Chapter 1-The Devil in the Forest
Proaloge and Chapter 1-When A Life Flashes Before Your Eyes
Long ago, before the coming of the Royal Pony Sisters, before the founding of Equestria, even before the start of the Great and Terrible Pi-Unis Wars, there stood the kingdom of Fontjizēnâ, where six brothers of great power lived, created by the three gods that have long since been forgotten. To these brothers the gods bestowed the authority to command the forces of nature, allowing them to bring peace throughout the land. But because the power given to them was so great, there stood the chance that in a fit of anger they could be consumed with the darker part of the world, bringing about earthquakes, typhoons, great thunder storms and hurricanes, floods, and great eruptions from the highest mountains. So to guard against this threat, the gods sent them out to find for themselves the ones that they could call their wives, so that they could keep in check the vice of their husbands. Thus came into existence that day the first of the Alicorns, known as the Minsörē, twelve in all, six male and six female, the greatest and most powerful that have and will ever live.
Peace and harmony prospered in all the lands, not only those dominated by ponies, but also to the dragons, griffins, and zebras. Never before or after that time had there been such happiness in the hearts of all the races, and great was the work that was done because of these alliances. But it would not last, for evil can rise in the minds of those who you may trust most.
The griffins were the first to fall. For five-thousand years they had made friendship with the ponies, but after a time, jealousy took root in their hearts. Thinking that the ponies were favored above them by the gods, and that they had forgotten them, notwithstanding that they themselves had been blessed with many gifts as well, that it came to pass after they had prepared themselves for the strike, they turned on the ponies in their cities, killing many, save the women and children, who they took into their prisons to beat them, cursing them, and making them into their slaves. This brought war to their kingdom, the first battle of the Southern Wars, which was fought on the slopes of the Goldstraw Hills, after which were named the Mountains of Bondage, and have grown in their size and are now known as the Macintosh Mountains.
The griffins were defeated, but not before they had done a crippling blow to the armies of Fontjizēnâ, only by the power of the great six were they able to win the victory. But the griffins did not surrender, and locking themselves in their own land, the border was a place of constant bloodshed.
Then in the north, in the land of Dragor greed began to take over the minds of the dragons. But by the wisdom and strength of their king, Angerod the father of the dragons kept them from slipping into darkness. However, Morca-bad the brother of the king was a cruel and cunning creature, who desired the throne and all of the gold and jewels of his fellow kinsmen. So in secret councils and hidden chambers he twisted the minds of the dragons against Angerod and all his children, lying in his words that the king was withholding from them the best of the jewels of the world. So it happened that at a time of celebration that Morca-bad and his followers stormed the halls of the king, beating him and torturing him by forcing him to witness the destruction of his bloodline as they slaughtered his sons and daughters before his eyes before he too was slain.
And when Fir-N-Triste the strongest and the leader of the Minsörē had heard of this treason that he fell upon the city immediately with thunders and lightning and with a group of phoenixs at his command that Morca-bad slipped away into the shadows, for it had been his plan that when the Alicorn would come he would pretend that he had been beaten and left for dead by the treasoners, so that he would be spared and his purposes completed, and he would take his followers treasures and obtain the throne with one stroke. But his deception was revealed when Fir-N-Triste found Taringal the wife of Angerod in the chamber room of the king, who with her dying breath told him the identity of the true villain, forcing Marca-bad to flee to the south where he was harbored by the griffins who took his betrayal as a sign to an allegiance against Fontjizēnâ.
Even after all this evil hope shined in the darkness, for Taringal also told Fir-N-Triste of a hidden chamber under the city. Finding this chamber Fir-N-Triste discovered one egg warming in a furnace. This was the last child to remain of the house of Angerod, hidden by Taringal before she was taken by the traitors. So Fir-I-Triste took the egg and brought it into his household, and when it hatched it bore a son, and because of his long friendship with Angerod he raised the boy as his own, teaching him the ways of his father before him, and taught him also in the skills of magic until he became the first dragon to ever perform spells, and he was named Langerod.
