Shadow of the Ponyby DigitChaptersProlougeArrival#1#2#3Twilight: Part 1ProlougeI'll save you Rarity. No matter the cost. The flapping of paper constantly being heard and the sounds of an upset dragon muttering to himself was all anypony could possibly hear in the library as books were scattered everywhere, all on magic and potions, even myths and legends that were already proven wrong. With bloodshot eyes and a sore body, Spike was skimming through all the words on every page, going by as if they were a blur. Only a single lamp was on to give the desperate baby dragon enough light to see the words on the pages. They were piles of books on the floor, many shelves containing nothing but dust as time passed on. Spike just finished skimming a book on all magic spells that had to do with healing, and grasped the next book beside him. Glancing at the cover, Spike read, "Sorcery and You." He opened it a bit too quickly, almost tearing out one of the pages of the aged book. But still, he pressed on. "Spike, you should really be in bed." A tired voice came from the doorway. Spike glanced around at the lavender unicorn, but quickly turned back to the book, skimming through the words once more. "Spike.: Twilight said more firm. The dragon sighed, and looked directly in Twilight's eyes. "What?" He asked, wanting to get back to finding what he needed. "You aren't going to find a way to heal Rarity, no amount of magic can fix that. And frankly, I don't see the point. You need some rest Spike, but I'll promise you I will help tomorrow." Twilight walked up the Spike and put a hoof on his shoulder. "You promise?" The dragon asked. Twilight pulled him into a big, unexpected hug. "Promise." She responded. Meanwhile, she was fighting with herself in her brain. What do I do? Rarity is gone! No magic can bring a pony back to life, even Princess Celestia has tried it once! I'm not sure whether I can hold this promise or not, but I want to help Spike... The unicorn was torn between helping Spike and just forgetting all about it. But she new that Spike would not let this up tomorrow morning, he's just going to continue dragging Twilight deeper into this mess, with no known way of getting Spike to recover from the recent... incident. "C'mon. Let's get some sleep." Twilight said as she nudged Spike towards the door. The dragon stopped and took one last look at Twilight before turning towards the door and leaving the room. Twilight turned towards the mess of scattered books all over the floor, noticing that each book is one on magic or anything else that has magical effects. With her horn glowing a deep purple, Twilight levitated each and every book onto the blank shelves, making sure to have them in perfect alphabetical order. If nothing was neatly organized, she would probably have one of those "episodes," which usually happens due to terrible organization. After a few minutes of clearing the floor of books and checking every book to make sure they were in order, Twilight walked out of the room and back to her bed, where she slumped down, tired and exhausted. Before her slumber, she had to wonder what pushed Spike to stay awake for a full 48 hours, barely resting, looking through many and many books over and over again. She pushed the thought to the back of her brain to ponder about it sometime tomorrow. The next day Spike sat up and rubbed his eyes, yawning at the same time. He looked over at the window to see the sun rising over the horizon. He looked at the bed near his basket he slept in to find that the blanket was flat against the cover. He yawned yet again, thinking to himself what a good sleep that was. His thoughts were interrupted by a gurgling from his stomach, and he belched a green flame, in which it changed shape until it morphed into a letter, falling on the ground. Spike removed the ribbon keeping the scroll rolled up, and opened it to find a bunch of blurred words on the slip of paper. He narrowed his eyes to see better, and could form the words. Dear Spike, Come to Canterlot immediately. The Princess believes she knows how to help with your problem. -Twilight Spike's eyes widened, and he ran down the stairs, letting go of the letter, and letting it fall to the ground. He bursted out of the library in a rush to catch the train to Canterlot. Whatever this was, it was important to Spike if he could revive Rarity. He remembered it bright as day, getting things for Rarity as she was in bed, horribly ill. Not even a week before, she died of an unknown sickness, and doctors still cannot describe the sickness. After a long run, Spike arrived at the local train station and bought a ticket with some spare birthday money. When the train was about to leave, he hurried in and sat in a fairly comfortable seat, where he thought about many things at once, in which he was getting more impatient to get to Canterlot with every passing thought. He wondered what the disease Rarity had was, he wondered what Princess Celestia and Twilight had uncovered about how to help Rarity. Help. More like rising from the dead. Spike knew that everyone has to die sometime, even Princess Celestia and Luna, what with them being immortal and all. But making someone come out of death and back to being conscious again just isn't natural. Spike argued whether he was doing a good or bad thing. Maybe he should let go of Rarity, continue on in life without his crush with him... *Screeech!* "Arriving at Canterlot!" Spike looked up and out the window. He already arrived. His thoughts must have gone longer than they seemed, it only felt like minutes since Spike left Ponyville. Nonetheless, the dragon jumped down from his seat and ran out the train doors. Locating the castle, Spike ran in its general direction, making haste. He needed to know this information now, no matter what. A few minutes later, Spike walked through the castle doors, thankful that no guards were there. It was always a battle just to get inside the castle. Spike instantly ran down a series of hallways and stairs, memorizing every location of every room in every hallway, from his past memories here. When finally slowing down, sweating, and panting, Spike finally found the door to Princess Celestia's throne room. He pushed the door open and found Twilight talking with Princess Celestia about he matter. "I'm here!" Spike wheezed, "Now tell me what I have to do!" "...Yes, I believe we have found a solution to your predicament." Princess Celestia confirmed. "Lay it on me." Spike requested, still panting, taking deep breaths. "Well, no magic can fix this, not even Princess Celestia's magic, which as we know, is almighty." Twilight explained. "Yes, there has been no recorded spell to bring a pony or other creature back to from the dead." Princess Celestia confirmed. "BUT! There have been legends of an ancient and forbidden land, where nopony inhabits it, except one." Twilight reassured. "Yes, there are myths of the being known as Dormin, the god that can make any wish come true." Princess Celestia explained. "So, why is it deserted?" Spike asked, a puzzled look on his face. "That's a good question! You see, the land isn't very good for living, but it is said there were once beings living there. This is still a legend, but they say that there are ruins of cities and monuments, and the only thing that still stands is the shrine." Twilight explained. "However, this is still all a longshot. We do not know if this is true or not, and the only lead of where exactly it is was with a map passed down from my ancestors for generations." Princess Celestia responded. "But why me? And why can't you teleport to the place?" Spike asked, looking between the two. "That's the problem. We can't teleport there because of Dormin. His presence hinders our teleportation." Twilight explained. "Or if he isn't real, something is hindering our teleportation." Princess Celestia interrupted. "And we can only bring you and another pony because of how many supplies you would need. The trip there is over two weeks. We can't have supplies to feed an entire group higher than at least one. Thankfully, you don't need as much food as other beings, and Rainbow Dash has proven her survival skills." Twilight quickly explained. "Rainbow Dash?" Spike asked, getting more confused by the minute. "Yes, Rainbow Dash will join you in your adventure." Princess Celestia said. "Well, let's get started! I want this done fast!" Spike said in a rush. Twilight turned and nodded at the Princess. She nodded back, and her horn started glowing a bright yellow. Soon enough, there was a bright flash, and Spike and Twilight were back in the library. "Okay, you'll need supplies. I want you to gather all the food you need for the trip." Twilight ordered. "Got it!" Spike saluted. He then dashed off to get food and things. Twilight used her teleportation spell, which still needed a little perfecting, and got herself back in the throne room, where Princess Celestia was waiting, a sword, a bow and a pack of arrows, and a strange cloth with a peculiar design on it. Twilight looked at the item that closely resembled clothes and a cape and sighed. "Really?" She asked, annoyance in her tone. Princess Celestia just shrugged. Twilight sighed again and walked over to the items, and used her teleportation spell yet again. She was back at the library, and found Spike cramming a hoof full of diamonds in his mouth. "Come on, Spike!" Twilight half yelled. "What?" He said between bites, "I'm getting some for the road!" "Whatever, just put this on." Twilight handed him the clothes and supplies and watched as he struggled to put it on. "Are you sure, Twilight? This is itchy... and why do I even have to wear this?" He asked. Twilight searched her mind for an excuse, but only one word came to mind. "It's stylish?" She pitifully said, an awkward smile on her face. Spike sighed, and strapped on the remaining equipment. "Well, can you dig up Rarity? I'll go get Rainbow Dash." Spike said, and walked out the door. Twilight sighed, she never really like dirty work, even with her magic. What ponies don't understand is that magic can't do every single thing, it takes time and patience. Twilight strolled out of the library, and levitated the shovel leaning against the wall. Twilight shook it out, for it had not been used for years, and it was collecting dust. Why would you need to have the use of a shovel? It's a library, for Celestia's sake. But Twilight knew it would come in handy someday. However, she never knew it would be for digging up one of the dead bodies of one of her best friends. She walked towards the Ponyville cemetery, which was not too far from the library. "Rainbow Dash! Are you there?!" Spike called up to the cloud house. He heard the clicking of unlocking a door, and heard the pegasus call out, "What?!" She sounded a bit annoyed. "Down here!" Spike called. He saw the cerulean pegasus look below off her cloud and her frown turned into a smile. "Hi Spike!" Upon closer inspection, Rainbow laughed and finally added, "What's with the getup?" She then continued to laugh, while Spike stood there embarrassed, annoyed, and growing more and more impatient. "Just come down here!" Spike called up to the laughing pegasus. Soon enough, he found her blue form descending from the cloud and finally in front of him. "But really, why are you dressed like that?" She looked at the blade at his side. "And the sword?" Another closer look. "...And arrows?" Spike hesitated. He didn't know whether or not Rainbow would believe this, let alone join him. Finally, he spoke up. "Well, Princess Celestia and Twilight think they might've found a way to save Rarity." Spike quickly explained. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at this. "You mean they found a way to bring her back to life?" she asked. "Possibly, yes. And I need your help to do it." Spike responded. "Sure." She agreed. Spike was shocked at this. She didn't care? At all? "Well, we have to travel for two weeks to a place we aren't even sure exists." Spike pressed on. "Pfft, I've dealt with worse. Besides, Rarity is my friend, I'll do anything to help her." She responded. "...Okay! Let's meet up with Twilight.". Spike was about to walk away towards the cemetery until Rainbow Dash called after him. "Wait! What's Twilight doing?" She asked. "Oh, she's digging up Rarity's body." Spike informed, and walked towards the cemetery yet again. "...Oh." Rainbow said, lost in thought, before catching up to Spike. Twilight stood there, panting. Boy, this sure is exhausting, she thought, even with magic. Once again, she got back to digging, and finally, a loud Thunk was heard as the shovel bumped into something in the pit. Twilight looked down into the hole, and with her magic, tossed the remaining dirt on the bottom out of the pit. Sure enough, there was a wooden coffin there, and Twilight opened it with her magic, revealing a bit dirty, but still very fresh, Rarity. Twilight levitated the body into a large cloth and wrapped it around her, covering all of her body. "Hey Twilight!" Twilight looked over to where the call was made, and saw Spike standing next to Rainbow Dash, waving their hooves and claws in the air, getting her attention. They ran over and looked at the peculiar cloth with a strangely shaped lump inside. "I'm guessing that's Rarity?" Spike asked. "Yup. You better get going, did you pack all the food?" Twilight worriedly asked. "Yeah, it's back at the library." Spike confirmed. "Perfect. Let's get moving!" Rainbow interrupted. "Now Spike, from Princess Celestia's instructions, you two need to head exactly in that direction, straight." Twilight told Spike, pointing a hoof past a building that looked like Northwest, but Spike wasn't too sure. "Got it." Spike nodded. Rainbow nodded too. "Alright, that seems to be it, I wish you two good luck." Twilight finished. Spike nodded, and hopped on Rainbow's back, which held a formidable amount of food, not too much, not too little. Spike took another look at Twilight, as if he'd almost never see her again. "Bye, Twilight." Spike said, and Rainbow Dash went airborne, following the direction Twilight had pointed out. After the departure, Spike's mind took control, and he pondered about so many different things at once, already missing his friends and family. He lifted the cloth covering Rarity's body, and took a look at her pale face. He smiled. Even when she's dead, she still looks beautiful... _____________________________________________________________________________ Well, that's the end of the prologue. If you don't know what this story will be based off of, it's Shadow of the Colossus. Google it. Anyways, I hope this becomes really good and hope that the people who read it will very much enjoy it. Please excuse me for some mistakes or anything else, I tried as hard as I could to make this. Until next time! -Digit Arrival"Oh, Spike! You're the best..." "Yeah...but not as much as you..." "Spike, can you do me a favor?" "Anything for you, Rarity." "Can you... wake up?" "Wha-" "WAKE UP!" Spike's eyes shot open to find Rainbow Dash's yelling disturbing his slumber. "What? What happened?" Spike asked as he looked around at the scenery. "We're here." Spike's eyes widened at the beautiful sight. There were forests, trees, everything was so green, and there was an architectural gate in front of him, complete with a wall. There wasn't very much sound, in fact, this place seemed very void of life. "So it's true?" Rainbow Dash asked, "The legends?" "I guess so..." Spike trailed off