//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: The Cutie Re-Mark: The Ultimate Enemy // by LoganRyder //------------------------------// Spike was flying through the portal and screamed as he flew. After a few minutes of falling, he landed on the ground with a thud. He groaned as he slowly began to get up. "What the? Where am I?" Spike said in confusion Spike only saw a pathway and walked through it, until he saw all the cells that contained all the worst villains in Equestria, but all the cells were empty. Then it clicked to him. "Wait...I'm in Tartarus!" Spike realized in horror "Hey look there he is!" A voice said Spike looked and saw to his horror, all the villains freed and furious, yet more older and beaten. Tirek was the leader and had grown a large white beard, while he had a missing left eye covered by an eyepatch. The centaur was leading an large group of furious creatures and shouted "GET HIM!" Spike ran for his life and said "Listen I had nothing to do with any of those things!" Tirek replied in disgust "Yet you directed your rage at us too and stole my magic and power! Now you will pay for ruining our future with yours!" Spike ran as the vengeful creatures pursued him until they reached a dead end. They closed in on him as the now scared dragon said "Get away! Get away! GET AWAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Spike had surprisingly wailed out large flaming green rings and knocked them out all at once. Spike was surprised and said "Did I do that?" As he looked on, he ran out and looked at the cells. They were all empty but there was two that were closed and had unknown prisoners. Spike looked at the prisoners and said "What happened here?" "You happened." The unknown pony answered "Who said that?" Spike said "Don't you remember after I tried to deal with you and your friends at the wedding?" The other prisoner answered The figure lying in the corner of the left cell revealed herself and Spike gave a look of surprise. "Queen Chrysalis?!" The changeling had drastically changed in appearance, she looked more scarred and beaten, her body looked as if it was drained, her wings were snapped off personally while her horn had a good ring on it. She gave a hard look at the young dragon "But then, who's that?" Spike asked about the other prisoner. The figure revealed himself to be a bearded white pony unicorn and Spike recognized him "Starswirl the Bearded? Your real?!" The unicorn stallion didn't reply, he simply looked down "What happened to this place?" Spike asked "I can ask you the very same question boy. Or judging from your look, what HASN'T YET happened to you." Starswirl responded "How do you know I'm not him?" "You have more youth compared to him, not to mention I can feel the love in your heart. Until at least it's consumed by hatred." Chrysalis answered "What do you mean?" Spike asked Chrysalis sighed and began to talk "When I was planning my revenge on Twilight Sparkle, I had my changelings kidnap her friends and the princesses, that way we can take over Ponyville. Even though we succeeded, Starlight enlisted the aid of her friends. When they managed to defeat me, you began to undergo more work and pressure from the girls and Twilight and suffered a lot of stress from it, while they just had fun hanging out with each other. Until one day, you managed to come across the Alicorn Amulet, which used its power to fuse into you and offered you a chance at friendship, but yet further increasing your suffering. When the Princesses and Twilight found out, they began to see of you as an threat, until...it happened." "What happened?" Spike asked This time Starswirl continued "As your So-called friends had kept using you your whole youth, you tried to fight it. Starlight realized how much you were feeling with your stress and offered to help like i did with my friend Stygian, but they kept putting her down. Until one day, during the day they would show their journal about friendship, you snapped and personally put them down at how you weren't getting any credit or acknowledgment, and even stole magic from wherever you to increase your capability. You used it to murder both them and my friends as well as the Princesses." Spike only gave a look of horror at the former queen and said "So the Alicorn Amulet caused this?" "No, your so called friends did. You were just by proxy." Starswirl responded "What happened to the girls and Starlight?" Chrysalis only winced at the memory and said "Let's just say that some things are better left unsaid." Spike only gave a look of