With a yell, General Scar leaped into the air and brought his black crystalline blade down towards the dragon. Spike flapped his wings and sprung backwards from the attack. The sword struck against the tiled floor of the balcony and the overgrown Doberman growled. Immediately, he dashed towards the dragon and tried to slash at his scaly stomach. Spike parried the swing and then another, but the dog was relentless. He then swiped at Spike’s head with the two hooks that replaced his left paw. As Spike sidestepped the hooks, he grabbed a hold of Scar’s left wrist and used the General’s momentum against him to pull him into Spike’s right fist.
Scar staggered backwards as Spike nailed him across the scarred left side of his face. He snarled in anger and raised his sword over his head. It charged with dark magic and then sliced the air in front of him to unleash a wave of black, purple, and green energy. Spike raised his crossed arms to shield himself from the bolt of energy and the attack struck him, pushing him back. Dragon’s had a natural resistance to magic, but Spike could feel the sting of the crackling energy against the back of his arms. Whatever magic Scar had obtained, it was powerful.
In retaliation, Spike took a breath and unleashed a torrent of emerald flames at his enemy. Scar’s talisman crackled with dark magic and he raised his sword to the sky. A wall of black crystals materialized from the floor in front of him and blocked the dragonfire. With another swipe of the sword, the crystal barrier shattered and the shards floated in the air. Scar laughed and thrust his sword forward. The black shards launched themselves at Spike, who rolled out of the way. He hopped back onto his feet and ran across the balcony as long spears of dark crystals were imbedded in the wall behind him.
Taking the offensive, the purple dragon leaped at the General with his claws extended. Scar held out his sword to block the attack, but Spike’s claws that were made for digging up gems combined with his draconic strength shattered the crystalline sword. As Scar staggered back from the force of the impact and from the surprise of his weapon being broken, Spike crouched down and used his wings as a boost as he sprang up in a rising uppercut. Spike’s fisted claw connected with Scar’s bottom jaw, sending the dictator flying backwards.
Scar landed on his back with a grunt. He raised himself up and rubbed his aching jaw. He then snarled at Spike as his eyes glowed green and red. A purple aura emitted from the sides of his eyes and he stood back up. His body started to raise itself up from the ground and hovered over the balcony. The red talisman around his neck continuously crackled with dark magic and a black vapor started to rise of his body like smoke. Scar then raised his paw in the air and the aura of the dark magic began to build over it.
Seeing Scar charging an attack, Spike decided to fight magic with magic. He concentrated and summoned his dragon magic. He waited as the orb of dark magic over Scar’s paw grew bigger and bigger. With a mad shout, Scar lobbed the orb at Spike. He laughed manically as the ball of evil magic sped towards the dragon. Just as the attack was about to reach Spike, he casted the spell and a translucent dome of green energy surrounded him. Scar let out a cry of confusion as his attack bounced off of the shield and then yelled in surprise as his own dark orb was reflected back at him. The attack struck the floating General and he shouted in agony as the dark energy surged through his body like a bolt of lightning.
Scar landed on his paws and knees and panted from pain and exhaustion. However, he was determined not to be defeated. He raised his head towards Spike and the dragon saw that his eyes were blazing an even brighter green and red. The dark vapor that was rising out of his body intensified until the General became a walking silhouette. The only detail Spike could see on his pitch black body was his eyes.
The walking shadow moved in a blur and rammed his shoulder into Spike with alarming speed. The attack knocked Spike over and Scar reached down to grab him by the neck. Spike gagged and chocked as Scar lifted him up with one arm. Scar glared up into Spike’s eyes with hatred and raised his hooked paw. Since Spike’s throat was being restricted, he couldn’t breathe fire in the Doberman’s face. Instead, he thought fast and whipped his spaded tail right between Scar’s legs, exploiting every male’s weak spot. The dog’s eyes bulged as a paralyzing pain seized his body and he dropped the dragon. Scar fell to his knees as he held his wounded pride.
With Scar kneeling at his feet, Spike proceeded to use his head as a punching bag. Each blow rattled the dog’s head and disoriented him. Blow after blow, Spike pummeled General Scar until he saw he was about to fall over. The dragon when grabbed the dizzy dog by the shoulders and head butted him, knocking the General’s horned helmet off his head. It clattered onto the tiled floor and rolled away. Spike then kicked Scar to the ground and watched as he groaned while holding his sore head.
