Author's Note

I have used this chapter with permission from Mpony1, and this story is set in the same universe as that of the Secret Admirer, Spike's Sacrifice series by 1jckuhn. The following chapters however, will all be written by me.

Prologue

The thunderous sounds of a stampede of multiple different hooves could be heard. As hundreds upon hundreds of different creatures. Far and wide, ran side by side towards the same destination. The stampede was also being followed by hundreds of creatures who were flying above them as one giant flock.

The army of different creatures were being led by six friends. Who work to help bring everybody together to help stop the evil threatening their world.

Ponies, Changelings, Dragons, Yaks, Griffons, Hippogriffs, Kirins, and Buffalos. Now stand together as one mighty army. All charging with great purpose and determination. To save their friends.

Everyone's goal was the same. Help The Mane Six in defending Equestria against the evil trio known as, The Legion of Doom or L.O.D. For short. And put a stop to their evil plans for world domination.

Even all those that were imprisoned in the cave's underneath, Canterlot were found and set free, and they too joined the mighty army. Although the royal sisters, the pillars, and Discord didn't have their magic still. That didn't stop them from joining the fight.

As the army drew closer to the battlefield, climbing to the top of the giant hill. It was in that moment that a large explosion could be heard, and before anyone could question what it was. All of the sudden the royal sisters, the pillars, and Discord got their magic back. Not wanting to linger on that right now. With a single *SNAP* Discord teleported the army to the top the hill, where everyone saw the Mane 6 group together down below. Without hesitation, the unicorns created a force field around the Mane 6 just in case, especially after hearing that loud explosion from earlier.

But after getting a good look at the battlefield, it would seem that the fight was already over.

Thorax and Ember were at the front of the pack. Behind them were Gabby, Smolder, the CMC, and Starlight. They saw the villain's lying unconscious, and the ponies sitting and hunched over someone or something. They flew down and inform the rest of the group.

“Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow are knocked out. They don’t seem to have their enchanted powers anymore either, and Twilight and the girls seem fine, but they’re hunched over someone or something,” Thorax relayed.

“Can we head down there to see what the fuss is about?” Ember asked.

Yes, we can go with you,” Princess Celestia said. “My Sister and I will have our guards subdue these creatures before they can do anymore harm.”

"We're coming too," Smolder announced. "The Crusaders, Starlight, Gabby, and I have been away from our Spike for far too long."

With the company of the Princesses, Ember and Thorax flew down to the Element Bearers. Smolder scooped up the Crusaders and Gabby scooped up Starlight and they made their way down to the other harem members. As they got closer, they heard what sounded like crying coming from the ponies.

“Thorax, it sounds like they’re crying,” Ember said.

“Yeah,” Thorax replied. “I wonder what’s got them so upset.”

"Ehh," Smolder shrugged. "They're probably crying out of happiness. Probably because Spike saves the day yet again."

Celestia and Luna broke off with their guards to restrain the villains, while Ember and Thorax landed behind the ponies, followed be Smolder and Gabby. The dragon and Griffon set down the three other fillies and Unicorn before they turned their attention toward the still sobbing Element Bearers.

The ponies didn’t acknowledge the arrival of the Dragon Lord, Changeling King, and the other half of the harem. They just continued to sob hysterically. At first, they were confused by their conduct. Then, they noticed the ground beneath where the ponies were sitting bearing a rather odd, reddish colour. They felt uneasy at the odd sight and gave each other worried looks. Immediately, they walked at a brisk pace around the force field to get a better look at what got them in such a hysterical state. As they made their way around, they could hear the agonizing wails of the Element Bearers grow more vivid. They were halfway around when they glanced at the ground and now had a better look at the large pool of red on the ground. Then, through the crowd of ponies, Gabby noticed a small patch of purple with some green with streaks of dark red peppering it. They others took notice of when she was looking at and instantly, the worst-case scenario started running through all their heads.

"You don't think-" Gabby started to say before a lump formed in her throat, making her unable to finish her sentence.

The eight creatures went from a brisk walk to sprinting. The millisecond they got to where they were facing the ponies, their eyes widened, and all, but one, let out a horrified gasp. The one who didn’t gasp was Smolder, who let out a loud, blood-curdling scream. The ponies stopped crying and looked up at the new arrivals. By this point, Twilight had scooped up Spike's body and was now softly cradling him.

On instinct, Starlight stuck her hoof out in front of the view of the Crusaders, trying to prevent them from observing the grisly sight before them, but her efforts were too little too late. The three fillies knocked her hoof away and raced to the force field, banging on it frantically. Everyone else just stood and stared at the scene before them as the reality of the situation quickly began to sink in.

“N-No, i-it can’t be,” Thorax sputtered.
“I-Is he d-dead?” Ember asked, hesitant to say the last word of her question.

