//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty-Seven:Spike's Ultimate Destiny, Part Two:Hiding In The Shadows // Story: Time Stops For No Dragon // by FluttershyLover55 //------------------------------// Time Stops For No Dragon Chapter 27-Spike's Ultimate Destiny, Part Two:Hiding In The Shadows Spike didn't know the whole layout of the castle very well, but he was pretty sure that he knew of one place in particular that would make a good hiding spot. The castle had at least four floors with the uppermost point being the roof, which would technically count as the fifth. The place that he was thinking of was the Royal Archives, and they were on the third floor, so he would be fairly close to the top. Plus, the Archives was huge, covering nearly the whole floor it was on, which made sense since it contained books about pretty much all of Equestria's history. With so many rows of bookshelves, he was certain that he would have no trouble staying out of sight, and it would probably be a while before she found out the specific area he was in, since the castle had several floors and they were all large. Spike was smart enough to know that he hadn't been allotted enough time to run straight to the roof, and if he was out in the open when he ran out of time, then he was done for. That's why he had picked somewhere that was relatively close to the top, while still providing adequate space to hide. He wasn't sure how many minutes had passed, but if his estimate was correct, there was only a minute or two to go before Fluttershy would begin searching for him. That meant that he didn't have much time left to reach his destination. He was currently running up the stairs to the third floor, the slapping of his feet on the cold stone echoing through the stairwell. It was the only sound he could hear and it sounded abnormally loud in his ears, making him feel like his pursuer, if she was already looking, would be able to hear him from anywhere in the castle. This probably wasn't the case, unless she had really good hearing, but that's how it made him feel. Although, judging by the way things usually went for him, he wouldn't be surprised if that turned out to be the case. He finally made it to the place he was looking for, and ducked under the rope keeping it closed. This wasn't normally the kind of area that just anypony could access, so it was roped off and the more secret areas of it, like Starswirl's section, were locked with a chain. He barely had enough time to get inside and slip in between some bookcases, before his five-minute headstart concluded. The chase had begun and he wasn't sure that anything could save him, if she discovered his hiding place. He was racking his brain for ideas on how to deal with Fluttershy, since he highly doubted that he would be able to simply sneak past her, but he was coming up empty. He didn't want to hurt her unless it was absolutely necessary, but it was looking like he might have to. If anything, it would probably be a good idea to take care of her somehow, so that she wouldn't get in the way when he fought Starswirl. He didn't want her to interfere, in what was sure to be the most dangerous battle he had ever faced. What if she was caught between their attacks and got killed or something? Along that same line of thinking, it made sense for him to neutralize her, at least. If he could figure out how to do it, that is. Unfortunately for him, she seemed to know exactly where he was or knew where he was likely to hide, anyway. He heard the rope rustling violently until it was torn off, flying towards him with a gust of wind. What was left of the rope, if it could even be called that anymore, slapped onto the floor, landing by his feet. In hindsight, he probably should have hidden further away from the entrance. He was only a distance of two bookcases away from the opening that his seeker had just blown to smithereens. Spike knew that it would be a good idea to get further away, but before he did, he was tempted to sneak a peek at her, since it had been so long since he had last seen her. Surely, it wouldn't hurt to gaze at her beauty for a moment, as long as he did it quickly enough that he wasn't seen. The young dragon poked his head around the corner of the bookshelf he was currently hiding behind, and almost immediately ducked back behind it, moving as silently as he could in the opposite direction. He hadn't observed her too closely, but the brief glimpse he had gotten of her, was terrifying! The darkness inside of her had warped her appearance, making her look like something straight out of his nightmares. "Dear Celestia, she looks like a demon from Tartarus!" Her once butter yellow fur was so dark that it was almost black, and her mouth was filled with needle-like razor sharp teeth. Her mane and tail were faded in color, despite still being pink and her cutie marks had been corrupted, displaying a black hole instead of three butterflies. However, the most shocking change to her appearance was her eyes. They had once been filled with kindness and warmth, along with a modicum of innocence as well as their teal color, but now, they were completely