When all else Fails

The gang was practically sprinting down the hallway looking for Rarity and Spike. For the longest time Sweetie Belle had imagined the worst because no matter where they went they could never find them. “Do you think that they’re okay” She asked looking up at Twilight. “I hope so.” They luckily never ran into any of Sparkplugs robots in the hall. Sparkplug stopped abruptly which made Twilight bump into him. “Why’d we stop?” Sparkplug did not answer just pointed at the door to their left “this door’s been tampered with.” Twilight stepped up to the door and looked it over. “How can you tell” she asked looking back at Sparkplug. “There’s no more dust on the door” he said as if the answer was obvious. Twilight looked back at the door and blushed a little in embarrassment “oh, yea.” She hesitantly opened the door “hello, Spike…Rarity, you in here?”

She heard a war cry and saw a shadowy figure charge at her with something in its hands. She was so scared that without thinking she used her magic to blast the creature back into a wardrobe. She stepped into the room followed by everyone else; she then heard a voice speak up. “Oh, darling I’m so pleased that you found us.” With that Rarity ran over to Twilight and gave her the biggest hug she had ever experienced. Through the tight death-grip she managed to say a few words “where’s Spike?” Rarity let go of Twilight and stepped back “oh, he’s in the wardrobe.” “He’s in the wardrobe with that thing!” Rarity was a bit confused as to why Twilight was so worried, and then it struck her. “Oh, no he was that thing; he was worried that one of those things found us.” Twilight raised an eyebrow and proceeded towards the wardrobe while Rarity embraced the loving hug of her younger sister.

“I’m so glad we found you!” Rarity squeezed her sister even harder than she did with Twilight. “Me!? What about you I was worried sick, are you hurt?” Sweetie Belles eyes looked as if they were about to pop right out of their sockets “I will be.” Rarity let her sister go and drop to the floor to catch her breath “sorry, it’s just I’m so happy to see you.” The whole time Rarity was talking to Sweetie Belle she had a guilty look on her face; Sweetie Belle just shrugged it off. Twilight approached the wardrobe and opened the double doors. Spike fell out and landed flat on his face; she looked at what Spike charged at her with it was just a simple book, not even hard cover.

It was Sweetie Belles turn to give a death hug; she ran up to Spike, picked him off the floor, and gave him the hug only being crushed by a boulder could give. Spike didn’t mind being suffocated though, just because it was by Sweetie Belle. Spike opened his eyes and saw Sparkplug walk into the room; he broke free of Sweetie Belle’s grip and charged towards him. It took Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and a little of Twilights magic to control Spike; even then he proved a force to be reckoned with. Sweetie Belle got in front of Spike and hugged him again until he calmed down. Spike eventually stopped trying to break free of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, but he was still furious that Sparkplug had the nerve to show his face around them. “What is he doing here!?” “It’s okay he’s cool.” Spike looked at Twilight as if she were crazy. “He’s cool! I don’t think you understand he’s the one that took her in the first place” he said pointing at Sweetie Belle. Sparkplug was the next to speak “how rude of me, let me introduce myself my name is Sparkplug.” “Yea, I guess you forgot to mention it when you were shoving her into your car.” Sparkplug scratched the back of his head and gave a nervous chuckle.

The ground started shaking and there was a blast that could probably be heard from five miles out. They heard someone running toward the room they were all in; then Wildhooves appeared in the doorway. “Sir, Lord Freerunner’s army has found us!” Sparkplug still had the play-it-cool face on, but his tone had turned to super serious. “Make sure they don’t find them!” Everyone looked at each other trying to figure out what was happening. “Who are you trying to hide” Spike asked. Sparkplug looked back at Spike and said “my army.” Spike raised an eyebrow to Sparkplugs answer “you have an army?” “Well I built them, they were the ones that chased you around, but if he gets his hands on them he could reprogram them and then he would be unstoppable.” Sparkplug turned his attention back towards Wildhooves “do everything in your power to make sure they stay at bay.” Wildhooves nodded and sprinted back down the hallway.

The eastern wall of the room then shattered into many pieces one even knocking out Sparkplug with a blow to the temple. Everyone stood up and looked at the wall that was just demolished to see what hit it. A figure stood in the dust that was clearing, but they couldn’t make out who or what it was. The figure stepped forward and revealed himself; he had a mane shaded gray and a brown coat of fur with the cutie of a group of ponies running in a field. He was followed in by four other unicorns using magic to hold their weapons they all looked the same with the blue armored platted chest and helmet. They couldn’t see their eyes because they were blocked by a black visor that had a green line panning left to right and back again.

The stallion started to speak in a very raspy voice as if he’s been smoking for too long. “Terribly sorry I’m looking for Sparkplug is he here?” Sparkplug was still knocked out under a few cobblestones and was barely visible. Nobody was about to give up Sparkplug, not even Spike. They were interrupted by a new set of creatures joining the room; it was Wildhooves and three of Sparkplug’s “robots”. “Ah, Wildhooves it’s been far too long how have you been?” The stallion stepped down the pile of rubble that he was standing on top of and walked to Wildhooves. Wildhooves had a scowl on his face after seeing the stallion “what are you doing here Freerunner?” The stallion looked at Wildhooves with a frown “that’s Lord Freerunner to you.” “I no longer have to obey you!” Wildhooves now started screaming at Freerunner in almost in a demonic voice. Before Wildhooves lost control he said “children please take Master Sparkplug away from this place.”

Wildhooves lifted Sparkplug out of the ruble and handed him to Spike. Before he let go of Sparkplug he asked “can I trust you?” Spike just nodded and smiled, Wildhooves returned the smile in approval. He turned his attention towards Freerunner and his scowl returned as did his demonic voice. The nine of them left the room leaving Wildhooves and Freerunner to deal with each other. They ran down the hall remembering every turn they took and eventually got to the exit. They ran down the dirt road until they heard the clop of hooves behind them. They dove in the nearest bushes fearing that it was Freerunner and his army looking for Sparkplug.

“We need to get back to Ponyville, that’s where the stone is.” “What stone?” Spike had to know, he wasn’t with the others when they got the full explanation. They explained the situation to Spike and he knew he had to tell them that he devoured the stone. “Um, guys…I got something I need to tell you.” They all looked at him “what is it Spike?” Spike looked down and continued “well, you see, I-” he was cut off by the sound of rustling in the bushes. Spike brought his claw up to his mouth and gave a *shush* motion. He stuck his face in the bushes to see what was making the noise. He yelped, but not loud enough for anyone to hear him. He stepped back and let the figure join their group; it was Wildhooves. “Don’t do that Wildhooves you scared me.” Wildhooves did not reply. “Wildhooves…you okay?” Still no reply; Spike went up to him and put his hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes; there was something…off about his eyes. His eyes flashed red and he said “I’m sorry.” He picked Spike up by the neck and started to choke him.

Everyone rushed to Wildhooves asking what he was doing and what was wrong with him. Spike could feel himself fading from the lack of oxygen. No matter how hard they tried they couldn’t get Wildhooves off of Spike. He tried to blow fire on Wildhooves, but he forgot that he ran out of fumes. Wildhooves eventually dropped Spike onto the ground practically lifeless; he then stepped away keeping the same facial expression he had on. The next thing they all knew they were surrounded by multiple unicorns pointing their weapons at them. Spike picked himself off the floor and looked around “well, fuck.” He received another smack on the back of his head and gave a frustrated groan.