//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16: The Two Faces of Spike 
// Story: Oh Spike We Hardly Knew Thee 
// by 5u0myn0n4 
//------------------------------//

Originally published on May 21st, 2018





In the last chapter, Twilight Sparkle had gotten lost in the snowy region of Frozen North while looking for Spike. Twilight's friends were arguing about whether Twilight wanted their help or not. All of the dragons that Henry captured, Ember, Garble, etc, had all escaped. All the dragons escaped, except for that is Spike. Spike himself was a bit... tangled up at the moment. As Spike was trying to escape, he was caught in Henry's final machine. One that he had built to control larger dragons should the opportunity come about.

Can Spike escape? Can Twilight be saved? Will her friends agree on a plan? Let's find out.





Spike had grown to about his full size. Although it was unknown if he could grow any bigger. He was caught in Henry's machine, which was designed to control larger dragons.

Henry operated the machine from inside the safety of the control center. It was a little room that hung from the ceiling, at about eye level with Spike. Inside were also his henchponies Jeff and Sawtooth.

"All of the dragons escaped. Your plan to rule Equestria with an army of dragons didn't work." Jeffery said.
"Spike will be the only dragon we need to conquer Equestria." Henry said.

"We're going to need the full power of the generator!" Henry pulled a lever which powered up the machine. The machine was powered by the main generator, which also powered the facility. And indeed it was pushed to its limit.

"What exactly is this machine going to do?" Jeff asked.
"Let's just say that once the machine has done its job, Spike will under my control." Henry said. "And that is when we invade Equestria."

Jeff had double-crossed Henry earlier. It was his idea to have Spike fight Crackle. When Spike saw Crackle it brought back memories of Dragon Quest, and his mind spiraled out of control, leading to the disaster happening right now. As a temporary punishment, Henry's other partner Sawtooth kept an eye on Jeff. His ultimate punishment would be determined later.

Spike was caught in the middle of the large machine. Harpoons fired from the walls stuck into his side, sending energy through him. His limbs were bound by the large grips.
Things were going as planned. An immense amount of power surged through Spike.

Spike roared as the pain flowed through his body.

"How does this big 'ol machine work boss?" Sawtooth asked.
"I don't know. It just sends electricity and energy through his veins, and hopefully it will yield positive results." Henry replied.
"Awesome plan H.G.L., glad you thought everything through." Jeff said sarcastically.
"I told you not to call me by my initials!" Henry said.
"Oh I'm so sorry, then I'll say your full name Mr. Ha-" Jeffery was about to spill Henry's real name, when Sawtooth started to slowly strangle him. Not enough to actually suffocate him, but enough to silence him.

"Yes, keep him silent." Henry ordered.

Sawtooth withheld Jeff to keep him silent.

Jeff watched the horror unfold outside the safety of the control room. Seeing large dragon Spike roar in agonizing pain was almost more painful to watch. It is about then when Jeff had noticed that something seemed wrong.

*alarm*

An alarm went off, along with a flashing red light.

"Uh oh, hey um.. boss?" Sawtooth noticed the alarm, and was worried.

*reactor level reaching critical level* said the loudspeaker.

"We're almost there, just a little more..." Henry said while operating the machine.

Spike continued to roar while trying to break free.

"Should we... do some...thin..." Sawtooth was saying, but Jeff silently knocked him out. Jeff had known Sawtooth for so long, he knew about his pressure point. If he just applied pressure there, he would lose his balance and get dizzy. Quite convenient!

Jeff did the thing, and slipped free of Sawtooth's grasp. Using the crucial seconds he had, he slowly snuck up to the control panel, to try to do something to stop this horrible operation.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Henry turned his head suddenly. His cover had been blown pretty quick.

Jeff's eyes widened and he pushed a random lever.

"Don't touch that!" he yelled.

Pushing the lever sparked and caused a short circuit. The control panel sparked and electrical smoke poured out.

Henry used his magic to bind Jeff. Sawtooth regained his balance.

*error error* the loudspeaker said.

"What did you do?!" he said with anger.
"I don't know. I just pushed a random lever. How's that different from what you're doing!?" Jeff replied.

*system overload*

"Now you've done it." Henry said.

The two watched Spike as the catastrophic events unfolded. With the machine broken, more power surged through Spike than expected. The entire thing was out of control.





Let's take another look into Spike's mind.

