> Equestria Girls Spikebelle 2: Summer Vacation Part 1
>  by Chaos04
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Start Of A Nice Summer And Heading To The Waterpark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun dawned on a certain neighborhood, with a certain house, where a certain boy slept peacefully for the first time in a long while. With the sun shining through his window, Spike began to rouse from his sleep.

After sitting up in bed, he yawned quietly, cracked his back and stretched his arms. After waking up, everything that happened before all seemed like a bad dream. The reality remained that his mum was dead, his dad was still in jail, he barely survived a run in with a psychotic madman, and his friend had become the personification of chaos. But, all of that was behind him, and he could only look forward to a brighter future.

Once Spike was out of bed, he changed into his street clothes, which had been laid out on top of the chest next to his bed. An accommodation from his new adoptive sister, Twilight Sparkle. After changing, he tidied up his bed, left his bedroom and walked to the next door over.

“Twilight!” he called, as he knocked on the door.

The door opened, revealing Twilight. Uncharacteristically, her hair was messy, her glasses were crooked, and she hadn’t even changed out of her pajamas at this hour.

“Goo--” Twilight’s greeting was cut off by a long yawn, “--morning, Spike.”

“No sleep again? Let me guess: busy studying for a summer holiday destination,” Spike said, with a mischievous smile.

“No…” Twilight said. In the short time she knew Spike, she learned that she couldn’t get much anything past him. She decided to at least tell a half truth, “Okay...Maybe a lot.”

“Typical,” Spike said.

“Did you come by for something,” Twilight asked.

“Yeah. I was just thinking that since me and my friends are going to the waterpark today, I thought you might want to come along. If you don’t have any plans, I mean.”

“Uh...I think I’ll have to pass. I’m spending the day with Thorax,” Twilight said, playing with a strand of her own hair.

“Aha,” was all Spike said. “Well, good luck with that.”

Spike went downstairs to the dining room. Immediately, he was greeted by a wonderful familiar scent. Looking to the dining room table, he saw sitting there his new adoptive parents. Set on the table was a platter stacked with pancakes nearly a quarter of a meter high. Next to that was a plate full of bacon, and a pan full of eggs. Set in the center was another platter, this one filled by one half of almond muffins and the other half filled with cinnamon buns.

“Ah. Decided to join us for breakfast, did you?” Twilight Velvet greeted the boy.

“Uh...sure,” Spike said, eyeing the extravagant feast before him. “Thanks, Mrs. Velvet.”

“Spike, you don’t have to address us so formally. Call me ‘mum.’

“Alright. Just...you know, I’m not so used to calling anyone else ‘mum,’” Spike answered.

Neither of his adoptive parents said anything. They didn’t have to for Spike to know that they understood exactly why.

Spike walked to the table, and took a plate that was set at a place there. He helped himself to at least four pancakes, three slices of bacon, a heaping scoop of eggs, one muffin and one cinnamon bun.

“Not to sound ungrateful, but why the feast? You’ve never done anything like this for me or Twilight since I started living here,” Spike wondered.

“Well, we just know that you’ve gotten off to a rough start. I guess it’s just our way of helping you adjust to this new phase in your life,” Night Light answered.

“Thanks. Got any orange juice with that adjustment?”

“Coming up,” Velvet said, as she stood up to retrieve the requested drink.

Soon as she had, Twilight came downstairs fully dressed.

“Looks like our newest family member’s settled himself right in. Just so you know: the muffins and buns were my idea,” Twilight said.

“Keep ‘em rolling. I want to eat like this every day,” Spike answered, before taking a bite of eggs.

The family had a good laugh at the boy’s comment. From the time they first had met him up until now, he had changed quite drastically. No longer was he the cynical, gloomy boy from before, but a model of an adolescent.

“What, you think I’m joking?” Spike continued.

“Sorry, Spike. This is just the welcome wagon,” Night Light said. He then noticed out of the corner of his eye that Twilight was not moving to sit at the table. Rather, she was heading right for the door. “Twilight? Where are you going?”

“I just have to go out and...meet someone,” Twilight said, having not yet worked up the courage to tell her parents she was dating someone.

“Yeah, she’s going out alright,” Spike thought to himself.

“As busy as you are, Twilight, you’re not leaving this house on an empty stomach. Sit,” Velvet said, pulling out a chair at the table.

Never one to argue with her mother, Twilight reluctantly sat down and made herself a plate. All the while, her eyes kept darting to the clock on the wall.

Minutes passed, and in the same amount of time, Twilight finished the huge plate of food her mother had heaped up for her. After that, she ran toward the door.

“Twilight!” Spike called.

Twilight stopped herself. How could she have forgotten the simplest staple item that nobody should leave the house without?

She turned around, and caught the phone and car keys that Spike tossed to her. Now, she was ready to go.

The adults had an internal laugh at the antics of the children. These two worked so well together, and they hadn’t known one another a month. It seemed like such a fortunate happenstance that Spike had come into their lives, however tragic the circumstances were that brought him to them.

Thinking nothing more on it, they all continued to enjoy their breakfast.

Spike, however, was busily concocting plans for the day he was going to spend with his new friends.






In the flat above the carousel boutique, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were happily chatting amongst each other. At least, it was happy in the sense that the three of them were not having a bad time.

“Now, don’t that beat all. Sweetie Belle, I’m surprised at you. Ya had the one opportunity to ask out Spike, an’ ya blow it!” Apple Bloom said.

“It's not that I didn't want to... it-it's a little more complicated than just that,” Sweetie said.

“Complicated how?” Scootaloo asked, staring down Sweetie Belle. “Do you like him?”

“What does it matter? You two still hate him a little bit,” Sweetie Belle answered.

“Aw no! Yer not turnin’ this on us. Scootaloo just asked ya a question, an’ yer gonna answer it,” Apple Bloom said.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo agreed.

All of a sudden, Sweetie Belle felt like the victim of a cruel roast. Pinned by the stern stares of her friends, Sweetie felt as if a sudden vice had clasped around her chest.

There came a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it!” Sweetie Belle said abruptly.

She quickly walked to the door, and readily opened it.

“Rarity! Hi!” Sweetie Belle greeted her sister at the door.

“Sweetie Belle, please! I’m right here! You don’t need to yell,” Rarity said. “Now, I came up to tell you all to get ready, so that we can pick up Spike and be on our way.”

Rarity handed each of the children a small shopping bag, each one loaded with the clothes and supplies they would need for their day of fun.

“And this one is for Spike,” Rarity said, handing a fourth bag to Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle peeked into the fourth bag she was given, and found the essentials inside. Sunblock, goggles, a change of clothes, and finally, she pulled out a pair of swimming trunks. These, she examined longer than the other items, until she heard the sounds of her friends giggling behind her.

“I bet she’s picturing Spike wearing those now,” Scootaloo said.

“Ten bucks says she starts rubbin’ ‘em on her face,” Apple Bloom replied.

“Ew! Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle shouted, before wadding up the trunks and throwing them at her friend.

“Girls! Please! Keep the horseplay to a minimum!” Rarity intervened. She sighed internally at what was happening before her. Sweetie Belle had reached the age where she was transitioning to womanhood. When a simple fancy could blossom into so much more. She remembered when she was so young, and how things started changing so drastically, yet so gradually as well. It was like one prolonged walk through a difficult trail in an unfamiliar neighborhood. Still, there was no preventing it from happening, and she decided to simply facilitate getting to the waterpark. “Now, all of you children get ready and change your clothes.”

“We’re not children, Rarity,” Sweetie Belle said, before she went to the bathroom to change her clothes.

“Yes. Of course,” Rarity said, parlty to herself. “Just give me a call when you’re all ready.”

Over a course of minutes, Rarity was called back to the room upstairs, and greeted the younger girls.

“All set to go?” she asked them.

“Yeah!” the three cheered in unison, high fiving each other.

The girls and Rarity exited the boutique, and entered the car. After strapping themselves down, they were ready for their day of fun.

Today, there seemed to be something unusual about the city. Normally, the streets were choked with traffic, and the paths were flooded shoulder to shoulder with pedestrians. Today, traffic seemed relatively sparse, and only a few people were walking about in Canterlot.






Back at Twilight’s house, Spike was in his room watching a movie. Having not much else to do, he sat down with whatever he felt he was in the mood to watch.

There came a knocking at the front door.

“Spike,” called a voice he recognized.

That was enough to make him practically fly out of his seat and rush to the front door. There, he was greeted by Rarity, and he knew what her presence meant.

“Guessing it’s time to go?” Spike said.

“Mm-hm,” Rarity nodded. “And we’ve already provided everything you’ll need for the trip. No need to pack up.”

“Everything? Even a pair of trunks?”

“Everything.”

“Thanks. I guess it pays to work in a clothing store.”

“Boutique, Spike. The word is boutique,” Rarity said, as she guided the boy to her car.

Rarity took her spot in the driver’s seat, while Spike moved to the back. When he arrived there, he saw that the only seat available was between Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

“Hi,” Sweetie Belle greeted him.

“Come on in, Spike. Take yer seat. Right between the girls,” Apple Bloom teased.

“Apple Bloom,” Sweetie admonished her friend. She unstrapped herself, and scooted down to accommodate Spike’s arrival.

“Thanks,” Spike said.

After Spike settled himself into the car, Rarity started it up and drove off.

Everyone was silent, unsure of what to say to one another. Spike glanced around at the other passengers, and noticed something was quite off about them all. Scootaloo was glancing at him from the front passenger seat. Apple Bloom wouldn’t stop smiling at him. And Sweetie Belle wouldn’t even look at him.

“Soooooo...how have you girls been?” Spike asked, trying to break the ice.

“Just fine. Been a bit dull since school got out,” Apple Bloom answered. “But, enough ‘bout us. How ya been?”

That question seemed a bit abrupt. Just by looking at Apple Bloom’s face, Spike could tell that she was hoping to hear something. This notion was enforced by the sight of Scootaloo peering around her seat to look at Spike.

“I’ve been good,” Spike answered uncomfortably.

“Anything exciting happen yet?” Scootaloo asked from the front.

“Not particularly. Just this trip we’re going on.”

“Been thinkin’ about anyone?” Apple Bloom asked.

Sweetie Belle buried her face in her hands.

“Girls, please. I’m sure Spike isn’t interested in such femininities,” Rarity said. “Why don’t the four of you decide on what you’ll be doing when you reach the waterpark?”

Sweetie Belle held her breath, hoping that her sister’s intervention would divert the others’ train of thought.

“Yeah, alright,” Apple Bloom said.

Spike and Sweetie Belle released a collective sigh of relief, both glad to have avoided a potentially awkward situation.

The ride passed, and the four younger passengers all knew just what they were going to do when they arrived. However, upon seeing the water park itself, they were left in utter awe.

Slides that seemed a mile high were peppered about, while below them gigantic pools of water were happily occupied by the splashing attendees. Simulated tidepools rocked and waved, sending the swimmers up and down with each swell. A drifting lagoon was seen, allowing those within to simply float about as if they hadn’t a care in the world.

“This--looks--awesome!” Scootaloo said.

“And we won’t get anywhere just by looking at it. Let’s go,” Spike urged the others.

Rarity went first, and paid everyone’s admission. Once they were inside, Rarity left to have a relaxing day of her own.

Inside the front gates, the kids all stood stunned. Outside, the place looked amazing. Inside, it was even better. Everyone here was smiling. There wasn’t a sad face to see in the entire place. They had just begun walking to the changing rooms, when Spike saw something that made his skin crawl and his blood run cold.

Somewhere, among the crowd of smiling faces and playing families, Spike swore he could see the red-eyed man in black: Pharynx himself. He did absolutely nothing, other than turn his head, and looked at Spike the very same way he did that day on the metro.

The sight was a shock to Spike’s system, making the boy feel like he could keel over. Why did he have to be here? Why, of all the days did Pharynx have to reappear in his life.

“Spike? Are you alright?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Spike jumped so slightly that Sweetie Belle didn’t even notice. He quickly looked at her, then quickly looked back forward.

Pharynx was gone. Spike quickly darted his gaze around, trying to see where the madman could be hiding next. There was no rational place that he could have disappeared to so quickly. Not even the crowds would be thick enough to hide that black jumper he always wore.

“Nothing. Just got something in my eye,” Spike said, before he started rubbing his eyes.

“Alright. So, I’ll see you after you get out of the changing room,” Sweetie Belle said, as she handed Spike his bag.

“Uh, right. Thanks,” Spike said, trying to sound calm. Against his rapidly beating heart, he was having a hard time keeping his voice steady. “So, we’ll meet at the biggest slide first, after we all get changed,” Spike said.

He quickly walked to the changing room. Inside the small, dark room, Spike felt as if Pharynx were liable to reach out and take him down the dark path he once intended. These thoughts spurred Spike to change his clothes even more quickly than before.

Once he was done, he looked around to see if any of his friends were out of their rooms. When he saw they weren’t, he walked on to the largest slide in the water park.

Partway there, he bumped into somebody.

“Again?” Spike thought, as the other man walked past him.

The boy turned to apologize, but his voice stopped when he saw who he had hit.

The man he bumped into was only seen from behind, but was clad in blue jeans and a black jumper. Slowly, the man turned around and walked casually walked backwards as he looked at Spike.

“Have fun,” Pharynx said nonchalantly, his hands apart and his shoulders shrugged, before he turned back around and seemed to disappear into nothingness.

Spike didn’t know what to make of what he saw. Either Pharynx was now a ghost or some kind of hallucination. Either way, nothing good could come now that the madman had reappeared.
> Discord's Regret And Discovery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord had awoken in the early hours of the morning. In spite of the day waning on, he had been laying in his bed well until just before midday.

It had been the same every day since he found himself in possession of a strange and chaotic power that had quite literally turned Canterlot upside-down. On top of all that, he threatened the younger siblings of his new friends with this new power, and put his new girlfriend in danger.

Thinking of Fluttershy made his heart sink. He hadn’t spoken to her in days, and she had been trying her damndest to contact him. Every text message, he erased. Every phone call, he ignored. Every time Fluttershy tried coming to his house, Discord made sure to be out. He knew full well she had already forgiven him for all of his misdoings. That was what made Fluttershy so wonderful. But, how could he face her again after that?

His head turned, and he saw his phone on the night table next to his bed. Any minute now he knew that it would start buzzing, alerting him to an incoming call from his sweetheart. He was unable to bear it anymore. It was time to get past it all and speak with Fluttershy again.

Taking his phone, he turned on the screen and sent a simple text message: ‘where are you??’

Knowing Fluttershy, she would already be out and about with her friends. All he had to do now was get a head start and go out as well. When she answered his text, he would set up a meeting place with her and talk about what had happened. After taking a moment to psych himself up, he got out of bed and walked straight out the door, having still been wearing his same clothes from yesterday.

It wasn’t long before he was able to catch a tram into the downtown area, and started looking for anywhere Fluttershy might be. Once he departed the tram, he took his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen. Fluttershy hadn’t yet answered him.

Knowing her, he would be able to find her in a park, in a pet store, at the zoo, or at a dog show, if there were any being held in town.

