“You go on, I’ll take care of these punks!” Spike said coming to a halt before turning around and assume his battle position. “Take Sombra down once and for all!” he shouted back at the six mares down the hallway while around thirty guards approached cautiously from the other side.
“We’re not leaving you behind!” Rainbow Dash protested seeing Spike punch one of the mind-controlled guards into unconsciousness.
“Just go, I’ll be fine!” Spike shot back giving them one of his big, shining smiles.
Twilight closed her eyes shut, her lips quivering in frustration. “Fine, have it your way!” Twilight turned again to face the empty obscure hallway. “Let’s go ladies!” she said before storming off.
The other five mares shot back one last glance at Spike currently creating a firewall with his fire. A couple of seconds later they stormed following Twilight. Soon enough they caught up with the lavender mare while the sounds of battle behind them turned faint.
“Is Spike going to be okay?” Fluttershy asked nervously.
“He’ll catch up with us, he always does,” Twilight replied. “But now we have to focus on Sombra.”
None of her friends replied although she was right. Twilight found her thoughts drifting back to her number one assistant, captain of her friendship guards and little brother. No longer was he the little baby dragon from years past, now he was as big as Celestia and perplexingly not bulky or ‘fashionably robust’ as Rarity would say. He had more of a hardy, athletic and well built aspect to him that did justice to his speed and strength. A change that occurred four years prior.
Twilight and her friends were happy and elated at the change. But Spike was the most ecstatic of them for it. More than that, he was euphoric. Soon he was not treated like a child anymore and was actually, in his own words, respected for once. Over time Spike proved his change was an asset to her and provided the support and help they usually needed during their adventures. Sure enough he soon committed himself to her as a guard while training his scales off improving his new found capabilities.
Spike, Twilight thought hearing a weak roar behind her. He had proven himself time and time again to not just her but to the six of them and since three years ago he now accompanied them everywhere. No longer the ‘Mane Six’ as many had come to call them over the years but now the ‘Mane Seven’. A smile formed on her lips remembering the joy reflecting on his eyes after each successful quest.
She shot a quick glance at the two mares at her left: Applejack and Rarity. Besides herself they were the most worried about Spike; rightfully so being his marefriends. As unlikely as it sounds Spike managed to win Rarity’s heart merely two years ago while, unbeknownst to all, Applejack had fallen for him, too. She had feared the worst at first, but quickly the three of them found themselves enjoying a nice polygamous relationship, or a herd if you want to get technical. They were worried alright, since Spike always did something that put his life at risk for their sake or just to buy a few seconds to assure their victory.
Twilight was pulled away from her memories seeing the door leading to Sombra’s throne room. Charging her horn she shot a massive blast to the doors destroying them upon contact. The six mares entered the room summoning their Rainbow Powers and found...an empty room.
“What the--” was all Rainbow could say before a dark laughter filled the room and a blue barrier appeared around trapping the mares in the middle of the unnecessarily huge room. “Show yourself so I can kick your flank, coward!”
“My, my, my. Brash as ever, Rainbow Dash,” the voice of Sombra replied. “But if you want me,” a shimmering green and purple Sombra appeared a good two meters in front of them. “Here I am.”
Rainbow Dash was about to charge at him when Pinkie stopped her. “Don’t Dashie, he’s not the real Sombra!”
“Pinkie’s right,” Twilight said frowning. “That’s just a projection,” Sombra’s projection laughed. “Do you really think this barrier is going to stop us?” Twilight shot a beam at the barrier but the beam didn’t do anything to it.
“Stop you? Oh my dear princess Twilight, I’m not trying to stop you, I’m just delaying you,” Sombra’s projection said walking up to the six mares until it was right in front of them. “And you’re almost correct, I’m more of a recording, a message if you will.”
“What are you playing at, ruffian?” Rarity asked taking a step forward.
“Ah! The ever lovely miss Rarity. I’m not playing at anything, quite the contrary, I’m done playing a game that I already lost.”
“As if, yah no good son of a mule,” Applejack spat.
“Now now, there’s no need for insults, Applejack,” Sombra’s projection smirked. “And I’m speaking the honest truth, surely you of all ponies can relate? We’ve been playing this game for over one year and a half and I’m tired of it,” the projection began to walk around the mares. “Now you come to my last stronghold, my home, seeking to destroy me. Well, I’m sorry to inform you that you came in vain. I lost months ago.”
“What the hay are you talking about!?” Rainbow Dash shouted angrily. “You foalnapped dozens of ponies and forced them to be your soldiers!”