But when the boy had grown in strength and favor in the eyes of the people that it came to pass that when he had come of age of three-hundred and forty-seven years that he desired to join with the army of Fontjizēnâ, and so he became a great worrier and a leader of ponies. One day, while scouting the borderlands of the griffins it came by chance that he came across a group of dragons and ponies, and he went down among them. And when he had come down among them he discovered that they were the last of the loyal dragons of Angerod, and that they along with some of the ponies of that city had escaped from there the day of it’s fall, and that the ponies of the group were the descendants of those who had gone with them. But something happened that day that would change the destiny of the dragons forever. Langerod found favor in the fare Flin-halon, a pegasus pony from the east. So Langerod took them to the capital of the land and asked Fir-N-Triste for Flin-halon as his wife. Fir-N-Triste was alarmed, but when he had taken counsel with the rest of the Minsörē, he decided that he would allow this covenant.
This began the noble race of the pogans, started by Langerod and Flin-halon, for Langerod laid with his wife, who bore him a son, and the boy was a strange creature indeed, being twice the size of a normal pony, and living twice as long, having unnatural strength, with the eyes and claws and wisdom of the great serpents, but with the mind and body of the ponies, so that the boy, who was named Lan-halon, grew to become great indeed, and his kind was filled with the blessings of both the dragons and ponies, and greed did not corrupt their hearts. And Langerod and Flin-halon were glad, and they had many children afterward.
However when this happened Morca-bad was aware of them, and was full of wrath, for he perceived that Langerod was the hair to Angerod's throne, and so he set out to build an army of griffins, dragons, and the evil creatures of the stars, who had long plagued the land, the lupus, the ursas, hydras, scorpions, and fale beast of lesser quality.
And these wars continued for thousands of years, until it came to pass that after one of the Malor was lost at sea during a great battle, that her husband was so filled with grief and anger towards his enemies that, because the harmony that had been set was broken, and he was consumed in his wrath, driven mad by the rage of fire, that he murdered both friend and foe, burning alive all those who stood in his way.
Fontijzena was lost. The griffins were weakened, the dragons left desolate, and the ponies massacred, scattered abroad like leaves in the autumn wind, that out of millions, only a handful survived. This was the great disaster that our ancestors struggled with, and had things been different, and if fate had been kinder, Fontijzena would have stood proud in Celestia’s noon day sun in the place of Equestria, and slept in peace under Luna’s gentle moonlight.
The land was filled with a noxious gas as we pursued our fallen brother. We had been on his trail for five days, but had finally caught up with the demon that was now in control. His eyes were a blood red that pierced through our souls, frightening and evil, full of hatred as they burned with only that rage which fire can bring. His once beautiful coat was now a horrid black, and a shadow hung in the air before him. We fought long and hard against this monster who, being driven into madness, murdered so many for so few, with physical and mental torture, and with fire he doomed them all to an eternal damnation, and we were forced to fight with our full strength, though ours threatened to drive us to that insanity as well.
But in the final hour we subdued him, and with the help of those heavenly gems, the El-I-Jims, we freed our friend, our allie, our brother, from that living hell. But alas, what greater hell he had to face when he saw all that he had done, and so he made us to lock ourselves away in that tomb, and we shall ever be there, till a brighter day shall dawn when SHE will return, and I pray to Lif-ǝ’sȇ that all those things will come before the power of those jewels shall return to us, and the seal that holds the darkness back is broken.
Passage from “Book of Arches: Ancient Histories of Equestria” pg. 147.
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All was quiet on the road to Sweet Apple Orchards, with only a few ponies traveling on it while the birds in the now orange and yellow trees sang their autumn songs. The silence was replaced with laughter as the Cutie-Mark Crusaders ran down the road, causing the adult ponies to steer clear of their way. They had been wondering around town all morning trying to find new ways to get their cutie marks, from trying to get a newspaper started with some crayons and a few sheets of old typing paper to their more recent attempt at helping Applejack with the apple picking, something that had bored Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle out of their minds.
Scootaloo had suddenly dared them to a race, encouraging them that maybe one of their special talents was track running. Truth be told, she had grown bored with the crusading and wanted to do something else, and right now, she was having the time of her life.
The group was now drawing close to the borders of Everfree forest, trying to keep up with the miniature orange pegasus with little success. When any one of them would start to gain on her, Scootaloo would flap her wings to give her some more distance between them, causing a lot of protest from the crusaders, all except for Nyx, whose own wings evened the score.
