Two excited royals make their way off a train, wonder and amazement on their faces, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. They chitter excitedly and anxiously as they make their way into the crystal city, having been given instructions from Celestia to act as rulers and guides to the native ponies.

A shadow watches the newlyweds from the snow. As they pass through the city limits, a growl of hate sounds across the tundra.

Mine

The tundra ice cracks, and large black chunks of crystal rise from the depths. The black crystal pulses, and then rockets through the snow toward the city, obedient to its master's will. The crushing sound of crystal crashing against crystal breaks across the landscape. The onslaught of darkness has begun, cruel laughter echo's from the shadow, ghostly and terrifying. The crystal residents of the city are thrown into a panic.

The citizens of the town had only recently awoken, the events of the distant past seeming a fleeting dream, amnesia blesses them with ignorance. The shadow however, has not forgotten. Its cruel form snakes across the tundra, launching spires of crystal toward the blesséd city while howling with laughter and hate.

The outer buildings of the city had fallen to ruin under the shadow's wrath before the barrier rose. A large, pink, glimmering dome that shielded the whole city. The two royals within having finally taken action against the threat. The ponies within still scream and run about in panic, but at least they are safe, for now.

A pulse of magic fires from the highest tower in the city, light blue and harshly glowing. It moves at speeds far exceeding that of sound as it heads over the wastes and strait for canterlot.

The shadow becomes enraged at this, launching ever-larger chunks of black crystal into the barrier. All of which shatter into nothingness on contact. A furious roar tears across the tundra, coming from every direction, before the shadow slithers into the frozen wastes.

It will be back.

Spike<<<<<<<<<<<<

I sit in front of a large plate of nachos. The scent of the gooey cheese wafting through the air, beckoning to me. I mustn't, Twilight said to wait for Shendu. A claw reaches out, slowly, grasping a single chip. No, Twilight is just upstairs! What if she sees? The single chip is lifted, a strand of cheese connecting it to the plate. I'm supposed to wait for them, but one chip wont hurt, will it? I grin madly, then open my maw, bringing the chip close.

Just before my jaw snaps shut a burst of green fire explodes from my throat, incinerating the chip.

Nooooooooooooooooooo!

A scroll materializes from the flame, Celestia's insignia stamped firmly on it. I reflexively catch the scroll, but I stare at where the delicious nacho had been. It was too soon. A single tear forms on my eye, a tear of loss, loss of what could have been. I will never forget you nacho. I stare for a while, silently mourning.

Eventually Twilight comes downstairs.

"Hey Spike, so Shendu should be finishing up about now, why don't you grab the nachos and... is that a scroll from the princess?" Twilight asks as she trots down the stairs. I wordlessly hand over the scroll, still mourning my lost nacho.

"Oh my...." Twilight breathes as she reads. I look up from where my poor nacho died and see concern etched on her face. She continues to read.

"What did the princess say?"

"She says a matter of grave importance has come to light, and that she needs to speak with me immediately. A chariot is already on the way to get me and bring me to canterlot." The unicorn widens her eyes as a knock sounds at the door. She slowly looks over to me.

"When did this letter come Spike?"

"Ummm... five, ten minutes ago?" I respond sheepishly

Another knock at the door.

"Come in!" Twilight calls to the door. After a moment a white hoof pushes it open. A royal guard peers through.

"Ms Sparkle? Her Highness requests your presence at once." Twilight sheepishly nods and makes slowly for the door.

"I will be back as soon as I can Spike." She follows the stallion out the door. I sit there and my attention returns to my nachos. I grin and reach for one before remembering something. Or rather, someone. Shendu, right.

I get up from the table and make for the basement. I wonder what was so important? Celestia has never demanded Twilight to immediately see her like this before. It must be something big.

I reach the basement door and begin descending the stairs. I just hope is isn't Nightmare Moon big. A soft 'whirring' sound greets me as I reach the bottom. Looking around I quickly find the multicolored helmet attached to who I assume is Shendu's head. I make my way over and turn the machine off, throwing the room into silence and darkness.

"Hello?" The filly beneath the helmet asks.

"Hi" I climb onto the table, having a little trouble doing so. I eventually push over Twilight's book scale and use it to get up.

