Chapter 37: More than Words
Crowe violently emerged from the mangled remains of his chandelier. Ruptured glass and chunks of glittery debris sprinkled down like confetti. The psychotic, self-proclaimed king approached the colorful heroes threatening his regime. His eyes filled with unchecked malice, armored muscles clenched with tension while a primal, savage snarl escaped his lips.
“The beat down I’m about to deliver to you sprinkle sucking maggot turds is going to be indescribable. They’ll need tweezers to pick up the pieces when I’m done with you,” he seethed vengefully.
“This doesn’t have to continue, Crowe. You can end this now, give all this up and end it all before it gets any worse for you,” Twilight said boldly.
“You’re authority isn’t recognized, Virgin Sparkle! This is my house and your MY fiancé, all of you are. So dropkick that backbone and get back in line or else-”
“Or else what?!? We just kicked you’re can 6 ways to Sunday. There’s a whole bunch of us and just one of you. Game’s over, sleazebag,” Rainbow interjected.
Crowe simply laughed and spat at the ground.
“This isn’t a joke Crowe; it’s your final warning. Surrender and release the princesses. If not, I’ll be more than happy to stomp you into a world of hurt,” Moonstruck fiercely jabbed.
The armored villain stared flatly at the pony’s doe eyed glares. Their anemic attempt at intimidation was borderline comical. He stood, unimpressed and unwilling to even pretend to think about their little offer.
“All right then, you asked for it,” Arrowhead said; cracking his knuckles.
“Got any last words to say before your world gets rocked?” the cyan Pegasus said.
The yellow colt composed himself, brushed off any lingering specks of chandelier from his armored person and calmly looked towards the group of pony friends.
“Why yes, as a matter of fact I do have something to say: Dragon’s bane.”
A strange flash appeared across Spike’s eyes. They went from his typical green to completely white for a split second. He felt a surging spike of energy sprawl across his mind, like a nest of freshly hatched spiders was scurrying inside of his thoughts.
“Spike, darling, is something the matter?” Rarity nervously inquired.
The purple drake dropped to his knees clutching his head. He felt his voice explode from his lungs, howling with agonizing screams that echoed across the castle like thunder. Sweat trickled from his scaly brow. He couldn’t move, couldn’t think, all he felt was unimaginable pain; pain that was impossible to ignore.
The ponies rushed to their friend’s aid but found themselves incapable of finding what the problem was. Spike couldn’t hear their voices, he could only feel skull splitting pain burrowing into his brain.
“Please…help…it hurts…oh Celestia…IT HURTS SO BAD I CAN’T STAND IT,” Spike cried out.
Twilight tried to cast a healing spell but it had no effect. She frazzled herself into a sobbing frenzy trying to fix this. Rarity forced herself to pull away from her precious Spikey Wiky to address the monster that was putting him through so much unseen pain.
“You heartless bastard, what are you doing to him?!” she shrieked.
“How’d you mares survive so long being THIS frigging stupid?”
The ponies growled at the colt’s sickening comment. They continued to try to help Spike.
“Think about it: you really think I’d go to all the trouble of enslaving this dragon brat’s mind just to give him back to you; no strings attached? Every good ruler has a few contingencies prepared in case of emergency. I put a sleeper spell in Spike’s scaly noggin when I was brainwashing him. The spell would instantly return him to his super-sized slave state whenever I spoke the code trigger word aloud. I knew he’d never let his precious snake slut girlfriend shack up with me without a fight. And speaking of fighting, I think it’s high time we turn this party into a legit monster mash and see what Reptile boy here can REALLY do!”
“Mom, Rarity, some pony, HELLLLLLP! Please! I’m so scared! I don’t want to go back to that; I don’t want to hurt everyone again. I just want to stay me, please, I just want to-”
Spike’s anguished cry for help was grossly distorted into a primitive, monstrous roar. Rarity leapt towards Spike and clamped her hooves and body around his jaws; attempting to stall his transformation. She stared directly into Spike’s twitching eyes.
“No Spike! You’re staying right here, with all of us. I won’t let you go again!”
“You h-h-have to get away R-r-r-rarity…run away…before it’s too late. Leave me, please.”
“Absolutely out of the question and don’t you dare ask that of me again! I’m not giving up on you. You have to fight this Spike, fight his control and come back to us, come back to me! I know you can do this!”
