Chapter 38: An Unexpected Test
Chapter 38: An Unexpected Test
“You need to spend time crawling alone through shadows to truly appreciate what it is to stand in the sun.”
― Shaun Hick
A monster stalked the streets of Ponyville. His predatory form striding smoothly down the streets. Yet, ponies smiled and waved as he passed. They exchanged greetings. No parents moved to hide their foals. No windows were quickly shuttered. And why would they? Who could fear Spike, the dependable assistant of Twilight Sparkle. Yes, they know he is a dragon; no, they don’t care.
Since Drake’s departure, life slowly settled into a comfortable routine. This past week had been much like the last two. Monday and Tuesday he helped Twilight. Either running errands, chugging through chores, or helping with some experiment or another she was running.
Wednesday, he spent the morning working at Sweet Apple Acres. He helped the Apple Family until lunch, which they insisted he eat with them. Then, in the afternoon, he hung out with Rainbow Dash. Well, it was more hours of grueling exercise, but Spike enjoyed it nonetheless.
Thursday, he spent the whole day with Rarity and all he remembered was utter bliss! Ever since Shining Armor and Cadences’ wedding, things with her were going better and better. Still not quite a relationship, but a dragon can hope, right?
Tonight, Friday night, Pinkie was throwing a party. Spike didn’t remember what for, but he’d promised he and Twilight would be there. Even if he had to drag her out of the library to make it happen.
Sometime near the end of the party he planned to disappear, like every Friday night. He’d slip away as guests began leaving. With the dark of the night as his cloak, he would vanish for the weekend. When he popped back up somewhere around Sunday afternoon, he would act like he never left. Any questions would be deflected and avoided. Everypony had learned not to ask, it really wasn’t that important anyway. Though some were noting that the Everfree seemed calmer, less threatening than it used to.
Throughout the weeks, Spike found time to catch up with others and rebuilt the withered friendships he had had before he left. This had led to his current predicament, involving a particularly pugnacious trio.
“Come on Spike.” Scootaloo pleaded, blocking his path with the other crusaders. “Why not?”
“I am not taking you to Forum. Not only would your families hunt me down and mount me over their fireplaces, but it’s not a cakewalk getting out there.” Spike said, regretting his word choice as Sweetie Belle looked away squeamishly when he mentioned taxidermy. “Besides, your talents aren’t going to be found in some far away land. Try looking closer to home.”
“We’ve already tried lookin’ round here and we ain’t found nothin.” Applebloom said, kicking up dust with her hoof. Then she turned her eyes on Spike, during her best to look innocent and sweet. “But out there we could find all kinds of new stuff that we’ll never find ‘round here.”
“Yeah, besides you’re a dragon. Nopony messes with dragons.” Sweetie Belle said, matter-of-factly.
Spike started laughing a deep hearty laugh he had developed with his larger size. “Suuure, no one, except your sisters and Rainbow, Owlowiscious, The Wonderbolts, Diamond Dogs, no seriously, Diamond Dogs, changelings, other dragons, hydras, and... do really I need to continue?”
The crusaders looked away. Then put their heads to start preparing a new avenue of attack. Spike tried to sidestep them, but they shuffled over to block his path no matter how he tried to move. Getting frustrated, Spike prepared to launch himself into the air when he felt a familiar rumbling in his gut. A belch of green smoke later and Spike was in possession of a small scroll bearing the seal of Princess Celestia. He did his best to hide his elation.
“Crusaders, I really have to go. We can continue this conversation later if you really want to, but I have to get this to Twilight right away.” Without waiting for their reply Spike hurried away, the scroll tucked tightly under his wing.
What happened next was a whirlwind, of packing, test preparation, and some mild, by Twilight standards, test anxiety. Their friends had gathered in moments, thanks to Pinkie, to see Twilight off. They offered their support and assured Twilight she would breeze through the test.
Rather than wait for the train, Twilight readied her balloon. She tied a lead to Spike so he could pull it behind him. Soon as she was ready they were off, rushing above the idyllic landscape for the city on a mountain side.
