Even a Ghost Has a Sanctuary
As they moved through the castle their hoof steps echoed off the empty halls. Shining led them down several corridors explaining to Twilight what happened in the spa. Cadance was resting on his back, mumbling softly in her sleep. Shining stopped for moment, waiting for Spike to catch up.
“Come on, Spike.” Shining called back to him, “Keep up!”
After a few seconds Spike appeared besides Twilight. Rarity was sound asleep in his claws. He collapsed on her shoulder and inhaled deeply.
“Wait, so what are we doing? Twilight you mentioned we have to go back into the Saphirum. Why’s that? Please, enlighten me.”
Twilight opened her saddlebag and pulled out a journal. The cover was brown with unintelligible writing on its cover. She flipped through the tattered pages gingerly. They crinkled under the very little stress she was applying.
"I was reading through a few of their ancient texts we had uncovered, and I think I found what we need to do to fix Cadance. It appears tha—" Twilight couldn't finish her sentence with Discord's sudden pop into existence right in between the pages of the book. Twilight yelped and dropped it forcing it to shut with Discord still inside.
"Well," Discord mumbled under the pages, "I come here to check on my favorite ponies and this is the treatment I get? How uncouth."
The book flipped open and Discord jumped out, dusting himself off. He looked over at Cadance sleeping peacefully on Shining's back and laughed.
"Well, I see she's still relatively normal. Not that any of you would know what normal was, anymore."
Shining Armor turned his body, hiding Cadance from his vision. His horn lit up and he puffed up his chest. "Do you have something to do with what is happening to my wife, Discord? This whole thing seems like your chaos at work!"
Discord sat down in mid-air, crossing his legs. "Hmmm. Well technically yes, I suppose this is my fault, but..."
Spike and Twilight had to throw themselves in front of Shining who charged forward. Spike shot a dirty glance at Discord.
"What Discord is trying to say is that this whole thing isn't what it seems. It turns out that thousands of years ago there were these powerful god-like ponies that had tremendous power. Saphrium was actually the name of the goddess of love and jealousy. She did a lot of damage, even helping Sombra rise to power. As a result Discord was forced to destroy her. Her crystallized remains slowly starting forming together, creating that power source you found beneath the castle!"
"I do believe I was wearing the 70's back then, in quite a fetching manner I might add," Discord said elbowing Twilight on the side. Twilight nervously chuckled and took a few steps away from Discord. "What? It was just a phase! We all have them!"
"She's trying to come back," Spike continued with an eye roll, "and she's trying to take control of Cadance's body. Cadance is a descendant from that old blood line. Over the years you guys have rebuilt the Crystal Empire to its former glory. Which is exactly what Saphirum wanted. She wanted a land full of ponies that love their ruler. If she takes control of Cadance's body and starts to feel that love she'll gain her strength back. If that happens no one will be able to stop her!"
Shining Armor shook his head in disbelief. "So, you're telling me that the room we found is actually the remains of an ancient goddess who is slowly possessing my wife and using her body to steal all the love and happiness from the empire in an attempt to gain power?"
The others nodded in agreement. Twilight stood beside him and placed her hoof on his shoulder. "Shining, I have a plan to fix this. We just need to get to the Saphirum and we can make things normal again for you, Cadance and Spike and Rarity. Now, which was to—"
"Oh don't worry, Twilight!" Discord patted her on the head and smiled. "I'll just take us all there together! Besides, we could use a speed-up in the action after that exposition dump."
Twilight started to protest, but Discord snapped his talons and everything flashed. They had moved, but not where they wanted to go. They stood on a bright marble street lined with massive houses. The gates between them were gold and the hedges were perfectly trimmed. The house they stood in front of had to massive initials engraved onto the gate.
"Spike laid Rarity down gently and stared at the letters for a moment. Running a finger along them. "S S? Sapphire Shores?" He guessed. Shining Armor threw a hoof in the air.
"You transported us to Las Pegasus? Really?"
Discord took out his compass and rapidly shook it. He squinted down at it. "Saphirum, Saphire Shores, I mean it's pretty close. My compass doesn't point north but it does give me the direction of what my heart desires. Sometimes I have trouble figuring out exactly what it is I want. Besides, wouldn't you all rather hang out here instead of that cold, nasty castle?"