different. They were solid black with red pinpricks of light serving as her pupils and staring into them was like looking into the deepest, darkest abyss that one might never return from. Wisps of darkness emanated from her being periodically, floating off into the air. Every step she took left a black hoof print burned into the floor. As soon as he saw her, all thoughts of neutralizing her flew out of the nearest window, replaced with the need to get as far away from that THING as possible. He couldn't let it catch him, for that creature wasn't Fluttershy anymore, and it would surely kill him if he allowed it to get its hooves on him. Survival was the only thing on his mind, as well as the near-crippling fear that was beginning to settle into his bones, not to mention every fiber of his being. It was a primal feeling, something like how he imagined the cave ponies must have felt when they were being chased by dinosaurs. This was how it felt to be hunted by something that was strong and powerful enough to be considered a predator, while he was the weak and vulnerable prey. It was funny in a way, that he was hiding in the shadows from a creature possessed by the darkness needed to create them. Not that he would laugh, even if he could, without attracting its attention. "Where are you, Spike? I KNOW you're here. You can't fool me, because I can smell your fear!" The monstrosity masquerading as his ex-marefriend announced, in a twisted combination of Fluttershy's voice and a more demonic sounding one. It was as if two creatures were in her body, both speaking in perfect synchronization. Spike was careful not to make any unnecessary noises, slinking from bookcase to bookcase in relative silence. If he really wanted to, he could have used some of his magic to make his movements completely silent, but he was certain that the thing currently occupying her body would be able to sense it and find out exactly where he was. True to her word, she was tracking him through smell alone and she wasn't far behind, judging by the sounds he could hear. She knew that she was getting close to his location, in fact, she could taste him. His sweaty essence was making her mouth water in anticipation, of the moment when she would finally catch up to him. She began using her newfound mastery of the shadowy arts, to speed up the process, becoming one with the shadows themselves and phasing through the bookshelves as if they weren't there. She left perfectly circular holes in her wake, melting through countless books that were all priceless. Thankfully, this was a replica, so no damage was actually done. He thought he was doing pretty well, but all his progress was ruined when he felt a familiar feeling, building up in his chest. "Oh, sweet Celestia! Not this, not right now!" He thought, frantically trying to hold it back. In the end, however, it was inevitable and he burped out a letter in a burst of brilliant emerald flame, lighting up the dark room. He hastily unrolled the scroll, wondering what was so important that he had to be told in the middle of such an important event. "Dear Spike, Good luck! Love, your best friend Twilight (who is basically, your unicorn mom)" Normally, he would have smiled at such a letter, but it literally couldn't have come at a worse time. As he had expected, the flash of magic, however brief it was, attracted the sinister mare to his direct location. Before he could react, she appeared right beside him, phasing through the bookshelf at his back. "Gotcha!" She whispered right into his ear, sending chills down his spine, as he felt her hot breath on his skin. She had never done anything like that to him before, because she was usually too shy to. It was embarrassing to admit, but Spike had never been more terrified and aroused at the same time. He sprinted away as fast as he could, running for his life. She was enjoying the thrill of the chase, so she watched him go, letting him get a fair distance away before she resumed her pursuit. Soon after, she phased through a few more bookcases and came face to face with her 'playmate'. Spike wanted to scream in terror, but no sound came out. Even if he could have, there wasn't enough breath in his body to do so, as evidenced by her finding him hunched over with his hands on his knees. He had been running for a while, and he just didn't have the energy to keep going. "There you are!" She smiled, approaching him slowly. In his attempt to back away, he tripped over his own feet, falling on his butt. He was too scared to move, as the unspeakable horror got closer and closer, until she was standing right in front of him. She licked her lips and roughly forced him to the floor, causing him to cry out in pain as her two front hooves burned twin hoof marks onto his chest. Her mouth was watering and some hot drool dripped out of her mouth, wetting his scales. "Mmm! You look good enough to eat! That old fuddy duddy probably didn't tell you this, but one of the rules of our game was that if I won, I could do whatever I wanted with you." Her grin would have normally been adorable, but it was only menacing in this form. "Yes, I think you'll do nicely. I haven't