"It will all be mine." Both Spike and Twilight backed away slowly as the orange version of Spike slowly started to walk towards them, reaching out with his ring hand in an attempt to grab the Element of Harmony off Twilight's neck. Twilight responded by firing a blast of magic into the false Spike's chest, sending him skidding backwards into the buildings wall. She smiled in triumph as the orange dragon was blasted apart, but the ring that fell to the ground began to glow again and it rematerialized the false Spike in a matter of seconds. Spike and Twilight watched as the orange dragon stood back up and slowly turned around to face them as the ring slipped itself back on.
"What's happening?" Twilight asked as she started to fire more and more magic into the dragon, having the same result as before. The false Spike threw up an orange barrier around himself that deflected her spells while the real Spike could only watch. "Why won't this thing die?!" she screamed as she threw herself to the side to avoid a giant orange nail that the false dragon threw at her, watching as it impaled itself into the side of one of the other buildings.
'It is a manifestation if the greed that the former Green Lantern held in his heart,' the ring said to Twilight as she placed a barrier between the orange Spike and the real one, leaving herself open so that the ring would only have her to go after. The false Spike roared with rage as he started to fire orange missiles into the barrier, which just barely managed to hold up under the assault. Twilight picked up the greed Spike with her magic and tossed him across the sky, buying herself some time to get Spike to safety.
"Come on Spike, we're getting you out of here," Twilight said as she levitated Spike onto her back and ran off to find the others, magic still flowing through her horn in case she needed to use it again. "What do you mean a manifestation of Spike's greed? The Elements of Harmony should have destroyed all the greed in his body."
'In actuality, the greed was expelled from his body from the magic power that you used, it was not destroyed,' the ring explained as a massive explosion of orange went off in the distance, telling the two that the greed Spike was back up. 'The greed that was expelled was cast into the ring, allowing it to make a construct of Spike to sustain it. It cannot be completely destroyed. Only temporarily.'
"Then how do we stop it?" Spike asked, having bent over to listen in on the conversation. "Can't we take the ring off its finger or hit it with another blast of the Elements?"
'It would be unlikely that taking the ring off would stop it,' the ring answered. 'But analysis of the Elements powers shows that there is a small percentage of a chance that another blast would completely drive the greed away. That is the only solution outside of finding a Blue Lantern.' Spike and Twilight didn't know what a Blue Lantern was, but now that they had a plan they had a way to fight back. Twilight and Spike raced over to where the other Elements of Harmony had been assisting ponies who had been trapped under rubble or had been hurt in the attack.
"Twilight, there you are," Pinkie said as Twilight and Spike came running up to them. "I was worried about you, what with the giant orange explosion that we saw just a minute ago."
"I thought that we destroyed that orange dragon, why is there still orange explosions going off?" Rainbow Dash asked as she flew up to Twilight. "And...Why is Spike here?"
"I grabbed him to get him out of harm’s way," Twilight explained quickly as she let Spike off of her back before looking back to her friends. "We're going to need the Elements of Harmony again to stop the Orange Dragon. Unfortunately, the dragon somehow managed to survive and is coming back for round two. I think that another shot of Harmony will be enough to stop it." The ponies looked at her with uncertainty, but the orange dragon chose that moment to slam into the ground in front of them.
"Give them to me!" he roared as he threw himself at the ponies. Twilight and Rarity combined their magic in one giant blast that threw the fake Spike backwards. His ring caught him before he could hit the ground and threw himself back at the ponies.
"Girls, take positions!" Twilight yelled out to the others as she used her magic to pick Spike up and place him behind a large chunk of rubble to keep him out of harm’s way. The six ponies stood in the circle as the Elements began to flow through them again and formed the Storm of Harmony. Twilight and the others rose into the air as Spike started firing orange bolts at them, roaring about how he would take their lives along with their Elements. Just like before, when the Elements collided with the orange energy of the ring, the ring was overpowered and the Elements consumed the fake Spike. But while the ponies smiled at the sound of the fake Spike being defeated by the Elements, none of them noticed that an orange light appeared behind them.
"TWILIGHT! Behind you!" Spike yelled out as the fake Spike appeared behind the ponies. Twilight turned around as an orange claw grabbed the tiara on her head and tore it off, breaking the Elements power as well as throwing Twilight backwards from the force of the impact. Twilight fell to the ground with a cry of pain as the false Spike grabbed the crown with his ring and brought it close to him, clutching it close to his heart once he had it.
"It's mine now," he said softly as the other Elements continued to fire upon him with their power, giving Spike the chance to race over to Twilight to see if she was alright. Twilight had a pretty sizeable cut on the side of her body that was bleeding and she was struggling slightly to breath, the pain keeping her from concentrating on her magic.
