Chapter 2-Temporary Vessel

Spike laid on the bed that had been brought in for him to rest on, and after what he had gone through earlier that day, he had passed out almost immediately. Bandages were wrapped around his chest and forehead, and Twilight and Nyx had been bringing him water and other things all afternoon when he had asked for it. Rarity had even come over when she heard that he had been hurt, bringing some tea with her that she had made to make him feel better, though just being in the same room with her had made him feel like a million rubies. But now he was just laying there, breathing heavily and mumbling in his sleep.

Spike’s eyes suddenly opened, glowing green in the darkness. He rose up out of his bed and walked out of the room into the hallway. He quickly and quietly passed both Twilight and Nyx’s bedrooms, creeping down the staircase into the opened space of the library. There, he knelt down in the middle of the room, held out his right hand, closed his eyes and started chanting in a voice both strange and foreign to his own.

“MAJ-IN! MAJ-IN! YƎR T(Ǝ-)RIṈ KȮL YÜ NAŪ. HI(Ǝ)R MǏ VȮIS NAŮ, ƎN(D) Ȱ-ƁĀ MǏ KƎ-ḾAND, ƎN(D) ǨĀM TÜ MÊ NAŮ TH WÊ MĀ-BÊ ẂƎN!”

A light began to glow from his hand as he repeated his words. The light became brighter and brighter until, with a blinding flash, a small purple gemstone fell with a small thud into his claws.

A smile crept onto his face as he held the star-shaped stone to his chest as he muttered under his breath, “ƎT ĤAZ BIN TÜ LȮṊ.” Spike then got himself back to his feet and with a sigh he walked to the door, opened it, and ran out into the darkened street. But unknown to him, a pair of serpentine eyes had been watching him the whole time from the upstairs railing.

∼∼∼

“Mom. Mom! Wake up!”

Nyx had walked into Twilight’s room just moments after Spike had left the library, and now she was on top of her mother, who was proving difficult to wake.

“Come on, Twilight, wake up!” Nyx wined.

Twilight groaned and opened her eyes halfway to lookup at her daughter, who was staring back at her with worry. It had been almost a year since the Hearth’s Warming Calibration, and Nyx was somewhat larger than before, though she was still a filly. In fact, they had finally decided on what age she was supposed to be, and that had been set at seven years old. She was now eight and was just starting her flying lessons, with Twilight helping her with her training; she after all was a Alicorn herself now. But most importantly, Nyx had finally started to use her magic with some ease, and though she could only levitate objects around, it was a sign that her powers were starting to return, and she was using it now to take the blankets from Twilight.

“Nyx, what do you want? It’s one in the morning!” Twilight grumbled, agitated from being pulled from her sleep.

Nyx bit her lip but answered Twilight, “Mom, you need to come with me now, it’s Spike!”

“Hmm, what about Spike?”

“Twilight! Spikes’ left the library!”

“Oh, that’s nice.” Twilight yawned and laid back down on her pillow to go back to sleep.

“WHAT!?!”

A small yelp escaped Nyx’s throat as she jumped back to avoid being hit by Twilight’s wings that had straightened out as she stood up on her bed, while Nyx’s own wings flapped to give her and Twilight some distance.

“Spike! Where’s Spike!?! Why did he leave!?! What happened!?! Did he say anything!?! Wha-”

Twilight was pulled back to reality by Nyx, who had levitated a pillow and thrown it in Twilight’s face.

“Mom! If you calm down, I can tell you what happened.” Nyx said, walking back to Twilight and wrapping herself around her front hooves.

Twilight let out a sigh and allowed her wings to droop down to her sides. She looked down at her daughter's eye’s, which were starting to get watery, “I’m sorry Nyx. It’s just that, Spike has never done anything like this before. And he’s hurt! I’m just worried about his safety.”

Nyx’s ears drooped down to her forehead, “Well, I’m not too sure that he’s alright.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow while her voice became more concerned, “W-What makes you say that?”

“Because,” Nyx said weakly, speaking in a worried voice, “Well, I got up to get some water from the kitchen, but when I walked out of my room, I heard a noise coming from downstairs. It was Spike, but something about his voice didn't seem right, like it was more grownup. And he was talking funny, too, like some kind of foreign language. But before I could ask him what he was doing, this bright light came out of nowhere, and when I looked back, he was hold-”, Nyx fell silent, standing there not sure on how she had to say what she saw.

