//------------------------------// // The Pantheon of Evil Spirits // Story: The Legend of Spike: Dragon Quest // by DiabloGuapo //------------------------------// Despite their best efforts, Hargon’s plan had succeeded and Malroth had escaped from the depths of Tartarus. Looking up at the colossus, Twilight calculated their chances in stopping the nightmare looming over them. The demon was just as large as the Dragon King, and just as powerful if Twilight assumed correctly. But this time, they didn't have a sword that could cut through anything. “Whoa nelly. That’s a biggun,” Applejack remarked nervously. Malroth looked down at the mortals at his feet. While most had retreated, there were some who remained at the edge of the crumbled castle, standing by the edge of the chasm. Malroth’s followers bowed and rejoiced at the arrival of their god. “All hail Malroth! All hail Malroth!” they chanted in unison. As they praised his name, Malroth stretched forth a clawed hand. A blue bolt of energy thundered down, striking the cliff where the worshipers stood. The cultists only had time to give confused cries of panic and betrayal before the edge of cliff crumbled beneath their hooves, sending them hurtling down into the pit of ectoplasm. Though they weren’t the intended offering, it didn’t matter to Malroth. They were only ever a means to an end. The lake of ectoplasm began to churn and bubble as Malroth called upon forbidden magics. The reservoir erupted like a volcano, sending a swirling vortex of red ectoplasm into the sky. Everyone jumped at the unexpected eruption, watching as the tornado rise to the clouds and dye the sky red. At the top of the funnel, dark clouds began to spiral outward, lightning crackling from them. ***** At the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadance and Princess Flurry Heart stood on the balcony of the palace looking to the west. Over the mountains, they saw the red sky and heard the distant rumble of thunder. They were joined by Sunburst and Starlight Glimmer when they too saw the otherworldly phenomenon. The four knew it was a grave omen and prayed for the safety of their friends and loved ones. ***** “What is that?!” Rainbow Dash yelled over the roaring wind. “If it is what I think it is, it’s an interdimensional portal...” Twilight explained. “...to Tartarus.” “What do we do?” Fluttershy whimpered. “We stop it. Any way we can,” Twilight answered before flying up to confront the titan. Luna and Midnight followed after her. Midnight was a little unsteady, new to the concept of flying. “Get the hostages to safety! Fall back to the Crystal Empire!” Celestia ordered Shining Armor, putting her last resort into effect. With a mighty flap of her large white wings, she soared up to face Malroth. Her horn glowed, shooting powerful blasts of golden magic alongside her fellow Alicorns at the demon’s scaly hide. With his multiple arms, he swiped at the ponies circling around him. “Hurry, get moving!” Shining Armor barked at the ponies that had been rescued from the clutches of Malroth’s cult. They followed the Crystal Pony guards without hesitation, all too eager to put as much distance between themselves and the gigantic demon as possible. Shining Armor paused when he saw Fluttershy, Posey, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Surprise stay behind. He knew they were connected to the Elements and had helped to save Equestria before, but they weren’t soldiers and he doubted they could do anything against such a foe. “Aren’t you coming?” The mares glanced between each other, Fluttershy and Posey looking the most scared, and back to the princesses battling Malroth. Sharing the same thought, Rarity answered for all of them, “No. We’re needed here.” Though none of them quite knew what it was they were supposed to do, Shining Armor gave an understanding nod and ran to lead the civilians to safety. Those remaining continued to watch, all feeling helpless. Yaks took pride in their strength, but they had never encountered anything like what they now beheld. The Changelings figured they would be nothing more than annoying flies that could be swatted just as easily. Spike, on the other claw, couldn’t stand idly by and watch as his mother and sister risked their lives. He could fly and he had magic! Joining the fray, he began to launch green fireballs at Malroth. The demon retaliated by opening his gaping mouth and breathed jets of hellfire at the dragon and Alicorns. The five flew out of range of the infernal flames, but saw glowing orbs of energy form within Malroth’s four hands. Pointing at the Alicorns, Malroth sent forth beams of pure destructive energy. The Alicorns