//------------------------------// // Chp. 3: Mecha Spike and Cavern Catastrophe // Story: Spike: Twinsanity! // by Stardust Speedster //------------------------------// Sort of Like A Birthday Party... Spike huffed as he struggled to get to the center of the strange tribal tower Rarity had just gotten to. It didn't take long for him to reach his date, but what he saw next made his jaw drop. Above him, he could see a few familiar faces glaring down at him, while "Rarity" laughed maniacally. He then heard a large thud as a gate locked him in this pit, surrounded with spikes. "Surprised to see me, Spike?" said Trixie as she pulled off her Rarity outfit, returning to her normal voice. Spike gulped as he saw the unicorn lift herself into the air with magic. "Like that one muffin obsessed pegasus, I keep coming back" she grinned. "Three years I spent alone in that frozen prison, and I missed you!" as she cooed the last part with fake happiness. "So I've organized a little gathering," the mare said, gesturing to the crowd of old enemies. "Sort of like a birthday party, except the EXACT opposite. And look, all of your friends are here." she mocked, as Spike got a clearer view. Above him, he saw Garble, the jerky teenage dragon he met on his dragon quest, and two of his cronies. Beside them was who he assumed was Iron Will, who Fluttershy had said was a bit of a bully when he made her "take nothing from nopony." Next in line was Pinkie Pie, holding a cake that said "Happy Birthday, Spike!" in frosting, and looking very confused. "Are we at the right party, Spike?" she called down. She was then pushed aside by the cruel griffon, Gilda, who treated almost everypony like garbage when she visited. Strangely, Spike saw what looked to be his old pet phoenix, Peewee, looking down at him and holding a baseball bat menacingly. The last two villains were Queen Chrysalis and the Mane-iac, who was still wrapped around her own mane, bouncing around. "You're very popular you know," Trixie mocked. "Why don't we start by handing out the gifts?" She then got into a stance, as she landed on a platform above the dragon. Spike felt sweat running down the side of his scales. How was he supposed to take on Trixie by himself? The other times, Twilight and the girls were there, but now... he was alone. She began by shooting out energy balls from her horn. Spike narrowly dodged the attack, but nearly fell off into the pit below. This occurred for multiple times, with no way for the dragon to hit her. He racked his brain, trying to find some sort of weakness. As the unicorn began her attack again, he noticed that most of the balls were red, while one she shot out was green. "Hmm... maybe if I attack that, it could do something?" Spike mused. He decided it would be better than dancing around before getting impaled, so as the green sphere flew towards him, he punched it hard with his left claw. At first, he felt nothing, then he saw the green ball return to it's sender. It hit Trixie square in the jaw, making her fall on her back. "Must be that power boost from Celestia," Spike grinned, now knowing how to beat the fake magician. "Ouch! How dare you hit the Great and Powerful Trixie with her own spells!" she snarled, creating more energy spheres to throw at him. She shot more rapidly, while Spike jumped up and down and all around to dodge them. Out of nowhere, she began to throw bombs at him, making the platform even smaller. "This one's from Gilda! Here's one from Garble... Oh, Chrysalis, you shouldn't have!" as Spike weaved in and out of range. He then saw more green spells, and smacked them right back. This want on for a few more cycles, till Trixie looked tuckered out and warped out of the pit. "Fine! Cheat all you want, dragon, but Trixie has something to even the odds!" She then whistled and looked up to the sky. It was hard to see, but Spike saw something huge coming down to the pit, and it didn't look like much room was going to be left for him. He searched around frantically, trying to find a way out. "Meet your brand new, hydraulically-operated twin brother... MECHA SPIKE!" A giant shadow loomed over the purple dragon's head, as he turned to see a giant metallic dragon robot. It greatly resembled what grown up dragons look like, but had the color scheme of himself. It's mouth was fixed in a permanent snarl, teeth bared. What really was interesting was the two claws, which featured a chainsaw in one hand and a rocket launcher in the other. At the head, there was an opening, holding the cockpit. It was being piloted by none other than Flim and Flam, the two geniuses who built the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 a few years ago. The hard stomping of the