One Against All
He stood alone, a sole warrior to face an endless horde. A strong, cold wind blew past, snapping his crimson cape fiercely. Spike, the dragon knight, stood in the midst of a wide tundra, a sole speck of color in the middle of an endless plain of white.
He stood proudly garbed in his masterful armor of the finest steel. A shield was strapped to his left arm, and his right hand rested on the pommel of a mighty sword which hung from his belt. To any onlooker, he would appear as the very definition of a valiant knight.
He rubbed his cleft chin as he considered the task that was set upon him. Princess Twilight had charged him with the task of clearing the land of the scourge to come. Though he loathed to be away from the fair Lady Rarity, he could not deny a quest from the princess.
A colorful handkerchief, a favor granted to him by the Lady Rarity when he set off for his quest, fluttered in the breeze from his left bracer. He looked at it with a fond smile before tucking it safely back into its place.
They all knew the horde would come—it had long been expected— and that Spike was the only one capable of defeating the unclean horde. It was what he was good at, nay, what he excelled at, a skill that was surpassed by no other. He realized this with pride and a private touch of bitterness, but he would not allow that feeling to take hold. A knight was honor-bound to serve, and a dragon knight doubly so. His draconic pride would allow for nothing less.
The crunch of snow snapped him from his musings, alerting him of the arrival of his foes. With a resigned sigh, the valiant knight drew his sword and rested the tip in the snow in front of him as he was waiting. They were coming, but they would not find him unprepared.
He saw the first of the unclean foes to pulling itself from under the packed snow of the tundra. Spike winced in revulsion as he beheld the fell creature. The creature stared at him with hateful eyes, bits of grime and muck stuck to its lanky, pale frame. Its arms and legs ended in razor sharp talons, and it hissed at him through drooling, disgusting fangs.
Spike lifted his sword and pointed it at his enemy. “Come then, foul creature, and be the first of your kind to be cleansed from this world.”
The thing roared and charged him, talons outstretched in a gleeful desire to see the brave knight torn to shreds.
Spike smiled smugly and assumed his fighting stance, a classic ‘T’ stance with his shield before him and sword held loosely at his side.
The creature leaped up and pounced at the dragon. With a strong sweep of his shield, he brushed aside the beast. It bounced once and picked itself up to charge once more. With two fierce strokes of his blade, the creature fell to the snow. It began to slowly sink back into mantle of white of the tundra, and to its foul home, never to rise and trouble the world again.
Spike did not allow himself to savor that easy victory; he knew that many more creatures were coming. True to his thoughts, more of them rose from under the surface and beset the warrior.
His swordsdragonship was second to none, and the creatures fell just as the first had. However, for every one that fell, three more would take its place. He did not despair however; he could not allow himself to do so.
Again and again they came, and time and time again he sent them back to their foul realm. Until finally, the attacks ceased and the area grew still.
“It’s too quiet,” he thought to himself, his green eyes scanning the snow in front of him. He knew the battle should not have been won that easily.
The ground shook violently, roiling like the waves of the sea. With a mighty leap backwards, the dragon knight was ready to face the new challenge.
Pure disbelief crossed his expression as a swarm of lesser, grittier creatures erupted from the ground. They were diminutive, barely reaching his waist, and had bodies as silvery as the scales of a fish. The disgusting creatures clawed and bit at one another as they escaped the confines of the tundra. Some of them had many-pointed horns adorning their heads, others had rounded shapes, while others more had a single-edged crest upon their brows; all of them were filthy.
Spike looked to his sword and felt it inadequate against so many foes. Unbeknownst to the creatures, however, he had another weapon: the fire of a dragon.
As the swarm descended upon him, he inhaled deeply and breathed a great gout of flame upon them. The first wave fell before his fiery fury, simply unable to withstand against such might. As more came, so too did his fiery breath. Those who got through his flames were beaten back by his shield, and the truly stubborn ones fell to his sword. However, he did not escape unscathed; bite and claw marks scratched his armor and shield, but the dragon persevered.
Once the silvery foes fell, the knight had to catch his breath. Defeating so many foes was beginning to tire the warrior out. After a moment’s rest he stood straighter. He knew it was not over, not by a long shot. The ones he defeated were only the fodder; the more dangerous ones were still waiting for him.
Erupting from the tundra came a foe worthy of the dragon knight. It stood as tall as he, its hardened skin a dark-gray and covered in grime. Its soulless eyes bore down on him, threatening to overpower him in despair. A wickedly edged halberd was gripped tightly in its claws.
Spike faced down the creature. “This is your chance to flee. Return to your realm and never bother this one again.”
The creature snarled hatefully and leaped ahead, the point of the halberd leading its charge. Spike rolled to the side and slashed out with his blade, striking the creature on its side. It hissed and brought its weapon around in a swipe. Spike blocked the halberd and stabbed the monster again. The creature countered with a kick that caught him in the chest, causing him to grunt and roll backwards to his feet.
A vileness poured from its wounds as it glared at him with unmistakable hatred. “You will pay for that, mortal.”
Spike smirked. “I doubt it.”
It charged him with a rage-filled howl, stabbing repeatedly at the dragon. Spike sidestepped the thrusts and caught the last one on the top of his shield, raising it to throw the creature off balance. As the creature overreached, he drove the point of his sword deep into its chest.
As the creature slumped and began to sink into the turf, it glared at him a final time. “This... is not the end....”
“It is for you.” He stepped back and watched the creature fall.
Instantly three similar creatures leaped from the ground and pressed the surprised warrior. He parried and blocked two of the strikes, but the third landed a fierce blow to his back. Thankfully, his armor took the hit, but he was still felt the sting of the fierce blow. He whirled and struck down the gloating creature. This act only left him open to another attack, cutting into his side painfully. The strike cut through his armor, but his thick dragon scales turned the blade.
