//------------------------------//
// The Grand Galloping Gala Part Two 
// Story: Forever Lasting Bonds 
// by SonicSpeed Kaleb 
//------------------------------//

Celestia and Luna were still holding Claws down with her magic as Celestia made an effort to reason with her into leaving. "It doesn't have to end badly for anyone Claws. Take your army and leave now, and we won't follow."

Luna wasn't quite sure about that one. Claws could come back another time for revenge. "That might not be wise my sister. Sparing Claws now could lead to immense danger later."

"Perhaps. But the first step to guiding someone away from the wrong path is compassion." Celestia reminded Luna, and then she looked at Claws and saw that she still looked incredibly vicious and bloodthirsty. She started to wonder if she knew when to actually show compassion to the villain. "Then again. it doesn't work ALL the time."

Claws pulled out the device Lightspeed made for the dragons and got it ready for a counter attack. When the Queens and Ryu saw this, the latter was quick to warn them. "Get back!" The three did just that upon Ryu's command, only for Claws to aim the machine right at Celestia and Luna. It launched just before they landed, and they were able to fly up and dodge it, only for it to hit a mirror right behind them. They noticed too little too late, and got zapped with the device, which started to short circuit as Ryu called out. "Queens!"

Claws threw the device at Celestia and Luna, which Celestia swatted away as she descended with Luna. The device exploded with Claws growling as she pointed out how easily it shorted out. "Buck! Using it on two Alicorns at once must have been too much to handle!"

Ryu attempted to dash and slash at Claws, who dodged just before Ryu reminded her of the Queens' power. "The Queens fatigue won't last long Claws! A full day for us is like an hour for Alicorns!"

"As if the one who DIDN'T build that would know if it worked like that." Claws snarkily pointed out, and then she held out her claw as she gathered some fire magic and glared at Ryu with immense rage in her eyes. "Besides. Even the best hardware can overheat overtime." Claws them aimed her claw at Ryu as she finished her sentiment. "Allow me to demonstrate further."





All kinds of moments from season one were shown as Twilight was heard singing the main theme of the show, My Little Pony Friends. "For every day, I look around me, for every time I see you near. I thank the stars, whose light surrounds me, I thank the earth that keeps you here. Cause I will only follow, my true heart. And I can see it clear now, right from the start. You were my little pony. I used to wonder what friendship could be; my little pony. Until you shared it's magic with me. My little pony. I used to wonder what friendship could be. My little pony. Until you shared it's magic, with me.





Spike and the others were currently making an effort to fend off against the dragon army down on first floor of the castle. Spike was making sure Lightspeed was safe while holding up a barrier, which he got from his training with Queen Luna. He made sure to fight some of the dragons off as well, managing to blast two of them back with some blasts he launched through the barrier. When one tried to take advantage of the hole, Lightspeed knocked him out with a nearby food tray. This earned him a thumbs up from Spike that made him smile.

Twilight was with Shining Armor, and the two were able to take out a dozen dragons already. The two of them did a duo unicorn blast on one who was charging down at them, sending him into the ceiling before doing a hoof bump. Rainbow Dash was helping the Wonderbolts fend off with Applejack, and the two of them did a butt crush on one of the dragons, knocking him out. The two of them then knocked out two more dragons as Rainbow Dash jumped over Applejack and kicked one, and the Earth Pony ground punched the other.

Fluttershy was hiding behind a table to avoid the fighting, but then she saw how brave all of her friends were being and decided to at least try to stand up. She saw a dragon spot her and lift up the table, causing her to panic and rip the table leg off. She then smashed him over the head with it, causing him to move faintly before falling on the ground. Fluttershy checked to see if he was okay, but then she remembered where she was and rushed off to help.

Rarity was fending off against three dragons herself, and she kicked off one of her high heels to hold with her right hoof. She smashed a dragon who was about to strike her with it, and she then called the dragons out on their intrusion of the Gala. "You ruffians have no right to ruin this night for everyone!" As the dragons tried to hold Rarity down, she kicked one of them on the shin and stabbed another one in the head with her hoof. She then kicked the other one to the side as she finished her statement. "Next time, receive an invite, or stay out of it!"

