Celestia and Ember were equally frozen as they floated there with wide eyes, even while their forces were screaming for their help. Twilight and Spike struck like a bomb, rushing to the closest being and struck them to the ground with a single punch or blast of magic. They struck dragon and pony alike and while they hadn’t killed one, their sense not that far gone yet, they were ruthless and ensured neither side would be recovering easily. With every blast of magic Spike would be there to take the hit for Twilight while she used her magic to take down any dragon that dared to get close to them. Dragons and Ponies put aside their fight and since their leaders didn’t seem to be leading, took charge and aimed all the magic and fire they had at the two.

“No, halt your attack!!” Celestia and Shining’s pleas fell on deaf ears as they all sent the attacks and Ember realized what was wrong, the last sight she saw before the two were engulfed in magic and fire were devious smirks on their faces. An orb of fire and magic swirled until the attacks died down but the attacks remained. Shining’s eyes widened and he ordered everypony to take cover as the orb shattered with Spike sucking in half the powers and setting the sky towards the dragons ablaze. Twilight used her magic to turn the other half of the power into the form of a giant snake and taking out all the ground forces of the ponies. The two separated with Twilight grabbing the wave that Spike caused and turning the fire into fine sharp needles, puncturing most of the dragons and pegasi that were still flying and sent them falling to the earth with the rest flying away in a panic.

Spike smashed through the snake’s head with his body and claws becoming ignited while he roared and slashed at the ponies, knocking them out and making them retreat as magic wasn’t working. Spike turned only for a horn to nearly impale itself in his neck, causing him to dodge and growl and roar. Shining Armor tossed his helmet aside and glared at Spike before the two rushed each other with Spike trying to slash at his side and grab his horn but the captain was strong and kicked Spike in the face. Not giving him a moment of rest, before Spike could recover Shining stabbed him in the leg and stomach then used a blast of magic to send the dragon smashing into the castle.

Shining huffed before Celestia shouted out and he looked up with Twilight attempting to blast apart the spot he was on. He blasted back and the two attacks met midair but for the first time ever Shining felt Twilight’s blast overcome his and he jumped just as her attack destroyed the ground and sent shrapnel stabbing into his armor and legs. Twilight landed and stared at Shining as she prepared to attack again, her irises shaking and eyes beginning to cry as she stared at him.

“T-Twily… I’m not gonna fight you…” She screamed and shot a beam of magic into the sky which exploded and sent small shimmers of light to fall to the earth as she jumped high into the air and a piece of the castle’s wall came flying at Shining which he stopped with magic. Before he could do anything, a fist burst through the wall and Spike laid out a flurry of punches before sending him flying back with a kick. Twilight landed next to Spike as her horn glowed and he flexed his claws which were still on fire. Shining coughed and spit out some blood before forcing himself to stand and face the two as they rushed at him but as he prepared to fight a concentrated beam of sunlight struck the two and sent them flying and Celestia landed. “P-princess…”

“I’m sorry Shining I should have known she would do this.” Twilight used her magic to get them out of the rubble and both glared at the princess.

“What is wrong with her?”

“When she fused their souls she inherited all the instincts that a dragon has to deal with naturally and all that plus the power boost the two got fueled their greed and that has nearly overpowered everything else. If we want them to stop this then I’ll have to beat them both down.” The two rocketed towards the princess only for Twilight to be grabbed and Ember spun, using her tail to send the unicorn crashing into the ground and Spike roared jumping and slashing at Ember. She grabbed his arm as she stared into his eyes.

“What is wrong with you!? You’re are attacking your own! Protecting that pony! You’re attacking me you, idiot!” Spike stared at her and roared as his head began to fight itself and he put a hand on her chest, focusing and forcing her to let go as several green magical tendrils came from his hand and wrapped around Ember’s body, squeezing her until she let him fall and used all strength to pull and tear them off. “M-magic…” She was caught off guard while recovering as Spike had gotten back up and grabbed Twilight, spinning and chucking her like a missile at Ember who blocked as Twilight charged up her horn. It glowed brightly and the moment it touched Ember an explosion sent them both flying but Spike was there to catch Twilight as Ember created a crater with smoke coming off her body.

Celestia flew to Ember and used her magic to heal the dragon princess who coughed and climbed out of her hole, smacking away the hoof the princess offered. “I know you don’t like me.”

“Whatever gave you an idea like that genius?”

“But, right now we have bigger problems. Those two have decimated our armies and are intent on finishing us both off unless we put them both down for the count.”

“A true dragon doesn’t need a pony’s help to fight.”

“Look around you fool!” Ember opened her mouth to retort but realized what she meant, their fight had destroyed much of the castle, ponies and dragons were everywhere and some were bleeding. If their wounds were untreated… While ponies bred like rats, Dragons were rare and it was only about half that would live long enough to actually fight and since dragons matured so slowly each one was a needed resource that she couldn’t just sacrifice for some false sense of pride. “I say that we beat them down and then we can call this fight a draw.” Ember growled and she nodded reluctantly and the two turned to see Spike and Twilight were up again and walking towards them through the smoke and destruction.

