//------------------------------//
// Who Angered the Dragon? 
// Story: Twilight Sparkle the Dragon 
// by PlutoMilo 
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Rarity broke away, jumping clean over the balcony railing with no fear. Her eyes were curiously blank. She landed on a rock spire that manifested itself under her. A blast of pure magic fired from her horn. Her magic clipped Spike, sending him sliding down the side from his position on the mangled pillar.
Spike jumped to another spire to avoid the second shot. He didn’t waste his breath by asking what was wrong with Rarity. His mother gave him a job and he would finish it. He did a controlled slide down, changing pillars when Rarity came too close.
Finally, the enslaved unicorn got a lucky shot and Spike lost his grip. Spike twisted in the air, managing to avoid the lunge Rarity made. Unfortunately, he bounced off of another growing obelisk, dazing him.
He was captured in her telekinesis and swept away. Rarity again jumped with abnormal strength and landed on the platform Sombra stood on. She bowed, presenting Spike. As the platform grew taller and taller, Sombra’s shade slowly burned away, revealing his ash-gray coat and bulky legs. His mane wasn’t very substantial, fading in and out of existence at the edges. Metal grieves decorated his shins. He grinned with too sharp teeth and approached the bowing unicorn.
“Well well well, finally. You have done well, my slave. You have brought me my apprentice,” Sombra chuckled lightly at Spike’s terrified expression, “No need to be so afraid. I have no intention of harming my future apprentice. Why, I wager we will be close enough to be considered Father and Son,”
Spike shucked off his vest, tightly wrapped what he could over the Heart, and clutched it fearfully against his chest. The Crystal was warm, reminding him of his mother. She was always warm.
“Such power,” Sombra mused, “You were even able to escape my trap up there. But of course, I should’ve expected that from the pony that found my leyline. Very impressive, young colt. Tell me, what is your name?”
Spike felt as if his tongue were cotton but he managed to spit out, “Spike,”
“Ah, a worthy name. Now, give me the Crystal Heart,” Sombra spoke gently, but expectantly.
“Wh- What did you do to Rarity?” Spike stuttered, hugging the Heart closer.
Sombra leered, “Do you appreciate it, my son? It was a simple spell and a few choice words. Making slaves is so easy it’s laughable. Come, my son, we have an Empire to conquer. The Heart if you will,”
“N-No,” Spike clutched it so hard it hurt, “Never,”
Something flashed in the old king’s eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it came, “Come now. We have no time for games,”
Spike scooted away. Rapidly shaking his head.
Sombra scowled, “I am offering you the chance to be stronger than a unicorn, my son. Think carefully. It has been eons since I’ve chosen an apprentice,”
“I’m not your son!” Spike cried, “I don’t want to be stronger. I’m plenty strong already!”
Sombra sighed, lowering his eyebrows and acting as if Spike were a toddler with no world experience, “And thus is your first lesson, son. Nopony can have enough power,”
With that, Sombra wrenched the Heart away from Spike. The Heart floated in front of him as he eyed it with distaste. He opened his mouth. There was only one way to know he’d gotten rid of it for sure, plus, it was literally charged with all of his slaves’ happiness. What better way could there be?
Just as he lowered the Crystal to his maw, something kicked him in the jaw with bruising force. His concentration wavered, letting the Crystal fall with a dull clunk. Sombra’s head snapped back from the force and he stumbled away, spitting a fang out. The tangy taste of blood filled his mouth. 
Howling in fury, Sombra lashed out at the surprised-looking colt, who was still in his kicking position. His powerful hooves crashed into the colt’s shoulder. Something snapped and the colt lay still on the ground for a moment before screaming in abject terror and pain.
Blood dribbled down his chin, rolling down his neck to stain his royal coat. He spat again, another fang following the blood. He stared murderously down at the colt. Damn the idea of an apprentice to Tartarus.