With nothing else to do, Discord began meandering about town, hoping that he would run into her at some point. He was about to take out his phone again to see if she had answered, when he noticed a familiar face that he nearly passed by in the crowd.

“Twilight,” Discord greeted her.

“Hm?” Twilight asked. Clearly, her mind had been elsewhere. “Oh, Discord. There you are. Fluttershy’s been trying to get ahold of you for days.”

“I know. That’s kind of why I’m out. Have you seen her around? Or would you know where she is?”

“No. She hasn’t said anything about doing anything special or specific lately. Are you going to meet her somewhere?” Twilight asked.

“I’m trying to. That’s why I’m here. But, she hasn’t answered the text I sent her yet,” Discord answered.

“Sorry to hear that. I’d like to stay and help, but I’m pretty busy right now. Good luck finding Fluttershy,” Twilight said, before she left to go begin her date with Thorax.

After she left, Discord looked at his phone again

Nothing.

With a sigh, Discord simply sat down on a nearby chair at a restaurant patio. There, he decided to wait to be served and order lunch for himself, as he waited to hear from Fluttershy again.






Ever since Pharynx had spoken to him at the water park, Spike was completely on edge. For minutes now, he abandoned going to the largest slide in the park and was frantically looking for where the madman could be hiding.

It was no use. It was as if Pharynx somehow had turned invisible and gone away from the water park.

Fear clutched Spike as a terrible thought occurred to him. Discord had already accidentally fallen victim to powerful and dangerous magic. What if Pharynx had done the same, and was now warping the world to his mad whims. What people would be killed by him? How many would suffer from his psychotic episodes?

“Spike? What are you doing way over here?” Scootaloo’s voice asked from behind.

Spike stopped and turned around. There was Scootaloo, changed into her swimsuit for the day at the waterpark.

“We’ve been waiting for you forever. Why aren’t you at the slide?” Scootaloo continued.

“I--I was--” Spike stammered. The last thing that he wanted to do was to worry his friends over the presence of a madman in their midst. His mind raced for an excuse, but Scootaloo didn’t seem to have the patience to wait for one.

“Looks like Apple Bloom called it: cold feet. But, I got news for you,” Scootaloo said. As soon as she finished, she grabbed Spike by his wrist and dragged him right back to the others.

As they were walking, Spike’s eyes darted about, looking for any trace of black clothing in the crowd.

Scootaloo led Spike through the crowd, back to where Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were waiting. Both girls had changed into their swimsuits as well, but Sweetie Belle wore a thin, short-sleeved top to cover the scar on her arm.

“There ya are. We been waitin’ forever,” Apple Bloom said. “What took ya so long? Ya get lost or somethin’?”

“I--yeah. I got lost,” Spike said, holding onto the one remotely believable excuse he could offer.

None of them had known Spike for very long, but Sweetie Belle could see that something was troubling Spike very much.

“Spike? Are you okay?” she wondered.

“Yeah. Yeah, fine,” Spike hastily answered. As much as he wanted to have fun and put the experience behind himself, he couldn’t even hope for it to be that simple. As far as he knew, Pharynx was waiting to strike. It was only a matter of time.






Discord had eaten his lunch, but still received no word from Fluttershy. Afterward, he continued searching for her.

After searching so many places, he was beginning to run out of ideas as to where she could be. He looked at his phone again, and once more saw that she hadn’t responded to the text message he sent her.

With an aggravated sigh, he put his phone back in his pocket, and walked to the next crossing.

Across the street, he saw a flower stand. An idea occurred to him, and as soon as the lamp signalled for him to cross, he jogged straight over.

“Hello, sir. What are you looking to buy,” the woman behind the flower stand asked.

“Uh,” Discord stalled, as he looked through the merchandise. He decided to go with the old reliable, “One rose, please.”

“Five bucks for one rose,” the woman said.

“Five bucks for a flower?! What scam is she running?” Discord thought to himself, as he retrieved his wallet and produced a bill for her.

The woman crouched behind her stand, leaving Discord to briefly mull over what he would do when he actually met Fluttershy.

“Here,” the woman said, as she returned with a single rose. One that had just barely begun to open up. “You look like you’ve got something serious to handle, so here’s a fresh rose.”

“Thanks,” Discord said, before leaving on his way.

His next stop was going to be the zoo. When he arrived there, he paid his admission and walked inside.

Fluttershy was still nowhere to be found in this place.

“Dammit! Where is she?” Discord thought to himself.

He stopped in front of a gigantic aviary, where birds of many colors flew about. He leaned against the fence, which separated the attendees from a shallow pool where flamingos waded about.

One look at the rose in his hand, and he felt as if he had just wasted his five dollars.

“Crap…” he sighed, as he tossed the rose aside.

Discord left the zoo, feeling now that Fluttershy had stopped wanting to talk to him. Of all the stupid luck. He had waited too long to try speaking with her, and now he was paying the price. Tired, exhausted and sore, he decided to walk back home and try again tomorrow.

Once Discord was home, his parents were already out. Not that they’d notice if he came home, had they been present. He went to his room, contemplating what he would say and do if he met Fluttershy tomorrow.

There came a noise at his window. When Discord looked, he saw the very rose he had thrown away batting its petals at the glass panes.

Curious and startled both at once, Discord opened the window and allowed the rose to come hopping inside on its stem. The rose hopped up to his night table and put down roots.

Discord stared in amazement at what had happened. The only time something even remotely similar happened was in the weeks before when he fell victim to a strange power. Had it been he who animated this rose? Was he in control of this power now?

This matter would need to be investigated. And he did it the only way he could conceive how. He thought back to what he had for lunch, before he bought the rose.

“I’m sure hungry right now. Fish and chips sounds nice,” he said aloud.

The rose on the table blossomed, and spat forth a platter of grilled fish and crispy chips.

Discord didn’t know what to make of what he saw. Whatever power he had, some small part of it seemed to have stayed behind. Whether it was good or bad, that remained to be seen.
> Pharynx's Past
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pharynx walked through the corridors of the overthrown prison. The guard’s corpses were being thrown out to be disposed of, now that the scent of decay was becoming unbearable.

He looked into each one of the dark hallways that made up the labyrinth of the building’s inner corridors. In each shadowy room, Pharynx swore he saw glimpses of events long past. Whether it was the result of his new power, or all in his own mind, he could not tell.

Passing one room, he saw the first day he ever experienced blood and death.

It was his sixth birthday. It had been a dismal day for him, knowing that he would receive no presents, and no friends would ever come to see him. Doing the only thing he knew to do, he went to his parents’ room to spend the day with them.

Pharynx watched as his younger self reached up and knocked on a large door.

“What do you want…” asked a deep voice from beyond the door.

“Dad? Is mum with you? I can’t find her?” Young Pharynx said, as he opened the door.

Pharynx looked on, as his younger self gasped at the sight of his father sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands red and dripping with fresh blood. Behind him, there was a mass of bloodied sheets and limbs sticking out from them in all directions.

“I hate to tell you this, but she died in her sleep,” the man said, feigning sadness. His voice was cold and mechanical, no emotion to be heard.

The young boy looked on, frightened and alarmed at the sight.

“Quit lookin’ at me like that. You didn’t react nearly this bad when I blew up the Hollow Shades,” he said.

As Pharynx watched, he recalled a vague memory from when he was only a few months old. When the sky lit up with fire, and screams were heard for miles around. He smirked, when he realized his father was beyond hope and redemption, even after he had his first son.

The younger Pharynx started backing away in horror at the sight. Something about the sight made the older Pharynx smile. A sort of nostalgia for his more naive days.

“Don’t you walk away from me, boy. This is something I need you to see,” his father said.

The boy tried to run, but was easily caught. Once he was, he was forced to look at the disfigured remains of his mother.

“I want you to see what’s become of your mother. I want you to know that this is what we all become. If not by another, we all end up doing it to ourselves eventually,” the man said.

Try as the boy did, he couldn’t fight the bloody hands of his father, which made Pharynx chortle quietly as he watched.

“We’re all terminal, boy. Whether we know it or not, this is what happens to us all. The worst cases are the ones who let it fester internally, and go on suffering quietly through their miserable lives. Your mother was the worst I’d ever seen.”

The younger Pharynx stared helplessly at his mutilated mother. What was left of her face seemed to be staring back at him, screaming for help, but at the same time begging for more.

“I want you to remember this: the best thing for all of humankind is to be freed from their self-inflicted sickness. All it takes is people like us…”

Pharynx mouthed along with the last seven words. The best lesson he ever remembered learning. Shaking his head, he walked past the room and continued on his way.

When he turned a corner, he was met with another surprise.

There, in the hallway, was his twelve year old self. Paying no mind to the young phantom, Pharynx kept walking. However, he found it more difficult to ignore when his next step took him back to his old classroom.

Pharynx touched his hand to the rock hung around his neck. Whatever was happening, he was growing suspicious of the power it held. However, this place held one of his dearest memories.

Taking the time to relive this bit of memory, Pharynx leaned his back against a wall and watched as his twelve year old self sat down next to another boy with black hair, and green eyes with red pupils.

“New in class?” asked the other boy.

“Yeah. So what?” young Pharynx answered.

“So nothing. I’m just welcoming someone new is all. My name’s Sombra.”

“Pharynx.”

“You shouldn’t act so standoffish, you know. A guy that looks like you is sure to be popular with girls. I’m almost jealous, actually,” Sombra chuckled, indicating his frightening appearance.

Sombra then glanced over to a girl in the front of the class.

Young Pharynx’s stomach churned at the idea. Ever since his mum was mutilated, the thought of going near a girl made him sick. Whoever this Sombra was, he was a wimp. A weakling who was only going to be a victim of the self-inflicted illness his father taught him about.

Then, an evil idea filled his mind. If Sombra were feared, he would be forced to listen to the one person he called ‘friend.’

“Sombra,” Pharynx said.

“What is it?” Sombra said, a smile on his face.

Pharynx gagged, hoping to never see such a jovial look again. “Sombra, at recess I wanna show you something.”

The bell went, and Pharynx watched as the classroom around him melted away to become a school hallway. His younger self, and the younger Sombra were walking down the halls. His plan had worked. After so many weeks, Sombra was well on his way to becoming like himself. He would understand the illness, and relieve people from it.

“Hi. How you doing?” Pharynx asked a boy he and Pharynx just happened to run into. Before the boy could answer, Pharynx roughly grabbed him by his collar and threw him into Sombra. “What’s your name, friend?”

“Huh?” the boy said, frightened like he was held at knifepoint.

“It’s not a trick question. I just want your name,” Pharynx said.

“Ni--Night Light!” the boy said.

“Well, Night Light: I’m Sombra, and this is my pal Pharynx,” Sombra introduced them both, before throwing Night Light to the ground.

Pharynx smiled as he watched. How he remembered that rush of euphoria the day he met Night Light. And how quickly it faded when his friend, Twilight Velvet came rushing to his rescue. How his stomach churned when he saw her holding Night Light’s hand when she helped him up from the ground, and how he quickly turned and walked away.

Feeling his stomach churn like it did that day, Pharynx quickly turned around and rushed down the halls, which had become the prison interior once more.

Using the wall to lean on, Pharynx ran as quick as he could to ease his warped innards.

The faster he ran, the more images of the past he saw spawning from the shadows. There he was at fourteen, when he broke into a house for the first time. There he was at sixteen, extorting money from his classmates. There he was at eighteen, when he and Sombra mugged Night Light and put him in the hospital.

Pharynx burst through the door of the warden’s office and opened the window that had magically repaired itself after the mysterious stone broke it. Taking many deep breaths of the outside air, Pharynx could feel his stomach ease and his head grow clearer. But, it was not to last.

“Aw, hell…” Pharynx groaned, as he watched his twenty year old self in the prison yard below.

The world outside had changed to a bird’s eye view of a street he couldn’t even recognize. He and Sombra were simply walking along, passing a bottle of malt wine between the two of them, when they heard a commotion in an alleyway nearby.

“Sounds like someone working our turf. Let’s go sort them out,” Sombra said.

He finished the last bit of the bottle and threw it against the nearby wall.

It was only a short walk, and the two of them came across the scene of a gigantic man holding what barely looked like a woman in his enormous hands.

“Put me down!!!!” the woman shrieked, as she punched and clawed at the man.

“Screw that! I’d lose an eye if I did!” the man-mountain said, before slamming the waif into a wall.

The woman yelled in pain, before she slid like water from the man’s grip, and savagely started attacking him. For someone so thin, she seemed to be able to make the massive man stagger under the sheer ferocity of her blows.

She tried picking up a piece of sheet metal to attack the man, only for her opponent to grab it and bend it like it was rubber.

The man-mountain swung his fists, deeply denting the dumpster he hit when the woman dodged.

The waif took off her own jacket, and used it to strangle her opponent. She used the full weight of her body, however little there was, to leverage her larger opponent downward.

The larger man reached his arms over his head and caught the waif by her arm, before twisting it hard.

The woman screamed, and loosed her hold on the man, before she was pushed away.

The man-mountain took the reprieve to catch his breath.

The waif nearly attacked again, until she realized they were being watched.

“Cops!” she said, not clearly seeing who was watching them.

Just the one word made the man-mountain run after her.

“They don’t know that this alley’s a dead end,” Sombra said.

“Let’s go introduce ourselves,” Pharynx said.

The two of them walked calmly through the alleys, until they caught up with the other two, who were frantically looking for a means to escape. When confronted by the two men who had been watching them, the waif and man-mountain readied to attack.

“Hi. I’m Pharynx,” Pharynx introduced himself.

“And I'm Sombra,” Sombra introduced himself.

The waif and man-mountain both stared apprehensively. Who were these two to just walk up and introduce themselves so willingly.

“Chrysalis,” the woman said.

“Name’s Tirek,” the man said next.

And like that, the image below faded, and returned to the sight of the empty prison yard.

As fond as these memories were to Pharynx, reviewing them so vividly was exhausting for him. He had put his head out the window to get some fresh air, but his nose was assaulted by the stench of decay when he pulled it back into the room.

Coughing loudly, he yanked the warden’s partly bloated corpse off the wall and threw it out the open window. Using his hands, he fanned the stench outward, and sat back in the warden’s chair, leaving the window open for ventilation.

He thought back to the memories he saw, and completely on his own, through no power of the stone around his neck, did he remember one last event. One that made him smile.

He was thirty-three years old at the time. He was in Sombra’s house for the first time, and met his friend’s family. Not a warm reception, for after only minutes of pleasant conversation, Pharynx took hold of both his friend’s wife and child.

“What’s it going to be, Sombra? Me? Or her?” Pharynx said, roughly holding the woman by her hair.

“Pharynx. Be reasonable. Would you really hurt the woman you loved once?” Sombra said calmly.

Pharynx recalled how his stomach churned again. How he broke his own rule, and lusted after a woman. And how in the end, he rationalized it as a way of spawning his own image. Someone to take after him, just as he did his own father.

