I'm Not the Element Bearers. I'm ME! Spike the Dragon!

by B_25

Rating: teen
Tags: Princess Celestia, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Main 6, Princess Luna, Spike, Other, Crossover
Length: 6018

Spike must believe in himself, in the memory of his friends, to keep the rebellion alive.

Ponies have lived underground for countless years. Their ceiling of confinement is broken by six mares, each an embodiment of harmony, further fighting to allow freedom to those who dare to rise to the surface.

Then, abruptly through their rebellion, the six mares die, sacrificing themselves for a cowardice of a dragon.

The remaining resistance rebel again the Black Beast, knowing they cannot win now, unless...

Published 2017-08-13 23:20:06 UTC
Last updated 2017-08-13 23:20:06 UTC

“The Reason Why We Have Eyes on Our Faces and Not Our Backs”

~ I'm Not the Element Bearers. I'm ME! Spike the Dragon! ~

“The Reason Why We Have Eyes on Our Faces and Not Our Backs”

“FIRE!”

The blast of many cannons sounded throughout the empty streets as the balls lit a flame soared through the sky. The ponies behind the canons took a step from their heated instruments, their eyes set skyward, but never seeing the sky itself. All they saw were scales, as black as night itself not even flinch when their bullets finally struck.

“Is that all you got!?” The hunched over black dragon began to laugh, frightening the minuscule life forms that barely stood taller than its tow. He reeled his body backward to achieve his full height, matching that of the mountains of Canterlot in the distance. “The Princess's stole me from a glorious just to squish you rebellious pests. They said that there were six among you that would prove a challenge, yet all I see are pests that should’ve stayed underground!”

From atop the charred buildings of the town before him, unicorns exposed themselves out from the shadows with their horns alright alit with the magic they were banned from using. They fired beams of concentrated magic without warning, the magic colliding over the heads of those who had been firing at the beat.

The earth ponies took their chance and made their retreat.

The black dragon’s eye twitched at seeing the hasty retreat, shooting out a claw that would swipe them whole into his palm. “Not so fast.”

The sparkling pool of floating magic that had protected the earth ponies began to grow brighter, the horns behind its magic doubling its output as all their owners fell to their hooves. But they did not quit; they did not whine at the exertion, they simply remembered the power behind the alabaster and lavender horns, and strove to achieve the same result!

The swirling wisps inside the pool of magic increased in a speed un-seeable by the naked eyes, fueled by shared passion, until the power within its confines could not be content anymore. The unicorns began to screams as they felt that pool transition into a concentrated beam of magic, aimed directly at the face of the black beast.

“Grrr!” The black dragon felt the intensity of heat strike across his face and leave its burning imprint, the combined power blowing up into heaps of smoke a second later. He conceded that this rebellion wasn't simply ponies that had stumbled from outside their villages, as his body began to fall backward.

The unicorns collectively panted after the exertion their body had been put through, eyes looking to one another to confirm that they had indeed done the impossibles. Smiles began to blossom across their lips, as well as small chuckles at the notion that they had done the impossible.

That maybe, just maybe, they could take back their world even without the help of the six. But such foolish notions were wiped of all possibility of hearing the chuckles erupting behind the billowing smoke, red eyes shining past the fog.

“Don’t tell me that’s all you ponies have in store.” His every step made the world quake as his disappointment made a sound of itself. Slowly, he began to quicken, as his rushing body emerged out from the fog. “Where are the six that I was promised!”

The giant size of the black dragon’s body contrasted drastically with the smaller, degrading homes of Ponyville. The earth ponies who hid in the alleyways along the main street held their breaths as they felt the vibrations that rocked the earth get closer, desperately hoping that they were so small and insignificant enough not to be noticed by the great beast.

“If I have to kill you all to draw them out.” The black dragon reached the center of town to lay his claw on the roof of city hall, snapping it off like it was only a stick and never stopping his mouth. Pegasi descended from the gray clouds with bows held between their hooves, arrows of celestial blue light resting upon the plucked string.

