//------------------------------// // Help From the Shadow Part 4: A Mother's Tears // Story: Dragonfire 🐲 Enter The Dragon Hero 🐲 // by Phantom-Dragon //------------------------------// Meanwhile, with the girls After a long day of fighting monsters, the girls returned, covered in bruises, scratches, and scorch marks. Fluttershy and Rarity succeeded in capturing the bugbear, while poor Bon Bon herself has a stung butt to show(not in public) for it. Rainbow Dash and Applejack managed to capture Gilda, securing a mask on her beak, and putting her in a straight jacket before putting the mad griffon in Fluttershy's backpack, along with the gremlins. Twilight, Pinkie, and Lyra on the other hand, were a different story. Previous Encounter The three girls all jumped out of the way, just as a stream of fire was blasted from the ceiling. The girls looked, seeing a huge black serpentine dragon, with blazing red eyes, and golden fins that resembles a hood, giving it the appearance of a cobra. The dragon slithered through the railings in the ceilings, before it lunged forward, snapping its jaws at the girls. Twilight shot a beam of magic at the rails, causing the dragon to fall to the ground. Upon impact, the dragon, surprisingly, shattered in a puff of smokes, into several pieces of papers, woods, and fabrics, save for the head. "Huh?" Twilight said in bewilderment. "It's just a puppet?" "Not entirely," a familiar voice stated. With that, the pieces all floated in the air, before they pieced together, restoring the dragon. With that, the dragon roared angrily, as Sunset Shimmer stepped out from the shadows, along with Snips, Snails, and Zephyr. "Sunset Shimmer?!" the girls exclaimed. "You're out?!" Twilight asked. "And that dragon is yours?" Pinkie asked, receiving weird looks from Twilight and Lyra. "What? Just asking." "Seeing as how I've got some time to kill, before I kill the three of you," Sunset began. "I might as well elucidate your sweet infested head." "Hey!" Pinkie exclaimed. "No need to rub it in." "SHUT UP!!" Sunset screamed, her eyes blazing in a burst of fire, along with her hair, scaring Pinkie Pie, Twilight, and Lyra. "Without any interruptions. The dark magics Somnambula had taught me have brought this simple paper dragon into a real dragon." Sunset's face then went with a frown as she explained, "Regrettably, this dragon is only an imugi." "A what?" Pinkie asked. "An imugi," Twilight explained. "Basically, a dragon prototype from Korean legends that resembles gigantic serpents, but with potentials of becoming true dragons through different feats." "Perceptive as always, Twilight," Sunset smirked. "So just think of what I could do with the Dragonfire. I can assemble a whole army of dragons at my commands!" "NO!!" the girls shrieked. "You can't do that! We won't let you!" "I'd like to see you try," Sunset sneered, before she went over to her creation. "Now my pets. Dinner time!" [Sword Art Online OST - Swordland] With a hiss, the dragon lunged forward, snapping its jaws at the girls. Twilight leapt in the air, transforming into her battle form, and blasted a beam of magic at the dragon, causing it to lose a few of its skins, revealing the wooden skeletal interior within. Pinkie was zipping around, throwing a few of her sprinkle bombs, giving her a chance to escape the dragon in a puff of smoke, before she reappeared on top of its head, holding it by a tuft of fur on its head. "Yee-haa!" Pinkie hollered. "Riding cowgirl!" Unfortunately, Pinkie's joy was cut short, as the dragon manages to coil itself around Pinkie, and started to squeeze her tight, suffocating the girl. "What's the matter?" Sunset asked, while bearing an evil grin. "Don't you like hugs?" "Sunset please," Pinkie groaned, tears coming out of her eyes, either from sadness, or from the hug. "Don't do this! I beg you, please! With sprinkles on top!" "Why should I?" the red haired girl asked bitterly. "So that whenever I look at you, I'll always be reminded of how you and everyone were so quick to accuse me of a crime I didn't commit? To remind me how you never really did looked past my dark history?" With every words Sunset spoke, the dragon tightened its grip on Pinkie even harder, while the three Demonic Stooges kept Twilight and Lyra at bay. "I'd rather watch you be the cupcake for a change, than to live another day in exile and of torment you girls inflicted on me!" Pinkie's hair deflated a little, at the mad girl's words, as well as the grip from the dragon's grip. "Dispose of them!" Sunset ordered, snapping her fingers. "NOW!" With that, the dragon turned its head at the pink girl, licking its chops, before it lunged forward, jaws wide open. "PINKIE!!" Twilight cried, before she threw Snips and Snails at the dragon, forcing it off the party girl. "Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed, running to the girl. "Are you alright?" "Yeah," Pinkie groaned. "I'm okay. It's just Sunset Shimmer I'm worried about." The girl looked sadly at what their friend(Or what they thought was their friend) had become. Whipping the boys off with its tail, the dragon lunged forward, snapping its jaws at the girls, who jumped to the side. "LYRA! DUCK!!" Twilight called. Lyra, who was fighting Zephyre Breeze, quickly ducked down, just as the dragon flew overhead. With her horn still projected, she ripped through the dragon's fabric underbelly. The dragon lets out several