Now, there was the image of everything that should have been his own. The six year old boy held firmly by the back of his shirt in his other hand, who was begging for help from his father.

“Dad! Help!” the boy called.

“Will you listen to that?” Pharynx asked. “This is why I told you not to love! You don’t even know how to raise a kid! He’s acting like he hasn’t had a dose of reality in his life!”

“Sombra! What’s he talking about?” the woman asked shakily, as she slowly stopped fighting Pharynx’s grip.

“You don’t know? It was me that made your husband what he is! I’m the one who made you fall in love with him! You’d never have gone for him the way he was before! And now look! Instead of picking me, the artist, you chose my creation! You shallow, twisted girl!!” Pharynx yelled, before he threw both mother and child to the floor.

The two hostages quickly scrambled over to Sombra, and took refuge in his embrace.

Pharynx looked on, fiery rage burning in his red eyes.

“I’ll make it simple: it’s me, or her,” Pharynx finished, before leaving the house.

After reminiscing for a while, Pharynx sat back in the warden’s seat, recalling how that very night, Sombra nearly strangled his wife, Ember, to death. However, he failed in eliminating her, and escaped before the police could catch him. The memory fresh in his mind, he reached for the intercom on his desk, and pressed a specific button.

“Tirek? Still there?” he asked.

He waited a moment, before the speaker on his desk crackled to life.

“What is it?” Tirek’s voice answered.

“I feel like I want to visit with Sombra for a little bit. Can you bring him by the warden’s office?”

“Will do.”

Pharynx sat back, and waited not a minute, before Sombra was led into the office by Tirek.

Tirek seemed to work a good number on Sombra’s face, which was now swollen, bruised and bloody.

“Sombra. You’re not looking so good,” Pharynx greeted his old friend.

“I would think so. I asked for Tirek’s worst,” Sombra said.

“Looks like the big guy gave you the works. So, has your quality time together made you want to rejoin?”

“Not a chance,” Sombra chortled.

“No, huh? Let me guess: still holding out for your boy to have a chance at a different life?”

Sombra didn’t answer, but Pharynx knew that he was right.

“You know, I actually saw your son today. He’s doing alright.”

“You think I’m stupid? I know you’ve been here in the prison this whole time. There’s no way you’d be able to leave for town and come back so quick,” Sombra said.

“You’d be surprised how quick the trip was,” Pharynx answered. “He was out with that girl of his. She reminds me a lot of your Ember. What do you think’s going to happen between them? Hm? What do you think?” Pharynx finished, mimicking strangling as he held the warden’s monogrammed handkerchief in his hands.

“I know what you’re hoping will happen won’t,” Sombra said. “Spike isn’t anything like us. He’s going to live happily with the people he loves. And one day, he may even end up becoming your undoing.”

Pharynx simply stared as Sombra smirked contemplatively.

“Tirek, get him out of here. I can’t stand looking at that smug face any longer,” he said.

Sombra stood up and opened the door himself, while Tirek led him away.

“This is going to be a loooong day,” Pharynx said, as he stared out the window.
> Conflicted Feelings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike had not enjoyed his time at the waterpark. After seeing Pharynx he became completely paranoid and afraid. Not a second was spent having fun. Instead, he took every moment to look for where the madman may strike next.

Now, he was at home, sitting at his desk in his bedroom, wondering when and where Pharynx may appear, and what terrible things he may do.

After drumming his fingers on the desk for the thousandth time, Spike glanced over at the clock on his desk. Five minutes before ten o'clock, and Twilight still hadn’t come home. Had Pharynx gotten her while she was out with Thorax? Was she alright?

There came a knock on the door, snapping Spike from his paranoid musings.

“Come in,” Spike said, after jumping in his seat.

The door softly opened, and to Spike’s everlasting relief Twilight walked in.

“Spike?” she asked.

“Twilight!” Spike said, as he got off his seat, and rushed to hug his adoptive sister.

“I know I was out late, but I didn’t think you’d be this happy to see me,” Twilight said, as she returned the hug

Spike nearly smiled at the sight of Twilight in his doorway. He nearly made himself sick with worry only seconds ago, and was now nearly trembling.

“Spike? Are you alright? You look a little flushed,” Twilight said, as she placed a hand against his forehead. “Did you get sick at the water park today?”

“No. I’m alright. I was just wondering what you were doing out so late,” Spike lied.

“Oh, it was nothing, really. Me and Thorax just ended up going to a movie a little later than we expected,” Twilight explained, as she let go of Spike. “Are mom and dad asleep right now?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, good. Listen: if you could do me a favor, and not tell them that I was out so late, that’d be great.”

“I think they’ll notice that you weren’t here when they went to bed.”

“Shoot. You’re right. I’ll have to think of something,” Twilight said, as she took a step backward into the hallway. “Whatever I come up with, you’ll cover for me, won’t you?”

“Sure,” Spike answered.

“Thanks,” Twilight said, before she quietly made off for her own room next door.

After Twilight left, Spike realized how much his new family meant to him. If anything were to happen to them, it would be like losing his mum all over again.

Pharynx would have to be dealt with.

It was a large undertaking for a little boy like him. But, if he was ever to keep the ones he loved safe from harm, he would have to go and meet the madman. How he would keep Pharynx from returning again, he didn’t know. Pharynx was nothing like Garble, who was sorted out and sent away in one day. Pharynx would need the point driven to him hard. Whether or not he would succeed, or even survive, he was afraid to know. But, he had to at least try to make the world safer for his new family.

Summoning all his courage, the boy quietly crept down to the kitchen to arm himself. There, he picked up the largest knife he could find.

“I’m gonna need a bigger knife,” Spike said, knowing that Pharynx would not go down without a fight.

His mind went back to the day when he was taken to Canterlot Prison by Pharynx. How the madman told him that when they met again, there would be blood on Spike’s hands.

Spike sighed long and silently, as he slipped the knife back into its wooden block. He knew that going out at night unarmed was not wise, but his mind was resolved to undertake the matter.

The boy walked out the front door, knowing that tonight his life would change.

For hours, into the early part of the morning, Spike was patrolling the city. The only sounds here were the steps of his shoes, and the blowing of the wind, with the occasional passing car. Yet, there was no sight of Pharynx.

After so long, he found himself back at Canterlot High. Here was where so many things had gone wrong before. There, by the statue where Discord held his friends hostage only days before.

Spike walked up to the statue, and examined it. Was there some kind of power in there that made Discord go crazy and try to destroy everything?

“No. That doesn’t make any sense,” Spike thought to himself.

He took his phone out of his pocket, and saw the hour was growing late. In only a few hours, the sun would be up, and his family would be sure to notice he was missing.

Partly grateful the night had been uneventful, Spike sighed and leaned his back against the side of the statue. This would prove to be the biggest mistake he ever made.

With a shout, Spike found that he was now falling backwards as if he hadn’t leaned on anything at all.

Spike was unable to see much of anything, let alone any process of travel. In the next moment, he found himself tumbling to the floor in an unfamiliar room.

“Ow!” he said aloud.

He looked around, and found that he was in a room that looked like pure crystal. Behind him, there was a large mirror, the surface of which was rippling like water.

Spike looked at the mirror and touched a claw to its surface, making it ripple more.

“Wait a second! A claw!?”

Spike looked to his hands, and found that they were now scaly and purple, with tiny claws on the tips.

“What the hell happened to my hands!? Am I some kind of dinosaur now!?” he thought to himself.

There came voices from somewhere nearby. Voices that were just barely audible, and completely unintelligible.

If Spike knew what was good for him, he simply would have walked back through that mirror and paid no mind to what happened just then. But, curiosity won over caution, Spike went to find the source of the voices.

After leaving the room he was in, Spike found he was in a hallway loaded with doors. It was as if the room was nothing but endless passageways that led to more passageways.

Following the sounds of the voices, Spike found himself in more and more hallways. Finally, his travels took him to a golden door.

He placed an ear on the door, and heard voices inside talking. He still couldn’t understand the words they were saying, but he thought he could at least recognize their voices. Then, one voice spoke, and he knew exactly who the owner was.

“Twilight?” Spike said.

The door was suddenly surrounded by a pink aura, and opened as if by magic.

Spike was dumbfounded by what he saw. There, sitting around a table were a bunch of ponies. Not normal ponies, though. Ponies in every possible color of the spectrum were present. The most normal ones he could see looked only vaguely like the four-legged animals from back home.

The others: two of them had horns on their heads. Two others had wings on their sides. And one of them had both wings and a horn.

“Twilight?” he asked again.

“Spike?” asked the lavender pony with wings and a horn, as she trotted to the door. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going to the Dragon Lands.”

“Dragon Lands?” Spike asked. Nothing about what the pony who sounded like Twilight made any sense to him.

“Sorry, Spike. As nice as it is to see you here, I’m pretty busy right now. And it’s past your bedtime anyway. Come on. I’ll take you to your room,” the pony said, before leading Spike away.






Back in the more familiar Canterlot, Sweetie Belle woke up smiling that morning. Today, she was going to visit Spike again. And she was going to spend the day with him. Just the two of them together.

Almost as quickly as she got out of bed, she changed into her street clothes and went to have breakfast with her sister.

“Hey, Rarity!” Sweetie Belle enthusiastically greeted.

“Sweetie Belle, please! It was only yesterday I told you not to yell when I’m this close,” Rarity said, holding her head.

“Sorry. I’m just a bit excited about today,” Sweetie said, as she poured herself a bowl of cereal.

Rarity didn’t have to see her sister’s face to know what she was planning.

“If you want a ride, I’ll gladly drive you to Twilight’s house,” Rarity offered.

“That’s alright. I can just take a tram, and walk the rest of the way,” Sweetie said, as she sat down to eat.

“Ah, c’est l’amour,” Rarity muttered to herself.

“Hm?” Sweetie asked, after she had taken her first bite of breakfast.

“You’ll know soon enough,” Rarity answered.






Spike awoke from his sleep the next morning, feeling as if everything before had been a dream. But, knowing how things went for him: it was sure to have been otherwise.

He sat up, and found he was in an unfamiliar room.

“Great…” Spike muttered.

He looked down at one of his clawed hands, still unclear about what had changed about himself. After a brief scan, Spike found there was a mirror in the room.

Getting up from the bed he was in, Spike walked over to the mirror, and looked at himself in the reflective surface.

“I’m a dragon!!” Spike thought to himself.

To his everlasting shock, he was now a tiny, purple dragon with green eyes, a row of green spines down his back, and a pair of leathery wings on his back.

Why he was a dragon, or how it had come to be, he didn’t know. All he knew was that he couldn’t stay in this place, and had to get back home.

When Spike opened the door to his room, he was greeted by the labyrinthine halls from before. How was he supposed to find the mirror that led back home this way? Still, he wouldn’t get anywhere by simply dawdling. Putting his best foot forward, he started his search for a way home.

“Hiya, Spike!” greeted an energetic voice behind the dragon.

Spike jumped, and turned around, finding himself face to face with a pink pony, who had no wings or a horn.

“Hi!” Spike yelped. Even though she greeted him by name, Spike wasn’t about to attempt to pretend he knew her’s. However, there was something familiar about her that he couldn’t put his claw on.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face? Did I get some frosting on my nose again? I knew I shouldn’t have had cupcakes for breakfast,” the pink mare said.

Cupcakes for breakfast? Spike only knew one other person like that.

“Pinkie Pie?” he asked.

“Yes?” the pink pony said, snapping to alertness.

“Nothing…” Spike said, bewildered that this pony answered to the same name as Twilight’s friend.

“Okay. See you around,” Pinkie said, before patting Spike on the head and bouncing away.

“Something is very wrong here,” Spike thought to himself.

He continued down the thousands upon thousands of hallways, and found his way back to the room with the golden door. Curious as to what might have been happening behind it the night before, Spike opened it up.

“Whoah,” he said, as he entered the room. His eyes settled upon a massive table with seven thrones placed around it. In the center of the table, there was what appeared to be an image of a large map. One look at the map, and he didn’t recognize a single place on it. All the more evidence that he was far from his own home.

“Spike? Well, here’s a surprise,” came another voice Spike recognized.

There came a flash of light, and Spike was faced with the form of a strange creature that looked like a mashup of at least ten different animals.

“I thought you’d be gone longer, the way you’re always talking about that friend of yours in the Dragon Lands,” the creature said.

“Discord…?” Spike said.

“The one and only,” the creature said, as he flexed his muscles in front of a mirror that appeared next to him.

“Right…” Spike said.This was all becoming too much for him to handle. Instead of leaving, like he felt like doing, he decided to simply make pleasant conversation, if only for the sake of formality. “What are you up to today?”

“So glad you asked,” Discord said, “I was just thinking that since Twilight and the others aren’t here, we could get Big Mac and play some O&O.”

“Sure,” Spike said.

He had no idea what O&O was, or how to play it. It was only for the sake of going along to get along that he answered positively. Whatever he was getting himself into, Spike was beginning to feel he was in way over his young head.






Back in Canterlot, Sweetie Belle’s ride on the tram ended, and she was walking merrily toward Spike’s house. Her mind whorled with ideas about how she and Spike would spend their day together, just the two of them. What to do, where to go. Even what she may end up saying.

She was in Spike’s neighborhood, feeling a gentle pounding in her chest. Partly from the long walk, and partly from the prospect of seeing Spike.

When she reached the front door of Twilight’s house, she paused briefly. This was it. The moment of truth.

She raised her hand, and rapped her knuckles on the door.

In only moments, Twilight opened the door, and smiled at the younger girl before her.

“Sweetie Belle. Hey, what brings you here?” Twilight asked.

“Uh…” Sweetie Belle stalled briefly. She had hoped that Spike would have answered, feeling it would have made the situation less tense and awkward for herself. “I was just wondering if Spike was home,” she meekly replied.

Twilight didn’t say anything at first, but nodded her head as she lifted her eyebrows and smirked slightly.

“Follow me,” she said. Twilight led Sweetie Belle indoors, and up the stairs to Spike’s closed bedroom door. “Spike, you’ve got a visitor,” she called through the door.

“It’s me. Sweetie Belle,” Sweetie added, knowing that would get his attention.

There was no answer inside Spike’s room.

“Spike?” Twilight asked, as she knocked again.

Still no answer.

Feeling the slightest concern, Twilight opened his bedroom door.

Spike was gone. No trace of where he could have left to. No note. No prior word. Not even a text message was left.

“Spike?” Twilight asked again. A brief scan of the room, and her adoptive brother was nowhere to be seen. “Great. He left without telling anyone.”

Sweetie Belle began to grow anxious. Spike had already been acting weird at the water park yesterday. What if he had gone away again, just like he had before?

“Why does he keep doing this!?” Sweetie Belle said, as she took out her phone to send Spike a text message, asking where he was. “Every time I think he’s going to stay around, he goes and runs off again. What kind of friend keeps doing this to the people he cares about!?”

“He’s probably just gone out is all,” Twilight suggested. Though, in the back of her mind, she thought there was a chance that Sweetie Belle was right.






