The sky was dark, as was to be expected of any decent storm. The gloom was oppressive, cut only by the bolts of lightning that periodically shot through it.
It was followed, as always, by thunder. Its ever-faithful partner came rumbling after it, complimenting each flash with a roaring boom.
The wind tugged relentlessly at his hood, urging it to slip off and expose his scales to the driving rain that it was trying to throw at him. It almost succeeded once, forcing him to grab hold of the hood to keep it on.
Never once during this assault did his pace slow. He could not afford to stop, for his destination was close, just over the next hill. He plodded onwards, one clawed foot following another, until at last it came into view. His eyes lit up as he saw it.
The tree's branches stretched upwards into the sky, like some ancient beast attempting in vain to grab the sky within its claws. Soft yellow light spilled from the windows embedded in the tree, making it look even more like a monster. He was reminded of old stories about glowing-eyed beasts that prowled through the night, searching for prey and snatching the unwary...
He shook his head, ridding himself of such thoughts. It was a tree, nothing more. Those stories were just that, stories. They were told by broodmothers to scare hatchlings into obedience- no full-grown wyrm should harbour such irrational fears.
Then again, the darkness made irrational and bizarre thoughts seem credible. He shook his head again. He had enough to worry about tonight without conjuring imaginary enemies for himself.
Twilight had always found it easy to get lost in a good book, and she had just found a particularly gripping first-person narrative of the first contact between Equestria and the Zebra lands. Because of this, she didn’t hear the first knock on the door, nor the second.
However, the thunderstorm was keeping Spike very much awake and heard them far more clearly. “Who’d be calling at this hour?” he wondered aloud. After the second knock he decided to get up and open it himself. His eyes widened in surprise. The figure standing before him was bipedal, about five feet tall, and swathed in black robes. It seemed to be fixated on the floor, so he couldn’t make out its face. Before he could even react, the thing’s arm shot out, slamming the door open. “Aaah!” he screamed. The figure barely reacted as he ran away. It merely stepped through the doorframe.
Spike’s scream finally dragged Twilight out of her book. “Spike? What's wrong?” she said, as the small dragon burst through the door.
“Thing…scary…cape…help!” he gasped.
“Spike, what are you talking-” She was interrupted by the appearance of her mysterious guest.
He coughed, as if clearing his throat. “Please excuse my unwarned arrival. I will be but a moment”. The voice was low, and seemed to linger for a moment after its owner had finished speaking.
Twilight composed herself and managed a question. “Who are you?”
He took great pains to keep his face hidden. He needed to be cautious- if what he had learned was true, this unicorn was Pangor's favoured prodigy. He chose his next few words carefully.
I am merely a servant. I have come here in accordance with my Master's wishes."
Twilight processed this information and responded.
"Alright, question two. What's all this about? Why can't your business wait until morning?"
Because there will be too many witnesses about in the daytime, he thought. He kept his thoughts to himself, however, knowing that telling the truth was unlikely to be very helpful this time. He spoke again.
"My business is extremely urgent, Miss..." he paused, trying to think of the name he had memorised. "...Sparkle, was it?"
The purple unicorn nodded silently. He continued.
"I am here to retrieve something that was lost to my Master many years ago. I believe he is currently in your custody?"
Twilight blinked, making sense of this new information. He? There was only one person here who fit the description.
She spoke again, more forcefully this time. "Spike? What do you want with Spike?"
He growled, gripping the handle of his Staff more tightly. It looked as if confrontation was inevitable. He decided to try speech one more time before resorting to violence.
"Do not refer to him by that filthy name! He is the reason why I have come here. He does not belong with you, unicorn! I have come for him!"
“W-what do you m-mean, come for me?” the little dragon piped up nervously.
“I have spent many years trying to find Him, and I will not be thwarted now”, he said, an edge of menace entering his tone. “Before the sun rises He will be in my custody.”
Twilight was confused and angry in equal measure. “What do you mean? You can’t just take Spike! Just who are you anyway?!”
The figure took what felt like a long time to answer, and the room grew tense as both parties tried to decide when to make the first move. Eventually, the figure raised its hand high into the air, staff clutched in it.
“I am Gravil, the last Confidant of King Galdor, and the only survivor of his court. I have come to claim the boy. If you will not release him willingly-”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but if you think you can just waltz in here and take Spike, you’ve got another thing coming!”
