//------------------------------// // V // Story: Found // by Nurse Bedpan //------------------------------// “My lord, you’ve slept in. You’re kingdom needs you.” “Rarity? Is that you? Where… am I?” “You are where you belong, sire. In your castle. With me.” Spike shifted to the side and off his bed, a large mattress made specifically for his comfort. He walked towards his radiant wife and kissed her on the lips. “Of course, Rarity. This is where I belong.” "Yes, sire. Yes, indeed." Rarity's voice was flat, completely lacking any or all dramatic flare. "Your hoard continues to grow outside. It would do good to remind your slaves of who rules them." A familiar twinge of joy spiked in the dragon's heart. "My hoard..." It felt alien, yet so right to say those words. "I want to see it. I want to see what's mine." He navigated the dark halls out of his bedchamber to step onto the balcony and confirm the truth spoken by his queen. Oddly, despite his exhilaration, his heart beat was slow and nearly indistinguishable. Stepping out onto the veranda, the great conqueror took in the view around him. The skies were bathed in a satisfying blood red, stretching as far as the eye can see. Peals of black lightning decorated the heavens. His castle towered over the vast region of his new Crystal Empire, taken from the hooves of the “royal pony sisters.” Draconia was all his. The greed he had once suppressed filled his being, made him swell with pride. With greed came power and everything he could have ever wanted. He had all the gems he could eat, the love of his queen, and the unabashed fear from all of his subjects. This was his dream… Wasn’t it? Once upon a time, his dream was to live out his days with his friend and sister Twilight. He dreamed of winning the heart of the most generous mare he ever had the privilege of meeting. He dreamed of having the power to protect all he had held dear. He opened his mouth, but could not bring himself to say a word. The ponies below raised their eyes to him, but no one could see past the black ink and smoke. Had they any reason to cheer for him, no sound would have been heard. The king turned to look at his wife for strength, but found nothing in her vacant smile. Her eyes may have been clear, but her stare stretched for miles beyond him. She wasn’t really in love with him... "This was a gift from my dear friend, Spike-Wikey - the kindest, most generous dragon I know... and I am NOT giving it to a brute like you!" Wait a second - she wasn’t even really there! He wasn’t the feared conqueror of Draconia! Greed never got him anything beyond shame. He could feel the pulse of life, of wakefulness, creeping out from his chest again. In that instant, his voice returned and he addressed the multitudes gathered beneath him. “My name is Spike! Ponyville is my home! And no one is taking it away from me!” Spike’s eyes snapped open. Sombra was in his mind, making him want to BE him. Luckily, the transition breaking caused the melding of consciousness to stop. He was still being pinned to the floor, but something had changed. All the shadows were gone and only the unmoving monarch remained. His horn was inches away from the dragon’s face. Turning his head up towards the clockface, Spike could see streams of light pouring in from outside. “Ha ha! It worked! What do you say to that, Smokey? In a few seconds, the princesses’ll be here to wipe the floor with your sorry butt!” As if to reply, the unicorn lurched and fell to the side, shattering into countless pieces. “Whoa. Well, that was easy.” Twilight’s number one assistant sat up and dusted himself off. He was still terribly tired from running all over Ponyville. If the sun had already come out, then the princesses must have already taken care of things. It would certainly explain why Sombra just up and broke like he did. “You! YOU'RE MINE!” Or not. Spike’s eyes had long adjusted to the dark thanks to spending nearly twenty-four hours inside a pit. He silently thanked his heritage as he spotted the red spike making a beeline for his heart. He managed to clasp both hands together onto the crystal before it could pierce him. Perhaps seeing his plans being thwarted yet again, Sombra doubled his efforts to drive his horn into the young drake. Spike’s claws raked along the red barb, his fatigued muscles straining under the magical force. The unicorn's disembodied voice could still be heard, chanting “Mine” over and over again. Spike was trapped by the jagged fragment, slowly but surely piercing his scales. He could feel his blood being spilled. Any moment now, Equestria would have to deal with a threat even worse than Discord himself! Spike’s life began to flash before his eyes: his hatching, living and studying with Twilight in Canterlot, moving to Ponyville and meeting his friends, getting jealous of Owlowysious, the whole dragon migration debacle… “What was that word Twilight used? ‘Ironic?’ Yeah, that’s it.” Maybe Pinkie Pie had rubbed off on him more than he thought – he could still see the humor in being done in by a gem. A gem? A plan formed in the drake’s head. One even Rainbow Dash would find crazy. Redirecting the last of his strength, Spike grasped Sombra’s horn in his talons, mustering all his force to aim the disembodied appendage to his face… And crushed the evil artefact in his jaws. “You did what?,” asked Cadance. She had come all the way from her throne in the Crystal Kingdom to visit the recuperating mares in Canterlot. “Nothing at all. It’s Spike you should be congratulating.” Twilight, hooked up to a ventilator and an IV, looked absolutely radiant. She was very proud of her little brother. “A baby dragon defeating Sombra twice in a row. Shining would be green with envy,” Cadance intoned. She was wearing an immaculate smile, happy that her friends had survived another onslaught. "Oh, I'm sure he'll get over it. After all, he got the girl... even if he was the one in distress," Celestia's student replied. Ponyville was recovering quite nicely after the recent assault. Both Luna and Celestia managed to pull the village out of the earth with their geomancy and were still busy remolding the earthen spears that had hidden it from their eyes. Pulling the sunken mass of rock from out of the caverns had loosened the evil magic's foothold; both sisters were relieved that Spike had survived up until that long. The corrupting influence of Sombra’s shadows gradually dissipated over the coming days. Buildings regained their structure and the flora and fauna slowly returned. The enthralled citizens had no ill side-effects aside from sore hooves and blurry vision. The sun and moon were terribly welcome sights to everypony. It was as if nothing happened at all. Spike looked out the window of his room at the infirmary. “Figures. Save the country twice and nothing to show for it,” he joked. He could hardly believe it himself. In the instant he chomped down on the cursed horn, he felt anger and greed well up inside of him like never before... Before promptly expelling what was left of the ghost king in a plume of green flame and gas. It was quite the ending to an already stupendous turn of events. “Speak for yourself, Spike!,” declared a squeaky voice. Sweetie Belle, fully recovered from her ordeal, had entered his room. “Hey, Sweetie Belle! Nice of you to come by again,” replied Spike weakly. While he didn’t suffer any ill effects from eating the source of an evil phantom, he was still bedridden from all the exhaustion. While he was glad to have regular visitors, he couldn't hide the slight disappointment in his voice. Sweetie Belle was no Rarity. “We’re taking turns, Rarity and me. She has a new surplus of onyx she needs to keep in check. You know sis – always sees opportunity.” “Ha ha. Sounds just like her.” Things were slipping back into place. He had been smiling a lot after the incident. He found just making eye contact with ponies and talking with them was a tremendous comfort. “And like I said, we all remember the nightmares, Spike. We’re really grateful to you for doing what you did.” She punctuated her statement with a peck to his cheek. “That was from Rarity, by the way,” she grinned cheekily at him. Spike rubbed the cheek dreamily, head already up in the clouds. He suspected that he would be spending his sleep inside a manor of candies and treats, his companion a beautiful white unicorn with a penchant for fashion. “I’ll take it.”