//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Shadows and Spikes // Story: The Mortal Sin // by Humanarian //------------------------------// "Judging by your reaction, it's unusual for him to go out without informing you beforehoof," I said, trying to get enough information to begin an investigation. I was no fool: it was obvious that I would be in Twilight's list of the prime suspects. So, if I didn't want to get in trouble, the best course of action would be doing something to help. "Spike is my number one assistant for a reason, Pr..." my strict glance had stopped her dead in the middle of the word she was about to say, "...Dark. I always know exactly where he is when I need him!" It was obvious that in her current state she had trouble thinking clearly and could accidentally do or say something, that would have consequences... What should I do? "Apple Bloom," I said, drawing the filly's attention back from the alicorn in the room, "Go get Applejack. I'll stay here with Twilight for now, but she defenitely could use a support of a close friend." Apple Bloom was a clever filly, and I had seen more than enough to be sure for that. She knew I was serious, and could probably tell I wanted to discuss something with the Princess privately, so she had just nodded and stormed out of the clubhouse. I have a couple of minutes... I must act quickly. "Before you ask..." I began, "Spike's disappearance is as much of a surprise to me as it is to you, Twilight." The inquisitive stare I had received in response was pretty much expected. "It's not easy for me to believe that" she asked, "How can I be sure you're not simply getting rid of unwanted witnesses?" Right after she had said that, her eyes had a spark of realisation in them, as she had quickly put a hoof into her mouth, ultimately stopping herself from saying anything else. Stress is making her act ridiculous... Luckily for her, Spike himself had already given that secret away to me. "I do not expect you to. However, I promise to help you find him... Starting with telling you what happened when I saw him earlier today." I said simply. It seemed to have drawn her attention. Good... "You did WHAT?!!" I had to admit, she truly was a master of freaking out. "He asked for it himself. And I had no time to try and talk him out of it." I replied calmly, hoping that focusing on the cold hard facts would distract Twilight from her stress. Surprisingly, it did. "I suppose you're right... " she said, before returning to her suspicious tone, "That is, if what you said is actually true." "When I walked out of the castle, he was there to wave and close the door after me. Apple Bloom have seen that." She looked at me with that inquisitive glance for a few more moments, before giving off a long sigh and hanging her head in defeat. "Okay... I believe you." It was that moment when we heard the approaching stomping of hooves, which, I believed, belonged to Applejack. "One last thing, Twilight... My name is Dark Side." She had blinked a few times before realising what I was getting at. "Oh... right." Spike had openned his eyes, only to discover a darkness surrounding him. The second thing he had found out is that he couldn't move. Apparently, he was tied up. "W...where am I?" his question was rather logical. But no one had answered him. "Hello...? Anypony?" A few muffled voices could be heard behind the wall, before a big rock, effectively closing the entrance, was moved. "How long do you think it'll take them?" one voice said. It sounded familiar to Spike. "I have no idea. But they better hurry up! If they want to find their puny friend in one piece, that is," said another voice. Spike couldn't help but gasp at those words. That had drawn the attention of his captors. "Oh, look who's finally up! Rise and shine, little star..." as a figure had got closer to him, he could instantly tell who his captors were, "...and pray that you don't burn out too soon." "Garble!" the baby dragon couldn't help but exclaim the name of his nemesis. "Awwww, I'm glad to see you too, Spike. Nah, just kidding," the laughter of his pals indicated that they had found Garble's mean joke rather amusing. "Why have you kidnapped me, Garble?" despite the situation he was in, Spike had found it in himself to confront his captor with that question. "Oh, I'll gladly tell you," the red dragon replied, clenching his fists, "I know your puny pony friends won't just leave you alone. They will search for you. They will find you. They will come to rescue you. And when that happens... You and your pony friends are gonna pay for humiliating me!" It looked like he had become more of a villain since the last time Spike had seen him. That had caused the baby dragon to gulp nervously. "Oh, and I gotta say, capturing you was easy. I didn't even need to hit you in the head to knock you out!" Garble said in a humiliating tone, "Why, you basically were served up on a silver spoon to me! I mean, get this guys!" he continued, turning to his dragon pals, "I sneaked into the castle, and he was right behind the front door, already out like a light!" The two other dragons had burst in laughter, falling onto the ground and holding their stomachs. "M... maybe... Maybe, he saw a spider on the wall!" one of them offered, trying to insert the words in between the fits of uncontrollable laughter. "Or maybe... Maybe, he got scared of his own shadow!" the other one joined in. Spike, however, was not amused in the slightest. The image of Pride's true form had come back to his mind, causing him to flich, but also giving him hope. He wished Pride was in the same room with him at that moment. "If you saw what I have..." he said in the dark tone, attracting his captors' attention to himself, "You would stay away from the shadows for the rest of your lives." After a long