The pegasi had withdrawn their wings as they fell to the earth, their bodies already steady to fire the arrows aimed for the charging dragon’s eyes. They were the last wall of defense for the panting unicorns atop the building behind them – these shots could not miss.

The arrows discharged.

The black dragon began to smile.

“Then I’ll do so with absolute joy!” The black dragon cocked his body around the moment he was but a few feet from them all. The celestial blue arrows blew up against the black scales of his back, utterly obligating the blackness from them as he smiled more.

When he turned around to face them once again, he had already cocked the top of the building high up into the air, before transferring all his gained momentum into his arm and chuckling the building like a speeding bullet like the ponies before him.

“Accept your deaths!”

The ponies only had a split second to realize the building small to him was gigantic to them, enveloping them in the coldness of its approaching shadow. Their breaths choked inside their throats, knowing that there was no time to do something else.

They just awaited the end to their failed lives.

“We’ll do no such thing!” A speeding object of their own pierced through the gray clouds and into the collision course the building had set, raising its foot as high up into the air as it could manage, before slamming it down the hurling rubble.

The impact sent it shooting down into the ground, digging slightly into the dirt, and creating an after wave high enough to blow across the faces of all ponies present. Those who had been hiding, those who had been failing, and those driven the exhaustion summoned the willpower needed to look into the opening.

They heard his jacket flap against the rising winds, as his body itself was nothing but silhouette against the beast and the grayness of the sky. Still, he softly landed upon the partially buried rubble, resting for a moment on his one knee.

Everything was quiet except for the sounds of his jacket. No one said or did a thing, not even a beast, only staring on to the newcomer to the battle.

“Telling to accept our deaths at your tainted claws…” The silhouette began to rise against the image of the giant beast, staring up at him even though his face was indistinguishable. “...just who the HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE!?”

The black dragon felt euphoria course through his veins at the prospect of the one who stood tall before him, chuckling with amused curiosity. “They spoke of another among the six, not nearly as powerful nor as high as they. But he possessed a power strange enough to conflict with the moon.”

A current of wind continued to blow between the two, accenting the smirk of the taller dragon, while the other toiled away in obscurity. Whatever emotion on his face, whoever this figure was, it was all still hidden underneath the shadow cast by the greatness of the six.

“By any chance,” The black dragon relinquished most of his weight to his left, keeping his eyes keen on the figure below him, “would that be you? Tell me the truth, and I shall bring you to the Princesses unharmed.”

The figure obscured in darkness began to look over shoulder, seeing the ponies starting to amass behind him. Their faces were stained by the dirt and dust that clung to their fur, multiple cuts still bleeding all around their bodies, yet their eyes still twinkled with the glint of hope.

They may not have seen the smile he gave them as he turned away, but they felt the air of familiarity that emitted from his body.

“Yeah, that’s me.” The figures crossed his arms and struck his face upward at the beast. “But I won't be going anywhere

They may not have seen his back to look at the beast, but they felt the air of familiarity wash over them.

“Yeah, that’s me.” The figure crossed his arms and looked up to the best, its bright emerald eyes shining against the layer of blackness that shrouded it. “But I’m not leaving with you. There’s no way I’d ever leave my friends hanging.”

“Quite the original line!” The black dragon gave a hearty laugh as his immense body began to lower, currents of wind spewing from its body alone that cut into those in his presence. The figure didn’t move even as the two eyes met on the same level, though his coat floated higher into the air. ‘But I’m sure the six could do a far better job of protecting these puny ponies. Pray, tell me where these heros are anyway.”

The surrounding ponies kept their silence at the mention of the ones who had brought them to where they were now. The same elements who attracted all to their unique and virtuous presence, only to become better by interlocking in a circle of harmony that would bring peace to the land.

These ponies fell to the memories of the past, unable to stop the tears beginning to well in the corner of their eyes. The figure spoke once more before they even had a chance to wipe away their sadness.