as Rainbow entered the gateway. He was shocked, really. He expected solid ground, maybe even below a hill or something. But they were on an old, rock carved bridge, leading to a massive building overhead. Spike leaned over a bit as Rainbow walked, and found that below, there was a small desert, mountains, some grass, and even a beach below it all. Spike could only ponder at what this place held, and why. Even more strange was the sky. There seemed to be a large thundercloud above the temple, with light erupting from the bottom and towards the middle of the temple. What's more, Spike could see a frame directly in front of him at the end of the bridge, having almost an indent. As they got closer, the indent, which turned out to be a door, opened on it's own. "Are you sure about this Spike? There might be something dangerous in there." Rainbow Dash said, hesitating in front of the dark hallway. Spike smirked. "Really? Are you chicken?" Spike asked. "Pfft, no. No way! I'm just keeping you safe, shorty." She replied. Spike frowned at the nickname. "Shorty" was one of those things that made him look like a kid. Rainbow Dash finally stepped inside, and Spike caught a glimpse of a side passage leading up towards the top of the temple. "Hey Rainbow, wait!" Spike said. "What's up?" Rainbow asked. Spike was about to say something, but all he could utter was, "Never mind." As he watched the door close by itself, sealing the exit towards the side path. "Uh... Never mind." He finished, turning back down the dark, yet very short hallway. When Rainbow walked forward, she looked down below at the small pool at the bottom of a walkable spiral slope. She stepped back, and bounded off the edge, only to find her falling through the air instead of floating down safely. They yelled in shock as they plummeted towards the bottom, hitting the small pool, feeling like nothing more than a large puddle. After groaning in pain, Rainbow finally looked at her back and gasped. "My wings! Where did they go?!" She cried worriedly. Spike took a closer look to find that, indeed, the wings were missing from their usual section, near the shoulder blade. "What? Why are your wings gone?" Spike asked, getting curious. "I dunno! You tell me!" She started to panic. Only once had she not had her wings, and that was when Discord attempted to plummet Equestria into total chaos. "C'mon! We'll figure it out later. Let's talk to Dormin." Spike turned to the large entrance to the other, larger room, "If he is here, that is." He started to walk forward, followed by Rainbow Dash, who had quickly gotten over her recent attire. She still didn't look too happy. Spike observed the large room, staring at the large statues that seemed to represent animals of sorts, and each one was carved with stone. With quick counting, Spike found there were eighteen statues, and ended with a skylight in the roof and a pedestal, with two exits of stairs and a short balcony. He walked over to the pedestal, big enough to fit a regular sized pony's body. "Hey Spike? Can I get Rarity off my back? It's getting really uncomfortable." Rainbow said in the background, examining the statues just as Spike did. "Sure. I found this weird pedestal or something, you can put her on there." Spike responded. Rainbow shrugged and walked over to Spike, leaving the statues behind. She turned and carefully rolled the body wrapped in cloth off of her back and onto the block of stone cemented into the floor. Spike jumped up, having his upper body strength hold him to the pedestal as he reached out and pulled the cloth off and letting it be blown away in the wind. He looked at Rarity yet again, his heart swelling that she will soon be perfectly normal and healthy again. Just thinking about it made him feel much less depressed. His thought was interrupted by a strange noise. It almost seemed like a strangle liquid taking it's own form. Turning around, Spike yelped at the few strange shadows emerging from the floor. Spike fell back, for he had never seen any of these creatures before, neither did they look friendly. "Hey! Back off! I'm not scared of you!" Rainbow Dash yelled, going into a fighting position. Still, the shadows didn't let up. They approached Rainbow, and she threw a hard punch towards one of them, only to find her hoof going through it. "What the-" She was interrupted by the shadow making a high-pitched screeching noise, and throwing her back towards Spike. She quickly got back up, rubbing her forehead. In the middle of all this panic, Spike looked towards his waist. After feeling like an idiot for a full five seconds, Spike drew his sward and held it in front of him, still very scared. Light from the outside glinted off the sword, and the shadows stopped moving forward. In fact, they backed down a little. "Hmm? Thou possesses the Ancient Sword? So thou art mortal..." A loud voice said from above. It sounded like two voices, one male, one female. spike looked around but couldn't see anything. Even the shadows had disappeared. "Uh, is this D-Dormin? I heard a rumor that you can bring ponies back to life..." Spike choked out. "Thou art correct... We are the one known as Dormin..." The voice said again. Spike gulped. "Really? Cool. Well, this pony here died of disease, and I kinda... want you... to bring her back to life?" Spike smiled sheepishly. Dormin chuckled. "That maiden's soul? Souls that are once lost cannot be reclaimed... Is that not the law of mortals?" He paused, "With that sword however... it may not be impossible." Spike smiled. "Awesome! So you can!" He said, leaving behind many of his fears. He was very happy that he could save Rarity, and that it wasn't impossible. "That is of course, if thou manage to accomplish what We askest." Dormin said again. Spike frowned. He then sighed, getting a bit annoyed at all these things he has to do. "Fine. What is it? do I have to make you a sandwich or something?" Over in the background, Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Behold the idols that stand along the wall... Thou art to destroy all of them. But those idols cannot be destroyed by the mere hands of a mortal..." Dormin continued. "So, what? Do I use dynamite or something?" Spike replied, wanting to just know what he has to do to save Rarity. "In this land there exist colossi that are the incarnations of those idols. If thou defeat those colossi--the idols shall fall." Dormin explained. Spike looked at the statues yet again, gulping at the fact that he said the word "collosi." Just that one word gave him the slightest feeling that no good would come of this. Finally, Spike spoke up. "S-sure, why not?" He smiled sheepishly again. "But heed this, the price you pay may be heavy indeed." Dormin kept going on. "Oh, well in that case..." Spike walked away until getting a death glare from Rainbow Dash. "Uh... I'll do it!" Spike said, clapping his claws together. "Very well..." Dormin paused, as if looking out at something. "Raise thy sword by the light... and head to the place where the sword's light gathers... There, thou shalt find the colossi thou art to defeat." Dormin explained, as Spike looked towards the sunlight at the end of the room. He steeped past the pillars and onto the very small "balcony," and held up his sword. Sure enough, light was shining off the sword, and there at least eight beams of light shooting off of it. Spike then turned the sword and his position, until the light came all together, towards the top of a cliff not too far in front of the shrine. Spike put his sword away and walked back inside. "Now, be on thy way..." Dormin said, until leaving without another word. "Ready, Rainbow?" Spike asked. "Definitely." The rainbow maned pegasus said to Spike. "Really? Cause I'm not." Spike replied. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and galloped out of the shrine, in the direction of the beam of light being held by Spike's sword. #1**SHADOW OF THE PONY Auhtor: Digit Chapter 1** Spike gulped with worry as he and Rainbow Dash went along the small path to the cliff. Upon entering, Spike finds that there is a small staircase, along with a few other architectural features. Spike looks to the side and spots ivy growing off the stone wall, presumably used to get on top of the large stone. Rainbow Dash must have noticed it too, and tried to take a leap and get on top of it, with Spike falling off and hitting his head on the stone floor. Unfortunately, Rainbow couldn't make it on top, no matter now many times she tried. After a few minutes, she gave up. "Sorry, Spike. You're on your own." She said to the dragon rubbing his head. He nodded, and walked over to the ivy on the wall. He reached a claw out and snatched it, getting a firm grip. He reached his other claw out and grabbed the ivy next to his other one. He slowly trudged up the ivy, and pulled himself onto the stone. "I think I'll head back to the castle...thing...whatever." Rainbow called up, and turned around to leave. Spike took a look above all of the stone platforms onto the cliff, and felt as if fear just welled up inside him, like his death was sitting on top of that cliff, maybe having a cup of tea. An image of rarity popped up in Spike's head, and his looked of fear was quickly replaced by a look of bravery. He ran along the stone and jumped across a small gap, easily making it to the other side to find another ledge. He jumped up as high as he could reach, just barely clamping his claw over the edge. He pulled himself up with all his strength, and ran along the path again. He ran along a wooden plank and jumped over another gap, getting a tad exhausted. He crawled under a small pillar that had fallen and was leaning against the wall. Before he jumped onto the other ledge, he noticed how peculiar it was that there were countless amounts of ledges in the first place. Nonetheless, he pulled himself over the two ledges there, and grabbed to the crook in the big block of stone. He managed to pull himself up on the small ledge and shimmy across to the other side of the stone. With one big leap, he jumped off the ledge and barely grabbed the edge of it, his claw tightening in grip. He reached up and grasped his other claw on the edge, heaving himself up, where he landed on his back, panting. If it was this tough just to get to these colossi, then he was going to have a major problem. Spike walked up to the end of the stone trail, and stopped in his tracks when he heard a loud roar. Soon, he saw a giant creature with a club in his hand walking towards the other end of the cliff. It had hair growing on it's back and head, with the rest being made of stone and pure black eyes with a blue circle in the middle. It didn't seem to notice Spike, but he still stood there with fear building up in him all over again. "Hold up thy sword to reflect the light onto the colossus. Its vitals shall be revealed..." Dormin said from above. Spike heeded his words and drew his sword, making sure it hit sunlight. As said, it built up in two places. One of them being on top of the head, and the other on the back of the foot. Spike, being very careful, walked forward, and then full on sprinted, because he was losing the colossus. Finally, when he got close enough, he jumped onto the colossus's leg, and it started to shake it's leg violently. Spike started to scream, for he felt like he was going to die. He finally brought himself back into reality, and that same picture of Rarity came into mind. He then took his sword and lifted it up. He brought it down on the mark, making it spurt blood. The colossus fell on it's knees. He raised the sword again and brought it down on the same spot, causing the colossus to partially fall over. Spike jumped up onto the piece of stone with a ledge on it, throwing himself up and clutched the hair that appeared to be on the giant's butt. It got up and attempted to shake Spike off, and he could slowly feel his grip slipping away. He jumped up onto a highly convenient stone platform on it's back. Spike kind of rested there for a few moments before jumping onto another stone ledge attached to the beast. This entire time, the creature was growling and roaring as Spike climbed up it's hairy back. Spike took a second to wonder, Why am I in this mess? He put it to the side as he ran up it's back, with it still shaking and whatnot. Spike finally found the vital on it's head, which looked like a blue glowing symbol of some sort. Nonetheless, Spike held a firm grip on the skull and lifted his sword up, and brought it back down. The beast roared as dark blood violently spurted from the creature's head, and it responded by rearing it's head up. Spike's claw flew of the creatures body and he screamed. Only to realize he still had a very firm grip with the other claw. After the colossus stopped shaking it's head for a second, Spike took another large stab at it's head, causing the usual roar and head rearing along with the fountain of blood. This continued after Spike took one final stab, in which the colossus slowly roared, and it faded. The beast fell down, dropping it's club, and it's once blue eyes disappeared into nothing but darkness. Spike fell off the creature, highly exhausted. It was a miracle that he didn't get a single scratch on him, despite the circumstances. Spike got up and watched the body of the fallen colossus be enveloped in a black aura and have black tentacles form out. Spike gasped when he saw the tentacles bolt towards him. He took a mad dash towards the way he came, but to no avail as the black tentacles shot through Spike's back and out of his chest. He slowly dropped the sword and fell to his knees. His vision faded as he fell to the ground until he finally lost all consciousness. #2**SHADOW OF THE PONY Author: Digit Chapter 2** Pain. Pain and darkness was all Spike felt when those strange tentacles emitting from the colossus rammed into his stomach, leaving a sharp pain for him to blackout to. Spike heard Twilight mention something about Hentai once or twice, and she mentioned it had to do with tentacles. Maybe he should ask her about it. Obviously having enough strength to open his eyes, Spike proceeded and looked around the room again, until his gaze set upon Rarity. He ignored the all-too-familiar shadow staring him down and watching him as he walked up to the limp body of Rarity, until he heard a voice. "Hey, Spike! How'd you get here so fast?" Rainbow Dash asked as the dragon turned to her and looked a bit puzzled. "I dunno. After I killed the... Thing... these tentacles came out and attacked me. After that, I think I passed out, and now I'm here." Spike quickly explained. Spike couldn't believe what was happening anyways, he didn't know if this was a dream or not. He expected it to be a dream, due to all the rumbling around him. But he realized, that wasn't it. Spike looked over to the wall where the statues were to find the first one glowing cracks of bright blue light. *zzzzzzZZZZZ-CRACK!