“You think that you have won,” Scar growled as stood back up, staggering a bit. “But I can’t be defeated. Now, you will see the true power of the talisman. Prepare to die!”
“Stop!” a gravelly voice boomed. “Scar, you are no longer of any use to me.”
Spike, Scar, and three Diamond Dogs that were watching the fight looked around to see who had spoken. However, they didn’t see anyone else on the balcony. General Scar then addressed the mysterious voice. “Who are you? I demand you show yourself!”
The curved red talisman then floated by itself and flew off from around Scar’s neck. As it left him, the dark aura of evil magic also left Scar, returning him to normal and rendering him powerless. “I am the one you brought to Krazoa Island. When you discovered me in the frozen north, you thought I was a mere charm that granted you magic powers.”
“I don’t understand,” Scar said to floating object. To be fair, neither did Spike.
“No, I did not think you would,” the gravelly voice said contemptuously to the confused dog. “Your desire for power overwhelmed and blinded you to the truth inside. Now, give Spike what he is looking for. Give him the final Krazoa Spirit!”
“You will regret this,” Scar threatened and then groaned as the purple and blue form of a Krazoa emerged from his body. The strain from the spirit leaving his body combined with the beating he had received from Spike took its toll and the Doberman passed out. When he did, all traces of the dark magic he had once possessed vanished and the three Diamond Dogs’ eyes flashed green and red for a second. They stumbled about and held their heads as though they all had very bad headaches.
“Ow… my head…” Rover complained.
“What happened?” Spot asked. They then looked at the fallen General.
“He don’t have magic necklace anymore” Fido stated. “Does this mean we’re free?”
“I think so,” Rover replied. Spike saw that with Scar defeated, whatever spell he had used to brainwash the Diamond Dogs had apparently ended. He knew something wasn’t right about their behavior. Diamond Dogs may have been greedy, but they wouldn’t go out of their way to start a war.
“So, who is the boss now?” Spot asked to which Rover smacked him in the back of the head. “Ow!”
“I am!” Rover claimed. The Krazoa Spirit then floated pass them to Spike.
“It was in him all this time,” Spike as to himself as the Krazoa hovered before him. He then thought about the red talisman and its dark voice. “But that voice… I recognized it from somewhere.”
The Krazoa Spirit then entered into Spike and floated a bit as he was caught up in its ethereal energy. When he landed, he looked around from the talisman, but it was nowhere to be seen. What was it? How did it have those dark powers? To what end was it using Scar?
Well done, the Krazoa said inside his head. The final sanctuary is on the roof. Spike then ran through the doorway and headed back to the roof of Krazoa Palace. Once there, he saw his friends were still waiting by Rarity’s crystal prison.
“Did you find it?” Twilight Sparkle asked him.
“I did,” he confirmed. “General Scar had it, but I took care of him. It turns out the amulet he had was the one that was really in control and it was brainwashing the Diamond Dogs.”
“An amulet? What kind of amulet?” Twilight asked, troubled by this piece of information.
“It wasn’t the Alicorn Amulet, was it?” asked Pinkie Pie.
“No, but it did grant Scar magic powers and corrupted him like the Alicorn Amulet,” Spike explained.
“What did it look like?” the lavender Alicorn asked.
“It was red and it looked like a claw or a fang,” Spike answered.
“Hhmmm… That doesn’t sound like any magical amulet or charm that I ever heard of,” Twilight stated.
“And the weird part was it started talking and floated away,” Spike told them.
“Now that is weird,” Rainbow Dash agreed. “What kind of necklace talks?”
“It sounds dangerous,” Fluttershy commented. “Maybe we should try to find it before it hurts someone else.”
“It’ll have to wait. Right now Spike needs to get the last Krazoa Spirit back in its place so they can fix the island,” Applejack said to the group.
“She’s right,” Spike agreed. “The Krazoa said the sanctuary is up here somewhere.”
They spread out and searched the rooftop. They then spotted it on the base of the platform on the opposite side as the first sanctuary that Spike had used to release a Krazoa Spirit. Spike knelt down on the glowing white altar and released the spirit into it. The Krazoa statue’s eyes glow and its mouth open. From the bowels of the palace, the Krazoa Spirit rose up and joined the others in circling Rarity’s crystal.