"Twilight, are you okay?" Spike asked her as Rarity let out a scream as she was tossed back by an orange boxing glove that drove itself into her chest. Fluttershy was the next to fall as the Spike copy created a massive flyswatter that he proceeded to crush her with. RD went in for a supersonic kick to the face, but she too was caught by the orange light and slammed to the ground repeatedly before he tossed her aside, grabbing her Element from off her neck and doing the same with Rarity and Fluttershy.
"Only two left now, then I will have them all," false Spike said as he turned towards Pinkie and AJ, each of whom snorted in rage as they flattened their ears before they charged at him, using their elemental power to fuel their attacks. Spike dodged a kick by AJ that tore apart the ground thanks to the magic that now ran through her body. However, fake Spike used the ring to shoot into the sky rain down a storm of meteors upon her, crushing her underneath of the orange rocks. Pinkie continued to fire her party cannon at Spike, who weaved through the sky to avoid her shots before he countered with by trapping her within a cage.
"Hey! Let me out!" she yelled as she tried to throw herself through the bars, but the structure was too strong and she bounced off without making a dent. "Oh you are in so much trouble when I figure out how to get out of here!" Fake Spike scowled at her before he used his ring to take the Element form her, turning to AJ and taking hers as well.
"Now they are all mine! And now that they are mine they are so much more valuable, making it even greater that they're mine!" Fake Spike yelled into the sky with a gleeful laugh, holding all the Elements above his head. The other Spike had been trying to wake Twilight up, letting out a sigh of relief as she groaned and opened her eyes.
"Twilight! Thank Celestia you're alright!" Spike yelled as he hugged her around the neck.
"I'm not alright Spike, I'm hurt pretty bad," Twilight said weakly as she struggled to get back up, but the wound on her side flooded her with pain again and she lay back down with a cry. "I can't get up and that fake you is still running loose. And it looks like he beat the others to."
"What do we do?" Spike asked her as he looked over his shoulder at his other self, who was too busy staring at the Elements to pay them any heed.
"What I want you to do is run back to the library and write to Celestia to get her to come here," Twilight panted as she used her magic to force herself back to her hooves, ignoring the pain as best she could as she turned to face the fake Spike. "I'll distract him for as long as possible while you run. Hurry." Spike looked up at Twilight one last time and turned to run towards the library, but something inside of him stopped him from running. He had been the one who gave into the greed, making him responsible for what happened to the town and to his friends. Twilight and her friends always helped him whenever he did something wrong or caused trouble, but he could never pay them back. But as he looked up at his closet friend who was wounded and bleeding, his fear for his life gave in to a desire to help her. To save them all.
"Stand back Twilight, I'll handle this one," Spike said as he stepped in front of Twilight, who looked down at him with pained and weak eyes.
"Are you...crazy? He'll-"
"Kill me? Maybe. But you're my best friend," Spike told her as he looked back at her with a smile. "And I'm willing to put my life on the line for you and the others. I willed myself to overcome the greed, so I will be the one to help you. And as an annoying ring once told me, as long as I will it, there is nothing I can't do!" Twilight was just about to teleport him back to the library herself when the ring on her horn began to glow as it flew off her horn and slipped back onto one of his fingers, letting its power run through him again. The Green Lantern suit of his materialized on his body and his ring glowed with power as it was now back onto the Lantern it had chosen. Twilight gasped when the transformation finished, with Spike no longer there, having been replaced by the Green Lantern. Spike looked down at himself with wide eyes before he looked at the ring with a smile, a smile that he then gave to Twilight.
"Like I said Twi, I got this. Hey, ugly!" Spike shouted at the fake him, shooting a blast of green energy out of his ring at the fakes head. The fake blocked the green blast with his own ring and slowly turned his head towards Spike, his eyes widening as he saw the green ring on his finger. "Guess what I have that you don't?" Spike taunted as he waved his ring finger at the orange dragon. The dragon's eyes narrowed as he reached out for it, dropping the Elements as his greed for something new.
"That ring...looks so much shinier than mine," the fake Spike muttered to himself in awe as he reached out with one hand towards the green ring. Then his face turned into a look of pure rage and he pointed his own ring at Spike to fire off a massive spear towards both Spike and Twilight. Twilight couldn't react in time due to the damage she had already sustained, but Spike was able to create a green shield in front of the both of them that stopped the spear. Fake Spike screamed in rage at his failed attempt and he flung himself towards Spike with both hands extended, his greed filled eyes focused on the ring on Spike's finger. Spike saw him coming and materialized a boxing glove on his hand, waiting until the copy was right in front of him before he drove his fist into his jaw and sent the fake skywards.
