Originally published on June 10th, 2018
Previously, Twilight Sparkle had finally found the secret location where Spike was being held captive. Unfortunately, she was too slow, and a large explosion occurred in the heart of the secret base. The odds were bleak, but with all due caution, Twilight readied her gear, and slowly ventured into the smokey remains of Henry's hideout.
Twilight entered the facility, not knowing what to expect inside. She descended slowly through the smoke and into the depths of the burning building, not knowing when her hooves would touch a floor.
"SPIKE?!" she cried. "ARE YOU HERE!?" But no response. Nothing but the sound of burning rubble and sparks from electrical wires gone loose.
Eventually, her hooves touched down on the metal floor. She surveyed the area, but the viewing angle was limited by the smoke.
Well... you're not going to find him just standing here. she thought.
It was bad enough just standing in place, but she found the courage to explore this awful location further.
She wandered through the scorching hallways. The mood was as worrying as it was eerie. She wasn't sure what was more scary, the idea of there being no life, or the idea that something unknown was still lurking inside...
Twilight found many notable features in the facility. She found a circular pit which looked like an arena (The very same one you may recall being where the dragons battled for Henry). She wandered through a set of empty halls containing over two dozen jail cells. She dared not imagine what they were used for. (You the reader should know this as where most of the dragons were kept captive in between fights).
Finally, Twilight found a small metal room containing many shattered gems. The walls were marked with claw marks, and some scales littered the floor in the room.
"He was here, I know it." she said out loud.
Indeed. You the reader may remember this as the very same room where Spike first woke up and realized the horror bestowed upon him. This is where Spike first met Henry, and where he was held captive.
"But where is he now?" she wondered. Oh no...
She was starting to piece together the picture, and she didn't like what it implied.
"I'm too late... aren't I..." she said. "I wasn't fast enough..."
"SPIIIIIIKE! WHERE ARE YOU!?" she cried, but still no response. The place was by all accounts empty.
She continued to explore the ruins of the facility, hoping to find just a glisten of hope, but each passing moment only lead to more and more sorrow.
There were a lot of papers that littered the ground. She stepped one pieces of paper in particular that looked important. She read the paper, and what she found confirmed her worst nightmares.
"Let's see... *gasp* oh no..." she read to herself.
The papers detailed a plan to make Spike big and greedy by exploiting his greed induced growth with the allure of gems. The ultimate goal of the operation was to control Spike and use him as a weapon of mass destruction.
Twilight was not fond with what she read.
"Hidden deep inside of this dragon is enough magic to wipe out an entire army. Once he is fully grown, nothing will stand in my way when I unleash Spike upon the land. It's the perfect revenge plot after what the Princess took from me-" The rest of the text had burnt away.
"So it's true... You were kidnapped for nefarious purposes..." she said.
Twilight was appalled by the plans. Her worst fears had been confirmed. She crumpled the paper out of spite and tossed it into a pile of flames.
"I don't understand though, what happened here? Where did everypony go?" There was zero doubt Spike was kidnapped and taken here. But where was everyone? What lead to the horrible disaster that took place?
The sheer emptiness of the facility had Twilight gravely worried for the worst.
"SPIIIIIKE! WHERE ARE YOU!?" she cried.
*sob* "I can't believe I'm too late."
Tears fell from Twilight's face as she had begun to cry.
"I... *sniff* I've failed you, Spike. You always helped me no matter what, but this time, I failed to return the favor. I let my guard down, and this happens to you. I wasn't able to save you..."
"All I want is to see my little baby boy again, so I can tell you how much you mean to me." *sniff* Twilight kept crying.
"Oh Spike... *sniff* I can't even begin to imagine what happened to you...*sniff* I don't want to imagine..."
Twilight got on the ground and let all her tears out. She was so close, but still so far from seeing Spike again.
Just as Twilight let her guard down, she heard what sounded like other hoofsteps against metal. She immediately lit up, turned around and blasted magic in that direction with all her fury. She went from sad to angry in less than a second.
*BOOM* The blast sent metal and flames flying.
"WHO'S THERE!?" she shouted.
She used her magic to lift the debris and see who was lurking.
*cough cough*
Twilight approached to see what it was. There was definitely a pony lurking, and it stared back at her.
"Princess... Twilight Sparkle?" the pony looked up.
