Friends, Forgiveness, and Magic
Dragon Spike
“Good morning everyling!” Chrysalis looked down from the second floor of the changeling hive that she and the rest of her changeling friends in Peaceville called home. The hive’s architecture was bizarre. It could at best be described as a mix of a large house and a giant beehive, if the entire thing was made up of dark green goo. Chrysalis smiled at the dozen or so changelings who had woken up before her. “What are you all doing up so early?”
“Um, they’re up because of us.” Chrysalis looked up at the three ponies at her front door. There was a yellow earth colt with a blue mane, a blue earth mare with a pinkish-red mane, and a purple pegasus stallion.
“Oh. Hello.” Chrysalis gently glided down to the bottom floor to greet the ponies. “I’m sorry, we usually offer our services around the evening.”
“Right, sorry,” The purple pegasus said. “It’s just that some friends of mine got a little too excited for Miss Apple Bloom’s party last night and, I guess in the confusion I forgot about my appointment.”
“Same here, dearie,” The mare said.
“That’s okay,” Chrysalis said with a smile. “I have other stuff to do today but I think we have time for a short session this morning if there’s only three of you.” She cleared her throat and announced, “Welcome to our Hive’s Café of Love. We help you with all your romantic problems in a safe and friendly environment. Let’s start with the youngest, shall we? Flash Freeze?”
The yellow earth colt stepped up. On the changeling queen’s signal, a changeling around Flash Freeze’s age stepped forward too.
“Just tell Mimic here who you’d like her to turn into,” Chrysalis encouraged him.
“Actually I have a picture, if that would help,” Flash said as he brought out a photo of a pegasus filly with a yellowish gray coat and an amber mane. The filly also wore glasses and a small tiara. “I call her Zippy for short. We became friends not that long ago, and I’ve got a…bit of a crush on her,” he whispered the last part and blushed.
Mimic nodded. “I think I’ve talked to her before.” A flash of green consumed Mimic and turned her into Zippy. “So what do you want to do?”
Flash blushed a little more at seeing Zippy, even if he knew it was a changeling disguise. “I’d like to ask her out on a date but I’m nervous. I just…need to find the right words I guess.”
“I understand,” Zippy smiled patiently. “You can start whenever you’re ready.”
As Flash practiced what he would say to the real Zippy with Mimic, Chrysalis pointed to the mare next. “How can we help you Mrs. Cake?”
“Hello Queen Chrysalis,” Mrs. Cake said with a small bow. “Now normally I wouldn’t come here. You know I’m happily married to Mr. Cake. It’s just…I know he’s only been gone a week and that he will be back soon, but…I miss him.”
“I understand. If it’s okay with you, I will be the one to turn into him.” Mrs. Cake nodded and a green flash consumed Chrysalis. When the flash faded, she had been transformed into an orange earth stallion with a darker orange mane and tail. He wore a small red-white hat and bowtie.
‘Mr. Cake’ smiled and nuzzled Mrs. Cake. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too,” Mrs. Cake sniffled as her eyes watered a little. She returned the nuzzle and then brought it into a hug. After a minute, she released ‘him’. “Thank you, dearie. That's all I needed. I’m feeling much better. Okay, go ahead.”
‘Mr. Cake’ opened his mouth and green energy poured out of Mrs. Cake and into the changeling’s mouth. Once ‘he’ had a decent fill of love, Chrysalis changed back into her normal form.
“Thank you again, dearie,” Mrs. Cake said with a slightly weak smile as she paid the other half of her fee in money instead of love energy.
“It’s no problem at all Mrs. Cake,” Chrysalis reassured her. “It’s natural to miss the ones we love, even if they’re only gone for a little while. If you don’t mind me asking, where is Mr. Cake?”
“He’s gone to the Big Apple to talk about some expansions we’ve been thinking about. Nothing too big, maybe just a small store in the city. Of course, we’ll have to find new employees to run it, but we’ll get there when we get there.”
“The big city?” Chrysalis asked with wide eyes. “Is…is he planning to talk to…her?”
Mrs. Cake’s eyes widened as she realized whom Chrysalis was talking about. “Oh, I don’t know dearie. She is a very big step indeed.”
“Well…whether he meets her or not, I hope he gets back home to be with you soon. Have a good day Mrs. Cake.”
“You have a good day too, dearie.” Mrs. Cake said as she left the hive.
Chrysalis turned around to see Flash and Zippy sharing a small kiss. He pulled away and smiled. “Thanks for helping me figure out what I’m going to do.”
“No problem. Oh, excuse me!” Zippy spoke up before Flash could leave. “You still have to pay.”
“Oh! Right.” He handed Zippy a few coins. But when it got to the other half of the fee, he asked, “What do I do for this part?”
