"Hey, Garble!"
The red dragon opened his eyes and stood up in the pool of lava he had been resting in. His gang were in similar positions, and also stood up when they heard the voice.
"No, way," Garble remarked as he turned, and there was the little purple dragon, marching over to them with a satchel over his shoulder.
"Oh yes. I'm back," Spike said confidently with an angry expression on his face.
"Why?" Garble said in near disbelief, "What could possibly be wrong with your brain that would cause you to come back? Do you wanna get creamed?"
Spike snorted smoke from his nostrils, but then he breathed out to calm himself down and said, "Look, if you forgive me and forget everything that happened the last time, then I'll make you guys the most famous dragons in the world."
Garble smiled and snorted in laughter. "Ha! You? Make us famous? Ha! You joking, right?"
"Take it or leave it. I've got it all planned out," Spike said, the beginning of a smile growing on his face. He then reached into his satchel and said, "And if you want proof that I've finally realized how worthless ponies are, then watch this." Spike pulled out a bright orange phoenix egg.
Garble's entire gang ran up to get a closer look.
"Wait, are you-?" Garble said.
Without another moment's hesitation, Spike threw the egg to the ground.
In the Crystal Empire, the four Princesses stood on the platform in the middle of the Equestria Games stadium. Horns and various other instruments blared as competitors got ready for the Equestria Games to start. Earth ponies from Ponyvile, Appleloosa, and Dodge Junction. Unicorns from Canterlot and Manehatten. Pegasi from Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus. Crystal Ponies from the Crystal Empire. They all were in the stands.
Despite all of the festivities, Princess Twilight Sparkle was clearly not happy. Celestia put a comforting hoof on her shoulder.
"I know how much Spike's disappearance has hurt you," she said, "And I know how much pain you must be going through. But this is the time for you to set an example for the ponies of Equestria."
Twilight looked up at her mentor. Celestia had a sympathetic expression on her face. Not judgmental. Not commanding. Simply kind.
Twilight nodded, "You're right, Celestia. I have to do this. A Princess must put the happiness of their subjects first." Twilight looked over at the microphone a few feet away from them. "They need some pony to kick off these games," Twilight put on a determined face. "And that pony is going to be me! Wherever Spike is, I will make him proud!"
Luna nodded and Cadence smiled brightly.
"Well said, Twilight," Celestia said. She looked up at her Sun and nodded. "The time has come."
Twilight nodded as well, and she stepped towards the microphone.
Suddenly, a loud wave of sound echoed throughout the entire Crystal Empire. This was followed by an icy cold chill that ran through the crowds of ponies that sat in the stands. Earth ponies from Ponyvile, Appleloosa, and Dodge Junction. Unicorns from Canterlot and Manehatten. Pegasi from Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus. Crystal Ponies from the Crystal Empire. They all felt the chill.
A large brown teenage dragon flew over the stadium, all the guards too stunned from the icy blast to notice it. The dragon suddenly swooped down low, and the smaller purple dragon riding on top of him jumped off and landed right on the stand, right in front of Princess Twilight.
Twilight gasped. "Spike?"
Spike didn't turn around right away. First, he snatched up the microphone and turned around to face all four Princesses.
"If you, or you, or you, or you," Spike said into the microphone as he pointed at each of the Princesses, "Or any of your guards, or anypony at all, DARES try to interrupt me as I say what I have to say. The Crystal Heart will be DESTROYED!!!"
Spike pointed straight up, and the entire crowd gasped, or screamed in the case of the Crystal Ponies, when they saw Garble flying up in the air with the Crystal Heart wedged between his jaws. Garble pointed to the artifact between his jaws enthusiastically as the rest of his gang flew a tight circle around him. Garble was clearly smiling through his mouthful of Crystal Heart, clearly enjoying what he was doing.
"If he puts any more pressure on it. . . " Cadence said in horror.
Luna looked to be at a loss for words. "I . . .I. . .I don't believe it. . ."
Celestia merely looked at Spike in a mixture of confusion and disappointment.
"Spike. . ." Twilight gasped heartbreak in her voice, "What. . .what are you doing?"
Spike flashed Twilight a cocky smile, and he turned to address the crowd. He opened his mouth.
"SPIKE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"
Spike frowned as he looked down to see the Mane Five running towards him.
"What the hay is going on, Spike!?" Applejack shouted.
"Yeah! You're betraying Equestria!" Rainbow Dash said angrily.
"Spike Wikey! Please, you must have an explanation for this!" Rarity said with despair in her voice.
Spike just smiled, shook his head, and pointed up at the Garble and the Crystal Heart in his jaws. He then cleared his throat and continued to speak into the microphone for all to hear. Earth ponies from Ponyvile, Appleloosa, and Dodge Junction. Unicorns from Canterlot and Manehatten. Pegasi from Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus. Crystal Ponies from the Crystal Empire. They all heard what he had to say.