horror and caught on, simply looking down in shame and guilt. "If I've learned something out of this, it's that through these years without love or magic i finally see what a fool I've been to not accept friendship and its true meaning, especially when it was offered to me." Chrysalis lamented as she looked on the floor in guilt "I guess that's what everybody needs. A second chance. Do you two know a way out of here?" "I need a lot of love to power my magic, and I'm completely drained both from the cell and from him. Plus even if you return to him, he could kill you in a second with his power." Chrysalis said "Plus he completely drained my magic." Starswirl added Spike, looking at the cells, used his fire breath to burn the lock and the bars, opened the door and freeing the former queen amd the remaining pillar. He then burned off the horn ring with a slow breath of fire and pulled it off Spike walled up to her and said "Ok, I freed you, now can you help me stop him?" Chrysalis nodded "I feel my normal power, but it's not enough. I don't have enough love to help." "Then take mine, I have to stop him and this future from happening." "Are you crazy? That will kill you." Chrysalis replied "And we'll both be killed if he succeeds. Please, before we lose more ponies from this future." Spike pleaded Chrysalis, after a few seconds, said "Very Well." Spike's screams were then heard as a pink shockwave of magic energy had pulsed out the walls of Tartarus. Although Spike was suffering, his determination to get home and stop Dark Spike from causing his future made him strong. After a few hours, the shockwave dissipated, and then Chrysalis transferred sone magic to Starswirl, who managed to regain his strength." After they finished, Chrysalis pulled out a dark black gem and Starswirl pulled out a tube like object on his belt and gave it to the dragon. "Here you need these." Chrysalis said "What are they?" Spike asked "Eat this gem, he put his amount of power and magic in this gem. I created the this tube to suck him in when weakened." Starswirl explained Spike grabbed both objects and first ate the dark gem and felt an immense power up. As he began to float, but quickly fell on the ground. "Ready, you guys two?" "I'm not coming, this is your future. You must stop it." Spike, while reluctant, complied and got ready to get home and said to Starswirl "Are you able to send me home?" Spike asked Starswirl nodded and said "Hold on!" He blasted his magic at Spike as he screamed. (Ponyville) Applebloom was trotting back home from class with her friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. "So girls, what should we do?" Sweetie Belle asked "Well, we got our Cutie Marks, now what?" Apple Bloom said As they trotted to Sweet Apple Acres, they noticed Dark Spike walking Dark Spike was meanwhile walking in the streets of Ponyville, overlooking the ponies with a blank look on his face, as he only said in his thoughts "I hope he's doing well with Chrysalis and Starswirl, those two will be destroyed later. Dark Spike eventually reached the Everfree Forest and said "Time to draw out the horses." Using his magic, he began to create an big red shockwave, as he glowed red. Two all too familiar figures had appeared. The first was a centaur who appeared, but looked more dark with bloodier red skin, while the second was an all too familiar changeling queen. "Is that Spike?" Scootaloo asked "And who's he with?" Sweetie Belle noticed They hid by a tree and listened in to the conversation "Tirek, attack Ponyville, Chrysalis, take Canterlot. Both of you draw out the girls and Princesses." Dark Spike said The two fakes nodded and left to obey. This shocked the Crusaders "He's with Tirek and Chrysalis?!" Apple Bloom said "Not quite" Dark Spike had appeared and then transformed in front of them his real teen form. He glared his blood red eyes at his former future friends while folding his arms together. "Your not Spike! " Sweetie Belle said "Oh but I am, or was, but i grew out of it." Dark Spike said "But wait, where is Spike?" Apple Bloom asked "Trapped in the pits of Tartarus." Dark Spike simply answered "What did you do?!" Scootaloo demanded "You'll understand soon enough." Dark Spike replied "Not until we tell-" Sweetie Belle said, but was cut off. "Who Twilight? Beat her, your sisters? Dealt with, the princesses? Finished, Discord? Straightened, Starlight Glimmer? Broken." Dark Spike mocked "Somepony will stop you!" Apple Bloom said to him "I'll count on it." Dark Spike answered and blasted them unconscious before leaving.