A hooded figure stood silently on the beaten grounds of the destroyed town, his purple tail poking out of his cloak. While the gray, clouded sky and the hood hid a lot of his face, you could still faintly see a frown.
He walked through the place he had once called home. The broken town didn’t retain any of the old charm that once lit up the place. As he walked through the ruins, he recalled places where happy memories had taken place. Spike would almost smile at some of them, but the more recent ones immediately stopped him, crippling any joy that Ponyville once brought him. He looked at Carousel Boutique, seeing the pictures of dresses and hats hanging in front of it, remembering all the times he had been there helping one of his favorite mares. He dashed the thought away as he walked up to the door and hopped through the shattered glass.
He slowly walked through the shop with his eyes silently swishing about, searching for something. Spike noticed the mannequins and rolls of thread strewn about the shop. The dragon stopped, then suddenly ran into a corner of the shop and opened a chest. He grabbed a nearby candle and carefully lit it using his breath. The contents of the chest glittered in the light. One claw quenched the flame while the other closed the chest and began to carry it over his shoulder.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY GEMS?”
He dropped the chest in surprise and it broke open, the rubies and emeralds spilling out onto the floor. Spike’s theory was correct, but he wasn’t exactly happy about it. He turned around in a defensive position and began to assess the threat. A silhouette of a mare stood in front of him.
“I’ll kill you for trying to take my gems, you brute!”
The mare jumped and began to wail on him, aiming mainly for his head. While some of the blows did hurt, most of them were pretty pathetic. Spike threw the mare off in annoyance and pinned her down by her forehooves.
“Listen, I really need these gems and-” He stopped when, with the little light in the room, he noticed that the coat and even the horn that protruded from her head were white. Spike got off of her and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
“Sorry, Rarity.”
“How do you know my name?! Are you a spy? That last attack wasn’t my worst and-” She saw his tail behind him.
“Spike . . . I thought . . .”
“Yeah, I thought the same thing about you,” he interrupted. Spike pulled out the candle and lit it again. He set it down on a coffee table in front of a couch, then plopped down and patted a spot beside him. Rarity sat down beside him and neither of them said anything for a few minutes.
“Why’re you still here?” Spike asked, breaking the silence, “He could come back any minute.”
“Tirek's not coming back, Spike. He’s probably already off destroying the other kingdoms adjacent to Equestria.”
“No, he already did that,” Spike said glumly.
“Really?” Rarity asked, looking up at him with intrigue.
“Yep, it was pretty easy after he drained Twilight. He drained Chrysalis and The Gryphon Queen, and after that he destroyed the entire land trying to make sure no one could survive to defeat him.”
“It’s overkill if you ask me. He already took the four princesses’ magic and even Discord's, of all creatures, but that somehow isn’t enough?” Rarity crossed her front legs and rolled her eyes.
“Well, there are actually some artifacts that can-”
Spike was interrupted mid-sentence as they both heard a thump. Another thump came, and this time it shook the room. It began to thump consecutively. Spike looked at the floor and closed his eyes. Rarity got up and was about to walk over to the window, but Spike put a claw on her shoulder. She turned around and he nodded back to where she had been sitting. She shook her head and crept to the window. Looking outside, she saw a gigantic gray leg. She opened her mouth to scream, but Spike rushed over and covered her mouth. He dragged her back to the couch and resumed hanging his head.
“Show yourself, being. The draining will be quick. You don’t want me to look for you or I’ll make sure it is long, tortuous, and especially painful,” Tirek boomed from outside. The room shook again as he got closer. “I can feel the magic coursing through you. It won’t be too long before I find you.”
Spike looked up with determination on his face. He grabbed some gems off the floor and stashed them in his cloak.
“He’s too close. We have to go,” Spike said.
“Okay.” Rarity said, hopping onto Spike’s back. He went up to Sweetie Belle’s room and looked around. He saw Sweetie Belle in her bed, completely still and unmoving. He went over to wake her up, but Rarity patted his back.
“Don’t wake her up,” Rarity said with glee in her voice.
“Why n-”
“The Sugar Sands are simply . . . divine Mr. Cupcake,” Sweetie mumbled in her sleep.
“She’s happier when she’s asleep.”
Even though Spike wasn’t looking at her he could feel the smile that Rarity had on her face.
Instead of waking her up he just scooped her up and plopped her on his back with Rarity.
A loud crash then came from downstairs.
“You’re almost out of time to give yourself up,” Tirek said.
Spike jumped out the window and began to run.
“There you are!”
Tirek began to walk toward Spike. Rarity looked at Tirek with fear. He was now so large that she couldn’t even see his face.
“Stop running, little dragon, your draining is inevitable,” Tirek bellowed.
A giant gray hood then landed in front of Spike, stopping him in his tracks. Spike fell to his knees and waited for the monster to rid him of his magic.