of the heavens. Reik, or Lightning as you would say,” the elder called.

“So you're saying, that not only can I sense the world's heartbeat, but use it to create lightning?” the young drake asked to clarify.

“That is correct. There are many ways to use Reik. It is up to you to find their advantages and disadvantages,” the old dragon said.

“Awesome. I have one more question for you. What language were you speaking before?” Spike asked opening his eyes to see the elder dragon staring down at him.

“It is the ancient tongue of your tribe. The tongue of dovah. The dragons,” he said gazing at the young one. Spike smiled.

“Wow, there is still so much I don't even know about my own tribe. I must look pathetic to you,” he said preparing to let his consciousness fade once more.

“No. most dovah have forgotten the ancient ways. To one such as I, you are pure. Ready to learn, to do what you must to protect what you care for. And for that, I grant you a gift,” he said. The dragons mouth opened and released a dark emerald flame. The blaze swirled and circled Spike. Slowly consuming him. The young dragon opened his eyes and beheld the beauty of the flames that enclosed him. “I give you our tongue to speak and read. May it help you in your future,” the old one said. Those were the last words it spoke before darkness' grip took Spike once more. His eyes soon snapped. His body shot up from his resting place.

“SCOOTS!!” he shouted as the memories rushed back. His head whipped around looking for the scooter riding mare. Finally spotting her and Fluttershy sleeping in chairs next to each other. “Oh thank Celestia, she's ok,” he said breathing a huge sigh of relieve. He looked down at himself. He noticed the abundance of bandages wrapped around his chest and torso. “Oh, I'm alive, bonus,” he joked to himself. He looked around again. This was definitely not the Everfree forest. It was all white and clean. Everything in order and sparkling. His eyes were soon drawn to a massive mural of the royal pony sisters. “Am I in the hospital?” he asked.

“You are in a sort of hospital,” a voice called from the door at the far end of the room. In walked the solar monarch herself. Her beautiful white coat was the first thing the drake noticed. Next, the multi-colored mane and tail that flowed from the overflowing power of her magic. Her white wings pressed rather loosely to her body as she entered the room. Last, was the soft eyes that he had the greatest respect for gazing directly at him. “You're currently in the medical ward of Canterlot Castle,” she clarified walking up to the bed he was sitting in.

“I thought I was in the Everfree forest. How in Equestria did I get here?” he asked. Celestia sat in the chair near his bed as she prepared to tell him.

“Well, while I was talking with my sister and Twilight about the return of King Sombra, a present burst through one of the stain glass windows and into my throne room. I instructed one of the guards to open it. Once open, a balloon and confetti shot out of the box. Our immediate response was,” the solar princess began. However spike already knew the answer based souly on that description.

“That sounds like something Pinkie Pie would do,” he said with a heavy sigh. He smiled to himself thinking of the pink mare and her usual crazy antics

“Yes. It does rank high with her usual antics,” she said confirming with a light laugh and smile. “However, what else was in the box brought a great deal of alert to us all,” the princess continued. Her voice had changed from kind hearted to stern. This caught Spike's attention. He looked back up at the now very concerned Alicorn princess. Her eyes transfixed on the drake. “There was a letter addressed to us that said that you were in a great deal of danger. That you were in some sort of trouble and had fled Ponyville to the forest. They requested immediate help,” the princess said softly. She grimaced remembering the sight that greeted her when she arrived in Ponyville. “When myself and Twilight arrived, Applejack and Applebloom were dragging you out of the forest. Your chest and head were bleeding profusely. You were also very unreceptive to anything we attempted to do. We rushed you here as fast as Pegasus wing could carry us,” she said finishing. Spike looked at the concerned princess.

“Well, I guess its a good thing you guys came when you did,” he said giving her a big smile, doing his best to just try and play it off. Celestia shot him an intense look that made Spike's eyes widen.

“This is no laughing matter Spike. You foretold of Sombra's return Not even a day after you seemed to go insane in Ponyville, and we find you a total mess. There is something seriously wrong,” she said. Her hooves slammed on the dragon's shoulders. He physically flinched and looked at her very much scared. “Spike what do you know?” she asked, with a stern voice.

