//------------------------------// // Here comes the Calvary // Story: Spike the... WHO? // by AngelShy24 //------------------------------// Twilight traveled to the dragon lands with Rarity and Fluttershy with a thought-out plan to find and bring back their dragon friend, Spike who was suffering from amnesia. They had to be careful since Spike was fed lies to about them by Garble and some other dragons. However, once Twilight and the other got there, they found him tied up and hanging over a stalagmite. It appeared to them that he had somehow regained his memories again and was trying to escape; but it was all a trick when a cage suddenly fell upon them from above trapping them inside. Twilight and Rarity tried to use their magic to escape, but for some reason their magic was sapped from them; and they couldn’t use any at all. They were indeed trapped. Once that didn’t work, all three ponies tried to use their raw horse power to kick threw the cage, but it proved to be too strong. Spike and the other dragons were laughing at them and how their efforts proved to be useless. “What’s the matter, Princess?” said Spike with a smuggled smirk, “You seemed so confident a little while ago. By the way, is there something wrong with your magic or did you just suddenly become too dumb to know how to use it?” “Spike, stop patronizing me?!” Twilight shouted, “Do you honestly think I’m a mean pony just because those other dragons told you?! I mean… couldn’t you tell that I was concerned when I came in here and saw you dangling over that huge Spike? Um… no pun intended.” “Yeah, you did seem worried and very concerned,” said Spike as he idly walked back and forth in front of the cage, “or is that you were happy and relieved to see that I was okay… so you could take me back to be your slave again?!” “You sure got her there, Spike,” said Fume. Spike gave him a fist bump as he responded, “Yeah, I’m not as dumb as she thinks I am.” “You dragons are not going to get away with this,” said Twilight as she glared at Garble and the others. “Get away with what,” said Garble, “telling Spike the truth and opening his eyes to the true life of being a dragon? Yeah, good luck with that.” Fluttershy suddenly felt so panicked that she was in a corner of the cage hyperventilating. Rarity came over to her to calm her down as she instructed her, “Fluttershy… deep breaths, darling. Deeeeeep breaths. We will get out of this. You’ll see.” “I-I sure hope so,” said Fluttershy, “I’m not sure if I can handle all of this.” Twilight wasn’t giving up. She was continuing to try and summon magic from her horn even though nothing was happening. Spike shook his head and stated, “Still trying to use your magic, Princess? Just face it, it’s not going to work.” Twilight had to stop for a minute to take a break feeling exhausted of pushing herself so hard. “Okay, seriously… how are you doing this? How is our magic not working?!” “It’s pretty simple,” Spike responded with a smirk, “That cage you’re in isn’t made up of just any materials. The bars surrounding you are made of some special crystals that my friends here found; and they… how should I put it? They kinda take away and absorb any source of unicorn or Alicorn magic that comes near it.” After hearing that explanation, the truth was suddenly realized. Rarity said, “Twilight, that must mean that…” “Yeah,” Twilight responded, “those crystals that we saw in that cave. That’s what was happening to us! No wonder they seemed to be so dangerous.” “Oh, so you did stumble upon them,” said Spike, “Took you long enough to know what they were capable of.” “And that cave is probably filled with those things!” said Twilight in fear, “With that much, they could probably incapacitate the magic of… of… thousands of unicorns… and other Alicorns!” “Spike, you wouldn’t,” said Fluttershy with pleading eyes. “Oh, he totally would!” said Fume, “Isn’t that right, Spike?” “You better believe it. You see… there’s something important that I learned from these guys. Dealing with only a few of you ponies is piece of cake. But if more and more suddenly got involved, then we wouldn’t stand a chance. But these guys were lucky enough to discover a cave that no pony has ever discovered; and inside were special gems that can block any source of magic. Your magic to be precise.” “That’s right,” said Garble with a smirk, “It was all us.” “And with these things, we dragons will finally dish out the justice that we