The King's Son

Back at the castle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy were finishing up the last of the preparations. They had ensured everything was spotless and organized, ready for the meeting.

When Twilight's group arrived, Cadence and Shining Armor were warmly welcomed by the others. After some more greetings and small talk, they all settled in the main hall, ready for the meeting.

"Would you like to show me to your room Cadence and Shining, so you know where to go tonight?" Twilight asked them.

"Yes, that would be quite good. Thanks Twily." Shining said, and with that, they were off to see their room.

The rest of the group mingled for a few minutes, each of them wondering what was going to happen and who would attack Ponyville without anypony knowing.

As the group settled into the castle, anticipation filled the air. Cadence and Shining Armor were shown to their rooms by Twilight while the others gathered in the main hall, discussing the upcoming meeting and the recent events.

"I still can't believe someone would attack the castle, especially my little Spikey Wikey." Rarity murmured, her concern evident.

"Yeah, it's unsettling," Applejack agreed, her expression serious.

"The jerk who did this is going to pay and I will make sure of it." Rainbow chimed in.

Just then, Twilight returned to the main hall, her expression determined. "Cadence and Shining Armor are settled. They're getting ready for the meeting. Are we all set here?"

The group nodded in unison, their resolve firming. Just then, there was a knock at the castle door.

"I'll get it." Twilight said, and she went to the main castle doors. She opened them to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna standing outside the door. Twilight remembered not to bow, since she was a princess along with them and decided to greet them formally. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, welcome back."

"Thanks for the warm welcome Twilight. Now, shall we go in and discuss the matters?" Princess Celestia asked.

"WAIT FOR MEEE!!!!!" They heard someone shouting from behind them. They all turned around to see Shooting Star running towards the castle while gasping for air. She stopped at the door with the princesses and they smiled back at her.

"Welcome back Shooting Star. It's good to see you're here. Now, are you ready to talk about those urgent matters?" Celestia asked. Shooting Star nodded while gasping for air, making Twilight giggle a bit.

All 4 of them walked inside to the rest of the group where they greeted the Princesses, while Solaris turned away from Celestia. A few seconds later, Cadence and Shining Armor walked into the room, ready to talk about this villain.

The atmosphere in the castle grew tense as everyone took their places around the large table in the main hall. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood at the head, with Cadence and Shining Armor on one side, and Twilight, her friends, Solaris, Shooting Star, and Spike on the other.

Celestia began, her voice calm but authoritative. "Thank you all for gathering here today. The attack on Twilight's castle is a grave concern, and we must determine the identity of the assailant and their motives."

Solaris nodded, stepping forward. "From what we experienced, the attacker was powerful and used dark magic. The level of destruction was alarming, and it's clear they have a specific target in mind. And I know for sure who was the one that attacked us."

"Yeah, you called him 'he' ever since yesterday, but you never gave us a name." Applejack said.

"The truth is, saying his name still gives me chills to this day." Solaris said. "He is actually the ancient king of an ancient phoenix kingdom, and his name is 'King Naeus'." Solaris said while shuddering.

Celestia shuddered too. "I was preparing for the villain to be King Naeus, but the fact that it's true actually scares me."

This worried the others. They never saw the princess be so scared of a villain that was fought. Cadence then decided to ask, "Who is this King Naeus creature? Is he like King Sombra?" she asked.

Solaris answered her question by saying, "Take the Tyranny of King Sombra, The hatred of Queen Chrysalis, a more threatening magic of Discord, The intentions of Nightmare moon, and the intimadation of Lord Tirek. Put them into one being and multiply that by 100, and you got King Naeus." Solaris said while sighing. "He is not a force to be reckoned with. Not even the Elements of Harmony were enough to stop him last time."

The room fell silent as everyone absorbed the gravity of Solaris's words. King Naeus sounded like a formidable and terrifying enemy, unlike any they had faced before. "Ok this is bad, this is really really bad. This is really really really really really really really really really-PINKIE!!" Everyone yelled to stop Pinkie from saying anymore things.

After Pinkie calmed down, the meeting continued on. "Something doesn't make sense." Twilight said. "If King Naeus was that powerful, how come he didn't attack the Canterlot castle and instead chose to attack mine?"

"I have an answer to that. It's because me and Spike were there. He sees us as powerful enemies and he had to get rid of us before something happened." Solaris answered.

"Why would you and Spike be seen as powerful enemies? What does Spike have to do with it?" Luna asked.

"Spike has a soul of bravery and sacrifice. It's more powerful than even the elements of harmony." Solaris answered again.