Despite her best efforts, Rarity couldn’t stop what had begun. Spike’s eyes were consumed by a glittering neon green glow as his body morphed back into his giant dragon form. Rarity was reluctantly pulled away by Twilight’s magic before Spike got too large. His muscles and body sized expanded tremendously. His lengthy tail curled around his massive clawed feet. Miraculously, the castle appeared to be large enough to accommodate Spike’s grandiose size; almost as if Crowe had always expected to resume control of Spike at one point.
“Poor Spike, I hoped he never would have to go through this again,” Fluttershy said sorrowfully.
“This is nuts! We can’t fight him, we could hurt Spike or worse,” Rainbow said.
“Ah don’t think he’s gonna give us much of a choice, Rainbow Dash. We gotta snap em out of this trance before he turns us into applesauce,” Applejack commented.
“If any pony has a chance of doing that, it’s definitely you ladies,” Hopeful noted.
“We’ll keep him busy as best we can while you work your friendship mojo on him and bring back Spike before things get too toasty,” Arrowhead grunted.
“Sounds like a plan. All right every pony; let’s bring back the Spike we know and love! Moonstruck, I need you to-”
Twilight stopped midsentence suddenly. One look at her boyfriend and she knew Spike was no longer the only rampaging monster they had to worry about.
Moonstruck was panting heavily. His eyes were surging with rage and dark hearted fury, energy sparked from his horn and bat wings. Inside Moonstruck’s mind, the chained coffin had opened just a crack. Seeing Spike subjected to such agony triggered something inside Moonstruck. Darkness seeped out like fog and rapidly consumed the inner workings of the Necricorn’s mind and soul. Moonstruck’s fangs curved, his cutie mark changed and his hair flowed from the surge of power rapidly engulfing him.
“Oh no,” Twilight gulped.
Night Terror had returned. His lethal gaze was directed at Crowe, completely ignoring the situation with Spike.
“I owe you PAIN!” Night Terror snarled.
“You don’t know what pain is! But I’d be happy to teach you,” Crowe replied.
The possessed prince vanished in a crackling flash of lightning. He lunged at Crowe and sprouted a fire ruby red energy saber from his horn. Crowe smirked at the challenge and unsheathed his own magical energy horn blade, his was blue colored. The two stallions clashed their energy blades in a brilliant flash of sizzling sparks. Night Terror and Crowe went air born and continued their epic battle while the other ponies dealt with the mind controlled Spike.
“LOOK OUT!”
Twilight was in such a worrisome daze over what happened to Moonstruck, she didn’t even see Spike’s monstrous foot coming down to squash her into purple paste. Rainbow Dash speed tackled Twilight away; narrow missing the crushing foot. The speedy Pegasus shook Twilight by her shoulders.
“Snap out of it Twilight! You can’t space out on us now, Spike needs you; WE need you! You’re our best shot at bringing back your number one assistant.”
“But I can’t just leave Moonstruck like this.”
“I’ll bring him back, just do your super-smart-princess-brainiac-thing and solve this problem so we can all go home, together.”
Twilight nodded firmly. She knew Rainbow wouldn’t let her down and she knew her relationship with Spike would be crucial to bringing him back. The Alicorn mare took to the air and called out to her dragon friend.
The monstrous beast roared with a hellacious howl. The windows and fixtures in the castle quaked with cracks and tremors. Spike spotted Hopeful, Twilight and Fluttershy flying near his face, he snarled and swatted at them like they were insects buzzing around his head.
“Spike, it’s me, Twilight. Don’t you recognize me? Think hard Spike, I know you’re still in there. Remember growing up together? You called me your mom, I promised you I’d always be there for you and I am. I’m right here for you and I’m not leaving you,” Twilight pleaded.
“She’s right Spike. We’re your friends. Nothing you could do would make us love you any less, please remember,” Fluttershy said.
Spike snorted fumes from his nostrils in irritation. Their words of love and compassion sounded like a needle scratching wildly across a record. He clawed at his ears, shook his head and took in a deep breath; preparing to blast the ponies with fire.
“Guys, I don’t think this is working, we gotta hold him down before he kills some pony,” Hopeful called out.
Hopeful flew onto Spike’s head and covered his eyes with his wings. He clutched onto the dragon’s nostrils and pulled back hard on them. Spike’s flame stream was diverted skyward and out of the mare’s path. The red Pegasus wailed as Spike whirled his head from side to side; trying to fling him off like a flea.
Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack and Arrowhead watched worryingly as the flyers struggled to tame the deranged dragon.
“Oh my poor, poor Spiky Wikey; this is horrible! I just know I can reach him if he can just hold still for a minute,” Rarity wept.
“Sounds like a good a plan as any. Pinkie Pie, I need you to distract him and keep his attention solely one you for a few seconds. Applejack and I will bring him down to our level and then maybe, JUST maybe Rarity can undo the whammy Crowe put on him,” Arrowhead instructed.
The ponies all knew their parts and quickly got into place. Hopeful screamed as he was sent flying from Spike’s face. He flapped his wings and regained his balance; just in time to dodge Spike snapping his razor sharp jaws at his tail. Twilight blasted Hopeful with a teleportation beam and zapped him right next to her and Fluttershy.
“All right, time to pull off the most ingenious, stupendous, mind blowingly spectacular distraction ever developed,” Pinkie said intensely.
Pinkie reached into her poofy pink mane and pulled out a golden yellow deflated balloon. She placed it to her lips, blasted in several massive puffs of air and morphed it into a gargantuan megaphone. Finally, she unfolded a pink ladder with balloon designs on the side and climbed up to reach the mouthpiece of the balloon bullhorn. Spike grunted in confusion at the pink pony’s peculiar actions.
“DISTRAAAAAAAAAAACTION!”
Spike clasped his claws over his ears and roared in pain. Pinkie’s scream was ear shattering; easily distracting him from the Earth pony’s work by his ankles. Arrowhead and Applejack had metal chains clenched between their teeth. They dashed around, wrapped the chains around Spike’s ankles and violently tugged in opposing directions.
“Sorry to do this Sugar cube, hope ya’ll can forgive us,” Applejack grunted through the chain links.
Unable to maintain his balance, Spike toppled forward and collapsed down with a quaking crash. Applejack, Arrowhead, Rarity and Pinkie were knocked right off their hooves. Following their friends lead, Fluttershy and Hopeful pinned Spike’s arms with their bodies. Arrowhead and Applejack kept their hold on Spike’s feet while Twilight and Rarity rushed to Spike’s face. Spike thrashed and shook his head; defiantly dodging eye contact with the two mares before him. Twilight used all of her magic to hold Spike’s head down and keep him secured facing towards them.
“Remember us Spike; remember all the good times we shared together. Teaching you about everything I know, raising you like a member of my own family, going on adventures, making new friends; you have to remember Spike, you just have to,” Twilight said.
“You are so much better than this Spiky Wiky, I know you are. Your heart is full of so much love and sweetness. Don’t let this heartless villain turn you into something you’re not. Please darling, come back to us,” Rarity cried out.
Twilight’s forehead was soaked with sweat. The hold from her spell was weakening, the strain proving too much for her to maintain it. Spike wouldn’t be restrained much longer. Rarity bit her lip as she concentrated on a spell of her own. Her horn levitated the fire ruby Spike gave her from the curled folds of her tail. Twilight blinked in surprise.
“Rarity, where did you-”
“I secretly stashed it away before we came to Crowe’s castle. I knew it was risky to bring it along, but I wasn’t going to stay locked away in here without this.”
Rarity instantly levitated the fire ruby right before Spike’s hypnotized eyes. She floated the ruby from side to side; hoping it would jar his memory. Spike grunted and slowly stopped thrashing.
“You remember this, don’t you darling? No matter how deeply buried your memories are; nothing could make you forget this. This is the fire ruby you prepared for your birthday feast. But in a supreme act of generosity and kindness, you gave it to me and I have treasured it ever since.”
Spike raised an eyebrow. He muttered a confused grumble; eyes slowly focusing more intensely on the fire ruby.
“Yes, yes, you remember it don’t you, Spike my sweet? This is the symbol of our love. Look at it, remember everything we’ve been through together, remember the-”
ROAAAAAAR!
Spike exploded with an explosive roar. The rage and energy in Spike’s outburst finally shattered the spell holding him down; blasting Twilight and Rarity to the ground. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Arrowhead, Hopeful and Fluttershy were also forcibly shoved back by Spike’s shockwave. Rarity squeaked as the fire ruby dropped from her hold and clattered to the floor. She reached out with her hoof to try and grab it.
