Spike let out a gasp of air, feeling his body go numb. He quickly looked around to see that he was in the throne room of the castle. He looked up to see Tempest staring down at him with a stern look on his face.
“Hiiii Tempest.” Spike said with an awkward smile. Tempest let out a grunt, making Spikes smile quickly fade.
“Because of you sacrificing yourself for the princess, she got away!” Tempest exclaimed angrily.
“I needed to do something.” Spike stated. Tempest stomped her hoof on the ground.
“You need to listen to orders, you’ll get hurt if you don’t!” Tempest shouted. Spike flinched and his scales flattened, making Tempests face soften.
“You know the only reason I want you to follow my rules is because I care about you.” Tempest said. Spike let out a sigh and nodded his head.
“Yeah I know...” Spike muttered under his breath. Tempest pulled him into a hug and stroked his head. Spike hugged her back, nuzzling into her chest. It was so long since he last hugged her.
“I missed you.” He said. Tempest smiled and gave him a kiss on the forehead. It was rare when Tempest gave him affection.
“I missed you too.” Tempest stated, hugging him tighter. Patches walked over to Tempest and rubbed her head against her hind leg, trying to join in on the hug. Tempest looked down and stared at the cat in confusion, pulling away from the hug.
“Did you get a cat?” She asked. Spike beamed and nodded his head, picking his pet up.
“This is Patches, I found her in an abandoned summer camp.” Spike explained. Tempest stared at Patches with a deadpanned look.
“Getting a pet was a bad idea.” Tempest said. Spikes smiled faltered and he put Patches on the floor. He let out a disappointed sigh.
“I know.” He stated sadly. Tempest put her hoof on Spikes shoulder and gave a small comforting smile.
“Remember the plan, once I get Princess Twilight, I’ll get my horn back and take down Storm King myself.” Tempest said. Spike gave a weary smile and Tempest put her helmet on.
“I’m going to look for the Princess and her friends. Grubber said that they went upstream. They most likely headed south. I’ll bring a few Storm Guards with me for backup.” Tempest said. Spikes ears perked up at the sound of that. He could find his friends before Tempest them and warn them.
“You’re going to stay at the castle, I don’t want you to try to interfere with my plans.” Tempest said, looking Spike up and down. Spikes scales flattened and he pouted.
“Don’t give me that look, I know you well enough to know that you’re going to try something.” Tempest said, putting on her helmet. “When Storm King comes, go hide. I’ll tell you when it’s safe to come out.” She said, patted Spikes head.
“Grubber make sure Spike doesn’t leave!” Tempest exclaimed, walking through the throne room doors. Grubber walked into the throne room, holding a broken cookie in his hand.
“I’m on it!” Grubber exclaimed, giving a salute. Tempest walked out of the room, a few Storm Guards starting to follow. The large doors slammed shut, making Spike wince. He looked over at Grubber who licked the cookie crumbs off of his hand. He looked at the statues of the leaders. They all look horrified or angry.
“Grubber, am I a good person?” Spike asked, his scales falling flat against his head.
“Does it matter?” Grubber asked while licking the cookie crumbs off of his hand.
“Of course it matters, I’ve done so many bad things in my life and I hate myself for it!”
Spike exclaimed, tearing up. “I never wanted to hurt anyone and I did so many times!” He shouted, tears starting to slide down his face. Grubber walked over to Spike and patted his back.
“Hey, everything is going to be okay. You’re not a bad person. You’re only taking orders from a very cruel person.” Grubber said comfortingly, hugging Spike. Spike hugged Grubber back, sniffling. He glanced over Grubbers shoulder and looked out the window to see ponies in cages. Storm Creatures circled the cages, making sure no one escaped. An idea popped into Spikes brain.
“Thanks Grubber, you always know how to cheer me up.” Spike thanked, sniffling. “So you really like those cookies right?” He asked, pulling away from the hug. Grubber happily nodded his head.
“I searched the whole dang castle for some more but I can’t find any.” Grubber said disappointedly.
“Well I was going to give you some as a thank you but I don’t have any on me right now. I did see some outside.” Spike said. Grubbers eyebrows furrowed and he tapped his foot on the ground, thinking to himself.
“Tempest said that I should make sure you don’t leave the castle.” Grubber stated. Spikes scales flattened and he pouted. “Buuut Tempest isn’t here right now. Just go out and bring me back cookies.” He said, making Spike grin. Spike turned around and quickly ran out the room. Now it was time to start his plan.
Spike walked out of the castle to see Canterlot was a mess. There were tables and carts that were turned over and destroyed. The sky was still dark and cloudy. There were ponies in cages and they all looked miserable.
“Hey you!” Spike exclaimed to a nearby Storm Creature. The Storm Creature looked over at Spike and stood up straight when he saw him.
“Let all of these ponies go and escort them out of Canterlot.” Spike commanded. The Storm Creature tilted its head in confusion and let out a soft grunt.
“I know Storm King gave you orders but now I’m giving you orders.” He stated. The Storm Creature let out a whimper.
“It’s okay, I’ll handle Storm King. Now go and get all the other Guards to let everyone go.” Spike reassured. The Storm Guard turned around and opened a cage with a pony in it.