launched their own streams of magic to counter the attack. Electricity sparked as the beams crashed together. While the princesses maintained their attack from either side of Malroth, Spike circle around to the back. Feeling clever, Spike was about to strike but then Malroth’s tail rose, the serpentine head at the end hissing menacingly. Spike barely had time to dodge the snapping snake head. On the ground, the onlookers noticed figures starting to emerge from the vortex. Everyone got ready for whatever came from the other side. But what they saw surprised them. Bazuzu, followed by Atlas and Zarlox, were the first to step through. “These guys again?” Rainbow Dash asked incredulously. “Didn’t we already take these guys out?” “Don’t ya worry none. We can take ‘em,” Applejack reassured. “Yaks smash!” King Rutherford bellowed, leading the charge. The Elements of Harmony and the Changelings also rushed forward to push back the three. But they quickly halted their charge when more figures appeared within the portal. “Look!” Thunderbolt pointed as the shadowy figures also started to emerge. Silver and gold furred batboons, green and blue skinned cyclopes, and purple scaled archdemons joined their commanders. Gremlins, imps, floating eyeballs, beings made of fire and ice, and other ghoulish creatures also came forth. Seeing Prince Bazuzu giving her a mocking sneer, Rainbow Dash scowled backed and bolted towards it with the intent to finish it once and for all. Before she could reach Bazuzu, a silver batboon flew in front her, trying to slash her with its claws. Thunderbolt went to help her, but saw a gold batboon flying towards him. Thunderbolt evaded the attack and countered with a spinning kick to the face. As Chieftain Atlas and his tribe of cyclopes stomped forth from the portal, King Rutherford and the yaks lined up in front of them. Atlas laughed at them, confident that the yaks couldn’t possible harm giants such as they. But the cyclopes’ laughter was cut short by a stampede ramming into them, knocking them down and trampling over them. General Zarlox and his soldiers rained fireballs from above, but a purple shield block the flames. Amethyst returned their fire with magical bolts of her own. Giving her support, Thorax, Pharynx, and the other Changelings flew into the air, also shooting at the archdemons. A floating eyeball monster was threatening Fluttershy, but it soon was looking directly into the “Stare.” Since it was comprised of a giant eyeball with tentacles ended with more eyeballs, the monster was unable to look away. The aberration warbled in terror and sped away. Posey was surrounded by a fire elemental on one side and an ice elemental on the other. When both beings pounced, Posey jumped backwards, allowing them to collide midair. Fire and ice canceled each other and both disappeared into a cloud of steam. A group of armored skeletal creatures advanced upon Rarity. Since Rarity is a fashionista by trade, she didn’t know many offensive or defensive spells. However, she did possess an impressive level of telekinetic magic and a creative mind. The skeletons glowed blue and disassembled, their bones floating into the air. The bones whirled together to form a scale model of Canterlot Castle. While Applejack and Sour Apple bucked a gaggle of disembodied hands made of ectoplasm, Pinkie Pie used her party cannon to blast confetti at the swarm of bats and gremlins and Surprise distracted the demons with pies to the face. Eventually, she ran out and went to switch to the cupcakes. Looking around to see how many she would need, she saw that the demons kept on coming. For every one they eliminated, two more would crossover. “I don't think I have enough for all of them!” Surprise exclaimed. “There’s too many!” Amethyst lamented. “There’s no way we can take them all on!” “But we must do something!” Rarity said, despite her own growing fear. Meanwhile, Twilight sweated profusely from exertion from withstanding Malroth’s onslaught. Celestia, Luna, and especially her daughter Midnight weren’t faring any better. Pushed to the breaking point, they broke off the attack, narrowly managing to fly out of the way of the four beams of energy. The destructive blasts soared past them and struck the walls of the valley, shaking the mountains. Regrouping with the other three Alicorns and Spike, Twilight could see they were all exhausted. Down below, she could see the rest of her friends and family being surrounded by the ever growing army of demons. Seeing the despair on his enemies faces, Malroth let out a booming laugh. The Demon Lord relished the moment, confident that his victory was assured. His laugh became a deafening