machine flipped down a staircase on the tower, which Spike scampered up as the Mecha Spike landed where he stood not five seconds ago. "You are exceptionally brilliant, my dear!" said Flim as he began to literally work his magic, making the robot give out a metallic growl. "I couldn't agree more, brother!" said Flam excitedly. "I know, you fools!" yelled Trixie over the clank of the machine. "Initiate missile attack." The dragon then raised it's left arm towards Spike, holding the launcher up to his face. "Sweet Celestia on a stick!" Spike yelled as he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. Sadly, he was to close to the machine, and the missile's blast radius managed to hit him. Spike steeled himself to fall off the tower to his doom, but that never happened. He opened his tightly clenched eyes to see that the amulet around his neck glowed and blocked the attack. Both he and Trixie were shocked. "Haha, thank you, Celestia!" he cheered as he got ready to fight back. "So that's what she meant earlier," he thought to himself. "What's wrong with you two? Blast him into the sky!" the unicorn mare yelled to the twins. The two pumped their magic into the machine and began to shoot missiles into the air. Spike managed to dodge these, but then saw the metal dragon's right arm cut directly in front of him, chainsaw whirring alarmingly close. He jumped back, as he turned to see Mecha Spike lighting up his mouth. Spike then saw the machine spit out imitation dragon fire, which even looked somewhat green. However, they must have forgotten Spike can withstand flames, so he opened his own jaws and let loose his own fire. Increased by the power of the amulet, his dragon fire overpowered the metal dragon's flames and hit the machine dead in the cockpit of the two brothers, causing the machine to short circuit. "Uh, there seems to be a problem," Flam said worriedly. "Mecha Spike isn't listening to us anymore." Trixie facehoofed hard as she watched the two panic, while Spike did a victory dance, infuriating her. "I suggest we RUN!!!" said Flim as he and his brother warped out of the machine. The Mecha Spike seemed to grow a mind of it's own, and began to spit fireballs at Spike rapidly. Spike dodged the first few, then launched his own in rapid succession, eventually taking off both arms of the fake dragon. The robot seemed to have a tantrum, jumping up and down angrily. It did not notice that it quickly broke the floor of the spike pit, showing nothing but darkness below. The dragon floated in mid-air for a moment, then looked down at the hole he made, then looked back up at Spike before falling down. Spike was reminded of those Saturday morning cartoons he watched with Twilight when he was first hatched. As Trixie floated in front of Spike, a lone missile shot from the hole and hit the side of the tower's edge, flinging both her and Spike down to the gaping emptiness below. The two screamed until they could no longer be heard. The villains rose up from the shelter they hid behind while the fight ensued. They each looked at each other, not knowing what to do next. Iron Will spoke up first. "So, anypony want lunch?" Everyone murmured in agreement, and left to go grab some evil coffee and donuts, or whatever villains eat. Pinkie walked up, still confused as ever, and rubbed her hoof on her chin in thought. "... I wonder if I should tell Twilight about this?" Cavern Catastrophe Strangely enough, the hole was not terribly deep. As the mare and dragon fell downwards, they saw that one of the walls were slanting in a way to safely slide on. Spike managed to get down without too many bumps, but Trixie somehow managed to hit every single rock on the way down. Eventually the hole opened up into a cavern, where pieces of the Mecha Spike still sparked pathetically. "Whew. Glad that's over with," Spike whistled, dusting himself off. However, Trixie was infuriated with all the failure that had just occurred. She started to yell, then screamed, then spout out such strong curse words that I cannot mention due to keeping a teen rating. She looked at Spike, with venom in her eyes. "YOU! GET OVER HERE!" she yelled as she ran up to him like a maniac. Spike tried to run away, but she nailed him with an uppercut before anything else. Instinctively, Spike punched back, jabbing her in the snout. The two eventually had a big ball of fighting rolling around, pulling out all the moves, One minute, Trixie would kick Spike between the legs. Another, Spike gave the unicorn a massive wet willie. As the fighting escalated, the two never noticed that they were falling down a hole in the floor. The ball of fighters rolled deeper into the unknown caverns, smashing into stalactites and