deserve! No one will be able to stop us! We dragons will take over everything!” The diabolical way Spike was acting was really freaking Twilight out; and Fluttershy wasn’t taking it very well either. But Rarity decided to slam her hoof down and shouted, “Alright, that’s enough! Now you listen here, Spike! You are being absolutely ridiculous! Stop acting like an evil dictator plotting to take over the world! You are Spike! Spike the dragon! You’re Twilight’s assistant; not a slave! And everypony in Ponyville loves you! They’re all your friends! And for pony sake, you have a crush on me! You melt into a bowl of jelly every time we’re in the same airspace together! You always think that I don’t notice, but I totally do.” All Spike could do was stare at Rarity with an arched eyebrow feeling confused of her words. “He has a crush on a pony?” said Clump with a chuckle, “How totally lame.” “Don’t you see, Spike?! You’re believing in lies! The real Spike wouldn’t help hatch such a heinous plan! Now come to your senses and realize what’s real!” As Spike continued to stare at Rarity, his eyed suddenly widened as he slowly approached the cage. Once up front, he suddenly said, “Hey, uh… Rarity, was it?” Rarity suddenly felt like she was somehow getting through to him, “Yes. Y-yes, I’m Rarity.” Spike then said, “For some reason, you do seem somewhat familiar. Come closer so I can get a better look.” Rarity and the others suddenly gasped and smiled at each other; and Rarity suddenly zipped up to Spike at face level and said, “S-sure. Like this?” But then without much warning, Spike suddenly smirked as he opened his mouth and let loose a torrent fire that overcame Rarity and left her coat singed and her mane burned. Rarity gasped as she pulled out a mirror and placed it on the ground. Seeing herself in it caused her to freak out dramatically. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! My coat! My beautiful mane! It’s all singed and ruiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiined!” Rarity then continue to cry as she ran over and laid her head against Twilight as she looked back at Spike and shouted, “Spike, how could you do this to me?!” “Very, very easy,” Spike responded, “I can’t believe that you fell for that so easily! And me in love with a pony like you?! I wouldn’t try to date you if you were the last creature on the planet!” “Well done, Spike,” said Garble as he gave Spike a light noogie, “You sure put that pony in her place.” “Even if we can’t convince you, Spike,” Fluttershy pleaded, “isn’t there some way that you could maybe set us free anyway if we promise to never bother you again?!” Spike was suddenly in deep thought, “Hmmmmmm… well maybe if you cooperate, I guess we could work something out.” “Really?” But it was just a set-up, “Uh… no! Not a chance! You ponies are stuck with us whether you like it or not.” It seemed like this was it. Unless someone came in to help them right now, Twilight and her friends realized that these dragons might succeed in their plan; and they might lose Spike forever. “Just give it up, Princess,” said Garble, “There’s no way Spike will go back with you! He’s finally where he needs to be… with his own kind. But don’t worry, you can see him as much as you want once he helps to take over your puny little town.” “Heh, and then some,” said Fume. “You guys may have us locked up in here” Twilight exclaimed, “but there is no way that you’re going to get away with this.” “Yeah, well I believe that our ingenious master plan says otherwise,” Garble responded as he walked up to the cage and booped Twilight's muzzle, “Too bad that you don't have anything to back up your little threat.” But being caught off guard, Garble suddenly jumped back when Rarity zoomed up to him feeling enraged, “Oh, she is absolutely right! You dragons will not succeed at all!!” Spike chuckled under his breath while glaring at Rarity and questioned, “Oh yeah, doll face? Says who?” “SAYS ME!” Just then, everyone was startled by the loud voice that shouted out so suddenly. They all looked over at the cave entrance to see a figure standing at attention with her wings spread out. A pink alicorn with magic surging through her horn. “You dragons aren't taking over anything!” “Princess Cadence!” said Twilight in excitement, “You've finally made it!” “Oh, thank Celestia!” said Fluttershy in relief. Garble couldn’t believe their luck; the fact that they were so close to victory, but