groans of pains, before its wound sewed itself together. The dragon looked angrily at the minty colored unicorn, who quickly galloped away, neighing in fear. Twilight and Pinkie quickly jumped in, and threw a combination of magic bolts and sprinkle bombs together at the dragon, forcing it back, and causing more of its pieces to be blast open. During the fight, Sunset took the opportunity to absorb some of Twilight and Pinkie's magic, before Lyra jumped in and kicked the device out of Sunset's hands, which flew into another pile of puppet dragons, nearby, bringing them to life. [Kung Fu Panda 2 - More Cannons! OST] "Big mistake," Sunset hissed in Lyra's face, before she turned around, to see a pack of living paper dragons. Sunset smiled, dropping Lyra to the ground, who crawled away, back to Twilight and Pinkie. After finishing the first dragon, the girls looked and were horrified to see more paper dragons brought back to life. "KILL THEM!!" Sunset ordered. "KILL THEM!!" With that, the dragons all snapped their jaws as they slithered after the girls. One of them snapped its jaws at Pinkie Pie, scratching her arm in the process. "Ouch!" Pinkie groaned. "Paper cut!" "There's too many of them!" Lyra said. Twilight looked, and agreed, seeing how dire the situation has become. With that, her horn glowed, as she took hold of everyone with their hands and hooves. "Not so fast!" Sunset roared, throwing a fireball at Twilight's horn, interrupting her teleportation spell. "Ow, my horn!" Twilight groaned. "Sorry princess," Sunset said bitterly. "But I can't have you leave dinner so soon!" "Maybe not!" a voice called out. "But I like to skip straight to desert!" Turning their heads, the girls were surprised to see Applejack, carrying a huge crate of anvils, which she threw at Sunset and the dragons. "Applejack!" the girls exclaimed happily. "C'mon y'all!" Applejack panted. "This way!" After the stooges dug Sunset out from the debris's, the angry girl looked, to see the girls, disappearing in a flash of light. "NOOOOOOO!!!" Sunset screamed. Present The girls were soon regrouped in Central Park, where they met up with Scorpan. There, they learned from Spike's surrogate uncle that the boy had been taken to a secret location for further training. While feeling relieved for his safety, at the same time, the girls felt disheartened as they were restricted from knowing his location, should they risk Nightmare Moon finding him. Furthermore, the girls had also informed Scorpan of their recent encounter with Sunset Shimmer, which troubled the man greatly. Nevertheless, the girls knew that as long as Crystal Prep Academy and the Shadowbolts's Coney Island hideout thunders with Nightmare Moon's wrath and frustration, the mad alicorn can no longer trouble the young prince in his sleep. Secret Place That night, Spike was getting himself ready for the night. After brushing his teeth, and changing into his pajama, Spike walked into the guest room of Decor's hideout, where Sunset Shimmer, in pony form, had finished making his leaf bed. "You're sleeping here?" Spike asked. "But I thought you already have some place to sleep. At that apartment I walked you to." "Well, normally I would be sleeping there," Sunset began. "But other times, I like to come here and sleep with Zecora and Fleur. It beats than sleeping alone, you know." "Good point," Spike soon laid his head down, trying to settle in. Feeling a twig poking him, Spike got up, finding the pesky plant, and disposed of it, before he resumed trying to get back to sleep. Even after turning himself into a dog, Spike was still not finding any comforts. Sunset smirked, "I take it you've never slept in leaf beds before," she said. "Obviously," Spike replied. "Here, let me show you a trick I've once did, during my self-exile," With that, Sunset took a deep breath, and breathed a stream of fire from her mouth, circling around the leaf bed, before she patted them with her hooves. Unsure of the unicorn's tactics, Spike snuggled into the bed, and was taken in by the warmth of the leaves, "Wow, this is amazing," he said, curling himself up into a ball. "This beats sleeping bags by a long shot." "When you're pyrokinetic, that is," Sunset smiled, before she left the room. "Well, good night Spike." "Good night, Sunset," Spike replied, before he felt himself drifting off to sleep. Sunset smiled, while whispering to herself, "Sleep tight. Dream of fireflies tonight." Meanwhile, with the girls All six girls were staying at an apartment they had rented, during their stay in New York. Courtesy of Twilight's magic, each girls have a separate room of their own. Twilight was currently in her room, sitting in her bed, looking out her window, "I sure hope Spike's doing alright," Twilight said. "Who?" a voice called, revealing itself to be her owl, Owlicious. "Spike, that's who," Twilight answered, before she remembered that's just his way of talking. "Who," the owl hooted, as if saying he's been acknowledged. "I'm just really worried for him," Twilight continued. "Can you blame me? It's already been ten years since we last saw him, and already, he's being targeted by the Shadowbolts, moments after we're reunited. It almost feels like the world, if not the universe, is against us of being together with Spike. And every chances we have of being together again, something always comes up, trying to force us apart again." Owlicious nodded in