“Nyx, what was he holding?” Twilight asked, but the little black filly said nothing.

“Nyx?”

Nyx looked up at Twilight, “He, he was holding the Element of Magic.”

Twilight’s mouth hung opened as she tried to grasp what she just heard, “He was holding WHAT!?! B-B-But that’s impossible! All of the Elements were returned to the Tree of Harmony! Their bound with severely powerful magic! No one can just make one of the Elements teleport to them! And Spike?!? Spike can’t even use magic!”

Nyx didn't know want to say, but before she could think about an answer for too long, Twilight was flying off the ground, levitating her saddlebags onto her back with her magic. “Nyx, I need you to come with me. We have to find him before he gets hurt even more, or worse!”

∼∼∼

“He did WHAT!?!”

Rarity stood dumbfounded along with the other four mares. Twilight and Nyx had gathered them all at Sweet Apple Orchards, where they had spent the last thirty minutes explaining to them every thing they knew, leaving the former bearers to go over the facts.

"So yer all tellin' me that Spike, our Spike, said some hocus-pocus, and then the Element of Magic jus' appeared?" Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I wouldn't call it "Hocus Pocus", but yes." Twilight answered with her eyes farrowed.

Applejack snorted while shaking her head, "Oh, what the hey is goin' on, anyhow?"

"This is so awesome! And all this time I thought dragons couldn't use magic!" Rainbow Dash chimed in, finding the whole conversation all too interesting.

Fluttershy looked over at Dash while they both hovered over the rest of the group, "That's because they can't, Dash. Dragons are greed driven, and because of that they can't focus well enough to use it. In fact, any kind of negative emotion in a none-pony will cause a inability to perform magic. That's why not many other races can do it."

Twilight's mouth hung wide open at what she had just heard coming out of the yellow Pegasus's mouth, "I-I never realized that you were so knowledgeable about dragons, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy smiled and looked down at her hooves, "Yes, I studied up on the subject after I met you and Spike for the first time. That way, I would know exactly what to do if the poor thing got sick."

Twilight allowed a small smile to creep onto her face as she placed her hoof on fluttershy's shoulder, "That was very thoughtful of you, Flutters, thank you."

"Ah, excuse me, I don't mean to be rude but, I think that we may all be getting diverted from the current situation at hoof." Rarity said, her concern for Spike was evident.

"Yeah! We need to find Spike so we can have a "Super, Duper, Hope You Feel Better" Party!" Pinkie Pie chirped out, bouncing up and down beside Nyx who was rolling her eyes as she watched her.

"Really darling, how can you even think of a party at a time like this? Spiky-Wiky is somewhere out there in the dark, alone. The poor dear is probably scared out of his mind ."

Pinkie didn't answer Rarity. Instead, her attention was drawn to Nyx, who had spotted something and was pointing it out to her.

"Rarity's right, guys," Rainbow Dash said with a firm voice, "Spike needs our help, and as his friends we have a duty to him!"

"That's right." Twilight nodded in agreement, "We'll split up into three groups..."

"Um, Twi?" Pinkie said nervously.

"...and Rarity will go with me. Now, Applejack, you and Rainbow Dash can go and search..."

"Twilight?"

"...that way we can all cover more ground in a lesser amount of time. Alright, let's-"

"TWILIGHT!?!"

All five mares and Nyx turned their heads towards Pinkie, who's normal happy care-free atmosphere was replaced with fear. She had stopped bouncing, and her eyes were wide opened with a small frown on her face.

"Pinkie' what's wrong?" Twilight asked as she walked up to the pink mare.

"I-I think I know where Spike is."

"Oh, thank Celestia for your pinkie sense," Twilight cheered, "So what is it? Wrinkled nose? Twitchy tail."

Pinkie answered but continued to stare forward, "Actually, It's not so much my "Pinkie Sense" but a lot more to do with THAT!" Pinkie pointed a hoof foreword, causing the others to look at what she was looking at.