"WHO ARE YOU!?" Twilight shouted with anger.
"I'm, uh, Jeffery, and..." he said. Indeed it was none other than Jeffery! You know, the pony who double-crossed Henry. He looked up and couldn't believe his eyes.
"Oh thank goodness it's really- *gasp* you." Jeff said, but Twilight gripped him with her magic.
"WHERE'S SPIKE?!" Twilight exclaimed.
"He's not... here?" Jeff replied.
"WHERE. IS. SPIKE!?" Twilight asked again.
"Look, I'm just-" Jeff began, but Twilight interpreted.
"You got a lot of nerve sneaking into my castle and stealing Spike from me!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Please give me a moment and I can explain everything!" Jeff pleaded.
"Oh you have nothing to explain!" Twilight exclaimed. "I know everything! You captured Spike so you can turn him into your weapon!"
"That's technically true, but-" he said shaking.
"But nothing!" she yelled.
"Please... *gasp* let me go." Jeff pleaded. She put a tighter grip on him.
"How could you just take Spike away from me?!" Twilight's voice started to choke up. "Ripping away an innocent child from his... *cough* Have you no soul?!"
"I don't know... I did a truly horrible thing..." Jeff replied.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just blast you away right now!" Twilight said.
"I have no excuse... what I did was inexcusable. So go ahead and do your worst. I deserve your harshest punishment for my crimes." Jeff admitted defeat.
Twilight stared down Jeffery with an angry glare. The angriest glare I think she'd ever given any pony. Her heart was in such emotional turmoil, and she was ready to unleash it all on Jeff.
As for Jeff himself, he looked defeated and lost. He had given up, and accepted his fate.
Twilight's horn glowed, she was ready to just release all of her anger out all at once on Jeff.
But at the last second, she turned around and directed her powerful magic blast towards the opposite direction, resulting in a large magic explosion.
*BOOM* *CRASH*
There was a loud boom and an aftermath of metal on metal sound. It was an intense blast for sure.
*breaths out* "I can't... I just can't do it." Twilight said.
"You put me through so much pain and suffering, but hurting you won't bring back Spike." Twilight started to cry again. "I expected to find an absolute villain, but you're just pathetic. You're nothing." she said. "I came all this way... for nothing...
*sniff*" she began to cry.
"I know an apology will do no good, but I am well and truly sorry for everything I've done, Twilight." Jeff said.
"What are you apologizing for?!" she said with anger. "I don't need your sympathy."
"I know what you're going through Twilight." he said.
"No you don't! You can never know the pain I'm going through right now." Twilight said.
"Losing your family is... *gulp* the pain is indescribable." Jeff said. "I was separated from my family long ago. The feeling is terrible, losing the ones you care so much about."
Twilight stood in place thinking about what Jeff just said. How could he possibly know sympathy?
"Wait a second..." she wondered. It is about now when she remembered what Mr. and Mrs. Beam had told her back in Chapter 13.
"I wonder if this is how Mr. and Mrs. Beam felt when their son ran away... *gasp* I almost forgot." she said aloud.
"We know who kidnapped your dragon. Our son." their words echoed.
"Could their suspicion be correct?" Twilight wondered. "Is their son really the one responsible for kidnapping Spike? If that's the case, then that would mean...?"
"Listen, your name wouldn't happen to be Shine Bright Beam, would it?" Twilight asked Jeff.
"Yes, but how did you know my real name?" he asked.
*gasp* "I can't believe it, it's really is you." she said.
"How do you know my name?" he asked again.
"As luck would have it, I've actually met your parents." Twilight replied.
"You have?!" Jeff was astonished. "When did you meet them?"
"I met them when Pinkie Pie threw a huge party for your little sister's birthday." Twilight said.
"I have a sister!?" Jeff was amazed. He was totally unaware.
"Yep. And she is adorable. In fact, she even made buddies with Spike." Twilight said.
"That's incredible." he said. "I had no idea, that's so great to hear."
"How did my parents know I was here?" Jeff asked.
"They heard about Spike's disappearance, and thought that you were most likely to be the pony responsible, and I guess they were right." Twilight said.
"Do they miss me?" he asked.
"They miss you dearly. They were so worried the day the schoolhouse burned down. They weren't even sure if you had made it out alive." she said.