Back in the unfamiliar throne room, Spike had sat down at the table with the creature called Discord, after they were joined by a very large pony called Big Macintosh. A very large pony who very much reminded Spike of Twilight’s friend Applejack’s brother.

“So...how do we start?” Spike asked.

“Don’t tell me you fergot already,” Big Mac said.

“Well…,” Spike couldn't think of any excuses. His eyes darted between the older players, before saying the first thing that came to his mind. “Ah, stupid me. I guess I’ve been away for so long, I forgot how to play.”

One look to Discord and Big Mac, and he could tell they weren’t buying it.

“Let’s just play some O&O,” Discord said with finality. He snapped his fingers, and the three of them disappeared.
> Return Of Vlad
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deep in the darkness of the Everfree forest, a grey unicorn stallion walked. His golden eyes flitted about the scenery, finding everything that was out of place in the forest that been his home for the last forty years.

Every step he took was slow and deliberate. Every speck of light he found, he passed underneath, briefly illuminating his pitch black mane, and passing down to mark of a trio of skulls on his flank.

“Light…” he pondered to himself. “There’s never been light in this dismal place. What powers have begun to stir…?”

Light was a curiosity to him. It was something he had not seen once since he arrived in this strange place. Seeing light was a complete oddity. A change. Almost frightening to a pony, whose life was spent in darkness, consumed by darkness, filled by darkness.

The light was growing brighter with every step he took, his hooves brushing through the grass and the leaves that littered the forest floor. He was going to find the source of this new light. And, if need be, he was going to eliminate it.

Hours passed. Days passed. For the duration, not one of the beasts of the Everfree dared approach him. All that crossed him were overcome by the darkness that exuded from his being, and ran. Those who didn’t were cut down and left for dead.

Finally, the stallion’s journey was nearing its end. After following a trail beyond a wall of bushes, he found he was just beyond a cottage at a riverside. Outside the cottage were animals of all kinds. Some, he had never seen before.

The stallion turned his gaze to the animals on the property.

All who saw him ran for cover, and the ones who didn’t ran after, for fear of what was among them.

With a huff, the stallion simply kept walking on his way.

He came to a town. A small, homey town, where ponies all happily went about their days. A few stopped to say hello to the stranger. Though the stranger paid them no mind, he left those well-wishers with a cold chill and a sense of strong foreboding.

The stallion’s travels took him to a gleaming castle in the middle of town. This was where that insipid light was coming from. His journey was not at its end, however. He had to find the source of the light first.

Slowly, he opened the door and let himself inside. Without even stopping to think where he was going, the stallion began plodding down the halls, his mind set on finding the light.

“Excuse me,” said a voice behind him.

The stallion did not even turn to look at the lavender alicorn who had greeted him.

“Are you here for a friendship problem?” Twilight asked.

The stallion said nothing, and continued forward.

Twilight was becoming confused and anxious about the strange stallion in her home. One look to his cutie mark, and she felt this was nopony to treat lightly. Caution firmly in her mind, she trotted around to the front of the stallion, ready to help him or send him away.

“If you’re here because of a friendship problem, I can help you. I’m the Princess of Friendship, you know,” Twilight said, putting on her best friendly face. “Or, are you just lost?”

The stallion didn't respond, nor did he return the smile.  He simply kept walking. Without even stopping, he turned to walk in another direction. The strange feeling that came with the light seemed to pull him toward it. Soon, he would find what was drawing him in.

“Wait,” Twilight said, after noticing the deliberate way the stranger was walking, “Are you looking for something?”

No answer.

The stallion didn’t seem dangerous, but he would need to be watched. Keeping her distance from him, Twilight followed behind, keeping a close eye on him.

The two of them finally came to a golden door. Twilight felt a chill down her spine, as the unicorn’s horn lit up with a black aura, which opened the door with an eerie creak.

The stranger walked into the room. Lifting his head, he looked around the vicinity. The light was coming from here. He knew this was where it would be found. His eyes examined everything in the room carefully, until his gaze found a large mirror.

This was it. The stranger had found the source of the light. As deliberately as ever, he walked to the front of the mirror, staring at his own reflection. After a few moments of staring, he saw the reflection of the young alicorn step in behind him.

“What is this…?” he asked, in a low, hollow, nearly rusty-sounding voice.

The sound of the stallion’s voice stifled Twilight’s answer. It sounded to her as if he had spoken aloud for the first time in ages. Still, his question was innocent and reasonable enough, so she decided to answer.

“It’s just a mirror. That’s all,” Twilight answered.

“No…” the stranger answered, as he slowly lifted a hoof to touch the surface. The mirror rippled slightly at his touch, making him retract his hoof. “I see…” he said.

“What are you going to do?” Twilight wondered, fully prepared to send this stranger away, should he answer or behave in any hostile manner.

“I’m going home...I’m going to meet someone, who I haven’t seen in a long, long time…”

Walking as he did before, Twilight watched as the stallion stepped right through the mirror without stopping.






The broken statue at Canterlot High began to glow. In less than a second, a tall, terrifying man emerged.

The man looked to his hands, and saw they were no longer hooves. He looked to his body, seeing he was now upright on two legs. A form that he had not carried in decades. But, he could not stay to marvel at his new form. He still felt the pull of the unusual light, and now knew just who was holding it.

“Wait for me, Pharynx...Your father’s come home.”
> Father And Son Reunion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset was at her home, holed up in her bedroom. She was a day late on her friendship report to Twilight, but she was sure her royal friend would forgive her. After the day that she had with her friends yesterday, she felt like she had enough material for yesterday’s, today’s, and tomorrow’s reports.

At the moment, she was getting ready to write her report that she missed out on yesterday. Until the pages started glowing brightly. Sunset figured that it was Twilight asking what happened with the missing report, and was fully ready to explain that she was about to start writing it.

What she saw manifest on the pages disturbed her slightly.

Sunset, there’s a problem in your world--

A warning. About what? Sunset waited tensely as the words continued to write themselves on the pages.

--This morning, a stallion trespassed in my castle. I don’t know what it was about him, but I have a very strong feeling that he’s dangerous. And now, he’s in your world. Meet me at Canterlot High in a half hour.

Sunset looked to the message, knowing that Twilight was probably right about the strange stallion. She was always right when it came to judging character.

Quickly, she scribbled a confirmation into the notebook for Twilight to read, and packed her journal into her bag. Then, as fast as her feet could carry her, she was out her front door.






The stranger from Equestria sauntered casually down the street. With every step, his eyes darted around, looking for any sign of his son.

His dark raincoat swished about his legs, adding volume to his already imposing height. As he walked, he seemed to grow taller. All around him, the passersby looked up to see him, a giant with horrible power.

However, these people he passed were different than the ponies from back home. Each person he passed either paid him no mind, or they offered a simply friendly glance. Some even waved to him.

The stranger ignored each one of their greetings. His thoughts were on how the world had changed since he was gone. Forty years ago, the people who walked the streets of Canterlot would have run in fear at the sight of him. Then again, that was forty years ago.

By this time, he would have been forgotten by all but the oldest residents of the city. But, he would make himself known soon enough. This town was going to be at his mercy, and he was fresh out long ago.

The feeling of the light was still pulling him toward his destination. Wherever he was going, he would not stop until he was there. Time and space could not stop him. He was unparalleled in his determination to reach where he was going.

For whatever reason, his gaze was drawn to two young girls at the street corner before a crossing. One of the girls was older, and wore her hair in a ponytail. The other was much younger, and wore her curly hair down.

Somehow, without him even knowing, his steps were taking him right toward those two girls. They were not the source of what was leading him, but he could feel they were special somehow. Perhaps they had come in touch with the light he sought.

“Let’s think, Sweetie Belle: what are some of the places Spike would go to?” Twilight began, as she waited for the signal to cross.

The stranger was growing closer behind them.

“All I can think of are the beach and the arcade. Those were the places where me and Spike spent the most time together. It’s the only places I think he’d go,” Sweetie Belle answered.

The stranger was almost upon them.

“Hm...Do you think he’s waiting for you there?” Twilight said, realizing then that she was thinking like Rarity would.

The stranger was now directly behind them.

“Why would he be? He doesn’t even know I came to visit him today.”

Twilight nodded to herself. Of course Spike didn’t know Sweetie Belle was coming over. He probably would have met her halfway if he knew she was coming.

“Pardon me…” came a hoarse, raspy voice behind the girls.

After jumping slightly, Twilight and Sweetie Belle turned around, to see a tall man in a dark raincoat.

“I’m sorry for startling you. This may sound strange, but I want to know if you’ve seen my son,” the stranger said.

“Is he lost?” Sweetie Belle asked. She then wondered if there was the chance he was Spike’s father, looking for his lost son.

“No...I haven’t seen him in a long time. I’ve been gone these last forty years, and I want to see my boy again,” the stranger answered.

Forty years? Then there was no way this was Spike’s father, fresh from prison. Though he certainly looked scary enough to be a criminal.

“We might be able to help you. What does he look like?” Twilight asked.

“...He’d be in his forties by now. He has dark hair, and red eyes. His name is Pharynx…”

Sweetie Belle stifled a gasp, as the stranger knelt down to speak to her.

“Do you know anyone like that…?” the stranger asked.

Looking into the golden eyes of the stranger, Sweetie Belle felt the urge to run away in fear welling up within her. Whatever power this man had, it was infinitely more terrible than what she felt when she encountered Pharynx.

“N-No,” Sweetie Belle stammered.

The stranger looked at her as though he believed her. Without a word, he stood up straight to speak with Twilight.

“Maybe you know where my son is…?” he asked her.

“No,” Twilight quickly answered. The only knowledge she ever had about Pharynx was from what her father told her. From what she knew, she was glad that the only time she met him was a simple passing on the street.

Around them, the other pedestrians started walking.

“Sorry, but we need to be somewhere,” Twilight said, as she took Sweetie Belle’s hand, and started to guide her across the street.

“Wait,” the stranger said abruptly.

Maybe it was the subtle force of the stranger’s one word, but Twilight stopped and turned to face him.

“What is that?” he asked, pointing to the stone that hung around Twilight’s neck.

“It’s just a souvenir from when I went to camp,” Twilight said, before she and Sweetie Belle quickly crossed the street.

The stranger watched the girls cross. Now, he knew why he was drawn to them. While it was not the light he was being pulled toward, it was quite similar to the one he was following. It was different. It was...in a word: harmonious.

With one last look to the girls, he continued on his way.

Across the street, Twilight and Sweetie Belle’s hearts were racing from the encounter. They didn’t even dare look back, for fear the stranger was still behind them.

“Twilight, how bad is it that Pharynx’s dad is around?” Sweetie wondered.

“I don’t know,” Twilight honestly answered.

Ahead of them, they saw the back of a familiar red and yellow head.

“Sunset!” Twilight called to her.

Sunset turned around, and saw her friends jogging toward her.

“Thank goodness you’re here. I need you to come with me to Canterlot High. Now,” Sunset said, before she started walking.

Not knowing what Sunset’s business was, but sensing her urgent tone, Twilight and Sweetie Belle started walking after her.






The stranger had gone beyond the borders of Canterlot City. His travels were taking him to a remote location, beyond the highway, beyond civilization.

Soon, he was at a building of stone and steel. A structure where the shouts of raging souls and violent minds were allowed to act uninhibited. Without a thought more, the stranger walked right into the front door.

The man walked through the reception area, and through the wall at the back of the room.

Beyond the wall, Tirek was fighting off the other inmates as they rushed him four or five at a time.

The current wave of fighters fared no better than all the others before. The first two were knocked away in one swing. The next was punched, kicked, then knocked to the floor. The last fighter had his ribs shattered by Tirek’s knee, and was blown backwards by the force.

“And Tirek wins again!” shouted the inmate, who had been taking bets on the fights. He shelled out his money to the winners and took money from all the losers.

Tirek was starting to think he ought to throw a match in order to keep the pool going. And he had just the chance, when a very old, very tall man walked into their midst.

“Hmph...This is how they die,” Tirek said. “By challenging a power greater than themselves, a man can overcome his limits, or be overcome by them. Tell me, old man: what made you want to challenge something greater than yourself?”

The stranger didn’t answer. Instead, he walked right past Tirek as if the man-mountain hadn’t said anything at all.

“The fight’s over here,” Tirek said, as he put a massive hand on the stranger’s shoulder.

The stranger’s hand glowed with a black aura, before he simply waved his dark hand in the general direction of Tirek.

Tirek flew backwards, and was embedded into the nearest wall. To a normal man, the impact would have been fatal, but not for one as sturdy as Tirek.

After he pulled himself from the wall, Tirek watched as the old man walked forward. Right through a solid wall. There was a ripple of black aura, and the man was gone.

The old man knew he was growing close. It was only a matter of a few more steps.

In the darkest part of the prison, where even the freed prisoners feared to go, loud screams were heard.

At the moment, Chrysalis was putting the final touches on Pharynx’s earlier request. She had taken Officer Tempest to death row, and with some struggle was able to strap her into the prison’s death machine.

“Sorry to say, officer. But, your postponement on your sentence just ended!” Chrysalis grunted, as she strapped an electrode to Tempest’s head. “Would’ve been sooner--” Chrysalis stopped briefly to elbow Tempest in the face to stop her from struggling “--But we’ve been busy around here!”

“You fool!! You evil, psychotic fool!! You’re--” Tempest’s raging was cut off when Chrysalis stuffed a piece of foam insulation into her mouth.

“So you don’t bite off your tongue. That’s the one favor you get from me. Now, let’s hide that ugly face,” Chrysalis said, as she pulled a black hood over Tempest’s head.

Tempest struggled against her restraints, as Chrysalis amped up the voltage on the device. Once it was on its lowest setting, just as Pharynx requested, Chrysalis threw the switch.

Before the waif even had a chance to bask in the joy of watching Tempest slowly die, she was greeted by a surprising sight.

“What the hell!!?” Chrysalis shouted, as she watched a man walk right through the wall.

As if the man had triggered something by his presence alone, the electrical machinery surged and overloaded.

The seat Tempest was strapped into sparked and jolted violently, before it shorted out altogether.

Chrysalis was hit by a mass of voltage that took her off her feet.

Tempest’s breath shuddered from the ordeal she experienced. Her entire body shivered as Chrysalis reached up from the ground and used the arm of the death chair to pull herself up.

The waif’s heart was racing wildly from the shock she received. But, she was not prepared for the next shock when she watched the man walk through the wall before her.

In the next room, the stranger looked around. This was it. His son was near. A dark aura surrounded his body, and lifted him into the air. With a ripple of magic, he passed through the ceiling to the room above.

Pharynx had been sitting in the warden’s office, contemplating his next move. His thoughts of chaos and mayhem were interrupted when he saw what was rising from the floor before him.

He saw the back of a very tall man in a gray raincoat. Slowly, the man turned around to reveal his face.

Pharynx couldn’t believe what he was seeing. For an eternity, he stared into the face of the man who he feared and respected above all others. A face he hadn’t seen since he was a child. Even now, he didn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Go on. Say something,” Pharynx said, calmly as ever.

“Is that all you have to say to your father…?” the stranger asked.

