//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: The Transcripts of Deep Cover Operative Spike // by Matthais Unidostres //------------------------------// Epilogue After the last transcript was projected for all to read, the gem projector turned over, an its magical hum gave way to the shocked and surprised whispers of the crowd. Luna smiled widely, filled with glee. Finally, after thousands of years, she'd get to see a criminal get prosecuted! Sure, there would always be those who broke the law, but high treason? That was rare. And exciting! Luna pranced stiffly back to her big sisters side, now smiling triumphantly so she wouldn't look like a psychopath. She couldn't help but wonder what punishment they'd give this foul little shrimp. "Spike the dragon," Celestia declared, "What do you have to say for yourself?" The chained up dragon stared hard at the ground. He sighed, gathered up his courage, and looked Celestia in the eye. "Celestia, I- Eeeeeyyyaaaaarrrrg! Spike fell to the ground hard, trembling and breathing heavily. "SPIKE!!!" The flash of purple magic as Twilight teleported to the baby dragon's side. Everypony else could only watch in fear as the little dragon groaned and gasped in pain, while the purple unicorn stood over him with a look of genuine concern on her face. Spike looked up at Twilight, his face grimacing with intense pain. "What's wrong, please, speak to me!" Twilight cried tearfully, nuzzling Spike's head. Spike sucked in breath hard and gasped out, "It- it's happening. . .magic power. . . combining. . .evolving. . .now. . .Majesty. . .no tell me. . .so painfuuuullllll- eeeeyaaaack!" Spike punched the ground hard with both fists, "N-n-n-no! No want. . .Greed Growth again. . .no lose sanity! Me control. . .I control. . .I will control this!" Spike roared out as an aura of green fire appeared around him, causing Twilight to jump back from the intense heat, a large burn mark on her right cheek. Spike clutched his head tightly as he continued to rant, "I AM NOT A MONSTER!! I AM NOT A BARBARIAN!! I AM THE PRINCE!" This exclamation was followed by a tremendous pillar of green fire that shot out from around him. Ponies in the crowd screamed in terror and made a run for the door. Shinning Armor began barking orders to the royal guard, "RESTRAIN HIM! STOP HIM! DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE!" Guards flew in from all sides. . .only to be thrown back when the fire pillar exploded outward, revealing an bizarre sight. Standing in the middle of the room, was Spike. However, he had drastically changed. He was now three times taller, about the size of Celestia. He had sprouted small bat-like wings, the same shade of purple as his scales. His claws had gotten longer and sharper, and his green spikes had reached a size and jaggedness that made them look like a buzz saw. He had grown green, scaly eyebrows, and his snout now protruded out a inch or two. Spike opened his eyes and gave himself a quick once over. "I did it. . ." he said softly, then he smiled triumphantly and shouted, "I did it!" Spike's voice had gotten deeper, though not as a deep as when he had gotten bigger from his green growth. It possessed a certainly quality of a powerful young ruler who knew he was unstoppable. Spike's fiery aura died down as he looked at his claws, "I controlled my growth! I willed my body to become what I wanted it! I now am in a form proper for a Dragon Prince!" Spike raised a claw, and it crackled with green magic. "All the magic I've absorbed. . .I finally get to use it! After years of incubating and mingling inside my body, it's finally ready! My day has come!" "SLAY HIM!" Shinning Armor shouted as Cadence cowered behind him in fear. As the guards charged through the now empty royal courtroom, Spike chuckled. "Come on, Shinny!" he mocked, "Did you even read those letters? I have powers beyond imagination! Watch!" Spike's eyes flashed a blinding green, with purple magic streaming out of the corners. Black crystals began to sprout out of the ground all around him. The crystals caught all the unicorn and earth pony guards in an instant. The pegasus guards took to the air, but then the black crystals sprouted out of the walls and ceiling, catching them as well. Shinning Armor ran towards the dragon with fire in his eyes. The black crystals that sprouted up in front of him were obliterated by magical blasts from his horn. The Captain of the Royal Guard tackled the Dragon Prince hard, pinning him to the ground. However, Spike only laughed as the unicorn held him down. "It's been fun, Shinny, but I don't have time to play now!" Spike jeered. With Shinning Armor still on top of him, Spike brought his hands together. Concentrating hard, his hands began glowing with the entire visible light spectrum. "GOODBYE SHINNING ARMOR!!" The "BOOM" that followed was so loud, and the light that accompanied it so bright, that the remaining ponies in the room had to duck behind furniture and cover their eyes and ears. When things settled down, a horrible sight came into view. The crystals had all been shattered to pieces, and the guards lay wounded all over the ground. Shinning Armour stood over Spike, crackling with rainbow colored electricity. He let out a groan before falling over unconscious. "Nooooooooo!" Cadence screamed before falling to the ground in a dead faint. "Rainbow Dash, eat your heart out," Spike thought smugly. "THIS ENDS NOW!" Celestia shouted, the power of the Sun coursing through her, created a visible aura of orange magic around her. "YOUR DOOM IS AT HAND WORM!" Luna roared. Both Alicorns charged at the dragon. At the last moment, Spike vanished in a flash. The Alicorns stopped and looked around. "SHOW YOURSELF, COWARD!" Luna shouted. An evil chuckle echoed through the room, and was followed by a disembodied voice, "It's called tactics and skill, and being smart." Spike suddenly reappeared above them, hanging onto to a pillar with one claw while his small wings flapped up and down in a blur. "Now, how about I try something a little more. . .creative with my new magic," Spike said. His free claw burned purple light, until something golden began to