“Yeah, you tell him, Twilight!” Spike found himself cheering in spite of the situation. Gravil, seemed genuinely shocked, even stumbling backwards a step.
“My Lord, what have they done to you?" He rallied quickly.
"It does not matter. No enchantment will keep me from completing my duty.”
Twilight lowered her head, poised to charge. (Not that she actually would have done so in such a cramped space, but this position comes naturally to any equine preparing to fight).
Her horn glowed, a bright, purple glow that came whenever she cast a spell. Gravil’s eyes widened as he recognised the crackling in the air. “Magic!” he hissed, disgust audible in his voice. He raised his staff, and in an instant had mumbled the two words that activated it:
“Tena Lin!”
A bolt of lightning burst from the mouth of the carved serpent at the staff’s end. The bolt just missed Twilight, but enflamed the desk she had been studying at, as well as the book she had been reading. She was stunned by the bolt and lost her concentration. Then came the thunderclap. The massive wave of sound knocked back the already distracted pony, and she fell backwards, hitting her head hard on the floor. The blow was all the more potent for being unexpected, and there was little she could do before unconsciousness overcame her.
“…Spike…”
“Twilight! Noooo!” Spike rushed to the unicorn’s side, trying to help his friend. The robed figure, Gravil as he called himself, grabbed his wrist.
“Come now, My Lord. Your imprisonment is over. Your captor will perish in the flames. A fitting end to this foul enemy of Dragonkind.” The young dragon didn’t understand most of what Gravil had said; with the exception of "perish".
“But…Twilight’ll-”
“Perish. As she deserves. Now please, come with me”.
“No! We gotta help her!”
Gravil’s voice grew sharp and bitter.
“Enough! Clearly the equines have placed a stronger enchantment on you than I realised. No more arguments!” He pulled the young dragon out of the burning room, Spike resisting every step of the way.
“No! Let go of me!”
Yet Gravil was stronger than he looked, certainly strong enough to subdue a welp. There was nothing Spike could do but watch as the flames rose higher, and Twilight slipped from his view.
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It was the smoke that had first attracted Rainbow Dash’s attention. Technically she was on duty, supervising the storm, but everything was going without a hitch, so she decided to take some time off for flight practice.
Nothing very difficult or experimental (getting caught would mean another tongue-lashing about avoiding her duties), but she figured that just stretching her wings wouldn’t do any harm. In the middle of a sweep across Ponyville she had caught it: the smell of smoke.
The first thing she thought was “That’s weird. What could be burning in a thunderstorm?” Following her nose, she dipped beneath the clouds, and got thoroughly wet for her trouble. Her irritation only lasted a moment before being replaced by curiosity, as she caught sight of something terrible. The Library was burning.
Flames licked at the canopy, quickly transforming the tree into a mighty blaze, roaring in defiance at the rain that sputtered against it. For a moment she thought it looked kind of cool; before her reason kicked in and she remembered.
“Twilight!”
She couldn’t see anyone outside the tree…If her friend was still inside…
Without another moment’s hesitation, she leapt into action. Flying in a thunderstorm was the first thing they taught you not to do in Flight School, but there was no other choice. Rainbow could understand why it was forbidden now (not that it had ever seemed like a particularly good idea; but knowing and experiencing are very different things).
The winds buffeted her from side to side as mercilessly as the rain stung at her. Once, a bolt of lightning passed shockingly close to her; nearly frightening her out of her skin, but she gritted her teeth and flew on. Finally, she spotted the observatory window, and made a dive straight for it. She had entered through this window before, but never in a situation as urgent as this one. As she closed the distance between her and the window, she closed her eyes and prayed her trajectory was right…
She crashed through it, tumbling forward as glass fell around her. She got to her feet quickly, composing herself in spite of the intense heat. Then she spotted Twilight. Her friend was lying on the floor, dangerously close to the blaze, not budging an inch. There was only one thing to do.
She rushed to Twilight’s side, and grabbed the unicorn’s mane between her teeth. With strength born of desperation, she pulled, dragging her friend to the now-broken window. The heat grew more intense by the second, and for the first time she became very aware of the smoke as it tried to claw at her throat.
“Just keep cool, keep cool...” she muttered, more to calm herself than anything else.
The drop from the window to the ground was quite steep, but once again the Pegasus was presented with no alternatives.
