The diamond palace stood before Spike. At long last, he was here. The trek up Ice Cream Mountain had been long and hard, but it was all worth it now. He stepped forward and with one mighty shove threw open the massive gate.
It slid open soundlessly. A ruby carpet stretched from his feet through the sparkling entrance hall to a pair of thrones at the far end. One, he knew, was his, and in the other sat a white mare with a purple mane.
Their eyes met across the room. Her radiance outshone the diamond castle a thousand times as a smile spread across her face. She stood and time seemed to slow as she galloped toward Spike, and he ran to meet her.
They met in the center and embraced. She felt so warm. She leaned toward him and whispered in his ear.
“It’s time to wake up.” It was a male voice.
Spike felt like his stomach had fallen out. He blinked, and the diamond palace had become his room in the Canterlot Palace infirmary, all immaculate white save for the desk in the corner. There was a pitcher of water and some glasses on the table as well as some assorted gems and books that Twilight was sure he would enjoy. He hadn’t touched any of them.
Spike rolled over, grimacing. “I’m napping,” he mumbled. Maybe he could get back into the dream.
“You are of age now, your highness. Your wings are here. It’s time to wake up.”
Spike’s eyes shot open. He leapt to his feet and hurt his neck turning his head too fast to look behind him. His eyes widened.
They didn’t look like any dragon wings he had seen before. He reached out a claw and ran a finger along the ridges. They felt real. His wings were pure white and covered in feathers. They looked just like pegasus wings, except that the ridges were lined with what looked like perfectly cut multicolored gemstones growing along them.
“They’re magnificent, your highness.”
Spike scanned the room, looking for the speaker. “Who’s talking?” he asked.
“I am inside you,” said the voice.
Spike looked down. He poked his stomach experimentally.
“Not like that, sire. I am within your soul.”
“Oh,” said Spike. “Well that’s… uh. What?”
“Don’t worry, I am a friend. You may call me Emerald.”
“Who are you?” asked Spike.
“I have been with you for a long time, highness,” said Emerald. “Since you were an egg, I have lain dormant in your soul, waiting for you to come of age.”
“That’s… creepy,” said Spike. He hopped out of bed and began examining his wings in the mirror in the corner. “Is this a normal dragon thing? Having a voice in your head?”
“Something like that,” said Emerald. Spike let out a sigh of relief. At least I’m not crazy.
“I am surprised," continued Emerald. "I would have expected your father to have explained everything to you by now.”
“I uh…” Spike rubbed the back of his neck. “Gee, this is awkward. I never knew my real parents.”
“Never knew- Where are we?” said Emerald, surprise in his voice.
“We’re in the infirmary in Canterlot Palace. In Equestria,” Spike said.
Emerald was silent. Spike walked over to the desk and grabbed a small amethyst to suck on.
“On Earth?” said Emerald.
“Mm hm,” said Spike with his mouth full. “Where else would we be?”
“Why, in Hell, of course.”
Spike choked on his amethyst. He clutched the side of the desk for support and pounded his chest until the gem dislodged itself. The water pitcher fell over and shattered on the floor.
“Hell? What’s the big idea, saying that? What did I ever do to you?” said Spike, his knees quaking.
“I am simply stating the facts, your highness,” said Emerald. “You were born in Tartaros. That’s where I was bound to you. I assumed we were still there.”
“What? No, I was born here, in Canterlot,” Spike stammered. “Twilight hatched me herself.”
“Twilight?”
“She’s my, uh. It’s kind of complicated.” Spike let his eyes wander around the room as he pondered how to explain his relationship with Twilight Sparkle. His gaze settled on the puddle of water around the shattered pitcher. Inky black letters began to form on its surface, and Spike darted over as fast as his small legs would carry him for a better view.
“Written Upon the Water? You have a friend that knows sorcery?” said Emerald.
“Shush, you. I’m trying to read,” said Spike. He frowned. Twilight didn’t know that spell. Did she just learn it? Spike wondered.
The message was written in an elegant, flowing style. It read, “Twilight Sparkle is in danger. Seek her in the ancient palace in Everfree Forest. Your destiny depends upon it.”
Once the message had finished writing itself, it dissolved into the puddle and vanished as though it was never there.
“Did you see that, Emerald?” asked Spike.
“I did. And no, I don’t know what it means.” Emerald paused. “Do those names mean anything to you?”
Spike was already making his way for the door. “Yeah, and if Twilight’s in trouble, then I’m going to go help.”
“As you wish, your highness, but take caution,” said Emerald. “This Twilight Sparkle should be more than willing to lay down her life for you, if necessary.”
Spike paused, his hand hovering over the doorknob.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” said Spike.
“Simply that any dragon should know to put your life above theirs, your highness.”
“Twilight’s not a dragon,” said Spike. “She’s a pony. And a princess at that, so you’d best be respectful. She’s the best sorceress I know.”
“What?” Emerald shouted. Spike stuck his fingers in his ears, but it didn’t help the volume. “A pony? What? No. No! That’s not right. That’s not right at all! How long have you been imprisoned here?”
“I’m not imprisoned!” shouted Spike back. “I live here. I like it here.”