"Y-Yes,” Rarity managed to choke out between sobs. “S-Spike’s d-dead!”

Ember and Thorax felt tears welling up in their eyes as they saw the dragon that had helped them get into the position they were in now. The tears on the faces of Smolder, Gabby, Starlight, and the Crusaders had already welled up in their eyes and were now seeping down their cheeks and falling like sorrow rain onto the ground at the sight of the magical, little Dragon who had successfully won their love, now reduced to nothing more than a bloody mess.

“Celestia! Luna!” screamed Thorax, trying his best not to break down and start sobbing right then and there.

“What? What's wrong?” Luna asked as she and Celestia ran over to them.

“Spike’s gone! He’s dead!” Thorax cried as he finally broke down.

Celestia and Luna ran over to where the sobbing Element Bearers were, saw Spike’s limp body, and quickly flew up to the hill crest where all of Equestria was waiting.

“Deactivate the force field, now,” Celestia ordered, starting to feel nauseous from the gruesome sight of Spike's corpse.

“What’s the matter, Princesses?” Chancellor Neighsay asked.

“Spike is dead, we need to get a better look at the damage to him,” Luna said trying her best not cry.

Without another word every Unicorn’s horn stopped glowing. The force field vanished instantly. The second it did, Ember, Thorax, and the other half of Spike's harem bolted to the huddle of ponies and joined them. Once they got a good look at their fallen friend and lover, they almost passed out. They immediately noticed how Spike's little torso, arms, and legs were impaled by so many shards of Groger’s bell, how his body was drenched in about 70 percent of his blood volume from all his deep cuts and scratches, how his entire torso was burnt almost to a crisp, the only thing on his wings that remained were two bloody, fleshy, stumps on his back, how there were burned pieces and bone fragments of him that peppered the grassy field under and around him, and how the ground beneath him was soaked in red from the other 30 percent of his lost blood. His eyes were peacefully closed. If it weren't for all his horrible injuries, they would've thought he was sleeping.

“Spike, no,” Ember choked out as she felt tears starting to ooze down her cheeks. "P-Please, no."

She put a finger on Spike left wrist, which was surprisingly undamaged, to somehow hold out hope that he was still alive. She didn’t feel a pulse. It was at this moment that Ember and Thorax knew that Spike, the dragon that had helped clear Thorax’s name for him to be accepted into Pony kind, the dragon who had melted Ember’s walls and had helped her reach the Bloodstone Sceptre in order to become the new Dragon Lord, and the dragon who had captured the hearts of a dozen girls, was no more.

The Princesses, after what seemed like forever, flew down to join the other 14 lamenting creatures. Garble also followed them down there. He knew that his sister needed him more than ever to get through this event. All 17 creatures were all overcome with grief looking down at Spike's destroyed body. The villains were defeated and Equestria was safe from the Legion of Doom, but at what cost? Spike, a kid, had given up his life for his friends, his mare friends, his family, and his home.

“Twilight,” whispered Celestia, her eyes starting to fill with fresh tears. “What happened?”

After hearing this, Twilight stopped crying and got the composure to speak. Celestia felt heartbroken staring down at her pupil’s sad, red-rimmed, puffy eyes.

The lavender Alicorn tearfully explained how Spike had grabbed the bell, had taunted the Legion of Doom into chasing him, and how he tricked them into destroying the object that was responsible for all their powers. She found it harder to speak as she went into detail about finding him in the rubble, how he had already accepted his fate, and in his final words to them saying that as long as his friends and Equestria were safe, that was all that mattered. She then told the other half of Spike's harem about how he told Element Bearers to let them know that he loved them.

The thought of reciting the awful scene to the Princesses, Ember, Thorax, and the other six harem members made the Twilight and her friends cry even harder. Thorax, Starlight, the Princesses all silently cried. Smolder, Gabby, and the Crusaders began to bawl hysterically. None of them said a word. Ember, however, was a different story.

“No! No! No! This isn’t fair! THIS ISN'T FAIR!!!” Ember screamed as she fell to her knees, repeatedly punched the ground, and finally began crying hysterically looking at the destroyed body that was once her best friend. “Spike didn’t deserve this!”

From the hillcrest above, Dragons, Ponies, Changelings, Griffons, Hippogriffs, Yaks, Buffalos, and Kirins all began to cry silently. No creature had peeled their eyes away from where the Princesses, Element Bearers, Dragon Lord, and Changeling King were all huddled around their fallen comrade.

Equestria hadn't lost an ordinary hero that day, it had lost its saviour that day.

There was one creature, however, that felt the saddest and guiltiest out of them all. Discord. He had long since teleported down to the group after hearing the terrible news. He stood close by, staring down at the now decease drake as he was held in Twilight's forelegs.