* * * * * * * * *
Spike waited outside as Twilight went inside for Princess Celestia’s mysterious test. Despite his ignorance of the subject, he was certain that Twilight would breeze through it. He settled into a comfortable position next to the hall and waited. The guards patrolled giving him nods as they continued their rounds. Something about being back in Canterlot relaxed Spike. Seeing the white marble bricks of the city restored to their proper brilliance gave a bit of a stable peace to the world.
When Twilight came out, Spike asked her how it went and found himself pulled into her song, music coming from nowhere as she led him through the city. He provided back-up as he had a time or two before for her, whenever the lyrical magics did take hold. He was pretty good at it to if he did say so himself. As all songs do, it eventually reached its end without Twilight having revealed the task given to her by Princess Celestia.
On their way from the top of the city to the train station, Spike spoke up.
“Twilight, just what aren’t you prepared for? What happened?”
“It wasn’t the kind of test I was expecting at all Spike. Princess Celestia said that I have to save the Crystal Empire from an evil unicorn named King Sombra. If I fail it could spell doom from all of Equestria.” Twilight said in a hushed tone.
“Oh wow. What are we supposed to do?” Spike asked, matching her volume.
“I don’t know. Shining Armor and Cadence are already there. All I know is that the Princess said that while you and the girls can help me, in the end it must be me and me alone that saves the Empire.” Twilight said, swallowing nervously.
“Why?” Spike asked, pulling Twilight into a turn towards the station they almost missed in their conversation.
“I don’t know. Princess Celestia is confident but, Princess Luna was there. She didn’t say anything, but, she was frowning the entire time.”
“She is probably just worried. She doesn’t know you as well as Princess Celestia does.”
“I hope you are right Spike.” Twilight said as they lapsed back into silence.
Spike saw her to the train station where their friends were waiting. Their celebrations cut short as Twilight filled them in on what was happening. Once he was sure they were good to go, he turned to leave.
“Spike, darling, aren’t you joining us. I can’t imagine Twilight doing this without her number one assistant.” Rarity said as he began walking away.
“I just realized I need to grab a few things I left at the castle. I’ll catch up to you shortly. It will be no problem with these.” Spike said flexing his wings.
“Ha, after all our training you could probably fly there faster than the train.” Rainbow said.
“What did you forget?” Twilight asked, rifling through her saddle backs.
“Just something I had with me. You won’t even realize I was gone.” With that Spike left for the castle. Something was gnawing at him, and he needed answers. Answers that could come from only the highest levels.
Something Drake had shared with him in confidence seemed connected to this. Things he had carefully omitted in his tales because they weren’t pertinent and mattered only to that Spike could better understand how his greed power, all dragon’s greed power came into existence.
He also had to understand why Twilight alone had to be the one to save the empire. He passed unmolested onto the palace grounds once again and quickly found the Princess exactly where he expected her to be, if not how he expected.
He found her slumped in her throne. She looked tired, like the weight of time was finally bearing down on her. She looked up when he entered, surprise crossing her face.
“Spike, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with Twilight?” She said, quickly putting on her court face.
“Yes Princess, but- Please understand I need to ask you something first. It’s about something Drake mentioned when he was in Ponyville, just to two of us,” Spike said, taking care in how he brought it up. He had kept this conversation secret. In part because he didn’t fully believe the story Chrysalis had told, but also because it hadn’t been important at the time.
“What is it?” She asked coming down from her throne and laying a wing across his shoulder.
“What exactly happened to cause Sombra’s fall. Drake told me that he was an ally of yours when you fought Discord. Something happened that caused him to turn against you in the end, dooming the Crystal Empire which had resisted chaos for so long on the eve of its defeat. At least as he tells it.” Spike said, unable to meet Celestia’s questioning eyes.
“And just how did our mutual friend in the Wildlands came by this information?” She asked folding her wing and rotating to face Spike directly.
“Chrysalis. She told him in an attempt to stave off the Changeling’s starvation and buy ‘love’ from Drake. She told him about the races Discord created as well as two,” Spike paused as he searched for the right word. Spirits I guess you could call them.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow inviting him to continue.
“That was it really. He found her in an old underground city that some kind of resistance used. Drake told me about Sombra being possessed by a one of those spirits and becoming trapped along with the Crystal Empire in ice. At least that is what Chrysalis told him. So what I want to know is... what happened?”