Devil Spike was puppeteering real Spike, as part of their agreement from earlier, but the metaphorical strings were tangled. There was an immense amount of energy, but it was too much to handle.
Angel Spike came back to check on them.

"How's it going you two?" he asked.
"I feel like I have the energy of a thousand suns! ...But I can't control it." Devil Spike said.
"Look who's talking, I'm the one whose mind is a visual metaphor for the body currently being tortured out there. I'm the real one, while you guys are just illusions I made up for the sake of having someone to talk to." Spike said. "I have all the power!"
"Then release all your energy onto those who wrongfully used you!" Devil Spike said.
"I would if I could." Spike said. "But right now, it's too much to control. Everything in the outside world is just a big stressful blur, it's hard to focus."

"So what's the plan now wise guys? How's anger worked out for y'all?" Angel Spike sassed.
"It's going just dandy, as soon as I break free, I'm going to step on every last pony in Equestria!" Devil Spike replied.

Spike tried once more to break free, but he was bound too tightly in the physical world. Not to mention the whole machine going out of control.

"Look, I don't like you, and you don't like me, but we can agree on one thing. Spike's in trouble, and we have to do something." Angel Spike said. "Twilight's not coming, so we have to take matters into our own claws."
"I hate to say it, but you're right." Devil Spike replied. "So what's your big plan huh?"
"The only thing we can do is to join forces. Alone, neither of us are stronger enough to break free, but together we can-" he was interrupted.
"Bleh, you lost me at 'we'." Devil Spike said.
"I'm not asking, I'm telling!" Angel Spike grabbed Devil Spike's arms and tugged.

When his claws made contact, they burst in to flames.

"What are you doing?!" Devil Spike exclaimed.
"The only solution!" Angel Spike said. "Unifying Spike's thoughts into one is the only way we're going to get out of this!"

"You know what, I think I can handle things without a conscience. You guys are lunatics." real Spike said to his good and bad conscience.

The two united together, forming a more powerful being.

"Come on Spike, those horses are literally handing you free energy. Joins us, and we can be the ultimate life form!" his united conscience said. "Stronger than any dragon, more smart than any horse! The best of both worlds, we can rule over all of them!"
"Um, no thanks." Spike said. "I prefer being me."
"Too bad!" they gripped Spike, and sent all the energy around his mind directly to his core.
"AAHH! Too! Much! Power! Stop! AAAAAHHHHHH!"

...

All the energy injected by the machine flowed all through Spike's body efficiently, and in a way in which he could actually use. He was now fully charged and ready to leave his mark.





In the outside world, Spike started to move, and his head faced the control deck balcony. He had begun to charged up his fire breath.

"Um, Henry?" Sawtooth said.

The three ponies looked at Spike.

"He's going to fire!" Jeff cried. He panicked and tried to pressing more buttons on the control panel, maybe in hopes of stopping it.
"GAAAHH!"
"AAAHHH!"

*glass shatters*

Henry charged forward and pushed Jeff out the window of the indoor balcony. They both plummeted downward.

The very next moment, Spike fired his breath at the control panel they were just in, and the entire thing blew up in a fiery explosion.





Meanwhile, Twilight was still lost in the snow. She sat underneath the snow. She was cold, but surprisingly fine.

"Ugh, how long does it take for a pony to freeze?!" she said. "Don't you remember the first rule of thermodynamics? The snow is made of water, which is an excellent insulator. The snow is actually keeping you warmer than open air would." she nagged herself.

*humph*

Twilight sat in the snow, mostly just bitter now. She let out all her anger and sorrow earlier, so now she just sat to catch her breath. Maybe try to get up later, maybe not. She didn't have a plan, just kind of sit and see what happens next.

...

*roar*

She heard a faint roar in the distance.

*gasp* "I recognize that roar!" Twilight sat up immediately and surveyed the area. The field of view had gotten better, as the storm had calmed down slightly. She panned her head from left to right, at first there wasn't anything but the same old frosty landscape, until, she spotted a tower of smoke peering over the horizon.

"Has that tower of smoke always been there? *gasp* That must be where he is! There's no doubt about it!" Twilight sprung to life. She jumped out of the snow, stood up and stretched her legs.

She took a deep breath, gazed at the smoke, terrified of what it could be, but there was no turning back now. She stretched her wings and launched herself into the sky.

