//------------------------------//
// Ep 45: The Dragon's End 
// Story: Beyblade EQG 
// by MechaTomX 
//------------------------------//

"Ouch, what happened to me?" Spike wondered as he opened his eyes, he felt that a few seconds ago everything had gone out, little by little he began to recover his senses, the pain in his bones was more than evident but he was too tired to complain, when his vision had faded, accustomed to the strong light, he realized that he was in the infirmary, he was on a stretcher, next to him, was Apple Bloom who had fallen asleep while sitting.

"Apple Bloom?" Spike wondered and even though he hadn't screamed, that was enough to wake her up.

As she woke up, Spike looked around and saw that his parents and Twilight were there.

"Spike, you're awake," Apple Bloom told him with a smile and a tear in her eye, "I was afraid the worst would happen."

Spike felt a bit guilty for overexerting himself to the point of worrying his loved ones, "Don't worry Apple Bloom, I hardly felt it."

Apple Bloom hugged Spike, the hug was so strong that he groaned a bit in pain, "Ouch Apple Bloom, I don't think my bones will get better if you break them again."

"I'm sorry," Apple Bloom apologized, "Just don't do something like that again without thinking about the consequences."

Spike nodded, the sound of their conversation reaching his family, "Is awake?"

"IS HE AWAKE?"

His family reached out to him, just as Apple Bloom hugged him too tight.

“Spike, I'm glad you're okay,” Twilight Velvet said.

"How do you feel?" asked Night Light.

"Spike, how many fingers do you see?" Twilight Sparkle asked while showing 3 fingers of her hand.

"Hey, don't worry," Spike soothed, "I'm fine, I can't get knocked down that easily."

"Spike, you should be more careful with that launcher in the future," Twilight Sparkle told him.

"I admit I overdid it," Spike apologized, "but at least in that battle..."

Spike stopped, he began to remember just what had happened.

"Where is Emerald Flame?" Spike asked a little anxiously.

"Here it is," Apple Bloom handed over his beyblade.

When Spike took it, he definitely remembered that last battle.

“I…lost,” Spike said quietly as a tear formed in his eye.

"Spike," Twilight reached out to try to comfort him.

Spike squeezed her hand, not so hard to keep from disarming Emerald Flame, "I…"

More tears began to well up in Spike's eyes, he no longer concealed the fact that he was crying, "I, I didn't win, I gave it my all, I trained the best I could, I defeated powerful rivals and still it wasn't enough."

Neither Apple Bloom nor her family knew what to say, they just let him continue talking, they thought that the healthiest thing for Spike at that moment would be to vent.

Spike looked at Twilight, "I'm sorry Twi, you made that launcher for me and I couldn't use it right, I think I failed you, I wasn't strong enough."

"No Spike," Twilight said as she reached over to hug him, "You haven't failed anyone."

"But I..." Spike was about to continue, but Apple Bloom cut him off.

"Spike, you and Rumble literally turned this tournament from a simple game of spinning tops to something magical, you showed great performance, you even got hurt because of it, and yet you say you're not strong enough?"

"Apple Bloom."

"I'm not going to let you say those things one more time, because all of us in this room know how talented you are," Apple Bloom told him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Spike smiled and blushed.

“We all have days like this, Spike,” his father told him.

“And we are proud of what you have become,” his mother told him.

“Even when I said negative things about beyblading in the past, you never gave it up, you stood your ground and showed us all that you could achieve great things,” his sister told him.

"And I know this will sound weird, but what is Emerald Flame feeling?" asked Apple Bloom.

At the moment of asking that question, Spike felt the metal of his beyblade, it felt a little warmer, he couldn't describe it with words but he still tried his best, "Emerald Flame feels... Happiness."

"Exactly, he's happy to have you as his partner, and to have been able to have that beybattle," Apple Bloom told him.

Spike smiled, but he couldn't help but let go of his tears, he started to cry, but this time it wasn't out of sadness, but because he was grateful for the people around him who believed in him.

"Ouchh... ouch, that was the hardest battle I've ever had," Rumble's voice came out.

Everyone turned and saw Rumble and Button Mash arriving at the place, Button had already recovered, but Rumble had bandages on his arms and legs.

"Rumble, what happened to you?" Spike asked.

"You're not the only one who got hurt in the battle, ouch," Rumble replied as he groaned in pain, "I guess I shouldn't have bothered the dragon if I didn't want to face the heat."

"You did something dumber than that, you got into the sleeping dragon's mouth," scoffed Scootaloo who arrived at the place accompanied by Sweetie Belle.

“I admit that was a good one, but I don't think this is the time to make jokes about our hurt boyfriends,” added Sweetie Belle.

“Metaphorically, their battle made my pants burn,” Button Mash told them.