“...dead.”

“DEAD?!” The word sounded more like a roar from the depths of the black dragon’s chest, shooting his face just a few inches from the smaller entity. “I’ll accept no trickery, boy. Explain yourself!”

The figure did not reply at first, feeling as though an invite rain began to pour upon his shoulders. He remained silent a few moments longer, much to the larger dragon’s charging, though he waited with strained patience.

“It was a few battles ago…” The figure dropped his head in shame as the memory replayed in his mind. “...I had been assigned to use my powers to steal our current mobile base, but I just couldn’t get my willpower to kick start. I did what I always did: lost control of myself and waited for the six to save me. “

The figure did not reply at first, feeling as if though there were an invisible rain pouring onto his shoulders. “A few battles ago...the Elements of Harmony were drawn away from their transformation because I had begun to lose control of myself.”

He lifted his hand into the air and let it drape over his face, giving a chuckle that sounded more like a choked sob. “They knocked me outta my funk, alright. Six hooves joining as one collective whole just to knock some sense back into me.”

Faint beams of sunlight began to filter through the gray clouds. A soft breeze whistled through the air. The darkness the clung to the figure began to dissipate, only for his shame to be exposed to the ears of the dragon and the eyes of his fellow friends.

“They brought me back, alright.” The purple lips of the figure had stretched into a smile upon recalling the memory, remembering how they said that if he ever lost it again, that they would always come back to belt him with a reminder. “They were halfway through their transformation when they stopped it, placing my safety above my own.”

That smile then vanished. “I wish they hadn’t.”

The black dragon growled before him. “I recall that our own kind lost that battle. None of the survivors made any mention of this.”

The sunlight intensified, piercing through more of the gray clouds, as some of its rays fell upon the purple-scaled figure. He rose his head upon feeling the faint warmth, but only enough to clash his bright emerald eyes against the red burning interferons before him.

“They died the attack made by one of your deceased generals.” The purple dragon smirked at what the girls chose to do with their last moments of life, feeling a twinge in his veins of the same willpower that surged through theirs. “In their moment of weakness when they chose to let down their guard to protect mind, your general decided to sneak into a machine like the one you're in now, and struck them all from the ground below like a coward!”

A flame exploded into life inside the smaller dragon’s eyes, beginning to burn brightly even against the twin infernos across from him. The other dragon chuckled in the face of such bravado, slowly returning to his natural height with roars of laughter. “Those six that you speak of were bested by a lowly general? Pathetic!”

“They may have died to misfortune itself.” The purple dragon extended out his claw to the other that obscured the sky with his mass, shooting out a claw to point directly at the beast as he spoke. “But never would they ever be bested by such a creature! Even after their death, the six arose on willpower alone, and used all that they had left to avenge themselves!”

The black dragon quit his laughter upon hearing the other side to the battle, piecing together the events. “The survivors reasoned that they only field because their commander had died.”

He shifted his full weight to the right, his lips stretching into a feral grin. “If only they’d stay a few moments longer, even if it were just to see them perform their last miracle.”

“Yeah,” Spike conceded, dipping his head in reverence for his fallen friends. His claw, however, kept pointing forward, not to the beast but the open scape of land behind him. “The girls certainly did go out in a flame of glory… but no way in hell that’s the last miracle that Team Dai-Gurren will pull!”

The grin upon the black dragon only grew bigger.

“Oh?” He rose his mighty black claw and gestured to all those who had gathered before him, their faces still holding uncertainty as they stood behind him as others fell unto their knees in despair. “The dragon among ponies, weak enough to force their strongest to care for him, thinks he can summon the will of a leader to defeat me!”

The dragon shook his head, throwing his claw back down to his side. “I’m no leader. Just Spike the Dragon!”

The black dragon only laughed as his burning eyes only intensified with even more flames, bringing his own massive claw to the sky like the smaller one before him had. He cocked it in place before staring down at the dragon with glee. “Then look to the sky you all dream to reach, and see only my first plummeting towards you!”

