"What is love? Love is the armor the knight wears as he prepares for battle. Love is the fuel that lets the underdog fight to protect those that he cares for and lets him the world. Love is the reason why so many would go to great lengths to insure happiness for others… (part one of three)

“Do you think that Dust Devil is alright?” asked Rainbow, as she walked down the hallway with the others. “It’s been really quiet.”

“I’m sure he’s okay, darling,” smiled Rarity. “And I must say that you two make a cute couple.”

“We’re not a couple!” the pegasus gulped. “It’s just that he saved me...and, well you know…”

“I guess he’s, I don’t know, maybe he’s sort of a little bit…cute, but in a totally stupid way!”

“Whatever you say, dear, I won’t ponder on it any longer than I have to,” said the white mare.

Sure enough, the still blood soaked Curb Hoof was slowly making his way down the hallway towards the group of ponies. He picked up the pace when he saw that Spike was injured, still being levitated by the unicorns.

“It was Conquest,” muttered Forge. “He shattered his back and unleashed all kinds of hell on the rest of them, including the princesses.”

“Your highnesses, I am sorry,” apologized Curb hoof, bowing in shame. “I wasn’t able to stop him.”

“But we can’t say that for all of us,” sighed Luna as she looked over to the purple drake.

“Damn it, dragon,” sighed the guard pony, walking up to his side. “What the hell did you do?”

Spike’s eyes slowly started to open at the sound of pony’s voice. “Curb Hoof, is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” droned the guard pony, as his horn started to glow. Curb Hoof’s magical aura started to surround Spike as he was levitated much more smoothly. “Who the hell were you excepting?”

“Heart took Bunsen out of the castle. You said that there were ponies outside, right? I figured that they’d be safer there.”

“Look,” Curb Hoof said bluntly. “I don’t like you, Spike. In fact I may even as to go as far as to say I despise your very existence.” He took a deep breath. “And, despite all of that, I still came back and make sure that you are okay… and you know why?”

“Cause like it or not, you’re one of my troops. And I’ll be damned if I let my best soldiers get killed by some psychopath.” He looked at the dragon. “I hate you and your kind Spike, but Celestia damn it, I respect you.”

“Everything you’ve done, Spike, has been nothing but selfless and noble. All the crap that has happen to you this past month, all the crap I’ve given you, you don’t deserve it.”

Spike rolled his eyes as he kept floating down the hall. “You, my friend, are an incredibly strange and complex pony. I can’t for the life of me figure out what the hell is going on in that head of yours.”

“It’s better that way,” the guard mumbled as the group of ponies started towards the entrance of the castle. “Anyways, we’re at the entrance of the castle. We should be able to get out of the castle now.”

Spike smiled as he relaxed on the bed of magic. The rest of the ponies and the one dragon opened the doors to the castle ground, expecting to see the green fields of the courtyard.

“That’s odd,” wondered Curb Hoof, as he stepped through the door. It had not lead them out of the castle as he had thought, but into another corridor of halls. “I could have sworn that this was the door that lead to the castle courtyard…”

“Maybe it’s the next corridor?” said Twilight, “I’m sure that you just got a little confused.”

“Maybe,” Princess Celestia said, “but I’ve walked these halls for centuries. I am positive that this should have led to outside.”

“No,” shook the sun princess. “Not even he could do that, not without us knowing.”

The small group headed out the door, not wanting to stay in the same place longer than they had to, trying to avoid something that could or could not be stalking them within the shadows. Down this hallway and still no luck, the large doors only seeming to connect to more and more hallways within the castle. It seemed endless, and the ponies could swear that they were going in circles, as all the passages started to look the same, the same red rugs and marble pillars and large royal windows.

“This is ridiculous!” moaned Rainbow as she pushed open another door, leading into yet another foyer. “There is something seriously weird going on right now.”

“We’ve been walking for hours…” sighed Fluttershy, who had been very quiet up until now. “I don’t think that I can walk anymore…” The yellow mare collapsed on the ground, completely exhausted.

“Fluttershy!” cried Twilight, running to the side of her friend. “Are you okay?”