take shape in his palm. "I've got the power of Darkness and Harmony! Of Night and Day! I wan't this power to give me a weapon, that can be any weapon!" Spike said determinedly. The golden blob twisted and turned, until it formed into a golden hilt that fit perfectly in the dragon's hand. Spike smiled eagerly and wielded the hilt. "Prince decides that a good old long-sword should do the trick," Spike narrated to himself. In response, the hilt suddenly grew a long, golden blade. Spike roared and threw himself at the Princesses. The Alicorns shot magical blasts at him, but he either dodged them or deflected them with his sword. One of Celestia's shots was sent right back at Luna, knocking her into a wall. This distracted Celestia, so Spike ran in for some close quarters combat with her. Celestia's long horn hit against Spike's sword again and again, until Celestia created a golden shield that knocked the dragon back. Spike put on and thinking pose, smiled, nodded, and said, "Nothing better than a big ole hammer to smash apart a stubborn shield." The golden sword then transformed into a huge golden mallet. Spike leapt up high and dealt Celestia's shield a mighty blow, shattering it. The blow sent Celestia sprawling; dazed, stunned, and vulnerable. "This is for sending back all of those letters!" Spike shouted as he swung the hammer at Celestia's head. The hammer never hit its mark, because Luna swooped in and knocked Spike over. A jab from the golden hammer sent her sprawling. Luna picked herself up and shouted, "THOU CANNOT BEAT US!" "Prince knows the saying, when all else fails, just shoot 'em!" Spike narrated yet again, as calm as a clam. Luna soon found herself looking into the business end of a rather large golden musket. "Hayseed," she whimpered. Celestia flew in to try get push Luna out of the line of fire- BANG!!! However, this only caused her to get caught in the blast of green magic as well. Spike laughed and fired again, sending the Alicorns sprawling into a pillar. "Prince is done fooling around. He decides to break out the big guns," Spike narrated, and his golden musket became a small cannon about the size of a small chest. Spike smiled wickedly as he charged up a huge fireball, however, a rainbow blur knocked into him, and the cannon shot the fireball into one of the other pillars. This caused a chain reaction that caused other pillars to fall down. Spike held his arms over his head as one of the pillars came crashing down on him. When the dust settled, everypony stared at the pile of rubble, speechless. While the others looked completely distraught, Applejack had grim expression on her face as she nodded her head. Rainbow Dash landed, looking very pleased with herself. She trotted over to the rubble, saying angrily while glaring at it with her crimson eyes, "I knew it'd be me to do you in, you little two faced creep! For all those years you've been lying and tricking us, you little trai-" Dash was cut off when Spike smashed through the rubble and punched her in the face with all his might. "Prince figures it's time to make Rainbow pancakes!" Spike narrated as he wielded his hammer. Applejack charged in from one side and bucked at him. Spike blocked it with his golden hammer, changed it into a musket, and blasted Applejack into a wall. Spike's laughing was cut off when Celestia and Luna blasted him with magic from above. Spike fired his musket at them, but they were too agile up in the air to be easy targets. Spike growled with frustration, and sent black crystal up the walls. However, this didn't work well either, for while Luna attacked downwards, Clestia would obliterate the black crystals. Spike dodged the shower of magical blasts as he headed for the exit. "Grrr! I'm not ready! I'd better teleport out of here and report to Majesty-." With a flash of purple light, Twilight teleported in front of him and created a smile force field around them. Spike tapped his foot impatiently, "Grr! You know I can pop this thing like a soap bubble, right?" Twilight ran up to the dragon and threw her hooves around him. She shouted tearfully, "Spike! Please don't do this! You're still my best friend! I still love you!" Spike grabbed Twilight by her shoulders and positioned her so that they were face to face. "Listen, Twi," Spike said strongly, "I still care about you. A lot. But I have a job to do! A mission! I want to do this! I want to be the Prince! Dragons are so unorganized and uncivilized and divided! I can unite them into one kingdom! One empire! Isn't that awesome! That's why I've been working so hard and doing so much for all these years. Not just gaining magic, but learning from you and Celestia about actually being wise, thinking things through, and running a civilization!" Spike let Twilight go and looked away, "You know I love Rarity, and I don't wanna leave you Twi. But this is bigger than you or me, understand! I know I can't explain it to you, so I'll tell you what." Spike opened his eyes and held his head high, "Once I've united dragon kind into one glorious empire, I'll come back, and whisk you and Rarity away to my capital city. I'll show you the wonders of it! Remember how excited Rarity was at the Crystal Empire? Well imagine how she'll react to the Dragon Empire! They'll be gems everywhere, and tons of scrolls and books for you to study!" Spike smiled and shook Twilight excitedly, "Ancient dragon lore! Dragon magic! Don't you see? All of this will be lost if I don't go! And look at me! I'm not a baby anymore! And with all my powers, the dragons will have to listen to me! My Majesty's big, but he's not powerful enough to control every dragon. But I am! I'll make a dragon kingdom with writing, art, religion, social classes, government, and cities! It will be a true civilization." Spike then gained a sad smile, and softly put a claw on Twilight's shoulder. "Just wait in see, Twi. Spike out. . . for now. . ." Without warning, Spike whipped out his golden musket and fired upwards. The force field shattered, and Spike vanished in a final flash of green light. The End? After this is an Alternate Epilogue, so if you didn't like this one, you might like the other one.