"I am guessing you're Spike?"

"Yup" I undo the straps binding her to the hat, then the hat to the table, which is much harder than it should be thanks to it being almost pitch black in the room. Without a unicorn present the lights need to be turned on manually. And I forgot. To be fair the helmet is very bright.

Once free, the pony walks to the edge and jumps off, I worry for a moment before seeing the filly's huge wings. She descends into the darkness out of sight.

"Where are you?" She asks. The only light in the room is coming from the open door to the basement, granting just enough light to maneuver to the stairs.

"Up here." I respond from the table.

"Oh. I see." She responds, then giggles. "Oh wait, no I don't." I roll my eyes, knowing full well she can't see them.

"Can you see the stairs?" I ask.

"Barely, but yes."

"Can you get to them?" I ask as I begin to climb down from the table.

"Yes, I think so." She shouts, further away in the maze of a room.

"Then I'll meet you upstairs." I shout back, stumbling through the dark. I don't dare use my fire-breath, as a great deal of the machinery is sensitive to heat. This will be fun.

As I'm about to reach the halfway point, the light flicks on.

"I found the switch." Shendu shouts from the top of the stairs.

"Thanks!" I shout back as I quickly make my way through the now illuminated basement. As I reach the top I hear her in the kitchen. Following her I find her with her nose over the nachos. I get a look at her for the first time. Her fur is black and her mane grey. Unusual colors for a pony.

"They smell good right?" I ask. She nods and begins to turn.

"I have never smelled anything.....like...........them." As she completes her turn toward me, her speech slows and her eyes go wide. Suddenly her fur stands on end and her wings each beat powerfully, sending her upward to the ceiling. Her wings keep pumping keeping her back on the ceiling and her wide, pink eyes on me.

"You're a dragon..."

"Well... yeah?" I respond. What's wrong with her? I pull a second chair up to the nachos and eye them hungrily.

"You want any nachos?" I ask her without looking, my attention consumed by the nachos in front of me. With reverence I lift a chip from the plate, remembering its fallen brother. Never again. I internally promise. I hear the pony's hooves meet the ground, and then her quietly approach.

I bite into the bliss of my nacho and lose myself to the cheesy goodness. The pony carefully pulls herself onto the other seat and looks at me apologetically.

"I apologize for...that." It takes me a moment to respond, as I carefully chew and swallow the morsel before saying anything.

"What was that anyway?" I ask reaching for a chip. "You just kinda flipped out."

"I haven't had good experiences with dragons in the past." She responds as she reaches for a nacho. She manages to clasp one between her hooves and bring it to her face. A look of bliss crosses her features as she chews.

"This is delightful." She declares. I nod sagely.

Nachos are delightful.

Everfree Forest<<<<<<<<<<<

The biped slowly makes his way through the dense forest. Thorned underbrush cuts into the bipeds legs as he walks. He pays little mind to the small lacerations as he walks.

His flesh is easily cut. His blood runs thick with magic. He is the ideal prey for any everfree monster, yet nothing has attacked him yet. Much to his frustration.

A nasty, rotten smell permeates the air, and the biped stops. He knows the smell, and a small grin crosses his features.

"Come on..." He whispers darkly. Many figures appear at the edge of the biped's vision, moving steadily closer. The biped lowers himself and spreads his arms.

The creatures, timberwolves, oblige the human's wish. They draw closer and growl surrounding the human.

Soon enough the ten of them surround the human, who has not moved a muscle. The timberwolves pounce and the human grins.

The human angrily kicks a pile of former timberwolf. He is beyond frustrated. There wasn't really even a fight and the human is more than a little irritated about how weak the timberwolves are.

The only wounds the human bares are the ones the shrubbery gave him. He shakes his head and frowns as he turns on his heel and makes for the forest edge.

He had been trying to get his mind off of the former monster back at Twilight's library, but it appears fighting the pathetic wild predators will not be sufficient distraction.

The human elects to return to the library and settle it, the darkness looming over his head is suffocating and he has had enough of it. As the human breaks the treeline and makes for the library, he wonders about the solar diarch.

The human thinks matters of the soul are not to be taken lightly, and is now cautious of Celestia. She had come off as a benevolent mother figure to the ponies, but now... the human wonders just what lies behind Celestia's smiling mask.