Celestia was silent for a moment, looking out past Spike at nothing as she collected her thoughts. She fired off a quick spell, sighed, and invited Spike to follow her. She was silent as he followed. Spike waited for her to speak. He felt he had said enough.
Celestia stopped in front of an unassuming door and ushered Spike in. “We don’t have much time, but this needs to be told away from open spaces.”
Spike entered the room and waited. Once Celestia sat down one of the sofas within he did likewise taking a moment to look around. The room was windowless, lit only by the soft light of several candles. On the walls paintings of long forgotten mages fighting monsters hung in the darkness.
“Luna will be here shortly. This is as much her story as mine. While we wait why don’t you tell me how you are doing since you returned from your journey of self-discovery?” Princess Celestia said.
“Okay,” Spike said nervously scratching at the back of his neck as he tried to decide where to start.
He was in the middle of his story when Princess Luna arrived. She did a double take when she saw him. “We suppose you are here about my sisters mission for Twilight Sparkle.”
“He is, sister. Rather, he is here to hear from us about Sombra’s fall.”
“Very well, tell the story, and I will interject where needed.”
“Very well. To start, the truth is... Neither myself or my sister know what happened to Sombra. You tell me that he became possessed near the end of the war by a spirit created by Discord.” Luna stiffed where she sat for the briefest moment. “I do not know if this is truth or no, your source isn’t quite what I would call the most reliable. His source even less to.”
“The thing you have to understand is that he was like a mentor to us for a time. Then a comrade who fought beside us in the battle against Discord. He was a powerful mage, of long line of mages from the Crystal Empire. He had rebelled against the tradition of Crystal nobles to sit safe in their city, where Discord’s forces dare not approach for its defenses were most formidable, and the crystals themselves resisted his magic and weakened him. Sombra left the Empire and joined the first resistance group he could find. There were many in that time. Separated and isolated, they were toys for Discord and his followers.”
“My sister and I, we were raised by one such group for a time. Sombra set out to do the unthinkable, and bring them together as one force. He succeeded, and was heralded as a great hero, but this came at a cost.” Celestia said, pausing as anger crept into her voice. Luna stepped in and took up the story.
“Unity was a threat to Discord. It brought a measure of order to the chaos. His forces attacked us much more fiercely than ever before. Changelings infiltrated our ranks. Sombra rooted them out, but more would find their way in. We think it took a toll on him we never noticed as we fought.”
Princess Luna paused and held Spike in a level gaze. Her blue eyes drilling into him. “Imagine our world in that age. The cycle of Sun and Moon slaves to Discords whims. The weather whatever gave him the most amusement. Harpies roved the skies uncontested. Diamond Dogs burrowed through the earth, an unseen but ever present threat. Ogres, and parasprite swarms consumed all in their path. We lived as nomads, moving every few weeks, perhaps even days. Few places were kept as serious long term bases. The caves where Drake fought Chrysalis was one such. It was our last base. There rumors reached us of the Elements of Harmony. Celestia and I were sent because we were the strongest. In the battles with Discord we stood toe to toe time and again, and survived.”
“Sombra taught us much, but we took it even further. For long it was thought we were just Unicorns with wings, or perhaps Pegasi with horns. We learned we were something much greater in those fights. We had a stamina and reserves of strength no pony, not even Sombra could match. Yet, together we were barely a match for Discord. We survived encounters with him repeatedly. Few others could boast such. Great warriors and dear friends fell while we lived.” Princess Luna said, her voice choking up as out wounds were reopened. Princess Celestia once more took up the story.
“Sombra was one of the few that had seen a battle with Discord and survived. He was our leader. The Resistance’s leader. Despite his accomplishments, the members of the Resistance increasingly looked to us for leadership. Thinking back, he was opposed to us going alone to find the Elements, he wanted to come with us, or at least send some of his personal guard, veterans of many battles. We refused on the grounds the two of us would need to move quickly and avoid the attention a larger group would attract. Many other agreed, arguing that with us gone, the Resistance would be vulnerable as never before. If only we had known how true that was.”