Pinkie Pie was blasting some of the dragons with her party cannon, and she then saw one of them holding a pony hostage. She picked up some cupcakes and started flinging them at the dragon while calling out to him. "Let him go you meanie dragon beast!" The dragon grabbed one of the cupcakes and ate it up, only to get hit in the back of the head with Pinkie Pie's party cannon. It's best not to question how she did that so fast. Pinkie Pie then helped the pony up, and he thanked her for the help before rushing off.

The guards were doing their best job at defending the castle with Twilight and Shining Armor soon joining them as Twilight snarkily joked about the lack of female guards. "I sense a heavy case of masculine support in this army. (Zaps a guard) Don't worry; I won't judge if it's intimate." Some of the guards laughed at Twilight's joke as they continued taking out the dragons one by one as a team.

Spike was shown keeping the barrier up as Lightspeed spoke up about how Spike might be feeling. "Spike, I know this isn't the best time, but if you wanna talk about this, I'm all ears!"

"Thanks Lightspeed, but let's wait until after we win to schedule a therapy session!" Spike responded, holding the barrier up the best he could while also taking out the dragons. "I'll say this much about the matter right now! Claws definitely knows how to pick her soldiers!"

Just then, Ryu crashed through the floor and onto the ground of the first floor, leaving Claws to attempt to smash him with her knee. He managed to dodge, only for him to get kicked to the side of the room. Ryu regained his balance and blocked another one of Claws' strikes before blasting her back with his dark magic. Spike knew he had to help, so he looked to Lightspeed in the hopes that he'd listen. "Lightspeed! I gotta go help Ryu! Get out of here once I put the barrier down!"

"What!?" Lightspeed exclaimed, refusing to leave Spike, or any of his friends, behind in the battle. "That's crazy! I'm not leaving you here!"

"You won't!" Spike insisted, leaving Lightspeed to hatch an idea based on those words. As Spike began to put the barrier down, he made his request to Lightspeed one more time. "Now hurry!"

Lightspeed nodded in response, and as soon as Spike blasted the dragons away with the barrier, he rushed off. Spike went through the dragons to get to Ryu, doing a spiral spin through two of them and jumping off of one who flew right in front of him. He then slid underneath a dragon who was fighting Rainbow Dash and made his way to Ryu, who was holding off Claws' attack as she started to taunt him. "You were foolish to try and get help after your exile Ryu. You can't honestly think that-"

Spike managed to blast Claws with his dark magic from behind, leading to Claws looking back at him with a glare. Spike then clarified her statement as he gazed at her with anger. "He only came to Ponyville because I somehow called him with my mark." Claws got ready to fight off Spike as well, smacking Ryu to the side with her tail before he could strike her again. This led to Spike going into a combat stance. "Now it's time I repay him for the help."

Claws dashed at Spike, who dodged her claw strike and smacked her in the face with his tail after jumping. This was followed up by a darkness blast to the face, which Claws dodged and pinned Spike to the ground with her other palm to counter. She then threw him across the ground and caused him to drag through the floor. When Spike looked towards Claws, she'd launched a powerful fire wave at him, which he blocked, thankfully managing to survive. If he weren't a dragon, the attack probably would have injured him, rather than just scorch him.

Spike and Claws dashed at each other, colliding claw strikes with Spike then dodging one of Claws' slashes to punch her in the jaw. He then grabbed her face and front flipped over her head to slide down her back and hit her spine with a darkness blast. Claws used her palms to stop herself from hitting the ground, using her tail to fling Spike into the air. Since Spike didn't have his wings yet, it was a lot harder for him to recover, giving Claws just enough time to strike him again.

Claws flew quickly towards Spike, hitting him with multiple dashing claw strikes before ground pounding him into the floor. After Spike hit the ground, she attempted to dive down at him and knee him in the stomach. As she did this however, she was stopped by a lasso of dark magic, causing her to look and find Ryu keeping her from finishing her assault. This made her furious, and she grabbed the lasso and began spinning Ryu around with it before throwing him at the wall. He managed to regain his balance just in time, thankfully.

Ryu launched a powerful darkness beam at Claws, who blocked it with her arms before kicking it through the ceiling. After she did, with Spike slowly struggling to get up, she taunted the black skinned dragon with this. "I've put myself through years of enduring the toughest of training for the very moment I could avenge my husband." Claws extended her claws as she got ready to finish Spike before she took out Ryu for getting in the way. "No one who gets in my way is going to live."