The fist slammed down from the halves onto the rubble, sending trembles coursing through the grass which the ponies still stood upon. They looked to one another in fear and confusion, turning their heads to Spike only to rescues a wave of dust to their eyes.

“Even I have to admit that I was expecting a challenge if I were ever to meet the Elements of Harmony!” the black dragon accepted with a roar as he kept his fist firm against the utterly destroyed building, glancing to the ponies who desperately rubbed their eyes to see again.

“The only threat that stood a chance against my kind now lay buried underground, their replacement nothing but a dragon who was still a baby!” He began to laugh, pressing his fist harder against the piece of rubble that hadn’t broken yet. “None of your attacks stand a chance to harm my scales like the power of their rainbow did. Not a single pony here has the personality to challenge the impossible as they did.”

Ponies were beginning to fall to the ground. They gave in to the wounds sustained during the long battles, the mental berating of their place that was once quelled by harmony itself, as they let their eyes to continued to sting with defeat.

“There will never be a set of ponies like those six!” The dragon exclaimed. He rose his other claw to the sky in preparation to properly squash the rebellion. “You’re all useless without them and will now pay the price!”

The black dragon began to drop his claws on the last of ponies who had finally lost their hope, succumbing to the darkness of the world those better than them had set upon it. They shouldn’t have tried to find freedom beyond their cramp homes, nor held the notion that because they had heroes leading them that they now stood a chance.

Maybe, if the mane six were still here, they would make the impossible possible. But they were dead and gone, and nothing would stop them from meeting them, for all this despair was written by fate itself.

Then, something cracked the stones left in the rubble’s quake, as all eyes were drawn to that standing underneath the weight of the black dragon’s claw. A figure stood, though even wrapped in the shadows of despair, his form was clear to all with even dust in their eyes.

“Just who…”

Spike planted his left leg into the ground, and then, his right.

“...the hell...”

His two claws had been pushing against the giant one above him, bearing the impossible weight together. Spike took multiple strained breaths, slowly cocking his right claw upward at his side as his other bore through the searing pain.

“...do you think…”

Spike shot his head upward, looking in-between the space of the individual class at the twin infernos. They stared confusedly down at them, witnessing him take his other claw away and sealing his fate underneath the mass.

“...WE ARE?!” Spike launched his left claw upward against the falling darkness, knocking it back but a few inches, though it granted him the space to launched his other cocked arm. He repeatedly struck upward in a fury steeled by his brawl, imbuing every punch with the lingering anger of the disease, as a green flame began to burn around his fist.

“WHA—” The black dragon didn’t get to finish his sentence as a brilliant flash of green explode from underneath his black claw, the force of a thousand suns colliding against his palm and shooting like wild fire through his darken arm.

The blackness of his scales began to burn away from the green glow within, the fury of the purple dragon never ceasing even in the limb’s great length. It burned away the darkness of the scales and tore away at the veins from within, until the power itself could no longer be contained by flesh itself, blowing off the arm in a field of green.

The soaring arm, now without any black scales to conceal its core, caught the shimmering of the coming sun in its metal forearm. Loose cables began to leak out oil as the wires still emitted a green electricity, before the arm itself crashed into the ground.

There was a snap.

Something soared through the air.

All the ponies looked up.

The black beast looked down.

Everyone saw the dragon that landed atop of the destroyed arm.

“How is this possible!?” The black beast began to clutched at his shoulder, trying to plug the leaking hole that was once his left arm. “This six are dead and their power long gone!”

“It’s because I’m still alive!” Spike stuck his claw forward once again, not time not to merely point, but to proclaim to those that still looked up to him. “Burning with the will of mine alone to stop you!”

“How dare you rise to my level, fake!” The beast tore his arm away from his injuries to cock it back, imputing it with all his stretching, before releasing it in the direction of the dragon. “You are nothing without the six! A mere fake living in their wake…who will die by being unable to rise to their greatness!”