Spike couldn't help but chuckle. "Nah, we good, fam."
"Well fine! Let's all be ungrateful to their pal, Discord. That'll sure fix everything."
Twilight let out a flash of light and took them all back to the Crystal Castle. Discord looked disappointed.
"Oh, I remember what I wanted!" He pulled a Sapphire Shores autograph into existence. "I wanted an autograph!"
Twilight rolled her eyes and sprinted down the hallway, Spike and Shining not far behind.
"So, Twilight? What about Discord? Don't you think we'll need him to beat Saphirum?" Spike said.
"Discord's magic isn't as strong as it was when the elder ones were all alive. I don't think he'd be much help to us here. Besides Spike, my plan here isn't to fight her. We just need to expel her from Cadance's body before she gains full control."
Shining Armor took the lead, leading them down several corridors and down a few flights of stairs until they found the crystal doors leading into the Saphirum. Cadance's cutie mark on the door was pulsing. As he approached the door he could hear a soft humming coming from inside the room. On his back, Cadance's cutie mark starting to pulse in sync with its copy on the door.
“Alright, everypony,” Twilight said, addressing Spike and Shining. “We have to be prepared for anything when we go in here. There’s no telling what’s gonna happen when we cross the threshold into this unforgiving territory of madness and demonic energy.” Twilight turned back towards the heavily engraved door. “The entire fate of the world and our very well-being could rest on the success of our actions behind this door. You guys ready?”
“Yep!” Shining shouted. “Let’s do it!”
“Good,” Twilight said. “How about you, Spi— What are you doing?”
Spike was holding up a peace sign to a camera he was holding, Rarity laid out on the floor beside him. “Hold on, Twi. Discord got me a camera from Las Pegasus and I’m taking an end of the world selfie. What fits better: Hashtag YOLO, or hashtag partytime?”
The camera quickly burst into flame, leaving a pitiful scowl on Spike’s face.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Spike, there are a million reasons why I’m disappointed in you at this moment, but I’ll just have you write an official report on it later. Now, are you ready to save your wife, or not?”
Spike nodded and cast a steel gaze at the door. “I’m ready. Let’s do it!”
With their passed out wives on their respective backs, Spike and Shining approached the door which Twilight opened and they all made their way in. The room was no longer the picture of beauty and light that it once was. Dark shadows permeated every corner, creating a feeling of uneasiness in the air. The crystal in the center of the room glowed a faint green color, giving the room just enough illumination to see the path on the floor leading to it.
The uninvited guests cautiously stalked their way to it, hearing nothing but the sounds of their own breaths and steps with every movement.
“This is really intense,” Shining said, taking a gulp of the still air. “If there was any doubt before, I can definitely guarantee you that there’s some evil force at work here.”
“Yeah,” Spike agreed. “Sorry, Twilight.”
“What are you apologising to me for?” Twilight responded as they inched closer to the crystal.
“I’ve read horror stories like this before,” Spike continued. “Either the zebra or the nerdy one always dies first and we’re fresh outta zebra.”
“Oh, shoot, you’re right, Spike.” Shining formed a cross over his chest with his hoof. “I’m sorry, little sis.”
“Both of you, be quiet,” Twilight responded. “Or you’re both grounded when this is all over. Ugh, boys…”
“Yes, ma’am,” they both responded in unison.
“Okay, so here’s the deal,” Twilight said in her most calm voice as they finally reached the eerily glowing crystal of demonic energy. “This is a remnant of her, so perhaps we should try going for the obvious solution first, just to see what happens.”
“What’s the obvious solution?” Spike asked, eyes wide.
“We’ll try to break it!” Twilight said.
“Sound reasoning,” Shining said, throwing his two cents in. “How do we do that?”
Twilight rubbed her chin and darted her eyes around the crystal, taking in it’s shape and movements. “Hmm… Well, if I stand on the southwest corner and shoot it with a blast of magic toward the bottom angle, it should have enough energy to break it.”
Spike and Shining nodded vigorously.
“Go for it!” Shining shouted.
“You got this, fam,” Spike added on.
