Chapter 8

The Spell

"So what will it be, boy?" The red knight asked, pressing the tip of his blade to Barb's neck and never taking his eyes off of him. "Forsake the life of your friend? Or give the horn to its rightful owner?"

"What do you mean 'rightful owner'? The horn belonged to a unicorn who pursued the dark arts and enslaved an entire empire because of it. The power inside is way too much for a human to handle and there's no way I'd give it up to you!" Toya replied, gripping his sword tightly.

"On the contrary, that horn does and shall belong to me. It's far too important for me to leave in the hands of a doomed child." The knight chuckled softly before straightening himself back up. "I won't ask you again. Hand over the horn or your girlfriend pays the price."

Toya stood silently and mulled it over, weighing his options. There was the obvious answer: Say yes and hand over the horn in exchange for Barb's safety but there were two possible outcomes that he knew would come from it. The knight would have the power contained in the horn and fulfill his purpose, wreaking havoc over Equestria and eventually bring it to ruin. But he would also go back on his word once the horn was in his possession and kill both him and Barb. The other option would be to say no...and that would likely still lead to their deaths. The life of the dragoness meant too much to him, but Equestria's safety was also top priority.

"So how about it? What will it be?" The knight asked, waiting for the human's decision.

"I-i..."

"I'll be fine, Toya." Barb spoke up. The human looked over at her with widened eyes as she continued to speak. "Just take the horn and go! I don't care what happens to me, but we can't let him have it."

"But I care, Barb!" Toya retorted, causing the dragoness' cheeks to light up. "You're my friend...and I care for you deeply. That's why we have to do this." The human sighed as he lowered his blade, defeated as he truly realized there was only one real choice to make. "Give him the horn."

"But Toya--"

"No buts! Just...please. Just give it to him." The dragoness remained silent at the human's request, a wave a guilt and disappointment flowing through her mind as she took the horn and relinquished it to the man in red. The knight took the horn from her with little hesitation before pushing her away, laughing triumphantly as he finally received his prize. But before he could gloat any further, his gaze quickly locked onto Toya, who had sprinted toward him and blocked a strike from his sword.

"I figured you wouldn't have given it up so easily. So stubborn no matter where you go." The knight said, pushing the human backwards with his own blade.

"Stop acting like you know me!" Toya yelled, "I promised the princess that I would make sure we got the horn back to her and I'll be damned if I let it out of my sights after we came this far."

"So you're willing to put your life on the line for an object your feeble mind cannot hope to grasp without knowing its true use?" The knight chuckled as the horn slowly faded into the shadows of his palm and he raised his blade to Toya, "So be it."

BGM 1

Wasting no time in response to his taunt, Toya lunged forward with his sword tightly gripped in his hands, swinging the blade at the dark knight before him. The red knight, in turn, used his own sword to deflect Toya's attack and with a flick of his other hand, he fired yet another dark blast of energy at him. Toya had little time to react to the wave of dark energy that was fast approaching but there was just a small enough gap for him to defend himself, shouting "Shell!" as he cast a magical barrier around his body to ward off the attack. However, it did little but lessen the force as it slammed into his body and sent him careening across the floor of the cavern.

"Toya!" Barb cried his name, rushing over to help her friend back onto his feet. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine..." Toya said, "But that attack really packed a punch, even with the barrier up." He groaned in pain, reaching down to pick his sword back up to face his attacker once more and charging back into battle. Barb looked between the both of them, chills running down her spine as she thought about whether or not to help him out. The red knight was in a league all on his own and she could tell that he had more tricks up his sleeve. They needed to get the horn back from him, but was it really worth risking their lives? If they died now, then he would win regardless and likely not even the princesses could stop him.

"Is that really all you have?" The knight cackled, mocking the being before him as he swung his sword and knocked the weak human back away from him. Dark power continued to radiate from his form, giving off an oppressive air that seemed to be even more threatening than he was. "Let's hurry this along. I have the horn now, so fighting you is a waste of time and resisting me will only delay the inevitable."

"I won't let you get away with this." Toya declares, raising his blade in defiance as he stumbled toward the man in red. "I promised the princess and myself that I would stop you. I'll never forgive myself if I go back on my word now!"

"You mean we won't let him get away with this." Barb said, moving next to her human companion and smiling at him. Her kind gaze instantly fell and became one of anger as she turned her attention to the red knight. The two of them might not consider themselves strong enough to defeat him, but they were determined to stand strong and keep him from enacting whatever fiendish plot he had in mind. They had to try.