“I’m so tired, Twilight…” she whispered, “I don’t think that I can go on…. Just leave me here.”

“We’re not leaving anypony behind, Fluttershy!” cried the purple mare, doing her best to pick the exhausted yellow pegasus. “Applejack, give me a hoof, will you?”

“Sure thing, Twilight,” the farm pony said, coming to the aid of the yellow mare, wrapping her friend’s hoof around her neck. “C’mon Fly, we got to keep moving.”

“Please… don’t…” she mumbled. “Just let me die, I can feel them in my stomach…”

“The…” She leaned close to the cowpony’s ear. “The spiders…” she whispered. “He made me eat a spider when he was torturing us. He said that it would lay eggs in my stomach and kill all of my friends if I tried to run away.”

“Please… just leave me for him” Fluttershy begged. “I don’t want him to ge--ACK!!” She coughed, her dark crimson blood dripping down her mouth. “Oh no! They’re hatching! Get away from me, please!”

Fluttershy fell to the ground, clenching her stomach, as if it were going to burst as she continued coughing up more and more blood until her aqua eyed face was covered in her red spit. She still didn’t stop, though. Her friends backed away from her, scared that touching her would bring her pain as the first of the spiders crawled out of her mouth. They were small at first, barely any bigger than a grain of salt. Then they got larger, getting longer legs and fatter bodies as they started to crawl around the mare’s body, their little legs skittering around the base of her swollen stomach and crawling on her terrified face.

Applejack tried to get the spiders off of the yellow mare, brushing and squishing the spiders off of her. But, for every arachnid that she squashed, more and more would just crawl out of Fluttershy’s mouth. The spiders started to turn on the orange mare as well, crawling up her legs, biting into her skin.

“Ouch!” she winced, trying to get them off of her, but even they started to overwhelm the farm pony as well. “Ah—ge—get them off of me!”

Fluttershy was dead silent; the swarm had almost engulfed her and was wrapping her paralyzed body up in their silky white web, like an insignificant insect. The spiders started to pull her away from the group of ponies and through the door they had just walked through, while her friends tried to brush off the spiders on Applejack.

“No!” screamed Rainbow, running past Applejack and slamming both hooves on the doors trying to open it. “Open up, damn it!” She banged on the front of the door, trying her best to push it open but it wouldn’t budge. “I said open! Open up!”

“NO!” roared Rainbow, shaking the locked handle. “She can’t be gone!” she whimpered, tears rolling down her eyes. “She can’t….she just can’t….” Her face slid down the door as she slumped into a puddle of her own tears. “She just can’t be gone. I won’t believe it.”

“Then join her,” a satanic voice laughed, the cackling echoing down the hallway. Suddenly, the door swung open with a gust of wind, sucking the cyan pegasus through, and shutting close behind her.

“Rainbow!” cried Twilight, reaching out for her friend, but to no avail. The doors locked themselves as the laughter continued to plague the hallways. The purple mare turned up to look at the ceiling, trying to find the source of the terrible laughter. “Please! Just leave us alone!” she shouted, trying to fight her tears back.

“Don’t bother, Twilight Sparkle,” grumbled Forge as he continued limping down the hall. “You need to save your energy, and yelling at windows won’t do crap.”

“That’s it, y’all!” Applejack gasped, excited from her sudden realization. “We can get out through the windows!” The excited cowpony ran towards one of the stained glass windows, peeking through it. “We’re not that far off the ground, we could probably make a rope or something from these drapes and get the heck out of here.”

“But what about Spike?” asked Rarity. “We can’t lower him down, he’s in critical condition.”

“Well, I’m sorry Rare, but we need to get out of here. Now, will someone help me with this here window?”

The red dragon turned around. “I’ll help,” he said, getting glares from the rest of the ponies as he wobbled to the window. “What? She’s right, if you guys want to stay then that’s fine, but he will find you, and he will kill you.”

“I don’t want to, princess,” said the crippled drake. “But I can’t leave Applejack alone out there.” He smiled at the strong earth pony. “She needs someone to protect her.”