Ember flew high into the air and spun while gaining speed and smashing the earth with all her might, sending stone and earth flying and Celestia used her magic to propel all the debris at Twilight and Spike, Spike jumping ahead and slashing at every large chuck while Twilight used her magic to push away all the rest. Ember prepared herself and shouted at Celestia that she was ready as she was floating with Celestia’s magic about to send her flying at Spike as he was protecting Twilight.

“Remember that their lives are tied together! If either dies then the other will follow!”

“I’m not stupid and I’m not killing him…” Celestia threw her with all her might and Ember soared through the air and yelled as she grabbed Spike and took him far from Twilight, smashing him against a wall and apologized before laying a storm of punches at his torso and face, ending with an elbow to the top of the head. Spike coughed and spit out a bit of blood while holding his stomach. “Don’t make me hurt you more Spike… This ends here and you’re coming back.”

“No, I will never again fight for an endless cycle of death and misery! If I must strike down every last one of you all, I will!” Spike threw a punch only for it to be grabbed by Ember.

“You can’t change the way things are, you think they’ll ever accept one of us? You think you’re the only one to ever try ending this? This misplaced sense of justice will only get you killed!”

“No… this time will be different. I have help and determination to see it to the end.” Ember sighed and kicked at him, only for Spike to roll and concentrate hard on his fire breath, something she taught him.

“Your flames never burned me, Spike.” Spike released his lungful of fire and Ember held out a hand as something else came out, a green fireball that stung her hand. Magic. Knocking it away, she punched Spike again finally laying him out for good as she breathed heavily and saw the scales in her hand had been injured. “What did you do to yourself…”

. . .

Twilight turned and prepared to go after Spike but was blasted in the side when Celestia began to walk towards her. “My faithful student, I can sense you are not yourself. Please, I beg that you let me help you and sever this bond between you and that dragon. I raised you to be the best you can be, where did I mess up to make you think this was a path worth taking?”

“You think this was a mistake!? We made our choice and we’d make it again! You and others like you have pushed this war for too long and now we’ll stop it at any cost… I don’t want to fight you, princess… but I won’t bow again, I’m sorry…” Twilight rushed at her and stabbed at her shoulders, not trying to kill but maim her or force her away. The princess dodged every strike and put more of her power into her horn, throwing Twilight away and then bucking her back before she could get back up. Twilight coughed and groaned before standing and focusing all of her power into her horn. Celestia stood tall and met her blast with one of her own, the princess walking towards her as her student’s magic was strong but not strong enough yet. Twilight yelled as her blast was destroyed and she was hit by the princess’s magic.

“I’m sorry Twilight that I failed you but I can’t have ponies that cling to unreasonable ideas of justice trying to stop my country from being the best it can be. I’ve always done what I can for the peace of the world but how does putting our swords down as they attack us bring you any version of what you seek? I suppose I should take you back to the castle now to see if I can undo your… what?” As the smoke disappeared, Twilight was still standing if only barely. Her fur shimmered in the light of the sun, they reminded Celestia of dragon scales. “So he gave you something in return, magic resistance.” Twilight huffed and took a step before she fainted and fell to the earth. Celestia looked down at the unicorn before carefully lifting her and placing her on her back.

. . .

Twilight softly groaned as she felt her body aches when she tried to move, her eyelids even not willing to obey as they left her in the dark. There was a soft beeping noise that was already pissing off the emerging headache she was developing. “Flaaaash! Shinnnning!! Will one of you shut that annoying sound off!?” She suddenly became aware of another sound near her, the sound of breathing. She forced her eyes open and found herself in her room but there was a bed next to hers where Spike laid with bandages covering his head and chest. A machine with a tube down his throat beeped in turn with one that was attached to her foreleg. “They couldn’t get anything past his scales without hurting him…”

Twilight stared at the young dragon as he groaned and moved a bit in his sleep, the pony reaching out to him. A bit of fear entered her heart as she saw there was no chain connecting the two but as her hoof touched him the chain appeared around his neck and her hoof, dimly glowing. “So she couldn’t break the bond…”

“Nope, I must admit that your magical skill has gotten much better.” Twilight jumped and pulled away from the dragon as Celestia seemed to have materialized next to her bed. The unicorn tried to cover the dragon from her sight but a stab of pain forced her to lay back down.

“P-princess… I’m sorry about attacking you, attacking my own people but I… I felt angry and so powerful that I felt like I could...”

“Like you could take on the entire world… we ponies never have given dragons proper respect with what they must deal with on a daily basis. When you connected to that little dragon his nature and the innate greed, want for destruction, and anger entered you all at once and with your bond having just been forged he was caught as off guard as you and both of you fell to those feelings.”

“...What happened to everyone?”