“Princess, you're hurting me,” he managed to squeak out. This only intensified her grip.

“Spike this is important! What do you know!?” she borderline screamed. Spike started to recoil in fear. He wanted to get away now. His eyes darted back and forth as he felt a magical grip slide long his neck.

“So help me dragon! If you are aiding him I will kill you now!!” she screamed. Spike screamed as loud as he could and shot a blast of fire at the princess. Her screams of terror and pain sounded through the room. Alerting every manner of guard to run to her aid.

“You attacked the princess! Kill the vile creature!!” the lead guard shouted. Spike watched as guard after guard piled into the room. Each throwing spear after spear at the weakened dragon. His body pierced over and over by the rush of sharp objects invading his flesh. He grunted and panted heavily, lucky to have survived this long under the current conditions. Soon the princess raised herself up from the royal floor. Her face twisted and contorted into a evil smile. Slowly, flakes of her face peeled away, showing the dark muzzled face of the former King Sombra.

“The price for attacking one of the rulers of Equestria,” he began. His horn levitated a spear and placed it at the dragon's heart. Spike mouthed out the word “no” as Sombra got in nice and close. “Death,” he whispered in the drake's ear. Jamming the spear into the dragon's chest and ripping his heart out the other side.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” Spike screamed shooting up from the bed he was laying in. He looked around quickly. The hospital room he was just in. Scootaloo and Shy sleeping in the same chairs he had seen them in. His head snapped back and forth looking for a way out that he knew he would need. His head turned towards the door. It was enveloped in a bright yellow glow. Celestia's trademark aura of magic. The images of his terror rushed to the forefront of his mind. Spike looked at the window nearest to him. As the door slid open, he made his choice. He inhaled and shot a fireball at the window, weakening it slightly. With one last glance back, he saw Celestia peek her head through the door. She saw the look of total fear on his face.

“Spike, wait!” she shouted. Spike didn't plan on waiting. He propelled his body through the weakened glass. His forearms took the brunt of the glass breaking, but his body did get cut on the exposed edges. Doing his best to rip the bandages off of his torso, he freed his wings enough to at least slow his decent. He slammed onto the courtyard ground, hard. An audible crack in his left arm caused him to scream in agony. It was a good two story drop. From his right side he could hear the guards approaching quickly. He gathered himself up as quickly as he could and began to hobble from the courtyard. He panted heavily dragging his unresponsive arm as he tried to escape. His escape was short lived as a swarm of guards flooded the courtyard area.

“Halt, Spike!” a voice boomed from above. He looked up to see Princess Luna descend from above. “Spike, please, you are hurt and confused,” she said, in an attempt to calm him down. She approached him slowly. Spike naturally recoiled. His trust in her was paper thin. He couldn't tell if it was Sombra once again or the real Luna. He couldn't trust his memories of the dark blue princess to help him, or her word.

“How do I know its you!? Can you tell me that!?!” he shouted, borderline snapping. Luna's soft gaze never wavered.

“Spike, you can trust us. We have never meant you harm. And we shall prove it. Guards; stand down,” she called. Each guard now stood at attention. She continued her slow trot towards the mentally distraught dragon. He flinched, frightened by what would happen next, as she drew near. Her horn glowing softly as she casted a spell on Spike's arm. He looked at her. She was now inches in front of him. “Allow me into your mind,” she said softly, in an attempt to comfort him. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead lightly against his own. In a matter of seconds, his memories of the past 24 hours transferred into her. She instantly began to weep slowly, his emotions sinking into her. “By the moon Spike. I'm so sorry,” she said softly. Spike looked at the teary-eyed princess. The soft expression in her eyes proved that it was Luna. Spike's body started to relax finally. He felt even more exhausted then before, collapsing under all of the built up stress. He felt Luna wrap her forelegs around him gently and carry him back to the medical wing. This time however was different. Luna stayed with him to try and act as a calming agent. The dragon lay silently sleeping on the bed. The stress of this entire ordeal weighing heavy on the dragon's mind was plain to see by the lunar princess.

“How is he?” Celestia asked entering the room quietly. Luna looked up at her sister. Her gaze shifted back to the sleeping dragon.