"What happened on that fateful day anyway?" Twilight asked.
"I made it out of the school fire alive, but I chose to run away from home. I was so ashamed of what had happened, I never wanted to talk to any pony again. I ran away as far as I could." Jeffery said.
"And on my way out of town, that is when I ran into him." Jeff explained.
"Who is him?"
"My boss, the real mastermind behind all of this. The pony whose idea it was to capture Spike in the first place. That is the day I met Henry." Jeff said.
"Henry? What kind of name is that?" Twilight replied.
"It's a code name, we all use code names to hide our identities." Jeff answered.
"Well then what is Henry's real name?" Twilight asked.
"His name is...*giggles*
"What's so funny?" Twilight asked.
"I'd rather not say it now, it might just distract from the seriousness of the operation. It's not an important detail." Jeff said.
"Oookay then." Twilight said.
"So anyway, Henry took me in, and he promised me that together we would research dragons and spread our knowledge across Equestria. But instead, he built tools designed to capture dragons. He rounded up as many dragons as he could, and trained them to fight for him. Until eventually... *gulp* we took Spike."
Twilight's mood went down when Jeff reminded her of what he did.
"Look, if I had known that one day I would be stealing a baby dragon from the Princess of Friendship, I never would have joined him." he said. "I regret ever joining Henry's crew."
Jeff's story seemed believable, and his tone sincere. His story lined up with everything else she had heard.
But ultimately it was Jeffery's choice to follow Henry, so Twilight didn't give too much sympathy yet.
"Anyway, let's get down to this." Twilight said. "What's the deal with this Henry guy anyway?" she asked.
"Everything. The entire operation was his idea. He built this facility, it was his plan to capture all the dragons, and it was his plan to kidnap Spike and turn him into his weapon."
"So he's the one who drove to Ponyville and snatched Spike from me." Twilight said.
"Actually I was driving the car..." Jeff said.
"I see." Twilight raised an eyebrow of suspicion.
"Look, I told you, regret all of it." Jeff admitted.
"Why should I believe any of what you're saying?" Twilight said. "If you want my trust, tell me where Spike is."
"I wish I knew, but I don't. If Spike or Henry were here, it'd be obvious, but since there's no sign of them anywhere here..."
Twilight paced back and forth and brainstormed on where Spike could be.
"Hmm. They're not here at all. It's almost as if, they... escaped." she theorized.
"That's it! They probably just escaped, and they're going... somewhere... maybe." she said. "Jeff, if you were Henry, and you had to escape with Spike, where would you go?" she asked.
Jeffery thought for a moment, and then figured out.
"Of course! Why didn't I think of it earlier? Henry is one heck of an escape artist, I know exactly where Spike and Henry are, but you better hurry." Jeff said.
"But what about you?" Twilight asked.
"Don't worry about me. Worry about saving Spike. I've lived my life and made my mistakes, but Spike has a long life ahead of him."
"Okay, just tell me where they are." Twilight requested.
Jeffery whispered into Twilight's ear where Henry and Spike were.
"Alright, makes sense to me. In that case, I'll be on my way." she said.
Twilight got ready to depart away from the hideout.
"And Jeffery..." she said.
"Yes Twilight?" he asked.
"..." Twilight wanted to thank him, but thanking this pony seemed wrong, so she just stood in silence.
"Oh and Twilight, be ready for Henry. Do not underestimate him. Do not let your guard down for a moment. He doesn't fight fair, he will stab your back the moment you turn around." Jeff said. "He is a powerful unicorn, do not underestimate him."
"Duly noted." Twilight said. "But, I'm a Princess and an alicorn, how powerful could he possibly be?"
"Very." Jeff said. "It's best not to take him head on."
"Hmm, not head on, then maybe I should have a less direct approach..." she wondered.
"One last thing before I go Jeff. Please tell me, who exactly is Henry? If you're Mr. and Mrs. Beam's only son, then who the heck is Henry?" Twilight asked. "What's his backstory if any?"
"I better tell you Henry's backstory, it will put a lot of things into context." Jeff said. "Indeed, I am Mr. and Mrs. Beam's only son, but Henry on the other hand You see, Henry is-" Jeff was speaking, when he noticed another figuring sneaking up from behind Twilight.