“I’m gonna get you, Scoot!” Nyx shouted out happily, running just a few feet behind her.
“Hey! No fair! Why do you guys get to use your wings!?!” Twist called out at Nyx and Scootaloo.
“Yeah! Would you’ll slow down? Let us catch up!!!” Applebloom wined, breathing heavy as she tried to catch her breath.
Scootaloo turned her head as they ran passed a group of mares walking down the path, “Ha! You guys are a bunch of slowpokes! You're never gonna catch me!” she yelled as she made herself run faster.
The group turned around a corner in the road where a grove of trees stood. Scootaloo looked back on her pursuers, smirking as Twist, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom fell behind, leaving her only with Nyx to deal with, who was running right along side her.
But as the two ran side by side, Scootaloo, not paying attention to the road, tripped on a tree root, and with a yelp, she fell off the side of the road, taking Nyx with her.
They both tried to grab hold of anything that would slow their fall, but it was futile, since the steep hill was forcing them down faster than their frantic arms and legs could move to grab onto a root or any other means of slowing their descent. It all ended with a loud crash as they hit the base of the hill hard.
Nyx and Scootaloo both groaned as they came to their senses. Scootaloo had fallen on top of Nyx and had suffered some minor cuts on her legs and flank, but nothing serious, while Nyx layed there with her glasses missing as she tried to catch the air that had been forced out of her lung by being crushed under Scootaloo’s weight. Scootaloo looked down at her, “Are you alright?”
“Huh huh… Y-Yeah...Huh… Yeah I think so.” she looked around, taking in her surroundings. Her eyes suddenly went wide as her body went cold with fear, “OH, NO! We’re in Everfree Forest!”
Scootaloo’s head shot up when she saw her friend’s fear. She was right, they were in Everfree, and it was much scarier from the inside than from the outside, with it’s twisted old trees playing tricks on their eyes as they stared up at their gnarled bark that looked back at them like hungry monsters. Everfree was a dangerous place to be, even for a grown up, with its dark magic and the many number of creatures that would not hesitate to eat a pony for lunch.
Scootaloo and Nyx both looked back up the hill where their friends were looking down at them.
“Hey! What are you guys doin' down there?” Applebloom shouted down at them from the top, “I didn' know that hide n' seek was part of the race!”
“We didn't do it on purpose!” Scootaloo wined at her friend's teasing. She looked around for any way to get out of this, “Can you guys get a rope?”
Sweetie Belle looked down at them curiously, “Why? You two have wings, can't you just fly out?”
Nyx looked up at her in annoyance, “You guys know that we can't fly out of here! I've just started my training with Twilight, and Scootaloo hasn't gotten anywhere with the flying lessons she gets from Rainbow Dash.” she looked at Scootaloo with a smirk.
Scootaloo's face turned red as snickers escaped from her friends lips. She jumped Nyx suddenly, causing her friend to squeak. But as they rolled around in the dirt, a sound in the bushes to their far left made them both stop as they lifted their heads to see what was moving.
“Nyx! Scootaloo! Get out of there, NOW!!!” Twist's voice came down to them with a heavy amount of fear.
Nyx and Scootaloo looked around at the foliage in search of whatever was coming. All was quiet, not even a bird could be heard.
“Maybe it was just a squir-”
Scootaloo had no time to finish her sentence before from out of the thickets a Lupus Major came crashing out and ran right towards them, it's teeth snarling at them as it came.
Scootaloo grabbed Nyx who had frozen up and dragged her with her.
“NYX!!! RAN!!!”
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Scootaloo and Nyx ran as fast as they could through the forest underbrush, keeping just ahead of the star wolf that was chasing them. The Lupus was moving rather slow for it's kind, but it was still faster than the two fillies, and the only thing that was giving them an advantage was the fact that the surrounding forest that they were in was overgrown with foliage, and whereas they were small enough to get through the cramped areas that they entered, the growingly furious Lupus Major was too large to enter in with them, and each time they did enter into a space that it could not follow into, it would growl and bear it's sharp teeth at them manically.
The two ran out of the forest into a small clearing as they stopped dead in their tracks. where a
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.
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“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!”
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“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.
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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.
Chapter 3-Miracle To Be Alive
Chapter 3-Medical Dilemmas
“Be careful with him, he’s in pretty bad shape!” Twilight grunted out.