“Woohoo, you did it Spike!” Pinkie Pie cheered as they walked up onto the platform. They watched as all six of the Krazoa Spirit started to spin around the rotating mechanism faster. Something wasn’t right. They had expected the magic barrier to be lowered and Rarity’s prison to be removed, but the Krazoa just kept on circling.
“What’s going on? You said this would save her!” Spike shouted at the Krazoa. Then one of them launched themselves into the crystal and entered Rarity’s body. The alabaster Unicorn mare inside cringed as though she was in pain. “No!”
Spike and the five ponies rushed up to the barrier and started pounding against it. Another spirit entered into Rarity and she cringed again. Spike slashed at the crystal as Twilight tried blasting it with her horn. Applejack bucked it with her hind legs and Rainbow Dash flew into it. No matter what they did, the prison wouldn’t break and two more Krazoa Spirits entered into the imprisoned unicorn. When the last two spirits entered Rarity’s body, her eyes open and they shone with a brilliant purple light. Her horn then glowed with her magic and a bright purple and blue beam of energy shot out of her horn. The powerful surge of energy struck the giant Krazoa Spirit statue that overlooked the roof of the palace and absorbed it. Rarity’s eyes stopped glowing and closed once more as she slumped against the walls of her crystalline prison. The eyes and the gem in the center of the statue’s head started to glow white.
“Rarity!” they all cried out to her.
“Wake up! Wake up!” Spike pleaded. The white mare’s eyelids fluttered and then snapped open. The gyros and the apertures of the mechanism began to spin out of control and then burst apart, sending pieces of metal flying everywhere. Everyone ducked to avoid being hit by the remains of the device and then looked back up to see that the crystal prison was vanishing. The crystal had been suspended over an opening in the roof by a purple magical beam of light, but with the barrier down, Rarity started to fall. She screamed as she fell down to the rotunda of the palace, but then felt something catch her. She opened her eyes and looked up to see that she was in the arms of a certain purple dragon.
“Spike?!” she gasped in a combination of confusion, surprise, and joy. Even more to her surprise, they were flying. Spike landed back on the roof and gently set her down. Once her hooves were safely planted on solid ground once more, she looked up at the dragon that had rescued her. They stared into each other’s eyes, not knowing what to say to one another. As she started to open her mouth to say something, a pink flash suddenly attached itself to her neck.
“Rarity! You’re okay!” Pinkie ecstatically shouted as she cried tears of joy.
“Yes, Pinkie, but do you mind? I can’t breathe!” Rarity managed to wheeze out.
“Oops, sorry,” Pinkie Pie apologized as she loosened her grip. Rarity then found herself in the middle of a group hug as Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, and even Rainbow Dash joined Pinkie in embracing the violet maned Unicorn. They all laughed and cried as they hugged. They attempt to tell her all what had happened, but it came out as an incoherent babble as they all tried to speak over each other. Amused by the confusion, Rarity giggled and then looked forward to see Spike standing there, smiling at her.
“Would you please excuse me girls?” Rarity asked and then stepped out of the group hug towards the dragon. Spike reached into his backpack and pulled out something red and gold.
“I believe you dropped this,” he said as he held a heart shaped fire ruby in his claw.
“My necklace,” she whispered. He then reached around and placed the necklace around her neck. She placed a hoof on it and then looked up at him as tears filled her sapphire eyes.
Suddenly, their reunion was cut short as they heard a rumble. They gasped and looked over to see the head of the giant Krazoa statue rise up from its body.
“I am reborn; the Mighty Krazoa God!” a gravelly voice boomed as the statue’s head looked down at them. The voice then roared in sinister laughter and Spike recognized it as the voice of the red talisman. “Kneel all those that stand before me!”
“We will never kneel to you!” Rarity defiantly shouted up at the false god. “I know who you are!”
The Krazoa head laughed again and then started to fly away.
“Hey, come back here!” Rainbow Dash called after the retreating head and spread her wings, ready to take flight.
“No, he’s mine!” Spike told the Pegasus and then took off after the one who was responsible for all the devastation done to Krazoa Island. Spike flapped his wings and started to catch up with the statue. The giant mask turned around to reveal that it was hollow on the inside. In it, there was a black cloud of dark magic. Then a large curved red horn emerged from the dark mass, followed by a gray face with glowing green and red eyes. A purple aura rose like flames from the side of its eyes and its mouth had sharp teeth.