"TWILIGHT LOOK OUT!" Jeff pushed Twilight out of the way, pulled out a sharp weapon and stabbed the horse. It was Sawtooth! He wielded a sharp blade, and tried to sneak attack Twilight, but Jeff ran up, and the two stabbed each other.
"JEFF!" Twilight used her magic to finish off Sawtooth. He fainted once again.
"Oh my gosh! Are you okay!?" she asked.
"I'm *cough* fine..." Jeff replied.
"No you're not, you have a giant wound." Twilight said. "Should I go find help?"
"No, don't worry about me, I'll be fine *cough.*" Jeff said. "Please, find Spike, bring him home, and stop Henry!"
Meanwhile, the dragons were continuing their journey home to the dragon lands. They witnessed the huge explosion from Henry's hideout, but kept on flying anyway.
Ember however was growing worried of Spike, and had to speak her mind to the rest of the dragons.
"Guys, we have to go back! That was a really big explosion and there's no sign of Spike." Ember said.
"No way!" Garble said.
"No way? Spike could be injured or worse!" she argued.
"Stop, just stop!" Garble said. "What's with you wanting to help out and be nice? It's gross." Garble said.
"Why should we listen to you? After all, you betrayed us and joined forces with that Henry guy." Garble said.
"Look, I had to do something, and while not the best decision, we're all here now. All except for Spike however, so let's go look for him." Ember said.
"No way!" Garble shouted.
"Are you serious?!" Ember exclaimed. "Even after Spike saved all of your lives, you're all still incredibly ungrateful!"
"In case you forgot Ember, dragons don't do friendship." Garble said.
That familiar phrase blasted Ember, and got her thinking in the moment.
"You know, I've been thinking, and you know what I've thought of?" Ember said. "Have you ever wondered why ponies are the dominant species? I mean dragons are much stronger than ponies, so why are they the ones who rule the land?"
"Well that's because of... uh..." Garble wasn't actually sure, nor was any other dragon sure.
"Well I have a wild theory, so hear me out. Maybe, just maybe, ponies rule the world because of their friendship! Think about it, they've cooperated and built a society together! By unifying the earth unicorn pegasus, they've come together and built an advanced society." she said
"But us dragons have done the complete opposite! We don't cooperate, we're just a bunch of loners who keep to ourselves! Whether it's because of pride, or spite, or whatever, but let me tell you. We may be full of ourselves, but guess which species rules this world. I'll give you a hint, it's not the self indulgent scaly nimrods! We dragons have made zero progress in the past several thousand years because we refuse to!"
"What are you saying?" Garble threatened.
"I'm just saying that... that maybe there is something to this friendship thing after all." Ember said.
Every dragon gasped, shocked by what their Dragon Lord just said.
"The ponies learned to work together and they've done some incredible things, and maybe, just maybe, we dragons can learn to do the same thing. We can do great things if we all come together! And we can start by looking for Spike. So who's with me!" Ember said with excitement.
Unfortunately, despite her... interesting speech, there were no takers.
"Wow, no takers? I guess friendship is lame after all!" Vex said.
"Cooperation? No way!" Clump said.
"I don't want no namby pamby pony friendship junk crampin' my style!" Fume said.
"Fine, I'll do this on my own." Ember flew off embarrassed and disappointed.
"Alright Ember, see you never!" Baff said.
"FYI, I'm still your Dragon Lord. I'll be back, and when I am... ugh." she just flew off. The warmth of the Bloodstone Scepter kept her warm while she flew alone.
Ember flew back to find Spike, while the rest of the dragons flew in the opposite direction.
"Pff, could you believe what she said Garble about ponies being smarter than us!?" Fume said.
Garble was silent however. Almost as if there was a lot on his mind.
"Um, Garble?" Fume nudged.
"Huh? Oh, yeah... heh, ridiculous..." Garble said feeling unsure of how to feel.
Meanwhile, Spike started to awaken.
He started to open his eyes. The outside world was very white, a stark contrast from the blackness of his eyes being closed.
"Ugh... I feel like I intercepted an atomic bomb with my face..." he said. That wasn't too far from the truth. Spike was completely exhausted and out of energy.
Spike looked at his claws, and touched his head, from this, he was able to tell that he was back to his normal baby dragon size.