pause... all three of them had burst in even harder laughter. By the time evening had come, an expedition had been arranged. It consisted of Twilight, her five closest friends and me. Applejack was against including me in it, but not only I insisted, Twilight had also stepped up for me, telling the farmer pony that she would not decline any single bit of help she was offered in the dire situation like that. And I had to admit, I was impressed by how she had turned her exhausted state into an advantage, prompting her friends to let me stay just to not stress her any further. Clever move, Princess... Apple Bloom, on the other hoof, was not allowed to come. Applejack had not even let your voice her offer to Twilight so she could use the same excuse that had worked for me. That, however, was convenient. Not only she would not be in the way of my true form, but also... She won't be in danger that way. We had two sources of information in our investigation, and both were rather... questionable to me. The first one was so-called "Pinkie Sense". Apparently, Pinkie Pie had some sort of extraordinal ability to foresee the certain events. From the information I had managed to gather by overhearing, that pony could predict when the things were about to fall down, a door was about to suddenly open, and... "...suddenly open, and-" A soft giggle had interrupted the story teller, causing him to raise an eyebrow at it's sourse, silently asking if he should continue. "Excuse me, I just can't help being amused by that pony every time. Please, continue with your story, Pride." The small, but centuries old colt had nodded his head. "As I was saying..." That pony seemed to have some rather... unexplainable abilities. I didn't feel convinced, but if her friends, including Twilight herself, didn't doubt them, then there must have been some proof to them being real, and I had just taken that for a fact. The other source was a bit less questionable... yet not any less surprising to me. Apparently, the yellow pegasus pony named Fluttershy possessed an ability to undertand the language of animals, allowing her to have a conversation with them. More surprises, just as I expected. She was asking the animals if any of them had seen Spike nearby. And I didn't need to trust her friends on the fact of her ability being real, beacuse quite soon she had provided us with an important information. "Oh, my... And where did they go then? Oh... my... Thank you, Mr. Beaver. You were really helpful," she had finished her conversation with a beaver and then turned to us. "Animals say that they hav seen another dragon in our lands." "A DRAGON?!!" her friends all asked in unison. I admit, I was tempted to join them. "Yes, and that dragon was carrying Spike in the direction of... of... " she paused to gulp, "...of the Everfree Forest." After a choir of gasps and a long pause, the other pegasus, whose name was Rainbow Dash, was first to break the silence. "I say we go after them and then kick that dragon's butt!" "How big was that dragon?" I stepped in, asking a question I believed to be important. "Oh, well..." Fluttershy tried to remember more of what animals told her, "Apparently, he wasn't very big. He must have been around a size of a griffon." "Do you have any other information about him? His color? Has he grown wings yet? Anything else?" "Uh... no..." the yellow pegasus pony had replied meekly. "Ya sure are a smart cookie, little fellah," Applejack said, her hoof already ruffling my dark mane, "Ya'll ask some mighty important questions." "Thank you, Applejack," I replied in a way a good child would, "But I have another one. Where was the dragon seen last time? If we go to that place, we might find the his footprints!" "That actually is a really good idea, girls!" Twilight had perked up at my words, "Fluttershy?" "I'll go ask," the shy mare replied, already scanning the area for any available animals with her eyes. "I think, I forgot to mention," Garble said, finally breaking free from the hold of an uncotrollable laughter, "Spoiler Alert! You're not gonna get rescued!" Spike could feel a shiver running down his spine at that. "I am serious about this, you little puny pony" Garble continued, pressing his face against Spike's, "No one mocks ME and gets away with that! I have been here for days, and by now, this cave is surrounded with traps. Soon, all your puny friends will be destroyed at the sound of my laughter, and you will be forced to watch helplessly, just like a useless nobody you are!" Despite his fear, Spike couldn't help but clench his teeth at Garble's words as he went on. "Oh, what's wrong...? Is a puny hatchling getting m-" The red dragon didn't get to finish his phrase as he had found his face engulfed with the petals of the green flame. "Ahhhh! Oh, you little crap!" the hurt captor shouted at the baby dragon, slapping him across the face without holding back. "Just for that, I'll gut your favourite purple pony slowly and painfully right in front of your eyes!" Spike couldn't take that anymore. The combination of the physical pain and the sheer terror of the image Grable had just described was just too much. A tear had slid down his cheek. Never before in his life had he felt so completely helpless and useless... No, even worse than useless. That day, his very existence was supposed to become his closest friends' demise. But as he had closed his eyes, an image of the shadow with countless eyes had risen before him. The terrifying image of the scary teeth and cutting dark spikes was there in his mind's eye. A sudden realisation had hit Spike: no matter what Garble planned, no matter how deeply he had thought that through, there was no way that he could have possibly taken Pride in account. And just like that... ...Spike felt himself getting filled with DETERMINATION.