roar of pain and surprise as a red explosion struck his back, staggering Malroth. Hearing their master’s cry of distress, the demons froze and looked back. Even the forces of Equestria were caught off guard. The ground shook as another towering creature landed behind Malroth. Turning to see his assailant, Malroth saw the Dragon King standing before him. The royal dragon rose on his hind legs, matching the Demon Lord’s immense size. “Archwyrm,” Malroth addressed the Dragon King. “Archfiend,” Ryuo said back. Everyone was surprised to see Spike’s father. The last they checked, Ryuo could care less about what happened to Equestria. He had made that painfully clear. Yet here he was squaring off against the Demon Lord of Destruction. “Why interfere?” Malroth questioned. “You have defiled a hallowed resting place of my people. Dared to manipulate me for your own purposes,” Ryuo responded. “Necessary sacrifices,” Malroth dismissed. “You hate the mortals as much as I. Would you not do anything to take your vengeance upon them? I can help you make that a reality. When I rule this world, you can have anything you want.” “This is my world. And I do not share!” Ryuo let out a roar. Moments later, more roars were heard coming from up above. Looking up, everyone saw thousands of dragons descending out of the clouds. The army of dragons roared and breathed streams of colorful flames as they chased the demons. The archdemons flew up to meet the dragons, launching blasts from their tridents, but the attacks did little more than push back the full grown dragons. In retaliation, the dragons grasped the archdemons and tore them apart with their claws, causing the demons to melt back into ectoplasm. The smaller batboons tried to flee, but the dragons pursued them with snapping maws. The cyclopes ran in terror but were picked off one by one, being lifted up by their shoulders and then dropped back down to the ground from great heights. “This is the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen!” Rainbow Dash remarked as she saw the battle between the dragons and the demons. “Who’s side are they on?” a bewildered Flash Sentry asked. “For the moment, ours,” Twilight answered as she hovered up above. “C’mon, y’all!” Applejack rallied the others, seeing the tide of battle had changed. Leaving the larger monsters to the dragons, they took on the smaller ones as they exited the portal. “Spike!” Hearing someone calling his name, Spike looked around until he saw Ember flying towards him. “Ember!” Looking at the chaos all around them, Spike asked, “How did you get my father to agree to help?” “I didn’t. He ordered us to follow him,” she explained. “I thought he was going to attack Equestria, but then he gave me this.” She then placed something in his claws. Looking down, he marveled to see it was the Sword of Erdrick. “He told me to give it to you.” Any doubts about his father’s intentions were quelled. He had been given back the weapon that he had used to defeat his own father. The Dragon King would never give the orichalcum sword to someone he didn’t trust. Speechless, Spike looked to his father, who was fighting to save the world despite his own selfishness. Ryuo blasted Malroth with more dragonfire, pushing the demon back. Malroth snarled with anger, but Ryuo lunged at him, sending them both crashing into the half of Rhone that remained standing. Ryuo slashed at Malroth, but the demon caught the dragon’s wrists and clawed at Ryuo’s sides with his extra set of arms. Ryuo growled with pain, but used the superior reach of his longer neck to chomp down on Malroth’s neck. In return, the snake head on Malroth’s tail lashed out and bit Ryuo’s leg. Though neither relented, Spike could see that his father was at a disadvantage; Malroth had more limbs and mouths. Gripping the sword’s hilt, Spike decided to even the odds. Dashing forward, Spike flew towards Malroth’s tail at full speed. With a yell, Spike swung the sword, the orichalcum blade effortlessly slicing through the demon’s scales. Malroth howled in pain as the snake head was decapitated. With effort, Malroth used all of his arms to shove Ryuo off of him. Staggering to his feet, Malroth clutched the wound at his neck. Looking at his hand, he saw it covered with his own ectoplasm. The ancient demon was alarmed. He had been so assured of his own power that it never occurred to him that he could be harmed. Distracted, Malroth didn’t notice as Ryuo reached over and picked up a part of one of the broken towers. Lifting it over his head, Ryuo brought it crashing down onto Malroth’s head. The impact knocked the Archfiend to the ground. Standing over his fallen foe, Ryuo raised the broken