“No. You. You aren’t my father,” Pharynx said, as he stood up and pointed an accusing finger.

“You see me...don’t you? How can I not be your father...?” the stranger asked.

“Because my father is gone. You’re only some vision of him. You’re an apparition, conjured by this thing that attached itself to me!” Pharynx said, holding up the stone around his neck.

The stranger looked to the stone that Pharynx wore around his neck. That was it. That was the magical light that was drawing him.

“That stone…” the stranger began, “Do you know what it is? It once housed the god of chaos...And now, it’s granted its power to you…” He began walking toward Pharynx, who stepped backwards from his father.

Pharynx’s back was to the wall now. Knowing full well he had the power to end the encounter, he touched the stone around his neck. Whether it was curiosity or fear, he stayed in the room to listen to what the stranger had to say.

“It’s a powerful tool...A marvelous gift...You can use it to end this terminally ill world…” the stranger said.

“Termin…” Pharynx exhaled.

“Use it, boy...Help me hasten the world to what we will all become…”
> Chapter 7:Father Vs Son
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In his cell at Canterlot Prison, Sombra laid on his bed. His mind was a mess of terrible thoughts: how to payback Tirek for the beating he gave him, what to do about Pharynx for reappearing into his life. Most of all, he was thinking of a way to escape his cell.

He had felt something only moments ago. Something terrible that was far greater than anything he had experienced in his life. Whatever it was, he knew only bad things could follow in its wake. Worse than anything Pharynx would ever rein upon the world.






Pharynx stared at his father, fear and awe warping within him. This was the man who had taught him the greatest and most terrible lessons in his life. Whether or not he was real, the madman could barely fathom that he had returned.

“Well...What do you say, boy? Help me...Help me put this world out of its misery…” his father urged him again.

It was becoming too much for Pharynx to handle. He felt his temperature rise, and his head swim. He put one hand to his forehead, and used the other to prop himself on his desk. Flashes the the visions he saw of his past whorled through his mind. No matter where he went in his mind, there was Sombra, Tirek and Chrysalis. Nowhere was his father found, but in the darkest, farthest recesses of his mind. A man who was never there for him, but laid out the plans for his terrible course in life.

“I don’t know if I can,” Pharynx said.

“Of course you can...You have everything you need...The power of a god...the knowledge of our sick world...the will to follow through...Do it, Pharynx. Do what must be done…”

“If I did, then what would happen to all the others?” Pharynx wondered aloud to himself.

“What others? There are no others...Only you and I, the only two who are able to save this world from itself...Now, do what I say…!” his father shouted.

Pharynx stood with his hands trembling. Half of him wanted to obey his father without question. The other half wanted to destroy him on the spot. His hand crept to his chest, and hovered over the stone hung around his neck.

“I said, do it, boy!!!” his father shouted, before welling up mass of black aura in his hands, and throwing it at Pharynx.

That was it for Pharynx. Something in the madman’s brain snapped, and made him retaliate.

He disappeared momentarily, then reappeared in the exact same spot when the magic passed by. When he did, he fired a massive stream of magic from his hands, slicing downward to cut his father in two.

His father dodged, and retaliated by making the ground explode beneath Pharynx.

Pharynx was blown to the ceiling, then fell through the hole in the floor. Shortly after, his father jumped down to continue their fight.






Back in his cell, Sombra shouted loudly when a beam of what looked like some kind of red light sliced right through the center of his living area. When it passed, there was a hole cut through the ceiling, and a gaping hole in the bars of his cell.

This was what he had been hoping for. Not in the way it had happened, but now he was free. Taking no chances of staying in his cell, Sombra quickly ran out the open bars and out of his block.






Pharynx continued his battle with his father. He rolled to the side when he saw the old man come plummeting down from above.

When his father landed, he struck the ground with a force that made a crater around his magically glowing shoes.

Pharynx magically conjured a stiletto into his hand, and sliced downward at his opponent.

With every swing, his father appeared on one side or the other without blinking an eye, so much as ducking or dodging.

Pharynx summoned more stilettos, which slashed through the air without his hand, and disappeared whenever they missed.

One last lunge, and his blade was heading toward his father’s chest. He could feel the tip of the blade touch his opponent’s shirt.

His father disappeared completely. All that remained was his grey raincoat draped over Pharynx’s arm.

“Here I am…” his father said, as Pharynx felt his hands on his shoulders.

The man lifted Pharynx from behind and threw him at a wall.

Using his magic, Pharynx passed through the wall unharmed.

In the next room over, Pharynx crashed into the death chair, breaking it from its base and toppling it and its occupant over.

The arm of the chair broke against the ground, and Tempest was able to undo her restraints, starting with her other wrist.

Pharynx’s father flew through the wall, breaking it with the sheer force of his power and tackled his son through the next wall.

Tempest took the hood off of her head and looked to see what was happening. She saw a smoking hole in the wall, and Pharynx was making the hallway beyond twist itself to crush a very tall man he was fighting.

“Holy hell!!” Tempest shuddered, before she quickly started undoing the rest of her restraints.

Once she was freed of the death machine, Tempest quickly ran from the room, using the exit furthest from the two fighters.

She ran to the police armory, finding the door unlocked. She had been hearing gunshots in the prison for weeks since it was taken over, and knew that the chances of her finding a weapon were slim.

She was in luck, there was a single shotgun available for use. Wasting no time, she checked if it was loaded.

Empty.

“Dammit!” she said.

She checked for ammunition, only to find the lockers were bare.

“God dammit!!” she shouted.

This was all she would have with her. As long as she was in his hell house, she would need anything she could use to defend herself.

Tempest burst out of the armory, unloaded shotgun in hand. It wasn’t long before she came across a couple of brawling inmates.

As soon as they saw the officer, the first inmate slammed the other’s face into a corner, and raised his fists to finish off Tempest.

Tempest blocked his swing with her weapon, clubbed his gut, and thrusted her elbow down on his collarbone.

She felt a tiny crack upon impact, and knew she had inflicted a hairline fracture. With the inmate incapacitated, Tempest ran on her way.

It was pandemonium. All the prisoners had begun rioting, likely from the violent explosions they heard.

There would be no pacifyin these prisoners. Tempest knew she would have to power through them.

Quickly, Tempest ran past a group melee, only using her shotgun to block a chair that was swung at her.

Past them, she was knocked over by an inmate who was pushed into her.

Her legs were pinned under the weight of the other man.

The inmate got up, only to be clubbed in the teeth by Tempest’s shotgun.

Once he fell over, Tempest pulled her legs out from under him and continued running.

Unfortunately, she had run into a firefight.

Bullets mowed down the inmates before her, forcing the officer to take cover behind an overturned table. Tempest crawled as far as she could to the table’s edge, and found what she needed.

A dead inmate had his hand in an ammunition box, where two shotgun shells were strewn on the floor.

Over the sounds of fired shots, Tempest could hear the gunners shouting. She quickly reached her hand out from cover, took the shells, loaded her weapon, and shouted loudly as a shot went through the wooden cover next to her head.

After chambering her shot, Tempest used the bullet hole next to herself to peer through and see what was happening beyond her cover.

There was one gunner she could see, firing a machine gun at all in his path.

After waiting for his aim to divert, Tempest burst from her cover and fired her weapon.

The gunner went down, and Tempest continued on her way.

She leapt over cover that was occupied by others, knocking down another inmate in her way.

Tempest knew that it was unlikely she would find more ammunition. She would have to conserve her last shot.

The officer shouted loudly as she felt a familiar stinging hot pain in her back, which made her fall to the floor. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw Chrysalis come jumping down on her, holding a taser in her hand.

Tempest rolled away, as Chrysalis slammed her electrical weapon to the ground.

“Thought you’d get away from this?” Tempest said, as she charged up her weapon to maximum voltage. “One way or another, you’re getting fried!!!”

Tempest scrambled to her feet to avoid the next attack. She aimed her shotgun at Chrysalis, and readied her trigger finger.

Before she could fire, the officer was knocked away by Tirek, who was wielding dusters on his fist.

“Never bring a gun to a fist fight! It’s the surest way to lose,” Tirek said, as he picked up the dropped shotgun, and dismantled it with his bare hands.

Now, Tempest was unarmed against two armed opponents. And her odds of winning were quickly plummeting.

Tirek’s leg was clubbed with a pipe, making the man-mountain stagger.

Chrysalis was next, with a blow to her weapon arm, making her drop her taser.

Tempest didn’t even watch to see what happened to Tirek. She grabbed the taser, grabbed Chrysalis by her hair and jammed the electrical weapon under her chin. She held the taser there, until Chrysalis dropped to the floor. Tempest threw the taser down hard at the waif’s head, making the weapon bounce away.

“You like that, Chrysalis!!?” Tempest yelled.

The inmate who saved her finished attacking Tirek. After one last hit, he looked straight at Tempest. The officer wished she had kept the taser, now that she was face to face with Sombra himself.

“Come with me!” Sombra said, urgently.

Tempest wasn’t about to do anything with Sombra, until he flashed a set of silver car keys to her. Placing her trust in the lesser of two evils, the officer followed after the inmate.

As soon as they left, the entire room rumbled. The floor bulged and the ceiling sagged, making it seem as if the room were collapsing toward some center of gravity. Everything snapped back into place as Pharynx and his father appeared in the room.

With a wave of his hand, the table behind Pharynx melted into a malleable brown mass and reached to attack his father.

The table burst into embers from a single punch of the stranger.

Pharynx threw everything he had at his opponent. Every spent bullet was pulled from the walls and dead bodies in the room, then magically thrown at his father. The bullets all morphed into living creatures, which snapped and bit like lead piranhas.

Pharynx’s father put up a magical shield around himself, which closed and enveloped around the magical bullets, and crumbled them all to dust.

Whichever inmates weren’t killed by the battling father and son ran from the room. Tirek limped over to Chrysalis, helped her up from the ground, and the two ran as quickly as their battered bodies could carry them.

Pharynx rushed into the fray, flaring his magic to create a sinkhole in the concrete beneath his father.

His father stood atop the whorling ground as if it were perfectly solid, and retaliated by making four massive spiked pillars rise from the ground around him.

Pharynx saw his chance and took it. Using his magic, he made the spikes from the pillars grow outward and impale his father from all sides.

The stranger hung suspended in the air, his body warped and contorted by the spikes penetrating him.

“Dirty fool, boy…” he said, as blood dripped from his wounds. His eyes flashed from gold to red, then back again, as the spikes in his body burst out of his front, and impaled Pharynx through his chest.

Pharynx was sent backwards, until he was slammed into a wall. There, he was pinned by the very spikes that had impaled his father.

The stranger walked along the length of the spikes that impaled them both, his blood dripping from them as he walked. After what seemed a hundred steps, he was face to face with his son.

“You’re infected...We all are...Remember, it’s never too late to make things right...I hope that in time, you will see the world the way that I do…” the stranger said.

Pharynx tried to answer, but his reply was stifled by a mouthful of blood.

As if a switch were thrown, the world reset itself to as it was before the chaos in the prison broke out.

Pharynx dropped to the floor, finding he was now alone in the room. He breathed deeply as he looked around for any sign of his father. But, he was nowhere in sight. Not even the wounds he had sustained were on his chest. In fact, his shirt wasn’t even torn.






On the highway beyond the prison, Tempest and Sombra were making their way to Canterlot city in the police car they had commandeered. As was their agreement, Tempest was driving while Sombra sat in the back.

“Again, I must thank you for agreeing so readily to let me come along,” Sombra said.

Tempest didn’t even nod. She was still holding a grudge against Sombra for gouging her eye out.

“Don’t think I’m doing you any favors. I just needed to get out of that place,” Tempest answered.

“So did I. And I think we can still help each other,” Sombra said.

“Help how? I don’t need you evening out my eyes for me,” Tempest said, as she gripped the steering wheel more tightly.

“It’s nothing like that. I can keep you safe from the scum that walks this city. And in return, I want your help to find my son,” Sombra said, leaning more closely to the driver’s seat. “You remember him, don’t you?”

Indeed, Tempest did remember him. The one visitor Sombra ever had during his sentence. The boy she tried and failed to save from Pharynx.

“Yeah. I remember him. And I’m sure as hell not taking you to find him,” Tempest said.

“Why not? Don’t you want to do your civic duty as a officer?” Sombra asked, flashing his fanged smile.

“That’s exactly why I’m not taking you to him,” Tempest said, as she adjusted the rearview mirror to not focus on Sombra’s smile, “There’s no way that I’m letting you, a deranged killer, go anywhere near a kid like him.”

“Then you’ll be disturbed to know that Pharynx has targeted him.”

Tempest didn’t answer immediately.

“You’ve seen my boy. You know he has a better chance than I ever did to lead a normal life. As his father, I feel like it’s my job to insure that. Take me to him, and the two of us can end Pharynx and save my son.”

Tempest said nothing. Instead, she slowly depressed the gas pedal on the car, making it speed faster toward Canterlot city.
> Truth Revealed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time the the officer and the inmate reached Canterlot City, their first stop was Tempest’s home. As Tempest saw it, it would be prudent for them to both change their clothes, as well as for Sombra to shave and cut his hair. As long as she was harboring a fugitive, she was going to hide it as best she could.

After leaving the police car in an alleyway, the two walked as quickly as they could to Tempest’s home, keeping their very best not to be seen by others. Everything went smoothly for the two, and they were able to enter the officer’s house without being seen.

At the moment, Tempest was in her bedroom, while Sombra was in the bathroom across the hall. Once she had settled in, the officer changed out of her police uniform in favor of a tank top and skirt.

After she put her badge into her skirt pocket, Tempest sat on the edge of her bed to put on her black boots.

As she was bent over to zip of the sides of her footwear, she heard the bathroom door across the hall open. Footsteps were heard next. The officer listened carefully for Sombra to come closer to her. If he came too close, she knew she may have to take drastic action.

“Something just occurred to me,” Sombra said, as he walked around the side of the bed.

Tempest quickly slid on her other boot, zipped it up and stood to face Sombra. What she saw surprised her.

There stood a man with slicked hair and a goatee. He was dressed in blue jeans, brown shoes, a white shirt and a denim bomber. Hardly the rough, unkempt monster Tempest knew from the prison. By all means, he looked perfectly ordinary, except for his eyes and teeth. By simply looking at him, she could almost believe this man might have been someone’s father.

“Well, what is it? What just occurred to you?” Tempest said.

“Why is it that you have men’s clothes lying around your home?” Sombra said, indicating the clothes he was wearing.

“They’re my boyfriend’s,” Tempest said, as she cautiously walked past Sombra.

“Hmf,” Sombra chortled. “I never would have guessed. You, Officer Tempest, the model of bravery in the line of duty, are just an ordinary woman at heart.”

Tempest glowered with her back to Sombra, as she reached under her bed for her shoulder holster.

“Tell me, where is he now? This special man of yours?” Sombra asked.

“Hopefully, he’s bloated and decomposing in some maggot-filled gutter,” Tempest answered, as she slipped her arms through the holster.