CRUNCH!
A single purple dragon heel slammed down on the fire ruby; crushing it like glass. Rarity’s eyes widened in horror, tears slowly dripped down. Spike lifted his foot up and revealed numerous red shards. The fire ruby had been completely smashed to pieces.
“No…it can’t be,” Rarity wept brokenly.
Meanwhile, Night Terror and Crowe were still locking energy horn blades in a heated battle while Rainbow Dash tried to bring Moonstruck back without getting killed in the process.
BZZT!
Night Terror and Crowe littered the castle walls with galvanized gashes, huge slash marks sizzled across the décor as the super powered ponies continued to clash horn beams. They locked hooves and fought for control; neither one yielding nor holding back.
“You just don’t know when to quit, do you?” Crowe sneered.
Night Terror snarled and snapped at Crowe; acting more feral than sentient. The dark spirit seemed especially vexed by the fact such a lowly pony was actually holding up so well against his magic.
“I will end you; I will end ALL of you!”
“Good threat, nice delivery but a little weak on the buildup.”
Crowe’s words infuriated the Necricorn prince. He flashed a surge of boosted energy across his horn and blasted Crowe at point blank range with the fear spell. Crowe was too close to absorb the attack and received the full brunt of it. He shook it off and refitted his face with his mask and helmet, Crowe then crunched the helmet into Night Terror’s forehead with a savage head butt. Night Terror grunted in pain and dropped down to the ground; his energy horn blade fizzling out like a dying lightbulb.
“Moonstruck, Night trap, whatever you’re stupid name is; you’re both going to be roadkill when I’m done with you!” Crowe snapped.
The armored Equine rocketed towards the fallen colt, charging his horn for a final, devastating attack to wipe Night Terror and Moonstruck off the face of existence. Magical energy surged like flaring sunspots; growing and intensifying with every passing second as Crowe zoomed closer and closer. Night Terror looked defiantly at the incoming threat. His eyes glared and fangs bore; charging up his own attack.
At that moment, Rainbow Dash dove in for the rescue once more. She tackled Night Terror out of harm’s path and allowed Crowe to plow face first into the ground. Though, due to his mystical armor and enhanced powers, odds are face planting wouldn’t slow him down for long. The speedy Pegasus quickly turned her attention to the possessed stallion.
“What is it with every pony just standing around; waiting to be pancaked?!?” her arms waved around frantically. She smacked Night Terror around in hopes of awaking the good colt she knew still existed in there. “You need to get your butt out here Moonstruck. We need all hooves on deck. It’s too much dealing with Spike going all dark side; we don’t need you running off-”
ZAP!
Night Terror fired his fear spell at Rainbow, she squeaked in shock and barley managed to evade the colt’s signature spell. Crowe quickly recovered from his touchdown maneuver but was unable to dodge the oncoming fear spell. He cried out as the spell struck him right between the eyes. With two direct fear spell hits, it was impossible for Crowe to ignore the side effects now. Hallucinatory fears afflicted his psyche; temporarily distracting him with his own inner demons while Rainbow returned to dealing with Moonstruck’s.
“Are you CRAZY?!? You almost hit me with that thing! What were you thinking?” she exclaimed.
Still consumed by darkness, the possessed Necricorn lunged at the Pegasus and violently slammed her against the wall. A cold, merciless hoof latched across Rainbow’s throat and proceeded to crush the life out of her. Rainbow gasped for air, her legs fluttering uselessly against the green haired colt. Night Terror smiled sinisterly. A slick trail of saliva dripped from his fangs as he looked on Rainbow’s suffering with ravenous delight.
“You’ve ACK got to ERK wake up UGH if you don’t OOF your ‘Crackers’ is going to die!”
Rainbow’s lungs felt like they were in a hydraulic press. Her flapping wings and flailing limbs failed to prevent the murderous pony from choking the life out of her. She stared into Terror’s glowing eyes; hoping and praying they turned to silver before she blacked out for good.
“Cra…did you just…ugh…Rainbow?”
Moonstruck’s voice and eye color slowly returned to normal. Inside his mind, the coffin containing Night Terror was slammed shut; cutting off the demon from the real world and returning him to the shadowy prison he crawled out of. The young prince shook himself free of the darkened haze that once afflicted him and regained control of his body once again. Moonstruck instantly released his grip on Rainbow’s throat. He felt mortified he nearly killed one of his friends; the pain was vividly evident in his sorrowful silver eyes.