The orange mare blushed as they both opened the window, Forge grabbed the drapes and tied it around a nearby pillar. Making sure that it wasn’t loose or anything, he gave the okay for Applejack to go down the rope. The cowpony nodded as she got a grip on it, sliding herself down.

“Yeah,” he said, as he got up on the ledge, gabbing the rope in his hand. He turned his head, looking at the rest of the group. “Good luck,” he smiled.

The pillar that the curtains were tied to exploded there fragments blasting across the room. It took everypony by surprised as they flinched away from this sudden catastrophe. Forge and Applejack weren’t as lucky. The dragon was knocked off the ledge of the window, and the drapes that were used as a rope was undone. Both the dragon and the pony fell out of the window as the laughter of insanity grew ever louder.

The remaining ponies gasped as they gazed out at the large hole in the wall. They couldn’t see the dragon or the pony, but if either of them had actually fallen to the ground, there chances of survival were not very good.

“Oh goddess no!” sobbed Pinkie, her mane and tail starting to deflate. “Not them too.”

“If they are, then they’re under all that rubble,” mumbled Twilight. “Why did she have to go? She should have never tried to separate!”

“She just wanted to survive,” said the guard pony. “I can see why she did it.”

“This is all terrible…” muttered Pinkie, slouching onto the ground. “We’re all going to die…”

“How do you know what she wanted!” yelled the lavender mare. “She just wanted to save herself!"

“Listen lady!” growled Curb Hoof, “I don’t know why the hell you’re yelling at me! I didn’t do crap!”

“Why didn’t you do anything?!” the unicorn demanded. “You’re supposed to protect ponies!”

“How was I supposed to know the freaking pillar was going to snap?! These things are made of solid marble.”

Both of the ponies stop to look at Rarity, she was still levitating Spike with the help of the princesses, but her cheeks were stained with tears.

“Look at you!” she shouted. “Both of you! You’re acting like a couple of foals! They wouldn’t want us arguing like this!” Her eyes started to get watery again. “They would want us to get out safety, and we can only do that if we stick together!”

Twilight and Curb Hoof both looked at each other, sighing heavily. “I think she’s right,” mumbled the guard pony. “We can mourn them later, but right now we need to get moving.”

“Okay…” whimpered Twilight, sniffing a little as she looked one last time down the hole, where her friends had fallen. “Goodbye Applejack.” She wiped her tears as she followed the rest of her friends out of the room.

“What should we do now?” asked Celestia, looking around the newest room that they have entered. “This we’ve been walking through the castle for who knows how long.”

The familiar laughing once again started to echo down the halls. “It’s so wonderful!” it said. “Lost in your own castle, your friends being picked off two by two, it’s like a nursery rhyme gone to hell!” the voiced laughed. “And I love it!”

“Hmm, let me think about that….” he drawled, “No, I don’t think that I will.”

There was more hellish cackling as Conquest appeared in a puff of smoke. “That’s hurts sister,” the dark pony pouted sarcastically. “I don’t think that I’ll ever recover from that blow!”

“You murderer!” screamed Twilight. “You killed them! You killed all of them!”

“As much as I would love to say yes… No,” grinned the demon alicorn. “No, I can promise you that they’re still very much alive. I wouldn’t want them missing the grand finale! It’ll be so very beautiful!”

Naively, the pink and purple ponies looked to the door behind Conquest. Slowly, the large doors started swing open, revealing four figures: three ponies and a dragon. They all seemed barely conscious, like they were about to die at any moment.

“Pinkie no!” shouted Twilight, chasing the pink party pony. “It’s a trap!”

But it was too late for them. The door slammed shut behind the two small ponies. Their screams could be heard from the other side.

“Relax, they’ll be fine,” snickered Conquest, another screech ripping through the air. “They’ll be alive, at least.”

“What have you done to my friends!” shouted Rarity, still staying close to her dragon.

“I’m getting them all ready for the finale, and I would love for the rest of you to get ready as well,” said the dark pony. “And you can either go willingly, or I can drag your beaten and limp bodies there as well. Your choice.”

There was silence, the ponies looked back from one another and then to the dark alicorn. He kept his smile on at all times, and his eyes spoke the truth. One way or another, he would get what he wanted, he always did.