They were all staring at Everfree, but the once threatening looking forest now looked a hundred times worse. Clouds had formed above the forest canopy, circling  in shades of grays,blacks, and blood reds while lightning flashed above the clouds. But the phenomenon was not random, the clouds were circling over a central point in the forest.

The clouds were circling above the location of the temple ruins.

  ∼∼∼

Spike walked slowly up to the stone alter with a smile across his face, looking around to admire the still beautiful interior of the temple. After all these years, it still held it's wonder and glory, he thought as he placed his claws onto the alter eagerly. His eyes glowed, and out of a corner of the room a jewel inc- rested jar levitated into his claws. He opened it and stared with satisfaction at the black powdery contents of the jar. Such a inticing fragrance it made! Well of course it did, it was after all Minrell, one of the most rare incense in the world. He poured the contents into the bowl-like into the bowl-like container on the top of the altar, filling it halfway with the powder. He set the now empty jar on the floor and, with a deep breath, he breathed out his emerald fire onto the altar, sparking the powder which ignited in silver flames.

Spike stepped back for a moment, taking in the whole scene. Soon, soon he would be free, and the thought made him chuckle. He glanced at the small pouch that hung from his side. He opened it and pulled out the Element of Magic, which seemed to glow brighter when he held it in his claws. Letting out a sigh, he brought it to his mouth, kissed it, then slowly walked back towards the altar.

“Spike?”

Spike stopped dead in his tracks as he turned his gaze back towards the entrance of the temple. Staring back at him were six mares and a filly standing as hard as stone, looking at him in shock. He turned around and looked at them, his eyes passing slowly between each member of the group, while his mind was racing, trying to remember who they were.

“Spike! What are you doing in here? Get away from that altar and hand over the Element!”

Spike’s gaze was drawn to the mare that was scolding him. She was a purple unicorn with star cutie mark, and though she was trying to be ferm, her expression told him that she was more distressed than angry. They must be friends of this body, he thought, as he continued to look her over, keeping silent as he did so. His attention was suddenly drawn to her sides, eyes widening as he took notice of the wings that were folded down. In fact, now that thought about it, the filly was also a alicorn, though he was a bit confused with her eyes, glowing brightly in the darkness. Interesting…

“Spike?”

He looked back at the older alicorn’s face. He remained silent while he dug deep into his subconscious, searching his memories until he found what he was looking for.

“ƎF THÊZ BÄD-Ê MEM-(Ǝ-)RÊ ṦƎRV MÊ  KƎ-ȐEK-(T)LÊ, YƎR NĀM ƎS PRIN(T)-SƎS TWILIGHT SPARKLE.”

The group turned their heads towards one another with confused looks on their faces, trying to figure out what he had just said.

Twilight swallowed, “W-What did you just say.”

Spike looked at the group with a frown. He could understand them, but the relationship was obviously one sided. It must have been longer than he realized, since language had changed so drastically.

“YǕ DǕ NÄT ƎN-ƎR-ṦTAN SPÊCH? Ǝ-LAÙ MÊ TǕ KƎ-ȐEKT MĪ LAṊ-GWIJ.”

“Umm, Twilight, I don’t think he can understand us,” a yellow pegasus said as she hovered over to Twilight’s side, “He looks like he’s in some kind of trance. In fact-”

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME NOW?”

The entire group jumped when they heard Spike speaking proper Equestrian, but it was the way that he talked that startled them. His voice was calm and slow, but it was powerful, filled with aged and it had a firm adult masculinity to it.

“My word!” the white unicorn said as she let out a gasp.

Spike immediately turned his head to face the unicorn, a gentle smile spread across his face.

“RARITY.”

Rarity stared back at him, “Y-Yes Spike?”

Why were they calling him Spike? That was not his name. Did they not recognize their ruler? He thought about it for a moment before he remembered his present condition. He let out a chuckle, mentally beating himself for forgetting that he was not free yet. He looked back at the group, who were looking at him as if he had lost it, “OH, I SEE THE CONFUSION AMONG YOU. I AM SORRY TO DISAPPOINT YOU, BUT I AM NOT YOUR FRIEND SPIKE, THOUGH I DO HARBOR HIS BODY.”