* Spike and Rainbow Dash watched in awe as the statue blew apart in a snap, leaving nothing but wreckage from the statue. Spike could then hear Dormin's breathing above, as if he were about to say something. "Thy next foe is... In the seaside cave... It moves slowly... Raise thy courage to defeat it." He recited. Spike looked at Rainbow Dash, "What do you think that means?" He asked. She looked away from the skylight and shrugged, "No idea." Spike looked over to where the one shadow was, to find it had disappeared. "Well, we better get going, huh?" Spike asked. "Well, it looks like you're more confident than before." Rainbow Dash chuckled as Spike jumped on her back. "Yeah, well that was before I killed a giant creature holding a club!" Spike shot back. Rainbow chuckled and left the Shrine. After Spike rose the legendary sword towards the light, the beam had separated towards the first colossus's grave. As he scanned the area, the light gathered from behind the Shrine. Seeing this, Rainbow Dash galloped towards the direction of the beam, and ran along a natural bridge that had grass on top of it, looking just like the landscape. Spike's gaze fell upon the beach below. So far, this land was a peninsula, but Spike couldn't be sure. He did know, however, that there was a beach much further down below. So far, in fact, that if any creature were to jump off without some sort of wings or parachute, even in the water they would most likely suffer a cruel death. But what was more intriguing was the cliff itself. Below, at the corner of the beach, there was a large indent in the wall, blending in, but highly noticeable. As Rainbow neared the end of the bridge, Spike felt shivers go down his spine. To be sure, Spike raised his sword in the light, and pointed it down at the beach. Sure enough, the light gathered towards the large indent. Rainbow Dash noticed this, and gulped. "So, the thing is there?" She asked. Spike took note of the fact that Rainbow Dash still had yet to see a colossus, for she couldn't assist Spike in fighting the first one. Upon noting this, Spike added, "Don't worry. When I fought the first one he wasn't that hard." What a big fat lie. When Spike first found the giant and it's might, he nearly wet himself. But, being the determined dragon he is, his bravery overcame his fears, thus allowing him to defeat it. While Rainbow Dash was quite the confident pony, she almost couldn't do anything without her wings. Spike shuddered when he looked back at the memory of Pinkie Pie's challenge to see how long Rainbow could keep her wings tied to her back. Being the competitive pony Rainbow is, she accepted. While also being the high flying pegasus she is, however, she can be driven to the pinnacle of insanity within days. The challenge was a month, and Rainbow had lost many of her well known traits that everypony has, such as sanity. Poor Mr. Sterndeuter. Anyways. "Well, if you say so..." Rainbow trailed off as she continued to the end of the road, in which she went down the side of the cliff. The entire time, Spike wondered about the thing Dormin said before they left. Spike could see the words forming back in his head as if they were being told time and time again. Thy next foe is... In the seaside cave... It moves slowly... Raise thy courage to defeat it. Well, the seaside cave must refer to the indent in the wall, which is apparently a cave. It moves slowly... the bigger the creature, the slower it moves. Could this one be significantly larger than the first? Raise thy courage... Spike had a feeling in his gut that he won't be able to sneak up to the colossus, just like last time. Upon these thoughts, Rainbow was thinking and focusing on something much different, like keeping herself from jumping off this here cliff to stop the insanity due to missing her wings. She also wondered about what the thing might look like. Maybe it looks like the Ursa Minor? That thing was a HUGE threat to Ponyville, but nothing is really at stake except for Rarity, Spike, and herself. Finally, they got to the bottom of the slope off the side of the cliff, at the far left of the beach, if you were looking in from the water. Rainbow and Spike were glaring at the large "cave" in the far side of the beach, just waiting for it to move. When Spike thought nothing would happen, he heard a loud rumble, and the indent bursted open to reveal a large cave, with a large, yet slow creature coming out. It was relatively close to a Pony, though it only had hair on it's back, it had horns, it's entire top body, including the head, was made of stone. To top it off, it didn't have a mane or tail, except for a small stub at the end. "What. Is THAT?!" Rainbow asked in astonishment. "A colossus..." Spike heard his voice fade, feeling another wave of doom as the creature looked directly at him, and roared, stumbling forward. Rainbow Dash smirked, and charged forward. "What are you doing?!" Spike yelled at her. "Bring it on!" She yelled, particularly at the colossus. Spike took that as an advantage, and took out his bow. Having practiced using it on the way to this ancient land, Spike knew how to use it, and shot an arrow, streamlining in the air towards the colossus's face. It became somewhat enraged, it's distant blue eyes becoming a shade of orange. It lifted it's hooves in the air slowly, and brought them back down, and the shock wave made Rainbow stumble back, sending Spike flying off her back. "The place that emits light is its vitals..." Dormin said as Spike got up. Looking up at the beast, he saw it rearing up again, trying to crush Rainbow, who was currently running away. Spike took out his bow, clearly seeing the glowing on the bottom of the colossus's hoof, and sent an arrow flying. Upon impact, the area stopped glowing, and the colossus roared, where it fell down onto it's knee. Spike sprinted over as fast as his legs could take him, and leaped onto the giant just as it was getting back up. Spike climbed all the way up the side of it's arm and onto it's belly, where a small stone platform was hanging. Resting on it, Spike could see Rainbow Dash cheering up to him, even though she couldn't do anything in this situation. Spike turned and bounded off the colossus's shoulder platform and continued climbing the side of it's belly, were he reached the tail. Upon doing so, Spike took his sword out at the sight of the vital mark appearing, and clenched onto the hair, making sure to have a firm grip. Taking a deep breath, Spike brought the sword up and slammed it down as hard as he could, allowing blood to spray everywhere, along with the colossus roaring in pain and anger. Spike took another stab, to hear the same roaring and same blood fountain, but the mark disappeared! The colossus was also thrashing his back about, obviously still alive. Spike was puzzled, and tried stabbing it's tail again, but nothing happened, only the angered cries of the colossus. Spike then understood when he aimed his sword to the sun, allowing light to reflect off it. Gathering light, the beam sharpened towards the colossus's head, and Spike sighed. But he continued to run along the beast's back, grabbing onto ledges that looked as if the colossus's spine was sticking out of it's body. It thrashed left and right, causing Spike to trip and stumble, where he hit his head. Rubbing his cranium, he opened his eyes, and yelped. He scurried back to the large, flat, and long stone resting on the colossus's back at the sight of how far up Spike was, not to mention how close he was to falling. Spike panted, gasping for air, and turned again to bound over the next ledge. Finally, Spike had gotten over the large blocks of stone and made it to the colossus's head, which was surprisingly flat. Upon reaching the vital, Spike felt the colossus duck its head down, and launch back up, almost sending Spike flying off it's head and back down to the sand. But Spike held a firm grip, and gritted his teeth. When the colossus stopped shaking, Spike stabbed down on the mammoth-like creature with all his strength, sending the blood shooting around, and the creature rearing it's head, harder than before, but Spike still held strong. As he took the final stab, the colossus's roar of agony faded away as it collapsed, the blue in it's eyes fading away. Spike, being as tired as he was, fell off it's head and rested in the sand, taking deep breaths. Rainbow ran over to the fallen dragon. "Oh, ponyfeathers! Are you okay, Spike?!" She asked with worry. She especially gasped when Spike's body was impaled by black tentacles, even though there was no scratch on him. "WHAT IN TARTARUS?!" She yelled, as she thought Spike had died. Watching Spike faint, she worried. "What do I do?" She mumbled, turning around. Turning back to the unconscious dragon, Rainbow noticed that Spike was gone, and the colossus was quickly aging, turning all of it into stone and everything became aged at such a fast pace. Rainbow Dash was so confused, but she decided to gallop back to the Shrine, to ask Dormin where Spike is. __________________________________________________________________ Author's Note: I put a little Easter Egg in this here chapter. Have fun finding it. #3SHADOW OF THE PONY Author: Digit Chapter 3 "Ooohh..." Spike groggily moaned as he slowly stood up, popping his back. He looked up at the strange shadows, eyes firmly locked on him, not moving. Spike took note that there were two this time, instead of one. He heard the rumbling yet again and turned around, just in time to see the next idol collapse. *zzzzzzZZZZZ-CRACK!* Just as last time, the large statue, which looked close in similarity to that of the second colossus, glowed, and abruptly exploded, leaving behind wreckage of the idol. Spike looked up to the skylight, its rays shining through, giving light to the Shrine. "D-Dormin?" Spike stammered. He really didn't know what to expect. And then, the god finally spoke, "Thy next foe is... A giant canopy soars to the heavens... The anger of the sleeping giant shatters the earth..." Of course, Dormin leaves with a riddle and not saying what in the world the next colossus is, but instead tells about canopies in the sky. Spike snorted in irritation. He then turned towards the entrance when he heard the sound of hooves beating against the ground. "Dormin! What did you do with-" Rainbow Dash started, until she noticed Spike, in which she stopped in her tracks. "Spike! Are you alright?" Rainbow asked, closely observing the small dragon, without a scratch on him. He did, however, look a bit tired. Even Rainbow Dash knew that with Spike being as small as he is, it's hard killing these large creatures, and can get very exhausting. Even if Rainbow Dash couldn't figure out the reason why Spike can and will kill these things, she still tried to look after him, being the only pony in the immediate area to comfort him. "Hey, Rainbow. I'm fine, it just happened again." Spike groggily replied to Dash. Rainbow took his gesture towards the mysterious teleporting, even if there was no magic around here. "Do you need to rest? You look tired." Rainbow asked. She looked over to find that Spike was already dozing off, until he shook himself awake. "N-nuh! I can keep going..." He slowly trudged to Rainbow and climbed onto her back, and he lazily lifted up the sword, letting the light from above point in the direction to go. Rainbow, being very, as she would describe it, "Twilight-like", didn't start going into a full-on sprint. Instead, she slowly walked out of the Shrine, hearing Spike finally falling into a deep sleep on her back. Remembering the direction of the next colossus, she quickly circled the building until she got around to what was close to the other side of the Shrine, and walked down yet another, this time different, naturally formed bridge leading across the large canyon with water flowing at the bottom. Rainbow looked around the land once more, having not seen all of the views before arriving the first time, and yet, there was still much more to discover. "N...nuh... Rarity..." Spike mumbled in his slumber. Everypony already knew Spike's crush for Rarity (even Rarity, but she didn't take it seriously), so it wasn't a surprise to Rainbow that he was saying her name or other things about her in his sleep. Rainbow, having lost what direction she had to go to, lifted Spike off of her back and gingerly placed him down on the soft grass. Stretching her limbs and laying down, Rainbow stared up into the clouds, wishing she could just fly up there and rest, instead of being down here, grounded until she finds out where her wings ran off to. But for now, Rainbow had to stay on the ground, helping Spike stay alive, while helping herself as well, which is a bit harder than you think, especially when large beasts with the potential to destroy you in seconds are roaming around the land. Rainbow Dash sighed, feeling a bit woozy herself. She felt her eyelids grow heavy as she stared into the beautiful blue sky. Whether she wanted to or not, she fell asleep, feeling no regret in it whatsoever. ... "Huh. A bridge. Seems easy enough." Rainbow Dash said as she looked over at the stone bridge, which had a large chasm below. Backing up a few feet, she then ran as fast as she could and jumped the gap. Feeling something rumbling, and Spike yelling "The bridge is falling!" She ran faster. She bucked Spike off of him to the other side, while trying to jump off as well, but she was already falling. "Rainbow!" Spike yelled over the ledge. Rainbow Dash tried to fly up, and remembered. No wings. She turned towards the fast flowing river seconds away from her face, and- "AAH!" Rainbow Dash gasped as she shot up, breathing heavily. She took a moment to control her breathing, quickly realizing it was a dream. "You okay Rainbow?" Asked Spike, who was sitting up and staring at her with concern. "Yeah! I'm fine. Just had a bad dream." She responded, breathing heavily. "What was it about?" Spike asked intently while standing up. "Don't worry about it. We should get a move on, right?" Rainbow Dash said, getting up and regaining her breath. "Okay then..." Spike shrugged before hopping on her back. He drew his sword and redirected it so the beams came together. Once the direction was clear, Rainbow Dash started to gallop towards it. They went around a large rock formation, almost looking like a mountain, when they found a path with fallen pillars stretching over the top. "What's with these pillars?