//------------------------------// // Prologue: That Dagger In My Back, Can You Twist It Some More? // Story: Redemption of the Fireheart // by Your Antagonist //------------------------------// Disclaimer: I don’t own anything pertaining to My Little Pony. Actually, I don’t own anything at all. I’m typing this story on a laptop someone left sitting around in Starbucks. Redemption of The Fireheart Written By: Your Antagonist (VegaKS03) Prologue: Hey, that Dagger in my back? Can you Twist it some more? I’ve lived this moment a thousand times, and with each re-enactment I find myself less and less able to contain my rage          Spike always loved to admire the works of art that adorned the walls of Queen Celestia’s castle. As he passed by a statue, he recalled the countless hours he’d spent wandering the castle halls, and how intimate he had become with every corridor in the structure. That knowledge would serve him well in his current predicament, or at least better than his short legs which couldn’t carry him fast enough or as long as he needed them to. He figured that he must have put enough distance between himself and his pursuers and took a moment to rest on the cane Twilight made him. “I saw him run this way, after that traitor!” shouted a voice down the hall, and shortly after of hoofbeats and angry yelling could be heard heading in his general direction. If that wasn’t enough of an incentive to keep moving, an arrow placed itself neatly in the portrait of an alicorn next to his head. After many years of chasing down criminals and fighting oppressive warlords for a living, Spike was less than pleased to find himself on the sharp end of the spear of justice. With one wrong move, it would firmly plant itself in his backside. Making a snap decision, he proceeded to sprint down the hall. If he could just reach the end of the hallway he would be in the clear. His progress came to an abrupt halt as an impact from behind took him clean off of his feet and sent him sprawling to the ground face-first. Recovering from his prone position, he was greeted by the cocky tone of the Head of the Law Enforcement Knights: Lady Rainbow Dash the Loyal. “So, you thought you could escape from me, huh? Newsflash, traitor: I’m the fastest Pegasus in Knight Corps and—” A sudden burst of light and sound erupted in the hall, blinding the law enforcement mare. “Argh! My eyes!” Rainbow Dash yelped, covering her eyes. The giggling of Lady Pinkie Pie the Mad was audible once Rainbow Dash’s screaming subsided. “Sorry boss, I guess I missed my target, huh?” I was only able to escape due to a mistake, or maybe it was fate. Spike picked himself off the ground, grabbed his cane, and, not looking a gift pony in the mouth, resumed sprinting down the hall, dodging a few more arrows as he went. He looked back and saw Lady Rainbow Dash far behind. “You dolt, because of you he’s escaping! Stop laughing, this is serious! Urgh... Big Macintosh, after him!” “I can’t catch him: he’s too far away, and I’m not not quick enough to catch up.” “Both of you are just useless...” If Rainbow Dash wasn’t giving him chase, he might just be home free. All he had to do was make it to Twilight’s room, and, at the moment, he could see the door a few feet from his position. Crashing into door shoulder first, Spike shut it just as quickly as he opened it and turned around to face the rather empty dorm room of his best friend. “Twilight, are you in here? I need somepony who will listen to me—” When I entered that room, I should have known something was wrong when I saw him standing there instead of Twilight. The sound that cut him off was the slow and deliberate sound of a hoof beating on the ground as though it were an attempt at sarcastic applause. “I’m amazed, lizard; I never expected you to outrun Lady Dash, but I decided to wait for you anyway. I’m afraid this is the end of the line, as they say.” Whipping around without hesitation, Spike’s attention was immediately drawn to Sir Blueblood the Clever wearing a crimson cape and levitating a ring-handle saber, blade pointed at Spike. Surely, he would understand Spike’s plight. “Blueblood, you have to believe me. I was set up: I would never attempt to murder the queen, and I‘ve been keeping my greed in check for the kingdom’s sake, so I couldn’t have destroyed—” “Perhaps you didn’t hear me the first time, I said it’s the end of the line.” Blueblood inched the blade closer to Spike. “Blueblood, trust me—” I was naive to consider him a comrade for even the most fleeting of moments, but I was desperate for somepony to believe me. “Oh I do. In fact, I know you’re innocent, Sir Spike the Fireheart. Believe me, I know better than any of the other Knights that your dedication to the populace and the job would never allow you to betray this kingdom. Your campaigning record is flawless, and