"Where... am I?" he wondered. He looked up, and saw a blank sky above him. He was completely desensitized, though he could tell it was cold.
"Am I... dead?" he wondered.
"You wish you were." said a familiar voice.
*gasp* "Henry!" Spike exclaimed.
"Yes, it's me." Henry had survived the blast and escaped with Spike in tow.
Spike started to gain consciousness, and was able to take in the surroundings better. He laid in the snow while Henry pulled on him with a rope tied to his neck.
"Ugh... Hey! What's the meaning of this rope!?" Spike asked.
"What's wrong, is it too tight?" Henry mocked. He wasn't actually concerned.
"Nah. It's just kind of uncomfortable, but thankfully we dragons have tough necks." Spike replied. "So tell me, where are we going?"
"Places. We still have much to accomplish." Henry replied.
"Wait wait wait. Slow down. I just woke up. What the heck just happened?" Spike asked.
"See for yourself." Henry pointed towards the ruined facility, which could still be seen from their location.
Spike looked upon the fiery remains of the facility in awe. What used to be Henry's hideout was now a huge fireball, with a plume of smoke pouring out. Truly a terrifying sight to behold.
"Did I... do that?" Spike said.
"Mmmhmm." he replied.
"I... I..." Spike teared at the sight of destruction he had caused. "...I can't believe it, such raw destruction, all because of me..."
"Yep. It is truly a marvelous sight." Henry said.
The height of the smoke cloud amazed Spike. "That smoke really does climb high into the atmosphere, almost as high as the tall mountains that surround us." he said.
Though they were on a flat plateau, not to far away were a range of tall mountains, including the tallest mountain in Equestria, Mount Everhoof.
"Wow, Mt. Everhoof sure is tall." Spike gazed at the mountains in awe.
"That is a big mountain, but you know what else is big? You at full size." Henry said. "That was an impressive show you put on Spike, but that was only the beginning of what is still to come."
"So that's the thing. What are you gonna do now that your stupid plan to weaponize me literally blew up in your face?" Spike asked.
"This is only a minor set back." Henry assured.
"You have a funny definition of minor set back." Spike sassed.
"Think of this as a fresh start, with new opportunities." Henry said.
"Whatever." Spike rolled his eyes at Henry's words.
Spike reached behind his back and scratched. In fact, he couldn't help but scratch.
*errgh* "Why am I so itchy?"
"Your skin is... peeling..." Henry observed.
"What the? But why?"
"I don't know, much is still unknown about the lives of young dragons." Henry said.
"Well whatever it is, it's really *ugh* irritating." Spike said.
"So tell me, Mr. Henry the not so capable, where exactly are going anyway?" Spike asked.
"Wait and see." he replied.
"That's it! I'm done with all the secrets!" Spike said. "You've done nothing but keep secrets! And I am so sick of it! I want answers already!"
"Answers such as..." Henry said.
"Just who are you anyway?!" Spike asked.
"I'm a researcher of sorts." he answered.
"No, who are you really? Where did you come from? What is your ultimate goal?" Spike prodded.
"It's been my long time passion to seek revenge on Equestria." Henry replied.
"Revenge for what? Who in Equestria did you any wrong?" Spike asked.
"That isn't important. What is, is that you're going to make that possible." he replied.
"But why me in particular? Why do you put so much emphasis on me? Why would you spend so much time training me in particular instead of any other dragon?"
"You have unique abilities that no other dragon possesses." Henry said. "All dragons grow with greed, but no dragon is capable of growing as fast as you." he explained. "During that brief moment of your maximum capacity, you were for that time the most powerful dragon Equestria had ever seen. Plus, your mind is feeble and easy to manipulate, which makes such power immense free for the taking... in theory. That is what makes you special."
"...So that's it? I'm just some freak of nature that you're exploiting?" Spike asked.
"Yep, pretty much." Henry replied. "There is nothing else significant about you whatsoever."
"Lies!" Spike shouted. "You're leaving out important details! There's something else you're not telling me!"
Henry did not reply, he just kept walking.
"None of this makes sense! How do you know about my abilities in the first place?!" Spike asked. "I demand that you tell me!"
Henry kept walking, silent. Spike leapt in front of Henry.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT ME?!" Spike demanded an answer.
"You ask questions requiring answers beyond your scope of understanding." Henry finally said. "If I told you half the things I knew, it would crack your tiny mind."