“What…what did I almost do?”
“You can brood and mope about it later, right now we’ve got an out of control dragon and an armored psycho to deal with. Come on, Twilight and the others seriously need our help!”
Moonstruck looked back longingly at Crowe. The heartless Earth pony was still fending off his nightmares, he was vulnerable and defenseless; he could easily end him right here and now. This may be his only chance.
The Hellish sound of Spike’s twisted roar shattered Moonstruck’s concentration. He turned to see Twilight squaring off against Spike. She was trying to hold off Spike’s firery breath with her horn beams. If the flames made contact, he could vaporize her along with the rest of their friends. Twilight couldn’t keep her counter spell going for much longer. Spike was closing in, and soon, he’d be responsible for the death of all of his friends and family if something wasn’t done.
“Moonstruck! If you don’t do something now, everyone is going to die!” Rainbow shrieked.
It was time to make a choice.
“Dammit!”
Moonstruck teleported towards Spike and Twilight and lent his own horn to Twilight’s magical defense; combining his beam with hers to push Spike’s fiery onslaught back. The twin purple ponies managed to slowly drive Spike’s flames back. The possessed dragon advanced forward, the force skidded Moonstruck and Twilight’s hooves back.
“Just push him back a little more, were almost there.” Twilight strained to maintain concentration, her eyes becoming blurry and dazed from the constant flashes of fiery light and energy flares. Moonstruck stood right beside her and leaned in closer; intensifying his beam. “I know we can do it, we can still win this; together!”
FLASH!
A dark green flash of light appeared. Twin energy beams blasted from Crowe’s chest plate piece, exploding directly between Twilight and Moonstruck; destroying their defense and blasting them back. The tyrannical colt had broken free from Moonstruck’s fear spell and caught them off guard with his attack. Rainbow tried to rush in and save her friends but was also caught in the attack, arriving just a few seconds too late. Spike’s fire crashed down and doubled the force and flames of the magical explosion.
The prince and princess of friendship were down, defeated and worst of all; magicless. That attack depleted their magical reserves and now the Mane 6 and their friends were helpless before their former dragon friend. The darkness continued to twist and control his mind. Despite everything his friends had tried, Spike remained a soulless slave to Crowe’s dark power.
Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Hopeful and Arrowhead lay scattered on the ground by the Alicorn and Necricorn. No one had anything left to give.
“Not bad ladies and gents, not bad at all. You surprised me, even had me against the ropes for a second or two.” Crowe smirked smugly. He approached the fallen ponies and gloated over their glorious defeat, he nudged Spike with his hoof. “But as long as you got an ace in the hole like dragon breath here, no one will ever take the crown. I don’t even think I want you as brides anymore. You’re more trouble than your worth. Finish them off, big boy,” Crowe commanded.
Spike snorted in compliance. He raised his right claw upwards and brandished his jagged nails in preparation for a swipe. The beast’s enslaved eyes were locked squarely on Moonstruck and Twilight. He was going to take out the biggest threats first.
Crowe couldn’t think of a more deliciously insidious irony: have Spike kill his own adopted mother and everyone else he loves.
“Dear Princess Celestia, I know you’re a very busy mare and have a lot on your plate, but there’s something really, really important I want to talk to you about,” Rarity called out.
Twilight and Celestia gasped in surprise. They recognized those words; they were very familiar, painfully familiar. The memory of them brought a twinkling speck of teardrops to their eyes.
Spike’s lethal claws stopped suddenly; hovering above Rarity. Crowe looked like someone had just kissed him on the lips. He was bewildered and baffled by his pet dragon’s sudden halting.
“Wha-what’s going on here? Why did you stop?” he inquired.
“Although I am still a young dragon and have a lot to learn from mom err Twilight, there are a few things I do know: I’m alone, I’m a freak and…I am lost.” Rarity’s wobbling white legs struggled to stand. Her fur was filthy, her mane bedraggled, but her resolve and tone were firm as diamonds. “I say this not to be negative or talk bad about myself; I say this because I know it’s a truth that I must accept. This is the hardest letter I’ve ever had to write so I’ll ask you, please bear with me and hear me out, oh and keep this between us, kay? I don’t think Twilight would stop freaking out if she knew I was writing this stuff.”
