"Oh, Spike! You're the best..."

"Yeah...but not as much as you..."

"Spike, can you do me a favor?"

"Anything for you, Rarity."

"Can you... wake up?"

"Wha-"

"WAKE UP!"

Spike's eyes shot open to find Rainbow Dash's yelling disturbing his slumber.

"What? What happened?" Spike asked as he looked around at the scenery.

"We're here."

Spike's eyes widened at the beautiful sight. There were forests, trees, everything was so green, and there was an architectural gate in front of him, complete with a wall. There wasn't very much sound, in fact, this place seemed very void of life.

"So it's true?" Rainbow Dash asked, "The legends?"

"I guess so..." Spike trailed off as Rainbow entered the gateway. He was shocked, really. He expected solid ground, maybe even below a hill or something. But they were on an old, rock carved bridge, leading to a massive building overhead. Spike leaned over a bit as Rainbow walked, and found that below, there was a small desert, mountains, some grass, and even a beach below it all. Spike could only ponder at what this place held, and why.

Even more strange was the sky. There seemed to be a large thundercloud above the temple, with light erupting from the bottom and towards the middle of the temple. What's more, Spike could see a frame directly in front of him at the end of the bridge, having almost an indent. As they got closer, the indent, which turned out to be a door, opened on it's own.

"Are you sure about this Spike? There might be something dangerous in there." Rainbow Dash said, hesitating in front of the dark hallway. Spike smirked.

"Really? Are you chicken?" Spike asked.

"Pfft, no. No way! I'm just keeping you safe, shorty." She replied. Spike frowned at the nickname. "Shorty" was one of those things that made him look like a kid. Rainbow Dash finally stepped inside, and Spike caught a glimpse of a side passage leading up towards the top of the temple.

"Hey Rainbow, wait!" Spike said.

"What's up?" Rainbow asked.

Spike was about to say something, but all he could utter was, "Never mind." As he watched the door close by itself, sealing the exit towards the side path.

"Uh... Never mind." He finished, turning back down the dark, yet very short hallway. When Rainbow walked forward, she looked down below at the small pool at the bottom of a walkable spiral slope. She stepped back, and bounded off the edge, only to find her falling through the air instead of floating down safely. They yelled in shock as they plummeted towards the bottom, hitting the small pool, feeling like nothing more than a large puddle. After groaning in pain, Rainbow finally looked at her back and gasped.

"My wings! Where did they go?!" She cried worriedly. Spike took a closer look to find that, indeed, the wings were missing from their usual section, near the shoulder blade.

"What? Why are your wings gone?" Spike asked, getting curious.

"I dunno! You tell me!" She started to panic. Only once had she not had her wings, and that was when Discord attempted to plummet Equestria into total chaos.

"C'mon! We'll figure it out later. Let's talk to Dormin." Spike turned to the large entrance to the other, larger room, "If he is here, that is." He started to walk forward, followed by Rainbow Dash, who had quickly gotten over her recent attire. She still didn't look too happy.

Spike observed the large room, staring at the large statues that seemed to represent animals of sorts, and each one was carved with stone. With quick counting, Spike found there were eighteen statues, and ended with a skylight in the roof and a pedestal, with two exits of stairs and a short balcony. He walked over to the pedestal, big enough to fit a regular sized pony's body.

"Hey Spike? Can I get Rarity off my back? It's getting really uncomfortable." Rainbow said in the background, examining the statues just as Spike did.

"Sure. I found this weird pedestal or something, you can put her on there." Spike responded. Rainbow shrugged and walked over to Spike, leaving the statues behind. She turned and carefully rolled the body wrapped in cloth off of her back and onto the block of stone cemented into the floor. Spike jumped up, having his upper body strength hold him to the pedestal as he reached out and pulled the cloth off and letting it be blown away in the wind. He looked at Rarity yet again, his heart swelling that she will soon be perfectly normal and healthy again. Just thinking about it made him feel much less depressed.

His thought was interrupted by a strange noise. It almost seemed like a strangle liquid taking it's own form. Turning around, Spike yelped at the few strange shadows emerging from the floor. Spike fell back, for he had never seen any of these creatures before, neither did they look friendly.

"Hey! Back off! I'm not scared of you!" Rainbow Dash yelled, going into a fighting position. Still, the shadows didn't let up. They approached Rainbow, and she threw a hard punch towards one of them, only to find her hoof going through it.

"What the-" She was interrupted by the shadow making a high-pitched screeching noise, and throwing her back towards Spike. She quickly got back up, rubbing her forehead. In the middle of all this panic, Spike looked towards his waist. After feeling like an idiot for a full five seconds, Spike drew his sward and held it in front of him, still very scared. Light from the outside glinted off the sword, and the shadows stopped moving forward. In fact, they backed down a little.

"Hmm? Thou possesses the Ancient Sword? So thou art mortal..." A loud voice said from above. It sounded like two voices, one male, one female. spike looked around but couldn't see anything. Even the shadows had disappeared.

"Uh, is this D-Dormin? I heard a rumor that you can bring ponies back to life..." Spike choked out.

"Thou art correct... We are the one known as Dormin..." The voice said again. Spike gulped.

"Really? Cool. Well, this pony here died of disease, and I kinda... want you... to bring her back to life?" Spike smiled sheepishly. Dormin chuckled.

"That maiden's soul? Souls that are once lost cannot be reclaimed... Is that not the law of mortals?" He paused, "With that sword however... it may not be impossible." Spike smiled.

"Awesome! So you can!" He said, leaving behind many of his fears. He was very happy that he could save Rarity, and that it wasn't impossible.

"That is of course, if thou manage to accomplish what We askest." Dormin said again. Spike frowned. He then sighed, getting a bit annoyed at all these things he has to do.

"Fine. What is it? do I have to make you a sandwich or something?" Over in the background, Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"Behold the idols that stand along the wall... Thou art to destroy all of them. But those idols cannot be destroyed by the mere hands of a mortal..." Dormin continued.

"So, what? Do I use dynamite or something?" Spike replied, wanting to just know what he has to do to save Rarity.

"In this land there exist colossi that are the incarnations of those idols. If thou defeat those colossi--the idols shall fall." Dormin explained. Spike looked at the statues yet again, gulping at the fact that he said the word "collosi." Just that one word gave him the slightest feeling that no good would come of this. Finally, Spike spoke up.

"S-sure, why not?" He smiled sheepishly again.

"But heed this, the price you pay may be heavy indeed." Dormin kept going on.

"Oh, well in that case..." Spike walked away until getting a death glare from Rainbow Dash.

"Uh... I'll do it!" Spike said, clapping his claws together.

"Very well..." Dormin paused, as if looking out at something. "Raise thy sword by the light... and head to the place where the sword's light gathers... There, thou shalt find the colossi thou art to defeat." Dormin explained, as Spike looked towards the sunlight at the end of the room. He steeped past the pillars and onto the very small "balcony," and held up his sword. Sure enough, light was shining off the sword, and there at least eight beams of light shooting off of it. Spike then turned the sword and his position, until the light came all together, towards the top of a cliff not too far in front of the shrine. Spike put his sword away and walked back inside.

"Now, be on thy way..." Dormin said, until leaving without another word.

"Ready, Rainbow?" Spike asked.

"Definitely." The rainbow maned pegasus said to Spike.

"Really? Cause I'm not." Spike replied. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and galloped out of the shrine, in the direction of the beam of light being held by Spike's sword.