"Behind me. . .stand the symbols of oppression! . . . The rulers of Equestria. . .Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Twilight. Who have been held up to you as the shinning examples of Harmony! You have been supplied with false idols to stop you from tearing down this corrupt autocracy!"
The entire crowd shouted in shock, anger, fear, and disagreement.
"Is he insane?" Luna gasped.
Twilight backed away from Spike and looked towards Celestia. "I don't understand what's gotten into him," she said tearfully, "I just don't-."
"It's okay Twilight," Celestia replied kindly, "This will all be over soon, I'm sure. I know we can work something out to get the Crystal Heart back."
"I hope," Cadence whispered. She suddenly felt a hoof brush up against her own. She turned to see Shinning Armor standing next to her. Relief flowed through her as she touched noses with her husband in a loving manner.
After the crowd eased down, Spike smiled and continued. "Let me tell you the truth about your precious Princess Celestia from the words of her very own journal."
The Mane Six, Princesses, and Shinning Armor all snapped their attention to Spike. The dragon reached into the satchel he was wearing and pulled out the book he and Twilight had found in the old castle in the Everfree.
"So that's where it went," Twilight said softly.
"Oh, no," Celestia gasped as a sudden realization struck her.
Spike held up the journal, pointed to it, and opened it up to a book marked page. "Ahem! Quote!'I had always displayed myself as the image of harmony and peace, who will only strike out to defend my little ponies. But even then, I would not stoop to the depraved act of murder under any circumstances. I turned Discord to stone. I imprisoned Sombra in ice. I banished Night Mare Moon to the Moon. And let now, I write this entry on the very day of which, I MURDERED A DRAGON COUPLE!'"
The entire crowd seemed to explode at that line. Screams of denial and outrage mixed together into a symphony of cacophony.
Celestia closed her eyes, a single tear falling from her eye.
Garble's gang of dragons over head roared as loud as they could to silence the crowd.
Spike was not smiling anymore, and he continued to read from the journal, "'I had been holding in my emotions from the banishment of my own sister, and when the opportunity came to unleash my anger in the form of two innocent dragons who had taken up residence in a cave overlooking a pony city, which would result in a cloud of smoke which would inconvenience my little ponies, I threw all of my negative emotions at that couple, and KILLED THEM! . . .And using the horde of those dragons, I paid off the nobles and the citizens of that city in order to build a lie to cover up my crime. And yet there still was the matter of the purple spotted egg, which I plan to give to a worthy unicorn able to hatch it in the future. Perhaps after that unicorn is found, after the egg is hatched, after the dragon is grown, after the dragon has adopted the Equestrian Pony Culture; I will finally be unable to live with my lie, it will be time to trust that dragon and the ponies of Equestria with the truth. And then I will beg for forgiveness.' UNQUOTE!"
Spike looked out at the crowd as he pointed an accusing claw at Princess Celestia, "And do you accept this pony's murder confession!"
Earth ponies from Ponyvile, Appleloosa, and Dodge Junction. Unicorns from Canterlot and Manehatten. Pegasi from Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus. Crystal Ponies from the Crystal Empire. They all shouted in both rage and denial.
"And should we so easily forgive the pony who murdered my parents, made me a lowly servant, robbed me of my culture, and even now still rules over all of you while sitting on a throne of lies!"
This time the crowd let out screams of pure anger and spite against the Princess. Spike smiled and basked in the crowds shouting.
Celestia's tears now flowed freely as she stood there, unable to look at the purple dragon before her.
"I don't believe it. . . " Twilight gasped.
Celestia looked up at her young prodigy.
"Twilight-," Celestia began.
"All of the memories Spike and I made together. All of his help. All of the fun and adventures we've had. . ." Twilight's face turned to one of confused anger, "All the result of your uncontrolled anger?"
Celestia turned away.
"How could you."
Celestia opened her eyes to see Fluttershy standing in front of her.
"You killed his parents. . ." the Pegasus said in a tone of anger and disgust. She looked on the verge of unleashing The Stare.
Celestia breathed in hard and spoke harshly to Fluttershy. "You'll never know how it feels to have to seal away your only sister, who you love so dearly, for so many centuries. It was a wonder I was able to hold back the emotions as long as I could. At least I took out my anger on something that posed a threat to the citizens of Equestria. My intentions were pure."
Luna stepped behind Celestia and said coldly, "Yet you worked so hard to clean yourself up afterwards. To clean history up. And yet your hooves are still stained with blood."
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was looking at Celestia, and at her friends, and then back at Celestia. "No way. Celestia. . .covering things up? Paying ponies off? Hiding the things she does?"
Spike waited a while, and then continued, "I hope I don't have to talk about Nightmare Moon. Who had betrayed all of Ponykind, and attempted to bring eternal night, which would have frozen this world and left you all without food, and killed all of you. I'd actually much rather talk about your Crystal Princess. . . Cadence."