Though the others were deeply confused at what was going on, Twilight knew exactly what Rarity was doing and what she was hoping to accomplish.
“It’s the letter, his letter, the one he never sent to Celestia,” Twilight said; grinning confidently. “She’s trying to bring him back with the letter he never knew she knew about.”
Spike’s enraged resolve softened, his stance adjusted to be less menacing and looming. His drugged gaze lingered curiously on Rarity. Her face, her voice and those words, they all seemed so familiar and yet so distant. It was like a fragment of a dream he longed to return to.
“Ever since I could remember, I’ve always wanted to know who I was, where I came from and why I was so different from everyone else. I’m a dragon in a world of ponies. I’m too much of a dragon to be a pony though, and as I learned on my quest, I’m too much of a pony to be a dragon. I walk in both worlds but belong to neither. I think Twilight called it a…a pair…a pair of clocks? A paradox! Yeah, that’s what I am: a paradox.
“But the thing is…I don’t want to be a paradox, I just want to belong. Everyone has shown me so much love. They accept me for who I am, so don’t get me wrong; I’m truly thankful I grew up with ponies as my family. The world is so amazing and incredible and I feel like I’m the best person I can be thanks to Twilight and everyone who has been a part of my childhood. But I feel like I’m on the outside looking in; always disconnected no matter how close I get. Sometimes, I have this dream where I’m just falling, falling down without anyone to catch me. I see Twilight and Rarity and the others…but they are just there…they are just passing by while I still fall into the darkness all by myself. I hated it at first. I felt scared and afraid every time I had that dream, but now, it’s happened so much I just accept it…just like how I accept that I may never be accepted, not truly.
“If I was, then my love for Rarity wouldn’t be judged so harshly. Twilight told me that love was such a strong, powerful and pure emotion that not even the most brilliant of scholars could really explain what it’s all about. If that’s the case, why can some ponies tell you when love is all right and when it’s not? Is it because my heart is as different as my body is, is that why what I feel deep down inside is viewed so negatively by others? I just don’t get it. What am I supposed to do with this love in my heart? I can’t just throw it away or pretend it doesn’t exist. Why can’t I be normal? Why can’t my life just…make sense instead of being one big mystery?
“I know what I feel, I know what I want and I know who I am…even though I really don’t know who I am. Sorry, does that make sense? Sigh, nothing about me makes sense. I hope someday I get the answers I seek, I hope someday that beautiful unicorn looks at me the same way I look at her; even if it’s only for a moment. If she did that, then I could be happy…alone…as a freak…or whoever I am meant to be. As long as she’s happy, my heart will be safe…even if it’s alone.”
Rarity looked up achingly to the beastly dragon; affectionately known to her as Spiky Wiky. Those emerald eyes of his, the ones she found so beautiful and calming, they looked so dark now; clouded by madness and savagery. This was not the same Spike that wrote that letter.
“I read that letter dozens of times, Spike. I memorized every line and felt every feeling you poured into your tragic-but-moving words.” She clicked her hooves as she delicately approached him. No fear was evident in her sapphire blues. “That letter changed everything for me.”
Spike remained perplexed. He looked at her as if she was speaking a foreign language, nothing but clicking-clacking sounds a simple beast like him could never understand.
“Reading your words, what you wrote, how you were lonely sometimes and afraid, but always brave; the way you saw the world, its colors and textures and sounds, I felt--I felt the way you thought, hoped, felt, dreamt. I felt I was dreaming and thinking and feeling with you. I dreamed what you dreamed, wanted what you wanted--and then I realized that truly I just wanted you.”
Rarity stood directly in front of Spike; as if preparing to take him on alone. She took a deep breath in, slowly let it out and closed her eyes. “But if this is who you are now and there is no hope for you to turn back to your sweet self…then please…end it now. Kill me as your master ordered. I find no joy in a world without your smile.”
“HA! You hear that? The screwy chick wants to be offed! Far be it from me to deny her such an entertaining request. Kill her dragon, right now! Crush her; eat her, roast her, whatever. Just put her out of my misery,” Crowe cruelly commanded.