“Oh, Spike,” he whispered to no one in particular, tears stinging his eyes. “I did this. I’m so sorry.”

Though she couldn't hear what he said, Twilight was still able to recognize Discord's voice, which caught her immediate attention.

"YOU!!!!" Twilight shriek unfamiliar hatred on her face. "You stay away from us!"

Discord back away as if he was struck.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!"

Twilight yelled with absolute rage, while pointing an accusive hoof at the chaos god. "You're the one who started this, everything would have been fine if it wasn't for WHAT YOU DID!" Twilight drops her hoof to hug Spike as more tears fell from her eyes. "Spike would still be alive if it wasn't for you!" She said sombrely her rage instantly replace by great sadness.

Thorax, Ember, the crusaders, Gabby, and Smolder were all very confused by, Twilight's accusation. How was this all Discord's fault. Wasn't it the L.O.D. that killed Spike? Before either of them could even ask, they saw, Rarity steps in between Discord and her friends. Using her magic, she grabs the Draconequus, by his beard, pulled him straight down to her eye level before stomping a hoof down on his beard to hold him in place, as she leans into Discord's face, her own a mask of rage, grief, and regret.

"She's absolutely right, this is all your fault you stupid, ghastly, BEAST! There's no one else to blame for this mess, but you and you alone. After all this was your ASSININE PLAN that made this tragic outcome possible in the first place." Rarity then points her free hoof at the still unconscious evil trio. "Those three may have caused his death," She points at Discord. "but it was you who decided to bring them together and make them a greater threat than they ever were before. You never once thought even for a second how HORRIBLE your plan was, or how things could go terribly wrong, well," Using her magic once more she grabs, Discord by the beard again and force him to get a closer look at Spike's corpse. "HAVE A GOOD LOOK AT WHAT YOUR ACTIONS LED TO. LOOK AT THE CONSEQUENCES THAT YOUR PLAN BROUGHT UPON POOR SPIKY WIKEY." Discord tried to turn away from the grizzly sight, but Rarity wouldn't give him the mercy to do so. "NO!" the fashion designer screamed as she then encase Discord's entire head in her magic. Once again forcing him to stare at the consequence of his actions. "YOU DON'T GET TO JUST TURN AWAY FROM THIS!" she growled as she held the chaos god in place. Making sure he gets a good look at what he caused. "HE'S DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!!! HE HAD TO SACRIFICE HIMSELF TO SAVE US ALL BECAUSE OF YOU AND YOUR FUCKING TEST!!!!!!"

"Test!?" Said Ember.

"What test?" Asked Thorax.

They along with Smolder, Gabby, and The Crusaders have been paying close attention to everything that Twilight and Rarity had said, the same goes for the large army of multiple different creatures, who had come down from the hill and surrounded the group. Everyone who didn't know exactly what was going on were confused about why Discord was being blamed for Spike's death when it was the evil trio who killed him.

To Discord's absolute shock it was Fluttershy who stood up to address everyone. "Of course! You all have the right to know, after all." Fluttershy said. Wiping the tears from her eyes, then turning her attention to the surrounding crowd. "This was actually supposed to be a test that Discord set up himself. He purposely freed both Tirek and Cozy glow from their cells in Tartarus, he brought Sombra back from the nether, and pluck Chrysalis from herself exile. All while pretending to be some ancient villain named Grogar, and recruited the four of them, so they can work together to defeat us and take over Equestria. But all that was actually a part of his real plan to help Princess Twilight gain confidence in ruling Equestria."

Everyone gasps in horror at the news, causing Discord to flinch in fear. He could feel his heart shatter into pieces as the pony he considers to be his best friend had now turned against him and why wouldn't she after what he did.

The crowd was flabbergasted. They didn't know what to think, with this info.

Tears once again started to form in Fluttershy's eyes. "Unfortunately, his plan went off the rails when the evil trio found him out and stripped him of his chaos powers and the Princesses of their magic. Luckily, however, the Legion of Doom didn't get to overthrow all of Equestria, but that was because," The tears in her eyes started to fall. "Spike sacrifice himself to save us all." She said before falling onto her haunches and started crying again. The pain of losing Spike once again hit her full force. Rarity release Discord, so she can comfort her friend despite being just as broken up as she was.

Now that they got a full explanation the crowd was shocked at everything they just heard. The sadness they all felt just moments ago turned to outright anger as they all glared at the one responsible for all of this.

After Rarity had release him, Discord slowly stood back up. Once he got his bearings, he quickly notices everyone staring at him angrily, as he was now surrounded by the crowd, all alone as he stood in the centre. The large army of multiple different creatures who stood as one against the L.O.D. now stand against him the mastermind behind it all.

Discord didn't know what to do. Despite having his powers back, he never felt so helpless. Now that everyone knows what he had done. He could only guess what will happen to him now...