“Just close your eyes and think of Zippy, or anyone else you love. Doesn’t matter what kind of love either.” The young changeling leaned forward and inhaled the green energy that poured out of Flash’s mouth. Once she was fed, Mimic transformed back into herself. “Thank you! Come again anytime!”
Chrysalis smiled. “Young love. Aw, it’s so cute,” she giggled a little before she turned around to face the other changelings. “You probably want a bit of Mrs. Cake’s love, right?”
The changelings eagerly nodded. As a changeling queen, Chrysalis could take the love she drained and make it grow stronger once it was in her body. She could then redistribute that love to other changelings while still keeping enough for herself. All the changelings opened their mouths and absorbed the love energy that flowed out of Chrysalis and towards them.
Once that was done, Chrysalis turned to the purple pegasus, their third customer. “Sorry about the wait. It’s Dusk, right? What can we do for you?”
But before Dusk could voice his request, they heard another voice shout. “Aha! There you are! Thought you could outrun me? NONE can escape the Great and Powerful Trixie!”
Another voice yelled, “Hey watch it! Gah! Leave me alone, you namby pamby pony!”
A dragon came crashing into the room. The dragon had a red scaly body with a yellow underbelly like Smog. But this dragon had orange spines, wings, and was a lot taller than Smog. He was obviously a teenage dragon.
Just as the dragon was about to flap his wings and fly off, green magic surrounded the dragon and brought him towards a mildly irritated Chrysalis.
“Garble,” she softly hissed
The dragon’s eyes widened. “Chrysalis? Oh hey! Long time no see!” Garble smiled. “So, how are the grubs?”
“Just fine,” Chrysalis said, as one of the changelings muttered something about not liking the term grub. With some disappointment she noticed that Dusk had left the hive in a hurry. Darn it, who knew how long it would be before Dusk came back, she thought. “What are you doing here?”
Garble blinked. “Me? Oh, you know. Happened to be in the neighbourhood, flying around, thought I’d check up on Smog.”
Before Garble could say anything else, a lasso surrounded by blue magic snaked its way onto him and tied him up in knots. Trixie burst into the hive with a triumphant grin.
“Ha! I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, have captured this ferocious dragon! All hail Dragon Slayer Trixie!”
“You didn’t catch me!” Garble roared at Trixie.
As Garble and Trixie argued, an indigo cloud of mist flew into the hive and transformed into Nightmare Moon. “Excellent, you caught him. He’s in here!” she shouted over her shoulder.
Sunset Shimmer hurried into the hive, carrying Smog on her back. Garble smiled as he saw the younger dragon. “Hey Smog! How’s my favourite brother doing?”
Smog raised an eyebrow at him. “We’re not brothers. I’m adopted, remember?”
Garble waved the response off. “Eh, I know, but that doesn’t mean you’re not family. Seriously buddy, how ya doing? I hardly see you anymore, and when I do there’s always a bunch of ponies around. Nothing against you Nightmare, but a dragon Smog’s age should really be spending more time with another dragon.”
“We’ve been over that Garble and you know my answer,” Nightmare frowned at him. “That’s not why we’re here.”
Chrysalis frowned in confusion. A little irritation was added as Big Macintosh and Filthy Rich ran into her hive too. “Did you catch him?” Filthy Rich asked.
“Um, I hate to interrupt,” Chrysalis said over the other voices in the room. “But what in love’s name is going on here?” She relinquished her telekinetic hold on Garble as Trixie brought him into her own magical grip.
Nightmare turned to her friend and explained, “Diamond Tiara, Apple Bloom, and Silver Spoon have all gone missing. In fact, nobody has seen them since after Apple Bloom’s party, last night.” She frowned at Garble. “Meanwhile, Garble here has been seen flying around town and Big Macintosh here says he saw Garble flying not too far away from his farm.”
“A little too coincidental, if you ask me.” An angry Mr. Rich jabbed an accusing hoof at Garble. “You kidnapped my daughter, my niece, and their friend!”
“What? You’re kidding!” Garble gasped. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“Yup,” Big Macintosh snarled.
“What? Hold on,” Chrysalis said as she tried to make sense of what was going on. “I doubt Garble took those fillies. Even if he did, how did no one notice that those girls were missing until this morning?”
“You can ask her that!” Gilda growled as she flew into the hive. She tossed the screaming pony she had been carrying in her claws onto the floor.
“This is an outrage!” Silver Tiara glared at Gilda. “How dare you attack me in such a brutish manner! I’ll have you arrested for this, griffon!” She stood back up and wrinkled her nose in disgust at the sight of the changeling hive’s interior.
“You!” Mr. Rich jabbed a hoof at his sister. “You told me that they were having a sleepover! And I fell for it!”
Silver Tiara frowned at him. “Richie darling, whatever are you blabbering on about?”
