Spike sat on his old throne in Twilight's crystal castle. Somehow it had grown with him and pushed further away from Twilight's throne. He had always figured the castle was alive somehow.
None of that mattered to him however. He sat with his arms and legs crossed, gritting his teeth. Spike has always had little patients, but this day pushed beyond what he could take. He sat through the meeting with the mayor, the one with Filthy Rich, Cheerilee's, Granny Smith, Cutie Mark Crusader's, and now the mayor was back to talk about the summer sun celebration. Spike snapped. He slammed his claws into the table, roaring. "Enough!"
Twilight and the mayor looked up in shock, before Twilight gathered the papers up and handed them off. "He has a point. It is lunch time and I am peckish, perhaps we could finish this up in say, about two hours from now?"
"Yes, we can do that." Mayor Mare fumbled with the papers a moment as she fixed her glasses. "It was a pleasure seeing you again Spike, it has been too long."
Spike felt bad about his outburst later, but at that moment he just nodded as he glared at Twilight. She glared right back at him.
As soon as they heard the mayor leave, Twilight exploded. "What has gotten into you? Why would you do that?"
Spike screamed right back at her. "Me? What about you? Rarity is missing and all you can do is paperwork and meetings! Prioritize!"
"Discord said she is perfectly fine! I trust him on this! Why don't you?"
"Since when were you so trusting of Discord?"
"Since you convinced me to! Since I spent three years getting scraps about you from him! Since you gave him that orb!"
"How do you know about that?"
"Fluttershy, Celestia, Discord! Take your pick!"
Spike waved a claw and slumped down into his seat. "Whatever."
Twilight sat as well. "Yeah, whatever."
They sat in silence as Spike inspected his claws. Sighing, he shook his head, trying to clear it. "I'm asking you to trust me now Twilight. I love her, and I would never risk her safety, but I care for the rest of Equestria too. So tell me, which would I choose? What should I do?"
She looked into his eyes and saw determination, not inquiry, and knew his mind would not change. "I don't know everything going on, I wish I did but I don't, but what I know is that if you get close to her, this Rising thing happens. It does not sound pretty. What you are asking is to choose you, Rarity, or Equestria, and I can't. So I choose to trust my friends. It kills me Spike, kills me that I may never see Rarity again, but I trust her choice. Do you trust her to make the right choice?"
Spike raised an eyebrow. "This is Rarity we're talking about. No, I trust her to do the selfless, dramatic thing."
Twilight went to speak, but he waved her off as he stormed outside. He walked down the streets of Ponyville, smoking a cigarette as he fumed.
He looked up and waved at the call of his name. It was Cheerilee and the new drakos teacher. He remembered the cultural shock when the drakos first immigrated. The drakos devoted in their chosen religion, worship ranging from Elder Gods, Old Gods, to the Living Gods. Ponies on the other hoof, were not quite religious at all. Ponies were taught to settle their differences peacefully, drakos were taught to fight it out. There was still some problems mixing but it was working.
A baby dragon and baby drakos ran by playing at his feet a moment before running off, and he smiled. After the attack on Canterlot, most of the dragon council was in support of Spike and his plan to include them in the alliance. They had formed the Imperial Alliance with a representative for each kingdom on its council. Princess Luna for Equestria the pony kingdom, General Red Claw for Drakonas the drakos empire in the badlands, and Ariel for the dragon tribes.
Spike laughed out loud, gaining many odd stares, at the irony. War, fear, and his evil heritage had made the world a better place, but lost him what he wanted most, the pony he loved. Rarity was lost, forever.
Twilight and their friends trusted Rarity's decision and wouldn't help. Discord and the princesses were adamant about the fact, it was better this way, a casualty of war. He hated that word. The drakos were willing, but swore an oath to not find her by Cadence before they knew what they swore to. It seemed the only allies he had were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and they couldn't help him look. Their attempts at persuasion ending just like his.
That is when it hit him. He knew he could not go there, Equestria's fate depended on it. Shadowfang nor the Nightmare could be allowed to rise, all of Equestria depended on it. All of the world depended on it, so if he went looking for her, they would have to stop him, or even better. They would have to bring her home so that they could keep her away from him. He smiled as he raced back to the castle, plan set in, and he had the best clue he needed. Discord's brother, the warden of Tartarus.
Rarity concentrated, focused the energy she felt flowing through her outward. It was not her magic, but the Nightmare energy. She watched as her white hooves begin to turn blue, the energy surging. She fought to control it, but failed. With a burst, her concentration lost, the power receded. She looked at her hooves as she sat down, huffing. Her head jerked up as she heard clapping.
She looked up and frowned at her host. "Pray tell me my darling host, but why were you watching me again?"
Her host, Discord's brother. Was an odd sight. He stood on two long legs, that ended on elongated paws he called feet. He stood straight up like drakos did in the open, but never on all fours like they did often to talk to ponies or when indoors. His lack of tail made his walk odd, he raised one leg and fell forward onto it over and over, but he looked so graceful that no pony would notice the fall. His torso broadened as it rose, with his shoulders protruding outwards. His 'arms' fell downward at rest, but had much more maneuverability than most species. They ended in monkey paws that he used to do most of his actions. Between his shoulders, on top of his neck was an ovalish looking head. His eyes sunk into his head and his nose simply coming off of the face in a point with no muzzle. In short he looked like a straight standing ape.
Another odd bit was that he was covered in almost hairless flesh. Fine hairs were all that covered him, with almost no amount of fur on his body. A patch of short blond fur covered the crown of his head, with a bushy mustache and goatee around his mouth. He smiled and his green eyes sparkled. His eyes painfully reminded her of Spike's, both having that deviously intelligent shine to them.
"My dear, of all my prisoners, you interest me the most. Your determined mindset is not new, but differs greatly. It has a more graceful nature about it, that I find exceedingly appealing."
She huffed and flipped her mane back. His deep rumbling voice would make most mares tremble, but it had a tendency to infuriate her. "I am no prisoner here. I may come and go as I please."
"In the palace and all of Tartarus maybe, but you may never leave this place for as long as you live. While that makes you privileged, you are still a prisoner here."
She look dejected as she stared at the floor. "Spike may find a cure. He will and we can put this whole affair behind us."
He placed a finger under her chin and raised her head to look him in his serious eyes. "The only cure is death. Even then it is only a haphazard solution. We are dealing with forces beyond us all. My brother, the alicorns, and I are all part of the Living Gods, and we could not contain or cure this affliction. It nearly destroyed us the last time it surfaced. There is no cure."
He turned to leave her training room, but stopped at her voice. "You have Twilight now, she can help."
He placed a hand on the doorframe, fingers digging into the stone. "Cadence as well. She is also new to this, but it will not be enough. That monster destroyed six of our numbers and broke three of us. I don't know how she coped with it, but he turned ten into one. How can three and two children hope to win. Twilight has helped, but it has to be help in containing this evil. No being alive can win this." He left her to her tears. Hope once again leaving her since she came to this glorious palace of a prison.