Once Ryu landed on the ground, he rushed to Spike, calling out to his friend in an attempt to save his life. "Spike!" Spike saw Ryu coming for him, and he instantly looked up afterwards to find Claws diving down at him. He managed to get up after that, and when Ryu attempted to get in the way, Spike did his best to spawn his dark magic to save them.

"No!" Spike shouted, refusing to let him or Ryu die. He held his palms up in a desperate attempt to defend them both. Claws found this pitiful, and went in for the strike, despite the dark magic from Spike's claws glowing. Just before Claws could strike the two dragons, the exact same shield Spike spawned in the battle with Nightmare Moon appeared. This shocked Claws, and Ryu was amazed by what he saw. Spike didn't know what to think. He finally spawned the shield after all this time, and he couldn't find the right words to say.

Claws landed on the ground in front of Spike and Ryu after that, and Spike's shield vanished as he and Ryu were gazing upon it. Spike was trying to think about how his shield spawned then and there, and then he realized another side to Nightmare Moon's magic. "It's not just about dark magic." Spike looked to Ryu, feeling that he would get it too. "Part of this magic... is about using it to do what's right. At least, that's what I THINK it is." Ryu thought that sentiment was the most fitting one out of all of them, and he smiled in response to it.

Claws then hatched an idea to use Spike's blood connection with her to her advantage. "Or perhaps it could be about doing what you THINK is right." Spike and Ryu looked at Claws, who walked over to Spike while putting on a smile and a loving tone. Everyone else in the room watched as she shamelessly tried to manipulate Spike. "You must think about this my son." Hearing that made Spike want to cringe. "Your powers can be used for so much more than running away from the consequences Nightmare Moon ran from for ten centuries."

Spike was doing his best to contain himself, knowing full well that Claws could defeat him in an instant. She continued when she felt that she was starting to get somewhere. "You could save all of Equestria by assisting me in wiping out all of Nightmare Moon's magic. Perhaps we could even find a way to get rid of your magic without killing you, and you could join my army." Spike's mark started glowing violently, alerting Ryu as Claws gave her palm to Spike. "It would be an honor to have you."

Spike instantly grabbed Claws' palm, but not in the way you would expect. While this decision did shock everyone, and Claws did give a devious grin, she started to feel a burn on her palm. It was revealed right after that the rage Spike was feeling made his mark burn so strongly that it could burn and harm dragon skin. Claws tried to let go, but Spike wouldn't let her. As she looked in horror at what she was seeing, and what everyone else was seeing with fear in their eyes, it was then revealed that Spike wasn't himself in that moment.

Spike was revealed to have a darker coat than before with it having changed from purple to black. His pupils were gone, and his eyes were completely white. His expression was full of rage and his teeth and claws were sharp. His aura filled the room with fear and the feeling of darkness. Spike then began to crush Claws' palm, causing her to cry out in pain as she fell to her knees. Once Spike was at view level with her, he spoke in a cold and ruthless tone that made Claws' spine chill to an extent she never thought possible.

"I'd rather die... than be the pawn... of a monster like you.

The look of horror in Claws' eyes was barely noticeable as Spike then struck her with a powerful uppercut to the jaw. Claws' jaw bones could be heard cracking as she was then sent through the the ceiling. She was barely able to regain her balance, looking down in horror as the seemingly almost corrupt Spike gave one word of warning to Ryu. "Run." And Spike dashed up at max speed, grabbing Claws by her foot and slamming her into the roof. Lightspeed, who was with Celestia and Luna, had already taken notice and watched in awe at what was going on. 

Spike threw Claws directly towards the ground, and he dashed at her at max speed, causing her to drag across the floor as he shoved her body into it. Claws tried to counter, but Spike refused to let her, grabbing the claw she tried to strike with and crushing it with his palm. Claws cried out in pain upon feeling this, only for her cracked jaw to hurt her even more. Spike then punched her in the face, causing her head to smash into the ground. Spike simply looked with a cold gaze.