"You're all alone here, knight. But Barb and I have each other. Even if we can't win, we'll fight our hardest to see that you don't win." The human declared, brandishing his sword, ready for battle. "That's all we can do."

"Don't think so little of me, boy." The red knight said. The tone he spoke in was...different. It was calm, but there was...malice in his voice. Almost as if he were...irritated. "I'm not foolish to come alone, even if I know victory is assured. Such is a perk of being someone like me." With a wave of his hand, the ground beneath them began to tremble as what appeared to be skeletal hooves began reaching out of the ground and forming into pure equine skeletons. "I may not have any human undead at my side, but I can still command the ponies who died here!"

Both Barb and Toya watched as the bones of the dead rose from the ground, surrounding the both of them until they had nowhere to run. The red knight stood and watched with a smile on his face, raising his sword as he readied to command them.

"Barb?"

The dragoness looked over at her human friend as he called her name. "Yeah?"

"I've got your back. Don't be afraid. We're in this together until the end, got it?"

BGM 2

The dragoness remained silent for a moment, her expression calm and determined, nodding her head before turning to the horde of skeletons. With her claws unsheathed and Toya's sword drawn, the two leaped into battle as the knight pointed his blade forward.

"Get them!" With a loud command, the skeletons obeyed and swarmed the two, some armed while others had no weapons to fight but their numbers alone was enough to try and overwhelm them. Barb was doing her best to fend them off, her breath of fire and magic breaking the skeletal equines apart while Toya simply slashed and cut his way through the armed ones in order to get closer to the mysterious man.

But their forces were too many and pushed him further away, blocking his route to him. Toya, however, was not going to let that stop him but a shriek caught his attention as he turned to see Barb had been pinned by several skeletons and rushed to her aid. With a powerful slash from his sword, he cleaved the undead in two, helping the dragoness back onto her feet.

"Thanks for that." Barb said with a smile, Toya placing a hand on her shoulder and casting a healing spell. The injury she had taken soon vanished and she leapt back into the fray with the human following after her. As the two of them continued to fight off the horde, the red knight watched on with both interest and anger.

"It seems these two are more troublesome than they look", he muttered to himself. "I must think of a way to hinder them before they become too much of a nuisance. But how..." As he thought about it, Sombra's horn began pulsating with dark energy and waves of energy were sent toward his head. It was as though it were communicating with him, or that's how it seemed when the knight continued talking to himself. "Of course. Why did I not think of that before?"

It wasn't long before Toya and Barb finally cut down the last skeleton while the knight was busy talking to himself silently. The human kept his sword brandished, turning toward the dark knight in case he attacked. "Alright. It's just you now. I don't care how strong you think you are, but we're taking the horn back whether you like it or not!" With a loud battle-cry, Toya gripped his sword in both hands and leaped toward their enemy to come down with an overhead slash.

"Don't get too cocky." The red knight spoke, taking his sword and with little effort, he swiped it at Toya and sent the human skidding across the floor. He hit the cavern wall with a loud grunt, writhing on the ground in pain.

"Toya!" Barb cried out the name of her partner and tried to run over to help him, but a wave of blackness collided with her and formed over her body in a spherical shape, binding her in place.

BGM 3

"And that makes two." The red knight chuckled, his hand pulsing with the same dark energy that was coming from the sphere that held the dragoness inside. "Taking care of you, Toya, is no challenge in itself. The dragon, on the other hand while currently weak, could prove to become a real problem in the future. Dragons are fire-breathing beasts of destruction, possessing immense strength and durability and are increasingly dangerous as they get older. But if they are younger..." As he continued speaking, he started to clench his hand, causing the black sphere to shrink and surge with power as muffled screams came from within.

Toya struggled to his feet, using the sword to prop him up. He was still very much in pain, but he lifted his hand and made it glow, casting a healing spell on him to get rid of his wounds. It wasn't much but it was enough to give him the energy to try and stop the armor-clad fiend. "Leave her alone!" He shouted, dashing toward his foe and slashed his sword upward. There wasn't enough force to actually harm the knight, much to his dismay, but he managed to slice part of his helm off and made it fall to the floor. Toya looked up at the knight, glaring at him as he stared at partial of his face. Only his eye was revealed, but something about his gaze seemed familiar. But as he was lost in his own thoughts, the armored knight took his sword and turned it so that the handle was facing toward Toya and slammed it into his chest.