eaten anything in ages, and this body requires quite a bit of sustenance." Fluttershy opened her mouth as wide as was possible, poised to swallow him whole, as her cheeks stretched to an unnatural degree. Spike could tell that this was it for him and he closed his eyes, not wanting to see his end. He didn't try to escape, knowing that it was futile, since she would quickly catch him again. It was then, that something strange happened. Right before she closed in on him, she was stopped in her tracks. She clutched her head in pain, appearing to struggle with an unseen assailant. What Spike didn't realize, was that the attack was coming from the inside. Upon seeing him terrified and nearly in tears, Fluttershy couldn't stand knowing that an evil force was using her body to cause him pain. This was her fault, and while she had been cowering in a dark corner of her mind this whole time, it was time that she started fighting back. If she had come to this conclusion sooner, then some of this could have been prevented. She should have never let it go so far, and it was time to stand up for herself. Spike put some distance between them while she was distracted, watching in awe. Suddenly, some of the darkness coating her body dissipated, as her right eye reverted to its normal color and appearance. "Spike, there's no time! You have to get out of here, I'm sorry! I can't hold it off for very long, so you NEED to go!" She forced out through gritted teeth. He had been quiet for a while now, but Thorn finally spoke up in Spike's mind. "Hey, Spike, I've been doing some thinking. I've got an idea about how we could neutralize her, like you suggested. There's no guarantee that it will work, but I believe that it's worth a shot." Spike was surprised to hear from him, having nearly forgotten that he was still in there. "All right, Thorn. Lay it on me. It's not like we have any better options, at this point." "This might not be something you're willing to go through with, since it's a tad extreme, but here goes. I think you should at least, try to use the gauntlet on her." Thorn suggested. "What? But, I thought that it only works on spells?" Spike questioned. "That's what we were told, but something tells me that it will work for this, as well. Discord is essentially, made up of chaotic magic, so it stands to reason that his soul would be made out of magic, also. It's worth a shot, anyway." Thorn revealed. "Okay, but what's the bad part? This sounds too good to be true, since it would solve all of our problems, and in my experience, there's always a downside to something like this." Spike pointed out. "You're right. If our plan backfires, then we could potentially be possessed by it, instead. Are you sure that you're strong enough to handle that?" Thorn warned. Spike's face hardened in determination. "I'm certain of it. If something like that happens, then so be it. I'd rather take it into my own body, if it means that I can save her. I won't allow it to take me over, like it did with her." "All right, then. Let's do it." Thorn agreed. "Fluttershy, I'm not going to leave you, not again!" Spike declared, walking towards her with a confident smirk on his face. "Spike, what are you…" That was all she had time to say, before he laid his gauntlet-covered hand on her shoulder. The ancient artifact began to glow in response to his feelings, as small wisps of darkness began to be absorbed into the cyan armor. The process started off slow, but it began to pick up speed, more and more darkness swirling into it as the minutes passed. The suction began to strengthen, pieces of the shadows coating her body breaking off in large chunks at a time. It fought to stay attached to her and the shadowy mist, formless by nature, partially formed a mouth, growling ominously. But, in the end it couldn't resist the pull, and the last of his soul was fully absorbed into the gauntlet. The once light blue armament was now, all black. Fluttershy sighed in relief, losing the strength in her legs, as she collapsed to the floor. "Thank you, Spike. I…love…you…" She murmured, as she lost consciousness. Spike ran over to her and was relieved to notice that she was still breathing. It was likely, that she was just exhausted. "I love you, too. Don't worry, Fluttershy. I'll come back for you, once this is all over. Right now, I have a date with an old dude, who is in SERIOUS need of a butt-kicking!" He was about to leave the room, when Thorn spoke up in his mind. "Spike, something's wrong! I can feel it. I hate to say it, but we may have taken on more than we could handle." "I'm sure it will be fine, Thorn. We don't have time to worry about it, right now. If something happens, we'll deal with it." Spike assured, heading for the stairs that led to the next floor. He didn't realize it then, but he would come to regret not taking his other self's warning to heart. The gauntlet wasn't strong enough to hold a living entity, especially not one so powerful, and in its fight to break free of the prison it had been placed into, cracks were beginning to spread across the surface of the artifact. It was only a matter of time, before it escaped once more.