Whatever static that was buzzing in Spike’s head vanished once he received his latest order. The monstrous reptile closed his claws into a thick, purple fist. He clenched his claws tight as he could, pulled back his fist and swung towards Rarity with a mighty thrust. His knuckles would liquefy her into white paste instantly. Twilight and the others all screamed out to Rarity and Spike; begging for one of them to stop before it was too late.
The punch never came.
Rarity slowly opened her eyes upon feeling the gust of air that followed Spike’s sudden strike. There it was; hovering mere inches from her nose was Spike’s boulder sized fist. Spike was struggling against Crowe’s control. His fist trembled, still trying to flatten the unicorn. His eyes strained with uncertainty and resistance, sweat trickled down his brow. He was still in there.
“You got brimstone wedged in your ears, dipshit? I ordered you to KILL that mare and I told you to kill her NOW! I own you; you don’t even take a piss without me telling you to do so. Now you will do as you’re damn well told. KILL HER, KILL HER THIS INSTANT!”
But he could not. As powerful as Crowe’s magic was, nothing could make Spike’s body move one inch closer. His mind was racing, struggling; fighting back and using every scrap of will power he had to save the woman of his dreams from certain death.
Rarity smiled joyfully.
“I knew it, I knew you were still in there, Spikey poo,” she sniffled; wiping her tears from her mascara stained cheeks. All this crying and stress had turned her perfectly kept fur into an absolute mess.
“Oh come on! Ugh, if you want something done right,” Crowe used his amulet to summon a large chainsaw with rusty, mangled sharp blades. He revved up the butchering blade and prepared to obliterate Rarity with it.
The hypnotic glow circling Spike’s eyes suddenly vanished. His normal, traditional green eyes appeared and the dragon quickly realized what was happening. Spike roared with a ferocity and intensity unmatched by any beast in existence. As he continued to howl, two large, bat like wings burst from Spike’s back. A collective gasp filled the room; coming from all ponies observing, even Crowe.
“NOOOOOOOO!”
Spike reared back his tail and smacked it like a wrecking ball right into Crowe. The armored villain howled angrily as he was catapulted off the ground; crashing right into his throne and blasting it into countless pieces. He crashed down behind the throne followed by a burst of sawdust. Crowe’s armor loudly screeched as it scraped along the floor until he stopped.
To say Twilight was stunned would be a gross understatement. In one spectacular, unexpected turn of events, Spike had broken free from Crowe’s control AND finally grew into his wings. She couldn’t be more proud of her number one assistant.
Spike’s body suddenly started to shrink down to its normal size. Breaking the spell also freed Spike from the abnormal size growth that afflicted him; just like on his birthday. The dragon smiled in relief upon seeing his friend’s faces once again. He quickly helped them back to their hooves, and of course, sustained an assault of hugs from Twilight and Rarity; new wings twitching reflexively.
“Oh thank the stars you’re back! I was worried you might…well…you know.”
Rarity was so overjoyed, the unicorn found herself choking on her own tears of relief. She could barely contain herself. Spike smiled and gently kissed her cheek; wiping away her tears with a single claw.
“I knew you’d find me Rarity, I just knew it.”
Fluttershy, Arrowhead and Hopeful and the others all crowded around Spike; laughing and chanting his name.
“Good to have ya back, partner,”
“That was totally awesome how you decked that creep Crowe AND grew bad ass dragon wings too.”
Spike laughed sheepishly at AJ and Rainbow’s cheering. He found it odd being praised for something he barely remembered doing. Most of what happened was all a big blur, but he was conscious enough to know he was doing something bad to his friends and family and he couldn’t do anything about it.
“Welcome back little buddy,” Moonstruck said proudly.
He approached the slightly taller dragon, still chuckling in awe at the drake’s newly grown wings. Pinkie and the others followed suit. Everyone was impressed at how strong Spike had become, and now with him free, they could put an end to Crowe once and for all.
KRAKABOOM!
A volcanic burst of dark energy erupted from the broken throne like a fire in the sky. All eyes shot directly toward the chaotic explosion. Everyone knew the source behind it. Crowe emerged with a malevolent, ghoulish dark energy aura that enveloped his body. His eyes were overflowing with madness and hatred. The armored tyrant had been voraciously consumed by the fires of vengeance, it fueled his magical power; escalating it to heights and horrors too unimaginable to comprehend.