"Don't worry Twilight, I got this one," Spike said to Twilight with a smile before he launched himself into the sky after his copy. Twilight watched his green trail vanish into the clouds with fear in her eyes, hoping that Spike knew what he was doing. The other Elements of Harmony had woken up or managed to get to their hooves again and all of them walked over to Twilight, Rarity bringing their discarded Elements of Harmony with her.
"Is Spike that Emerald Dragon feller?" Applejack whispered into Twilight's ears so that the others wouldn't hear, looking at them to make sure that their eyes were only focused on the battle that was taking place above in the clouds. Twilight could only nod as she saw flashes of green and orange light up the sky. She didn't care if the other ponies knew about Spike's secret or what they thought about him being a hero, she just wanted him back safe.
"Think that the Emerald Dragon will be able to handle this one?" RD asked her friends as her eyes were cemented to the battle of colors that flashed across the sky. "I mean, that orange dragon seems to have him down move for move."
"I think he'll be just fine," Rarity said as her eyes lit up with colors. "After all, heroes never lose. And he is Ponyville's new hero." Twilight wished that she could share her friends confidence, but at that moment she was doing her best not to let her friends see just how scared she was and how concerned about Spike's safety. None of the ponies noticed that the citizens of Ponyville had started to return to the scene of the battle at the sight of the green light, all of them looking up in awe at the light show going on. While all of them had no idea where either of these dragons came from, they did know that the orange one had attacked them and the green one had helped them. So much to the six Elements surprise, the entire town of Ponyville started to cheer for the Emerald Dragon, calling out him to win and chanting his name.
"It seems that the ponies have taken him on as their hero as well," Fluttershy said with a smile as she looked around at all the ponies before turning her gaze skyward again. Despite the ponies faith in Spike, above the clouds where the battle raged he wasn't so sure that he could win this fight as he battled for his life against his counterpart. The battle between the two dragon's wasn't one of strength or skill, it was about who could think of something to make that the other couldn't think of something to counter with in time to protect themselves. Spike rolled out of the way of a swarm of massive orange claws that all attempted to grab him out of the air, weaving in and out of clouds in a desperate attempt to lose the claws. When his efforts to out maneuver them didn't work, Spike spun around with his ring pointed at the claws and fired a number of Twilight styled fireballs at them, laughing out loud as they all went up in green flames.
"Haha! Seems like my will is way too much for that greed of yours!" Spike taunted his counterpart as he made a face at him, causing his duplicate to roar in rage and create a giant sword that he started to swing at Spike. Spike willed into being a sword of his own and intercepted his foes swing with a strike of his own, the sound of the metallic clang echoing across the sky. "Why don't you give up and take the ring off?" Spike asked him as the two pressed their faces close to each other’s as they each tried to overpower the other. "You no longer have my greed, so you're going to run out of power eventually."
"I will have you and your ring!" the fake spat back. "Then I will take those ponies and their Elements! Then I will have the town! Then I will take the whole-!" Spike changed his construct from a sword to a boxing glove and rolled through the air under the orange blade, putting his opponent off balance for a second as he wound up his punch and drove his green glove into his foes gut, watching as he sent the other Spike flying across the sky.
"Yeah, how did you like my fist in your gut?" Spike asked as he placed his hands on his hips and threw back his head with a chuckle, but his laugh died as he saw the other Spike point his ring at the ground and rip a boulder out of the ground, which he then threw at Spike as well as firing a bolt of orange energy at him at the same time. Spike looked from the boulder to the energy blasts, having no idea what to stop first. He closed his eyes and held out his ring, hoping that he drew something good. What he willed up was a giant version of the Pinkie cannon that fired a giant blast of green at both the boulder and the incoming energy attack, shattering both of them and forced the fake to throw up one of the biggest shields that he could manage to stop the cannon. Fake Spike had finally given up on the tricks and clever attacks, so he fired a beam of pure greed at Spike, who countered with a beam of sheer will to intercept it. The two beams lit up the sky as green and orange collided, both of the dragons pouring all of their power into their attack.
"I will have you dragon, I want you more than anything else on this planet!" the fake Spike roared, the ring speaking through him. Spike realized that this was the ring talking, that the ring wanted Spike back more than anything. "You have the most greed inside of you than any other on this planet! I will have you back!"
"No, I will never allow myself to give into my greed again!" Spike roared as he pushed back on the orange beam with all of his will, both attacks at a standstill as their light lit up the sky. "I know that I may be greedy and it can get to the point of ridiculousness at times, but I can and WILL be better! So you better get used to being alone or find yourself a new host, because I will never give in. NEVER!" Spike roared as he put all of his power into the beam, willing his ring to overcome the greed that he had to overcome. And just as he willed, the ring obeyed. His green beam started to push back the orange one, slowly at first but gained more and more speed as greed gave into will.