Sweetie Belle looked at him seriously.

“Sorry,” Button Mash apologized, “I couldn't take it.”

"Well, putting that aside, maybe I won, but boy, will it take years to recover from this experience," Rumble told him as he held out his arm to shake Spike's hand, "You're a great blader and a great friend, I hope to have a battle like this in the future.”

Spike smiled, wiped away his tears, and accepted the handshake, "Of course, and next time I'm not going to lose."

"Well, neither do I," Rumble replied.

“Umm, guys, one of you will have to lose,” Button told them, this made all three of them laugh at the same time.

“Just don't get hurt again in the next battle,” Twilight Sparkle told them.

"Good idea, maybe I need a launcher like yours," Rumble told him.

“I guess it's nice to be young,” Night Light said to his wife, listening to their conversation.

"So you say we are old?" Twilight Velvet replied.

"Umm, noooo?" replied Night Light, avoiding looking his wife directly into her eyes.





After several minutes, Spike and Rumble had already recovered a little bit, at which point they all decided to head to the gym where there was a podium in front of the beystadium.

At the bottom of the podium were Scootaloo and Button Mash who both wore bronze medals around their necks.

In the middle part of the podium was Spike who wore a silver medal around his neck.

And at the top was Rumble who wore a gold medal around his neck.

At that moment, the Principals entered, carrying a huge trophy, the top part was in the shape of a beyblade.

The entire gym broke out into a brilliant round of applause, not a single seat occupied as the audience all stood up to cheer for the tournament winners.

Spike, Rumble, Button and Scootaloo couldn't believe this was happening, as they looked around, smiling a brilliant smile at the many people in the stands, Twilight Velvet, Caring Hearts, Cream Heart and Windy Whistles were crying out in joy, while Thunderlane just smiled with pride at his little bro achievements, the other Crusaders were applauding for Scootaloo's performance, Gib, Button's older brother was watching the event from afar, he simply smiled at what his brother had achieved, Flash Sentry, Ember and Smolder gave Spike a thumbs up as he listened to the squeals of happiness from Twilight and her friends.

Celestia: Canterlot High Beyblade Grand Tournament is over.

Luna: The battles we witnessed were out of this world.

Celestia: And the 32 bladers showed their talent.

Luna: But only one of them managed to triumph over the others.

Both: Ladies and gentlemen, we present our champion, Rumble.

Applause was heard around, at that moment, the Principals handed the trophy to Rumble who kindly received it, but as soon as he took it, "Ahhhh."

The trophy was very heavy for him, logically, Rumble still had his arms tired and sore, since he still had his bandage, therefore, Rumble accidentally dropped the trophy.

"Watch out," Spike said as he caught the trophy, and at that moment handed it to Rumble, "Here Rumble this is yours."

"It's an honor to receive the trophy from another blader who also deserves it," Rumble thanked him as he did his best to keep the trophy in his broken arms.

"Someday, Rumble," Spike replied, looking up at the sky, "Someday."

Applause filled the gym again, but Rumble felt the applause from his friends louder, even more from those who were close to him, Spike, Button Mash and his girlfriend Scootaloo.





Several days later.

The Sparkle family was waiting in a car, everyone except Spike.

"Spike, hurry up, the party's starting any minute," Twilight Sparkle warned him.

To celebrate Rumble's victory, and the performance of the others, Pinkie Pie decided to throw a huge party at Sugarcube Corner, which almost everyone would attend.

Spike who was in the hallway of his house, was admiring a shelf full of medals and trophies, on that shelf were several trophies and many medals from 3rd to 1st place, some trophies were from science fairs and others were from sports, there were also some acknowledgments attached to the wall.

These belonged to Spike's siblings, who had earned them with their hard work, the only thing that belonged to Spike was a drawing award next to several Twilight science awards.

"At least, I managed to do what I could, and for that I'm happy with what I did," Spike said as he placed his silver medal on the shelf, which, for some strange reason, he felt stood out from the rest of the medals. and trophies from his older siblings, he simply smiled.

"Boy you did, Shining will be happy to see that," Twilight Sparkle told him as she approached, "What am I saying, he'd be happy even if you didn't get a medal."

"I'm sorry if we made you feel bad in the past," Twilight apologized as she hugged her little brother.

"There's nothing to apologize for Twilight, I've always loved you and Shiny," Spike said as he accepted his sister's hug and hugged her back.

Twi smiled as she shed a tear, after a few minutes, the two of them separated and headed to the car.

"Why did it take so long?" asked their mother.

"I was putting my medal up, with the other trophies," Spike replied a little embarrassed.

Night Light and Twilight Velvet smiled upon hearing that.

"That medal will have a special place, no matter where it is," his father told him to which Spike smiled.