“I see. So, what are these still doing here?” Sombra asked, as he looked through the pockets on the jacket he wore. “Are they some remnant of the happy memories with him? Or, have you just not gotten around to dousing them in kerosene and applying a match?”

Sombra found a pair of sunglasses in the jacket’s inner pocket. Perfect for hiding his distinctive eyes.

“I haven’t done it, because what’s the point?” Tempest asked, as she opened up her gunbox and placed the loaded firearm in her holster. “Even if I got rid of those, it’s a matter of time until that tosser comes back looking for them. And if they’re not here, there’s going to be a long squabble about how I owe him new clothes, and I can’t deal with that right now.”

“So, it had been a recent breakup? Tell me, what was the last straw for you and him? Which of you ended it, and how?” Sombra said.

Tempest put on her red jacket to hide her firearm.

“That’s none of your damn business,” she said curtly.

“Fair enough. All set?”

“Yeah. How about you?”

“I think in all fairness: I should have a weapon too.”

“Not happening. Let’s go,” Tempest said, as she reached for her car keys on her night table, only to find they were gone.

“In which case: I’m driving,” Sombra said, holding up the silver keys.

“Give me those. Now,” Tempest demanded.

“You want them? Think about things this way, officer,” Sombra said, as he stepped closer to Tempest.

“Don’t you come near me!” Tempest said, threateningly placing her hand just inside her jacket.

“If you go around town driving with me in the passenger seat, it’s going to appear as if you are catering around a known fugitive. Worse still, it could give the impression that you’re in cahoots with him,” Sombra continued, as he stepped toward Tempest.

Sombra was just before her. The officer stood frozen, a mix of intrigue and curiosity staying her hand from her weapon.

“Or, if I were driving, it would seem like the worst killer in Canterlot were taking a model officer hostage. You would keep your clean record, and I would be the one the law guns down. That is, should we get caught,” Sombra finished.

There was an undeniable logic in the man’s words. If anything should go wrong, everything was over for them. Done Sombra’s way, there was a chance for things to go on.

“Alright. You drive,” Tempest reluctantly agreed.

Sombra smirked, before he walked out of the room, followed by Tempest.

“You look nice, by the way. Those colors suit you better than that uniform of yours,” Sombra said, as he walked out the front

“Don’t push your luck,” Tempest said, before closing the door behind them.






For days, Discord hadn’t left his house. In the time since the rose he bought for Fluttershy bounced back into his life, he had been practicing how to better and more responsibly use the power that had been somehow granted to him.

At the moment, Discord was in his bedroom magically opening and closing his window. It went up, then it went down. Opened, then closed.

“Alright. So, this magic doesn’t have to be destructive,” Discord said.

The light reflected on the window took the vague shape of a face, and the entire frame nodded up and down.

“But, it still shouldn’t be used so flippantly and haphazardly,” Discord continued.

The reflection on the window narrowed its eyes and the frame shook side to side.

“Which means that you probably shouldn’t be around right now,” Discord said to the window’s reflected face.

The eyes on the window went wide, and with a tiny popping sound, the entire face disappeared.

“Okay. So...I’ve got something really special and really dangerous on my hands,” Discord thought to himself. “I should only use it when I absolutely need to. When something earth-shattering goes out of balance, I have to set it straight. With great power comes great responsibility, after all.”

Still, he didn’t think that using this power to find where Fluttershy was couldn’t hurt. That in mind, he welled up and focused his powers.

There came a knock on his door.

“Wow, that was fast,” Discord said aloud, before rushing to his front door.

His mind raced faster than his feet. What he was going to say to Fluttershy. What he would do.

“Hold on! I’m coming!” Discord excitedly called. He reached the front door and flung it open. Perhaps, too quickly, as he hit himself in the face with his own door. “Ow!...” Discord shook the pain from his face, all ready to greet his sweetheart. But, his sweetheart was not who was there to greet him.

“So, this is where you’ve been,” Rainbow Dash said.

“What kind of boyfriend are you? Fluttershy’s been worrying herself into a coma, because of you,” Pinkie Pie accused.

“But--” Discord tried to reason. He was stopped by the girls pushing their way through the front door.

“No buts here, buster! You’ve got a lot of explaining to do! And we’re going nowhere, until we get the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!” Pinkie said.

When Discord tried backing away from Pinkie, he fell backwards over the couch behind him.

Faced with the glares of the others, Discord knew he could avoid the situation altogether with his power. But, for the sake of Fluttershy, he decided to face it.

“The truth? Here’s your truth: I love Fluttershy,” Discord said. “You got that? That’s the first time I said that aloud. And of all the crappy luck, I had to tell it to you two. You think I could have faced her, or anyone after the things I did to this city? I couldn’t stand the thought of her seeing me, let alone telling her how I felt. But, you know what? I decided to face it. I realized that if I didn’t see her again, I’d never get past all this. I spent a huge part of yesterday looking all over town for her. I sent her a text asking where she was, and she never answered. If she doesn’t want to talk to me: fine. As long as she knows how I feel about her, I don’t really care if she doesn’t want to see me again. That’s it. Now, take your little inquisition back to Fluttershy.”

Dash and Pinkie were stunned at both the candor and force of Discord’s words. Neither of them knew what to say in response to Discord. No boy had ever said they loved either of them. In fact, they had never gone out with a boy before. There was simply no precedent for Dash or Pinkie to draw from. Still, for the sake of their friend, Dash thought to facilitate the reunion between Discord and Fluttershy.

“Why don’t you come with us. Fluttershy would be really happy to see you,” Rainbow Dash said.

“That’d be just dandy,” Discord said, as he rolled backwards and sprang to his feet. As they left the house, Discord had one last question. “Either of you know why Fluttershy didn’t answer my text?”

“Her phone broke. Didn’t she tell you about that?...Oh, right,” Pinkie said, realizing that Fluttershy had no way of communicating with Discord over a broken phone.






At Canterlot High, Twilight, Sweetie Belle and Sunset arrived at the statue in the courtyard. Immediately upon arrival, Sunset looked at her phone to check the time.

“Should be anytime now,” Sunset said.

“Sunset, what are we even doing here? You told us there was a problem, and we were meeting someone, and that’s it,” Twilight said.

Sunset knew Twilight was right. If anything, she owed an explanation to the others. But, they had to be sworn to secrecy.

“Don’t worry. I promise I’ll explain everything. But, first you two have to promise that no matter what you see here, or what happens next: you won’t say a word to anyone else about it. Do you promise?” Sunset said.

“Okay. I promise,” Twilight said.

“Me too, if it helps us find Spike,” Sweetie Belle said.

Sunset was about to speak, when the side of the statue’s base began to magically glow.

“This is perfect. She can explain this better than I can,” Sunset said.

“She who?” Twilight wondered, as she apprehensively watched someone else walk out of the statue.

In seconds, there seemed to appear a completely new person in their midst. One who looked quite familiar to all present.

“Good, your here,” Princess Twilight said.

“Yes. And I brought help too,” Sunset said, pointing to the others, “Twilight this is--”

“Hold on. I know who they are. You’re Sweetie Belle, Rarity’s sister,” Princess Twilight said.

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle said, unsure what to make of being known to this double of Twilight.

“And you’re Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Twilight continued.

“Yeah…” Twilight said, too stunned to say much else.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Twilight Sparkle. Princess of Friendship in Equestria.”

“Prin-Princess?” Twilight wondered.

“It’s a long story. But, to make it short, she’s from another world of magic. And there’s a problem from her world that wandered into ours,” Sunset explained.

“Yes. And I’m afraid it might be serious,” Princess Twilight explained.

“What is it?” Twilight asked.

“Okay. Someone from my world came into yours. Someone who I think might be very dangerous. I don’t know what he wanted, but he said he was looking for someone here.”

“What did he look like?” Sunset said.

“I don’t know what he’d look like here, but I remember he had gold eyes and a cutie mark with three skulls on it,” Princess Twilight explained.

The description rang to Twilight and Sweetie, who had seen a man with golden eyes and a shirt with three skulls on it.

“Was he really tall too?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Ye--Yes. How did you know?” Princess Twilight asked.

“That’s the man me and Twilight met before we ran into Sunset!” Sweetie Belle explained.

“Who was he? What did he want?” Princess Twilight asked.

“I don’t know who he was. He never told us his name. All he said was he wanted to find his son, Pharynx.”

“Who’s Pharynx?” Sunset wondered.

“Pharynx is a very dangerous man. He’s already attacked both Spike and Sweetie Belle. And then he disappeared somewhere,” Twilight explained.

Things were quickly going downhill for them. A father and son duo of killers was now loose in Canterlot City, and there was no telling when and where they would show themselves again.

The statue started to glow again, and another familiar figure stepped through.

“Spike!!” Sweetie Belle said.

“Sweetie B--”

Spike’s greeting was cut off by Sweetie Belle abruptly stepping forward.

“What were you thinking running off again!? You could have been in trouble with Pharynx again, for all I knew! You--RRGH!!!” Sweetie Belle growled loudly, as she shook Spike by his collar, before burying her face in his shoulder.

“Spike, what are you doing here?” Princess Twilight asked.

“I came with you when I saw that scary guy walking through the castle. I figured if he was coming to my home, I had to help stop him,” Spike explained.

“You mean, this is your home?” Twilight wondered.

“Yeah. Sorry for not explaining earlier, but I’m not your Spike.”

“So, that’s what you’ve been doing this whole time!” Twilight said. The mere idea that her new brother was off in some world of magic through a doorway in the base of the statue at her school was the last thing she ever would have thought.

“And Spike, promise me that the next time you go away like that, tell me,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Alright. I promise,” Spike said.






On the streets of Canterlot, Sombra drove Tempest’s personal car to their next destination. In the passenger seat, Tempest was filing through her phone.

“Not calling for backup, are you?” Sombra dryly remarked.

“I’m going through civilian records to see if I can find any information about your son,” Tempest explained.

“You can do that without anyone from the precinct?” Sombra wondered.

“Civilian records are accessible to the public,” Tempest explained, as she scrolled through her phone.

“Interesting. And such a violation of privacy,” Sombra said.

Tempest didn’t say anything. She simply continued to look through her phone.

“Here he is.” Tempest’s eyes traveled back and forth across the text of the files, until she found what she was looking for. “Okay. I think I know where to find him. It says here he was legally adopted by some people not far from here.”

“Adopted by who?” Sombra asked.

“Let me see…” Tempest said, as she checked the files on the people who adopted Spike. “So, his new dad’s a lawyer named Night Light. His mom’s an ER nurse named Twilight Velvet. Sounds like he got the luck of the draw.”

Those two names sparked a smile onto Sombra’s face.

“Luck...yes,” Sombra said.

“What are you smiling about?” Tempest asked.

“No reason. They just sound like very nice people.” Sombra explained.






“Damn! It’s not here either!” Pharynx said, as he searched an adjoining room to the one he was in.

In the prison, all was not well. Pharynx had tried to follow his father after losing his battle with him, but was hit by a major snag. It seemed that during some point between getting impaled and his father disappearing, he had lost the source of his magic.

High and low he looked through the prison, wondering if and how it might have flown away from him.

Pharynx was growing desperate and anxious. If somehow his father had taken that power from him, it could prove disastrous with the already formidable power he possessed.
> Total Destruction
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Sombra drove to their destination, Tempest navigated with her phone in her hand.

“How far now?” Sombra asked.

“I told you, we’re almost there,” Tempest answered for the hundredth time. Though tired of Sombra’s repeated question, she understood that on some level even a monster like him was anxious to see his son again. “Turn right at the next intersection.”

At the next intersection, Sombra drove as instructed. When he did, he was greeted by a welcoming sight.

The neighborhood he drove down was as welcoming and pristine as any he had seen in his life. Here, the homes were clean, and the lawns were trimmed. The hedges were edged neatly, and were as green as the grass they bordered. This neighborhood was the home of Spike and his new family, and it was as good as Sombra could have asked for.

In the passenger seat, Tempest was looking out the window, counting the houses as they drove on.

“There it is. That house with the rainbow postbox,” Tempest said.

“And a rainbow postbox to top it all off. How saccharine. How quaint,” Sombra thought to himself, as he parked beside the curb and unstrapped himself from his seat. He was stopped by Tempest’s hand on his arm.

“You stay in the car,” Tempest said, as she took the keys from the starter, and put them in her pocket.

“Tempest, don’t you think I’d want to meet the people who are looking after my boy, now that me and his mum aren’t around?” Sombra reasoned.

“As much as I can appreciate you wanting to see what kind of life your son has now, I think the last thing these people want is to see a known killer on their property. Especially when they find out that there’s already one after their new son. And it’s Officer Tempest,” Tempest said, as she got out of the car.

The officer warily eyed Sombra, as the inmate displayed the very same smile as when he learned who had adopted his son.

“Fair enough. You go on ahead. I’ll just wait here. But, could you at least tell me what these people are like, and what kind of home they have?” Sombra asked.

“Sure,” was all Tempest answered, before she closed the car door and walked to the house.

In the few steps it took her to reach the front door, Tempest was rehearsing what she would say to the family, and how she would gently break the news that their son was in danger. It had been a long time since she had done anything like that. Not since she became blind in one eye, and was forced to take a desk job. Still, after so much time, the job was as difficult as ever for her.

In seemingly no time at all, she reached the front door, and was faced with breaking the bad news to the parents. After psyching herself up with a deep inhale, Tempest rang the doorbell.

Seconds passed, and steps were heard approaching the door. Luckily for Tempest, it seemed that someone was home. The door opened, revealing who the officer assumed to be Night Light.

“Um, yes?” Night Light greeted the officer.

“Are you Night Light?” Tempest asked.

“I am. Do you need something?”

“Officer Tempest Shadow, Canterlot PD,” Tempest said, as she presented her badge.

“Night Light? Who is it?” asked Velvet’s voice from somewhere in the house.

“It’s the police,” Night Light answered.

Velvet abruptly walked into the room, where she faced the officer in the doorway.

“What do they want?” she asked.

“I’m afraid it’s in regards to your son,” Tempest explained.

“Actually, it’s in regards to my son,” Sombra said, as he walked in from behind.

Even though his appearance had changed, and he had aged much from the boy they knew, Twilight Velvet and Night Light were both taken aback by the sudden reappearance of Sombra into their lives.

“God dammit! I told you to wait in the car!” Tempest said.

“And miss the chance to reconnect with my old friends? I don’t think so.”

“Do you know these people?” Tempest asked Sombra.

“Yes. We go way back, the three of us. Suffice it to say, I couldn’t have asked for better people to take in my son,” Sombra answered.

“You...You’re Spike’s father?” Night Light said.

“As you can see, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen one another. But, right now, we have important business that concerns all of us,” Sombra said.

Even though she couldn’t see Sombra’s eyes, Tempest knew he was glancing at her. Without a word, she knew that what Sombra was hinting at was true.

“He’s right. I’m afraid I have some bad news regarding your son, Spike,” Tempest continued. She paused a moment to allow either of the adoptive parents to speak. “I’m afraid he’s become the target of a known killer.”