“Thank you.” The mare said happily before running off. Spike let out a sigh and picked up a nearby box of cookies that was lying on the ground. He turned around and walked back into the castle, ready to face his consequences.
Spike walked around the castle, holding Patches in his arms. He opened a door to see a dark purple room. It had a large purple mat on the floor and a unlit fireplace. There was a table with paper, quills, and ink on it.
“I need you to stay here, okay?” Spike said, giving Patches a kiss on the head and placing her down on the floor. She looked up at him and rubbed her head on his leg. Spike walked over to the scroll and picked up a quill, dipping it in ink.
“Dear Tempest and Grubber,
I know today is the day I die. I’ve been disobeying Storm Kong’s orders for months and I know I’ll die for it. I’m going to let Storm King kill me.
I want Equestria to be a better place and I’ll hurt one more person to do it. Please take care of Patches for me.
Love, Spike.” Spike wrote down on the scroll. He looked over at Patches and pet her on the head, making her purr.
“I’ll see you later Patches.” Spike said with a somber smile. He looked out of the window to see hundreds of ponies being escorted out of Canterlot by the Storm Creatures. In the sky, there was a dark airship that was much large than Tempest’s. It was approaching the castle at a slowly moving speed.
“He’s here.” Spike whispered to himself. He quickly ran out the room, closing the door behind him to make sure Patches didn’t follow him. He stood tall, walking to the throne room. This time he wouldn’t cower down and he would stand his ground.
“WHERE ARE THE PONIES GOING?!” Storm King’s voice shouted from the throne room. Spike opened the throne room doors to see Storm King holding Grubber by the shirt. Grubber looked frightened but was luckily not harmed.
“Put him down.” Spike said sternly. Storm King looked at Spike and sneered, dropping Grubber to the ground. Grubber quickly scrambled up and ran out of the room.
“What did you do you little shit?” Storm King asked in a low growl. Spike walked closer to Storm King, holding an Obsidian Orb in his hand. He only had one shot at this.
“I let everyone go.” Spike stated nonchalantly. Storm King gave a disgusted snarl, tightening his grip on his staff. On the top of the staff their was a blue gem on it. Spike recognized the staff from a book he read. The staff could absorb magic from other creatures, which would make a Storm King powerful. Spike needed to make sure he never activated it. He just needed to distract him long enough until Tempest came.
“You’re a lazy coward Storm King, you know that? You send other people to do work for you while you sit on your ass all day. You never do work for yourself because you’re afraid of what will happen if you get caught.” Spike stated, crossing his arms. Storm Kings ears flattened for a moment before he shook his head.
“You’re going to pay for that.” Storm King said in a cold tone. Without warning, he quickly swung his staff, slashing Spike across the eye. Spike held onto his right eye on pain, blood starting to drip from between his fingers.
“I’m going to make your death slow and painful.” Storm King said with a sly smirk. Spike held an Obsidian Orb tightly in his hand and walked closer to Storm King. If he was going to die, he was going to take Storm King with him.
Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash were strapped to a cart that had a large cake on it. In front of them stood a brown cat who wore a red jacket. His name was Capper.
“Do you guys remember the plan?” Capper asked. They all nodded there heads.
“I can’t believe that little twerp betrayed us!” Rainbow Dash said angrily, taking a step forward. Her friends followed her, walking together. Capper walked in front of them, leading them to Canterlot.
“I’m sure he had a good reason for it. He apologized.” Fluttershy said. Rarity let out a scoff and rolled her eyes.
“No one would have a good reason to work for such a horrible creature.” Rarity said. Rainbow Dash nodded her head in agreement. Applejack looked over at Pinkie Pie who had her head low.
“You doing okay Pinkie? You’ve been awfully quiet lately.” Applejack pointed out. Pinkie Pie let out a sigh.
“I miss Twilight.” Pinkie said sadly. Applejack gave her a sympathetic smile.
“We’re going to get her and take care of this Storm King guy.” Applejack reassured. Pinkie gave a small smile.
“Look alive ladies, we’re almost there.” Capper said, pulling out a chefs hat from the inside of his jacket and placing it on his head. As they approached Canterlot, they noticed something surprising. Thousands of ponies stood outside the gate of Canterlot. Some were being comforted by Storm Guards.
“What in tarnation?” Applejack asked in confusion. It seemed like everyone had got escorted out.
“Well it looks like the plan is off.” Rainbow Dash said dejectedly, taking off the harness and kicking it to the side.
“What’s going on?” Rarity asked, taking off her harness.
“Rarity!” A voice exclaimed. Rarity looked up to see Sweetie Belle ran up to Rarity and hugged her tightly. Rarity hugged her little sister back.
“Sweetie Belle, I’m so glad you’re safe.” Rarity said with a relived sigh.
“Spike told the guards to let us go!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed happily. Rainbow Dash gave a surprised look before shaking her head.
“This has to be some kind of trick.” She said with a sneer. Applejack looked up at the castle, seeing a lot of rapid movement coming from inside a window.