Spike didn’t flinch as the fist came his away, only seeing the faint image of the girls soaring his way to knock some sense back into him. He wouldn’t lose himself now, as he put his claws outward, he would never lose who he was again.

“I am not the fake that you speak about!” Spike felt the presence of the punch, instead taking its power and transferring it against itself. He kicked the back of the arm he stood upon, which slowly began to dig into the ground like a drill, as he gripped the fist. “I am not my dead sisters! I am not their mere replacements!”

Spike used all the gained momentum to glide the claw over his shoulder, using the momentum of the drilling claw to swing the beast into the air. The howling winds cut into his heart as the weight became unbearable, yet he endured.

The shadow of the beast passed over the ponies below, as that would be the only weight they would come to feel. Once it passed over, the drake let go of the fist, and let the beast fly through the air in its own accord.

The ground rocked as the beast collided with the ground, landing in the dirt and skidding back until he hit a tree. With blurry eyes he looked up, seeing the dragon, who, despite standing on the ground once again, stood just as tall.

“The girls are still on my back, and their harmony inside my heart!” Spike slammed his own fist in passion against his chest, looking out the distant beast without a shred of fear. “Just who the hell do you think I am? I’m Spike. I’m not Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash nor Rarity.”

A few tears escaped his eyes, but he wiped them away as he struck to the heavens once again. “I’m ME! Spike the Dragon!”

“You may be strong, kid.” The beast struck his claw in the direction of the dragon, though its fingers were busted and mechanically pointing in different directions. “But you’ll never attain the power of Harmony that those girls had! Only ponies with characters such as theirs can attain such great power, untouchable to a knock off to the likes of you!”

“Touch the untouchable. Break the unbreakable! That’s Team’s Dai-Gurren way!” Spike ripped off his coat to expose all of himself to the world, holding no shame as his jacket flapped in the wind. “I’ll acquire the traits that made my friends great and ascend to the level which they stood upon, while never losing sight to who I really am!”

The beast began to rise from the ground, its body emitting a screech sending sound waves through the air. It pained all pairs of ears except one, as the flames of its eyes spread over its body, painting it red with anger and fixing its broken claw. “Such cliches won’t save you from my rage. A dragon like you will never wield the power of harmony even to stand a chance!”

The beast began to sprint toward him as the world around him blurred, the biting wind doing nothing to cool his rage. This only made Spike smirk, who, in holding on too tightly to the coat, finally willed himself to let go.

The coat took the blue fabric into the air, causing it to wrap around in the air, as six familiar pendants began to fall from the jacket’s pocket. They collected the rays of sunlight and intensified its power, shooting powerful beams back the obliterated the gray clouds.

All the ponies gasped in astonishment. They never thought before that their eyes would ever lay on the pendants that were the symbols of their rebellion, ones that filled them with hope and use that power to destroy evil.

Spike reeled backward, sucking in all the air he could muster, before releasing a roar that shook the earth and made mountains tremble with the emotion behind it. Slowly, a green aura of magic enveloped his being as he began to expand in size, growing and growing with the passion born within his being.

“No way…” The ponies collectively gasped, never expecting for Spike to maintain a form ever again. He grew to the same size of the sprinting beast, keeping his arms crossed as he was still in control of something.

Then, his emerald eyes settled the pendants of harmony that had floated to before them. Spike couldn’t stop the tears from welling before his eyes as he remembered just whose necks they actually belonged on, but it was too late to be thinking such thoughts.

Spike the dragon nodded his head in confirmation, and the Elements of Harmony complies to their new master. Each of the six jewels floated over to the limp and part that suited their element most – arms transitioning to the color of blue and lavender, legs of white and pine, and a chest that was yellow and a head orange.