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I dunno, it almost seems like something was here, like a city or something." Spike guessed. Rainbow Dash kept walking through the path, until they came upon a large pond. "I think that's where we find the third one, huh?" Rainbow Dash asked. In the middle of the pond, there was a large, stone pillar-like structure shooting out, with a large platform on the end. To the side, a large spiral slope led up to the top. "Up there huh?" Rainbow Dash asks as she swam along the pond. Looking down into the water, Spike and Rainbow Dash were awestruck at the sight of a sunken and ancient city lying underneath the water. It was very faint, but the two could see buildings around the large structure they were swimming to, and were tempted to swim down and discover more. Both didn't need to say anything to agree on the fact that some things are worth keeping a secret. Finally swimming up to the slope, Rainbow Dash shook all the water off and started galloping up the slope. She stopped when the slope ended, as there was a disconnected pillar across from them. It seemed to be part of another destroyed building, with a ledge on a large boulder connected to the end of the pillar. "Alright, on the count of three, I'm going to launch you over there, okay?" Rainbow Dash asked, stepping back. She looked at Spike and after he nodded vigorously, she turned back around and started counting. "One..." She took many steps back. "Two..." She braced herself for a fast run. "Three!" She dashed to the end of the slope, bucking Spike off and he let go, although he was yelling as he soared through the air. Smacking against the wall, he gripped the small ledge of the stone block. "That's all I can do for now!" Rainbow Dash called over. "What? Why?" Spike asked after he stopped pulling himself around the ledge. "I can't grip that ledge. You're on your own." She responded. Spike nodded and continued moving along the ledge until there was an indent blocking the way. Spike turned around to the platform far away, only to clutch the ledge tighter. "It's too far!" He called out. "No it isn't! Besides, you have an entire deep lake below you, if you fall, you can come up and try again." Rainbow Dash reassured. "Really?" Spike turned back to the platform. "O-okay..." He grasped the wall and braced his feet against it. With one hard leap he flew across the air, with his eyes closed, hoping he wouldn't fall. His worry was soon met with a hard slam into something hard, along with rolling along the cold floor. He opened his eyes and smiled. "Did you see that?! I made it!" He said standing back up. "Yup. You sure did." Rainbow dash said, smiling back. "but you still have a colossus to kill." She finished, in a more serious tone. Spike frowned at that and gulped. "Oh yeah..." He muttered, looking on top of the platform above him. There was apparently a large, broken rock up there, along with a big stone tablet a few feet away from it. Spike jumped up and latched onto the small platform above him, and heaved himself onto the top of the large "canopy". "Now what?" Spike called to Rainbow Dash. He then heard some shaking. As he turned around to find the source, he gulped in fear. The "broken up rock" was unfolding into a large stone creature. It had a very long sword at the end of its hand, and used the sword to help himself up. Standing up, Spike could see the armor around its arm leading to a way to climb up onto its head, where he guessed was the vital mark. The creature turned slowly to face him. Upon seeing him, the colossus attempted to move forward, and Spike heard a loud clang at its feet. He looked at where the clang was, to see that the colossus's foot had come into contact with the tablet in the center, and the tablet didn't even scratch. *FWOOSH* *SMASH* Spike was just in time to dodge the large sword coming down on him. Spike could hear Rainbow Dash yelling in rage at the colossus, but was too stunned to understand what she said. Seeing that its sword was stuck inside of the platform, Spike jumped up and ran across the large sword, as if upon instinct. However, the mighty sword was removed from the ground while Spike was still halfway up the sword, and he tripped, falling to the ground on his back. The colossus roared, obviously sounding annoyed. "The armor it wears seems brittle..." Dormin called from above. Rainbow Dash must have heard, for she stopped yelling. Spike ran away quick enough to miss the large sword that was now impaled to the floor. "Spike! The armor on its arm!" Rainbow Dash called out. Spike looked up at the arm holding the sword and indeed noticed that the armor was loose. Spike ran towards the edge of the platform and stopped. He turned and thought to himself, How am I going to knock that armor off without getting myself killed? Spike started to panic as the colossus started to walk over to him from the far side of the platform. *CLANG* That sound! Spike thought. He looked back down at the tablet that had appeared unscathed when the colossus stepped on it, and the fact that it lightly bounced off. Spike smiled as if he had an idea. He waited for the colossus to come over towards him, and it slammed its sword down as spike jumped to the side to dodge it. He then ran in between its feet and ran over towards the stone tablet. Spike turned around just in time to see the colossus pull its sword out of the ground and it turned around. "Hey! Over here! Fresh meat!" Spike yelled to it. The colossus swung its sword back and started to thrust it down towards Spike. Seconds before impact, Spike, yet again, jumped to the side away from the tablet. *CLAAAANG!* The sound ringed in Spike's ears when he turned around and saw the armor on its arm fall off. Seeing this, the colossus roared in anger. It lifted its sword again and smashed it down near Spike, not hitting the tablet. Spike ran up the sword as fast as he could, while Rainbow Dash cheered him on from over at the slope. Spike tripped when the sword was pulled out of the ground, and tumbled off the side of the sword, yet swiftly caught the edge of it. He didn't hesitate to pull himself back up and run to the colossus's arm, where he grabbed on it and pulled himself onto the break in the armor. He pushed himself against it to regain his grip. The colossus kept roaring. Getting back up, Spike grabbed on to the back of the colossus's arm and slowly made his way up onto its shoulders. Running over to the head, Spike discovered the mark, and gripped his sword. He grabbed onto the colossus's head firmly, and lifted the sword up. With all his strength, he plunged the sword into the large beast's head, causing blood to spurt out. The colossus roared and attempted to shake Spike off. But he kept his grip and stabbed yet again. The mark slowly faded away, and Spike groaned in annoyance. The colossus took this as an advantage and thrusted Spike off of his head. Spike screamed as he fell off the mighty beast, and, by a stroke of luck, landed on its sword. However, he hit quite hard, and it knocked the wind out of him. The colossus shook its arm to shake Spike off, but he wouldn't let go. Regaining his breath, Spike lifted his sword as the beam of light reflected off of it. It traveled as a beam toward the colossus's midsection, which wasn't covered in armor. "Waah!" Spike yelled again as he fell off the sword. If he wasn't half terrified for his life, he was certainly annoyed. The colossus didn't hesitate to swing its sword down at Spike, but it was getting smarter. Instead of stabbing it into the ground, it swung it side to side. Spike ducked just in time to miss the sword passing above his head. When the sword passed again, he prayed to himself and leaped upward. The sword broke at least four ribs, at least, that's what it felt like to Spike, and knocked the air out of him. Yet he was still holding on. Spike, aside from his wounds, reluctantly crawled across the sword, getting farther and farther while the beast kept shaking. At the colossus's hand, Spike mustered all of his strength to leap from the sword to the colossus's waist. Hitting the stone sent searing pain through him, and tears formed in his eyes. Yet he still stood and took out his sword. Shakily, he stabbed the colossus in the stomach, where the mark was. After the third stab, the final roar was heard. The colossus slowly collapsed and fell to the floor of the large stone platform they were on. Spike did the same and lost all consciousness before the colossus even hit the ground. Even in his sleep, he could feel the pain of the black appendages tearing through his body. "Sp......thi....." Um, may I ask, does anybody feel like being a proofreader? Until next time! -Digit Twilight: Part 1**SHADOW OF THE PONY Author: Digit Twilight (Part One)** Twilight carefully skimmed the book of ancient myths, as if she felt she was low on time. As she reached the end of the book, she groaned in defeat, a feeling that she had felt for quite some time. She wasn't exactly comfortable with allowing two of her best friends to go to a forbidden land, one of which they don't even know what's inside. Twilight had looked through all of the myths and legends book in her whole library twice over and found nothing that had to do with forbidden lands. Twilight had even went as far as Fillydalphia just to look through bookstores and ask about the unknown land. But nopony knew anything whatsoever. For all she knew, they could've died on the way there. Twilight shook her head, pushing the thoughts of death away from her mind. She knew they weren't dead. They couldn't be. She put her mind set on other things, such as possibly going to the land to see if she could help... No, Spike had the map. Maybe find more books? No, nopony knows anything about that land. Twilight groaned in annoyance as she smashed her hoof into her head over and over. Until she got something. The library in Canterlot has a huge expanse of books... I could look there! Twilight thought to herself. Then she facehoofed. "Why didn't I have that idea before?" She asked herself. Nonetheless, she charged her teleportation spell and strained at the amount of magic used. Teleportation spells can easily drain your magic, and strength. But still, Twilight arrived at the front of the library in the castle. She rushed into the library and got a concerned look from the guards before looking around at all the book sections, trying to find a certain category. Twilight looked around the massive library for about five minutes before coming across the well hidden Mythology section. She grabbed the first book and flipped through it, with nothing to be found. Twilight put the book away and took out the next book, labeled with ancient lands. However, it didn't have pictures, and Twilight didn't want to waste any time. <><><><><> Twilight looked through at least half of the whole Mythology section, but was still determined to keep going. She even flipped back through books she didn't remember opening. Finally, she saw a small, old and dusted book. Strange. Twilight thought, reaching for the book. When she pulled it out, it seemed to be smaller than the other books, and it looked a bit torn and old. There were little scraps of letters on the front cover, but it was worn away so Twilight couldn't read it. Twilight sighed with relief when she opened the book to see that the pages weren't affected too much. She flipped through the book, not stopping to read it, and found a few pictures. They were a bit dull and had no colors, but they were pictures. Twilight stopped at a particular picture with the picture of a bridge coming off the side of a cliff and leading to the top of a Building built on sunken land below the cliff. There was nothing else, no buildings, no ponies, not anything except for trees here and there, and a goofy rock formation. Twilight looked to the back and found a map... It looked to be a map of the picture she found, with a symbol indicating the large building she saw in the other picture. But Twilight barely noticed it, because at three different spots, symbols of the faces of different animals stared at her with blue eyes. Twilight found it a little creepy, but nonetheless, kept flipping through the pages. Twilight came across a bigger map, one with a large view of the countries around them and saw what looked like a vague version of Equestria. The same building symbol was located far north of Equestria. Twilight, having noticed this, got wide eyes from her sudden realization. Later, at the library... "Uh, so what did ya gather us here for anyway?" Applejack asked the pacing Twilight. She turned to Applejack for a second, but continued pacing. "Uh, Twilight? What's the big news anyway?" Pinkie questioned the worried unicorn. In response she opened her saddlebag and slid a book across the floor at Pinkie's feet. She examined the worn-out book and made out the title. "What's 'he Act Ld?'" Pinkie asked. Twilight walked over to her and opened up the book to a certain page, the one that held the small images of creatures staring back at Pinkie's confused face. "What does that look like to you?" Twilight pointed at the symbol in the middle of the map. "A... building?" Pinkie responded. Twilight flipped many more pages and stopped on a map of Equestria and the land around it. "What does THAT look like to you?" Twilight asked, pointed to a large chunk of the continent. "It looks like Equestria! But without the label." Pinkie replied. Twilight pointed to the symbol to the left of Equestria. "What is that?" She asked Pinkie. "It looks like the building from before." Twilight stood back. "... I don't get it." Pinkie finally finished. Twilight sighed and pointed back to the book. "If that's Equestria, and that's the building from before, it may just be the location that Spike is at!" Twilight announced. Applejack walked over and looked down at the book. "Sugarcube, are ya really sure that's where Spike is? It could be a mistake." Applejack told the worried unicorn. "Well, we can clarify that. I can send him a message! Well, if he is at that location..." Twilight thought for a second. "We could try! Maybe he's there!" "Um, Twilight?" A soft voice hiding at the back of the room spoke up. "You should really stop worrying about Spike. you're being a little...paranoid." Fluttershy half-whispered across the room. "Paranoid?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy gave a squeak in response. "I'm not paranoid! It's just..." She sighed, and walked upstairs, holding the book in her hooves. "Fine. The meeting is over." She walked into her room, closing the door behind her. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy exchanged looks, until they all left the house. "Paranoid? I'm not paranoid. They're just jealous because I found out where Spike was before they did. I'm not paranoid. I'm just... concerned. What if Spike got sick? Or what if Rainbow Dash lost her way there? What if they starved to- No. I have the book. I know where they are. I'm not paranoid." The book. Twilight stared at the book resting on her bed with a hard glare, as if it'll tell her what all of its secrets are. She flipped through the old pages, skimming through yet again, until she came across a black and white image. Stone pillars including a wrecked bridge towered up over a lake. There was an excerpt below it, and Twilight carefully made out the faded words on the page. Isolated far away Built by ponies not dwelling this day The serpent swims To fulfill His whims Of a long lost debt to pay. Heed this warning noble one For underneath the sky and sun In waters deep It does not sleep Relic Lake thunders on. Twilight blinked. Glancing back at the image, something caught her eye. At the corner of the image, basically a spark in the ink. The ink separated at one particular area, with a circle directly setting into it. It sent shivers down her spine. She flipped again and caught sight of another image of a large cave with an opening in the ceiling. The same ink spread lay near the ground, beside a rock. Another consisted of a desert with various stone structures scattered around it. Above near the sky. It showed a pair of them, along with an object holding them. Another. Large lake with small building held up by pillars floating in the water. A spiked ink separation underneath the water. Another. Twilight gasped. On the next image was a lake, with many pillars rising around it. But clear in the middle was a large bird. The ink separation appeared to be its eyes. She closed the book with a thud. She grasped a quill and parchment with her magic and hastily wrote a message down. After doing so, she sent it with a new spell she started to learn recently and ran towards the Carousel Bouti- Twilight stopped. The reminder of her best friend dead was petrifying, and she remembered why Spike wanted to embark in the first place. How he sat in the library all day, going through book after book, hour after hour. And what of the things showed in the book? Will he encounter them? Has he already? Twilight shook these thoughts from her immediate concentration and bolted out of the house. She needed to find somepony who can help.