“Not well in the slightest, my sister. It would seem that Sombra's magic resides deep in his mind. And also, this,” she said, looking at her worried sibling. Her horn began to glow and pull the now very tattered and dirty wrapping from Spike's arm. Showings both princesses the mark of the evil king.

“How?” Celestia asked. “After all this time, how could Sombra be doing this? It makes little sense,” she wondered aloud.

“I think I know how,” a familiar voice said entering the room. It was violet Alicorn, and Spike's surrogate sister. Twilight approached the sleeping drake. Her eyes transfixed on him. She gently placed her hoof to his cheek and stroked softly. “It was when we were in the Crystal Empire, when you asked us to help the Crystal ponies,” she began, remembering the events of that adventure.

Crystal Empire: 6 years ago

“WOOOOO HOOOOOO! I studied anti-gravity spells thinking it would be on the test! Turns out I was right!!!” Twilight screamed happily. She and spike were sliding along the underside of the stairs in the crystal tower. The little amethyst dragon holding onto the lavender mare for dear life. He screamed bloody murder as they kept sliding down. Once at the top, she reversed the spell. Herself and spike slammed to the ground below and slowly picked themselves up. Twilight looked up, seeing the glowing Crystal heart floating in the center of the room. Her eyes grew large, as did the smile on her face. She trotted over quickly, knowing full well that once she had it in her possession, she would be able to help Cadence and the rest of the Crystal Ponies. Once she her hoof touched the outer ring on the floor below the heart, an alarm blared loudly. Her head darted back and forth quickly. With no time to think, she lept and reached for the heart. Mistakenly pushing it out of reach as several black crystals sprang form the ground. Trapping the mare within the circle.

“Where is it? Where is the Crystal Heart?” Twilight asked panicked.

“Here. It rolled over to me when you dropped it!” Spike confirmed. He looked around. The protection spell Cadence had around the empire was fading quickly, the sight of a deep orange sky flicking in and out against the calm blue skies of the barrier. Twilight peaked through a parting in her crystal cage, catching a small glimpse of her young assistant and the heart. She watched as Spike moved around the floor gingerly. Black crystals started jutting out of the ground slowly. “Ow!” he shouted as on stabbed into his tail. His tail flicked around a bit attempting to ward off the pain. Twilight lit up her horn, focusing on where she wanted to go. In an explosion of light, she teleported out of her prison. Within seconds of her release, black magical sparks surrounded her, causing her to vanish in a cloud of dark purple smoke and force her back into her prison.

“How could I have been so foolish?” Twilight chastised herself. “I was just so eager to get it when I saw what what was going on out side”. She pressed her body against the crystal walls and tried pushing against them. “Spike are you ok?” she asked looking through the cracks.

“Yeah, I'm fine. A crystal stabbed my tail, but its nothing. Don't worry about me, you have to get out of there and get the heart to Cadence,” spike called back to his sister. “If you don't, you're gonna fail Celestia's test,” he reminded her of her mission.

“Sombra's already attacking the empire. It's only a matter of time before he gets to the Crystal Ponies and everyone else,” she said looking at the constantly flickering skyline. Her gaze shifted to spike once more. “You have to be the one to bring the Crystal heart to Cadence,” she said with a serious tone.

“Me? But Twilight--” he began before being cut off.

“Go! There is no time!” she shouted. Spike nodded pulling his hands from his armpits. They were drenched in sweat (Side note: how do dragons sweat?)(editor: Don't question MLP logic! xD). He ran over to the heart and scooped it up. More crystals were erupting from the ground. Moving as fast as his little legs could carry him, he jumped out to the outer walkway of the room. Once out, the room was soon over run with the black crystals. Spike whimpered slightly as he knew the only real way out was to jump. Spike hopped back, shooting small flames at the oncoming crystals, doing his best to ward them off. Another pillar of crystal shot out of the tower, creating a make shift walkway. Spike hopped onto it and started his decent. Running with the Heart above his head. He looked down to see his friends on the balcony of the throne room.