“Very well,” sighed Celestia, bowing her head in defeat as she slowly started to walk towards the door. “I concede.”

Curb Hoof said nothing. With a frown on his face, he too went with his princesses, leaving just the white mare and her dragon.

“No!” cried Rarity. “I won’t leave him! I’m not going to abandon him again!”

The fair skinned unicorn looked down at Spike, whose eyes were open and he was smiling. He slowly lifted his claw and dragged it through her mane. It was still soft and silky, despite all that it had weathered that day.

“I….I don’t want to see you get hurt,” the dragon said. “His ego’s too big to kill you off.”

“He’ll…..” Spike started to cough “He’ll…keep you alive, probably to watch me die…but I’ll find a way to save you,” he whispered. “I promise.”

“It’s going to be okay,” the drake said, trying to push back the tears in his eyes. “I won’t let him hurt you.”

Rarity took a deep breath, “Okay, if you say so,” she trembled, walking with the others. “I love you…”

“I love you too, dragon,” mocked Conquest as the rest of the ponies left the room, the doors slamming behind them. “I guess that just leaves you and me Spike. You are all alone…with no one to save you, or to help you.”

“What do you want now?” muttered Spike as he laid on floor, glaring at the dark pony that hovered above him.

“It’s not about what I want,” said the alicorn, “But rather, what we all want. Things have gone on long enough I think, and I have wonderful things and ideas planned for the new world,” he snickered. “My world, a sort of Dark Equestria…”

“A Dark Equestria,” repeated Conquest. “Do try and pay attention. Anyways, imagine a world where the sun and the moon are gone and there is only darkness, where instead of mountains made of stone and ice, they’re made of the bones of my victims. Instead of fields and meadows of crisp green grass and colourful flowers, there are fields of fire! This is what I dream of, these are my goals in life, the death of a civilization, and the bliss that comes with it.”

“Crazy?” giggled the dark pony. “I don’t see it that way. I see a world that is full of hatred! Full of scum and filth! And I have had to experience it every single day for my entire god damn LIFE!” he roared. “You think that everything is just perfect? A colourful world with colourful ponies and happiness is all a lie, just a mask to hide the true intentions in every pony’s hearts. I know this very well, I have lived it. It’s what makes me, well, me after all.”

“The world is not as dark as you think it is,” grumbled Spike. “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you. I highly doubt you even knew what it is. But the way you look at the world, it’s wrong. You think that there is only evil in the hearts of ponies? Look around you, there are thousands that are willing to stand against you, good ponies and dragons who have defied you. How is that dark, Conquest? There will always be good in the world; it’s not something that you can kill.”

The demon alicorn sighed. “So diluted, with your thinking,” he groaned. “You will see what I mean Spike, you will learn that all heroes will fall, perhaps maybe in the next life,” the pony grabbed the purple drake’s neck with his hoof. “But for now, it’s time.” He dragged Spike’s body up to the door, slamming it on the frame. “You don’t believe that I can change the world? Well, see for yourself!” he laughed, throwing the dragon through the door.

The first thing the dragon noticed was that he was outside now, the roof of the castle to be specific. The second thing that he noticed was that the weather has changed drastically. No longer was it the sunny skies that Celestia had blessed that morning with, but instead the heavens were crowded with thick grey rainclouds. The rain itself felt like cold knives against the dragon’s scales, and with the typhoon level winds, it was difficult to see what was going on around him. If he were to see though, all he would witness would be tornados and volcanic eruptions tearing up Equestria.

“Do you believe me now?!” cackled Conquest as lightning cracked in the clouds and rain fell, down, soaking the dark pony’s grey mane almost immediately. “Do you not see how beautiful my new world is?!”

Lightning bolts struck down on the ground of the battlefield. The combatants scattered, screaming as the ground and sky rained and exploded hell upon them.

Spike rolled onto his aching back, the rainfall pelting down on him. All he could see were the dark thunderclouds and the white lightning that it produced. “This isn’t beautiful, this is madness!”