Everyone was surprised, but still a bit skeptical. "Solaris, are you sure that Spike has a soul of bravery and sacrifice?" Twilight asked him.

"I'm positive. I saw it with my own 2 eyes." Solaris replied.

"Even if he have a soul of bravery and sacrifice, we still need to find out his intentions." Rainbow said.

"Spike, Solaris, Shooting Star, did you hear anything about his intentions when he attacked you guys in the castle?" Luna asked.

"I did hear something King Naeus said right before he left. He said about using a sword of some kind to wipe Equestria off the dimensional plane forever." Spike informed every creature.

All creatures in the room went silent, before Celestia and Solaris started hyperventilating. "Oh no, oh no, oh no oh no oh no." Celestia said scared.

"THIS IS BAD!! THIS IS REALLY BAD!" Solaris shouted scared too.

This shocked the rest and put them on the same level of afraid as them.

"What does a sword have to do with anything?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I mean, it's just a sword, right."

"It is absolutely more than a sword Cyan. That sword used to belong to me, but the last battle I had with Naeus made me lose it. It could be anywhere in Equestria. If he gets his talons on that sword, then he exponentially grows more powerful, powerful enough to wipe Equestria from the dimensional plane." Solaris told her.

"Do we have any idea where this sword might be?" Shining Armor asked, looking around the room.

Solaris shook his head. "Unfortunately, I don't. It's like I said, it could be anywhere in Equestria. Even the undiscovered parts of it."

"Well until we find it, is there a way we can stop him from causing more harm?" Cadence asked.

"Unfortunately, we can't do anything against King Naeus himself." Celestia said, making everyone sigh in disappointment. "But there is something we can do about his hench creatures."

"Aw yeah. When those henchmen come up to us, then we can kick them to the curb." Rainbow said.

"Sorry, but your strength won't be enough to destroy his monsters Cyan. Only a powerful being can defeat them." Solaris said.

"So alicorns can defend us from them?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, but my friend Discord is your best bet of fighting them off. I just have to find a way to free him from his stone prison." he said while giving Celestia a glare, with her pretending not to notice.

"Oh no. no no no no no no no no no." Applejack refused. "We are not letting Discord try to fight off these monsters. He may just join them like he joined Tirek."

"Yes, I agree with Applejack darling." Rarity agreed. "Discord will just ditch us again to be with the villain, again. He'd be better off back in stone."

"Rarity, Applejack, That is enough." Fluttershy scolded. "Discord gave us the key to defeat Tirek in the end. We know he changed."

"And what if that's not true Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked. "Discord is chaos, and he can join those monsters to create more of it."

"ENOUGH!!" Celestia, Luna, and Solaris shouted in unison, shutting the bickering ponies up.

Solaris took a deep breath before speaking again, "I understand your concerns, but we need all the help we can get. Discord's chaos magic could be a crucial asset against King Naeus and his hench creatures."

Celestia nodded in agreement. "Solaris is right. We must weigh the risks and benefits. Discord has proven himself in the past, even if his methods are unconventional."

"Wait, did you free Discord?" Solaris asked.

"Yes, and he was obnoxious ever since." Twilight said.

"Maybe I can make amends with him." Solaris thought to himself.

"So we have a plan. Find the sword before King Naeus does, defend ourselves from his monsters and when the time is right, we fight him and save Equestria." Shining said.

"Sounds like a good plan." Twilight said while everyone else agreed.

"Well now that we got a plan in place, would you like to talk about something else?" Pinkie asked.

"Like what?" Spike asked.

"Like talking about past reunions and past parties with each other, like that hearths warming party from about a month and a half ago."

That caused Spike's stomach to twist into a knot. "Um, maybe we can-" Spike was interrupted by Twilight.

"That sounds perfect Pinkie, we love talking about fun times."

Spike's anxiety spiked as he remembered not being there for the Hearth's Warming party, even though he wanted to go. "Maybe we can talk about something else," he suggested nervously, but the others didn't seem to notice his discomfort.

"Yes, I love talking about past fun times," Pinkie Pie said enthusiastically. "Remember when we played pin the tail on the pony and Rarity accidentally pinned the tail on Applejack?"

Rarity laughed softly. "Oh, I do remember that! I was mortified, but Applejack took it in stride."

Applejack grinned. "Yeah, that was pretty funny."

Spike was feeling more and more out of place as the conversation continued. He didn't want to know the full details of the party. He didn't want to feel more left out than he already has. "Um, guys, may-"

"There was an empire wide scavenger hunt too that took place around the whole empire." Twilight interrupted, making Spike more angry.