architecture once again and repeatedly smashed Malroth with it over and over again until the Demon Lord finally burst into ectoplasm. Panting, Ryuo tossed his weapon aside and fell back down onto all fours. Spike landed in front of his father, as did Twilight, Celestia, and Luna. Ryuo’s sides and leg bled, his blood dripping onto the ground. Before they could say anything, the others ran up to them, Midnight saying to Twilight, “Mom! We’ve got a problem! No matter how many we defeat, they just keep on coming!” Looking to the portal, Twilight could see her daughter was right. Even though Malroth had been vanquished, more demons kept emerging from the red vortex. To their horror, another massive shadow appeared within the portal and Malroth stepped through from the other side. “You gotta be kidding me!” Spike groaned. Malroth was completely unscathed; even the snake head at the end of his tail was back. “As long as the portal remains open, I can incarnate without end!” Raising his arms triumphantly, Malroth proclaimed, “I am invincible!” Ryuo raised himself back up and reengaged the Demon Lord, though he was wounded while Malroth was renewed. Seeing this, Celestia said to Luna, “We must help him.” “We’ll help too,” Twilight said, Midnight agreeing with her. “No. You must use the Powers of Harmony to close the portal. Otherwise, Malroth will just keep coming back no matter how many times we defeat him,” Celestia told her. “But how? The Tree of Harmony isn’t fully restored,” reminded Twilight. “But it is, Twilight. Look at your daughter.” Celestia indicated to Midnight and her new wings. By this point, Twilight and Midnight’s friends had joined them, listening to the encouraging words of the Solar Princess. “She could not have ascended if not for the Powers of Harmony. By working together, you can call upon the them as you all done before and return harmony to the world.” Hearing Ryuo and Malroth roar at each other, they looked to see the two thrashing each other once more. Prompted by their battling, Luna said to the others, “Hurry! There isn’t a moment to lose!” Her resolve strengthened, Twilight said, “Everypony pair up.” Following her instructions, they broke into pairs, the children standing by their respective parent. As Midnight stood by Twilight, they shared an encouraging smile as Flash Sentry stood supportively behind them. The twelve stood before the portal, undaunted by its imposing height and scale of its power. Instead, each member of the Elements of Harmony, both new and old, closed their eyes and focused on the love and unity between them. Instinctively, each parent and child duo held each other's hooves, save for Amethyst who grasped her mother’s hoof with her clawed digits. Representing Honesty, an orange glow surrounded Applejack and Sour Apple. Embodying Laughter, Pinkie Pie and Surprise were surrounded by a blue light. The Elements of Generosity, Rarity and Amethyst were illuminated by a purple aura. Fluttershy and Posey glowed with the pink light of Kindness while Rainbow Dash and Thunderbolt radiated the red light of Loyalty. Finally, Twilight Sparkle and Midnight were haloed by the magenta light of Magic. Malroth stopped his fighting with Ryuo and the Royal Alicorn Sisters when he suddenly felt the presence of something overwhelmingly virtuous. It was a haunting feeling, reminding the Archfiend of the Light that had banished him and his brethren into the Darkness at the dawn of time. Malroth turned to see the bright colors surrounding the twelve agents of the Light, horrified once he realized what they were about to do. The light of the twelve shot towards the portal, coming together as a rainbow, and swirled around the dark vortex. As the Light of Harmony overcame the darkness, the portal’s color changed from fiery red to a brilliant white and then started to spin in the opposite direction. Though everyone else was unaffected, the demons that had been summoned started to be sucked into the pillar of light, the unholy creatures’ artificial bodies disintegrating as they entered the purifying light and were banished back to the abyssal realm of Tartarus. Soon all that remained was Malroth. Despite his minions being sucked into the light, he resisted its pull. Instead, he started to march towards the twelve that were using his portal against him with the intent to kill. If he could eliminate the vessels of power, then no one could close the gateway. Each earthshaking step took effort due to the strain placed on him by the suction, but didn't allow that to stop him. He was met with further resistant when a yellow beam of magic struck his chest followed by a blue one. Celestia and Luna were