"Hang on Spike! I'm coming!" Twilight soared towards the smoke. But was it already too late?





Meanwhile, Twilight's friends continued to argue with each other.

Shining Armor, Cadance, and Sunburst tried to calm them down, but the uproar was too great. Flurry Heart smiled devilishly as they argued. Smug little twerp.

Fluttershy did not participate in the crude banter. She had a pair of binoculars, and peered into Frozen North, hoping to catch of glimpse of what could be going on. She surveyed the distant landscape for quite some time, until she spotted the same tower of smoke.

"Ooh. Oh my. That looks bad." she said. "Um, girls."

Fluttershy tried to get her friends' attention, but they didn't seem to listen.

"Even if were did venture into the snow, how are we supposed to find Twilight and Spike?" Applejack asked.
"Maybe if we follow the column of smoke." Fluttershy said, but she was ignored.
"Hello?! Pinkie has a map! Finding Spike's location oughta' be a cinch!" Rainbow Dash said.
"If it's so easy, then I'm sure that Twilight's got everything handled!" Rarity said.
"Judging from the dark smoke, I think there might be trouble." Fluttershy said softly, but nopony seemed to listen.

"Don't think I'm done arguing AJ." Starlight said. "I still have a few words to say."

*sigh* Fluttershy slumped in shame. Twilight and Spike were in danger, and her friends couldn't get over their argument.
"Oh Twilight, you deserve better friends than us." she said." I hope you find Spike safely soon."





Meanwhile, back at the facility, Henry's plan was in flames.

He and Jeff fell from the upper balcony down to the ground below. It was quite an impact, but they were both able to get up.

"Way to go." Henry said sarcastically.
"Look out!" Jeff pushed Henry out of the way of the falling debris.

The balcony fell down and impacted the ground. It made a loud metal crashing sound and broke apart into a bunch of fiery fragments.

"Sawtooth no!" Jeff cried.

He and Henry rushed to the control panel. Henry however wasn't concerned about Sawtooth, he just cared about his objective. The control deck had been blown to pieces. There was one functioning monitor that showed Spike's power level, but he couldn't start or stop the machine.

Although Spike was able to fire his breath, he was still tangled in the machine, and couldn't move to escape the building. His energy levels surged out of control.
Basically everything was screwed.

Jeff was searching for Sawtooth, when Henry used his magic horn and pulled him in.

"This is all your fault!" he said. "You somehow knew that Crackle would trigger a reaction in Spike!"
"I had to, I couldn't allow your horrible plan to go through!" Jeff said. "I wasn't going to let you turn Spike into your weapon!"
"How dare you betray me. You are nothing without me." Henry said. "You were exiled. I took you in when no one else would!"

"No, I ran away. You were exiled for your crimes." Jeff said.
"What crimes? Attempting to expand Equstria's knowledge of dragons? I don't see what's inherently wrong with that." Henry replied.
"You don't see why this is awful?!" Jeff argued.
"I didn't start off by kidnapping dragons. I tried being reasonable, but that namby-pamby pony princess turned her nose up at almost every opportunity to teach her students the fascinating culture of dragons. She wasn't as forward thinking as I was." he replied. "So I left voluntarily to pursue my own ambitions."
"And look at just how dandy that turned out." Jeff said.

"You signed up for this by joining me!" Henry said.
"Wrong! I didn't sign up for this." Jeff pointed at Spike who was not doing well. "You promised me that we would work together and further Equestria's knowledge of dragons. But I hasn't learned anything, other than that dragons aren't monsters, you are!"

Henry just gave a stern glare.

"All this time, you've been capturing dragons so you could rule Equestria. Well no more! I'm putting my hoof down now!"
"Congratulations, you've matured so much." Henry said sarcastically.
"I'm ready to stand up against you." Jeff said.
"Well then, let's see how you stand your guard." he replied.

Henry used his magic on Jeff.

"Ow ow! I can't... breath... please... *gasp* stop..." Jeff gasped for air.
"What's the matter? Can't take the heat?"

Jeff slowly ran out of breath, until his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

Henry dropped his body on the ground with a thud, and total disregard for his well being.

"Good riddance." Henry said.

He walked forward and surveyed his base. The entire place was in shambles, and on fire. Smoke filled the entire building.

*Reactor core at critical level*

"What a shame." he said.