you’re probably the most decorated officer in Knight Corps next to lady Rainbow Dash. You’d have no reason to assault the queen.” “Oh, that’s a relief; for a moment I thought—” The blade closed the distance to Spike’s face and planted against his lips as though it were shushing him. “Which is why I had you set up.” A smug grin crawled across Blueblood’s lips as he watched Spike’s pupils shrink in realization. “You what?” “Having a hard time hearing, lizard? Allow me to repeat that for you then.” Blueblood cleared his throat and began to enunciate slowly and deliberately in a mocking tone “I.” he gestured to himself with a forehoof, “Set.” He pantomimed setting down an object with both hooves. “You.” He pointed at Spike with a forehoof “Up.” He now pointed his forehoof upwards. Spike glared at Blueblood. “I heard you the first time, jerk. I’ll just tell everyone what I heard in this room and requisition...a... search team...” His sentence trailed off as he noticed Blueblood's grin only became wider and toothier, like a shark cornering a hapless bleeding flounder. “Who would believe you? You may not be aware of this, but there is far too much evidence against you to prove anything otherwise. I made sure of that personally. On top of that, who would believe the story of a dead anarchist traitor who ran away from the long arm of justice after poisoning the queen he was sworn to protect, only to be killed after wounding the national hero?” “What do you mean wounded? I never—” Spike’s rebuttal was cut short as Prince Blueblood turned his blade on himself and sunk it into his own shoulder, which warranted an immediate scream. Breathing heavily, he steeled himself to pull the blade out, but he wimped out twice before actually removing it. “Come on Blueblood you can do this,” he mumbled to himself, and as the saber left his shoulder, he emitted another scream, only this time his voice hit a high pitched and feminine octave. I let my rage get the best of me, and that mistake cost me my credibility. “You’re insane Blueblood...” Spike gripped his cane with anger. “And you’re going to die here, traitor.” Blueblood huffed through labored breathing brought on from his self-inflicted wound and telekinetically whipped his saber at Spike’s head. Spike ducked beneath the strike and, gripping his cane with both hands, twisted the center and pulled. This caused it to extend into a staff that was a couple of inches longer than himself, and he dashed at the now-injured Blueblood. Using the staff as a lance, he rained a series of thrusts at Blueblood's face. Even with his fresh injury, Blueblood was swimming through Spike’s attacks, backing up as he did so. Blueblood dodged the assault perfectly, preparing to retaliate, except he found he’d backpedaled himself into one of Twilight’s bookshelves. Spike anticipated this, and changed tactics: he spun the staff above his head, changed the position of his hands, and swung the long end down on Blueblood. The unicorn was cornered, but not defenseless in the least. He parried the strike with his horn and imbued it with electrical magic energy, which he sent down the shaft of the staff. The resulting effect sent Spike flying towards the other side of the room into Twilight’s bookcases. He recovered quickly enough to avoid the heavy piece of furniture as it fell, but was less than pleased at the crashing sound it made and the voices from the hall that ensued shortly after. “I heard something from the room of Twilight Sparkle, Lady Rainbow Dash, Ma’am!” “Well, don’t just stand there like an idiot! Get after him, and I mean yesterday!” “Ma’am, yes Ma’am!” called a collective chorus of voices from the hall. Blueblood gripped his injured shoulder with a forehoof and shot Spike another smug grin. “Well, Spike the Fireheart, what will you do now? Here’s a hint: surrender.” I don’t know if I was driven to do what I did in those moments out of fear for my life, out of disdain of Blueblood, or just to avoid the disappointed looks of my peers and friends... Spike prepared to rebut that claim when the door crashed open to reveal several guards and, most notably among them, Lady Applejack the Truth. “Sir Spike the Fireheart, ya’ll are under arrest for the attempted assassination of the Queen, and terroristic acts upon the general populace— Hey, where do ya’ll think you’re goin’? After him!” Spike scrambled over to the window by Twilight’s bed and, without thinking it through, he snapped into action and smashed through the window and into the night. As he leapt into the darkness, only one thought crossed his mind: Vengeance. After that I fell into the darkness, but my memory fails me from there. I’ve relived this moment countless times and it never gets any easier. TheWattsMan19: done. TheWattsMan19: ...out of curiosity, why did you delete everything? Ian Vega-Cerezo: What?