The airship soared across the night sky. Nearly all of the passengers kept watch for anything dangerous. The only ones not entirely watching were Tempest and Fluttershy, with Tempest managing the airship, while Fluttershy helped guide her to where they had to go.
For the spotters, it was another odd, unsettling moment of nothing out of the ordinary happening. It was again a bit strange and off, but unlike last time, it was also a little bit boring, even though the tension was still there.
Smolder and Spike both happened to be close as they continued to spot for whatever was out there. It allowed for them to initiate a conversation to pass time and soothe any stress.
"Been a long night, hasn't it?..." Smolder mumbled.
"Yeah..." Spike replied. "And here I thought the worst of all the chaos was over after Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow attacked Equestria. But instead... something even worse comes along and turns our friends into enemies...to me, it doesn't feel the same trying to save Equestria without Twilight... and Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, too... But at least Pinkie is here, and we also saved Fluttershy!"
"Yeah... I... miss Gallus too. And the others. I'm happy Silverstream's here, though..."
"Do you think anyone else is going to become... one of them?" Spike asked.
"It could really go either way. We just have to stay on top of things, that's all."
"Yeah, you're right."
Smolder glanced over at Chrysalis. The former queen kept watch, her long silky mane slightly flowing in the wind.
"What are you going to do with her?"
Spike looked at Chrysalis too. "I honestly don't know. I mean, it's not a bad idea to try and teach her friendship, but... it wouldn't seem right to force it on her. And I don't think letting her go is a good idea either, because...she's just going to try and fight us again. The best option would probably be sending her back to stone but... it doesn't fully feel right to me. I know what decisions are better, but none of them I feel right about."
"I'm sure you or Headmare Twilight'll come across a decision sooner or later."
"Yeah, definitely."
"Hey Chrysalis!" Silverstream yelled from the other side of the Airship. "I never asked! Where's the emerald anyway?"
Chrysalis grumbled. "Who has the book?"
Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out the book. "Here it is!"
Chrysalis took the book out of Pinkie's hooves and proceeded to look through it, rapidly flipping through pages until she got to where she was.
"Well it shouldn't be to difficult to get," Chrysalis mumbled. “It’s buried somewhere around that specific place.”
“So, basically a treasure hunt?” asked Smolder. “Cool. Only problem? We have nothing to dig with.”
“You can use your claws, and for the ponies, their hooves. Quit complaining. I can simply use my magic.”
“It’s gonna take longer but whatever you say.”
Soon enough the ship began to descend downwards, giving everyone the clue that they reached their destination.
“Is there enough space to land?” Spike pondered out loud.
“I think so!” Silverstream nodded.
“The fin below’s too tall for the trees anyway,” said Smolder.
Spike mumbled, “But the door-“
“It’s fine.”
Even though the ship was landing, everyone still their eyes out to the ground below for any unwelcome surprises. They couldn’t see anything.
“I don’t see anything!” Pinkie piped up.
“Seems too good to be true…” Smolder muttered.
The airship landed. Chrysalis and Pinkie looked around and confirmed that it was empty, before the next topic began.
“So… are we all going or are some of us staying?” asked Silverstream.
“If half of you stay, whichever group I’m not in will be much more defenseless,” Chrysalis stated.
“Normally that sounds like a full-of-yourself statement, but… kinda true,” said Spike with a shrug.
Tempest and Fluttershy joined the group.
“I don’t see any harm in digging near the ship first,” Pinkie suggested.
“What are we talking about?” asked Tempest. “Digging?”
“The emerald we’re looking for is buried somewhere!” Silverstream explained. “It could be anywhere! So!… We’re digging near the ship first!”
“Oh, but…” Fluttershy started. “We don’t have any shovels…”
Smolder pointed at Chrysalis. “Bug Queen over here told us to use our claws and hooves…”
Chrysalis hissed in response.