This response seemed to make them even more sceptical, but after a few moments of silence Rarity continued to question him.

“Then, who are you?” she asked.

Spike pondered the question in his mind before answering, “I? I AM A GHOST. A MEMORY. OR, TO BE MORE PRECISE, I AM ONLY THAT WHICH IS A SHADOW OF ANOTHER.”

“Wait.” Twilight cut in, taking a step closer to him, “If that is true, then how did you know our names?”

Spike looked at her with a smile, “YOU ASK A GOOD QUESTION, ONE THAT I AM HAPPY TO ANSWER. YOU SEE, THOUGH I AM NOT YOUR FRIEND MENTALLY, I HAVE FULL ACCESS TO HIS MEMORIES, GIVING ME PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF YOU ALL. THOUGH, I HAVE TO CONFESS, I DID NOT HAVE TO EVEN LOOK INTO HIS SUBCONSCIOUS TO LEARN YOUR NAME, RARITY. THIS BRINGS ME TO CONCLUDE THAT HE MUST HAVE A SPECIAL BOUND WITH YOU, I THINK."

Twilight stepped a little closer to him, “So, tell us, why did you steal the Element of Magic?”

Spike arched an eyebrow at the question. The Element of what? What were they talking about? He looked at Twilight inquisitively, wondering how to respond to such a ridiculous accusation. He had stolen nothing, and he found it rude that they had accused him of such an act. He continued to go over the situation in his mind until he tightened his grip around the gem that he was holding in his claws. That’s when he pieced it together.

“IF YOU ARE REFERRING TO MAG-IN, STONE OF ENERGY,” he held up the Element so they could see it, “I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I DID NOT STEAL IT! FOR YOU CAN NEVER STEAL WHAT IS YOURS!” his voice fluctuated for a moment, growing a little louder as he became more agitated.

“YOURS!?!”

“YES, MINE!” Spike turned back towards the altar, “I ASSURE YOU, I WILL RETURN YOUR FRIEND TO YOU MOMENTARILY, BUT I AM STILL IN NEED OF HIS SERVICE. NOW, IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME, I HAVE SOME UNFINISHED BUSINESS TO ATTEND TO.” With that, he started walking back towards the altar. But before he could get halfway across the room, he felt himself being lifted off the ground by a levitation spell.

Twilight’s horn was glowing, lifting Spike in her magic, “I’ve had enough of this malarkey, Spike! You're coming home with us right now!” Twilight turned to the temple doors, levitating Spike behind her.

But she didn’t get far. Suddenly, she was rocketed forward by a shockwave of pure energy, slamming her into the doors, knocking the air out of her lungs. She was momentarily stunned, but after a moment she shook it off, her attention being drawn back along with the rest of the group at the source of the blast.

“Wha-!?!”

Spike was floating in midair in front of them, but Twilight wasn’t levitating him. His eyes were glowing brightly, burning with an electric blue while magical energy pulsated from his claws, frowning and bearing his teeth as he raised his head to look at them, “DID I NOT JUST SAY TO NOT INTERFERE!?! I DON’T WANT TO HURT ANY OF YOU, BUT I WILL NOT BE HELD BACK ANY LONGER!!!” he shouted out at them, his voice full of rage. He raised his head back, and sucking as much air as possible, he let out a stream of emerald flames at them.

Yelps escaped all their throats as they dodged behind fallen columns and rocks to avoid being singed by the fire, while Twilight and Rarity used their magic to create a barrier between them and the flames. They had to use all the magic they had to keep the shield up, shocked at how powerful the baby dragon’s fire was to put up such a fight. They tried to reason with him to stop with no success, though the only thing that their protest did seem to accomplish was in making him angrier. He continued to breath out while he tightened his grip on the Element, looking at it as he did so. He stopped his attack and stared at the two for a moment, eyes narrowing as he hissed at them. It was a hiss that they had never heard before, something that would have been expected from a full-grown dragon, and it pursed right through them like a knife. Rarity lips quivered as she looked at him.

“S-Spike?!?”

Spike suddenly turned and bolted to the altar with blinding speed, something that would have made Rainbow Dash proud. Twilight and Rarity let the barrier disappear, bolting forward after him, but they were not quick enough to get to him before he placed the Element into the silver flames.