Velvet gasped loudly.

“Yes. You two remember Pharynx, don’t you?” Sombra asked.

Before anything more was said, a loud rumble was heard in the distance. Shortly after, the sky above turned deep red.






The stranger from Equestria was casually walking down the path on the side of the road. Around his neck, the piece of the god of chaos glowed brightly as the world around him fell apart.

No cars were on the road, as it had become a stream of lava. Everyone who passed by the stranger met with a terrible end. Be it they melted into the concrete, burst into flame, or simply disappeared altogether, none were spared from him.

The clouds above began morphing and churning like liquid, and turned pitch black in color. One by one, they each grew black tendrils that reached down from the sky, and corroded everything they touched on the ground below.

The ground and the sky both cracked, as if to mirror one another. A vortex reached through from each, meeting in the middle and spreading wide from there. What was caught in the vortex was not blown away. Rather, it was twisted and warped beyond normal recognition. What might have been a building could have been pieces of a car. What might have been the street could have been the sewer. What might have been a human could have been a twisted distortion of another creature.

The stranger did not even smile at his handiwork. This was all that was meant to be, and he was only the purveyor to help it along.






At Canterlot High, things were not faring much better. The destruction could be seen easily from the school, and it was quickly closing in on them all.

The ground was waving toward them like ripples in a pond. The further it traveled, it destroyed everything in its path.

It was nearly upon them all, until Twilight touched the geode around her neck, and levitated everyone into the air over the rippling ground. Once the ripples passed, Twilight lowered them all back to the ground.

“What was that!?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve only seen something like this once before,” Princess Twilight said.

“Us too. I think we need to have another ‘talk’ with Discord,” Spike said, before rushing off to the city.

“Spike! Spike, wait!!” Twilight called, as she and the others ran after him.
> The Final Battle Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before the destruction struck Canterlot, Discord was being led to Fluttershy by Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. At the moment, Discord was wracked with bristling nerves. As much as he wanted to see Fluttershy again, he was still apprehensive at the thought of seeing her again.

They were nearing the front door of Fluttershy’s house, and Discord could feel his heart beating faster and faster with every step. This was it. The moment of truth. But, before he even made it to the front walk, Discord’s step slowed to a halt.

Pinkie noticed Discord stopping behind them, and turned around to hustle him along.

“Come on, Discord. You can’t stop now. Fluttershy’s waiting for you,” she said.

“I know. But--just give me a minute,” Discord said.

Rainbow Dash turned around to see what was happening. One look at the others, and she didn’t need to ask. She allowed Discord the moment he needed to settle his nerves.

After a few seconds, Discord exhaled deeply.

“Okay. Let’s finish this,” he said.

Pinkie gently led him by his arm to the front door. There, the bell was rung.

“Fluttershy! Come out! We got someone who wants to see you!” Rainbow Dash called out.

It took only seconds for the door to open. There stood Fluttershy, wearing her usual weekend wear of pink shirt and green skirt. As soon as she had seen who was there, she covered her mouth and gasped.

“Discord?...” she said.

“Hey…” was all Discord managed to say. Apparently, that was all he needed, when all of a sudden Fluttershy burst out the doorway and wrapped her arms around Discord.

“Discord, where have you been all this time? I was so worried about you!” Fluttershy wailed, as tears poured out her eyes.

“Fluttershy, don’t cry. I was just...I didn’t know if I could face you after what happened,” Discord said, as he stroked Fluttershy’s hair.

“I didn’t care about that. I had you back the way I wanted you. After you stopped calling, I...I thought you didn’t like me anymore…”

“How could you think that? I’d never stop liking you. You’re everything that brought me back from that disaster. And I promise you, as long as I’m with you, it’ll never happen again.”

Rainbow Dash silently nudged Pinkie, and motioned that they both should leave. As quietly as they could, they started to walk away. As soon as their first step touched the ground, there was a sound like thunder overhead.

When everyone looked, the sky had changed from its normal blue to a deep red, and was starting to crack in two.

“‘Never happen again,’ huh?” Rainbow Dash said, as she approached Discord, ready to punch him.

“Rainbow Dash, wait!” Fluttershy interjected. “He doesn’t have his stone anymore. He can’t be the one making this happen.”

Discord thought it best not to answer, worried what the others would think when he revealed his powers to them.

“Then let’s get out of here, and find out who is!” Pinkie said, before she and the others ran off toward the danger zone.






Pharynx was driving as fast as the patrol car could go on the highway to Canterlot. After his search of the prison turned up fruitless, he knew only one other thing that could have happened.

Up ahead, he watched as the city skyline was engulfed in an unnatural storm.

“Crap! That scabby old sack’s already blowing up the city!” Pharynx thought to himself.

Now that he was without his magic, he was powerless to stop his father. Nothing could possibly stop this disaster now. All that was left was to escape the area, before it caught up with him.

On the side of the road, Pharynx saw something else moving in the distance. The closer he came, the more he recognized the two figures, and their respective thin and bulky figures. When he was upon them, Pharynx slowed to a stop.

“Pharynx?” Chrysalis huffed, worn out from helping Tirek limp along.

“Get in,” was all Pharynx said.

No questions were asked. Chrysalis quickly climbed into the passenger seat, while Tirek took up nearly the entire back with his bulk.

Once they were in, Pharynx fired the car into gear, and rocketed down the highway.

“What’s the plan now?” Tirek asked.

“We get the hell out of Dodge,” Pharynx answered.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Chrysalis said.






Spike, Sweetie Belle, Sunset, and the two Twilights were rushing through town, trying their best to avoid all of the major disaster areas in favor of the minor disaster areas.

They all nearly turned down one street, only for it to suddenly erupt in a shower of acid. Everything under the corrosive shower melted away, prompting the company to rush in the other direction.

The path they were on heaved and convulsed as though it were a living creature. A postbox on the curb knocked against the car parked beside it, and broke open. Instead of breaking apart in jagged metal, it began bleeding as if it were truly alive.

The red fluid that oozed from the postbox set itself aflame, and crept toward Sweetie Belle, touching just the tip of her shoe. Sweetie shrieked, and jumped away as her toe ignited with a tiny flame that was quickly snuffed out.

“Let’s just get the others and leave this city!” Sweetie Belle said.

“We can’t! Not until we stop Discord again!” Twilight said.

“Discord?” Princess Twilight wondered. “He still hasn’t changed here?”

“No! I don’t think so! It’s complicated!” Sunset said, as she jumped to avoid a lamp post bending toward her like it intended to grab her. It only managed to tear part of her jacket off.

The middle of the road split open. Not in a burst of gravel and dirt, but with a fleshy opening as if it were a surgical incision. A wash of green bile poured out of the opening, and solidified over everything else around it, living or inanimate.

The company ran faster down the path, away from the bile. The entire road behind them was solidified by the time they escaped around a corner.

Here, the chaos was not so bad. But, that was only because it seemed like the disaster had already swept through this place. With the momentary reprieve came a call from a friend.

Twilight looked at her phone, and saw a text message from Applejack.

Discord, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity got me and Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Where are the others?

Twilight hastily replied back.

Sweetie Belle, Sunset and Spike are with me. Where are you?

A geyser of flame erupted from the path before them, prompting the entire group to run away from where they were. They had no choice but to run into the street when a gaping pit lined with fangs down its entire depth opened up before them.

The street was a mess of broken car parts, which writhed about like dying fish out of water. Whenever anyone stepped close, each piece of machinery shrieked before popping in a cloud of noxious gas.

A roar was heard down the street, and blade like spines were chopping through the road as if some large creature were burrowing toward them.

Spike staggered when he got a mouthful of the gas from the popping machinery, and nearly fell. He was steadied by both Twilight and Sweetie Belle taking ahold of him, and guiding him across the street.

The churning spines were growing closer, ready to tear them all apart.

With a sudden burst, Spike and the others hurried across the street, just as the spines passed harmlessly by, tearing the street asunder.

Now that they had another moment, Twilight looked at her phone again, and saw that Applejack had answered her text.

“We need to go to the beach! That’s where everyone else is heading!” Twilight said.

Nobody questioned why they were all congregating on the beach. For all they knew, it was safer there than where they were now.






It was not safer at the beach. Between the boiling ocean and the whorling sandstorm, it seemed as if they were caught in the middle of armageddon.

“Where in the heck are they!?” Apple Bloom asked, as she and the others were sheltered underneath a makeshift lean-to.

“I don’t know! But, they better get here quick! No tellin’ how much worse this can get!” Applejack said, as she clung tightly to her sister.

Across from her, Fluttershy held onto Discord. Next to them, Rainbow Dash was holding close to Scootaloo. Next to them, Pinkie Pie was holding onto the last cupcake she managed to save before the disaster. Next to them, Rarity was worriedly peering out into the storm, hoping to see some glance of her sister and the others.

“Rarity! Get back here! You’ll be swept away if you lean out any more!” Pinkie said, as she pulled Rarity back in.

“But, Sweetie Belle could still be out there! Knowing that she’s in such danger, no matter where she goes! How can I not look!?” Rarity said.

Through the haze, there came another sight. A mass of silhouetted shadows that stumbled through the treacherous beach.

“Wait! I see them! Over here!” Rarity called.

The other silhouettes followed the direction of the voice, and soon they were in the shelter, revealing their familiar friendly faces.

“Sweetie Belle! Oh, my Sweetie Belle!” Rarity said, as she took hold of her sister.

“We’re all here!” Sunset said, before taking a headcount. “Me, Spike Sweetie Belle, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Discord, Twilight, and...Twilight.”

“Don’t look at me! I didn’t make that!” Discord said, pointing to the second Twilight.

“Then, what did you do!? Look at all of this! It’s time we taught you a lesson once and for all!” Spike said, as he reached to strangle Discord. He was held back by Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.

“Spike! Stop!” Fluttershy said, as she protectively embraced Discord. “Discord didn’t have anything to do with this!”

“Then who the hell did!?” Spike said.

As if on cue, the sandstorm beyond the shelter subsided almost instantaneously. The ocean beyond the sand stopped bubbling and churning, and the water was still as ever. Not even waves crashed onto the unnaturally smooth surface of the sand.

Everyone cautiously left the shelter, and looked around for any sign of what stopped the disaster.

The city beyond was still in ruins, but it was no longer ravaged by unnatural disasters.

There came a sound like a whoosh, but there was no wind. Looking up, they all saw the form of a very tall, elderly man descending from the sky. His feet touched down on the sand, leaving no impressions. He did not move. He did not speak. Twilight and Sweetie Belle only recognized him as the stranger they had met only hours before. Whoever he was, he appeared to be the source of this disaster, as they all recognized a magically glowing rock that hung around his neck.
> The Final Battle Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not a sound was heard on the beach. The children only stared at the elderly man before them, knowing it was he who was responsible for the disasters that had struck their city again.

Princess Twilight stared at the stranger, knowing full well he was the very same stranger she had met in her castle.

“Who…”Princess Twilight began. She wanted to know who this stranger was, but thought it would be inappropriate to ask. This was neither man, nor pony. He was a monster. The very incarnation of a heart of darkness. “What are you?” she asked instead.

“The only hope this sick world has…” the stranger plainly stated.

“What do you mean?”

“...This world we live in...all who walk it are ill...A terrible walking blight upon what you consider the gift of life...It’s only through me that the world can be made well again…” the stranger answered.

The sheer bluntness and nonchalance of his words frightened the children. This was a man who felt nothing toward anybody or anything. Without a care to hold onto, they knew that he was capable of any atrocity, and had the power to unleash it.

Spike looked at the stranger, knowing that he nearly turned out the same way once. Seeing what he may well have become welled up a fury within him that he could barely contain.

“You think you’re a hope for this world!? You’re nothing but the blight you think you’re saving everybody from!  You just have nothing to live for, so you want to make everyone else disappear! If you really believed anything you said, you’d erase yourself from existence!” Spike shouted, as he was held back by Twilight.

The stranger stared at Spike, making the boy feel as if he were suddenly under an incredible pressure that threatened to squash him.

“Quite the caustic tongue on you...Tell me, what is it you hold so dearly…? What exempts you from oblivion…?” the stranger asked.

Spike didn’t answer, but his eyes glanced over to Sweetie Belle. He had found what his dad wanted him to find, and he was going to hold onto her for as long as he could. Her, along with all the others. His new parents. Twilight. And even his dad.

Even though Spike said nothing, he knew the stranger knew his answer. With a shake of his head, the man spoke.

“...I’m afraid your answer is invalid…” he said in his hoarse voice. “Everything you hold dear will have to be lost…”

He extended his arm toward the group. As though it had changed its composition completely, the stranger’s arm extended unnaturally long, and his hand grasped around Spike’s neck.

“Spike!!” Sweetie Belle shouted, as she tried desperately to get him back. Her efforts were stopped by her friends holding her back. “Let go of him! Please!” Sweetie Belle wailed.

“No…” the stranger answered.

Dash touched her geode, but before she even took the first step she felt the stone around her neck grow as heavy as a truck. She was thrown to the ground by the sheer force of the weight, and unable to stand.

“...This boy…” the stranger continued, “He is everything that is wrong with this world...False hope...Denial of truth...And a blind ambition to find any meaning with the accident that led to his and everyone else’s existence...And from him, I’ll present an example to you all…”

Spike struggled against the hold of the man, finding him to be far stronger than he looked. Glancing down, he saw the stranger’s hand glowing with a black aura.

Discord watched, knowing he could no longer keep his secret.

“Stop!!!” Discord shouted, before he thrust his hand forward.

The sand beneath the stranger rose up and shot itself down his throat. The stranger shouted loudly, and let go of Spike. The sand beneath Spike rippled up and tossed him back into Twilight’s waiting arms. As soon as Spike was safe, she and all the others turned to warily look at Discord.

“Discord…?” Fluttershy shuddered.

“Yes. There’s still some left in me,” Discord answered. He could feel his heart split when he saw Fluttershy’s worried face. “Fluttershy...All of you, listen to me. Spike’s given me an idea of how to beat this guy. I need all of you to think about all of the people you care about the most in your lives.”

The stranger shouted loudly, and expelled the sand from his body.

“And I need you to do it fast!” Discord said.

There was no telling what Discord was planning, but it was the only chance they had. One by one, they all thought of the people who mattered the most to them. And through their thoughts, Discord could feel their warm energies welling within his mind.

“Alright. Keep them all in your mind,” Discord said.

The others all found themselves engulfed in a gentle blue light.

“Discord? What are you doing?” Fluttershy asked.

“I love you, Fluttershy. Just in case I don’t come back, I want you to hear that from me,” Discord said.

“Discord!” Fluttershy said.

It was too late. In a blink, she and the others were gone. Where they stood, Discord saw the stranger lunging toward him, his arm changed to a vicious blade.






Far beyond Canterlot, Spike landed hard on the ground. Around him, the others all landed around him. Nearby, he saw Sweetie Belle appear, and dove to catch her before she fell.

“Thanks,” Sweetie Belle said.

Spike didn’t answer, but wrapped his arms tightly around her.