doing their best to drive Malroth back to the portal. However, Malroth was persistent and continued to trudge onward, barely remaining upright. Spike saw this, realizing that Malroth wasn’t going to give up so easily. He didn’t know how long the Elements’ magic would last, but if Malroth was still on this side of the portal when it ended, then the Archfiend could create another one and the whole thing would start all over again. Spike knew it had to end now and tried to think of anything he could do. Off to the side, he saw his father taking a knee, supporting himself with one hand and holding his wounded leg with the other. Spike suddenly remembered their confrontation at Charlock Castle and looked to the sword he was holding. Understanding what he had to do, Spike flew as fast as he could straight at the Demon Lord. Celestia and Luna saw him fly past them, stopping their attack in confusion as they watched the young dragon race towards his much larger target. Even Malroth seemed confused when he witnessed this reckless act, but Spike raised the sword and hurled it at him with all of his might. The blade landed directly between Malroth’s eyes, embedding itself in the scales as the demon gave a surprised yell and clutched his head. “The sword! Aim for the sword!” Spike shouted as he charged a spell, channeling green lightning into the hilt. Celestia and Luna added their magic to his, the three of them sending a devastating shock directly into Malroth’s brain. This was enough to weaken the Archfiend’s resistance and he too was pulled into the portal. Malroth’s monstrous silhouette could be seen within the beam of light, but piece by piece it was dissolved until only a giant screaming skeleton remained before completely fading away into nothingness. The rainbow of lights finally ended and the portal vanished, leaving only a gaping hole where the castle of Rhone once stood. The ominous storm clouds had cleared, and the sky was blue once more. Underneath the Castle of the Two Sisters, the Tree of Harmony stood tall once more, its power repairing the rift between the dimensions. Within his infernal prison, Malroth impotently raged at his fate. All were silent, waiting to see if anything would happen but all was calm. The ponies cheered, the yaks stomped and hollered in victory, the Changelings buzzed excitedly, and even the dragons got in on the celebration by breathing fire into the air. “We did it! We actually did it!” Surprise happily cheered, fluttering off of the ground. “Welcome to the Saving the World Club!” Pinkie said as she bounced up beside her daughter. “We need to throw you all a party to mark the occasion!” “Heh, you’ll throw a party for any occasion, Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash quipped. “Hm, true. But that doesn’t make it any less special! I mean we had a party when we first saved the world. It’s only fair that they get a party too!” “Ah’m just glad that we made it out alive,” Applejack remarked, but smirked all the same. “But Ah reckon a party is in order.” Flash Sentry walked up and wrapped his fore legs around his wife and daughter. “I’m so proud of you.” “Thanks, Dad,” Midnight replied, nuzzling against his chest, happy to have him back. “Ooh! We also need to throw Midnight an Alicorn Party!” Surprise added, calling attention to her friend’s new appearance. “That’s right! You’re an Alicorn now!” Amethyst pointed out, causing the rest of their friends to gather around the now blushing Midnight, congratulating and and admiring her new look. Spike smiled proudly at his younger sister, but a glint caught his eye. Looking to the source, he saw the Sword of Erdrick lying on the ground. He went and picked it up, but then noticed Celestia and Luna standing before Ryuo. The celebrating was put on hold as an uneasy tension filled the air. Even though they had just fought against a mutual foe, the enemy of your enemy isn’t always your friend, and the sisters certainly had a long and sordid history with the Dragon King. Everyone waited to see who would make the first move. Would Celestia say something? Would Ryuo go against his word and attack? Then again, they weren’t technically in Equestria at the moment, so the terms of the vow didn’t apply. Ryuo may have been wounded, but his stubborn pride may compel him to attack despite his injuries. Finally, Ryuo spoke to Celestia, “Blood for blood, your debt is paid.” Celestia opened her mouth to say something, but Ryuo got up and started to walk away. He looked to the dragons, who were anxiously awaiting his order. “You all have fulfilled your obligation. You may go as you please.” The dragons wasted no time in leaving. Having been