“Madness?” gasped Conquest, turning towards the dragon, staring him down as he hovered above him. “THIS. IS. SP—Well actually, you’re right,” he joked, sticking his tongue out. “And what good is madness if you can’t share it with others?”
He snapped his hooves and pillars shot out from the roof. To each of these columns was a pony or dragon strapped to it. His friends, the dragons, the princesses, even Rarity was constrained to pillars, each of them helpless to do anything but watch.

“Mares and Gentlecolts, Dragons and Princesses of all ages!” announced Conquest. “I have gathered you all here today to witness the end of the world and the death of a hero!” he cackled in unison with the lightning. “I hope that you all know that this is all your fault, and I don’t just mean your fault, but every single pony that has or ever will existed. You are all pathetic, worthless and pitiful creatures, and your evil ways have brought this upon yourself.”

“If I am evil, then it is your kind that is worse!” shouted the dark alicorn. “I am only a product of my insanity, an insanity that you all caused! It’s a hatred and madness that has kept me alive for eons!”

“I’m talking about hatred…” smiled Conquest as he looked around at the ponies and dragons. “You still don’t get it do you?”

“You all hate me, do you not?” he asked, their responses were what he expected, general agreeing of their hatred towards him. “And you see that! That is the reason you will never beat me!” he laughed. “I can’t be killed as long as there is hatred in this world! The anger of every living thing is what gives me my power! The more that you hated me, the stronger I became!” The dark pony laughed even harder. “And the best part is, you will never stop hating me! All I do is inspire the hate that created me, that feeds me! You think that I’m a normal pony, that this is your sweet Curator? He gave up long ago! So go ahead, soak it all in, you stupid bastards!”

The wind whistled in the silence as everypony took in what they had just heard. It had been all their fault. They were the reason that he became so powerful, that he was able to keep coming back to life every time he was struck down or torn to shreds. He was fuelled by their anger, their pitiful quarrels and feuds. Every time two ponies had an argument, or somepony got mad for any reason, Conquest grew more powerful. Lashing out with anger, tearing the pony apart would only make him stronger, and after today and this war, he would be unstoppable, and one question crept into the mind of everypony and every dragon…

“Do you see how blind you’ve been?” asked Conquest. “That you all enabled this, and now you have to face the consequences?” He lifted up his hoof, and within it, a large spike of dark magic started to extend it. “Spike the dragon, my foe for a month, and my dear, dear friend,” grinned the pony. “It’s been a time and a half, but I think that it’s time to end this.” He raised his bladed hoof over the down dragon. “Any last words?”

“Yeah…” said Spike, glaring at the dark alicorn, “I know why heroes fall…”

“Because,” said the drake as he drove his foot in between the legs of Conquest. “It gives us a reason to rise.”

Conquest grasped his jewels as he fell to the ground. “Ah, God! Even I’m not that big of an asshole!” he laughed as he rolled around on the ground. Spike started to get up. “Hey, why are you getting up?”

“Oh you didn’t know?” smirked the drake, “Rarity’s been putting my spine back together with her magic, it’s still a little sore, but it’s enough to still kick your ass.”

“Oh my goddess!” grinned Conquest, flashing his white fangs. “You sneaky little bitch, you managed to trick me!”

“Yeah, I guess I did,” smiled Spike, and he pounced on the pony, “And now it’s time to end this.”

“Oh Spike, you’re getting angry,” giggled the alicorn, “You wouldn’t like me when you’re angry.”

“Of course I’m angry at you,” said the purple drake, “Who the hell wouldn’t be? You are an asshole of a massive scale, and I want nothing more than to kill you Conquest.”

“But I know that I can’t kill you Conquest...” continued the dragon, “You’ve made that perfectly clear, but you have endangered the lives of thousands.” Spike felt his chest start to warm up, his body getting strangely stronger. “You’ve threatened the lives of all my friends and tortured them profusely.” His eyes started to glow. “I will always protect my friends from evils creatures like you.” Around his neck, the heart shaped amulet, the one that would come and go at the strangest times, appeared. “A threat against them is a threat against me.” The white glow grew more and more. “I don’t know how to beat you, Conquest. But I know how to set this right.”