then someone came to ruin it. “What?! Another princess?! Who invited another princess here?! “About time you got here!” Rarity whined, “Look what they made Spike do to my hair!” Spike wasn’t thrilled himself, “Oh great. We should’ve made a second cage if we knew that another magical pony was coming.” After lowering her magic, Cadance looked over and saw Spike who was staring at her with a mean glare. She questioned, “Spike? Is that you?” “Yeah, that’s me,” Spike replied in a stern tone, “What about it?” “You may not remember me, but my name is Cadence… the Princess of Love.” Spike suddenly burst out in laughter, “The Princess of Love? And here I thought the Princess of Friendship sounded lame. Am I right?” Despite the way Spike was acting towards her, Cadence continued, “I rule over the Crystal Kingdom that was saved from a terrible evil. In fact, the very one who helped save it in the end… was you.” “Yeah right. I helped saved a kingdom filled with crystal ponies. That’s a good one.” “Silly me, you’re right,” said Cadnece with a smirk, “In the end, you actually saved the Crystal Kingdom… twice.” Spike just crossed his arm as he continued to stare at Cadence sternly. He wasn’t buying anything that she was saying as Cadence expected. So, she tried another tactic. “I-its true! In my kingdom, my subjects worship you as a mighty hero! There’s even a crystal statue of you built in your honor!” Suddenly, Spike became interested in what Cadence had to say about him, “Wait… seriously?” With a small smile while stroking his chin, he added, “Now that actually sounds pretty nice.” To Garble and the others, they felt that their plan was suddenly in jeopardy of failing. “Uh oh,” said Fume to Garble, “it’s sounds like he’s getting curious of what’s she’s saying. This could be a problem.” “Spike has his own statue that was built in his honor?” Clump questioned, “Lucky.” Cadence got closer to Spike as she pleaded, “Yes, Spike. The statue… your statue is there in my kingdom. If you let Twilight and the others go, I will take you there so you can see it for yourself.” For a few seconds, Spike was buying what she was saying to him feeling curious to see himself as a statue that others respected. But he then began to back up away from her while giving her a glare, “Wait a minute. Heh. Nice try, Princess of Love. You actually had me going there for a minute; but this is obviously a trap to take me away from here so you ponies can capture me again! I won’t fall for it!” “Dragons…” said Cadence as she sighed, “they can be really stubborn sometimes.” “Cadence!” Twilight suddenly shouted, “Use your magic to get us out of here yourself! We can help!” “I'd be more than happy to,” Cadence agreed, “but I'm afraid that my magic wouldn't be able to do that.” She then looked at the other dragons, “Isn't that right?” The dragons paused and thought for a second. Then Garble replied hesitantly, “Uh… y-yeah. Yeah! That's right! You can't do that, can you?” “How embarrassing for you,” said Spike, “Another princess comes all the way here to save you, and she’s not even prepared to do so. How pathetic.” Then with a smirk, Cadence told him, “Well, I wouldn’t say that I came totally unprepared. I brought some extra help.” Then right on cue, another pony appeared from behind Cadence. A familiar earth filly who jumped forward and shouted, “Ta-da! Dramatic entrance! Its meeeeeeee!!!” Everyone was at a stand still wondering what was happening, including Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy. “Who the heck is that weirdo?” Garble questioned. Clump and Fume just shrugged their shoulders not knowing themselves. “A filly?” said Rarity in deep concern, “We need saving from dragons, and she brings a filly?!” Somehow, Twilight had an idea of what was going on. With a smirk. she said, “I'm pretty sure Cadence knows exactly what she's doing.” The young filly was Loopy Lola; a rather crazy but respectful fan of Spike from his fan club in the Crystal Kingdom. Gaining his attention, she waved at Spike while shouting, “Hey, Spike! It’s me, Loopy Lola… your biggest fan!” “My biggest fan?” Spike scoffed with his arms folded, “For what reason?” “What do you mean for what reason?! I'm talking about all your incredible feats that you've accomplished over the course of all the friendship adventures that you’ve been through with Miss Sparkle and her friends! Not to mention you saving my home, the Crystal Empire twice from certain