Spike grabbed Claws by the neck and began choking her, leaving her to attempt to stop him as she aimed her claws at his face. She blasted him with a powerful fire strike, using blue fire to avoid burning the castle down, since it wasn't part of her goal. Claws was sure her strike did something, only to look in horror as the blue fire cleared, and Spike was unharmed. It was almost as if the fire only made him angrier. He strangled her harder, leaving Lightspeed horrified as he saw the life being choked out of Claws... by her own son.

Claws tried to beg for her life, but Spike refused to let her get another word out of her mouth. Spike simply let her know just how badly she'd messed up, looking into her eyes as she was losing the last of her breath and saying the words that really helped her see just how badly she'd messed up. "All you had to do was move on. You could have had a decent life with your daughter, and even bring your long lost son back into your life. But you couldn't even do that. You became a tyrant. And it deprived you of who you were."

Spike then put his thumbs up to Claws' windpipe before jabbing into just how forcefully she brought herself into Spike's vision. "Just be glad there wasn't a character arc of content to rub it in your face with."

Spike, in that moment, pressed against Claws' windpipe, and with the last second of her breath... he let go of the lifeless dragon.

Claws had been killed... at the hands of her own son.

Spike felt the rage consuming him, and Lightspeed, feeling the urge to do something, rushed into battle, ignoring Celestia's fearful command. "Lightspeed; stay back!"

Lightspeed didn't even hesitate in rushing up to Spike. His love for him was simply too great. Spike became surprised when Lightspeed hugged him, looking to find his warm touch to be rather soothing. His magic told him to let go, but he was resisting the urge to make Lightspeed let go of him. Lightspeed felt his struggle, and he knew that he was doing something right. He refused to let Spike out of his grasp, and Spike knew why. Somehow, Lightspeed's love and affection was causing Spike's dark magic to die down.

Spike slowly, but surely, started returning back to normal thanks to the touch of Lightspeed. With his eyes closed as he turned back to his usual state, and his mark changing back to normal, he felt more love than he'd ever felt in his life. As he opened his eyes however, which were revealed to have turned back to normal, he saw what he'd done to Claws. The sight of her lifeless body horrified Spike, who'd finally realized what his dark magic caused him to do.

Lightspeed could sense this and let go of Spike, who walked over to Claws and checked for her pulse. The amount of horror and regret he felt was unreal. He looked to Lightspeed to know for sure. "Did I do this?" 

Lightspeed didn't answer. That was all the proof Spike needed. Spike couldn't believe it. Did he actually kill his own mother? How was he going to explain this to Ember? She stayed behind to try and help her, and he took that away from her. And what did this mean for him? Was his dark magic taking over? How much time did he have left in that case? Was he a danger to his friends? So many questions clouded the young dragon's mind, but one question came up the most often over every last one of them.

How could he kill his own mother?





Spike, his friends, and the guards were helping Celestia and Luna clean up the castle and tend to the wounded ponies. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were helping with the heavy lifting on the debris while also occasionally flirting with each other. Fluttershy was tending to the wounded ponies with the Canterlot nurses while humming them soft tunes. Rarity was brainstorming with Celestia on ideas for new castle decor, and Twilight was powering up one of Lightspeed's inventions, a magic powered broom, to get the cleaning done faster.

As the super-speedy-sweeper (That's what Lightspeed called his invention) got to work, Lightspeed and Twilight couldn't help but look at Spike. He was currently helping one of the guards replace one of the broken castle windows... and Spike looked broken himself. Twilight knew Lightspeed knew more about the moment than she did. "You saw what happened Lightspeed. What did Spike's new form look like up close?"

"It looked... scary." Lightspeed admitted, not really knowing if he had the best words to describe it. "Like every bit of purity left his body just left, and filled him with coldness and rage." Twilight felt horrible for Spike when hearing this. She couldn't imagine what that feeling was like. "I'm just lucky it wasn't all gone, or I'd be dead... and Spike would be gone."

Twilight looked over to her brother, and she looked back at Lightspeed with an idea. "He needs as much support as he can get right now. I think it's safe to assume we're on the same page about this." Lightspeed nodded his head yes in response, and the two went over to Spike to try and help him.