“Dag nab it! How much does this guy weigh, anyhow? I’ve been halin’ fully loaded applecarts that were lighter than him!” Applejack mumbled out as she, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Twilight carried the unconscious Alicorn into the main hall of Harmony Castle. Behind them, Nyx and Rarity walked alongside each other as Rarity carried Spike on her back, readjusting her weight to make sure that she didn’t lose her balance and drop him
Rainbow Dash snorted, “Oh horsefeathers, at Wonderbolt Academy, we have to group with a partner and try to lift three-hundred pound cinder blocks to train us when we’ll need to carry ponies out of danger when they can’t move themselves. I’m telling you, this guy weighs TWICE that much, at least!” She looked the unconscious alicorn over, “You gotta admit though, he’s built pretty good. Most of that weight is muscle.” She said admirably.
Twilight rolled her eyes while she looked around in the dark. “Can anypony find the lightswitch?” she asked, “Oh, how I wish I had a map for this place! We’ve been living here for almost four months and I just recently found the bathrooms! Oh wait, here it is.” Twilight pushed the ON button, illuminating the whole castle so they could see where they were going.
“Twilight? Where are the bedrooms?” Fluttershy asked while she balanced the alicorn’s left leg on her shoulder.
“Guest bedrooms are on the second floor.” she answered as she pointed a hoof at the staircase.
“You mean we have to carry him all the way up there!?!” Dash wined at the aspect of having to do more work than what she thought necessary as she stared at the long stairwell.
“Oh, come on, Dashie! It’s good exercise, and besides, it’ll be great to get Heavy-set McChunky off our backs!” Pinkie chirped with a slight grunt as she readjusted her grip on the stallion.
“Well, sorry if I don’t share in your enthusiasm, Pinkie, but it will be nice to get this guy off MY back!”
“Twilight?” Nyx walked up along her mother’s side, “Where do you think he came from? Who is he? And why is he a alicorn? I thought there weren’t any boys like us.” she asked anxiously, curious about their new house guest.
“I don’t know, honey. I thought so, too.” Twilight answered her with a heavy sigh, “All I know for sure is that as soon as this jerk wakes up, I’m gonna have a word with him!”
“Well, he deserves it more than anythin’, but Twi?” Applejack said firmly, “jus’ be careful aroun’ him, sugercube. Now I don’ know a thin’ abou’ magic an’ all, but if that boy could keep ya an’ Rarity here back by jus’ controlin’ Spike, I think it’s safe to say that he’s gotta pack a punch, an’ with that temper of his he gets orneryer than a rattlesnake!”
Twilight nodded as she looked at the alicorn’s face, “Don’t worry, Applejack, I’ll be careful.”
Rarity walked up to the front of the group, “Twilight darling, may I go up first? I would very much like to get Spike into his bed.”
“Can I go up, too?” Nyx asked, chiming in.
“Sure. Nyx, show Rarity were Spike’s room is while I help with our... guest.”
“O.k!” Nyx chirped out. Rarity nodded and followed Nyx up the stairs, leaving the rest of them behind.
∼∼∼
“Alright, let's set him down now,” Rarity said gently as she levitated Spike off her back onto the soft cushions. Spike breathed slowly as she ran her hoof down his frills, barely giving any notice to her touch, “there, I think that should do it.” She looked Spike over, noticing that his bandages were coming undone.
“Nyx dear, does Twilight have a First-Aid kit around?”
Nyx, who had been going through Spike's things trying to find a few items that she knew would cheer him up later on, looked up from a storage case on the side of the bed. She said, “What?”
“A First Aid kit, Nyx dear. Spike's bandages are coming loose.”
Nyx nodded and walked out of the bedroom, leaving her alone with Spike. He was sound asleep now, allowing her some time to her thoughts. She began to go through the basket that Nyx had brought out, giggling a little as she went through the more embarrassing items.
“Rarity?”
Rarity turned to look at Nyx, who was staring at her with her slit turquoise eyes and a small white box with a red cross painted on the side levitating onto her side.
“Oh, thank you, sweetie,” Rarity took the box into her magic and placed it down onto the bedsheets. She then took out a roll of new bandages and some rubbing alcohol out of the kit.