crates that somehow made it down there. They went farther, finding some man-made planks guiding them around the place, lanterns burning brightly. Soon the two rolled into giant crystals, of varying sizes. With each tap, the caves shook threatingly. After the third crystal was hit, A huge boulder broke open a path into what looked like a mine. More lanterns hung from the tops of the neatly dug holes, showing signs of civilization. The fighters rolled onto some old time wooden wheels, lifting them up onto flat ground. Trixie rolled off of Spike, her nose bleeding, hair in what Rarity would call a travesty. She looked up to see a bright, shining shape float in front of her, making her broken-tooth grin in astonishment. "Ah! A Power Crystal!" she snatched it from the air, gleaming down at hit. Spike, with a few scratched scales and multiple bruises, looked to see Trixie carrying a beautiful crystal, which made him go into a trance. Trixie noticed the purple dragon walking towards her, arms outstretched. "Keep back, you weak minded fool!" she held it defensively. "Avert your gaze, lest you go 'Crystal Crazy'!" making a circling gesture with her hoof. Beneath her the ground shook, making everything rock back and forth. She could do nothing as a giant drill pushed the earth she stood on straight up. The doors opened to reveal giant dogs with a love of gems stepping out. "Ah, it's that stupid dragon again, probably trying to take our gems!" the leader Diamond Dog screeched. The other dogs jumped out from the ground, ready to fight. "Fight, dogs, fight"! Spike was greatly outmatched, with the fight with Trixie weakening him. He decided it would be best to run and try to find some strategy. As he circled around the drill, running from the dogs, he saw that the keys were still in there, so he tried to get past the hunters and bring that drill down. The first time, the small, brown dog bit his tail when he got near the thing, which the Amulet did not protect against. "Hrrgh, must have to recharge before it blocks again," thought Spike in dismay. He circled again, getting closer still, but then the large grey dog threw him a few feet, howling in victory. The purple dragon got back up and, closing his eyes, ran as fast as he could to the controls, barreling past any Diamond Dogs that met his path. He jumped out of the way of the three main dogs, and belly-flopped onto the controls. Warning lights came on, with the drill falling back down the hole it dug, with the Diamond Dogs fleeing underground. Trixie came back down, looking dazed and confused. She shook her head, just as Spike grabbed the crystal, and tugged her along. Although he was strong, Trixie never let go of the crystal in her hoof, desperately trying to pull away from him. The two made it to a elevator that was raised by a valve. Spike spun the unicorn at it, turning the valve and bringing them higher. He repeated this process till they made it to the top, Trixie looking green. "I think the Great and Powerful Tri-HURK!" she tried to say as she was forcefully pulled further down the dog holes. The duo came to a gap in the gears and wheels, with no way to jump over to the other side. Spike seemed stumped, but then a voice called to him. "Don't worry, throw me." He turned to see Trixie gesturing to pick her up. "Uh, what? You WANT me to throw you?" he asked, confused. "Yeah, do it. You can trust me! We're pals, right?" Trixie said innocently. Spike shrugged and picked her up, then walked up to the edge. He threw her far, the unicorn falling on her rump on the other side. She stood up and found a Spell-Switch, which activated certain things to happen around for unicorns only. She shot her magic at it, making a rock fall down to walk over. She warped back to Spike, who immediately jumped over the pathway and went forward. The two then managed to find a room with multiple lifts around, with ropes blocking off the long fall at the bottom. "We're not through with you yet, dragon!" said a familiar voice as the drill began to rise from the crevice. Spike sighed as he forced Trixie to "fix" the valves to climb up. There were a few more of those crystal groups on the walls, which Spike hit to make rocks fall onto the drill, slowing it down. It helped, but did not completely stop it. The faster they climbed, the closer the drill got to skewering them. Luckily, Spike managed to throw Trixie out of the way and jump into the exit while the drill flew by them. Both let out a sigh of relief, just as Trixie swiped the Power Crystal from his claws! "Thanks for nothing, twerp!" she laughed maniacally as she warped down the exit to N. Sanity Island. Spike groaned and went to catch up with the mare who tried to kill him.