As Spike finished up the window, Luna's hoof was shown being placed on his shoulder, making him flinch as he stepped away. Chills were sent down his spine in that moment, and Luna had a feeling as to why. She did care for Spike, so she felt she should wait until he was ready. "Apologies Spike. I will leave you be."

Luna walked off with Spike looking remorseful for his reaction before sighing and sitting down beside the window. Twilight stepped up first, knowing that Spike needed to be reminded that this wasn't his fault. "Spike. You are not to blame for what Claws did here tonight." Spike looked at Twilight, who showed genuine concern and care for her younger brother. "She had no business coming to Canterlot and attacking us; let alone to kill her own son. And you shouldn't feel like you deserve anything bad to happen to you because of that."

Spike wasn't sure what to say to that. He wanted to believe it, but could he really manage that? Twilight was quick to remind him of everything he'd been working for since he found out about his powers. "And these powers aren't anything to be ashamed of. I've seen the efforts you've been making to learn how to control them. Use them for good." Twilight smiled as she finished what she had to say. "If mom and dad weren't out of town during the Gala, I know they'd be proud."

Spike was grateful for the support, but he wasn't entirely sure if what Twilight was saying was true. No one could tell what was going to come up as a result of his power. "I do want to believe that Twilight." Spike looked at his mark, unsure if he could consider himself worth having around with his powers. "I just wish I wasn't at risk of being a danger to you guys."

After hearing that, Lightspeed stepped closer to Spike and spoke with pure empathy and love. "Look at me Spike." Spike looked at Lightspeed, who was genuine in his efforts to make Spike feel better. "What you did up there was in self defense. Claws came to this castle and tried to kill you, attacking the ponies in the castle, as a result of her own actions and delusion." Lightspeed took hold of Spike's palms as he stated how proud he was of Spike. "And you came back after your magic took over. You showed me you can control it."

Spike looked to Twilight, who nodded her head yes with a smile, and then Lightspeed continued what he had to say. "I don't care how hard it gets." Spike and Lightspeed looked into each other's eyes with Lightspeed showing just how much he loved Spike. "I'll climb every mountain... I'll brave every catastrophe... I'll conquer all odds..." Lightspeed hugged Spike and gave a comforting smile. Spike was surprised, but loved the affection. "Just to keep you safe."

Spike pulled Lightspeed away, which surprised him at first, but then Spike smiled lovingly due to what he was about to do next. "If you really mean that, then you won't mind if I do this." Spike kissed Lightspeed passionately, something that Twilight, despite being Asexual, was proud to see from him. Their friends also took notice with all of them being happy for the duo, and Rainbow Dash nodding in a way that said 'it's about time'. Spike and Lightspeed kissed for fifteen seconds, and then they pulled apart with loving smiles.

Spike then responded to what Lightspeed said to him, knowing full well that his words were sincere. "I would do nothing less for you than what you said you'd do for me." Spike held Lightspeed's hooves as he told him just how hard he was willing to work for him. "I'll master these powers, and learn to control my dark form." Lightspeed could tell his words struck a cord with Spike. He and Twilight knew all he needed in that moment was love. "I promise. With all of my heart."

Lightspeed knew Spike would be able to keep that promise too. Twilight spoke up again to assure him that he would be helping with that. "If you're interested... I could get you a therapist when we get back to Ponyville."  Spike had to admit; that sounded like a great idea. Professional help was never something to turn down. And he was always willing to accept help that came from his friends.





Back in Ponyville, Spike was speaking to a therapist as Twilight suggested, feeling he would need it to cope with his struggles. As the therapist, who was a green unicorn, wrote down what he was saying. "And it's not every day you just get dark powers from a Queen of Equestria, right? There has to be some reason, besides chaos, that these powers were given to me." Spike then sighed as he lied down on the patient bed and expressed the obvious part of that. "I mean, I know HOW I got these powers, but I wish I knew why it happened to me."

The therapist finished writing down what Spike was thinking, since he'd finished talking for the time being. She decided to ask him a question about how he felt about himself. "Let's reach a more empathetic phase. How does having these powers make you view yourself?"

"I don't know. Weird?" Spike questioned his self-opinion quite a bit in that moment. He didn't know if he liked himself when he knew he could be a danger to the others. "My sister and recent boyfriend told me it's not my fault, but I don't know how true that is. No one does. And I don't know what to do about it."