“That. Is. It! I’m done putting up with all of your crap.” The floor cracked and collapsed inward from the rising power of Crowe’s energy waves. The very foundations of his castle quaked as his anger and power grew exponentially out of control. “Screw the marriage and screw all of you! You are all dead, you hear me? Every single last one of you is DEAD!” Crowe spat heatedly.
As the ponies and lone dragon stood defensively before the self-crowned king, someone high up above was secretly watching.
It was Rebel Streak.
The punk stallion had been trying to sneak into Crowe’s castle ever since Derpy informed him Crowe had been enslaving ponies there. He couldn’t slip in without being detected by the Tatzlwurm monsters, luckily, Discord had taken care of them. Rebel watched closely from the glass skylight at the center of the castle ceiling. He’s been biding his time and waiting for the perfect time to strike. For now, he was remaining observant as the ponies prepared to fight.
CLANK! CLANK!
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna finally succeeded in breaking their locks. The two sisters pushed their way out of their cage doors; Luna moving a bit more quickly due to her impatience and eagerness to join the battle. Celestia was right behind her.
“Hold up Lulu. I know you’re eager to fight but be careful, we must face him together. There’s no telling what kind of forbidden power the Alicorn amulet is supplying him with,” Celestia warned sternly.
Luna flapped her wings and hovered beside her cage. She grunted in frustration and ripped the black X marked collar from her neck. She tossed it without a second thought. “Whatever magic he possesses, it’s clear his power has diminished. We need not fear him like we did before, Tia.” She flew in front of Twilight and the others and powered up her horn. “Equestria has stomached this cancer long enough. You’re era is at an end vile monster, and trust me when I say you’re dethroning is going to hurt!”
Crowe’s darkly brewing aura vanished before the unforgiving glare of Princess Luna. Despite her intensity, he couldn’t help but put on a depraved, sickening smile. He chuckled darkly.
“Someone wasn’t listening,” he said in an eerie, singing-like voice.
Luna raised an annoyed eyebrow. She hadn’t realized what she had done, and unfortunately, it was far too late for her to do anything about it.
A sudden jolt of energy struck Luna, shocking her violently. Her pain soaked voice shrieked across the castle’s crumbling walls. The mare’s eyes turned a ghostly shade of white; completely erasing her pupils and irises. The jolt vanished as quickly as it appeared. Luna’s voice had been silenced. Her legs collapsed; dropping the night princess to the ground with a deafening thud. A wispy, ghost-like spirit emerged from Luna’s fallen form. The spirit went directly towards Crowe; absorbed into a blood red ruby on a gold cuff with thunder bolt markings on his left hoof.
“LUNA, NO!”
Celestia rain to her fallen sister, Crowe used his horn to magically pull the X collar off Celestia’s neck; she was too distraught to notice. She clutched her sister’s body and cried, soaking tears into her sister’s ink blue fur.
“What has he done to you Lulu, what has he done?” she sobbed miserably.
“That’s what happens when someone removes the Thunder claw cuff collars from their bodies. The rubies at the center were cursed by the legendary leader of the Reaper stallion clan. Anyone who removes them, other than the pony who secured it, will have their souls sucked and deposited into the cuff’s master; giving them the power of the claimed soul, case in point.”
It was at this time Celestia came to the grave realization that her collar had been removed as well. Her hooves fumbled faintly around her neck, eyes widening slowly in fear.
Another fatal shock emerged; this time claiming the life of the sun princess. Celestia screamed, thrashed and collapsed just as Luna did a few moments before. Her soul vacated her body and was quickly absorbed and sealed in the ruby on Crowe’s right cuff.
Crowe’s eyes flashed with yellow and blue energy surges. He could feel the raw, overwhelming power of the combined Alicorn sisters coursing through his armored body. He began levitating off the ground without the use of his Phoenix wings.
“Oh yeah, now that’s what I’m talking about.”
Spike and the others were horrified at what just transpired. The royal sisters were down and neither one was moving. They were all frozen in mortified shock; staring with their mouths gaping and their eyes unblinking. No one knew how to respond to this.
Twilight however, couldn’t accept what had just happened. She moved to the sister’s bodies and placed a hoof at each of their necks. She hoped she was wrong, she hoped she’d find something that proved they were still alive.
“I don’t believe it.” Twilight felt numb. She couldn’t even feel her tears as they trickled down her cheeks. She pulled her hooves back; looking morosely to her friends. “They’re dead!”
To be continued…