The ponies began to back away, but not in fear, rather, amazement. Their eyes were filled with not only hope but giddiness, feeling the passions of their soul come alive once more, as the fallen earth ponies rose back to their hooves. “The six were able to use the elements to fire back…”

The pegasi dropped whatever bows they still held, gasping in sight of the rainbow colored beast. “...but Spike was not only able to use the power of Harmony…”

The unicorns felt their horns surge with energy that filled their magical reservoirs by just being in the dragon’s presence, feeling as though they possess the same magic as he did. “...he became them…”

“This is the reason why the girls had so much faith in Spike,” they call joined, shouting the last line unionized. “Because he was able to wield real power! Something they couldn't do!”

“All of that is irrelevant!” The beast’s dashing feet were just seconds away from reaching the town’s threshold, the spot which his foe directly stood upon. “Just because you have the colors of the rainbow doesn’t mean you possess even an iota of Harmony’s power!”

Spike awaited the beast with bated breath, almost losing consciousness at what the Elements had done to his body. He had no clue if he would even be able to wield them, nonetheless whatever was happening right now. But all those doubts and fears were all wiped away upon seeing six semi-transparent bodies fade into existence.

Spike exhaled.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack faded into existence over his left shoulder, braving the sight of oncoming beast lost to rage with a grin. He knew now the beast was simply another challenge to be overcome, feeling the full might of his rage as its fist struck across his cheek, but not before he did the same.

The ponies cried and cheered, as the dragon and the beast pushed their fists further into one another’s cheek. “A cross-counter!”

Even though the heat of the beast’s rage was beginning to burn past the scales of his cheek like magmA, Spike glanced over his other shoulder to see Rarity and Pinkie. Together, they looked at him and smiled from a place beyond life itself, their faith in who he is transcending all mortal laws.

Spike felt his heart swell in warmth as his being began full with the faith it needed to proceed. The beast took back its claw, infusing it with the magma of its rage, and directed its fist to burn into the dragon’s heart.

It collision course was intercepted by a claw as the magma worked immediately at cooking past the scales. Spike flinched as the beast gave an insane laugh, though this stagnation did not last forever.

Spike embraced the searing heard in the palm of claw and enclosed upon it, raising it high into the air and lifting the body attached slightly off the ground, before slamming them both into the dirt once again, ripping off the claw entirely.

Spike dropped the items as soon as he could, clutching his own claw as he could see his bones past the burnt flesh.

“Fool!” The voice gained the dragon’s attention as he looked up from his claw, only to see a brilliant red aurora envelop the entirety of the beast. Soon, its surface began to bubble. “You didn’t think I wouldn’t come prepared with the power needed to destroy this entire town in case things with south? Die! Die in the fury of my flames, Spike the Dragon, the Elements of Harmony, and all those who dare to oppose the sisters!”

Spike took a few steps backward, overloaded with pain and the surrealness of seeing the girl's spirit to know what to do next. Then, he felt a calming wave ripple through his body and lessen the pain in his claw, causing him to look down to find Fluttershy smiling up at him.

Spike grew a smile of his own as he looked upward, seeing Twilight standing atop his tallest spine, and smirking down at him. She tapped the end of her horn, then used the same hoof to point at his lavender arm.

He raised toward the beast, but instead of clutching it like a fist, he kept his palm open to the ball of red light beginning to concentrate into a beam. Though try as he might, he couldn’t stop his claw from trembling at the prospect he could fail his next move.

“Remember, Spike.” Spike snapped out of his fears to see the girls beside him now, all looking to him and speaking together. “Don’t forget. Believe in yourself. Not in the you who believes in us. Not the me who believes in you. Believe in the you who believes in yourself.”

The trembling in the claw stopped just as the concentrated beam of rage shot forward, colliding with its palm, but doing something that no one was expecting. A white light appeared in front of the palm, sucking in the beam as if it were mere energy, before the claw aimed upward and shot the beam into the sky.

It caught the attention of all those surrounding the area who dared not get involved in the fight, as well as luring those who had returned to their underground villages to peak out their heads. The red beam of rage shot out into the sky in a green glow, clearing it of any clouds and allowing all to see all the starts that awaited them in the cosmos.