understanding, "Who, who," he hooted, flapping his wings over to a photo album, opening it up, skimming through a few pages, before he settled on one picture in particular. Twilight looked, seeing a picture of herself, the girls, and Princess Celestia, embracing the young boy, when he was prince. "You're right," Twilight smiled, with a determined look. "We've come too far to turn back now. We can't let Princess Celestia down. We have to do this, for every pony, for Spike, and for the Magic of Friendship! It's not over yet!" "WHO!" Owlicious hooted in agreement. His way of saying, "YEAH!" Meanwhile "Aye me!" Zecora exclaimed, as she had another conversation, via meditation, with Scorpan, who was in astral projection. "This is most tragic I see!" "What do you have to say about Sunset Shimmer, Zecora?" Scorpan asked. "I thought you say she can be trusted." "Before you jump to conclusions, let me first dispel the confusion," With that, Zecora explains, in her own rhyming way, about the backstory behind Sunset Shimmer's darkness. "And that my friend, is where I say the end," Zecora finished. Scorpan nodded, having been brought up to speed, "I see," he said, while stroking his mustache. "Very well, I'll have to inform the girls about this. In the meantime, I hope the real Sunset Shimmer will recover, as well as my nephew is doing." "Don't you fret," Zecora assured with a smile. "No need to be upset, for Sunset. She is doing more fine, with Spike as her sunshine." "Fantastic," Scorpan smiled, before he began returning back to his body. "In the meantime, good night." "Good night, and sleep tight." With that, the gargoyle took his leave. Meanwhile, Spike was once again in another dream, as he finds himself, sitting in a lush, green meadow. Once more, he finds himself, blue and transparent, with the dark chains around him. Turning around, he spotted his mother, standing before him, slowly lowering the sun with her magic. Spike looked and could clearly see the sadness on her face. The sun vanished completely, making way for the night. The alicorn started singing herself a song, as she walked back into the castle, with an astral projected Spike following her, struggling as he did so. Princess Celestia walked through a long hallway of stained glasses. She stopped for a moment to look at one in particular, depicting a younger alicorn, with light blue coat, short matching mane, and tail done up in a few curls, and a symbol of a crescent moon, surrounded by dark clouds, for a cutie mark. The next one she looked at brought more tears to the alicorn's eyes, for it depicted of herself, holding a human child close. Spike didn't need to guess who it is, as well as who the alicorn was. "So that's my aunt Luna," Spike gasped, looking at the blue alicorn. Turning his attention back to his mother, Spike struggled to catch up, as she continues on her way down the hall, and into a library. Scanning the bookshelves, Princess Celestia's horn glowed in a yellow aura, pulling out an old book, engulfed in the color of her magic. Sitting down on a couch, the alicorn opened the book, skimming through all the pages, just as Spike finally arrived. Sitting besides his mother, he leaned in for a closer look, and realized, he was looking into a photo album. Looking at the pictures, Spike could see captured memories of himself, as a baby, up to when he grew into a happy, energetic, young child, smiling, hugging, and playing with the alicorn, and the girls. One picture was of him and Applejack, bopping for apples, before they raised their heads out of the water, to reveal they both got the same apple. Another picture was of him, in dragon form, spraying water from his mouth, and onto a startled Rainbow Dash, while Pinkie Pie was laughing from a balloon, in the background. Princess Celestia turned the pages, to show a picture of Spike, as a dog, playing with the fireflies. The memories made Spike and Celestia smiled a little, before the sad princess levitated the photo album back to the shelves. Finally, the alicorn walked up to a tower, entering a room that looked as if it hadn't been cleaned in ages. Spike looked at all of the objects in the room and started seeing several flashes of memories from his past. Spike realized from then and there, that without a doubt, it's his old room. Spike watched as Princess Celestia levitated a small piece of blanket up to her face and cried into it. "Spike," she sobbed. "How much longer must I have to wait for you?" Looking at the moon, with the unicorn face missing, Celestia cried even harder. "How much can my aching heart take?" "Mom," Spike started shedding some tears, as he walked over and tried in vain to let his mother know he was there. "I wish you could hear me right now. I'm sorry it took me this long to remember who you are. Who I am. And who my family are. I wish I could let you know right now, I'm trying my best to be stronger, for you, and every pony back home. I'm with the girls and Uncle Scorpan right now, and they're helping me every way they can to help me get strong. I promise I'll be home soon. And I'll never let anything keep us apart ever again." Sensing the world disappearing around him, Spike ended with, "I'm on my way. I promise." The alicorn looked up, and turned around. The look on her face pierced Spike, as if she's finally seeing him. "Spike?" she asked breathlessly, before she and the world around her vanished completely.