ProlougeI'll save you Rarity. No matter the cost. The flapping of paper constantly being heard and the sounds of an upset dragon muttering to himself was all anypony could possibly hear in the library as books were scattered everywhere, all on magic and potions, even myths and legends that were already proven wrong. With bloodshot eyes and a sore body, Spike was skimming through all the words on every page, going by as if they were a blur. Only a single lamp was on to give the desperate baby dragon enough light to see the words on the pages. They were piles of books on the floor, many shelves containing nothing but dust as time passed on. Spike just finished skimming a book on all magic spells that had to do with healing, and grasped the next book beside him. Glancing at the cover, Spike read, "Sorcery and You." He opened it a bit too quickly, almost tearing out one of the pages of the aged book. But still, he pressed on. "Spike, you should really be in bed." A tired voice came from the doorway. Spike glanced around at the lavender unicorn, but quickly turned back to the book, skimming through the words once more. "Spike.: Twilight said more firm. The dragon sighed, and looked directly in Twilight's eyes. "What?" He asked, wanting to get back to finding what he needed. "You aren't going to find a way to heal Rarity, no amount of magic can fix that. And frankly, I don't see the point. You need some rest Spike, but I'll promise you I will help tomorrow." Twilight walked up the Spike and put a hoof on his shoulder. "You promise?" The dragon asked. Twilight pulled him into a big, unexpected hug. "Promise." She responded. Meanwhile, she was fighting with herself in her brain. What do I do? Rarity is gone! No magic can bring a pony back to life, even Princess Celestia has tried it once! I'm not sure whether I can hold this promise or not, but I want to help Spike... The unicorn was torn between helping Spike and just forgetting all about it. But she new that Spike would not let this up tomorrow morning, he's just going to continue dragging Twilight deeper into this mess, with no known way of getting Spike to recover from the recent... incident. "C'mon. Let's get some sleep." Twilight said as she nudged Spike towards the door. The dragon stopped and took one last look at Twilight before turning towards the door and leaving the room. Twilight turned towards the mess of scattered books all over the floor, noticing that each book is one on magic or anything else that has magical effects. With her horn glowing a deep purple, Twilight levitated each and every book onto the blank shelves, making sure to have them in perfect alphabetical order. If nothing was neatly organized, she would probably have one of those "episodes," which usually happens due to terrible organization. After a few minutes of clearing the floor of books and checking every book to make sure they were in order, Twilight walked out of the room and back to her bed, where she slumped down, tired and exhausted. Before her slumber, she had to wonder what pushed Spike to stay awake for a full 48 hours, barely resting, looking through many and many books over and over again. She pushed the thought to the back of her brain to ponder about it sometime tomorrow. The next day Spike sat up and rubbed his eyes, yawning at the same time. He looked over at the window to see the sun rising over the horizon. He looked at the bed near his basket he slept in to find that the blanket was flat against the cover. He yawned yet again, thinking to himself what a good sleep that was. His thoughts were interrupted by a gurgling from his stomach, and he belched a green flame, in which it changed shape until it morphed into a letter, falling on the ground. Spike removed the ribbon keeping the scroll rolled up, and opened it to find a bunch of blurred words on the slip of paper. He narrowed his eyes to see better, and could form the words. Dear Spike, Come to Canterlot immediately. The Princess believes she knows how to help with your problem. -Twilight Spike's eyes widened, and he ran down the stairs, letting go of the letter, and letting it fall to the ground. He bursted out of the library in a rush to catch the train to Canterlot. Whatever this was, it was important to Spike if he could revive Rarity. He remembered it bright as day, getting things for Rarity as she was in bed, horribly ill. Not even a week before, she died of an unknown sickness, and doctors still cannot describe the sickness. After a long run, Spike arrived at the local train station and bought a ticket with some spare birthday money. When the train was about to leave, he hurried in and sat in a fairly comfortable seat, where he thought about many things at once, in which he was getting more impatient to get to Canterlot with every passing thought. He wondered what the disease Rarity had was, he wondered what Princess Celestia and Twilight had uncovered about how to help Rarity. Help. More like rising from the dead. Spike knew that everyone has to die sometime, even Princess Celestia and Luna, what with them being immortal and all. But making someone come out of death and back to being conscious again just isn't natural. Spike argued whether he was doing a good or bad thing. Maybe he should let go of Rarity, continue on in life without his crush with him... *Screeech!* "Arriving at Canterlot!" Spike looked up and out the window. He already arrived. His thoughts must have gone longer than they seemed, it only felt like minutes since Spike left Ponyville. Nonetheless, the dragon jumped down from his seat and ran out the train doors. Locating the castle, Spike ran in its general direction, making haste. He needed to know this information now, no matter what. A few minutes later, Spike walked through the castle doors, thankful that no guards were there. It was always a battle just to get inside the castle. Spike instantly ran down a series of hallways and stairs, memorizing every location of every room in every hallway, from his past memories here. When finally slowing down, sweating, and panting, Spike finally found the door to Princess Celestia's throne room. He pushed the door open and found Twilight talking with Princess Celestia about he matter. "I'm here!" Spike wheezed, "Now tell me what I have to do!" "...Yes, I believe we have found a solution to your predicament." Princess Celestia confirmed. "Lay it on me." Spike requested, still panting, taking deep breaths. "Well, no magic can fix this, not even Princess Celestia's magic, which as we know, is almighty." Twilight explained. "Yes, there has been no recorded spell to bring a pony or other creature back to from the dead." Princess Celestia confirmed. "BUT! There have been legends of an ancient and forbidden land, where nopony inhabits it, except one." Twilight reassured. "Yes, there are myths of the being known as Dormin, the god that can make any wish come true." Princess Celestia explained. "So, why is it deserted?" Spike asked, a puzzled look on his face. "That's a good question! You see, the land isn't very good for living, but it is said there were once beings living there. This is still a legend, but they say that there are ruins of cities and monuments, and the only thing that still stands is the shrine." Twilight explained. "However, this is still all a longshot. We do not know if this is true or not, and the only lead of where exactly it is was with a map passed down from my ancestors for generations." Princess Celestia responded. "But why me? And why can't you teleport to the place?" Spike asked, looking between the two. "That's the problem. We can't teleport there because of Dormin. His presence hinders our teleportation." Twilight explained. "Or if he isn't real, something is hindering our teleportation." Princess Celestia interrupted. "And we can only bring you and another pony because of how many supplies you would need. The trip there is over two weeks. We can't have supplies to feed an entire group higher than at least one. Thankfully, you don't need as much food as other beings, and Rainbow Dash has proven her survival skills." Twilight quickly explained. "Rainbow Dash?" Spike asked, getting more confused by the minute. "Yes, Rainbow Dash will join you in your adventure." Princess Celestia said. "Well, let's get started! I want this done fast!" Spike said in a rush. Twilight turned and nodded at the Princess. She nodded back, and her horn started glowing a bright yellow. Soon enough, there was a bright flash, and Spike and Twilight were back in the library. "Okay, you'll need supplies. I want you to gather all the food you need for the trip." Twilight ordered. "Got it!" Spike saluted. He then dashed off to get food and things. Twilight used her teleportation spell, which still needed a little perfecting, and got herself back in the throne room, where Princess Celestia was waiting, a sword, a bow and a pack of arrows, and a strange cloth with a peculiar design on it. Twilight looked at the item that closely resembled clothes and a cape and sighed. "Really?" She asked, annoyance in her tone. Princess Celestia just shrugged. Twilight sighed again and walked over to the items, and used her teleportation spell yet again. She was back at the library, and found Spike cramming a hoof full of diamonds in his mouth. "Come on, Spike!" Twilight half yelled. "What?" He said between bites, "I'm getting some for the road!" "Whatever, just put this on." Twilight handed him the clothes and supplies and watched as he struggled to put it on. "Are you sure, Twilight? This is itchy... and why do I even have to wear this?" He asked. Twilight searched her mind for an excuse, but only one word came to mind. "It's stylish?" She pitifully said, an awkward smile on her face. Spike sighed, and strapped on the remaining equipment. "Well, can you dig up Rarity? I'll go get Rainbow Dash." Spike said, and walked out the door. Twilight sighed, she never really like dirty work, even with her magic. What ponies don't understand is that magic can't do every single thing, it takes time and patience. Twilight strolled out of the library, and levitated the shovel leaning against the wall. Twilight shook it out, for it had not been used for years, and it was collecting dust. Why would you need to have the use of a shovel? It's a library, for Celestia's sake. But Twilight knew it would come in handy someday. However, she never knew it would be for digging up one of the dead bodies of one of her best friends. She walked towards the Ponyville cemetery, which was not too far from the library. "Rainbow Dash! Are you there?!" Spike called up to the cloud house. He heard the clicking of unlocking a door, and heard the pegasus call out, "What?!" She sounded a bit annoyed. "Down here!" Spike called. He saw the cerulean pegasus look below off her cloud and her frown turned into a smile. "Hi Spike!" Upon closer inspection, Rainbow laughed and finally added, "What's with the getup?" She then continued to laugh, while Spike stood there embarrassed, annoyed, and growing more and more impatient. "Just come down here!" Spike called up to the laughing pegasus. Soon enough, he found her blue form descending from the cloud and finally in front of him. "But really, why are you dressed like that?" She looked at the blade at his side. "And the sword?" Another closer look. "...And arrows?" Spike hesitated. He didn't know whether or not Rainbow would believe this, let alone join him. Finally, he spoke up. "Well, Princess Celestia and Twilight think they might've found a way to save Rarity." Spike quickly explained. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at this. "You mean they found a way to bring her back to life?" she asked. "Possibly, yes. And I need your help to do it." Spike responded. "Sure." She agreed. Spike was shocked at this. She didn't care? At all? "Well, we have to travel for two weeks to a place we aren't even sure exists." Spike pressed on. "Pfft, I've dealt with worse. Besides, Rarity is my friend, I'll do anything to help her." She responded. "...Okay! Let's meet up with Twilight.". Spike was about to walk away towards the cemetery until Rainbow Dash called after him. "Wait! What's Twilight doing?" She asked. "Oh, she's digging up Rarity's body." Spike informed, and walked towards the cemetery yet again. "...Oh." Rainbow said, lost in thought, before catching up to Spike. Twilight stood there, panting. Boy, this sure is exhausting, she thought, even with magic. Once again, she got back to digging, and finally, a loud Thunk was heard as the shovel bumped into something in the pit. Twilight looked down into the hole, and with her magic, tossed the remaining dirt on the bottom out of the pit. Sure enough, there was a wooden coffin there, and Twilight opened it with her magic, revealing a bit dirty, but still very fresh, Rarity. Twilight levitated the body into a large cloth and wrapped it around her, covering all of her body. "Hey Twilight!" Twilight looked over to where the call was made, and saw Spike standing next to Rainbow Dash, waving their hooves and claws in the air, getting her attention. They ran over and looked at the peculiar cloth with a strangely shaped lump inside. "I'm guessing that's Rarity?" Spike asked. "Yup. You better get going, did you pack all the food?" Twilight worriedly asked. "Yeah, it's back at the library." Spike confirmed. "Perfect. Let's get moving!" Rainbow interrupted. "Now Spike, from Princess Celestia's instructions, you two need to head exactly in that direction, straight." Twilight told Spike, pointing a hoof past a building that looked like Northwest, but Spike wasn't too sure. "Got it." Spike nodded. Rainbow nodded too. "Alright, that seems to be it, I wish you two good luck." Twilight finished. Spike nodded, and hopped on Rainbow's back, which held a formidable amount of food, not too much, not too little. Spike took another look at Twilight, as if he'd almost never see her again. "Bye, Twilight." Spike said, and Rainbow Dash went airborne, following the direction Twilight had pointed out. After the departure, Spike's mind took control, and he pondered about so many different things at once, already missing his friends and family. He lifted the cloth covering Rarity's body, and took a look at her pale face. He smiled. Even when she's dead, she still looks beautiful... _____________________________________________________________________________ Well, that's the end of the prologue. If you don't know what this story will be based off of, it's Shadow of the Colossus. Google it. Anyways, I hope this becomes really good and hope that the people who read it will very much enjoy it. Please excuse me for some mistakes or anything else, I tried as hard as I could to make this. Until next time! -Digit