“This one is for you, girls.” All of the spines on Spike’s body began to snap off, floating through the air until they reached his right claw, and all clodding together in the heat of passion. A drill of multiple colors shot into the heavens with the girth of the dragon himself, who pointed its end at the beast before him. “To carry out the revolution that you started!”

The black face of the best began to slip apart, its fangs proving to be nothing more the metal as they became agape. Inside the confines of the mouth sat a chair, with controls all around it, as well as an alicorn who had been piloting the machine.

Knowing this to be a losing battle, it tried to jump out of the mech before anything fatal could be dealt with it. But just as it leaped out of the mouth, the palm of Spike’s other claw shoved it back it, then forcing the mouth back to a close.

“The girls were brave enough to go down with their ships,” Spike said as he took a step backward, beginning to power up the drill with the glowing green aurora that was the physical embodiment of his willpower. “It’s best that you do the same!”

Spike threw the claw with the drill backward, infusing it with all the power he had left, starting up the sequence of final attack. To the ponies crowded below his feet, they felt and saw the familiarity of that same drill.

“That’s the same attack the girls had mastered before they died!” They cried, mouths still agape by the sudden turn of events. “Will he be able to execute it!?”

Spike felt an influx of all the moments and memories he ever had with the girls flash into the forefront of his mind, crying at its presence yet being fueled by it the same. “Finishing move!”

He felt the girls along side him, bearing the same weight that he had on his shoulder, before roaring that they soon joined him with. The dragon picked up the beast and tossed him to the heavens, flying after him just a few seconds after.

“Gigga…”

The beast reached the apex of being thrown, but found that six differently colored aurora's kept his body in place in the air. He looked down to see the dragon flying up by the power of the spinning drill alone.

“...drill…”

The dragon of today roared his own unique roar, as those whom he loved most supported him the entire way with their own screams. The drill pierced the magma that the beast tried to protect himself with, tearing the metal scales apart.

“...BREAK-A-YOU!”

The drill pierced through the beast, churning a hole within core big enough for the dragon’s body to fly through. Spike fell to the earth as the beast remained suspended in the air, feeling himself shrink to his normal height due to his overuse of power as the different colors left his scales, returning them to their normal shade of purple.

Just as Spike landed upon the earth once more, the beast blew up in an explosion that reached out into space. The pones were silent for a moment as Spike didn’t look back at his work, only breaking into cheer once they knew the beast was dead.

Screams, yells, joys, and tears filled the deserted town as the six began to swarm around Spike. They chanted his name and gave him a large number of hugs, all of which he returned, as they went on to make him the new leader of their group.

Before Spike could even think to reject, he looked over the sea of chanting ponies to the pendants of the Elements that had fallen back to the ground as well. Behind them, the ghost of their owners stood, each bearing an expression that spoke of the happiness they felt for the dragon.

He returned their happiness equally, watching as they began to fade away from existence for the last time. But he knew they were always with him, and this was proven true when the pendants of Harmony began to spin in a circle.

Everpony turned around and gasped at the sight of their once leaders, some breaking down and crying at sight, while others merely waved goodbye or cheered to their once family members. The six ghosts collected as one in the middle of the tornado, the wisps of gray slowly morphing into a jacket. Then, the winds ceased, as the spirit of the girls slipped into the fabric.

The coat then shoots toward Spike. Its sleeves are of alabaster, its shoulder plates cyan and orange. It bears all the colors of the girls, and their spirit and dreams within, as well as each of the pendants stylishly attaches to the coat.

Spike put on the jacket, flapping it upward into the air, before taking the first step into the land of freedom. He held up his claw as he waved farewell, to the girls he was leaving behind, as the remade team followed him forward.

The dragon looked upward, to the tallest mountain, where the twin sisters looked down at him with feral smiles. He knew what he had to do next, to make their jointed freedom a reality.

One of the members of the group approached Spike is and his stylish jacket.

“Where to next, Spike?”

The dragon only smiled.

“Upward and onward to freedom.”