*Meltdown immanent*

He stood mere feet from Spike, whose mind was spiraling out of control. He caught in the reactor, and large amounts of electricity continued to surge through him.

"Perhaps I did bite off more than I could chew." he said.





Twilight flew towards the smoke as fast as she could. But was she fast enough?





Meanwhile, the dragons continued their path home, but Ember was feeling uneasy. She regretted leaving Spike, she only did so because the other dragons were in a hurry to escape.

"I'm kind of worried. Spike's still in there, and he hasn't escaped yet?" Ember wondered.
"I told you, Spike's fine!" Garble said.
"But shouldn't he have escaped by now?" Ember wondered.
"Look, we finally escaped from that hole, and I ain't going back for no one!" Garble said.
"But we-" Ember was bumped.
"Keep on flying." Clump said.
"Fine..." Ember kept flying the way they were.

Ember let her own subjects push her around. She could have commanded them to go back for Spike, but she chose not to. Her status of dragon lord was already on shaky grounds, because after all, she did surrender and let her subjects get captured while she sat pretty by Henry's side up until she double-crossed him. She didn't want to do anything more that could spark a rebellion.





Back at the facility.

"Well, talk about my plan going up in smoke." Henry said.

"My dream of furthering Equestria's knowledge of dragons (using force) proved too ambitious." Henry said. "Years of technology research, burnt to a crisp. So much for advancing Equestria's technology as well."

Spike was stuck, and Henry had no way of influencing what happened next.





Inside Spike's mind,

"This is ridiculous. It feels like we're never going to rule Equestria at this rate." Devil Spike said.
"Then perhaps, it's time for a fresh new start." Spike said, in an otherworldly tone.
"What are you going to do?" Angel Spike asked.
"The only thing I can do. What I must do..." Spike said.
"You don't mean-?"
"Oh I mean it."

"But Spike, it is incredibly dangerous." Angel Spike warned.
"I've made up my mind." Spike said.
"What if it backfires, and that's the end up us?" Devil Spike sobbed.
*sniff* "That's the risk I have to take. To protect Equestria and stop Henry." Spike said.

"And if we don't make it out alive, you two were the best positive and negative sides of my brain a dragon could have asked for." Spike said.
"Daww, that's all I've ever wanted to hear." Angel Spike said.
"Pfft, don't get me all sappy." Devil Spike said.

"You ready?"

"Let's do it. It's time for a new beginning." Spike said.

His mind lit up bright, until everything was white.





"Hmm?" Henry noticed Spike... started to glow! "Can it be?" he was amazed.

Henry rushed to the last monitor to read the power level.

*Power level exceeding triple xxx*

"Amazong. A phenomenon theorized long ago, but never observed... until now." he said.

*total meltdown in t minus 10 seconds* the loudspeaker said.

*9*

"Whether or not a dragon's power was limitless or not is what stumped ancient pony scholars for generations. But today, it appears that I finally have the answer." he said.

*8*

Henry thought about his next course of action, whilst Twilight raced towards the smoke.

*7*

"Before, the plan was to keep filling Spike with energy and see what happens, but now that we know his exact limit, we can do it much more efficiently and effectively next time. This is actually quite useful information." Henry smirked.

*6*

Spike's glow grew brighter.

*5*

"I never thought I'd see this with my own two eyes. Truly a miracle of nature."

*4*

Twilight hurried to the facility as fast as she could, but fast wasn't fast enough.

*3*

"You win this time Spike, but don't think this marks the end of our endeavors. This is only the beginning. Equestria's darkest day is still to come."

*2*

"Heh heh. Oh Spike. We hardly even knew thee..." Henry said.

*1*





Twilight was flying, when all of the sudden, an extremely bright light flashed where the smoke was. As bright as day. It was enough to blind her.

The flash of light was so striking, that time felt frozen. There was no sound, just light, until, the shock wave had reached her.

*BOOM* "AAAAAAHHHH!" The powerful shock wave sent Twilight flying back many meters, and into the snow. A powerful gust of wind and debris flew by.





*BOOM* The shock wave passed by the dragons.

*gasp*
*woah*

The dragons were a safer distance away. They observed the large explosion coming from the facility. They were in awe at the size of the blast.

"Woah, that's one heck of an explosion." Garble said.
*gasp* "Oh no... Spike." Ember said with fear.





Back at the Crystal Empire, Twilight's friends were still arguing.