“So that‘s it then, we’re starting here?” Smolder asked. “I mean, digging around the ship isn’t a bad idea but wouldn’t it make more sense if it was buried closer to that town over there?”
“It’s not far! No harm in splitting up if the other team is right near each other!” Pinkie chirped.
“Meh, I guess.”
“I’ll stay inside the ship,” said Tempest. “If anything goes wrong then get inside immediately and call me.”
“But then what if something gets inside?” Silverstream asked.
“Um… I can stay and… warn Tempest…” said Fluttershy. “I believe I can do it!”
Tempest tapped her chin. “The only other one of us that can’t fly is Pinkie so if we don’t want to use the door for everyone to get off, she’ll have to-“
“Don’t worry about that,” Spike interrupted. “She, uh… has got that covered.”
“Alright everyone!” Pinkie cheered. ”Let’s get digging!”
She leapt off the ship, her mane and body spinning like a drill. Everyone looked over the edge of the deck and saw dirt spray everywhere as Pinkie drilled into the ground.
They didn’t have anything to say, until Spike broke the silence. “Who else but Pinkie? Anyways, let’s go.”
They all flew off the ship and down to the ground below. After some small discussion they broke off into two teams… Smolder stayed at Pinkie’s site, while Chrysalis, Silverstream, and Spike went off into the nearby town.
“Alright, crew, let’s get to it!” Silverstream smiled with optimism before she got digging.
Spike went on with digging, and Chrysalis used both her hooves and her magic to dig.
They kept paying attention to their surroundings. And when anyone felt they didn’t find anything, they changed spots.
Pinkie’s head eventually popped out of the ground.
“Nothing!”
“This is going to take forever…” Smolder groaned.
“Just gotta keep trying!”
And Pinkie retreated back into the ground.
Smolder had no words. She just went back to digging.
“We might have to go further into the town…” Spike mumbled.
“I suppose so but then the rest would have to move too to avoid being out of sight,” replied Chrysalis. “The only thing we truly need is the ship in view. I don’t see harm in them being with us as long as that’s the case.”
“Alright!” Silverstream nods. “HEY SMO-“
Chrysalis shut her up with magic.
“Perhaps we instead wait until she sees us so we don’t risk attention.”
“Well she sees us now…” said Spike. He waved at Smolder and made a motion to imply they were moving out. He pointed at them, and then pointed at a spot for them to come over to.
Smolder nodded, gave a thumbs-up, and put her head in the hole.
“Professor Pinkie!”
Pinkie popped out of the ground behind her. “Yes?”
“Uh… we’re gonna be going that way…”
“Okie-Dokie-Lokie!”
However, instead of following Smolder, Pinkie just dove back into the hole. Smolder was about to do something, but she shrugged it off and decided to join with the others and keep digging.
Time passed. It felt like quite a long time. No emeralds were found. No threats lurked the area. Spike and, somewhat surprisingly, Chrysalis, didn’t dare check and see if anyone was in this tiny area. They focused on their one and only goal, which was finding the emerald, and getting out of there.
But then, Spike felt something smooth on his claw. He gave a slight gasp before, with Smolder and Silverstream’s help, clearing off more of the dirt covering it. Chrysalis came over and then pulled the large emerald out of the hole.
The ground started to shake.
The ooze, out of nowhere, began soaking out of the dirt like water leaking out of a sponge, and began to pool up the holes and leak out. Everyone flew out of reach, including Pinkie with her tail.
Figures began sprouting out of the increasing blob of dark matter, revealing themselves to be Kirins… no… Niriks… no… both.
Yes… both.
The figures were fusions of Kirins and Niriks, the small lines of corruption on their skin serving as splits between one and the other. It wasn’t grotesque like the Crusader-Cerberus was, but it still made it clear that they were among the more advanced.
Two more Kirin/Nirik’s popped up in front of the whole group. One was tall, around Celestia’s height, her mane an opal dark grey turquoise, and the Nirik flames very bright and dark shades of turquoise.