“Just gotta take the bit between my teeth and…”
Gripping Twilight’s mane again, she leaped from the window. Her wings strained with the effort of lifting two ponies, and for a terrifying moment she thought they were going to fail altogether. Then, just as she thought they were about to hit the ground, they slowed. It was tremendously hard work, but slow their descent she did. She finally let go of her friend, sighing with relief as the unicorn slumped on the ground, safe from the fire. Something occurred to Rainbow. Her friend wasn’t breathing.
Panic swelled up inside again.
“No! No! Don’t do this to me, Twilight!”
She stood over her friend, willing her desperately to breathe.
“Come on, breathe! Move! Anything! Just…don’t be…”
Rainbow felt tears well up in her eyes. No. It couldn’t be. Just then, the unicorn coughed. Rainbow felt her heart leap. Twilight coughed again, expelling the smoke that had snuck into her throat. Then, breathing. Slow, and shallow, but definitely breathing.
“Oh, thank Celestia!”
Rainbow felt more relieved than ever before. Quickly, thoughts piled up in her head as she realised that she’d need to tell someone about this, that Twilight might need medical help, that the Library might still burn down. But these all seemed very secondary to her right now. Her friend was safe, and that was what mattered.
************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Spike had eventually given up on trying to free himself from his captor’s grip, and resolved instead to make Gravil’s life as difficult and unpleasant as possible. “My Lord, with all due respect, we could move so much more quickly if you ceased dragging your heels”.
The young dragon just snarled. “My Lord, I only wish what is best for you”. This time Spike did respond.
“If that’s really true, you’ll take me back to Ponyville this second!”
Gravil stopped in his tracks.
“We may rest here for a while” he said, pointing to a large stump, coated in moss. Grudgingly, Spike sat down, as did Gravil (although to be fair, as Gravil was still holding his hand firmly he had little choice in the matter). Gravil removed his hood and sighed with relief. His face was covered in grey scales, with a few green ones dotted in there seemingly at random. His head was topped by a pair of tiny horns, barely even visible in the low light of the moon. The two sat in hostile silence for what was probably a few minutes, but felt an awful lot longer. At last, the strange reptilian spoke up.
“Would you care for something to eat, My Lord?” he inquired, producing a single emerald from his sleeve.
Spike had to admit that it looked delicious (particularly since he hadn’t eaten in some time), but he wasn’t about to take anything offered to him by this…monster.
“No thanks. I’m not hungry” he replied, with unconcealed anger.
Gravil bowed his head and returned the jewel to his sleeve. Another silence followed, until Gravil decided that they had rested long enough and that they really had to continue their journey.
“Journey to where?” Spike inquired. A grin crossed Gravil’s face as he answered. Spike was sure he had never seen an uglier sight.
“Home” said Gravil.
Spike gestured at the trees surrounding them.
“Home? Home? This is the Everfree Forest! MY home just burned down!”
Gravil nodded. “Your false home.”
Spike couldn’t hold it in any longer, and screamed “I was HAPPY there! YOU DESTROYED IT!”
Gravil didn’t even turn to Spike as he said: “Thou can never be truly content in the house of thine oppressor”.
Spike was less than impressed with that answer. “Where’s that line from?”
“Your Ancestors” was Gravil’s answer. “You will have ample opportunity to familiarise yourself with them in the coming months and years. That is all you need know for now”.
With that, he simply stopped talking, refusing to utter another word.
******************************************************************************************************************************************************
Twilight’s vision slowly returned to her, blurry at first, then clearing. The first thing she saw was the ceiling. She found herself wondering “That’s odd. My roof isn’t tiled…” Suddenly, it came back to her – the storm, Gravil, the bolt of lightning, the fire…” “The fire!” She suddenly found her voice again, and began screaming as loudly as she could.
Her screams drew attention – two ponies rushed inside, one orange, one blue.
“Applejack! She’s awake!” said one to the other.
“Ah can see that!” replied the orange pony. The sound of familiar voices reached Twilight’s ears. Slowly, she unscrewed her eyes and stopped screaming. “It’s all right sugarcube, you’re with friends now”.
After a few seconds, Twilight finally spoke. “Whuh….what happened?”
Rainbow Dash budged past Applejack in her hurry to answer. “There was an accident, and the Library was on fireandIsawyouandIsavedyoubutwecouldntfindSpikean…”
Applejack prodded Rainbow Dash. “Easy there,Rainbow. If you don’t slow down no-one’s gonna be able to understand ya.” The Pegasus took a deep breath and repeated herself more clearly.