doom!” As Lola was getting nearer, Spike kept backing away from her feeling annoyed from her presence, “S-s-stay away from me, you weirdo! I already told your Princess of Love that I'm not falling for any of that nonsense!” “Oh, Spike,” said Lola coyly, “Cadence warned me that you might be this way. So… let me try to jog your memory.” “What are you doing?! I said stay… yah!” Lola suddenly dashed forward to grab ahold of Spike; and she made sure to hold on tight. Spike was slightly panicking while wiggling furiously to try and get free. “Should we… do something about this?” said Fume. “Nah,” denied Garble, “There’s no way she’ll get through to him. Plus, seeing all of this is too hard to pass up.” “I may be your biggest fan,” said Lola as she continued to hold on to Spike, “but you have an entire fan club that's dedicated to you! We love you, Spike! You’re our idol!” “Let me go!” Spike shouted as he kept trying to get free; but to no avail, “Man, you’re strong for a filly!” “Well, yeah,” said Lola feeling a bit sheepish, “I do work out a little and I eat my greens. But I guess being an earth pony doesn’t hurt either. We tend to have more muscle and stamina than others. But forget that! You need to remember, Spike! You must remember that you have friends not just in Ponyville, but in the Crystal Empire too! Not to mention other different regions in Equestria! You have friends everywhere!” “Stop talking! Stop talking! Stop talking!” Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy continued to watch this interaction unfold. Even though they had no idea who this filly was, they were hoping that she would be able to do something that they couldn’t. “Do you think that filly’s encouraging words are getting through to him?” said Fluttershy. “I don’t know,” said Rarity, “but I sure hope so.” “Right now, I just wish for anything to work,” said Twilight. Just then, Cadence shouted out to Lola, “Go on, Lola! Show it to him!” Lola nodded and then proceeded with the plan, “But you know what’s even better than all of that?!” “Gee,” said Spike as he rolled his eyes in annoyance, “what could possibly be better than all of the drivel that you just said?” “Take a look at these!” Lola suddenly pulled out two stuffed plushies; plushies that looked very familiar. Everyone’s eyes went wide seeing what they were. “What… the…” said Twilight to herself. “Remember these?!” shouted Lola in excitement. All Spike could do was stare at the plushies with a single eye twitching, “Are those… supposed to be… you and me?!” “They sure are! I made them myself. Completely hoof-stitched!” Rarity was quite impressed, “Not bad. Not bad.” “Its because that I’m your biggest fan that I made them! I kinda dreamed that one day we would be married and have kids together!” “Oh… wow,” said Fluttershy feeling a bit embarrassed for Spike. Garble and the other two dragons began laughing out loud after hearing all of that. Spike then glared at them blowing some smoke from his nostrils. “Sorry, Spike,” said Garble, “but that’s hilarious!” Lola kept her hold on Spike as she kept on talking, “I have told you all of this before and you did mention of how weird this all was; but a young filly can dream, right?” “Enough!” Spike suddenly shouted as he was finally able to break free from Lola’s hold and held up his claws, “You are stepping way over the line, pony! “Come on, Spike!” Lola pleaded, “Are you telling me that you don’t remember me? You don’t remember all of this? You must remember something.” “No! For the last time, anything that you, that pink princess or those three say mean nothing to me! I am a dragon, and I do things my way; and I won’t be controlled by any pony anymore!!!” “Way to go, Spike!” Garble shouted as he and the others egged him on, “Put those ponies in their place! You the dragon!” Spike smirked as she folded his arms feeling proud, “Yeah. I am the dragon, aren’t I.” “Wow, Spike,” said Lola in a solemn tone, “You really aren’t acting like the dragon I came to idolize. Is this really the path you wish to have?” “What kind of stupid question is that? Of course it is! And by the way, why in the heck would I want to marry you?! I don’t even know who you are! To me, you’re nobody!” Lola and the other ponies suddenly all gasped in unison hearing Spike’s harsh words while Garble and the other dragons all shouted, “Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!!!” Spike then came up to Lola and snatched away