“It's special, just like the blader who owns it,” Twilight Velvet added.

Spike felt something in his pocket, he quickly took out his beyblade and he could feel that warmth that he felt in the infirmary.

Emerald Flame was also smiling.





Sugarcube Corner.

When the Sparkle family arrived, they were greeted by Pinkie Pie.

"Congratulations," Pinkie said pulling a party popper along with everyone else, “The tournament runner-up has arrived.”

Upon hearing that, Spike received compliments from several of his classmates and other upper grade students.

Spike smiled though he was nervous about being overwhelmed by so many people as he walked through the party, though he was quickly able to find his friends seated at a table.

“Hey Spike,” Rumble greeted.

“Come here,” Button Mash greeted.

"Hello guys," Spike greeted as he sat down at the table, "I imagine you were gloriously received as well."

“Well, being the champion helps a lot,” Button replied as he took a sip of his milkshake, “And with my arms finally healed, it feels like a million bucks, I have to say that Cloud Slayer really shined in that battle, but he didn't as much as Flame.”

“I think I could get used to this,” Button added as he took a sip of his milkshake, “Now that I've modified my launcher, controlling Digital Debug will be easier.”

"Well, Twi modified my launcher to prevent me from getting hurt when using it, I think it will be very useful not only for me, Emerald Flame will have less pressure on her attacks," added Spike.

"Here Spike," Pinkie Pie approached as she handed Spike a milkshake, "Courtesy of the house."

"Wow, thanks Pinkie," Spike thanked.





The Crusaders were sitting at another table.

“Congratulations Scoots,” Apple Bloom congratulated her.

“You were the best of the 3,” added Sweetie Belle.

"Nah, I know you girls are just as capable as me," Scootaloo told them, "But don't worry, we'll train to beat our boyfriends in the future."

“Yeah,” all 3 girls said at the same time.





"Don't you feel like someone will kick our butts in the future?" Spike asked them.

The boys felt nervous hearing that question, but for some reason, they nodded.





“I can't believe Twi has taken a liking to this game,” Fluttershy said.

"I don't know if it was thanks to Spike or Flash," Rarity said.

“Probably a little of both,” AJ added.

“Yeah, this will make things really fun,” Rainbow Dash added.

"You said so RD," Pinkie Pie told him.

While Sunset Shimmer just smiled.

Twilight was having a beybattle.

Pinkie had set up a beystadium at Sugarcube Corner, and to continue learning the game, Twilight decided to challenge Ember, who had defeated Spike in the past.

But to make things interesting, it had become a tag battle.

Twilight Sparkle and Flash Sentry VS Ember and Smolder.

“You're doing great, Twi,” Flash told her as their beys spun around the beystadium.

“Okay, I'm doing it, I'm doing it,” Twilight was saying, but…

BURST.

Her beyblade had burst.

"Ahh, not again," Twilight complained.

“Don't be discouraged Twi,” Ember told her as she and Smolder picked up her beys.

"Everyone learns at their own pace," Smolder told her, "And you're doing great."

"She's right," Flash told her as he picked up his bey, "A few more battles and you might even be able to fight even against the champion."

Spike and Apple Bloom approached, eager for a beybattle.

"Hey Twi, would you like to fight us?" Spike asked them.

"Sounds good," Flash Sentry replied.

Twilight smiled, "Sure Spike, it would be like a double date."

Flash smirked while Spike and Apple Bloom blushed beyond belief.

“Young love,” Twi and Flash laughed at the same time as they got ready.

“Okay, time to start,” but before they could start, there was a blackout.

SWASH.

The light was gone, causing minimal panic.

"Calm down, don't freak out," Pinkie Pie announced clearly freaking out a bit.

"What happened?" Spike asked.

"Maybe it was a fuse," Twilight said.

"Or maybe it was me," they heard a voice that Spike recognized.

"Oh no," Spike said fearfully, "He's here."

The light returned.

Spike looked around, but he didn't see anyone suspicious in the place, "Ugh, I think it was just my imagination."

But Spike looked at Twilight and she was in shock.

"Twi, what's wrong?"

Twilight didn't say anything, she just pointed to the roof of the place.

Frightened, Spike looked up and saw him.

"Enough running away, I WILL DESTROY YOU, HERE AND NOW," the Dark Crystal Knight yelled as he leaned against a chandelier on the ceiling.

“THE DARK CRYSTAL KNIGHT,” Spike's friends and Twilight's friends yelled in fear.

"The WHO?" Night Light and Twilight Velvet wondered.

He jumped and landed in front of Spike causing him to swallow hard.

At that moment, Spike knew he couldn't run anymore, he clenched his fists because he knew he was in a difficult situation.