“I have been looking forward to this day,” the giant head of a dark Unicorn stallion spoke to Spike. “To see you again, Spike the dragon.”
“Sombra!” Spike exclaimed when he recognized the evil king he had played an integral part in defeating. When Spike was still young, he had traveled with his friends to Crystal Empire to find the missing Crystal Heart. When Twilight Sparkle was caught in the evil king’s trap, she instructed him to deliver the Heart to Princess Cadance so that it could be used to stop the tyrant. The love and goodness of the Crystal Ponies powered the heart and Sombra was destroyed in a flash of purifying light. Or at least, so everyone thought.
“And now, to conquer Equestria!” Sombra then turned back around and continued to fly away.
“I’ve got to stop him!” Spike sped after the dark Unicorn and landed on the mask-like face of the Krazoa statue. Spike began to claw away at the surface and the mask tried to throw him off. The mask’s shaking knocked Spike loose and he tumbled through the air until he regained his balance.
The mouth of the Krazoa mask opened and bolts of black, green, and purple lightning shot out of it. Spike quickly dodged put of the way, but the mask pointed its gaping mouth towards him to follow him with the stream of electricity. Spike did a barrel roll and flew out of the trajectory of the attack.
Spike landed back onto the mask and started to bang against its surface. He looked up and noticed the glowing gems on the face. Spike crawled up to one of the “eyes” and started clawing away at it. Sombra’s voice shouted from the other side and even the mask’s face contorted in pain as the dragon’s claws broke away the glowing gem piece by piece. Once the first eye was destroyed, the mask violently lurched and Spike as thrown off again.
The statue’s head turned around and Sombra roared in fury at the purple dragon. The red curved horn charge with dark magic and Sombra shot more bolt of dark energy at Spike. He started to evade the bolts, but Sombra’s aim had improved now that he could see Spike. Bolt after bolt narrowly missed Spike as he darted back and forth. The dark Unicorn growled and then the dark mass behind him started to swirl like a tornado. Spike could feel the wind rushing up behind him and he started to be pulled in by the vacuum. He turned around and started flapping his wings in attempt to escape, but the wind was too strong. Sombra laughed as the dragon struggled in vain to escape, but then Spike got an idea. If Sombra really wanted him, then he could have him.
Spike turned around and flew full speed into Sombra’s face. The tyrant cried in surprise as the dragon latched onto his giant snout and bit down onto it with his diamond shattering bite force. The dark Unicorn thrashed his head side to side, trying to get the dragon off his nose.
“Hey Sombra!” Spike shouted to the unicorn, pulling his fangs out the nose. The angry stallion looked down his nose at the dragon clinging onto it. “You’ve got something in your eye!”
“Gggrraaahhhh!” Sombra screamed in agony as Spike spat a green fireball into his left eye. The mask spun around and Spike was thrown off of Sombra’s face. The mask’s left eye was cracked and no longer glowed. Testing a theory, Spike charged the right eye and slammed his fist into it. The gem fractured and broke apart from the impact. Like the left gem, the bluish white glow faded and Sombra howled in pain. Spike realized the three gems were weak spots and there was only one left.
Sombra threw the dragon off of the mask and black crystal materialized from behind the mask. Spike bolted toward the mask, avoiding the dark missiles as they were hurled at him. The crystals whizzed by as he maneuvered around them and when one of them would be head straight at him, he shatter it with a punch as it reached him. The purple dragon landed on the mask, crawled up to the gem in the center of the mask’s forehead, and started clawing away. With each swipe of the claw, the dark Unicorn on the other side of the mask yelled.
When Spike finally broke the last gem, the mask started to crack. The fractures ran all over the surface of the face of the Krazoa statue and pieces of it started to chip away until the entire mask crumbled. What remained was a storm of angry dark magic. Sombra’s face emerged from the black clouds and roared in frustration. With his good eye, the dark gray Unicorn glared at the dragon. The red horn glowed again and the dark aura gripped Spike. He struggled to free himself from the telekinetic grip, but then stopped and his eyes glowed red and green.
Spike found himself standing on a hill overlooking Ponyville…
“No!” With a burst of dragon magic, Spike dispelled the illusion and freed himself from the magical grip. “That won’t work on me any longer!”