Fluttershy continued to view the smoke from her binoculars, when she saw the same bright flash of light.
*gasp* "Oh my goodness."

"Um, girls?" Fluttershy urged.
"You're acting ridiculous!"
"No, YOU'RE acting ridiculous!"
"Girls! Girls! Hmph. *deep breath* GIRLS!" *BOOM*
The shock wave passed through the crystal empire at the end of Fluttershy's sentence.

The shock wave shook the entire ground, and everypony felt it.

"Wow Fluttershy, you've been working on your shout I see." Rainbow Dash said. "Or hear, would be more accurate."

"Yeah, so anyway, it's just-" Fluttershy started.
"Look at that, it looks like a-" Applejack interrupted, but Dash interrupted her back.
"Now AJ, it's Fluttershy's turn to talk." Rainbow Dash said. "You have the floor girl."
"Thank you Rainbow Dash. As I was saying, There was a billow of smoke way off in the distance, but now it looks like the epicenter of a large explosion." Fluttershy said.

The ponies all looked off into the distance, and indeed, it was true. There was so much smoke now, it could be seen without binoculars.

"That looks bad." Cadance said.
"Very very bad." Shining Armor said.
Sunburst had no words. His jaw just dropped and his eyes widened.

"Is there any doubt now that Twilight is in trouble?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Nope. No doubt about it." Applejack admitted.
"Twilight and Spike are most definitely in danger, and they need our help!" Rarity said.
"And we better hurry. Who knows what could have happened just now." Pinkie said.
"We may already be too late." Applejack said. Rainbow Dash glared at her for thinking negative. "I mean, even if we were to follow Twilight into the cold, there's no way all of us can be equipped properly." AJ said.

"Say no more." Cadance said.
"You all need a way to get over to Twilight in a jiffy? We got you covered." Shining Armor said.
"We have a spare hot air balloon that Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Starlight can ride." Sunburst said.

"Awesome. I don't even mind that all of us traveling by air would be slower, so long as we're all there supporting her together." Rainbow Dash said upbeat.
"I didn't expect that coming from you." Fluttershy said.
"What can I say? She needs all of our help." Dash said.

"So what do you say? You girls willing to help Twilight?" Sunburst asked.

"There's something I gotta say first." Rainbow Dash said. "I'm sorry AJ for arguing with you earlier." she apologized.
"It's okay Rainbow." Applejack accepted the apology. "And I'm sorry for trying to convince everypony to sit on the sidelines. Twilight and Spike need our help." she admitted.

"Pinkie Pie, I'm sorry for whining, I have a bad habit of doing that." Rarity apologized.
"And I'm sorry for snapping when you questioned my comprehensive investigation." Pinkie apologized back.

"And Starlight, I'm sorry about what I said earlier." Applejack apologized.
"It's fine AJ, I forgive you." Starlight said. "We shouldn't be arguing with ourselves, we should be helping our two friends."

Everypony apologized to each another.

"Stop it with the apologies girls, you're making Shining Armor liquid pride again." Cadance said jokingly.
"My little sister is so lucky to have friends like you." Shining Armor said choked up.

"Whether she wants to admit it or not, she needs our help!" Starlight said. "We're her friends, and it's our responsibility to help Spike too."

"So what do you say girls. Are you all ready for an epic mission to save Twilight and Spike?" Sunburst asked.
"Yes we are." the mane 5 and Starlight said simultaneously.

"Let's do this thing!" Rainbow Dash said.
"YEAH!" they all cheered simultaneously.





Back in the heart Frozen North, Twilight got out of the snow, and gazed upon the sight in horror.

What was originally a pillar of smoke was now a giant plume of smoke and fire.

Twilight's heart sank the more she took in the sight. Spike had to be here, there was no doubt about it. All the evidence said so. But this, something very very bad must have happened here.

"I'm... too late." she said.

She flew closer to see exactly where the smoke was coming from. It looked like a metal structure peeking out of the snow. And inside, Twilight could only guess, especially now after the disaster.

*cough* *cough* *cough* She got too close and breathed the smoke.

I better put on my gas mask. Twilight put on her gas mask.

She took a deep breath, terrified of what kind of disaster could have happened, and what could still be lurking within. Was Spike okay somewhere in the depth of the ruins? Or... not?

But despite all these fears and concerns, she took a deep breath, and entered the fiery remains of the facility.

To be continued...