Arrival"Oh, Spike! You're the best..." "Yeah...but not as much as you..." "Spike, can you do me a favor?" "Anything for you, Rarity." "Can you... wake up?" "Wha-" "WAKE UP!" Spike's eyes shot open to find Rainbow Dash's yelling disturbing his slumber. "What? What happened?" Spike asked as he looked around at the scenery. "We're here." Spike's eyes widened at the beautiful sight. There were forests, trees, everything was so green, and there was an architectural gate in front of him, complete with a wall. There wasn't very much sound, in fact, this place seemed very void of life. "So it's true?" Rainbow Dash asked, "The legends?" "I guess so..." Spike trailed off as Rainbow entered the gateway. He was shocked, really. He expected solid ground, maybe even below a hill or something. But they were on an old, rock carved bridge, leading to a massive building overhead. Spike leaned over a bit as Rainbow walked, and found that below, there was a small desert, mountains, some grass, and even a beach below it all. Spike could only ponder at what this place held, and why. Even more strange was the sky. There seemed to be a large thundercloud above the temple, with light erupting from the bottom and towards the middle of the temple. What's more, Spike could see a frame directly in front of him at the end of the bridge, having almost an indent. As they got closer, the indent, which turned out to be a door, opened on it's own. "Are you sure about this Spike? There might be something dangerous in there." Rainbow Dash said, hesitating in front of the dark hallway. Spike smirked. "Really? Are you chicken?" Spike asked. "Pfft, no. No way! I'm just keeping you safe, shorty." She replied. Spike frowned at the nickname. "Shorty" was one of those things that made him look like a kid. Rainbow Dash finally stepped inside, and Spike caught a glimpse of a side passage leading up towards the top of the temple. "Hey Rainbow, wait!" Spike said. "What's up?" Rainbow asked. Spike was about to say something, but all he could utter was, "Never mind." As he watched the door close by itself, sealing the exit towards the side path. "Uh... Never mind." He finished, turning back down the dark, yet very short hallway. When Rainbow walked forward, she looked down below at the small pool at the bottom of a walkable spiral slope. She stepped back, and bounded off the edge, only to find her falling through the air instead of floating down safely. They yelled in shock as they plummeted towards the bottom, hitting the small pool, feeling like nothing more than a large puddle. After groaning in pain, Rainbow finally looked at her back and gasped. "My wings! Where did they go?!" She cried worriedly. Spike took a closer look to find that, indeed, the wings were missing from their usual section, near the shoulder blade. "What? Why are your wings gone?" Spike asked, getting curious. "I dunno! You tell me!" She started to panic. Only once had she not had her wings, and that was when Discord attempted to plummet Equestria into total chaos. "C'mon! We'll figure it out later. Let's talk to Dormin." Spike turned to the large entrance to the other, larger room, "If he is here, that is." He started to walk forward, followed by Rainbow Dash, who had quickly gotten over her recent attire. She still didn't look too happy. Spike observed the large room, staring at the large statues that seemed to represent animals of sorts, and each one was carved with stone. With quick counting, Spike found there were eighteen statues, and ended with a skylight in the roof and a pedestal, with two exits of stairs and a short balcony. He walked over to the pedestal, big enough to fit a regular sized pony's body. "Hey Spike? Can I get Rarity off my back? It's getting really uncomfortable." Rainbow said in the background, examining the statues just as Spike did. "Sure. I found this weird pedestal or something, you can put her on there." Spike responded. Rainbow shrugged and walked over to Spike, leaving the statues behind. She turned and carefully rolled the body wrapped in cloth off of her back and onto the block of stone cemented into the floor. Spike jumped up, having his upper body strength hold him to the pedestal as he reached out and pulled the cloth off and letting it be blown away in the wind. He looked at Rarity yet again, his heart swelling that she will soon be perfectly normal and healthy again. Just thinking about it made him feel much less depressed. His thought was interrupted by a strange noise. It almost seemed like a strangle liquid taking it's own form. Turning around, Spike yelped at the few strange shadows emerging from the floor. Spike fell back, for he had never seen any of these creatures before, neither did they look friendly. "Hey! Back off! I'm not scared of you!" Rainbow Dash yelled, going into a fighting position. Still, the shadows didn't let up. They approached Rainbow, and she threw a hard punch towards one of them, only to find her hoof going through it. "What the-" She was interrupted by the shadow making a high-pitched screeching noise, and throwing her back towards Spike. She quickly got back up, rubbing her forehead. In the middle of all this panic, Spike looked towards his waist. After feeling like an idiot for a full five seconds, Spike drew his sward and held it in front of him, still very scared. Light from the outside glinted off the sword, and the shadows stopped moving forward. In fact, they backed down a little. "Hmm? Thou possesses the Ancient Sword? So thou art mortal..." A loud voice said from above. It sounded like two voices, one male, one female. spike looked around but couldn't see anything. Even the shadows had disappeared. "Uh, is this D-Dormin? I heard a rumor that you can bring ponies back to life..." Spike choked out. "Thou art correct... We are the one known as Dormin..." The voice said again. Spike gulped. "Really? Cool. Well, this pony here died of disease, and I kinda... want you... to bring her back to life?" Spike smiled sheepishly. Dormin chuckled. "That maiden's soul? Souls that are once lost cannot be reclaimed... Is that not the law of mortals?" He paused, "With that sword however... it may not be impossible." Spike smiled. "Awesome! So you can!" He said, leaving behind many of his fears. He was very happy that he could save Rarity, and that it wasn't impossible. "That is of course, if thou manage to accomplish what We askest." Dormin said again. Spike frowned. He then sighed, getting a bit annoyed at all these things he has to do. "Fine. What is it? do I have to make you a sandwich or something?" Over in the background, Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Behold the idols that stand along the wall... Thou art to destroy all of them. But those idols cannot be destroyed by the mere hands of a mortal..." Dormin continued. "So, what? Do I use dynamite or something?" Spike replied, wanting to just know what he has to do to save Rarity. "In this land there exist colossi that are the incarnations of those idols. If thou defeat those colossi--the idols shall fall." Dormin explained. Spike looked at the statues yet again, gulping at the fact that he said the word "collosi." Just that one word gave him the slightest feeling that no good would come of this. Finally, Spike spoke up. "S-sure, why not?" He smiled sheepishly again. "But heed this, the price you pay may be heavy indeed." Dormin kept going on. "Oh, well in that case..." Spike walked away until getting a death glare from Rainbow Dash. "Uh... I'll do it!" Spike said, clapping his claws together. "Very well..." Dormin paused, as if looking out at something. "Raise thy sword by the light... and head to the place where the sword's light gathers... There, thou shalt find the colossi thou art to defeat." Dormin explained, as Spike looked towards the sunlight at the end of the room. He steeped past the pillars and onto the very small "balcony," and held up his sword. Sure enough, light was shining off the sword, and there at least eight beams of light shooting off of it. Spike then turned the sword and his position, until the light came all together, towards the top of a cliff not too far in front of the shrine. Spike put his sword away and walked back inside. "Now, be on thy way..." Dormin said, until leaving without another word. "Ready, Rainbow?" Spike asked. "Definitely." The rainbow maned pegasus said to Spike. "Really? Cause I'm not." Spike replied. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and galloped out of the shrine, in the direction of the beam of light being held by Spike's sword.
#1**SHADOW OF THE PONY Auhtor: Digit Chapter 1** Spike gulped with worry as he and Rainbow Dash went along the small path to the cliff. Upon entering, Spike finds that there is a small staircase, along with a few other architectural features. Spike looks to the side and spots ivy growing off the stone wall, presumably used to get on top of the large stone. Rainbow Dash must have noticed it too, and tried to take a leap and get on top of it, with Spike falling off and hitting his head on the stone floor. Unfortunately, Rainbow couldn't make it on top, no matter now many times she tried. After a few minutes, she gave up. "Sorry, Spike. You're on your own." She said to the dragon rubbing his head. He nodded, and walked over to the ivy on the wall. He reached a claw out and snatched it, getting a firm grip. He reached his other claw out and grabbed the ivy next to his other one. He slowly trudged up the ivy, and pulled himself onto the stone. "I think I'll head back to the castle...thing...whatever." Rainbow called up, and turned around to leave. Spike took a look above all of the stone platforms onto the cliff, and felt as if fear just welled up inside him, like his death was sitting on top of that cliff, maybe having a cup of tea. An image of rarity popped up in Spike's head, and his looked of fear was quickly replaced by a look of bravery. He ran along the stone and jumped across a small gap, easily making it to the other side to find another ledge. He jumped up as high as he could reach, just barely clamping his claw over the edge. He pulled himself up with all his strength, and ran along the path again. He ran along a wooden plank and jumped over another gap, getting a tad exhausted. He crawled under a small pillar that had fallen and was leaning against the wall. Before he jumped onto the other ledge, he noticed how peculiar it was that there were countless amounts of ledges in the first place. Nonetheless, he pulled himself over the two ledges there, and grabbed to the crook in the big block of stone. He managed to pull himself up on the small ledge and shimmy across to the other side of the stone. With one big leap, he jumped off the ledge and barely grabbed the edge of it, his claw tightening in grip. He reached up and grasped his other claw on the edge, heaving himself up, where he landed on his back, panting. If it was this tough just to get to these colossi, then he was going to have a major problem. Spike walked up to the end of the stone trail, and stopped in his tracks when he heard a loud roar. Soon, he saw a giant creature with a club in his hand walking towards the other end of the cliff. It had hair growing on it's back and head, with the rest being made of stone and pure black eyes with a blue circle in the middle. It didn't seem to notice Spike, but he still stood there with fear building up in him all over again. "Hold up thy sword to reflect the light onto the colossus. Its vitals shall be revealed..." Dormin said from above. Spike heeded his words and drew his sword, making sure it hit sunlight. As said, it built up in two places. One of them being on top of the head, and the other on the back of the foot. Spike, being very careful, walked forward, and then full on sprinted, because he was losing the colossus. Finally, when he got close enough, he jumped onto the colossus's leg, and it started to shake it's leg violently. Spike started to scream, for he felt like he was going to die. He finally brought himself back into reality, and that same picture of Rarity came into mind. He then took his sword and lifted it up. He brought it down on the mark, making it spurt blood. The colossus fell on it's knees. He raised the sword again and brought it down on the same spot, causing the colossus to partially fall over. Spike jumped up onto the piece of stone with a ledge on it, throwing himself up and clutched the hair that appeared to be on the giant's butt. It got up and attempted to shake Spike off, and he could slowly feel his grip slipping away. He jumped up onto a highly convenient stone platform on it's back. Spike kind of rested there for a few moments before jumping onto another stone ledge attached to the beast. This entire time, the creature was growling and roaring as Spike climbed up it's hairy back. Spike took a second to wonder, Why am I in this mess? He put it to the side as he ran up it's back, with it still shaking and whatnot. Spike finally found the vital on it's head, which looked like a blue glowing symbol of some sort. Nonetheless, Spike held a firm grip on the skull and lifted his sword up, and brought it back down. The beast roared as dark blood violently spurted from the creature's head, and it responded by rearing it's head up. Spike's claw flew of the creatures body and he screamed. Only to realize he still had a very firm grip with the other claw. After the colossus stopped shaking it's head for a second, Spike took another large stab at it's head, causing the usual roar and head rearing along with the fountain of blood. This continued after Spike took one final stab, in which the colossus slowly roared, and it faded. The beast fell down, dropping it's club, and it's once blue eyes disappeared into nothing but darkness. Spike fell off the creature, highly exhausted. It was a miracle that he didn't get a single scratch on him, despite the circumstances. Spike got up and watched the body of the fallen colossus be enveloped in a black aura and have black tentacles form out. Spike gasped when he saw the tentacles bolt towards him. He took a mad dash towards the way he came, but to no avail as the black tentacles shot through Spike's back and out of his chest. He slowly dropped the sword and fell to his knees. His vision faded as he fell to the ground until he finally lost all consciousness.