“Diamond Tiara! Apple Bloom! Silver Spoon!” Gilda poked Silver Tiara in the chest with each name. “They’re missing! Doesn’t that bother you? Heck, you’re related to two of them! Don’t you care?”
Silver Tiara swatted Gilda’s claw away, then wrinkled her nose in disgust as she looked at her hoof, as if Gilda might have infected it. “You mean they’re not having a sleepover?”
Nightmare stared at her. “You don’t know? You’re kidding, right?”
Silver Tiara rolled her eyes. “I only said they were having a sleepover because that’s what I assumed they were doing. If they're not having a sleepover, I don't know where they would be. And I don’t know why you’re all so concerned. If they haven’t come back home yet, it is probably because they are playing some childish game.”
Everyone in the room glared at Silver Tiara. “Chrysalis, if Trixie can make a suggestion…”
“Don’t worry Trixie, I know what to do,” Chrysalis said as she levitated Silver Tiara over to the other changelings and ordered them, “Seal her inside a cocoon and don’t let her out until I say so.”
“What?” Silver Tiara’s eyes widened in fear as the changelings surrounding her all gave her nasty grins. “You can’t! That slimy changeling goo will ruin my beautiful coat and mane!”
“That will be the least of your problems,” Chrysalis hissed as the other changelings took Silver Tiara down into the basement. “Make sure she has enough food and water!” she ordered them. “She needs to be alive if we are to feed off her,” she smirked at the terrified Silver Tiara.
“You’re not really gonna drain her love, are you?” Sunset asked.
Chrysalis shook her head, once Silver Tiara was out of their sight. “No. I doubt her love would taste that good anyway.”
“That’s all well and good Queen Chrysalis,” Mr. Rich said. “But we have more important matters to discuss.”
Big Macintosh glared at Garble. “Apple Bloom. Where is she? Talk now, before Ah give ya a taste of Kicks McGee.”
Garble’s eyes widened in fear at the thought a huge stallion kicking him in the face. “Okay! I admit it! I took those ponies and hid them somewhere. But I would never hurt any of them! I’m sorry! I'm really sorry!”
“Garble, I’m disappointed in you,” Chrysalis glared at him. “If this is meant to be one of your pranks, it’s not funny.”
Gilda raised an eyebrow. “A prank?”
Chrysalis nodded. “Garble here is very mischievous. The first time I met him, King Sombra brought him to me and explained that a changeling had drained him completely dry of all his love. King Sombra said I was the closest changeling queen he could find and he asked me if there was anything I could do to help him.
She glared at Garble. “But he wasn’t drained at all! He was faking it!” she hissed.
“I already said I’m sorry about that,” Garble cried. “Come on, I was a good prank. Nobody got hurt.” Chrysalis just bared her fangs and hissed at him some more.
“Let’s get back on track here,” Nightmare said as she yanked Garble out of Trixie’s hold and brought him into her magical grip. “Where are they?”
Garble sighed. “Fine. They’re with my master.”
Nightmare arched an eyebrow at him. “Last time I checked, King Sombra was your only ‘master’...Garble is his assistant, just like Smog is to me,” she explained to her friends. She glared at Garble. “And why would you bring them to him?”
“Not King Sombra. My other master. The one who taught me about being a dragon,” Garble said.
“Being a dragon?” Gilda said. Her eyes widened as she quickly flew outside the hive before zooming back in. “Darn it! I knew there was something odd about the weather lately! The wind has been hot all day and Dash and I keep flying into black clouds.”
Nightmare’s eyes widened. “Those aren’t clouds at all, are they?” She led her friends outside and stared at the black smoke that was pouring down from the mountains and over Peaceville. “That’s dragon smoke. A fully-grown, adult dragon is probably napping in a nearby cave and breathing smoke all over the place.”
She glared at Garble as her eyes began to glow. “And you thought it was a good idea to hand three fillies over to it?!”
“Let me explain!” Garble cried. “Sometimes he needs me to gather gems for him. So I go find gems and stuff, just to help him out. Yesterday I was flying around and a saw these gems glinting in the sunlight. So I grabbed them and brought them to him.
“At first I didn’t even notice the ponies wearing the gems and I just scooped them up. I mean, a pearl necklace, a diamond tiara, and a diamond studded hair bow? Why would fillies be wearing those? But I was flying so fast, I couldn’t just yank the jewelry off them and cast them aside. I’m pretty sure pony bodies are softer than mine, so they would’ve been hurt if I tossed them away. I figured, maybe the big guy will just ignore the ponies and let them leave.”
“Really? You really think three fillies will be safe with a full-grown dragon? What if he eats them?” Nightmare growled at him.