her stuffed creations, “And here’s what I think of your stupid dolls!” Spike then threw them up in the air and then jumped up to shredded them to pieces. Lola just sat there blatantly staring at the falling pieces of cloth and cotton with small tears in her eyes. She couldn’t believe that her #1 idol had destroyed her most dedicated creation. Spike then walked over to her and said in a mocking tone, “Aw, you gonna cry? Then go ahead; cry like a wittle baby. Just know that once I help my kind seize control of Equestria, I’ll let you have the pleasure of being my personal slave. You know… since you do idolize me so much.” But right at that moment, Lola suddenly reached out and grabbed Spike from his sides in a tight grip. “Whoa! What the…” She then glared at him still with tears in her eyes and began shaking him furiously, “You stupid, dragon! Do you even realize everything that you’re saying?!” “Put me down!” Spike shouted, “Put me down!” “I spent so long making those dolls! Even though he found it to be extremely weird, the real Spike would never have done that! Stop acting like a big jerk and come back to us!!!” Then out of frustration, Lola used all her strength to suddenly throw Spike away from her side only to ram right into a cavern wall headfirst. Spike then fell face down on the ground completely knocked out. Lola’s eyes suddenly went wide as she gasped, “Oh… my gosh. I think I overdid that just a little bit.” Twilight and the other ponies saw what happened and were completely shocked and at a loss for words. “Well that’s going to leave a mark,” said Rarity. “But… look on the bright side,” said Fluttershy, “if we get out of here, carrying Spike back home will be easier.” “Well, now you’ve done it,” said Garble to Lola, “You’ve gone and knocked him out. Great job. However, it doesn’t change the outcome of this situation. Once Spike wakes up, we’ll continue as planned.” “I don’t think so,” said Cadence as she signaled Lola, “Loopy Lola, if you so please…” Lola smiled as she cracked her forehooves and prepared to take action, “Oh yeah. It time for me to save the day!” She then took off galloping towards the cage that was trapping Twilight and her friends. Although, Garble and the others weren’t worried. “Hey, I see what she is doing,” said Fume, “and it’s dumb!” “Yeah,” said Clump, “I mean how is a little filly going to knock over that cage out of the ground?” But at her full ramming speed, Lola slammed into the cage and caused it to fly out of the ground freeing Twilight and her friends. Garble and the other dragons’ jaws dropped to the ground as Lola looked back at them while shaking herself off. “Unfortunately for you… I kinda work out.” “Augh! You have got to be kidding me!” shouted Garble at the top of his lungs. Twilight and her friends were surprised as well; but trying not to read much into it, Twilight nodded her head to Lola and said, “You have our thanks, Lola.” “My pleasure, Princess!” Immediately after that, they all ran over to Spike who was still passed out on the ground. But after nudging him a few times, Spike was finally coming to. He was slowly opening his eyes while groaning; and it brought great relief to the others. “Oh, thank goodness he’s alright,” said Twilight. Spike sat up and was looking around while rubbing his head, “Wh-what’s… g-going on?” “Listen up, Spike,” said Twilight as she held Spike down with her magic, “We understand that you believe what Garble and the others said to you, but its not true! We’re going to bring you back home and figure out a way to help you to remember that!” But something unexpected happened as Spike responded, “Twilight? Wh-what are you talking about? Where are we?” He then looked over and noticed Fluttershy, “Fluttershy? You too?” But when he noticed Rarity as she came closer, his eyes went wide and then lowered as he showed a shy a goofy smile with hearts fluttering over him, “And… Rarity.” “Oh my gosh,” said Rarity as she gasped, “he’s looking at me… while acting all dopey. Spike’s back!” “Wait… what do you mean I’m back?” said Spike all confused, “What happened?!” Suddenly, Spike found himself surrounded by his pony friends as they hugged him from different sides. “Okay… kinda feel a little confused here.” Lola of course was relieved herself to see what had happened despite what it took, “Princess Cadence, look! I think Spike has his memory back! The impact from my throw must have jumbled it back into place! I’m so