Toya gasped for air, feeling the wind get knocked right out of him as he fell to his knees in agony. "Weak. Weak and pathetic." The knight boasted, standing over the boy as the dark sphere finally dispersed and the surge of power faded. "Perhaps in time, you may actually prove a worthy opponent. But that time will never come and I've already wasted too much time. Now that the horn is in my possession, I can finally do what i set out to do. Until next time, little warrior." With those final words, the red knight faded into the darkness. Toya had taken too much damage, his energy expended and could not get onto his feet. He collapsed on the floor, looking to where Barb had been trapped and tried to reach out and hoped she was still there.

His vision started to blur. His hearing slowly fading. All he could hear were muffled shouts and hoofsteps. Before he could see anymore, he blacked out. He had no idea how long he was out. But that didn't matter to him. He had failed to get the horn back from the knight and what was worse, his companion had gotten harmed or worse. It upset him and he hated his weakness; His inability to protect others. How could he protect others when he couldn't protect himself? He wasn't able to stand up for himself back home, so this shouldn't have been different. And yet, he actually had the courage to fight for himself. Why?

He could admit that he was tired of being pushed around, but that wasn't nearly enough to give him the motivation. What was it that was driving him? What force deep inside was giving him the courage to stand up and fight when he would sit and watch from the sidelines?

Toya...

Was he fighting for glory? To feel like a winner? He was sick of falling behind others, feeling like he couldn't achieve anything.

Toya, don't die on me...

Did he want to be admired? What use was there in having popularity when no one could truly love you for yourself? They would only care for what you had or what you could do for them. It was useless. Seeking attention in such a way had its downsides and in the end, it led to betrayal. But what was it driving him?

Hey. He moved!

The answer should've been obvious. It was something he wasn't used to. Not many like him were used to such a thing. The main reason he was fighting was something anyone should fight for. Some fought for peace, some fought for honor and glory. But what he was fighting for was...

Toya's eyes slowly opened his eyes, the light hurting him and he groaned in pain. When his vision cleared, he could see that he was back in his bedroom at the Crystal Empire. At his bedside was a crystal pony nurse, Bolero and her wife. "Bolero. Gleaming..."

"We're glad to see you wide awake, young paladin." Bolero greeted with a calming smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just got hit by a steel truck going 80mph." He groaned, rubbing the back of his head. "But overall, I'm fine." While he was fine physically, his determination was wavering because of how badly he messed up. The knight got away with the horn, the guards that were with them lost their lives and Barb-- "That's right! Where's Barb?! Is she ok?"

The two equines looked to one another and back at the human. "Well, she's still very much alive." The unicorn said. "She woke up before you did and told us what happened. We don't blame you, Toya. The red knight was stronger than we could anticipate. How a human could accumulate such magical and physical prowess without even living here to learn it all is beyond us. But what matters is that you two are okay. Well, one of you anyhow."

"What do you mean?" Toya pressed further, wanting to know what was going on.

"Like we said, Barbara is still very much alive..." Bolero started to explain, "But she's...not exactly herself at the moment. I don't know how the knight did it, but he changed something about her. We insisted that she stay in her room until we figure out how to heal her, but she was determined to come and see if you were alright. She blames how bad you got hurt on herself."

So she feels the same way I do, The human thought. "I want to see her." Bolero and Gleaming cast nervous stares at one another before they nodded, the white mare using her magic to open the door. Once it was fully opened, a purple dragoness started to walk inside. Small and chubby, the little dragon moved closer to Toya's bedside and looked up to see his shocked expression.

"B...Barb?" Toya uttered, trying to take in what was before him. Looking down the side of the bed he saw none other than Barbara, Dusk Shine's assistant and his friend, as a baby dragon.

"...Nice to see you're wide awake."

Chapter 8-End

Author's Note

DAMN! I finally managed to get this chapter done. Oh sweet goddess, I finally did this. I am so SO sorry for getting this out so late. But yes, as you can see, The red knight has used an age reversal spell to change Barbara into the little chubby dragon we all know about but she retains all her memories.

What is the red knight's grand scheme? What is his identity and what significance does this have to Toya? (Feel free to guess in the comments) Will Barb regain her former body? And can Toya gain the strength to defeat his armored foe before the prophecy is fulfilled?

Until the next chapter. Stick around to find out!