“The Library burned down?” Twilight couldn’t believe it. Not that it was impossible (it was made of wood, after all), but when she tried to visualise all those books, all that knowledge being destroyed, her mind refused to work.
“Yeah, but…” Rainbow seemed to wince.
“But what?” Twilight's dread grew with every passing second.
“That’s not the worst part. I was so caught up in trying to rescue you that I forgottolookforSpikeandwecouldntfindhimafterwardsand-”
“Rainbow, you’re doin’ it again!” AJ scolded. Rainbow took another deep breath, but Twilight had managed to catch most of it anyway.
“Spike?” Rainbow cringed in shame.
“I know, Twilight, I’m so sorry, I just didn’t think at the time. I’m obviously not...” She paused yet again. “…good enough to protect my friends”. Her head drooped, and tears appeared in her eyes.
Applejack turned to the Pegasus. “Now, Rainbow, we’ve already been over this. It wasn’t your fault! You did everything you could!” This only seemed to make Rainbow feel worse.
“No, it is my fault! I should’ve-” Twilight had just sat up in her hospital bed.
“Spike wasn't there when the fire started”, she said.
Rainbow gasped, hope and relief welling up inside her. “Really? He is?” Applejack, pragmatic as always, asked the question they were all thinking.
“Well then where is he?”
********************************************************************************************************************************************************
“He did what?” said the incredulous Pegasus.
“He took Spike. Kidnapped him. Whatever you wanna call it.”
Rainbow’s face twisted in anger. “Why that…that…”
Applejack decided she should intervene before Rainbow lost herself entirely. “And ah assume he’s the one that lit the fire, too?”
Twilight nodded. “Yeah. Only…” The earth pony looked at Twilight inquisitively.
“Only what?” inquired Applejack.
"He said a lot of wierd things before he tried to grab Spike. Things about "being a mere servant", and that he was "reclaiming his Master's lost possessions", or something".
Rainbow spoke up again. "What's that mean?"
Twilight shook her head, noticing the new pain that had just taken root there.
"Uhh. I've got no idea. Well, I know what the words mean, but I don't know their signifigance. They might just be nothing".
Applejack spoke up again, trying to keep everypony's minds on the positives. “Well, the important thing is, you’re alive, and so is Spike”.
Twilight 's frustration combined with the throbbing pain in her head, making her irritable. “Yeah, but that doesn't make this much easier!”
The earth pony spoke again, trying to smooth things over again. “Twilight, we will look for Spike. That's the honest truth. But ya need to stay here until you’re healed, Twilight. Just runnin’ off in a random direction ‘aint gonna find 'im for us”.
The unicorn sighed, admitting defeat. “I guess you’re right.” The pain in her head had receded a bit, but she felt extremely tired. "I think I'll just...take a...nap" she said, yawning loudly. Sleep came to her easily, and she accepted it.
Applejack was glad. Her friend was OK. That was priorty #1 addressed. She'd have to tell the others that Twilight had survived - they shouldn't be kept worrying. Rainbow would probably find it easier to reach them all, though. She turned to ask her friend. "Say, Rainbow why don't ya-" Shestopped when she found herself speaking to empty air. Rainbow was gone.
Rainbow had taken off shortly after she had stopped talking to Twilight. Applejack had been so busy trying to comfort the unicorn that she hadn’t noticed her friend slip out of the room. She quickly took to the sky, intending to search for Spike. After all, it had only happened yesterday; they couldn’t have gone that far on foot. She couldn't be sure, but she had a decent idea of where the kidnapper had probably gone.
"The Everfree Forest". She finally made up her mind then. She'd fly over the forest and see if she could catch any sight of Spike and his captor. Even if she didn’t find them, nothing would really be lost. She'd at least be doing something.
“Right. Let's do this” she said, as she flew off into the wind.
Gravil knew the importance of his duty, but Spike’s sheer persistence in agitating him was beginning to wear down his patience. “And I bet they’ll come here to rescue me, and they’ll kick you right in the face! Bam! Pow!” Calm, he reminded himself. The Prince was obviously still under whatever cursed enchantment the equines had placed him under. It didn’t surprise him that the spell was so powerful – Pangor had most likely cast it personally. Of course she had. Destroying the bodies of his people would never have been enough for her. She had to break their spirit, too, by turning the heart and soul of their Kingdom into a slave. Ancient anger, the force that had powered him for all these years, rose within him again. His body trembled with rage, remembering all the wrongs he bore for the sake of the Dragon race. Because of this, Spike’s next choice of words was most unfortunate.