His right claw was glowing as he ripped off the glowing amulet. “I have no idea what the hell this is, but every time I’ve been in serious trouble, whenever you’ve actually tried to kill me, or someone I care for, it’s shown up. It belonged to Curator, so he can have it back!”

Spike jammed the heart shaped gem into Conquest’s chest, and there was an outburst of white energy. The amulet started to fuse into the chest of the alicorn, who was screaming with pain. Soon, the black coat of the pony started to melt away, like a layer of dead skin blowing off the body, revealing a white coat beneath. Still the alicorn screamed and still the amulet worked it’s magic, more and more of the alicorn’s coat reverting to white from the shadowy black. The misty grey mane shifted to a brilliant dark red, and the glowing red eyes dimming to a golden yellow. His fangs dulled down, transforming back to normal pony teeth, and the screams no longer sounded like Conquest, but rather somepony else. Spike let go of the amulet as he gazed at a new alicorn in front of him. No longer the insane Dark Conquest.

The red maned alicorn was panting heavily. His eyes were dilated and he was sweating profusely. He rolled over and looked up at the dragon. “You…you saved me... How did you know that would work?”

The alicorn’s smile faded away. “That monster… I regret every day that I allowed him to take control, that I let myself get mad over something like Symphony.”

“You’re pony,” said Spike. “We all make mistakes; I think that anypony would do the same thing in your situation.”

“That still doesn’t excuse what I did,” muttered Curator, “I never should have trusted him, I knew there was something wrong with him, I just didn’t know it was this bad.”

“And you didn’t, but he’s gone now, and you don’t seem anything like him,” said Spike, helping the alicorn. “You’re a good pony, Curator.”

“I… I was, yes,” the white coated pony said. “And I would like to be good again.”

Slowly, the pony’s horn started to glow yellow with power, and over the shackles and bondages that held the ponies and dragons hostage. The cuffs broke with ease and each of the hostages fell to the ground. The quintet of dragons all reunited while Slitilda brushed herself off. Bitterbite quickly rushed over to Glimmer, the drake quickly embracing the dragoness. Rarity and the others ran for Spike, his white mare almost knocking him over with her hug.

“I told you, I would never let him hurt you,” said Spike, brushing a claw through her perfect mane. “And I don’t break promises.”

“Luna! Celestia! It’s so good to finally see you again, after all these ye--” he was interrupted mid-sentence by a pair of dark blue lips. He felt the warm taste of Luna against him. He was shocked of course, but he didn’t fight it. Curator now knew the feelings that his ‘sister’ had for him.

“I’m so sorry, Curator,” said the dark princess when she parted her lips from his. “This is all my fault. I’m the one who caused all of this. You must think I’m a monster.”

“It’s okay Luna,” smiled the red maned alicorn. “I’ve been a monster, and you ain’t one of them.” He wrapped his hooves around both of his sisters. “I’ve missed you both so much, can you ever forgive me?” he cried.

“You are our brother,” sniffed Celestia. “Of course we can forgive you.”

The ponies all looked up in the sky. There they saw a strange and frightening creature, almost like a pony, but it seemed deformed, like a drop of ink in water. Conquest hovered above them in a misty blob of shadows. You could still make out his drifting red eyes, and his crooked white smile.

“You did it!” he said, “You finally were stupid enough to fall for it dragon!”

“Why my plan of course. I set a trap and you sprang it gloriously!” he cackled, as he nosed dive towards the purple dragon. “Months of planning to get that stupid necklace off of you, and you are now fit for the taking.”

“I never wanted Curator, Spike,” laughed Conquest as he collided with the dragon’s face. “I wanted you!”

Spike was knocked to the ground as his body started to twitch. He was groaning in a strange sort way as he grabbed his neck. His feet kicked around and his stomach churned. The dragon spat out green flames as he continued to gag until finally his entire body went limp.

He laid there completely motionless, Rarity cautiously going up to his side, “Spike, are you okay?”

The dragons lips curled up into a big flashy smile. “Couldn’t be better!” he laughed.