“Rarity, is Spike going to be alright?” Nyx asked slowly, growing anxious as she looked the baby dragon over.
“Sweetheart, I'm sure that Spike is going to be just fine.” Rarity told Nyx reassuringly. Truthfully, she wasn't sure about Spike at all, and she honestly did not believe that he would get better mentally. The poor thing had been through a lot that day, and she wondered if he would ever truly recover. She was also troubled by what that thing had said to her back at the temple. I did not even have to look into his subconscious to learn of your identity, Rarity. He must have a special connection to you in particular, I think. What was that supposed to mean? She knew that the little Dragon was fond of her, and she of course cared for him as well, but she knew that there could be nothing between them but friendship. It just wouldn't work, wouldn't it?
Rarity shook her head and pushed her thoughts aside as she replaced the bandages on his forehead. Spike only gave a slight moan as she put some of the rubbing alcohol on all the new cuts that he had gotten from being slammed into a wall. Oh, Celestia, he was burning up. She finished with is head and began to work on the bandages wrapped around his chest.
“Nyx, could you help me lift him up so I can change these?” Rarity asked slowly.
“Sure.” Nyx jumped onto the bedsheets and with some difficulty she started using her magic to lift him forward.
Rarity noticed her struggling and said, “Now dear, don't strain yourself. If this is to hard for you-”
“No, I'm o.k. I've been practicing with mom.” she answered, and gritting her teeth, her horn glowed and she got him leaning forward so Rarity could get to work.
“Thank you. My, you're starting to get pretty good.” Rarity commented as she busied herself with removing the old cloth, “Twilight must be real proud.”
Nyx smiled at her as Rarity continued to remove the bandage wrappings around Spike's chest, making sure that she did not hurt his back. But as she worked to remove them, she started to notice that the bandages seemed to be stretched out, as if Spike had grown a bit since that afternoon. Her mind began to race at the memory of the time that he had gone on his little greed-driven rampage just a few years before, and she quickly use her magic to open one of his eyelids, half expecting to see those reddish-glowing emerald orbs that he had when he gone through that momentary madness. However, his eyes were the same normal emerald color that she was used to, and her investigation did not stir him from his sleep, making her give a sigh of relief. But why were they stretched like that? If he hasn't gone into a dragon's rage-shift, then what? How else could someone increase in size in such a short amount of time? That was-
“Wha-?”
Rarity and Nyx both looked down at Spike's back dumbfounded. All of the burn marks had disappeared, leaving not even a trace that they had even be there. But in their place were two large bulges side by side of each other about the size of a clenched fist, both of them growing near his shoulders like tumors. The tumors were the same shade of green as his ears, though they had a more milky hue, and they had a web-like texture, very much like the skin between the fingers of frogs. Rarity slowly extended a hoof to feel one of them.
This proved to be a mistake. As soon as she came into contact with his skin, his eyes shot open and he jerked forward, causing a epp to escape Nyx’s throat as she was knocked off the bed while Rarity barely had time to register what had happened before the little dragon fell back on his pillow screaming his head off.
This proved to be a mistake. As soon as she came into contact with his skin, his eyes shot open and he jerked forward, causing a epp to escape Nyx’s throat as she was knocked off the bed while Rarity barely had time to register what had happened before the little dragon fell back on his pillow screaming his head off.
“Oh Celestia, Spike! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean-” Rarity was cut off when the hoof she extended to comfort him was swatted away by one of Spikes claws.
“P-Please! Please, j-just don’t t-touch...Agh!” Anything else that Spike was mumbled out as he curled up into a small ball, gritting his teeth as the pain in his back caused him to tear up.
“What’s going on in here?”
Twilight had just gotten up the staircase when she had heard the scream. She stood in the doorway, her eyes widening as she look behind Rarity at Spike, who was still cringing from the pain.
“Rarity, what happened?!” she cried out.
Rarity quivered and was about to answer her when they both jumped at a loud scream and several raised voices from the other room.
“Colors, for Celestia's sake, keep him pinned down!”
“I-I can't! He won't stop mov-” there was a pause for a moment before they heard anything else, “Oh My God!”
“I-Is t-t-that what I-I think it is?!?”
“Pinkie, what are you...Eup!!!”
“Oh, shit! Twilight!!!”
~ ~ ~