Spike was put on the defensive as both creatures pressed him fiercely. His sword and shield worked furiously to keep the jagged-edged halberds at bay. Despite his best efforts, one of the two would occasionally land a blow. His armor held, but not for much longer. They worked together in perfection. When one struck, the other would parry the retaliatory counter; their defensive teamwork was truly worthy of praise.
As much as he respected his foes, he could not lose. He parried another stab, but instead of countering with his sword, he spat a fireball into the face of the other creature. It howled as it clutched its burning face, its ally looking on in shock. Taking its attention of Spike was its final mistake, as he struck it down with a fierce slash. The burning one flailed at its face in a vain effort to put out the flames until Spike mercifully ended its misery.
As the two creatures sank into the snow, Spike fell to one knee, exhausted from his fighting.
“Finished already, knight?” a voice said to him.
He looked around wildly for the source of the voice.
“I am in your head, you foolish whelp of a knight. You honestly thought you could stand against us? You will pay for your foolish act of defiance.”
Spike stood slowly, preparing himself for another fight. “Show yourself!”
The voice laughed at him. “And show you the face of your better? Not on your existence, worm.”
Spike growled at the arrogant voice.
“Still… This may prove to be entertaining. Let us see if you can keep me entertained, knightling.”
Spike felt the earth move under his feet. It seemed as if the whole world was crying out in pain as the ground before him split open. From the rift climbed a massive creature. Pure black in color and covered completely in grimy, steel-plate armor, the creature towered over the knight. Its head was covered in a large, horned helm, the fiends red-glowing eyes shown through the T-shaped eyeslit of the visor. In its hands it held a massive greatsword.
Spike could only look at the creature in shock. It could easily rend him in two with a single swipe of its blade.
“Do you now realize how weak you are? You never stood a chance, knight. And now you will be the first to fall by my hand.” Its voice boomed loudly over the land.
Spike prepared himself, clearing away his shock. “As long as I can breathe, you will not take this realm.”
So absurd was the threat that the creature laughed long and hard. “Your courage is admirable, but foolish. Farewell, pitiful worm.” The fiend raised its blade and slashed downward at the dragon.
Spike threw himself to the side, barely avoiding the massive weapon. The fiend swept out its blade, and Spike had to flatten himself to the ground to avoid being cut in twain. He rushed in and struck at the fiend with his own sword repeatedly; he may as well have been striking stone for all the good it did.
The creature lifted one foot to stomp on the knight. Spike turned and fled. The shockwave of the stomp sent him tumbling through the packed snow.
Spike picked himself up, wiping the snow from his face and looking to the creature as it leered down at him.
“Not worth my time.” It reached down and grabbed him.
Spike yelled out and lost his grip on his shield. It fell and buried itself in the snow. The fiend brought him to its face, and Spike could only cringe at its foul smell and burning eyes. “Time to end this,” it said as it began to crush the knight it its grip.
Spike cried out, the strength of the fiend crumpling his armor and putting such force on his body that it was near impossible to draw breath. He could not believe this was happening. He, the greatest knight in Equestria, was caught and being crushed in an undignified defeat. What was he to do in the grasp of so mighty of a foe?
He almost gave into despair, but when all seemed lost, his eyes fell upon the cloth in his bracer. If he gave up now, all would be lost. The fiend would turn its ire to his homeland, and the princess and Lady Rarity would be left defenseless. They would be at the mercy of a merciless demon, and he was powerless to do anything about it.
“No!” he shouted in denial and grabbed his sword with both hands driving it deep into the meat of the fiend’s hand. Roaring in sudden pain, the fiend instinctively tossed the knight away, straight up into the air.
The realization that he was the last hope for all he held dear gave him new strength. As gravity finally took its grip, he brought his blade up above his head and fell with a mighty shout.
The fiend growled and brought its own blade to bear as the knight descended. Spike swung his blade down as the fiend struck with its own. The two blades clashed, and the two collective powers blazed brightly.
It seemed as though time itself had stopped, but impossibly, the greatsword shattered under the hero’s power. The fiend was so shocked it did nothing to stop the continued plunge of the knight. With a final battle cry, Spike drove his blade to the hilt between the eyes of the demon.
The world hushed as the two held their grim pose; the wind still blew but even it seemed subdued.
Slowly, the demon began to sink back into the tundra, returning from whence it came. Spike leaped clear of the sinking monstrosity and watched it fall.
Its baleful eyes fell upon the knight a final time. “This is not over, knight. I will return, we will return, and this world will be ours.” It sank back into the snowy tundra and all that remained was Spike’s sword that gleamed with the sunlight.
He picked up his trusted blade, and with a dramatic flourish, he sheathed it, and struck a heroic pose.
“Return all you want. I will cleanse this world of your filth again.”
“Spike! Are you finished yet!”
He gasped in shock, pulled from his fantasy world. He held a soapy scratcher in one claw and a freshly scrubbed frying pan in the other.
“What is it, Twilight?” he called back to her.
“Are you finished with the dishes yet? I need your help. I can’t find my copy of The Arcanist Anonymous Guidebook, and I need it for the meeting!” she yelled in a near panic. Spike could hear her frantically running through the library in her search.
“Coming!” He chuckled and set aside his trusty scratcher, putting the now clean frying pan next to the plates and silverware in the drying basket. He untied his apron and hung it to dry next to the washcloth.
With the dirty dishes vanquished, the number one assistant boldly strode to aid his friend, as peace was now restored.
Until breakfast the next morning.
Author's Note
A huge thanks to my editor, Lab for cleaning this up and helping me learn to write better.
Again to Noble Thought for the cover art, thanks buddy.
To Diamond Dust for proof reading this story.
Finally a thanks to Roxane10 as my pre-reader.
