The emerald flames ebb from sight, as the skeletal behemoth lowers its jaw, looking down on the pony that stands near the reflective pool. Thorn Eclipse turns his head from the undead dragon a few feet away to the shadowy creature that has summoned them from the magical waters. A tall, serpentine body spews darkness from its body. Eyes appear hollow, giving off a white glow that makes him all the more monstrous. Cracks forming along the jaw creates the mouth and fangs.
“So this is what we have become,” the pony scowls, looking at the shadow dragon.
“You sound disappointed,” Spike hisses, his tail strikes the dirt.
Thorn stamps his hoof, “All the power I possess, and you cast it all away for some foolish pride?”
“It was not pride that made you disappear,” the shadow dragon growls, “It was the spell. You were too unstable to maintain, which brought this hulking creature into existence.”
The skeletal dragon only growls at the comment. Green steam slithers from between his jaws.
Thorn looks to the undead beast, and then back to his shadowy self, “That may be the case, but you are hardly any threat in that form. Celestia would be able to handle you easily.”
“Which is where you two will come in,” Spike hisses, as he starts to walk up to the pony that is in his presence. “Thorn, you will rendezvous with our pet alicorn to wreak havoc on Ponyville. Meanwhile I shall sneak back north to the Crystal Empire. I will need a certain changeling to teach me the ways of harvesting magic.”
Again, Thorn Eclipse stamps his hoof against the ground, causing a slight tremor in the earth, “You waste time with your plots, because I have that very power you seek. Who is it that you seek to pilfer.”
“I will not rely on the powers of others,” Spike snarls, “You are nothing but a mirror to remind me of my failure. You will do as I say, or I shall send you back into that puddle!”
Thorn shakes his head, “I say that draconic pride of yours has made you blind. You forget the kind of power that I possess. I will not go down so easily, even if I am just the product of a spell.”
“And I think you forget that you could break apart at any moment.”
Suddenly, a smile crosses the pony’s muzzle, “I think I have found the perfect binding agent…”
Green light flashes from the tip of his horn as he swings his head. Magical energy sweeps through the air, striking the shadow dragon square in the chest. It propels the serpent across the forest where he slams into a tree. Behind him, the blackened wood topples to the floor, sending dirt sailing in a cloud. Through the veil a shadow emerges. Smoke spews from his maw, as blackened flames spit through the air.
“You think you can do better than me?” Spike growls, “You have already lost.”
The shadow dragon rips through the dust cloud, taking to the air as wings burst through the blackened scales on his back. Taking flight, he breaks through the roof of twisting branches, finding the bright sun to cast down upon him. Soaring through the clouds, he circles around before coming back to the earth. Folding his wings into his body, the air starts to form around him in a white haze. As he cuts through the trees again, he meets an unaware Thorn. Darkness explodes when they collide, sending a ring of grays stretching up toward the heavens. The force levels the trees, sending bombarding splinters to scatter throughout the Everfree Forest.
Spike lands gracefully on the open field that he has created, the wings sink back into his body. A growl slips through his mouth as he sees that the unicorn remains standing. Surrounding the pony is a green bubble that has a shard of it missing as if it were crafted from emerald glass. Thorn winces as a red line has slashed across his right eye, forcing it shut.
“I suppose you could call that the Dark Rain-Boom,” Spike chuckles.
“You claim to be full of dragon pride, but you still cling to memories of them,” Thorn snarls. “That attack is proof enough.”
The shadow dragon snorts, “A simple similarity does not mean I share any sentiment with them. I plan on rejecting all ponies, even you. You are nothing more than a tool, a means to an end.”
“You best be careful to wield a tool you cannot handle.”
“You best not forget you are not the only tool I hold.”
Thorn sees a shadow loom over him, begging him to look upwards. White skeletal claws block out the sun as the undead behemoth brings its down. Suddenly, it is blocked by a large red hand as the tiny pony explodes into a towering centaur. Tirek meets the undead brute strength, pushing the dragon backwards. As they lock in combat, the large beast opens its skeletal jaw, and green flames strike Tirek in the face. He roars in pain, but the red hot glowing orb between his orbs grows bigger. Forcing away the agony of his flesh being burnt, Thorn slams his skull against that of the dragon. When their heads collide he shoots out a beam of energy which pummels the creature into the earth.
As he stands over the skeletal remains, he watches as it bursts forth, tackling the centaur. Thorn his pinned under the behemoth as flames gather in its mouth.
“You cannot defeat the power of a dragon,” he hears Spikes words through the vicious roar of the beast.
Flames spew forth, but as the shadow dragon watches his former self be obliterated, there is a strange moment. It appears that the event taking place has a slight stall, a momentary blip in the flow of flames. As it strikes the ground, it scorches the dirt, leaving nothing but blackness. In that nothing does it make the shadow dragon look gravely concerned.