Twilight strained harder and harder against the stone to keep Spike in her view. She watched, thrashing harder when Spike slipped. After a moment of fruitless struggling, Twilight gave up and pulled her neck back in. 
She attempted to teleport, vanishing and reappearing outside the cage in a burst of her signature sparkles. Her head spun from the amount of magic that temporarily assaulted her senses. Just as she was about to celebrate her victory, something magically black, slimy, and utterly deplorable reached for her. She spun in place, wings flared and horn charged, only for nothing to manifest itself. The world around her suddenly rippled and she was back in the cage, fighting down the urge to be sick.
Another idea popped into her head and she grasped the sides of the stone cage with each paw. She started pushing them away from each other. Her already tired arms shook with the effort. Then Spike screamed. 
Twilight’s heard Spike scream with different degrees of fear. This one placed it at the very top. It felt like ice slid down Twilight’s neck. Her child was screaming for his life. Something was going to kill her child.
Sombra roared something unintelligible. Him. It was Sombra and he was about to kill Spike. Twilight clenched her teeth so hard, something ugly popped within the confines of her skull. She strained her tired muscles as hard as she could, past the point of pain. Her needs weren’t negotiable right now. Her child was in grave danger and absolutely nothing would prevent her from getting to him.
Twilight Sparkle wasn’t about to have a little bit of rock get in the way of protecting Spike. Audibly, the rock began to crack, crumbling where her paws were. Growling lowly, she pushed harder. The stone gave way, shattering from the force Twilight exerted onto it. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she busted through the rock as if it were paper. 
She didn’t care that shrapnel shredded through some of her wing membranes. She didn’t care that she’d lost a claw. She didn’t care about the numerous cuts littering her palms. She didn’t care that she probably cracked her teeth. She didn’t care that her arms and legs burned in a way that suggested something other than tired muscles. She didn’t care about the icy wind that whistled through her hair.
With a roar of a mother’s fury, Twilight jumped from the window. She spotted Spike, he was on his hooves, but standing in a way that suggested an injured leg. That primal urge of rip, tear, maim, welled up. Instead of fearing it, she relished in the feeling. All she saw was red and Sombra’s shocked face.



Spike’s shoulder felt like a manticore was gnawing on it, but he grabbed the Crystal when Sombra’s focus shifted, and on three legs, lept for the balcony far below. Just as he did, his mother smashed into the stone platform so hard, it broke apart. Spike fought the hysterical urge to laugh at Sombra’s surprised expression. Somehow, he could take the time to count how many pieces of flying rock there were. He could see how his mane waved around in the wind. He would probably die on impact when he reached the balcony, but hopefully, his body would protect the Heart. Grimly, he tightened his hold on it.
His eyes connected with his mom’s and in the next second, green fire raced toward him. He only had time to widen his eyes before the fire engulfed him. ‘She said she’d never hurt me-’
There was the sensation of spiraling out of control and getting stretched like taffy before he resolidified onto the balcony, standing next to the exhausted form of Uncle Shiny. ‘Oh, it must’ve been a new spell… or something.’
The adrenaline jump and pain caught up with him and he just managed to control his fall so he didn’t fall on his shattered shoulder. Rarity appeared nearby, in the same manner, he appeared, looking disoriented and her perfect mane smothering. The Heart rolled out of his nerveless hooves. The fire had burned his vest up, but he found that he no longer cared.
“I found it,” He said breathlessly before the darkness claimed him.



Shining only had time to grumble, “Just like your mother,” before forcing his magic to entrap Rarity in a bubble. He took the Heart from Spike’s prone form and pressed it to his wife’s hooves.
“Go save the world,” he mumbled as he pressed a kiss to her mane.
His wife couldn’t look more beautiful, the messy unwashed mane and the scuffed and sticky fur made her look even more radiant. She shook herself and took the Heart in her magic, gliding down from the balcony with the grace of a unicorn.
Shining looked back up in time to see his sister throw Sombra at the castle so hard, he broke a small chunk of the crystal away with him. There was a muffled boom and pebbles rained down. Shining sighed at the thought of damage control. Why did it always cost so much?