“The dragons are gone… I allowed the princess to gather her forces and leave as long as they left that one here but she told me that after this even if it wasn’t what she wanted, he would be hunted down for attacking his own.” Twilight trembled a bit and looked at Spike, her spell, her choice to bond with him had destroyed his life and made him an outcast from his own people. She at least still had her… brother!

“S-Shining! What happened to him!? We didn’t hurt him too much did we?! Oh my Celestia what if he doesn’t want to ever see me again?! What if he-”

“Relax Twilight, your brother is just fine, maybe even better than fine. Cadence came back the moment that she heard he had been injured and has been fawning over him since those two truly are perfect together… I’m sorry for not trying to understand you more my dearest student, I almost made a mistake. You decided on your own path instead of the ones I made for you and while I wished I could protect you and keep you by my side, I feel that your destiny will go beyond anything that I thought possible.” As Celestia held the unicorn close, Twilight felt her heart soar but then fall.

“I-It sounds like you are sending me away…”

“Yes… One of the reasons that I didn’t want this spell you made to work is that we can’t have a dragon here in Canterlot. This city is made up of so many refugees and those who lost much to the dragons and even if your friend there is on our side, he would never be able to live here in peace. They would kill him.”

“Can’t you do anything?!”

“Even if I gave orders that he be protected, I would lose many people’s trust as they would see me as a dragon sympathizer and I doubt that would stop the most extreme of ponies. As ruler and commander of the Equestrian Army, I can’t have ponies lose their respect for me as I need their help to keep this fight going strong.

“Then I’ll protect him! I won’t let anypony hurt him!”

“You don’t understand yet how deep hate can go and I hope you never have to. There is also the problem that if either one of you were to die it would kill the other, I won’t put you in danger by keeping you at my side. You told me that you wish to stop this war for good and I never dreamt that such a thing could happen… after so long I gave up hope… but seeing you two now I have it again. I must send you two away and ask that you don’t come back to Canterlot until the day that your dream comes true. Don’t worry, however, I have given your little dragon there a bit of my own magic and his fire breath now can give me or Cadence letters should you ever need our guidance.”

“This is my home… my brother… my friends...”

“I promise you that I will keep him safe and I think he’s too stubborn to die, you are so much stronger than you believe and with a partner like him by your side always remember that I believe in you.” Twilight wiped her eyes and nodded before hugging the princess.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I won’t let you down!”

“I suppose we won’t let you down…” The two turned to see Spike had woken up and had pulled the tube out of his throat. His eyes showed confusion at what the two of them were doing and how he was supposed to be feeling being so close to Celestia. He decided to just yawn and relax a bit. “We’ll find a way to stop this war and then live happy lives like we all want to.”

“I am trusting you dra-Spike to protect Twilight.” Spike opened an eye and blew a bit of fire.

“We’re stuck together now… I’ll keep her safe no matter what.”

“Then you both should leave before anypony sees you but Twilight go tell your brother your goodbye while I give Spike all the things you may need on your journey.” Twilight nodded and after a bit of help limped her way to her brother’s room and heard two ecstatic voices inside. Opening the door she was tackled by her brother and Cadence but as she hugged them back she eventually told them of her situation. Shining said that she could stay and he would personally defend her but Cadence agreed with the princess and asked Shining to trust in the princess’s judgment. She smiled and bowed her head to Twilight, saying that she was no longer the small filly she used to take care of, she had grown into a fine warrior and smart adult that had her trust.

“T-Twily… are you sure? I’m not keen on letting you go off with a dragon of all things but… Cadence is right I can’t keep you locked up here. You are free to make your choices and I hope you’ll keep me updated on your journey. You would have made Mom and Dad so proud.”

“Thanks, Shiny… I’ll miss you. Tell Flash I said thanks for always being there for me... he was my best friend.”

“I’ll miss you too bookworm, I’ll be here waiting for you and I'll tell him.” Twilight hugged the two again and began to leave when Shining called to her. “And if that dragon tries any funny business I’ll kill him!” Twilight blushed a bit as Cadence whacked Shining in the head.

“Ignore him! He just had his mind in the gutter! I think you’ve been spending too much time with your men.”

. . .

Spike and Twilight were walking up a hill, taking the time to look back as the sun was setting and Twilight whispered one last goodbye to her city and the castle as a tear ran down her cheek. Spike crossed his arms, looking at her as something touched his heart and caused him to sigh before placing a hand on her back. “This isn’t really goodbye. We’ll come back once it’s all over…”

“You’re right Spike, it’s not goodbye. Okay, time to go on a journey to save the world!!”

“So where are we going?”

“No idea… wait I remember a place where I may have a friend in. Ponyville…”

Author's Note

I'm not sure how confident I am in this chapter and I hope that everyone will enjoy this and the direction I'm planning on taking it. Thank you all for reading, liking, and commenting on my story and I promise to do my best to make this the best story I can make it!