“And then, they’ll bring you to Princess Celestia! Oh, she’ll know how to deal with you-”
Gravil hissed in fury, whipping round to face the welp. “How dare you say that!” His tone was so fierce that the purple dragon covered his face and cowered in fear, acting on instinct. “How dare you speak so well of the enemy! She is responsible for all of this! Nothing will ever absolve her of her guilt!” The dragonoid panted for breath, realising what he had just done. Shame filled him upon seeing the Prince cower. “M-my Lord, I apologise. I simply…overreacted. Of course you cannot be blamed for what has been done to you. Please forgive me.”
The smaller dragon warily lowered his arms and stood up. “Erm, s-sure.” That was enough.
“Now, let us be on our way.” Spike was confused, but grateful that the larger dragonoid seemed to have calmed down. As Gravil dragged him along the dirt path, he happened to look up.
“Whoa…just what is that?” Gravil turned to see what his charge was pointing at. His eyes were old and weary, but he could still make out the shape in the sky, growing larger every moment. Against the still-grey clouds, the blue streak rocketed towards them…
She couldn’t believe her luck. Barely flying for an hour and she’d found them already. As soon as she recognised Spike, she acted. She began to descend, picking up speed. The two figures on the ground pointed up at her, but it was too late – with an almighty thump she slammed into the larger of the two figures. He was thrown back, tumbling head-over-heels from the impact. The two became entangled quickly, but Rainbow was first to get free. She planted her hoof (somewhat theatrically) in front of Gravil’s face. “So, you’re the dirtbag that kidnapped Spike, eh?” The dragonoid stared up at her, his eyes cold and unblinking.
Every muscle in his body was quivering with rage. They had been found, and so quickly. “Wrong. I was liberating him from his captors.”. His voice snarled with unconcealed anger.
The blue Pegasus looked unamused. “Oh, really? ‘cause he looks pretty unhappy to me”. It took all his willpower to hold his tongue. Anger was not the solution this time, not while the Pegasus had him pinned. He had managed to keep hold of his staff, so perhaps… He moved his hand, but the Pegasus was faster. Her hoof slammed down on his arm, pinning it and preventing him from attacking her with it.
“Oh no. You're staying on the ground.” Gravil mumbled something obscene under his breath. The Pegasus turned to Spike. “Spike! Get on my back! We’re getting’ you outta here!” The baby dragon was still stunned by this fortunate turn of events, but started running towards her. As he jumped onto the Pegasus’ back, Gravil felt despair fill him. Now that Pangor knew that one of Galdor's court still lived, the Prince would be kept under maximum guard at all times, and he’d have no chance of ever fulfilling his destiny. In a moment it all flashed before his eyes – the shame, the destruction of their hope, the unbearable dishonour of having failed his King and people. And for what? Because one measly Pegasus had caught him off-guard?
Rainbow had been careful not to let go of Gravil’s hand until the last possible second. When Spike was as secure as possible she lifted her hoof and took off. She had expected him to react, but she had not expected the speed he was capable of. The second his arm was free, Gravil pounced into the air, letting the staff go as a feral shriek burst from him. Rainbow had ascended quickly, but not quite quickly enough. Gravil managed to grab hold of one of her rear ankles, holding on for dear life. The extra weight was a shock to her, jarring her as it slowed her ascent.
“Don’t you ever give up?!” the Pegasus cried. Gravil merely raised his free hand and grabbed her thigh, trying to pull himself up. Rainbow screamed as his claws bit into her flesh. Her flight path zig-zagged erratically, but Gravil was not about to be thwarted at this stage and managed to keep his balance. Spike, however, was not so lucky, losing his grip when Rainbow lurched wildly to one side. As he saw his Prince fall, Gravil was stunned, and loosened his grip for a second. Just a second too long. Rainbow bucked, and his loosened grip was lost altogether. He felt himself fall, the ground rushing up to meet him.
Rainbow was still recovering from the shock of Gravil’s attack, but she was able to keep herself together long enough to see Spike and Gravil fall. She flew over the area where they’d fallen, sweeping back and forth, but the thick canopy blocked her view and she couldn’t see a thing. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, a jolt of pain in her leg reminded her of her wound. Much as she wanted to continue the search, she eventually decided that she’d better return to Ponyville. She flew back in that direction, her heart still heavy in her chest.