"Thanks for the help with that Pinkie." Shining said. Pinkie smiled and nodded in her usual pinkie way.

"Oo oo, don't forget about the race. It felt amazing to fly and race around the spires of the castle. I still can't believe that Bloodstone pegasus was about to cross the finish line before me, but heh, I still won."

"And don't worry girls." Princess Cadence said to Twilight and her friends. "I'll invite you 6 for a great time one day after this whole thing is over."

Spike was getting angrier and sadder. Cadence said she would invite them back, but she never invited him back ever since the Equestria Games. Did she not even care about him?

"Guys, I-" Spike was interrupted again by the others, again

"And the game tournament was absolutely divine. I can't believe the sheer abundance of games it included, Such as a shaking contest for a fizzy drink, A relay race in the empty ballroom, and a rock candy making contest inspired by Pinkie and Maud." Rarity added before looking at Spike, "Oh Spikey Wikey, you should have been there, it was so much fun."

That set Spike off in a fuse of anger. Spike's frustration reached a boiling point, and he slammed his claws on the table. "Stop! Just stop talking about all these amazing things."

The room fell silent as everypony turned to look at Spike in shock. Twilight's eyes widened with concern but a bit of scolding, while Cadence, Shining Armor, and the rest looked around in confusion.

"Spike, you know it's rude to yell at us." Twilight said, making Spike even more angry.

"WELL THEN YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS IN FRONT OF ME." He turned to Pinkie, "LISTEN TO OTHERS OPINIONS BEFORE CHOOSING AN OPTION PINKIE!" he yelled with anger and tears in his eyes.

He then looked at everypony before shouting, "NONE OF YOU CARE FOR ME AT ALL!!" and once he said that, he get up from his chair and left the room.

The room was silent after Spike's outburst. Everypony exchanged worried glances, their previous excitement and tension now replaced by a heavy sense of concern. Shooting Star then looked at them in frustration, "Spike was right about you guys." she said before standing up and flying after him. "Spike, wait." before leaving the room after him.

"Um, did we do something wrong that made him this upset?" Fluttershy asked in a worried tone.

"Oh, no Fluttershy, you didn't do anything wrong. I think Spike is just feeling a little cranky about being attacked." Twilight reassured her.

Solaris then glared. "I'm going after him too. I know what is happening with him unlike you all." Solaris said before giving Celestia another glare. "Celestia." before going after the dragon and pegasus.

Spike opened his door before closing it and locking it. "They were talking about something I wanted to be a part of, and I'm the bad guy for being against it?" Spike angrily thought. Spike then got up onto his bed before grabbing his pillow and started punching it, not being able to punch anything else. After 2 minutes, he stopped and buried his face in the pillow.

Just then, he heard a knock on the door. "Go away."

"Spike, it's me, Shooting Star. Are you ok?" she asked.

"I said, go away." Spike said, getting more irritated.

"Spike, please- I SAID GO AWAY!! WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT ME?!?! IT'S NOT LIKE IT'S GENUINE!!" Spike shouted through the door. Spike then stopped and grew guilty at the fact that she just yelled as Shooting Star. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please come in" he said while going over to unlock the door to let Shooting Star in. He then saw Solaris coming and decided to let him in too. Spike then hugged Shooting Star and buried his face into her fur. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." he said while starting to cry.

Shooting Star hugged him back and let him cry into her. "Shh, just let it out Spike." she said while he cried. Solaris just watched from the bedside as they embraced each other. After a few minutes, Spike calmed down and released himself from the hug. Shooting Star, who also released herself from the hug, looked at him. "Would you like to talk about it?"

Spike just nodded and began. "Ever since we moved into Ponyville, Twilight was beginning to forget that I exist day by day. I was hurt, abused, forgotten and a lot of other things. And they don't even care about any of it. And one day, they will just completely give up on me"

Solaris stepped into the fray and put a claw on Spike's shoulder. "Spike, I'm so sorry about what happened. Is there anything I could do?"

Spike just answered with, "Can you 2 just stay with me?" Solaris and Shooting Star nodded before she hugged Spike again.

"Spike, can I tell you a little story?" Solaris asked.

Spike looked at him and said, "Sure. What's it about."

"It's about my old friends and the elements of harmony."

That got Spike confused. "Your old friends and the elements of harmony? What do you mean by that?"

"Let's just say," Solaris breathed in before saying, "Those ponies back there, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity, they weren't the first bearers of the elements of harmony."