"NO! I will have this victory!" the copy screamed as it tried to push back but to no avail. "I will have it all."
"No, all you're getting is a beat down!" Spike yelled back as he gave the ring one last push as his will finally overcame the orange beam and struck the copy square in the chest, causing it to cry out as it was consumed by his will. Spike willed the copy to be stuck to the end of a giant rock that he then threw at the ground with a yell, watching as the boulder headed straight for the outskirts of Ponyville. Then, to make sure that it was over, he willed another rock above the first one and threw it down after him. Spike watched along with the rest of the ponies down below as the first rock crashed into the ground, followed a second later by the next rock which broke the first one apart and buried the copy beneath it. Only after waiting a minute to make sure that he had truly beaten his foe did Spike let out a sigh and slowly allowed himself to sink down towards the town, landing in the center of it next to the Elements of Harmony, who looked at him for the most part like the rest of the town did: with awe.
"You did it..." Fluttershy said in amazement. "You beat him."
"Um, yeah. I guess I did," Spike said with a shrug, the realization of what he had just done was completely lost on him. Then came something he had not been expecting: the cheering. Spike and the ponies all looked around at all of the ponies who had been watching the battle, each of whom was cheering for the Emerald Dragon. Spike looked around at all the cheering ponies with a blush hidden by the green mask, having no idea how to react to all the cheering. He looked over at Twilight who simply nodded with a smile. And that was all he needed to smile as well and start to drink in the cheers, doing a few bows as well. But then all of the ponies heard the sound of rocks being thrown and they all looked towards the edge of the town, where a flash of orange light could be seen followed by an orange trail that landed in front of the ponies. The orange ring floated in front of them as it slowly began to reconstruct the false Spike again, who glared at Spike as his eyes returned. He said nothing, but lifted his ring into the air and started to grow, getting bigger and bigger until he was bigger than most of the buildings that were still standing. The Elements of Harmony and Spike watched as the giant Spike glared down at them, roaring at them as it lifted one of its giant hands up in preparation to smash them.
"Get the Elements of Harmony ready to fire again!" Spike yelled at Twilight as he turned back towards his giant counterpart and looked down at his ring with a smile full of determination. "I think it's time for the hero they've all been demanding for to appear!" Spike lifted his ring into the air as he said this, wanting to take off into the sky, but instead green energy shot out of the ring and he started to change forms from the Green Lantern...to the Emerald Dragon. The green energy began to construct itself around Spike's body, forming an exoskeleton of sorts in the shape of a giant green dragon with giant muscles and wings that stretched across the buildings that made him big enough to match the giant Spike. The Emerald Dragon reached out with one of its massive claws to catch the arm of the giant Spike before it could slam it's fist into the ponies.
"You will not hurt them," the Emerald Dragon said in a deep voice very different from Spike's that echoed across the land before it brought back its fist and drove it into the gut of the giant Spike. The orange dragon doubled over as the Emerald Dragon lifted both claws over its head and drove them onto the Spike's back, sending him crashing into the ground. The Emerald Dragon inhaled deeply and let loose a torrent of flames upon his fallen foe, the orange construct barely able to hold up to the will of the flames. Under the unrelenting flames the orange construct began to break down, shrinking in size until it was back to Spike's original size. The Emerald Dragon let out a roar and ascended into the sky, coming to a stop above the fake Spike as it let loose one last fireball down towards it. The fake Spike could only look up as the giant green ball came hurtling towards, lifting its ring on last time to try and protect itself before it was consumed by the green fire. The Dragon landed in front of the ponies and vanished back into the ring, returning Spike to his original size and Green Lantern outfit. Looking through the green flames that burned on the ground, Spike saw that the fake him was completely gone and only the ring remained.
"Alright girls, NOW!" Spike yelled as he flew out of the way of the six Elements of Harmony, who had completed the preparations for their spell and floated in the air behind them, a white magic connecting all of them together. When the six opened their eyes, the torrent of magic emerged from them in the form of a giant rainbow that shot into the sky. The rainbow of magic swirled twice above the ring before it came cascading down upon it in a storm of magic and light, putting out the green fires as well as preventing the ring from giving off any more of its power. Spike watched as the Elements wrapped themselves around the ring, consuming it in their magic. A giant flash of white light went off when the spell was complete and when Spike could finally see again, the ring was now made entirely of stone and lay on the ground, no orange energy coming off of it. Spike walked over and scooped the stone ring up before he looked back at all the ponies and the Elements with a smile.
"It's alright everypony. You're all safe now." And then the cheering began again. Spike looked at all the cheering ponies as they all started to run towards him, never noticing the look that Twilight was giving him as the other Elements of Harmony ran over as well. If he could have seen her eyes he would have been shocked by what was in them.
Her eyes were filled with pride.