The door opened. A gray pony in a white doctor’s coat stood there. “Mr. Spike, are you alight? I heard- Oh! Your wings! I’ve never seen the like!” he looked up and down the hall on the other side of the door. “Don’t go anywhere. The other doctors will want to see this.” He galloped off, a manic grin plastered on his face.
Spike slammed the door. “If they start poking at my back again, I’ll never get out of here.”
“If I may suggest an alternative, my lord, you do have wings now,” said Emerald. “You could fly out.”
Spike stretched his wings experimentally. “I don’t know.” He shook himself mentally. “Bah, I’ve got a better shot out the window than the front door. The doctors were all excited just to see that I was getting wings. Now that I’ve got these feathery things, they’ll be all over me for days. But I’ve never flown before. What if I fall?”
“The ground will think twice before harming you, you highness,” said Emerald.
Spike dragged the chair from the desk over to the window. “I don’t know how things are in Tartaros, but I’m pretty sure falling doesn’t work that way here on earth.”
“It does when dragons are involved.”
Spike climbed onto the chair and threw open the window. The ground looked to be a very long way away. Canterlot was splayed below him, its towers and spires rising like spikes ready to impale a falling dragon. Spike gulped loudly. “I hope you’re right,” he said.
* * *
Twilight Sparkle awakened to a sharp pain in her wing joint. She gasped, the jolt of adrenaline that accompanied the pain bringing her fully conscious in moments. She looked around frantically. Her vision was cloudy, but her surroundings were familiar enough to make out. She had been here once before. This was the palace in Everfree Forest where she had found the Elements of Harmony two years ago. It had been night back then, but now the sun shone through the crumbling roof onto the mossy floor.
On either side of her was standing a hulking brute that might have been mistaken for a large gorilla if not for the crown of horns on each of their heads. Each one had a hold on one of her wings, stretching them out and pinning Twilight to the ground.
Twilight’s jaw dropped at the sight of them. She had only ever seen these creatures as pictures in books.
A second jolt of pain in her wing sharpened Twilight’s vision. She craned her neck to see behind her. That stallion that had claimed to be Starswirl was standing over her, a doctor’s scalpel levitating in his crimson aura. He was wearing the attire commonly associated with Starswirl, a blue pointed hat and matching cape, all lined with bells. Around his neck was the Alicorn Amulet.
“Awake, are you? Shame it wasn’t sooner. I’m just finishing up,” he said.
“What are you-aaah!” Twilight gasped as he cut into her wing again. She tried to teleport, but a flash of crimson magic from the stallion's horn dispersed her spell. She gritted her teeth. “Are you cutting off my wings?”
“No,” he said without looking away from his work. “It wouldn’t help with anything, even if it would make me feel better. I just need to get an inside look to see how your essence works from a biological standpoint. Haven’t found anything useful, though.”
“But why? And why the-“ Twilight glanced at the apes. They scowled at her. “Why the erymanthoi?”
“Completely under my control, I assure you,” said the stallion. “A thousand years studying sorcery, I should hope I can bind first circle demons. Now hold still.” He made another incision. Twilight bit her lip to avoid crying out. The demons held her wings tight.
“You need to take off that amulet!” she said. “It corrupts your mind! How did you get it?”
“A mad zebra thaumaturge in the forest was guarding it,” he said. “You should have provided an abler guardian.”
Twilight winced at the pain in her wing. “What did you do to Zecora?”
“She’ll live,” said the stallion. “Assuming a wandering timberwolf doesn’t stumble upon her home. I don’t understand why someone would live in this wyld forest by choice. You have strange friends.”
“At least I have friends,” said Twilight, gingerly touching the cuts in her wings. “They’re going to come for me. You know that.”
“Let them try,” said the stallion. “And I’ve heard of this corrupting influence you speak of. It is something for weaker minds to worry about, not me. Besides, all sorcerers make sacrifices.” He paused. “Only you haven’t, have you?” Twilight felt another stab from the stallion’s scalpel that she was quite sure had no medical or occult relevance. “You’ve only seen the Emerald Circle. Any unicorn can do that. You haven’t faced the Trials. You haven’t made any sacrifice for your power. Bah! You can’t even produce any useful information on the essence of exaltation!”
He produced a white cloth from beneath his cape, wiped down his scalpel, and then tucked both back under the cape. He jerked his head toward a corner, and Twilight felt the erymanthoi lifting her by her wings. She shielded her face as they hurled her bodily into the corner. She collided with the wall and slumped to the floor, appreciating how much more durable she was since her exaltation; that would have hurt much more if she was still mortal.
As she scrambled to her hooves, the erymanthoi strode toward her, cutting off her escape route from her corner.
Twilight could see the stallion clearly now. She looked him over. In his hat and cape he looked like every painting and statue she had ever seen of Starswirl the Bearded. Now that she got a good look at him, she noticed the Alicorn Amulet looked different than she remembered. The red gem in the center was replaced by a pure black sphere with a hint of rainbow sheen playing across its surface. It was something else she had only seen in books.
“That’s a Gemstone of Immortality. So you really are Starswirl the Bearded?” she asked.