“Okay, here goes.” Twilight trotted toward the designated area. Her horn glowed with a bright purple aura, illuminating the entire room. The light and heat from it intensified and just as it reached its peak energy, she threw her head down, releasing a bolt of concentrated magical power right at the crystal. “Ahhhh!”
As the magic collided with the crystal, a shockwave of light and intense vibration wafted through the room, followed by an immense cloud of dust. Spike, Shining and Twilight were all thrown to the ground from the pure energy of the explosion.
Shining was the first onto his hooves and ran over to the crystal.
“Did it work?” Spike called out.
“Uh…” Shining glanced over the crystal and drooped his head. “Nope. If anything, she just gave it a nice cleaning. There’s less dust on it than before.”
Twilight rose to her hooves, huffing and trying to breathe. “Curses! That was the most powerful magic I had.”
A fierce glow emitted from Shining’s eyes, fueled by the rage he felt for the benign magical artifact in front of him. “You’re going down, Crystal!” He then proceeded to slap and scrape at it with all the force he could muster. “Nobody messes with my family like this!”
Twilight and Spike shared a deadpan look.
“Shining, stop harassing the Crystal,” Twilight stated.
Shining pouted and looked at his sister. “Sorry.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Spike said. “Why don’t you go find your purse and let a real alpha male show you how it’s done.” Spike spat on both of his claws and approached the cause of their problems. “Here we go!” He struck out both of his claws toward it. “Swiggity swoogity, break-ity brookity!”
Nothing happened.
“Well, that’s about all I can do,” Spike said, wiping a well-earned bead of sweat from his brow. “Now what, Twilight?”
“Well, I didn’t honestly think that’d work,” she replied. “It was worth a try, though. However, the crystal, and Cadance herself, are remnants of an evil goddess driven by the hatred of love and all things associated with it, correct?”
Spike nodded. “Something like that.”
“If that’s the case,” Twilight carried on, “then it only stands to reason that if we expose said goddess to true, unbreakable, unfiltered love, it might force her back into recession inside of Cadance. Or,even better, it might cause enough distress to annihilate her once and for all!”
“That’s a great idea!” Shining exclaimed. “But, where are we gonna find Cadance’s true love in a time like this?’
Twilight smacked him. “That’s your wife!”
“Oh, yeah!” Shining said, his face reddening for reasons besides the harsh slap. “So, uh,what should I do?”
Twilight paced back and forth. “Well, the greatest act of true love in today’s society is a kiss. We do it at our weddings, to show affection to our loved ones and even as a sign of endearment to our closes friends. I suppose it stands to reason that maybe you could kiss her.”
Shining looked at the still passed out body of his wife. “Well, I guess that makes sense. But I’ve kissed her tons of times. Why would it matter now?”
“Because before, your wife wasn’t under the control of an arch-demon.”
“Point taken,” Shining said. “Alright, I’ll kiss her. Besides, now’s the time while she’s passed out, I guess. But, don’t you think this whole thing is a bit, I dunno, cliche? Kissing her to save her life and all?”
Spike chuckled. “After all the insanity we’ve been through, I could use a cliche moment.”
Shining nodded and slowly walked over to his unconscious partner. “Alright, Cadance, my love. This is for you. Please come back.”
The stallion knelt down and slowly placed his lips on hers. He could feel the familiar textures of her mouth and lips caress his own, causing a stray tear to flow down his cheek. As he gently released himself from it, he noticed her eyes start to crack open.
“Cadance?” Shining asked. “Is it you? Are you back?”
The Princess of Love let out a few small coughs and slowly rose to her hooves, head drooped to the ground.
“Cadance!” Shining ran over to her, ready to embrace her in a hug. “I’ve missed you so mu—” His affection was cut short as a powerful blast of magic sent him flying back against the wall.
“You fools…” she said, slowly raising her head.
“What’s going on?” Spike asked, looking at her. “Who are you?”
Cadance fully rose her head up to greet them. It was then they saw the true face of panic and horror. Her once beautiful features were replaced by a face contorted and twisted by Tartarus itself. Her eyes were glowing a deathly green and a wicked smile laced with razor sharp teeth filled her mouth.