The nachos were very tasty, and the young dragon, as it turns out, is not bad company.

"I am just saying if I'm a dragon shouldn't I have wings?" Spike asks. I glance at my own feathery appendages.

"I know next to nothing about dragons. But I have never heard of a dragon without wings that didn't have them torn off in battle or something similar." I respond.

The door opens. We both turn and look as Wrath slowly shuts the door behind him, seemingly deep in thought. The human makes his way over to us and raises a brow.

"Where is Twilight?" He asks.

"Celestia summoned her to canterlot for something urgent." Spike says.

Wrath hmms at that. Spike's face turns odd and he suddenly looks excited.

"Hey Wrath! Remember that thing you fought? Well I was in charge of cleaning up the mess around the library and guess what I found!" The drake practically leaps out of his seat and runs out of the room and up the stairs to the second level.

"That thing?" Wrath asks me. "He doesn't know about...you?" I shake my head.

"I thought he did."

Wrath<<<<<<<<<<<<

The sound of something being dragged reaches our ears as Spike reaches the bottom of the stairs. He comes into the room dragging behind him the Maiden's severed claw.

"The Maiden's severed claw." I state, gingerly taking the thing and lifting it off the ground. The cutting edge of the claw still gleams, un-dulled in spite of being severed. I look to Shendu who has a look of shock on her face.

"Aint it cool?" Spike asks excitedly. I lift the claw and turn it around in my grasp, feeling its weight. Now that I get a good look at it, this might make an excellent weapon. I spin it around and gently prod the center of my palm with its point. It cuts cleanly, splitting the skin like a knife through fog. Fists can only get you so far.

Shendu seems to have gotten over her shock, and now just stares at her severed limb with a blank expression.

"I think that is just so cool. What do you think Shendu?" Spike asks turning to the filly. Her eyes wide, she opens and closes her mouth a few times before any words come out.

"Yes it's... cool." She responds quietly, her wings fluttering and twitching behind her. I set the claw behind me on the ground, against the wall. Once it is out of her sight she noticeably relaxes.

The door opens and a frazzled Twilight storms in. The three of us can only watch in shock and confusion as a whirlwind of magic tears through the books of the library. Books twenty at a time open and shut and are put back as Twilight gallops up the stairs. The whirlwind dies down for a moment as the walking twister reaches the second story.

"What just happened?" I ask spike. He shrugs at me.

"I dunno, I have not seen her this worked up in a long, long time. But even then she was more chaotic about it. She seems to have a purpose right now."

We are not blessed with peace for long. The unicorn charges down the stairs with a saddlebag and three large bags in the air behind her. Roughly twenty books from the library shelves also float to her side. Her reddened eyes turn to us.

"Come on everypony! We got trains to get on!" I raise a brow.

"Didn't we just get back from canterlot?" I ask. Spike, Shendu, and I share a look before turning back to the crazed librarian before us.

"We are not going to canterlot." She says, a disturbing tone in her voice that I do not recognize.

"Then where are we going?" Spike asks. A frightening grin comes across her face.

"The Crystal Empire!"

Underneath the ice of an unknown northern mountain, dark crystal pulses with hateful magic. A being of shadow running rampant about the dark crystals. Corrupt and unintelligible babbling issuing forth from the shadow as it raced. Cracks of black lighting randomly coming forth from the shadow, forging evermore black crystals with each strike.

Mine

The entire cavern rumbles with the force of the shadow's declaration.

Calming, the shadow focuses its hate. Images flash across the black surface of the crystals; Celestia, Luna, the faces of countless crystal ponies and finally, Cadence and Shining Armor.

The shadow rises impossibly from the ground, its hate defying the curse put upon it. A dark fog forms, black lighting striking from its depths with increasing fervor. A pair of green and red eyes materialize within the fog, their cruel gaze only enraged further by the site of the desolate cavern that it ruled.

IT WILL BE MINE AGAIN. The black fog howls. A large crack of lighting strikes upward, cracking the ancient mountain's base. The fog seeps through the crack into the forming blizzard.

It is time to renew the assault.

Author's Note

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Thanks for reading!