“Hey guys! Up here!! I got the Crystal heart!!” he shouted down. He continued running at full speed. Looking out over the horizon he saw the ethereal form of Sombra slam into the ground. The dark shadow racing towards the tower with black cryst als emerging from its wake. Sombra caused one more massive crystal to emerge from the ground, riding it towards the dragon. Spike freaked out at the sight of the dark king. So much so that he tripped and lost his footing and the Heart. Beginning to fall with the Heart in front of him. The heart began to shine brightly. Sombra's ethereal from forced to convert back into his original body. He smiled a fang filled grin. Licking his chops as the heart fell towards him. He looked into the eyes of the frightened dragon. He saw one of his crystals lodged in his tail. His smiled widened and his horn began to glow with a deep green tint. The small crystal in the drake's tail began to melt into his skin, discoloring one of the scales slightly. Spike looked only at the heart. Reaching for it with everything he had. With only seconds away from impact with the king, Spike and the heart were snatched from Sombra's grasp in the blink of an eye. The baby dragon and the heart were now with Cadence as she flew past, making their way back to the Heart's true resting place. With it in place, the Crystal Ponies put all of their love in. fueling the Heart and creating a powerful wave of magic.

“No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” the dark king screamed. He looked towards the heart and the dragon that sat on the Crystal Princess's back. He smirked happily, and his horn lit. The dragon heard something. It forced his attention to the evil king. Things around them fell silent as if it were just the two of them. “Mark these words, wyrm. I will return. And you will be my herald,” Sombra for told. Spike's eyes widened. Just as he was about to ask what he meant, the world returned just as swiftly as it had parted. Sombra screamed bloody murder and was once again hurled back into the ice. Trapped in the frozen prison from wince he came. Cheers erupted as the Crystal Ponies celebrated the defeat of the tyrant. Spike looked around wondering if anyone else heard the king's final words. Spike climbed off of Cadence's back and went to his friends where he was greeted with both concern and happy greetings. Twilight rejoined the group having finally escaped her Crystal cage.

“You did it Spike!” she called out running up to the baby dragon. She wrapped her hooves around him and hugged him tightly. The group of friends celebrated with the rest of the ponies over the victory, the Crystal Fair now in full swing. During the festivities, Spike pulled Twilight aside to speak in private.

“Something wrong? You look nervous,” Twilight noted examining her assistant.

“Umm I don't know if anyone else heard him, but I'm pretty sure I heard Sombra say that he would be back,” Spike said discreetly. “And he said that I would be his herald,” he said the last part grimacing.

“Spike, Sombra is banished in the ice again. There is no he can get to you or anyone else. I promise everything will be fine. Just you wait and see,” Twilight reassured. Spike sighed a little more relieved then before hand.

“Yeah, you're right. Besides, its not like he can get me from out here,” he said grinning. The two returned to the festival, rejoining their friends.

Canterlot: Now

Silence fell once Twilight had finished her tale. Fluttershy and Scootaloo had awoke during the story and were now standing near the bed where spike laid.

“I didn't think that it was worth noting. I even preformed a check up on him just to be certain when we got home just to help ease his worries, and now all this happened,” the lavender Alicorn said looking at her brother. He had remained asleep the entire time, his nose twitching from time to time.

“At any rate, this only confirms what we have learned,” Celestia spoke, breaking the silence. “If Sombra is in fact returning, then the place he will most likely strike first will be the Crystal Empire. No doubt he will want his kingdom back,” she concluded. Luna and Twilight nodded in agreement.

“Then we must make haste in sending word to Princess Cadence. We shall send word on our fastest of Pegasus,” Luna commented. Celestia nodded, but just as she was about to speak, Twilight's voice caught her attention.

“If we need to deliver the message fast,” she began. “Then I think we will need the fastest flier in all of Equestria,” she said with a grin. Celestia smiled in understanding.

“Guard,” Celestia called out. One of her guards stepped forward at attention. “We require you to send word to the Wonderbolt's Academy. And tell them we need the fastest Pegasus they have,” she requested. The guard nodded and headed for the communications room.

Author's Note

this weeks release is up. hope you enjoy, and be sure to head to captainnana's page to find out when she is editing this beast