“Once upon a time there lived a great dragon empress. Her heart full of love and her soul full of kindness, she watched over all her beloved subjects as a mother would her children. Under her rule the land shifted in many ways, ponies came to live among a land where they were not meant to. But instead of scaring them away like those before her she embraced them. She held no malice towards them nor them towards her. She loved the ponies dearly, not as the dragons whom she treasured so, but as friends whom she may show weakness to. Friends who she could cry to, friends who didn’t see her as important,valuable, Mother but just another dragon.”
“But mommy, Father says that ponies are evil, He says the ponies took Mother away.”
A dragon, gold in color, smiled down at her child, reading a story to a young Crush, seemly not much older than Spike was now. Her question simply made the golden dragon sigh, brushing her nose against Crush’s cheek.
“It is true, my child, a pony did take mother away. But, the actions of one does not reflect the actions of all.” Crush’s mom turned to the next page, an image of Luna, Celestia and Amore all flying happily around Jade, “Sard only cared about protecting mother, it was an obsession he possessed to the point he would even neglect himself, “We can hang out another time, Sparks,” he would always say. Training, day in and day out, every day since our youth for that sole reason. Protecting her, it was his purpose and nothing else mattered. In his eyes, the day Sombra came, all he saw was a pony destroying all he had worked for, destroying the dragon he admired most.”
“But mommy, that was a long time ago right? If protecting Mother was his only purpose what’s his purpose now?” Asked Crush, the flashback fading back to present day as Crush watched Sard loom over Spike.
Sard approached Spike, his presence overwhelming the young dragon to the point he had to take a step back. All Sard needed to do was step on him and that would be all she wrote, the thought terrified him but Spike refused to run. The thought of what would happen to Punchin and Crush scared him more so than his own demise.
“I...I” Spike struggled to speak, fumbling over his words as Sard simply glared down at him. Spike knew, he couldn’t let anything happen to his friends. So, he took a breath, looking at Sard with an angry expression Sard did not like.
“I wi-”
“He’s not staying!” Yelled Crush, snarling at Sard who simply turned back to glare at her.
“Stay out of this! You have already tested my patience enough!” He said, but Crush ignored him.
“Sard you can’t do this. Spike doesn’t belong here, trapped in this dark, tiny place. Making him stay here is just cruel! Please, just let him go!” She pleaded, lifting her head up slightly.
“I cannot allow that, if he leaves he will jeopardize the stronghold! The enemy will find us again and I will sooner DIE before I allow anyone to harm my children!” He replied, a snarl in his voice.
“What enemy!? Sard you can’t blame ponies for the actions of just one or two of them! Mother’s death was a tragedy and I understand you are just doing what you think is right but you know as well as I that Mother wouldn’t have wanted this! She wouldn’t want you to hate the ponies she loved, she wouldn’t want you to keep us trapped down here for centuries!” Crush’s words hit Sard hard, making him slam his tail into the ground, shattering it under it’s immense power.
“How do you know what she would have wanted!? YOU’VE NEVER EVEN MET HER!” His tone, his voice cracked as he tried to contain himself, “All I ever wanted was to protect her, keep her beautiful smile safe and those PONY MONSTERS TOOK HER AWAY!”
Crush pushed herself up, looking Sard straight into the eyes and seeing tears well up in them. His arms trembled, his heart clearly hurting from the truth he always held inside, that ate away at his very being.
“I worked so hard for the entirety of my life to protect her, keep her radiance safe from any who would harm her and in the end I couldn’t even have to honor to die to do so. She’s gone… Mother is gone and I’m still here. I failed her, useless to her. So I swore I would never fail her again! I will protect her children, I must follow in her place and protect our dragons!”
“By destroying the only real piece of her we have left?” Crush’s words destroyed him, reducing her Emperor to tears. His face showed agony, fear, the things that ate away at him since the day Jade was ripped away from him. The guards, seeing their leader in such a state, simply watched, baffled it. Crush, no longer pinned down by the guards stood and took small steps towards Sard, her shackled legs preventing her from moving much. She soon managed to reach him, snuggling against him to comfort him.
“Sard, for as hard as you worked to protect her you never really got to know Jade for what she really was. All her memories, all the times she cherished were with them and you know that. While she would have done anything to protect us in her heart she had only love for the ponies who could see her in a way we could not,” Gently, she lifted Sard’s head, looking him in the eyes now red from the tears dripping down his face. “I know it hurts, accepting that she is gone but you can’t replace her and you know that. Nothing you can do can remedy what happened in the past and, while we can never truly understand how you feel, we all miss her dearly. We all share in your sorrow and, yes, we are all afraid of what may happened as you are. But you mustn’t let that fear allow you to destroy her last, living, legacy. You mustn’t allow that fear to warp you into something you are not. You are no murder, Sard. So please, I beg of you to just let him go.”
Sard simply stared at her, then looked away, turning his head to her with his lip trembling. He closed his eyes tight, letting out a sharp breath of smoke. Crush touched his arm, looking up at him with a pleading expression. From the corner of his eye he could see it, it made his already injured heart ache. He knew she was right and, while he believed it to be horrible idea, he sighed and spoke out his next words quietly.
“Go, leave now before I change my mind.”
Punchin stood,crying out to Spike.
“The escape tunnel is behind the throne! Go!” Spike hesitated for a moment, seeing Sard’s back turned to him. He refused to look at him, simply growling lightly.
“DID YOU NOT HEAR HER, GO!” Yelled Sard, making Spike jump in fear and run off. Before going behind the throne he looked back to Punchin and Crush. They looked back, waiting for him to leave. He gave them a meek, sad wave goodbye to which they returned it, Crush giving him a smile.
Behind the pedestal there was a curtain. Moving it aside Spike found a tunnel going deep into the earth.With a deep breath he walked in, biting his lower lip as he lingered near the entrance for a bit before walking.
“Thank you, Sard, You did the right thing.” Said Crush, only to feel him pull away from her and walk away with his head lowered.
“For the sake of the Stronghold, I hope you are right.”
Spike walked down the tunnel for a long while, attempting to do the fireball trick that Crush did earlier only to find it was much harder to do that he thought. His fire kept spilling out, making it hard to see anything at all with it flaring in front of his face. So, eventually he just gave up and felt his way around.
“Ugh, I can’t see anything.” He groaned, walking with his hand pressed against the tunnel wall. Suddenly, he slipped. Finding himself sliding down a sharp decline. He yelled out, going on an extreme slide ride until he was suddenly spat out from a wall and into an old, ruined bed, breaking it apart and sending dust everywhere.
“Ahh ohh… that smarts…” He coughed, pulling himself out of the rubble and dusting off his scales. He continued to do so as he walked out of the room he was shot into.
“Where am I?” He wondered, picking out a dust bunny out from behind his ear. As he turned the corner he got his answer, finding her glittering in the moonlight.
It was his mother, encrusted before him.