“There’s only one way to find out. Let’s go girls!” Applejack ordered before running into Canterlot. Her friends followed close behind, ready to get to the bottom of this. Capper looked over at Sweetie Belle, who sat a few feet from him.
“Hey kid, want some cake?”
Tempest quickly walked through the castle in a hurry with a cart strapped to her back. In the cart, there was a cage with Twilight Sparkle inside.
“No no no..” Tempest muttered under her breath as she sped up. She had seen the ponies who left the town and she knew that mean one thing. Spike was in trouble. She opened the doors to the throne room and let out a gasp of fear. Windows were shattered and the floor was cracked. It looked like a tornado had swept the room.
Spike laid on the ground, almost unconscious. His right eye bled heavily and his breathing was slow. Glass stuck out of his scales and he looked like he couldn’t move. Storm King stood above him with a sly grin on his face. He rose up his staff and slowly pressed it into Spike chest.
“Say goodbye you useless dragon.” Storm King said, putting pressure onto the staff. Tempest quickly charged at Storm King and jumped in the air, kicking him in the face. Storm King stumbled back before glaring at Tempest.
“I can’t believe you did that.” Storm King said dramatically. Tempest scowled and stood over Spike, protecting him.
“I’m not going to let you hurt him.” Tempest growled out, letting her horn spark with electricity. She glanced back at Twilight who stared at her in shock. Storm King let out a laugh.
“You really think you can defeat me?” Storm King asked with a sly smirk. Tempest stood her ground, glaring down at her boss. She couldn’t show any fear. Tempest glanced down to see that Spike was holding an obsidian orb tightly in his hand. She picked it up with her rear hoof and balanced it.
“What are you going to do? Shock me to death with your broken horn?” Storm King asked in amused tone. He let out another loud laugh, doubling over. Tempest kicked the obsidian orb up in the air and kicked it towards Storm King.
“Burn in hell.” Tempest said in a cold tone, watching the Obsidian Orb fly into his mouth. Storm King let out a gagging noise and quickly swallowed it out of instinct. Storm Kings stomach started to turn to stone and the stone made its way up.
“You bitch, you’ll pay for this, you’ll all pay!” Storm King exclaimed, lunging at Tempest. He quickly turned to stone, sticking to the ground. His unused staff fell to the ground with a clank. Tempest let out a sigh of relief before looking down at Spike. He was unconscious and breathing very heavily. The throne room doors slammed open, making Tempest turn around. Twilights friends stood in the doorway with angry looks on their faces.
“We’re here to save you Twilight!” Pinkie Pie shouted. They all looked very surprise when they saw that Storm King was turned to stone already.
“Girls!” Twilight exclaimed happily, standing up from her spot in the cage. Rainbow Dash glared at Tempest.
“Let her go!” She shouted. Tempest rushed over to Twilight and quickly unlocked the cage. Twilight hopped out of the cage and quickly flew to her friends, pulling them into a hug.
“I missed you all so much!” Twilight exclaimed. Tempest looked over at Spike in a concern, seeing that he was definitely bleeding out. She knew she couldn’t fix this by herself.
“I need your help, please just help Spike I think he’s dying.” Tempest begged. Rainbow Dash looked at Spike and her face quickly turned to concern.
“What happened to him?” Rainbow Dash asked. Tempest let out a sigh.
“I’ll let everyone go and explain everything.”
Spike stirred awake, feeling his body ache with pain. He slowly opened his eyes and his vision was very blurred. Everything through his right eye was completely dark. He sat up and slowly looked around to see he was in a hospital room. He looked down at his body to see that his chest was wrapped with bandages. He reached up to touch his write eye only to find out it was wrapped in bandages as well.
“How did I get here?” Spike muttered to himself. His throat was very dry. He looked at a nearby wall to see Tempest and Grubber both sitting in chairs, asleep. Tempest leaned on Grubbers head while Grubber managed to keep himself upright. Have they been waiting for Spike to wake up?
“Tempest, Grubber!” Spike half yelled out. Tempest snapped up, groggily blinking. Her face lit up when she saw Spike and she hopped out of her chair to go to him.
“Are you okay? Are you in pain?” Tempest asked in concern, putting her hooves on Spikes shoulders. Spike let out a soft chuckle.
“I’m fine, my eye hurts a bit but it’ll be okay.” Spike stated. He looked around to see if Storm King was in the room with them. “Wouldn’t boss be angry that I’m in the hospital?” He asked in concern. Tempest gave him a soft smile.
“He’s permanently turned to stone.” Tempest said with a smile. Spike let out a gasp and broke out into a wide grin.
“We’re free?” Spike asked in disbelief. Tempest nodded her head, making Spike tear up. He pulled Tempest into a tight hug, feeling the happiest he had ever felt in years.
“Oh! I told your friends why you were working for Storm King and they understood. They brought you some get well presents.” Tempest said, pointing to the corner of the room that had a pile of presents.
“Since we don’t have to work for the Storm King, what are we going to do now?” Spike asked. Tempest shrugged her shoulders.
“I could look for some jobs. I might sign up for the Royal Guard. I hear that they pay well.” Tempest explained. Spike gave a small smile and gave Tempest another hug. This was the start of a new life.