cleared of the charges of treason placed upon them by their king, they took flight and scattered to the four winds as they returned to their respective territories. The only dragons that remained were Dragon Lord Ember and the dragons from Fillydelphia. One of them, Mina, flew up to the departing Dragon King. “Where should we go, Your Majesty?” she asked nervously. “I care not,” he apathetically replied, not even bothering to look in her direction. Instead, he spread his massive wings and prepared to make the long flight back to his castle. Alarmed, Celestia quickly flew in front of him, trying to prevent him from leaving. “Please wait, Ryuo,” she requested. “You’re in no condition to fly.” “I have nothing else to say to you, nor do I wish to ever see you or any of you ponies again,” he grumbled. “Then why did you help us?” Luna asked, joining her sister. “I did no such thing,” he snapped, narrowing his eyes. He looked back to where Spike stood with Rarity and Amethyst. “I helped them.” Despite his father’s brashness, Spike couldn’t help but be touched. It gave him some hope that his father might actually be a good dragon deep down. “Nevertheless, allow me this,” Celestia petitioned as her horn glowed. Using her magic, she healed Ryuo’s injuries, stopping the bleeding and closing the wounds. Ryuo didn’t make any attempt to stop her but rolled his eyes and begrudgingly accepted the friendly act. After she was done, she moved out of the way, permitting him to go his way. Without a word, he took off and flew southeast, creating a windstorm with his passing. Everyone watched him go until he disappeared over the mountains. That still left the matter of the now homeless dragons. Unsure of what to do, Mina asked, “So what happens to us now?” “My dear, you are all welcome to return to your homes,” Celestia told them. “I saw to it that Mayor Skinflint was removed from office, and I promise you that I’ll do all within my power to make sure such atrocities are never repeated.” “But it wasn’t just him,” Mina gloomily said, hanging her head. “Everypony… our friends… our neighbors. They all turned so quickly against us. Like they’ve done before.” The rest of the dragons silently agreed buy hanging their heads, remembering all the prejudice they had faced in the past. Ember sympathized with them. The Draconic New Year Festival was supposed to be a crowning moment in pony-dragon relations. If only there was a way to repair the damage that had been done. An idea came to the Dragon Lord and she smiled. “Mina, I would like to introduce you to someone.” Ember turned a waved a claw to Thorax. “Mina, meet my old friend Thorax, leader of the Changelings.” Prompted by Ember, Thorax stepped forward and extended a hoof. “How you do?” “Eeee!” Mina squealed. “What? Did I do something wrong?” Thorax asked, afraid he somehow offended the dragoness. “No no! Of course not!” she reassured him. “It’s just… I’m just a huge fan of royalty, and I’ve never met a leader of the Changelings before! This is such an honor!” “Well, to be honest, it wasn’t always such an honor,” Thorax chuckled at the fangirling dragon. “We Changelings haven’t always had the best of reputations, as you probably have heard.” “Yeah, but that was before you helped to overthrow Chrysalis. Everybody knows Changelings are nice now.” “But before that, I had trouble getting anyone to trust me.” Thorax cast a smile in Spike’s direction. “With some help from some friends, ponies started to give me a chance. Sure, there were some misunderstanding along the way, but I promise you that if you give them another chance, your friends will come through for you in the end." “I don’t know…” Mina unsurely muttered, still thinking about all the hardships she and the other dragons had endured. “Mina, do you trust me?” Spike asked. “Of course I do!” she immediately answered. “Do you trust my friends?” he asked, his pony, yak, and Changeling friends standing behind him, giving the dragons reassuring smiles. “I… Yes, we do.” “And will you accept my invitation and give us ponies another chance?” Princess Celestia asked. Mina looked to her fellow dragons, but they were all looking to her as a de facto spokesdragon. Making a decision, Mina’s body began to shrink, as did the rest of the Fillydelphian dragons, returning to her previous “civilized” size. With the Fillydelphian dragons re-accepting the ponies’ offer of friendship, the rejoicing began anew. The Cult of Malroth had been eliminated, the world had been saved, and the bonds of friendships had been strengthened. Amidst all the happiness, Celestia looked to the southeast, hoping one day amends could be made and old wounds could be healed.