#2**SHADOW OF THE PONY Author: Digit Chapter 2** Pain. Pain and darkness was all Spike felt when those strange tentacles emitting from the colossus rammed into his stomach, leaving a sharp pain for him to blackout to. Spike heard Twilight mention something about Hentai once or twice, and she mentioned it had to do with tentacles. Maybe he should ask her about it. Obviously having enough strength to open his eyes, Spike proceeded and looked around the room again, until his gaze set upon Rarity. He ignored the all-too-familiar shadow staring him down and watching him as he walked up to the limp body of Rarity, until he heard a voice. "Hey, Spike! How'd you get here so fast?" Rainbow Dash asked as the dragon turned to her and looked a bit puzzled. "I dunno. After I killed the... Thing... these tentacles came out and attacked me. After that, I think I passed out, and now I'm here." Spike quickly explained. Spike couldn't believe what was happening anyways, he didn't know if this was a dream or not. He expected it to be a dream, due to all the rumbling around him. But he realized, that wasn't it. Spike looked over to the wall where the statues were to find the first one glowing cracks of bright blue light. *zzzzzzZZZZZ-CRACK!* Spike and Rainbow Dash watched in awe as the statue blew apart in a snap, leaving nothing but wreckage from the statue. Spike could then hear Dormin's breathing above, as if he were about to say something. "Thy next foe is... In the seaside cave... It moves slowly... Raise thy courage to defeat it." He recited. Spike looked at Rainbow Dash, "What do you think that means?" He asked. She looked away from the skylight and shrugged, "No idea." Spike looked over to where the one shadow was, to find it had disappeared. "Well, we better get going, huh?" Spike asked. "Well, it looks like you're more confident than before." Rainbow Dash chuckled as Spike jumped on her back. "Yeah, well that was before I killed a giant creature holding a club!" Spike shot back. Rainbow chuckled and left the Shrine. After Spike rose the legendary sword towards the light, the beam had separated towards the first colossus's grave. As he scanned the area, the light gathered from behind the Shrine. Seeing this, Rainbow Dash galloped towards the direction of the beam, and ran along a natural bridge that had grass on top of it, looking just like the landscape. Spike's gaze fell upon the beach below. So far, this land was a peninsula, but Spike couldn't be sure. He did know, however, that there was a beach much further down below. So far, in fact, that if any creature were to jump off without some sort of wings or parachute, even in the water they would most likely suffer a cruel death. But what was more intriguing was the cliff itself. Below, at the corner of the beach, there was a large indent in the wall, blending in, but highly noticeable. As Rainbow neared the end of the bridge, Spike felt shivers go down his spine. To be sure, Spike raised his sword in the light, and pointed it down at the beach. Sure enough, the light gathered towards the large indent. Rainbow Dash noticed this, and gulped. "So, the thing is there?" She asked. Spike took note of the fact that Rainbow Dash still had yet to see a colossus, for she couldn't assist Spike in fighting the first one. Upon noting this, Spike added, "Don't worry. When I fought the first one he wasn't that hard." What a big fat lie. When Spike first found the giant and it's might, he nearly wet himself. But, being the determined dragon he is, his bravery overcame his fears, thus allowing him to defeat it. While Rainbow Dash was quite the confident pony, she almost couldn't do anything without her wings. Spike shuddered when he looked back at the memory of Pinkie Pie's challenge to see how long Rainbow could keep her wings tied to her back. Being the competitive pony Rainbow is, she accepted. While also being the high flying pegasus she is, however, she can be driven to the pinnacle of insanity within days. The challenge was a month, and Rainbow had lost many of her well known traits that everypony has, such as sanity. Poor Mr. Sterndeuter. Anyways. "Well, if you say so..." Rainbow trailed off as she continued to the end of the road, in which she went down the side of the cliff. The entire time, Spike wondered about the thing Dormin said before they left. Spike could see the words forming back in his head as if they were being told time and time again. Thy next foe is... In the seaside cave... It moves slowly... Raise thy courage to defeat it. Well, the seaside cave must refer to the indent in the wall, which is apparently a cave. It moves slowly... the bigger the creature, the slower it moves. Could this one be significantly larger than the first? Raise thy courage... Spike had a feeling in his gut that he won't be able to sneak up to the colossus, just like last time. Upon these thoughts, Rainbow was thinking and focusing on something much different, like keeping herself from jumping off this here cliff to stop the insanity due to missing her wings. She also wondered about what the thing might look like. Maybe it looks like the Ursa Minor? That thing was a HUGE threat to Ponyville, but nothing is really at stake except for Rarity, Spike, and herself. Finally, they got to the bottom of the slope off the side of the cliff, at the far left of the beach, if you were looking in from the water. Rainbow and Spike were glaring at the large "cave" in the far side of the beach, just waiting for it to move. When Spike thought nothing would happen, he heard a loud rumble, and the indent bursted open to reveal a large cave, with a large, yet slow creature coming out. It was relatively close to a Pony, though it only had hair on it's back, it had horns, it's entire top body, including the head, was made of stone. To top it off, it didn't have a mane or tail, except for a small stub at the end. "What. Is THAT?!" Rainbow asked in astonishment. "A colossus..." Spike heard his voice fade, feeling another wave of doom as the creature looked directly at him, and roared, stumbling forward. Rainbow Dash smirked, and charged forward. "What are you doing?!" Spike yelled at her. "Bring it on!" She yelled, particularly at the colossus. Spike took that as an advantage, and took out his bow. Having practiced using it on the way to this ancient land, Spike knew how to use it, and shot an arrow, streamlining in the air towards the colossus's face. It became somewhat enraged, it's distant blue eyes becoming a shade of orange. It lifted it's hooves in the air slowly, and brought them back down, and the shock wave made Rainbow stumble back, sending Spike flying off her back. "The place that emits light is its vitals..." Dormin said as Spike got up. Looking up at the beast, he saw it rearing up again, trying to crush Rainbow, who was currently running away. Spike took out his bow, clearly seeing the glowing on the bottom of the colossus's hoof, and sent an arrow flying. Upon impact, the area stopped glowing, and the colossus roared, where it fell down onto it's knee. Spike sprinted over as fast as his legs could take him, and leaped onto the giant just as it was getting back up. Spike climbed all the way up the side of it's arm and onto it's belly, where a small stone platform was hanging. Resting on it, Spike could see Rainbow Dash cheering up to him, even though she couldn't do anything in this situation. Spike turned and bounded off the colossus's shoulder platform and continued climbing the side of it's belly, were he reached the tail. Upon doing so, Spike took his sword out at the sight of the vital mark appearing, and clenched onto the hair, making sure to have a firm grip. Taking a deep breath, Spike brought the sword up and slammed it down as hard as he could, allowing blood to spray everywhere, along with the colossus roaring in pain and anger. Spike took another stab, to hear the same roaring and same blood fountain, but the mark disappeared! The colossus was also thrashing his back about, obviously still alive. Spike was puzzled, and tried stabbing it's tail again, but nothing happened, only the angered cries of the colossus. Spike then understood when he aimed his sword to the sun, allowing light to reflect off it. Gathering light, the beam sharpened towards the colossus's head, and Spike sighed. But he continued to run along the beast's back, grabbing onto ledges that looked as if the colossus's spine was sticking out of it's body. It thrashed left and right, causing Spike to trip and stumble, where he hit his head. Rubbing his cranium, he opened his eyes, and yelped. He scurried back to the large, flat, and long stone resting on the colossus's back at the sight of how far up Spike was, not to mention how close he was to falling. Spike panted, gasping for air, and turned again to bound over the next ledge. Finally, Spike had gotten over the large blocks of stone and made it to the colossus's head, which was surprisingly flat. Upon reaching the vital, Spike felt the colossus duck its head down, and launch back up, almost sending Spike flying off it's head and back down to the sand. But Spike held a firm grip, and gritted his teeth. When the colossus stopped shaking, Spike stabbed down on the mammoth-like creature with all his strength, sending the blood shooting around, and the creature rearing it's head, harder than before, but Spike still held strong. As he took the final stab, the colossus's roar of agony faded away as it collapsed, the blue in it's eyes fading away. Spike, being as tired as he was, fell off it's head and rested in the sand, taking deep breaths. Rainbow ran over to the fallen dragon. "Oh, ponyfeathers! Are you okay, Spike?!" She asked with worry. She especially gasped when Spike's body was impaled by black tentacles, even though there was no scratch on him. "WHAT IN TARTARUS?!" She yelled, as she thought Spike had died. Watching Spike faint, she worried. "What do I do?" She mumbled, turning around. Turning back to the unconscious dragon, Rainbow noticed that Spike was gone, and the colossus was quickly aging, turning all of it into stone and everything became aged at such a fast pace. Rainbow Dash was so confused, but she decided to gallop back to the Shrine, to ask Dormin where Spike is. __________________________________________________________________ Author's Note: I put a little Easter Egg in this here chapter. Have fun finding it.
#3SHADOW OF THE PONY Author: Digit Chapter 3 "Ooohh..." Spike groggily moaned as he slowly stood up, popping his back. He looked up at the strange shadows, eyes firmly locked on him, not moving. Spike took note that there were two this time, instead of one. He heard the rumbling yet again and turned around, just in time to see the next idol collapse. *zzzzzzZZZZZ-CRACK!* Just as last time, the large statue, which looked close in similarity to that of the second colossus, glowed, and abruptly exploded, leaving behind wreckage of the idol. Spike looked up to the skylight, its rays shining through, giving light to the Shrine. "D-Dormin?" Spike stammered. He really didn't know what to expect. And then, the god finally spoke, "Thy next foe is... A giant canopy soars to the heavens... The anger of the sleeping giant shatters the earth..." Of course, Dormin leaves with a riddle and not saying what in the world the next colossus is, but instead tells about canopies in the sky. Spike snorted in irritation. He then turned towards the entrance when he heard the sound of hooves beating against the ground. "Dormin! What did you do with-" Rainbow Dash started, until she noticed Spike, in which she stopped in her tracks. "Spike! Are you alright?" Rainbow asked, closely observing the small dragon, without a scratch on him. He did, however, look a bit tired. Even Rainbow Dash knew that with Spike being as small as he is, it's hard killing these large creatures, and can get very exhausting. Even if Rainbow Dash couldn't figure out the reason why Spike can and will kill these things, she still tried to look after him, being the only pony in the immediate area to comfort him. "Hey, Rainbow. I'm fine, it just happened again." Spike groggily replied to Dash. Rainbow took his gesture towards the mysterious teleporting, even if there was no magic around here. "Do you need to rest? You look tired." Rainbow asked. She looked over to find that Spike was already dozing off, until he shook himself awake. "N-nuh! I can keep going..." He slowly trudged to Rainbow and climbed onto her back, and he lazily lifted up the sword, letting the light from above point in the direction to go. Rainbow, being very, as she would describe it, "Twilight-like", didn't start going into a full-on sprint. Instead, she slowly walked out of the Shrine, hearing Spike finally falling into a deep sleep on her back. Remembering the direction of the next colossus, she quickly circled the building until she got around to what was close to the other side of the Shrine, and walked down yet another, this time different, naturally formed bridge leading across the large canyon with water flowing at the bottom. Rainbow looked around the land once more, having not seen all of the views before arriving the first time, and yet, there was still much more to discover. "N...nuh... Rarity..." Spike mumbled in his slumber. Everypony already knew Spike's crush for Rarity (even Rarity, but she didn't take it seriously), so it wasn't a surprise to Rainbow that he was saying her name or other things about her in his sleep. Rainbow, having lost what direction she had to go to, lifted Spike off of her back and gingerly placed him down on the soft grass. Stretching her limbs and laying down, Rainbow stared up into the clouds, wishing she could just fly up there and rest, instead of being down here, grounded until she finds out where her wings ran off to. But for now, Rainbow had to stay on the ground, helping Spike stay alive, while helping herself as well, which is a bit harder than you think, especially when large beasts with the potential to destroy you in seconds are roaming around the land. Rainbow Dash sighed, feeling a bit woozy herself. She felt her eyelids grow heavy as she stared into the beautiful blue sky. Whether she wanted to or not, she fell asleep, feeling no regret in it whatsoever. ... "Huh. A bridge. Seems easy enough." Rainbow Dash said as she looked over at the stone bridge, which had a large chasm below. Backing up a few feet, she then ran as fast as she could and jumped the gap. Feeling something rumbling, and Spike yelling "The bridge is falling!" She ran faster. She bucked Spike off of him to the other side, while trying to jump off as well, but she was already falling. "Rainbow!" Spike yelled over the ledge. Rainbow Dash tried to fly up, and remembered. No wings. She turned towards the fast flowing river seconds away from her face, and- "AAH!" Rainbow Dash gasped as she shot up, breathing heavily. She took a moment to control her breathing, quickly realizing it was a dream. "You okay Rainbow?" Asked Spike, who was sitting up and staring at her with concern. "Yeah! I'm fine. Just had a bad dream." She responded, breathing heavily. "What was it about?" Spike asked intently while standing up. "Don't worry about it. We should get a move on, right?" Rainbow Dash said, getting up and regaining her breath. "Okay then..." Spike shrugged before hopping on her back. He drew his sword and redirected it so the beams came together. Once the direction was clear, Rainbow Dash started to gallop towards it. They went around a large rock formation, almost looking like a mountain, when they found a path with fallen pillars stretching over the top. "What's with these pillars?