The therapist wrote that down, seemingly finding that Spike was struggling with his self worth. "Yes. The accuracy of words is always random." The therapist set her clipboard and quill down as she suggested something for Spike. "You said you had loved ones who told you that you weren't to blame. Perhaps if you consider what they think of you, it will lead you closer to your answer."

Spike felt that made sense. His loved ones knew him best after all. "That does make sense. It's been at least three days since the incident, and my friends and family haven't actually treated me any differently." Spike sighed as he stated the bad side of that situation. "Problem is, that makes it harder to tell if the attack affected them or not."

The therapist, while writing this down, gave Spike another tip that could help him. "Communication if everything Spike. If you wish to learn how they feel after the attack, and perhaps even see if they emphasize with your pain, you can always ask."

Spike saw his therapist's point, despite how hard the advice might be to take. His session time ended then and there with the clock hitting forty five minutes. As he hopped off the bed and gave the therapist her bits, he thanked her for her help. "Thanks doc. See ya next week?"

"Of course! I'm always happy to help." The therapist responded with a smile, and as Spike left, the therapist saw that Spike had left an extra bit, as opposed to the five she usually charged per ten minutes. She smiled at the dragon's generosity and put the bits in her jar. It was clear to her that she was working with someone who just needed guidance to make themselves feel good again.





Spike was heading home from his therapy session and saw Lightspeed waiting on his porch, much to his surprise. He didn't remember inviting Lightspeed over. But then again, he didn't mind a surprise visit from him, or any of his friends. He instead smiled as he walked over to the Pegasus. "Lightspeed. What're you doing here?"

"Can't a Pegasus visit his handsome lover for when he gets home from therapy?" Lightspeed asked with a grin, and Spike laughed a bit as he and Lightspeed entered the library. "I just wanted to see how you were holding up. Twilight wasn't home either, so I figured I'd wait for you outside."

"She's probably practicing a new spell in private or something." Spike suggested, and then he and Lightspeed went into the kitchen as Spike remembered what his therapist said. He knew this would be hard to do, but he had to at least try. "Speaking of holding up, the attack last week didn't affect YOU in any negative ways, did it?"

Lightspeed tried to think of a good example of what Spike was talking about, and found himself unable to think of one. "Does general disbelief about how something as crazy as how that night went from amazing to chaotic got count?" Spike thought for a moment and nodded his head no after he was finished. He figured everyone was feeling that after it went down. "Okay good. Then I guess I'm holding up okay."

Spike was glad to hear that, and he went over to the fridge and grabbed a cherry chocolate soda bottle. As he poured himself and Lightspeed some glasses, Lightspeed reminded him of what it did to him. "Doesn't that stuff make you gassy?"

"If it's that big of a deal then Twilight should stop buying it." Spike playfully snarked, and then he expressed how much that night messed him up as Lightspeed took a sip of his glass. "It's still so surreal to me. What my dark magic did to me; and the fact that I killed my own mother is just... horrifying." Lightspeed looked at Spike with genuine concern as he further elaborated on that. "I know she was a horrible creature, but she was still my mother. The one who brought me into the world. I can't just pretend that's not the case."

Lightspeed placed a hoof over Spike's palm to comfort him, and Spike saw his comforting smile for reassurance that he would always be there for him. This made Spike smile back. He knew that Lightspeed was the right one for him. The two of them looked into each other's eyes and kissed once again, this time for only three seconds, but when they were done, they got back to looking at each other lovingly. And one thing was certain in both of their minds.

Their love for each other... was eternal.





In the old home Claws used to run, Ember was shown lying down on her bed with tear marks stroked down her cheeks. She was clearly struggling to mourn her mother's death, and as she sat up, she opened up a drawer and took out a notepad. On the front page, it said 'Fix my mother's mistakes', indicating that she wanted to do better than her mother. Did this mean she was going to be good instead? Or was she going to do even worse deeds than she did? All that was certain was that Ember was determined with whatever goals she had in mind.

Ember put her notepad away and walked out of the room with a look of determination that made it clear she wasn't going to let anyone stop her so easily. Whatever she had planned, she was ready for whatever stood in her way.





The adventure continues in season two.