“And then send them to attack villages!” Pinkie Pie said frowning.
“What about everything yah stole!?” Applejack glared at the projection.
“....And the ponies you killed,” Fluttershy said indignantly.
“Meaningless things,” Sombra’s projection said nonchalantly. “But thanks to your continuous meddling you kept hindering my plans more and more until you caused my ruin, both economic and militarily. Thanks to you I will never be able to claim what is rightfully mine,” the projection said in a tone devoid of anger, if anything it sounded almost entertained. “These past months have been nothing but me throwing everything I had left while I planned how to take the sweetest of revenges upon all of you,” the projection smirked darkly. “And I found the way.”
“What do mean by that?” Twilight asked while a sudden feeling of dread began to curl her stomach.
“Quite simple. You took everything away from me, so I’ll take everything away from you. I don’t mean material things, you can replace them easily. What about family? I can’t reach them while they are in Equestria. And harming you directly is just preposterous, I would need to put myself in harms way to do it. It’d be like giving myself over on a silver plate,” the reflection stopped in front of Twilight again. “Not to mention that wretched Spike. The same dragon that thwarted my victory once before. With him around I can’t touch you, he’s such a good little guard dog that I--” the projection suddenly stopped and began to look around, going as far as to squint its eyes like it was searching for something.
“Where IS him?” the projection asked darkly making the mares visibly flinch. “Of course, he stayed behind to you give a free pass to defeat me! How honorable, how dedicated, how heartwarming. How….,” the projection’s bared its teeth and fangs. “...Predictable,” the six mares stood silently while Rarity and Applejack began to hyperventilate. “I realized something, you see. You value friendship more than anything else, right? Well, since I can’t touch you, your possessions or your family then what could I possibly do?”
“Y-you--” Rarity began but was cut short by the projection.
“Of course, Spike, your dutiful guardian! Figuring out how to separate you from him wasn’t hard at all. He may be powerful now and he may be tough to handle on my own, but nothing too strenuous. Besides, I believe I deserve to fulfill my very personal revenge against him, too. How does that saying go by again? Kill the dragon and make the six bitches that dared defy me and thought that could come out unscathed suffer,” the projection began to laughed darkly as tears began to form in the eyes of the six mares. “Or something along those lines,” it ended with a dark chuckle.
“It seems our little chat is over,” the projection said while the barrier began to disappear alongside it. “You better hurry, I’m sure you’re just dying to see your precious friend laying on the ground lifeless. Mmhaa hahahahaha!” the projection laughed darkly as it flickered out of existence.
The six mares stood still for three full seconds before they all dashed out of the room, running back to where they had left Spike as fast as their hooves could take them. The obscure hallway stretched for what felt like kilometers until they arrived at their destination.
There were several mind-controlled ponies lying all over the place except for one. The last one was standing over a downed Spike. The pony reached up for his helmet and took it off revealing to be Sombra himself. His horn ignited casting a quick spell illuminating the hallway. He was bleeding and had fresh scars all over his body, he was also leaning slightly favoring his right hind leg while his left fur look like it had been burned. Sombra climbed down, his hooves making a wet noise with each step he took.
“Tough bastard he turned out to be,” Sombra said to no one in particular, he then turned to see the six mares staring at the unmoving body of Spike with wide, crying eyes. “Welcome, my ladies,” Sombra saluted and bowed. “I was afraid you would arrive sooner, you see,” he looked back at the dragon. “He was...pretty determined. Well, until I tore his heart out.”
Sombra reached with his left foreleg the small backpack hanging at his side and pulled a seizable heart. He showed them the unbeating organ and threw it at their hooves splattering their forelegs, necks and faces with Spike’s still warm blood.
“You should've seen him, fighting so bravely. Declaring on and on how much you meant to him and how you would defeat me. He was so certain you would come but you never did. Despite that he not even once screamed when I was tearing that out,” Sombra pointed to the heart. “Oh, how I enjoyed seeing the light leaving his eyes and how his body went limp once his soul left it. I almost forgot what it felt to kill someone with my own hooves,” Sombra grinned a sadistic, evil smile clearly enjoying himself. “And his last words? ‘You’ll never win’,” Sombra said perfectly mimicking Spike’s voice.
“I was half expecting a curse word or something like that. Doesn’t matter now I suppose,” Sombra took another step forward. “Congratulations to the six of you, you defeated me; victory is yours,” Sombra’s expression turned serious except for a tiny, smug smirk curling his lips. “But I win.”