Spike was blasted back as another shockwave shoot from the altar, sending him flying until he slammed into the temple wall, falling onto the stone floor with a small thud as the glow in his eyes began to fade.

Twilight and Rarity ran over to him to see if he was alright, shaking him frantically to get a response. It took a few tries, but he finally responded by giving a weak moan, signifying that at least he was alive.

Their attention however was soon drawn back to the altar, which began to turn on it’s axis with a loud crank, a sign that it had not been moved for a long time. As it turned, the Element glowed brighter and brighter until it began to liquify, mixing in with the fire that began to change from silver to a turquoise blue. Suddenly, after the last of the Element had dissolved into the fire, the flames began to circle around until it pulsated and a single beam of light shot upwards, penetrating through the cloud cover above.

For a moment, nothing happened, leaving the group to wonder if it was all a gag. But then, the clouds started turning violently as a series of lightning bolts rumbled and cracked, traveling across the skyline to the central point of the vortex, creating a sphere of energy that grew with each pulse until, after it had grown to the size of a small pony, it exploded in a flash of light.

CCCRRRAAAACCCCKKKK-KKKKAAABOOOOOMM!!!!!!!

A lightning bolt as wide as a tree trunk came crashing down on top of them, striking the stone altar dead on. The bolt lasted for several seconds before it enveloped the fire in energy, lighting up the building as if it was daytime. The sphere spined faster than the eye could keep up with, until, with a final pulse, it shot forward and struck one of the statues with a loud BOOM!

∼∼∼

“Are you alright?”

Twilight groaned as she came to her senses. She had to shake her head a couple of times to make the world around her stop spinning. When she finally got her vision back, she looked up to face Rainbow Dash, who was hovering over her with a hoof extended to help her up.

“Y-Yeah, I’m o.k.” Twilight grumbled out as the blue pegasus helped her to her hooves. Twilight looked around for a moment before her eyes widened as she started breathing heavily, “Wait! Where’s Nyx!?!” She cried out in a panic.

“I’m over here!”

Twilight and Rainbow Dash turned their heads behind them at the same time, looking across the temple at a fallen column that had been standing just a few minutes before. Nyx was looking at them while she coughed from the dust that was lingering in the air. Fluttershy had grabbed Nyx and pulled her behind the column with to avoid being burned by the fire. Twilight gave a sigh of relief as she looked around the room to see Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity standing around Spike off to the side, trying to get the baby dragon to wake up.

Twilight let out another sigh, “Well, I’m glad to see that everyone is fine. Now, what the hey was th-” Twilight was cut off by a sudden bright light that was glowing where the statue had once been. The group turned their heads to look at it, blinded by it’s brightness.

“Oh, what now.” Applejack grumbled out.

The light began to fade, allowing them to see what was causing the light to shine. Standing in front of them, in place of where the statue had stood, was a large pony with his head bent low. The pony was a full grown stallion, though he was a bit bigger than average. In fact, the stallion looked like he could be just as big as Celestia, and just like Celestia, his coat was a pure white along with a horn as long as her’s, but that’s where the similarities ended. He had a strong, stocky build with a light blue mane and tail with white strains and tips at the end of each hair. The cutie mark on his flank was a yin-yang, with one side consumed in flames while the other was made out of electricity.

Twilight and the rest of the group just stared at him as he stood there. Twilight stepped forward, craning her head so she could get a good look at him.

“Umm, hi-”

The stallion’s head suddenly shot up with a jerk, his eye’s widening and glowing white as he started to scream in pain, making Twilight and the rest to back away as far as possible. His mane and tail started to flow like water, just as the royal sister’s manes did, though his gave a slight electrical flow. His appearance frightened them, but what happened next made all their mouths open wide. Out from his sides, two glorious and majestic wings spread wide from his shoulders, the span visibly larger than Celestia’s.

The stallion fell silent, his eyes ceasing to glow, revealing two electric blue eyes. The absence of the light also revealed a small purple gemstone that was embedded in his chest. He turned his head slowly to look at each member of the group before his eyes rolled back into their sockets, collapsing onto the stone floor unconscious.