The children looked around, and saw that they were joined by the others. Not only their friends from the beach, but others who they held dearest.

“Thorax!” Twilight said, as she rushed over to her boyfriend.

“Twilight!” Thorax greeted her, receiving her with a tight embrace.

All around, others had appeared. Applejack and Apple Bloom quickly reunited with their brother and grandmother. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Scootaloo all reunited with their parents, happy they had survived the disaster.

“Spike! How did you get here?” asked a familiar gravelly voice.

Spike turned, and saw a man he almost didn’t recognize. A man he didn’t realize that he cared enough about to spend what was possibly his last moments alive with.

“Dad!” Spike said.

Sombra quickly walked over and helped Spike up.

“Spike, are you hurt?” Sombra asked.

“No, I’m fine,” Spike answered.

Sombra sighed deeply, and held his son for the first time since he was a child. He then noticed the girl who Spike had been embracing.

“So, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” Sombra asked.

“Oh, not this. Don’t make me start thinking you’re human?” Tempest said.

“Officer Tempest?” Spike asked.

“You’re still here?” Sombra deadpanned.

“There was no way I’d let you go anywhere without police supervision,” Tempest said. “Now, will someone tell me what’s happening?”

“In a word: chaos!” Princess Twilight explained.

That was all they could comprehend it as. The entire group looked out over the distance at the burning city. Fluttershy clutched her hands tightly to her chest, sick with worry for Discord.






Discord bobbed and wove his body around the wild swings of the stranger’s arm. One hit, and he knew it would be the end of him.

The blade swung at Discord’s waist. There was no time to move.

Harnessing his power, Discord displaced his body around the blade as it swung through him harmlessly. Once the blade passed, Discord used his power to fold the ground over the stranger and crush him.

The ground rumbled, and the sand beneath Discord started to displace itself.

Discord levitated himself into the air, just as the sand beneath him turned to a towering pillar of decaying matter. The tower reached for Discord, only to be shrunk back into the hole in the ground it sprang from.

The stranger burst from the hole and fired a beam of black energy at Discord.

Discord was blown backwards, using his hands to block the attack. Keeping his friends firmly in mind, he started firing back his own golden beam, which grew larger still and swallowed the stranger’s attack.

The stranger would not be beaten. Pushing his magic forward, he created a combustion that blew across the beach.

The dust settled, and the stranger stood firmly on the sand. Discord was nowhere to be seen. He knew the boy was not defeated. Slowly, he began walking through the destruction he had created.

“I know you’re here…” the stranger called. “I can sense your magic…”

Nearby, Discord was trying to magically treat his wounds, but stopped quickly when he heard the hoarse voice calling to him.

“Don’t even bother negating your spell...I already can see you…”

“Damn!” Discord thought to himself.

Who or whatever this man was, he was nothing to trifle with. There was only one option to do.

Just as the cover he was behind turned to a set of snapping jaws, Discord reversed them to snap around the stranger.

It was too quick for the man to comprehend. He was caught fast in the razor sharp teeth of the trap he created, and felt his body crushing under their pressure. But, it was not enough to stop him.

With a burst of black aura, the jaws were blown apart, and the stranger looked as though he was completely without injury.

“You can’t defeat me like this...Even without this stone around my neck, I’m more than a match for you…” the stranger said.

Discord knew he was right. There was nothing that he could do against this opponent. But, something the old man had said rang to him. Something about what he thought was wrong with the world, and what needed to be fixed.

“You’re right. I’ve got nothing on you. But, I think I know someone who does,” Discord said.

“Who?”

Seeing the teen’s mischievous grin irritated the stranger to no end. And his ire only rose when he heard Discord chuckle.

“I think it’d be better to show you than to tell you,” Discord said, before enveloping him and his opponent in a gentle blue glow.






Outside Canterlot, Spike and the others all watched as a familiar face appeared among them.

“Discord!!” Fluttershy said, as she ran to embrace him. “Did you get him? Is he gone for good now?”

“Not yet,” Discord casually said.

“‘Not yet?’ What’s that supposed to mean?” Thorax wondered.

Another glow of blue light appeared, and quickly darkened as the stranger from Equestria appeared in their midst. Everyone cowered before him, as his eyes passed over them all.

“Who is it…? Who among these can defeat me?” he wondered.

“That would be everything wrong with the world here,” Discord said, as he pulled Spike over.

“What are you thinking!?” Sweetie Belle said, as she tried to stop Discord.

“Pipe down,” Discord said, as he magically pushed Sweetie Belle back to Rarity. He turned back to face his opponent. “This is it. The one that’s going to put you down for good.”

“Have you gone crazy!?” Spike said, as he resisted Discord’s grip on his arm.

“I was thinking the same thing…” the stranger said.

“No crazy here. In fact, I think it’s the most un-crazy thing I ever cooked up. This kid,” Discord said, indicating Spike, “This kid, who is everything you think is wrong with the world is just that. And it’s what’s going to undo you, and everything that’s gone wrong. Of course, he’ll need a bit of a handicap.”

Discord held his hand out, as if he were waiting for something to be given to him.

The stranger smiled slightly, as he took the stone from around his neck, and magically levitated it over to Discord.

“Oh no! Not that! There’s no way I’m using that thing!” Spike said.

“And why not? You have the chance to make everything you ever wanted come true. To make this all go back to the way it used to be. Believe me, I would have done that myself eventually,” Discord said.

Spike listened to every word Discord said, and knew just what he needed to do with the power he had been given. One look over to his dad, and he knew just what he was going to do. He was going to make everything go back to the way it used to be.

“Alright. You’re on,” Spike said, as he placed the stone around his neck.

The stranger didn’t know how to react to what he saw. This was more pathetic than any attempt he had seen to prevent the inevitable.

“In a moment, you won’t have the chance to regret your rash decision…” the stranger said, as he welled up his magic, and shot it toward Spike.

There was a choir of screams, but Spike didn’t hear them. He held firmly in his mind the way he wanted things to be, and felt a power rushing through him.

With a shout, Spike thrusted his hands to the ground, and the world blacked out.
> Family And A Day At The Waterpark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike awoke in his bed, and looked around his bedroom. Not the one he had been staying at with Twilight’s family, but a more familiar one. One in a place where is fondest memories began.

“Spike! Breakfast,” called a woman’s voice downstairs.

Spike sat bolt upright when he heard that voice. The voice he thought he would never hear again.

“No way! Did it work?” Spike wondered to himself.

Without even getting dressed, Spike rushed downstairs in his pajamas.

The stairs were just how he remembered them. The color of the wooden planks, the pictures on the walls. The chipped paint on the banister at the bottom of the stairs. Quickly he swerved at the bottom of the stairs in the direction he remembered the kitchen. There, he was greeted by a most welcome sight.

There stood a blue-haired woman in a blue dress, setting a plate full of pancakes out.

“Spike, what are you doing in your pajamas? Could you really not wait for breakfast?” the woman said.

“Mum…?” Spike said.

“Who else?” the woman giggled. She was completely unprepared for when Spike rushed forward and tightly embraced her. “Spike? What are you doing? Did you miss me so much while you were sleeping?”

“Uh...Kind of,” Spike said, as he held his mum tighter. A single tear leaked from his eye, and passed over his smiling face.

“Now, what are you thinking, showing up in your pajamas and acting so strangely in front of the company?” his mum asked.

“Company?”

Spike glanced over to where the dining room was, and saw a most welcome sight. There sat his dad at the table, looking the very way Spike last saw him outside Canterlot, complete with the same clothes and haircut. Sitting across from Sombra was a more unusual sight. There sat another man. One with red eyes and a black jumper.

“Got a hug for your uncle Pharynx, kiddo?” Pharynx asked.

“Uncle who?” Spike said, fighting the urge to shout.

“Don’t give me that. Only the guy who’s been there your whole life. And I mean that literally. Who do you think drove your parents to the hospital when your mom was in labor with you?” Pharynx chuckled.

“Pharynx, don’t traumatize the boy,” Sombra said, lightly hitting Pharynx with the magazine he was reading.

“You want trauma? Tell him how you reacted while he was being born. I could hear the scream all the way in the waiting room,” Pharynx chuckled.

“That’s enough out of you!” Sombra said, laughing as he hit Pharynx slightly harder with the magazine.

“Children, that’s enough,” said Spike’s mum.

“Sorry, Ember,” both men said at once, as if they were scolded children.

“Seriously, Spike: get dressed. You can’t take Sweetie Belle out to the water park dressed like that,” Ember said.

“Take who where?” Spike said.

Spike grew more confused by the laughter of the adults.

“Look at this. He hasn’t even gone on this date, and he’s already a mess,” Sombra said. “Rule number one, son: only show fear after the date, when the girl can’t see you.”

“You’re one to talk. Ember, do you remember the first words Sombra said to you?” Pharynx asked.

“I try to forget. But, I think it was, ‘...u--uh-uh-huh…” Ember said, as she draped her arms around her husband.

“And what do you know. It worked,” Sombra said, before kissing his wife.

Spike didn’t know what to make of what he saw. He only wanted things to go back to the way they were, but this had turned out better than he could have dreamt. Come to think of it, this as it was now all felt like a dream to him. But, he couldn’t stay long. He still had to change out of his pajamas. Leaving the adults to their devices, he went back upstairs to change into his street clothes.






Minutes later, Spike had eaten his breakfast. No sooner did he finish did his phone in his pocket buzz. After picking up his plate to put in the sink, Spike looked at his phone, and found a text message from Twilight.

I’ll be at your house in a minute. Get your stuff ready for the waterpark. :)

“Twilight’s driving me to the waterpark?” Spike thought to himself. “What else can happen today?”

He left his dirty plate in the sink, and quickly ran upstairs again to pack up for the waterpark. As he was in his room, he finished packing and looked out the window. There was the view of the neighborhood just as he remembered it. For many minutes, he stared at the scenery, basking in the mere sight of it, and hoping it would never change again.

Down on the street, Spike saw a car pull up. His phone buzzed again, and he looked to see another text from Twilight, saying she had arrived.

Spike took his bag and walked downstairs. As he passed by the dining room, he heard the adults talking.

“So, poker at Night Light and Velvet’s place?” Sombra asked.

“Yup. And, whose turn is it to bring the drinks this time?” Pharynx asked.

“Yours,” Sombra answered.

“What!? No! It was my turn the last time!”

“Mm-mm,” Ember said, shaking her head. “Last time, Chrysalis brought the drinks. And you and Tirek drank them all. So, now we’re skipping mine and Sombra’s turn for yours.”

Pharynx kept protesting the arrangement as Spike continued out the door. He walked to the car, and tried to open the passenger door, only to find the seat occupied.

“Back seat,” Thorax said.

It looked like some things hadn’t changed. Spike did as instructed, and stepped into the backseat of the car.

The drive was smooth and uneventful. And on such a clear and sunny day too. All around, it seemed like everyone was feeling the mood of the new day.

“Oh! Look!” Twilight excitedly said, before honking her horn.

Over on the path beside the road, Fluttershy and Discord waved back at Twilight. The two of them sat down at a table on a restaurant patio, and continued to wave until they were out of sight.

Around a corner, they passed by the park, and Spike saw another welcome sight. Officer Tempest was standing tall and proud, both eyes intact, as she supervised a juvenile community service program. The juvenile in question was another familiar face: an older boy with orange hair.

“How much longer do I have to do this?” Garble said, as he speared a piece of trash.

“Don’t know. How much more public property do you plan to deface?” Tempest said. “You’re just lucky that kid turned you in when he did. Or else you’d both be worse off. I can guarantee that.”

She glanced up, and saw the very boy who had turned Garble in driving by in the backseat of a car. She offered him a quick salute, then went back to supervising Garble.

Spike saluted the officer back, and continued his ride.






Twilight parked her car at the water park, and everyone disembarked the vehicle. Spike looked at the park before him, feeling the same feeling as the first time he saw it. Only now, the feeling was a thousand times greater. Now that everything in his life was in its proper place, everything was going to be greater.

“Twilight! Over here!” called Rarity’s voice from nearby.

They all walked over to where Rarity was waiting for them with Pinkie Pie.

“Good. You guys are already here,” Twilight greeted them.

“Where are Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo?” Spike wondered.

The others were all silent a moment. Spike became more confused when he saw their faces all morph into knowing smiles.

“That isn’t how a date works, Spike. It’s just going to be the two of you alone today,” Pinkie said.

“Me and…” Spike trailed off.

“Spike,” said a voice behind Spike.

The boy turned around, and saw Sweetie Belle standing before him. Nothing about her had changed in the least. Something Spike was truly happy to see.

“I’m, uh...I’m glad to see you,” Sweetie said, as she wrung her hands.

“Yeah. And you can’t realize how glad I am to see you,” Spike said.

“Oh, goodness! It’s too adorable,” Rarity whispered.

Spike pulled himself from his own self-induced haze, and managed to speak.

“Let’s all get into this place. Those slides won’t ride themselves,” Spike said.

“Nicely put. Let’s go on in,” Thorax said.

Once they all paid their admission, they all went to their separate changing rooms. Spike emerged from his wearing his trunks, and he looked around for the others.

“So, how do I look?” asked Sweetie Belle’s voice from the side.

When Spike turned, he was left speechless. He had seen Sweetie in her bikini before, but now that she wasn’t wearing her t-shirt, he could see one major difference. No longer was Sweetie’s arm marred with a massive scar. It was as immaculate as the rest of her. It could only mean that however they met now, it had been on more amicable terms.

“You look...beautiful,” Spike said.

Sweetie Belle giggled and flushed red, before she took Spike’s hand.

“How about we ride the biggest slide first?” Spike said.

“Okay.”

The two of them climbed all the way up the hill that the largest slide in the park was built on. Several patrons rode down at once, splashing into the water below. One look down, and Sweetie Belle could feel her courage wavering.

“Maybe this wasn’t the best place to start,” Sweetie said.

“What if I went down with you?” Spike said, as he placed his arms around Sweetie Belle, and sat down behind her on the slide.

“Promise you won’t let go,” Sweetie said.

“I promise,” Spike said as they slid forward.

At the very cusp of the slide, just before they went down, an urge overcame Sweetie Belle. An urge to speak her mind before she plunged into oblivion.

“Spike, I...I LOVE YOU!!!” she shouted, the very second before they went speeding down the slide, and splashing into the water below.

The two children surfaced, laughing loudly from surviving the experience.

“Spike, we’re alive! We made it!” Sweetie said.

Spike guided Sweetie Belle to the shallower water away from the slide. Before they left for dry land, Spike had something to say of his own.

“Sweetie Belle. What you said back on the slide...Well...I’ve been thinking a lot lately. About you. I realize just how much you mean to me, and...I love you too,” Spike said.

Both children said nothing, but slowly leaned closer to one another. Quicker than Spike knew, Sweetie Belle planted a kiss on his cheek, and ran off giggling.

“Hold on a second! You’re not leaving that easily!” Spike said, as he chased after her.

All was right with the world. As long as Spike had what was special in his life, nothing could go wrong.