Spike listened in rapt attention. Somehow, he expected that few had ever heard this story. He stayed silent, worried a wrong word might end it here and now. Celestia continued, lost in the telling and the comfort that sharing the tale was bringing her.
“We succeeded, and faced down Discord. He laughed at us, and I do not blame him. We challenged him at the seat of his power, next to the twisted wood which he had spawned from. Strange then, that the key to our salvation was there as well. He stopped laughing once we defeated him. Across the world, the effects of his magic dissipated, though the damage down to the environment would remain.”
“We returned to Sombra, to let the Resistance know of our great victory only to find survivors huddled outside, harassed by all manner of foes. We drove them off and learned that the city below the mountain had fallen. Changelings infiltrators had stuck shortly after we left. Unsurprisingly, theirs had been the loudest voices that we be allowed to go alone. Sombra was missing from the battlefield and we feared him dead till somepony told us he left shortly before the attack with his personal guard. Somepony said they had heard him muttering somethings about the Crystal Empire and his birthright.”
“We rushed to the Empire hoping we could find Sombra, aid, and help rebuilding. We arrived too late.” Celestia stopped and sighed. “I do not know what caused Sombra to turn against us. Whatever happened, he became a monster, wholly unlike the pony we knew. He had butchered the ruling families, only a few that had followed in his footsteps and left the Empire before his return survived. Their descendants are there now to lead the city, carefully prepared for its eventual return.” She said, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Strange how things seem to always become connected across the bigger scheme.”
Luna stepped in, her emotions masked once again. “After his brutal coup, Sombra named himself Emperor and set the crystal ponies to work. What he sought to accomplish, we will never know.”
“When we first arrived, we were turned away. We pushed on, forcing our way into his throne room. We tried to reason with him, to talk him down but he refused. Rather than reply with words he attacked. He was silent as the grave and fought us with every ounce of his skill. We should have lost. We almost did. Somehow in the last moment, when we should have been struck down Sombra halted. In that brief moment of respite, we struck. Sombra was turned to shadow and sealed in the ice of the frozen North. We had our victory, but it would prove hollow. As Sombra was sealed the palace began to shake, moments later the Empire started to disappear from reality. We teleported out at the last second. There, laying in the snow and nursing our wounds, we saw it disappear.”
“We did not know if it would ever return, but we did prepare. Now it is back and it needs our help. That is why Twilight is going. This is a test of her abilities, yes, but only because that will encourage her to try all that much harder. There is not an option for failure on this Spike. Failure may doom us all. Do you understand?”
“No princess. I understand what happened. I have context for your worries, your fears and your concerns, but I do not know why you believe Twilight must be one to save it in the end.”
“Spike, do you trust me?” Princess Celestia asked, getting off the sofa and standing in front of time.
“Yes, Princess.”
“Then trust me now. Twilight will need you, and her friends, but this is her burden to bear.”
Spike sighed. “Okay Princess. Thank you for sharing everything with me, both of you. I guess I need to hurry if I am going to catch up to the train and Twilight.
“Indeed you do, and Spike. Thank you for listening. It has been ages since anyone heard that story. Princess Celestia said, opening the door for him. Princess Luna stood in the back, nodding for him to leave.
Since the train wasn’t going to slow down just so he could catch it, Spike hurried down the halls of Canterlot Castle. Rather than go all the way back to the front door, Spike found the first open balcony and jumped from it. His wings snapped open and he soared out, away from Canterlot. The world stretched out below him and he found the train tracks. He followed them North. North towards Twilight. North towards the Empire. North towards whatever the future held.
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Awesome chapter, though the princesses are still idiots for risking an entire empire/city state for the sake of Twilight's 'development', regardless of how it works out in the end.
Also:
Accidental repeat.
7753494 Huh. I uh, reread it twice before giving it a go for posting. How the actual fractual did I miss it!?
7755255 Dunno, it's literally the very last line of the chapter. Though considering my past editing screwups... >_>
7755320
7755255
Thanks for Catching that. It should be fixed now. Must have happened when I was copying it to and from its master doc.
yay awesome read, although I think I see a typo.
7759378 Feel free to PM it or just post it here.
7761657 I would but I forgot where it was.