“I… am Saphirum. And you will have the honor of being my first victims in many years.”
Shining rose to his hooved and stumbled over to Twilight and Spike.
“This can’t be good,” he said.
“Yeah, I didn’t know you were that bad at kissing,” Spike added on. "But i think that demon chick wrapped up Cadance tighter than a birthday present and shipped her first class to possession-ville"
“Boys, save the comedic banter for later,” Twilight stated, trying to keep her cool. “We’re in trouble.”
Saphirum emitted a dastardly laugh as she crept closer to them. “Yes. Yes you are.”
Famous: Sweet strawberries, Tidal, they're in a jam!
Tidal: We are closing in on the final 10k words for the story! With it coming to a close, we are grateful to you all for staying on the ridiculous ride we've created and we hope you enjoy the ending we have planned! 
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Was hoping that it was really the characters cheating on their spouses and not some outside interference, oh well, guess I can stop following this story.
Have Spike take a big bite out of the crystal. since he can eat rubies and diamonds this ought to be a walk in the park for him
8304552
One never knows until the final whistle blows. However, if you want a story about actual infidelity throughout, I would suggest looking up an author by the name of thecamel. He's got a great library of stuff like that.
Has Spike been hanging around Discord too much?
Or not enough maybe?
8304556
I personally oppose kojivsleo's feedback, however it is down to personal preference.
Though the heaviness of the situation, to me, is slightly err...less effective due to the comedic element, I still find it very interesting. I understand it's meant to be a comedy, but a few serious moments wouldn't go amiss.
Despite all said, I still think it's a fine job, and please keep it up!
8304708
Definitely not enough. I've always wanted to write a friendship story between them two, but Discord is hard to write.
8304710
I thank you for your feedback. I appreciate everyone's opinion, negative or positive. We were trying to write something akin to a romantic comedy with a darker twist, which hasn't been an easy task.
Thank you for pointing out something I can work on in the future with serious/comedy balance.
more? cool!! 👍
This sounds familiar
*a laugh can be heard around the world*
PUNNNNNSSSSSSS
Ok I don't think this RPG is enough at this point I'm thinking full on tactical airstrike
8304553
HAY THAT WAS MY IDEA
I hope this year and a half following the fic give us a good ending (I think this story should have been in spikeXrarity than by cadence) I'm sorry for my bad English I speak Spanish :p
8304843
Esta bien. Gracias para leerlo, mi amigo. Yo hablo un poquito de espanol.
This story would have been amazing... if Tidal didn't fuck it up. Honestly I don't know why you let him ruin this fic and rot the brains of all its readers.
It's a shame now...
...forever...
...always...
...or at least while Tidal's simpleminded writing ruins it.
I gave you a pity like, favorite, and a follow too. Lord knows you'all need it after inviting that into you fic.
8304886
iF tiDaL diDN't fUcK iT uP
i2.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/022/940/spongebobicon.jpg
8304886
Missed seeing your comments Night Sparks.
Spike just eat the crystal
8305053
Some one has to keep the garbage in line
8305495
Why is Spike suddenly talking like a stereotypical ghetto nigger?
You just had to figure that was a bit too cliche to work. Is anyone surprised?
8306561
nah, hes gettin' danker
Why?!
This chapter had so many movie references that I almost forget that their was a crisis!
And bite the damn crystal, Spike!
Great job!
home chapter:
think you meant a different word
"back". wrong word.
should see it
one sentence
8304886
you sir, or madam, can't be too careful nowadays, have received the honor of earning 1 Internet for that comment. hope you use it wisely.
ghost chapter:
you don't need that "
you guys really have a deep hatred for comma usage, given that there have been so so SO many comma errors. you could also scale back a lot of that stupid "millennial" crap too. think we get the point. not need to full blast it in the reader's face all the time.
8312193
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8312193
You're probably right. And, as you probably know, it was my unfortunate doing. Like, the next ending chapters are going to be so intense and serious, we wanted to lighten things up. You've read my stuff for years though, so you know my penchant for having tone issues.
8312199
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This is demon racist to lesser demons.
Another typo with that 'i'. Capitalize it.
Oh fuck off twilight.