Sombra was ready to laugh at their faces but he wasn’t ready to be sent flying back by a powerful kick right to his face. “Uuffff!” was all he managed to say when something grabbed him by his injured hind leg.
*Crrraaaakkk*
“ARRRGGGH!!!” and just as quickly twist it until his bones were broken. He was then tossed again to the air by a mighty hit to his stomach. While he was airborne he had just enough time to register his attacker had yellow coat and pink mane. Two blue coated forelegs surrounded his middle area; squeezing tightly enough to shatter one or two ribs. He was spun around simulating the motion and speed of a tornado before he was shot down to the ground.
Sombra hit the ground creating a small crater and making him hear nothing but white noise. He looked up and found himself staring at Pinkie Pie, her mane down and flat while her eyes resembled empty voids that poured out rivers of tears. She picked him up by the neck with her right foreleg, she turned him around and hugged him pressing his lower back and flanks against her chest and in a single movement slammed his back against the ground. Sombra let out a silent scream of pain feeling something inside him break, not sure of what it was, before the pink mare kicked him sending him rolling on the ground a couple of meters.
He was stopped by a hoof, he managed to look to see Rarity before she used her magic to lift him up before hitting him so hard in the stomach the stallion vomited its contents alongside a copious amount of blood. He barely registered the pain before she roundhouse kicked him square in the left side of his face making him spit another glob of blood and three teeth. Sombra was once again sent airborne for a couple of seconds until something hit him in the back with unholy might.
A moment later he crashed against a wall, remaining glued to it for several seconds until he fell back, before he hit the ground he saw Applejack turning around to face him and noticed her hind hooves were stained with blood, his blood. “Gah….a…..ahhh….gaaaahh…..,” was all Sombra could articulate thanks to the unworldly amount of pain his body was undergoing. He felt pressure against his throat forcing him to follow up the lavender foreleg up until his gaze met the eyes of princess Twilight Sparkle shining with pure, intense hate.
Summoning whatever strength he had left Sombra let out a blood-filled chortle and smirked. “G-Go on…..*cough*...do it….*cough* …*cough*...It won’t...b-bring hi-”
Sombra was cut short the moment his head suddenly explode.
Twilight’s horn stopped glowing and a bubble disappeared, she watched how bits and pieces of what used to be the head of the tyrant fell to the ground. She didn’t feel anything but that horrible, piercing pain in her heart. She turned to see Spike’s lifeless body being surrounded by her friends, all of them uncaring about drenching themselves with the blood of their precious dragon friend. Slowly making her way to join them she allowed her tears to begin their free decent.
Rarity and Applejack turned him upside letting his head rest against their forelegs. The six mares gasped in horror and grief seeing the ghastly hole in Spike’s chest where his heart used to be. His eyes were closed and his expression neutral. Without any reservations the mares began to cry, wail, howl and scream their grief to the world.
----------------------------***************************************
“WAKE UP!”
Twilight opened her eyes letting out a groan. Her vision, blurry with tears, focused on a very familiar figure.
“Thank goodness you finally snapped out of it,” Spike said as the six mares woke up from their slumber.
“S...Spike?” Twilight murmured clearing away her tears.
“Yeah, I’m here, took me longer to knock those guys out. Sombra isn’t here, but you got caught by one of his illusion traps. The damn coward escaped again.”
“SPIKE!” the six mares shouted his name at once as they pounced him.
“Whoa! Hey--” Spike was about to protest but felt the hot tears of the mares against his scales, their tight embrace, their muffled cries and constant mumblings while Rarity and Applejack kissed him all over his face repeatedly he decided to shut up and let them do whatever they pleased.
They, however, although thankful all had been an illusion couldn’t help but think of what they’ve done to Sombra and how remorseless they felt about it. It scared them all they willingly inflicted such damage and then killed the tyrant for what he had done to their Spike.
Twilight rested her head against Spike’s chest hearing his strong heart beat like a drum. A couple of moments later her friends did the same as her letting their fears die down as they enjoying the rhythmic beat of Spike’s heart.
Sombra escaped, yes. But now he had committed his biggest mistake. He attacked them at a personal level.
And the six mares swore at the same time to make Sombra pay for it.
Author's Note
Special thanks to anyone that read this.
Special thanks to Aurora, one of my dear friends, for her idea and permission to post it here for all to enjoy. (Yeah, she ships Sparijack)
*Need an Editor for this one, PM me please.*