After the response, Henry walked right past Spike, who was frozen after being denied an answer. Henry continued to pull Spike through the snow.
Spike kept walking, and stared at the ground, bitter and full of angst. As they were walking, Spike had bumped into Henry, who had stopped in his tracks.
"Um... why are we stopping?" Spike asked.
"Halt! Who goes there!?" Henry exclaimed.
There was a mysterious pony way off in a cloud of fog. The pony said nothing as it walked forward. Henry was on guard, he readied his magic in case the pony was hostile, but it simply walked forward. Henry and Spike kept a watchful eye as this mystery pony walked forward. The pony wore a hood, and a gas mask, covering their face. The pony was now face to face with Henry.
"Who are you?" Henry asked.
"Who am I? Who are you? You shouldn't be out here in the cold all alone? And that dragon, he's going to shiver to death." they said. "Not to mention, the critter is probably just dead weight hanging on your back."
"...So?" Henry replied.
"So, I'm willing to take that dragon off your hooves for free. Give him to me, and consider him off of your back for good!"
"Hmm, thanks, but no thanks. This dragon is sticking with me." Henry walked passed the pony with Spike.
The pony ran to catch up to Henry and Spike.
"So, you wanna hang on to the dragon I see." they said. "Funny, because want that dragon too. Yes, I must have that dragon! I mean, it's just so weird!"
"Hmph." Spike grunted.
"I'm willing to pay you for that dragon." they said.
"Nice try, but I'm not some creature for sale!" Spike said.
"What could you possibly offer in exchange?" Henry asked.
"I got an offer that you just can't resist. Wait for it, 1,000 bits!" they pulled out a bag of bits. "Is it a deal or is it a deal?"
"No deal." Henry walked off. The pony chased after him again.
"Ahh, a higher bidder, I like that. Right, 10,000 bits?" they pulled out a bigger bag.
Henry was not impressed.
"Hang on, I got a deal you can't resist. 1,000,000 bits!" they pulled out a ridiculously sized bag.
But Henry stood angry and unmoved.
"Not a fan of cash? I can't blame you. You must be a pony who prefers checks." they wrote a check and presented it to Henry. "There you go."
Henry used his magic to rip up the check.
"So would you like that transferable or instead or..."
"No deal because this dragon isn't for sale!" Henry said.
His harsh tone froze the pony, and he continued walking with Spike.
"Of course, how silly of me. Selling a dragon. He isn't worth the raw material of his scales." they said.
"Hey!" Spike said.
"So you don't want the dragon after all. Alright then." Henry said.
"I didn't say that. I just mean, he's just such a strange dragon, why do you even want him?" they asked.
"This is a priceless dragon." Henry said. "He represents... many things. He is both my greatest accomplishment and greatest weapon. Why I tell you, I nabbed this little dragon from a sorry little pony princess, but she had it coming to her. Why I tell you-" Henry went on and on, but the pony and Spike started to tune him out.
The mystery pony and Spike looked each other in the eye. Spike looked deeply into the mask, and he could almost see the eyes within... eyes that looked very familiar...
"...Twilight?" Spike said softly.
"Shh!" they shushed him.
"-it's just another example of what comes around goes around. Isn't that just the funniest thing you've ever heard?" Henry said finishing his sentence. His glare turned to spite when he realized they weren't listening.
"Uh, yeah! Ha. Hilarious." they said, not knowing what was so funny.
"Spike is no ordinary dragon. He's a dragon domesticated by ponies, but also a dragon possessing an incredible untapped power." Henry hovered over the pony in a very terrifying and entrancing and hypnotic way.
"He makes quite a good assistant doesn't he? Wouldn't you say?" Henry asked.
"Um... I guess..." the pony was shaking.
"Spike is a very special dragon. Wouldn't you say? Princess Twilight Sparkle?" Henry said.
*gasp* Twilight let out a loud gasp, it was Twilight in disguise the whole time. Her cover was blown, and her identity was discovered.
Spike's eyes widened. "Twilight?" he said.
Twilight removed her mask and undid her hood, revealing her face. She turned and faced Henry.
"It really is you..." Spike said in amazement.
"Hello, Princess." Henry said.
"Hello, Henry." Twilight said.
To be continued...