His eyes opened up, they were not the emerald greens that she had fallen in love with, but instead, they were a hauntingly glowing red. The dragon sprang up as he goggled over his body. “I did it!” he cackled. “I’m inside the dragon!” He looked at his claws, his sharp, dagger like claws. “With this body, and my magic, nothing can stop me!”

“It’s not Spike anymore!” the dragon laughed. “It’s only Conquest now!” His hand reached for his throat, digging deep into the scales. “Well almost all me. He’s a fighter, this one! But he will fall, they always do…” He looked over at Curator. “None can survive the conquering.”

“We need to stop him now!” shouted the while male alicorn, grabbing the amulet in his teeth. “This amulet wards off his powers, we need to get it around his neck!” he looked towards the group of dragons. “Try and hold him down.”

“Got it!” they all said as they pounced towards Conquest/Spike, who stood there looking amused.

“I don’t have time for this,” he mumbled, forcing his free hand to point towards the oncoming dragons. A chain of red lightning shot out from the tip, striking each of the drakes and dragonesses. They all fell to the ground, their bodies twitching with uncontrollable spasms.

“Now for the steps!” smiled Spike, turning his head towards Curb Hoof. “Step one: Kill the one you hate!” Within a flash, Spike had the guard in his grasp, looking deep into his eyes. “You shouldn’t have been such a jackass, Curb Hoof.”

“This isn’t you Spike,” choked the pony, clawing at the dragon’s hands with his hooves. “Your’re better than this.”

“Not really!” laughed Spike as he dropped the dead body of the guard on the cold roof, his neck broken and his head turned the other way around. “Now for Step two…”

“Stop him!” commanded Curator again, this time leading the charge with his sisters. “We can’t let him finish!”

“STAY OUT OF THIS!” shouted the purple drake, as he mustered up more of his fire, breathing it out and leaving an impassible wall between him and the alicorns. “Now as I was saying, Step two: Kill the one that betrayed you… Oh Slitilda…”

The bronze fire dragon’s body was slowly levitated towards him; she was still limp from the lightning strike as she was lifted to meet the eye level of Spike. “Please…” she begged. “You don’t have to do this. I love you…”

“And that’s the problem,” snickered the drake, “You love him so much that you betrayed him at the capital, and that hurt him very much!” He took a claw and dragged it over her stomach. “And so I think it’s only fair that we return the favor!” He plunged his claw deep within her gut, his claw grabbing on whatever flesh was inside of her and pulling it out. There was an explosion or blood and gore, as he tossed her screaming body aside. “Do me a favour and die slowly, m’kay? And now for the final, and my personal favorite step. Step three…”

She didn’t need any warning, the white mare immediately took off in the opposite direction of Spike, running for her life.
“Why are you running, love?” laughed Spike as he spread his wings. “I just want to give you a nice big hug!” He took off into the air, laughing as he soared circles around his fleeing love. “Where are you running to, darling? Did you forget that we’re on a roof, and you can’t fly?”

“Spike, PLEASE!” the unicorn panted. “I know that you’re in there. You have to fight him, don’t let him control you!” Rarity eventually ran out of roof, as was expected, barley catching herself from falling off. She turned around and almost fell when she saw how close Spike was to her, his eyes still pulsing with evil and his smile still sinister. “Please! You have to fight it, Spike!”

“This is it!” the drake smiled as he easily grabbed the throat of the mare with one hand. “The moment I’ve been waiting for, your death will seal my complete control over the dragon! And with it, the new world!”

With his free hand, he jabbed it towards her face, the mare flinching at this finishing blow.

“Still resisting!” wondered Conquest. “You have a lot of guts dragon!” he laughed. “But I always get what I want!”

He took another jab at her, this time aiming for her heart, and once again he was stopped short, his claws just breaking her pure white coat.

“Stop fighting back, dragon!” the dragon yelled. “It’s inevitable that she dies!”

“No it’s not!” cried Rarity, “You can beat him Spike, I know you can!”

“No…” The dragon raised his claw in the air, the nails shining like silver knives. “He…” He used all of his might in the force of his jab. “Won’t!” And went digging into the chest cavity of Rarity, pulling out her beating heart.

For the Ones we Love

by FlimFlamBros.

The Amulet