Cadence gasped, and Shinning Armor held her close.
"It is well known that Cadence was captured and impersonated by a Changeling Queen on her wedding day not too long ago. With that in mind, let me read you a little something." Spike put the journal back into his satchel and pulled out another book. "This rare tome, found in the Crystal Library, says this on the subject of the Queens of Changeling Hives.Quote! 'Unlike the Changeling drones, the Queens are known to target a specific type of pony to prey upon. Because Changeling Queens require a greater amount of love to remain at full power, they will target mares who normally surround themselves in lust. Therefore, Changeling Queens often start new hives by taking the place of prostitutes, polygamous mares, dancing girls, and harlots!'UNQUOTE!"
Most of the Crystal Ponies appeared to go up in arms after hearing this.
"Who would you rather follow? The brave dragon who brought out the Crystal Heart? Or a mare of the likes I have just described?" Spike declared through the microphone.
The Crystal Ponies went wild chanting Spike's name.
Shinning Armor was filled with shock for a moment. Then a look of rage passed in front of his face as he stepped forward.
"NO Don't! The Crystal Heart will be destroyed," Cadence cried out, holding her husband back.
Shinning Armor turned to look at Cadence. She was a wreck. Tears ran down her cheek and she looked completely scandalized. She let out a loud sob and threw herself into her husband's chest. Shinning Armor patted her back gently and kissed her forehead, doing his best to console her.
"One last thing!" Spike said as he took out one final book, "Here I have the private diary of Princess Twilight Sparkle."
"Oh no. . ." Twilight said in horror.
"We gotta do something!" Rainbow Dash said, flapping her wings impatiently.
"No, Dash. The Crystal Heart is toast if we do anything!" Applejack said.
"Actually, it would be tiny little pieces inside the belly of a dragon, but same difference!" Pinkie Pie said nervously.
Spike opened the book and began to read. Earth ponies from Ponyvile, Appleloosa, and Dodge Junction. Unicorns from Canterlot and Manehatten. Pegasi from Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus. Crystal Ponies from the Crystal Empire. They all were there to hear it. "Quote! 'As I conclude writing about my Coronation Day, I can't help but feel excited, nervous, anxious, and guilty! For as I sit here in the privacy of my own room, with only me and my thoughts, I cannot help but think that my friends had been nothing more than stepping stones in order to get a pair of wings and a title! For I cannot deny that the very spell that acted as my rite of passage to my ascension, was the very same spell that ruined the lives of my those friends, and crippled the entire town of Ponyville. It was through there suffering by which my final test was conveyed to me. That is UNDENIABLE! In addition, if it had not been for SPIKE THE DRAGON, who had urged me to not give up, I would have surrendered to my own self pity and allowed the Elements of Harmony to be rendered useless, and the ponies of my hometown to suffer through the chaos I had caused with my own careless curiosity!' UNQUOTE!"
The crowd exploded as every one of them had something to shout at Equestria's newest Alicorn Princess.
Twilight backed up in fear, getting closer to the other three Princesses, and her brother.
"That day was. . .because of Twilight?" Applejack asked in disbelief. The rest of the Mane five were filled with similar disbelief.
"We dragons come to take Equestria from the corrupt!" Spike shouted, "The rich! The powerful! The elite! The nobility! And give it back to you! The ponies!' Spike smiled in a friendly manner. He spread his arms wide and said, "Equestria is yours! Do as you please!" Spike then pointed in the direction of Canterlot,"But first you must start by storming Canterlot, and strike down the oppressors! Step forward those who would serve. The noble, strong, just, powerful, fair members of Dragon Kind will lead you!"
A huge roar echoed over the area and everyone looked to the south. A small army of adolesecnet dragons were on the way, being led by an older, larger silver grey dragon.
The larger brown dragon in Garble's gang snickered and said, "Looks like our cousins got the message."
The violet goat horned dragon laughed as well and said, "Oh yeah. Even wise old uncle Silveon came! Oh, this is gonna be sweet!"
A few of Garble's dragons swooped down and roared out rallying calls as they touched down near one of the gates of the stadium, motioning for anypony who wanted to come to run down over to them.
Within a manner of hours, Canterlot was being ransacked by ponies protected by dragons flying over head.
Members of the Canterlot elite such as Jet Set and Upper Crust were being marched up and made to bow down to a dragon elder in the halls of Canterlot Castle. The elder would raise his staff and bang it on the ground as he passed his judgments.
Guards were captured by dragons and relieved of their armor and weaponry.
"The powerful will be ripped from their decadent nests, and cast out into the cold world that we know and endure. Courts will be convened. Spoils will be enjoyed. The royal guard will survive, as they learn to serve true justice. This great nation...
it will endure.
Under the leadership of Dragon Kind. . . .
Eqeustria will survive!"
Author's Note
Obviously based on the big speech Bane makes in "The Dark Knight." So, what do you think?