“Dragons are unparalleled for their brute strength,” Spike hears approaching hooves. “But they sorely lack in their capabilities to plan, to think quickly in the heat of battle.”
“H-How?” Spike sounds rattled.
“From absorbing Starlight, I learned that handy time-travel spell,” Thorn explains. “I decided to modify it a little. Rather than reverse the flow of time, I just simply stopped it. For a moment, at least.”
“Enough of this,” he looks to his undead self, “Destroy him.”
But the behemoth does not move.
“He won’t do you any good,” Thorn answers.
Holding up a hoof, the unicorn holds a green glowing orb that dances like a little flame. It flickers in an out of existence. When his horn glows the same shade, the ball disappears.
“I separated his soul from that body,” the unicorn explains. “No more of that bag of bones interfering. It is just the two of us now.”
“That is fine,” the shadow dragon roars, “I don’t need anyone!”
As his voice strikes through the heavens, the shadows around them seem to gather, using the dragon as a focal point. The shade seems to leap from the ground where they linger, gathering between his claws. It builds to the size of his head. That is when he opens his maw, stretching it to the point where it could become unhinged. Thorn watches from a distance as the shadow dragon devours the ball of darkness.
All of a sudden the wings burst from his back again. He begins to expand, growing nearly twice the size he was in a matter of seconds. The whites of his eyes turn emerald as the same light emits from his body, spiraling between his scales as the malefic dragon finally reopens is maw and flames sweep out over the landscape.
Before they reach the pony, he is airborne, the fire flow harmlessly underneath him. From his back alicorn wings have sprouted from his back, giving him flight.
“Become as big and powerful as you want, foolish dragon,” Thorn mocks. “You will never defeat me.”
The shadow dragon snarls. When he pushes off the ground to take flight, it creates a crater under its claws. All the pony sees is a black blur as the fangs are nearly upon him. He soars out of the way, but the jaws manage to clamp down on one of his wings. Before he falls, magic encases his body, sending him back into the skies.
Flames try to meet him in the air, but Thorn evades the attack. He answers with a magical beam of his own, but it appears to do nothing against the hide. The shadow dragon then drops to the ground, keeping a keen green eye on his target. Digging his claws into the earth, he lets out a ferocious roar. It causes the very land to tremble in fear. Darkness seems to rain down upon the earth, making the trees bend and break under the weight of it all. It even drives the floating pony from the skies, crushing him under the weight of an intensified gravity. As the unicorn attempts to clamber to its hooves, the dark beast approaches, standing over him.
“It looks like I win.”
The gravity increases, burying the pony into the ground. Meanwhile flames build in the back of the dark dragon before being let loose into the hole. An emerald inferno blasts downwards to the point it creates an explosion, sending dirt and debris back up out of the crevice. When the dust clears, Spike looks in to find an unmoving pony. It lays on its back, hooves in the air. There is no life in its eyes.
He smiles triumphantly, but that disappears when bones clasp tightly around his chest, squeezing the life out of him. Spike looks horrifically into the glowing green eyes of his undead self. The beast opens its titanic mouth, showing rows of razor sharp teeth.
“I. Win.”
Pain fall over the shadow dragon as the magic is ripped from his body, being devoured into the stomach-less pit of the creature. As the black energy is drained away, he shrinks in the clutches of his foe. With what is left after consuming the dragon, the skeletal behemoth tosses the husk to the ground, and proceeds to crawl over to the hole. It seems to spew out the collected energy into the grave.
From the crevice, Thorn Eclipse rises forth like one of the undead. The gray stallion walks over to the remains of the shadow dragon, who has become nothing more than a little purple lizard with green scales. He twists his neck, cracking a few vertebras.
“You really hurt me with that last attack,” he says with a grin. “Too bad I transferred my soul into the empty vessel. Now the power of darkness is mine.”
Spike looks up weakly, “How. Could you. Beat me?”
“You forgotten that I am not alone,” the dark stallion answers. “Six villains reside within me, six minds working in chaos. I will always be six steps ahead of you, you who is all alone.”
“Just, just finish me,” the baby dragon looks away.
“No,” he answers. “I want you to run, run for your life. Run back to Twilight Sparkle and beg for forgiveness…”
The baby dragon picks himself up, looking meekly at the pony that has bested him. With tears in his eyes, he runs away.
Thorn looks back to the empty vessel of the skeletal behemoth. Lifting his hoof, the flame appears and gently floats toward the bones. Light fills the empty sockets as the dragon roars with life. It towers behind the pony.
“I want you to follow him,” he orders the bones. “Wait until he gets back to Ponyville, and then kill him, kill every one of them.”