The other one had a brighter body color than the taller one. Her mane was tangelo, and the flames were shades of bright crimson and turquoise.
They snarled. They got in position.
And they ran.
Everyone else flew off, the Kirin/Nirik’s running at an alarming speed.
“WE’VE BEEN SPOTTED!!” Smolder shouted. “START THE SHIP!”
Fluttershy heard, immediately going to alert Tempest.
“I heard!” Tempest nodded. “I’m starting it now!”
The Kirin/Nirik’s started to leap, swiping and biting in an effort to catch them. They didn’t seem or sound like high leapers. This was clearly the work of the corruption.
Luckily, the ship was right there. Everyone started flying up, Chrysalis in the lead. She threw the emerald on board, and got on. Smolder, Silverstream, and Pinkie we’re all next, quickly getting on without looking behind them.
Spike was last. After all the pressure he’s been putting on himself, he felt his wings starting to finally give out after all this time. But luckily, he was right there. The ship was just getting off the ground, but Spike knew that he was going to make it.
And then he felt something grab his ankle. Something that made his scales tingle.
The Kirin/Nirik’s all fused with the growing mass of corruption, and right at the top, was the tangelo-maned Kirin/Nirik, a tentacle reaching out of her wide mouth, and wrapping around Spike’s ankle.
“SPIKE!” Pinkie shrieked.
“RESIST IT!” Chrysalis yelled back, making the slightest attempt to help. “KEEP YOUR WILL STRONG!”
That was all Spike heard before the tentacle hurled him the other way, far from the ship. He bent to face his ankle, taking no risks, and showering his own ankle with searing green flames in an attempt to get rid of the corruption. He vanished into the trees, starting to feel it’s power crawl into his mind.
Smolder wasn’t going to let anything happen to anyone else. She leaned over the deck and showered the enemies all with fire. Her efforts were a success, and they all retreated.
The airship soared away. Everyone was shaken up and going through the effects of the loss of Spike. Meanwhile, Smolder contemplated what they were going to do. It wasn’t like Spike was completely gone. She saw, with her own eyes, Spike’s body enveloping itself in his fire before he vanished. And sure… it may have been a throw. But he was a tough dragon and those trees were there to break his fall.
This brought the big question. Do they take a risk like they did with Silverstream? Do they go back to the face of danger to rescue Spike, at the risk of others? Or do they go on without him.
She made her choice.
“We have to go back.”
***
“Am I dead?…”
Spike’s body throbbed with pain as he got up, for a moment thinking he met his end. But one look around confirmed that he was alive. In pain, but alive… he was a lucky dragon.
He survived the fall.
He looked at his ankle to find he was even luckier.
He avoided corruption.
“Yes!” Spike did a fist-pump, but then he felt the soreness in his arm. “Ow…”
Branches cracked, provoking a gasp from Spike. Gripping his ribs, he got up and turned, and he felt his heart drop. In front of him stood a massive beast, who appeared to have once been someone he’s never even seen before. It was a mare that had a coat which was a bright shade of tangelo, and a rose and heliotrope-colored mane with three small stripes, red, orange, and blue, near the middle. That wasn’t what spooked him. What got to him was how the monster looked, her tall, frail, and hunched structure. She partially stood on her hind hooves, her twisted front hooves very close to the ground. There was a hole in her stomach, one that seemed to have been made natural by the corruption.
One of the strangest things of all though, was that Spike had the strangest feeling that she didn’t just come from somewhere in or out of Equestria… she came from somewhere much more beyond.
“̵P̷e̵a̴c̷e̴ ̴w̷i̶t̸h̵ ̸P̷e̴g̴a̸s̵i̶…̸ ̴U̶n̶i̶t̵y̴ ̸w̶i̷t̶h̵ ̴U̸n̵i̶c̶o̸r̶n̶s̵!̸”̶