awesome!” Cadence smiled seeing the warm moment in front of her, “Well how about that.” Spike then noticed them as well and felt even more confused, “Princess Cadence? And… Loopy Lola?!” “Hi!” Lola shouted while waving her hoof. Garble groaned while clenching his claws as he shouted, “Aw, great. Now Spike got his memory back?! So much for that.” Spike heard him and then looked over to see him and his comrades, “What the… Garble?!” Spike was now more confused than ever. The last thing he remembered was falling off a cliff and hitting his head on a rock before everything had blacked out. He forced himself out of his friends’ loving embrace and demanded to get answers. “Okay… will someone please explain to me what’s going on here?! Ow! And why do I suddenly have a headache?” “That last one was kinda my fault,” said Lola in a sheepish tone, “But I’ll be more than happy to tell you all that I know!” From there, Lola told Spike everything that had happened to the best of her ability based on what Cadence had told her, “And that’s pretty much it!” However, it was enough for Spike to understand. “Explain to me again why we just stood here while she explained all of that?” said Garble. “We were curious to see if she knew or not,” said Clump. Spike couldn’t believe everything that he heard. As much as he didn’t want to believe it, he knew that Lola wouldn’t lie to him, “Seriously? I did all of that? All just because I had amnesia?!” “Well, to be fair… having a blank mind did make it all the easier for Garble and his… accomplices to manipulate you into believing in their lies,” said Twilight, “And from there, your normal dragon instincts just kicked in… and everything that came with it.” Spike just then noticed Rarity’s ruined mane and singed coat. He became worried and said, “And Rarity… what the heck happened to your mane and coat?!” With a nervous expression, all Rarity could get out was, “Well…” “Wait… don’t tell me that I did that too?!” “Maybe just a little?” Spike suddenly clenched his claws and then glared back at the other dragons and shouted, “You! I can’t believe that you made me do all of this! I can’t believe that I almost helped you take over Ponyville! And worse of all… I can’t believe that your brainwashing caused me to ruin Rarity’s beautiful coat!” “Wait… he thinks that is the worse thing he’s done?” said Twilight. Rarity smiled and responded, “I won’t argue against it.” “I can’t believe that you guys would stoop so low as to doing this to me… and my friends! I thought you were terrible before, but that is messed up!” “Blah blahblah! Whine whine whine!” said Garble sarcastically, “Yeah, everything your little pony friends said to you is true. We did take advantage of you, and we don’t regret it one bit. We were originally going to use those crystals that we discovered to eventually invade Ponyville anyway and then to other pony towns too. Nobody was going to be able to get in our way, not even you Princesses; and we would do anything want, because we’re dragons!” “Yeah!” shouted Clump and Fume. “However, finding you in a state of amnesia was just a little bonus. Pitting you against your pony friends was going to be sweet; but I guess now that ship has sailed.” “You better believe it has!” Spike strongly protested. But then he calmed down and took a deep breath as said, “You know… a dragon being friends with ponies is not a bad thing. Learning about friendship and doing great things without being selfish and needy is great. Just because I’m a dragon doesn’t mean that I have to act like what a dragon would normally act like; and the same goes for you guys as well!” Garble, Clump and Fume all just stood there staring at him with amused looks on their faces. They really didn’t think Spike was being serious. “Now I’m not saying that you should stop acting like a dragon. Heck, I still act like a dragon plenty of times! But why not give friendship a chance and learn to be a little nicer to others. That’s sounds nice, right?” “Wow, Spike,” said Garble suddenly, “That sounded so inspiring.” “Really?” said Spike. “Really?” said everyone else. “Yeah. That really moved us to tears.” But then, Garble snapped his fingers to signal many other dragons to appear and surround Spike and all of the ponies. “Perhaps we’ll think on that long and hard after we take over your puny town!” “I’ll take that as a no?” said Spike nervously. All the dragons began to enclose upon them as they all huddled up