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I dunno, it almost seems like something was here, like a city or something." Spike guessed. Rainbow Dash kept walking through the path, until they came upon a large pond. "I think that's where we find the third one, huh?" Rainbow Dash asked. In the middle of the pond, there was a large, stone pillar-like structure shooting out, with a large platform on the end. To the side, a large spiral slope led up to the top. "Up there huh?" Rainbow Dash asks as she swam along the pond. Looking down into the water, Spike and Rainbow Dash were awestruck at the sight of a sunken and ancient city lying underneath the water. It was very faint, but the two could see buildings around the large structure they were swimming to, and were tempted to swim down and discover more. Both didn't need to say anything to agree on the fact that some things are worth keeping a secret. Finally swimming up to the slope, Rainbow Dash shook all the water off and started galloping up the slope. She stopped when the slope ended, as there was a disconnected pillar across from them. It seemed to be part of another destroyed building, with a ledge on a large boulder connected to the end of the pillar. "Alright, on the count of three, I'm going to launch you over there, okay?" Rainbow Dash asked, stepping back. She looked at Spike and after he nodded vigorously, she turned back around and started counting. "One..." She took many steps back. "Two..." She braced herself for a fast run. "Three!" She dashed to the end of the slope, bucking Spike off and he let go, although he was yelling as he soared through the air. Smacking against the wall, he gripped the small ledge of the stone block. "That's all I can do for now!" Rainbow Dash called over. "What? Why?" Spike asked after he stopped pulling himself around the ledge. "I can't grip that ledge. You're on your own." She responded. Spike nodded and continued moving along the ledge until there was an indent blocking the way. Spike turned around to the platform far away, only to clutch the ledge tighter. "It's too far!" He called out. "No it isn't! Besides, you have an entire deep lake below you, if you fall, you can come up and try again." Rainbow Dash reassured. "Really?" Spike turned back to the platform. "O-okay..." He grasped the wall and braced his feet against it. With one hard leap he flew across the air, with his eyes closed, hoping he wouldn't fall. His worry was soon met with a hard slam into something hard, along with rolling along the cold floor. He opened his eyes and smiled. "Did you see that?! I made it!" He said standing back up. "Yup. You sure did." Rainbow dash said, smiling back. "but you still have a colossus to kill." She finished, in a more serious tone. Spike frowned at that and gulped. "Oh yeah..." He muttered, looking on top of the platform above him. There was apparently a large, broken rock up there, along with a big stone tablet a few feet away from it. Spike jumped up and latched onto the small platform above him, and heaved himself onto the top of the large "canopy". "Now what?" Spike called to Rainbow Dash. He then heard some shaking. As he turned around to find the source, he gulped in fear. The "broken up rock" was unfolding into a large stone creature. It had a very long sword at the end of its hand, and used the sword to help himself up. Standing up, Spike could see the armor around its arm leading to a way to climb up onto its head, where he guessed was the vital mark. The creature turned slowly to face him. Upon seeing him, the colossus attempted to move forward, and Spike heard a loud clang at its feet. He looked at where the clang was, to see that the colossus's foot had come into contact with the tablet in the center, and the tablet didn't even scratch. *FWOOSH* *SMASH* Spike was just in time to dodge the large sword coming down on him. Spike could hear Rainbow Dash yelling in rage at the colossus, but was too stunned to understand what she said. Seeing that its sword was stuck inside of the platform, Spike jumped up and ran across the large sword, as if upon instinct. However, the mighty sword was removed from the ground while Spike was still halfway up the sword, and he tripped, falling to the ground on his back. The colossus roared, obviously sounding annoyed. "The armor it wears seems brittle..." Dormin called from above. Rainbow Dash must have heard, for she stopped yelling. Spike ran away quick enough to miss the large sword that was now impaled to the floor. "Spike! The armor on its arm!" Rainbow Dash called out. Spike looked up at the arm holding the sword and indeed noticed that the armor was loose. Spike ran towards the edge of the platform and stopped. He turned and thought to himself, How am I going to knock that armor off without getting myself killed? Spike started to panic as the colossus started to walk over to him from the far side of the platform. *CLANG* That sound! Spike thought. He looked back down at the tablet that had appeared unscathed when the colossus stepped on it, and the fact that it lightly bounced off. Spike smiled as if he had an idea. He waited for the colossus to come over towards him, and it slammed its sword down as spike jumped to the side to dodge it. He then ran in between its feet and ran over towards the stone tablet. Spike turned around just in time to see the colossus pull its sword out of the ground and it turned around. "Hey! Over here! Fresh meat!" Spike yelled to it. The colossus swung its sword back and started to thrust it down towards Spike. Seconds before impact, Spike, yet again, jumped to the side away from the tablet. *CLAAAANG!* The sound ringed in Spike's ears when he turned around and saw the armor on its arm fall off. Seeing this, the colossus roared in anger. It lifted its sword again and smashed it down near Spike, not hitting the tablet. Spike ran up the sword as fast as he could, while Rainbow Dash cheered him on from over at the slope. Spike tripped when the sword was pulled out of the ground, and tumbled off the side of the sword, yet swiftly caught the edge of it. He didn't hesitate to pull himself back up and run to the colossus's arm, where he grabbed on it and pulled himself onto the break in the armor. He pushed himself against it to regain his grip. The colossus kept roaring. Getting back up, Spike grabbed on to the back of the colossus's arm and slowly made his way up onto its shoulders. Running over to the head, Spike discovered the mark, and gripped his sword. He grabbed onto the colossus's head firmly, and lifted the sword up. With all his strength, he plunged the sword into the large beast's head, causing blood to spurt out. The colossus roared and attempted to shake Spike off. But he kept his grip and stabbed yet again. The mark slowly faded away, and Spike groaned in annoyance. The colossus took this as an advantage and thrusted Spike off of his head. Spike screamed as he fell off the mighty beast, and, by a stroke of luck, landed on its sword. However, he hit quite hard, and it knocked the wind out of him. The colossus shook its arm to shake Spike off, but he wouldn't let go. Regaining his breath, Spike lifted his sword as the beam of light reflected off of it. It traveled as a beam toward the colossus's midsection, which wasn't covered in armor. "Waah!" Spike yelled again as he fell off the sword. If he wasn't half terrified for his life, he was certainly annoyed. The colossus didn't hesitate to swing its sword down at Spike, but it was getting smarter. Instead of stabbing it into the ground, it swung it side to side. Spike ducked just in time to miss the sword passing above his head. When the sword passed again, he prayed to himself and leaped upward. The sword broke at least four ribs, at least, that's what it felt like to Spike, and knocked the air out of him. Yet he was still holding on. Spike, aside from his wounds, reluctantly crawled across the sword, getting farther and farther while the beast kept shaking. At the colossus's hand, Spike mustered all of his strength to leap from the sword to the colossus's waist. Hitting the stone sent searing pain through him, and tears formed in his eyes. Yet he still stood and took out his sword. Shakily, he stabbed the colossus in the stomach, where the mark was. After the third stab, the final roar was heard. The colossus slowly collapsed and fell to the floor of the large stone platform they were on. Spike did the same and lost all consciousness before the colossus even hit the ground. Even in his sleep, he could feel the pain of the black appendages tearing through his body. "Sp......thi....." Um, may I ask, does anybody feel like being a proofreader? Until next time! -Digit
Twilight: Part 1**SHADOW OF THE PONY Author: Digit Twilight (Part One)** Twilight carefully skimmed the book of ancient myths, as if she felt she was low on time. As she reached the end of the book, she groaned in defeat, a feeling that she had felt for quite some time. She wasn't exactly comfortable with allowing two of her best friends to go to a forbidden land, one of which they don't even know what's inside. Twilight had looked through all of the myths and legends book in her whole library twice over and found nothing that had to do with forbidden lands. Twilight had even went as far as Fillydalphia just to look through bookstores and ask about the unknown land. But nopony knew anything whatsoever. For all she knew, they could've died on the way there. Twilight shook her head, pushing the thoughts of death away from her mind. She knew they weren't dead. They couldn't be. She put her mind set on other things, such as possibly going to the land to see if she could help... No, Spike had the map. Maybe find more books? No, nopony knows anything about that land. Twilight groaned in annoyance as she smashed her hoof into her head over and over. Until she got something. The library in Canterlot has a huge expanse of books... I could look there! Twilight thought to herself. Then she facehoofed. "Why didn't I have that idea before?" She asked herself. Nonetheless, she charged her teleportation spell and strained at the amount of magic used. Teleportation spells can easily drain your magic, and strength. But still, Twilight arrived at the front of the library in the castle. She rushed into the library and got a concerned look from the guards before looking around at all the book sections, trying to find a certain category. Twilight looked around the massive library for about five minutes before coming across the well hidden Mythology section. She grabbed the first book and flipped through it, with nothing to be found. Twilight put the book away and took out the next book, labeled with ancient lands. However, it didn't have pictures, and Twilight didn't want to waste any time. <><><><><> Twilight looked through at least half of the whole Mythology section, but was still determined to keep going. She even flipped back through books she didn't remember opening. Finally, she saw a small, old and dusted book. Strange. Twilight thought, reaching for the book. When she pulled it out, it seemed to be smaller than the other books, and it looked a bit torn and old. There were little scraps of letters on the front cover, but it was worn away so Twilight couldn't read it. Twilight sighed with relief when she opened the book to see that the pages weren't affected too much. She flipped through the book, not stopping to read it, and found a few pictures. They were a bit dull and had no colors, but they were pictures. Twilight stopped at a particular picture with the picture of a bridge coming off the side of a cliff and leading to the top of a Building built on sunken land below the cliff. There was nothing else, no buildings, no ponies, not anything except for trees here and there, and a goofy rock formation. Twilight looked to the back and found a map... It looked to be a map of the picture she found, with a symbol indicating the large building she saw in the other picture. But Twilight barely noticed it, because at three different spots, symbols of the faces of different animals stared at her with blue eyes. Twilight found it a little creepy, but nonetheless, kept flipping through the pages. Twilight came across a bigger map, one with a large view of the countries around them and saw what looked like a vague version of Equestria. The same building symbol was located far north of Equestria. Twilight, having noticed this, got wide eyes from her sudden realization. Later, at the library... "Uh, so what did ya gather us here for anyway?" Applejack asked the pacing Twilight. She turned to Applejack for a second, but continued pacing. "Uh, Twilight? What's the big news anyway?" Pinkie questioned the worried unicorn. In response she opened her saddlebag and slid a book across the floor at Pinkie's feet. She examined the worn-out book and made out the title. "What's 'he Act Ld?'" Pinkie asked. Twilight walked over to her and opened up the book to a certain page, the one that held the small images of creatures staring back at Pinkie's confused face. "What does that look like to you?" Twilight pointed at the symbol in the middle of the map. "A... building?" Pinkie responded. Twilight flipped many more pages and stopped on a map of Equestria and the land around it. "What does THAT look like to you?" Twilight asked, pointed to a large chunk of the continent. "It looks like Equestria! But without the label." Pinkie replied. Twilight pointed to the symbol to the left of Equestria. "What is that?" She asked Pinkie. "It looks like the building from before." Twilight stood back. "... I don't get it." Pinkie finally finished. Twilight sighed and pointed back to the book. "If that's Equestria, and that's the building from before, it may just be the location that Spike is at!" Twilight announced. Applejack walked over and looked down at the book. "Sugarcube, are ya really sure that's where Spike is? It could be a mistake." Applejack told the worried unicorn. "Well, we can clarify that. I can send him a message! Well, if he is at that location..." Twilight thought for a second. "We could try! Maybe he's there!" "Um, Twilight?" A soft voice hiding at the back of the room spoke up. "You should really stop worrying about Spike. you're being a little...paranoid." Fluttershy half-whispered across the room. "Paranoid?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy gave a squeak in response. "I'm not paranoid! It's just..." She sighed, and walked upstairs, holding the book in her hooves. "Fine. The meeting is over." She walked into her room, closing the door behind her. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy exchanged looks, until they all left the house. "Paranoid? I'm not paranoid. They're just jealous because I found out where Spike was before they did. I'm not paranoid. I'm just... concerned. What if Spike got sick? Or what if Rainbow Dash lost her way there? What if they starved to- No. I have the book. I know where they are. I'm not paranoid." The book. Twilight stared at the book resting on her bed with a hard glare, as if it'll tell her what all of its secrets are. She flipped through the old pages, skimming through yet again, until she came across a black and white image. Stone pillars including a wrecked bridge towered up over a lake. There was an excerpt below it, and Twilight carefully made out the faded words on the page. Isolated far away Built by ponies not dwelling this day The serpent swims To fulfill His whims Of a long lost debt to pay. Heed this warning noble one For underneath the sky and sun In waters deep It does not sleep Relic Lake thunders on. Twilight blinked. Glancing back at the image, something caught her eye. At the corner of the image, basically a spark in the ink. The ink separated at one particular area, with a circle directly setting into it. It sent shivers down her spine. She flipped again and caught sight of another image of a large cave with an opening in the ceiling. The same ink spread lay near the ground, beside a rock. Another consisted of a desert with various stone structures scattered around it. Above near the sky. It showed a pair of them, along with an object holding them. Another. Large lake with small building held up by pillars floating in the water. A spiked ink separation underneath the water. Another. Twilight gasped. On the next image was a lake, with many pillars rising around it. But clear in the middle was a large bird. The ink separation appeared to be its eyes. She closed the book with a thud. She grasped a quill and parchment with her magic and hastily wrote a message down. After doing so, she sent it with a new spell she started to learn recently and ran towards the Carousel Bouti- Twilight stopped. The reminder of her best friend dead was petrifying, and she remembered why Spike wanted to embark in the first place. How he sat in the library all day, going through book after book, hour after hour. And what of the things showed in the book? Will he encounter them? Has he already? Twilight shook these thoughts from her immediate concentration and bolted out of the house. She needed to find somepony who can help.