Sombra recoiled from the surge of magic as his curse was broken. He then glared back to the dragon, but was shocked to see Spike speeding right at him. Sombra charged his horn and was about to attack, but the dragon flew pass his head and entered the shadowy mass that was his body.
Inside the heart of darkness, Spike could feel the malice and hatred coming from the self-proclaimed king. The sensation was overwhelming; it was like someone was constantly shouting threats and whispering awful things in his ear frills. Spike could also see visions of the Crystal Empire. Masses of Crystal Ponies were led by chains down the streets of the city as their conqueror looked down at them with sick satisfaction. The enslaved ponies had lost the luster of their once sparkling coats and he could feel the hopelessness and despair coming from them. Sombra relished watching their misery and reveled in his absolute power over their lives.
The disturbing images Spike was subjected to filled him with a righteous anger. This thing didn’t desire to be referred to as a pony; it was a monster. No, worse than that; this was a demon from the pits of Tartarus, and Spike was determined to send it there. The purple dragon reached out with his magic and found what he was looking for. Trapped within the darkness were six lights. Spike concentrated on the bonds that held the lights captive, reached out with his mental claws, grasped the imaginary chains, and pulled with all of his might.
Spike groaned and gritted his fangs as he pulled at the magical bonds, but Sombra’s magic was powerful and he was using the Krazoa’s magic to increase his own. However, that would not stop the dragon. He channeled his righteous anger and his determination to save the lives of everyone on Krazoa Island into his inner fire, causing it to rage like a mighty volcano. With a powerful roar, Spike shattered the chains that held the Krazoa captive and they shot out of the dark storm that was Sombra.
A blinding flash of bluish purple light shone through the dark clouds and the evil unicorn roared in agony as the escaping Krazoa Spirits tore his shadowy form asunder. The explosion of light destroyed the dark storm of magic, vaporizing every wisp of it until Sombra was no more but a bad memory.
In the epicenter of the where the explosion took place, a figure floated midair. Spike panted as he watched the six Krazoa Spirits fly away and saw that the darkness that was Sombra was no more. He then closed his eyes and his utterly spent body fell from the sky down to the world below. A magenta aura surrounded his body and he stopped falling. The Great Fox flew towards the dragon and six mares were standing on the deck of the ship. Twilight Sparkle’s horn was glowing and she lowered Spike’s body onto the ship.
“Spike, are you alright?!” a voice said to the dragon. He opened his eyes and saw the blue eyes of the mare he love looking worriedly down at him. He then saw the others standing around him. Rarity sighed with relief when she saw her special somedragon was unharmed. “Oh, thank heavens! I was so… Mmpphh!”
She let out a muffled cry of surprise as Spike reached up, placed a claw on the back of her head, and pulled her into a passionate kiss. She soon got over the surprise and returned the kiss, wrapping her forelegs around his neck. The other mare were dumbstruck and then started to blush as they watch the dragon and the unicorn share a long embrace.
“Oh my…” Fluttershy exclaimed as her face flushed red in embarrassment.
“Oh my…” Applejack repeated with an amused smirk.
“Oh my…” Twilight Sparkle said as she rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Oh my..." Pinkie Pie said in a surprisingly husky voice.
“Ah yeah, way to go, Spike!” Rainbow Dash cheered. The couple broke the kiss and both parties’ faces were beat red. Spike grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head with a claw.
“Oh my, indeed…” Rarity said dreamily in a daze as she furiously fanned herself with a hoof.
Twilight then shook her head to clear her head and said, “Spike, that was amazing!”
“Yeah, it was…” Spike said with a double meaning as he grinned at Rarity, who blushed even more. They then looked up and saw the six Krazoa Spirits streaking across the sky. The glowing peace spirits swirled together in a spectacular aerial dance as they flew across the island to the four floating pieces of land. The six spirits formed a comet of light and flew into DarkIce Mines. The floating island lowered back down to the crater where it belonged and reattached to the surface. The swirling light then flew to the CloudRunner Fortress and pulled it back down. Then it reconnected the Walled City to Krazoa Island, and then finally Dragon Rock.
As they watched the island become whole again, Spike looked around to the six mares that meant everything in the world to him. He looked to his best friends, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, he looked to his mother, Twilight Sparkle, and then looked down to the mare in his arms, Rarity. He had done; he defeated an evil tyrant, saved an island, reunited with his family, and saved the mare he loved. Mission accomplished.