beside each other to figure out their next plan of action. “Think long and hard about this,” said Cadance, “Do you honestly think that you can apprehend us with two alicorns present? After all, you don’t have any more of those fancy crystals now.” “Maybe so,” said Garble, “but luckily for us, some of our boys already went back to that cave to get more; and they should be back any moment now.” Suddenly right on cue, a few other dragons flew down from outside into the cave entrance. One of them shouted, “Garble! Garble!” “Ah. Right on time,” said Garble with a mischievous smirk, “So, you got the gems ready so we can apprehend these ponies and go through with our plan?” However, things were about to go completely south for them. “That’s just it, Garble! The cave with those crystals is… is… GONE!!!” “Gone?! What do you mean gone?!” “As in completely gone! Its not there… like it never existed!” Garble and the others suddenly heard Cadence having an amusing chuckle moment and then stated, “Yeah, about that. That was my doing. I got a certain friend of ours to get rid of that little problem.” “What?!” shouted Garble in anger, “Who?!” “Wouldn’t you like to know.” Meanwhile in a chaotic reality, we see the lord of chaos, Discord sculpting statues out of the very crystals from the mentioned cave that was now floating around the airspace he was in. “Excellent! Thanks to Cadence, I’ve finally had the perfect solution to crafting my own crystal statues! Maybe I should host my own statue exhibition and invite all my friends!” But then he remembered what the crystals were capable of doing. “Wait, wait. That may not be a good idea. Oh well, at least maybe Fluttershy can see these.” Back in the cave in the dragon lands, Garble and the other dragons were at a loss for words. There was nothing that they could do now. “Well well,” said Spike with a proud smirk, “Looks like someone’s plan totally blew up in his face. Serves you right for manipulating me to your own ends.” “What do we do know, Garble?” Fume whispered. “I’m thinking. I’m thinking.” Cadance then stepped forward with magic emanating in her horn causing some of the dragons to back away. With Twilight joining her, she instructed, “Well, here’s an idea for you to think about. How about you let us go on our marry way without the trouble of you and your comrades here to try and capture us. Do this and I promise that I won’t inform my Aunts… as in the Royal Sisters of your attempted plot to overthrow them and many others to take over Equestria. Not to mention of what I might do for manipulating the savior of the Crystal Empire to betray us.” All the dragons were looking at each other with questionable looks while Garble was cracking under pressure feeling humiliated of being outsmarted by ponies once again. “So, we have a deal, right?” said Cadence as she held out her hoof, “Unless you would rather face four powerful alicorns Princesses without the use of your magic sapping crystals. Your choice” Garble was a troublemaker, but even he knew when to quit while he was ahead. He groaned as he shook Cadance’s hoof and said, “Fine! Whatever! You have yourself… a deal.” “Good choice, my dear dragon. Come on, everypony. Let us take our leave.” Upon Cadance’s order, Twilight and the others had the clear as they were on their way out of the cave that they were in. Many dragons scowled at them as they went by, but they knew better than to make any action against two Alicorns Princesses. Spike was the last to head out; but on the way out, he turned to Garble and the others and said, “You know… the truth is that I actually have some vague memories of what I did with you guys and what I did to my friends; but overall, I don’t remember much of what happened after I gained amnesia. But just know that as a dragon… I want to scratch all your faces off! But as the royal adviser of the Princess of Friendship, I forgive you.” Spike then took a bow and left the cave entrance, “I bid you all adieu!” After Spike and his friends took off and left, all the dragons decided to just forget what had happened and went on about their business. Garble however couldn’t forget about it. He felt like he would never forget about it. “Wow. That whole plan of yours took an entire 360 turn, didn’t it?” said Fume. “But on the bright side,” said Clump, “at least that pink princess let us off the hook. Right, Garble?” Garble blew smoke from his nostrils as he replied, “Shut up, would ya.”