He nodded. “Everypony always focusses on the beard. I don’t know why. The beard was incidental. I just liked the look of it. Nevertheless, that is the title that history has given me, and I will accept it. I am indeed that very same Starswirl.”
“Why are you doing this? If ponies knew you were still alive-”
“Then I would still be living under Celestia’s hoof,” said Starswirl. He stepped toward Twilight. “I’m not going to make my presence known until I can meet her as a superior.”
“Good luck with that,” said Twilight. The erymanthoi growled at her and looked at Starswirl. He shook his head and chuckled.
“You have such faith in her, Twilight Sparkle,” said Starswirl. “Give it a century or two. You’ll see she’s just as fallible as anypony else. She never thought I had it in me to exalt, and here I am, about to prove her wrong.”
Twilight eyed the two demons, wondering how much she should push Starswirl. The injuries to her wings were minor. She was pretty sure she could still fly if Starswirl slipped up and gave her the opportunity to escape. She could banish one of the demons back to Tartaros with her own sorcery, but she knew that if she tried, the other one would tear her apart before she could regain her focus.
“I don’t see wings yet,” said Twilight. “And if you’re done with me, I’d really rather go home now.”
“No, Sparkle.” Starswirl continued to advance toward her, stepping between the demons. “You see, my reasons for taking you were twofold. First, I wanted to see if I could glean any method of catalyzing my own exaltation through sorcery by examining your wings. That was always an unlikely plan, so its failure is a minor setback. The other option was to exalt naturally. Tell me, Sparkle, what do you know about exaltation?”
Twilight looked him straight in the eye and stood up as tall as she could manage. “A pony exalts as an alicorn when she fully harmonizes with her destiny. That harmony enables a pony to internalize the magic of the universe and make it her own.”
Starswirl smiled. “So you see, all it takes is for me to realize my own destiny of being the greatest sorcerer in all Equestria. And for that, all I need to do is unambiguously demonstrate my superiority over my only competitor in sorcery, Princess Celestia.” He chuckled. “A simple enough matter, with the proper incentive to draw her away from her guards. And what better bait than the one who stole away my own exaltation?”
“So that’s what this is all about,” Twilight said, making a point of looking Starswirl straight in the eyes. “You’re envious because I exalted from your spell instead of you.”
Twilight could see a fire ignite in Starswirl’s eyes. His expression instantly changed to rage. She wondered if that was a wise thing to say. “You cheated!” he barked. “You solved my spell not through any mastery of sorcery, but from the demon magic that your precious Princess Celestia delivered into your hooves on a jade platter! And I did solve it! All it required was Adamant Countermagic, but no. It was too late. You had already taken my wings.”
“What do you mean, demon magic?” Twilight eyed the erymanthoi again.
It was unnerving how quickly Starswirl’s expression changed again. A grin spread across his face and he cackled madly. “She never told you, did she? The Elements of Harmony, the seat of all your power, the very crown that marks your authority was stolen centuries ago from the very heart of Tartaros!”
Twilight’s ears drooped. “You’re lying,” she said.
“I was there! I saw it!” Starswirl bellowed. “Celestia and Luna needed tools to overthrow Discord, so they went to Discord’s oldest enemy and stole his power away to fight their new foe.”
There was the sound of hooves galloping from outside the room. Starswirl looked up toward the door as a creature entered. It looked like a pony, but taller and skinnier than any pony Twilight had ever seen, and its coat was made of a glistening black sludge that smoked and bubbled when it dripped on the stone floor. Twilight’s eyes widened. If this was who she thought he was, then she was in more trouble than she had thought.
It spoke, its voice surprisingly smooth and clear. “Master, the princess has come.”
“Alone?” Starswirl asked. It nodded. Starswirl pointed to one of the erymanthoi. “Go fetch your brothers and bring them here.” It nodded and leapt through a nearby window. For a moment, Twilight thought to make a dash away, but Starswirl quickly stepped into the demon’s place, keeping her blockaded in her corner.
He smiled, noticing her reaction to the newcomer. “Surprised, Sparkle? You didn’t think I would think to face Celestia without making appropriate preparations, did you? I take it you recognize Hadrian, then.”
“You summoned a second circle demon?” Twilight blurted out. “What made you think that was a good idea?”
“You keep forgetting my centuries of experience over you, child,” said Starswirl. “I have more than enough expertise in binding second circle demons to call on their aid when I so choose. Among other tricks, like this one.”
His horn glowed red again, and the glow spread to his entire body. His coat stiffened and then merged with his skin, which took on a dull gray color. His mane and tail solidified into jagged, rusty clumps of metal as his joints sprouted cogs and screws. His whole countenance took on a rusty, metallic look. There was a grinding noise as he turned he moved.
“Incomparable Body Arsenal,” he said. His face was impassive and robotic, and when he spoke, his voice echoed inside his metal body. “Not one of my favorites. Far too physical for my taste, but one cannot deny its usefulness.”
An erymanthus returned through the same window the first one had left. Then another entered, then another. Twilight’s heart sank as they continued to flood the room. There had to be at least twenty of them.
“And now we wait for the guest of honor to arrive,” said Starswirl.