“Hey, come on Nightmare,” Garble gave her a sheepish smile. “Smog has lived with you his whole life. Do ya think he’s gonna eat a pony anytime soon?”
Nightmare sighed and released Garble from her telekinetic grip. With her magic, she also untied the ropes that were binding him. “No. Well, if you think they’re still alive then we’d better go rescue them.”
Gilda grinned. “So we’re gonna go fight a dragon? Awesome!”
“It shouldn’t come to that,” Nightmare told her. “If we just ask him nicely, I’m sure the dragon will let Diamond, Apple Bloom, and Silver go.” She turned to Garble, who was happily scratching an itch on his back that had been bugging him. She asked, “Does this dragon have a name?”
Garble stopped his scratching and froze. He fidgeted a little before he said, “Spike. His full name is a little long, but most of us dragons call him Spike.”
Smog’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “S-Spike? As in…Spike: the Chiefest and Greatest of Dragons? The mighty Spykoranuvellitar? The horrible Heathspike? That Spike?”
Gilda smirked. “I take it you’re a fan?” she teased.
“Any dragon who knows anything about our kind knows about Spike,” Smog said.
Nightmare sighed, “If we’re really dealing with a dragon like Spike, it would help if we had King Sombra and Princess Twilight’s help.” She glared at Garble. “But I can’t send them a message through Smog, since Garble is the one who receives all my correspondence for them.”
Garble threw his hands up in exasperation. “I said I was sorry! What more do you want?”
“What I want is for you to fly to the Crystal Empire and tell both the princess and the king what happened.”
“What? That’s it?” Garble smiled. “No problem.” He flapped his wings and flew out of the hive, soaring towards the Crystal Empire.
“I kinda doubt he’s as fast as me,” Gilda said. “So, it’s probably gonna take a while before King Sombra and Princess Twilight can get here to help us.’
Nightmare smiled confidently. “I only wanted them informed of the situation in case we need backup. Even if we’re fighting a dragon as infamous as Spike I think we can handle him. Heh, Discord alone could beat him.”
“Where is Discord anyway?” Trixie asked.
“Dash is out looking for him. Oh hey, here she comes now,” Gilda smiled as Rainbow Dash flew into the hive.
“So this is what the inside of the hive looks like, huh?” Rainbow looked around the hive and shuddered. “Yeah, this place isn’t creepy at all.” She turned to face Gilda and her friends and said, “Bad news. I went looking for Discord like you asked and this is all I could find.”
She held up a note that read Gone fishing with Wendy Polaris Frosty. We’ll bring you back some frozen fish sticks.
“WHAT? Are you kidding me?” Nightmare growled as her eyes glowed a little.
“Nightie, chill. You know how Discord is. When he has an idea, he jumps into it right away. And he came up with that stupid fishing trip like, yesterday," Gilda said, trying to calm her down.
“Fine, let’s just bring him back.” Nightmare ran outside the hive, took a deep breath, and howled, “DISCORD!”
They waited for a response…but nothing happened. “Huh, that usually works.”
“He is probably too far away to hear it. Bah, we don’t need him for this journey!” Trixie grinned. “Dragon Slayer Trixie alone could best this beast!”
“I guess we can plan our revenge on Discord later,” Nightmare sighed. “Right now we need to follow that smoke trail and find that dragon. Everyone grab anything you think could help on our journey and meet me back at the library in 20 minutes. Don’t worry guys,” she said to Big Macintosh and Filthy Rich. “We’ll save them. We beat Eternal Twilight, so Spike shouldn’t be any trouble. I mean really, how big can one dragon be?”
Just outside the Crystal Empire, there was a large lake that ponies and other creatures used for swimming near the shallow edge of the lake, and fishing out in the middle of the lake. Relaxing in a colourfully decorated boat was Discord and his pet Windigo.
Discord’s ears perked up as they heard something. “Huh. Sounds like someone is calling me.” He rubbed his chin as he thought about investigating but shrugged his shoulders and sat back down. A minute later, his ears perked up again. “Ooh, that time it sounded like someone dared Fate. Aw, and just when we were about to start our trip.”
Polaris looked up from where he was resting on the boat and whinnied softly.
“Well…we don’t have to leave right now." Discord smiled at the Windigo. "We haven’t even started fishing yet!” Discord snapped his fingers and a fishing rod appeared in his hands. He cast the line out and waited.
“Now listen closely Frosty. We want to be as quiet as possible. Any loud noise or sudden movement is gonna alert the fish.”
They heard a splash in the water.
“What was that?! Was that a fish?!” Discord snapped his fingers and a high-tech cupcake launcher appeared in his hands. He began firing cupcakes rapidly at the water. “Come here you fish! Come here! Get in my boat! Get in my boat, you fish!”
Polaris whinnied excitedly as Discord fired into the water. Growling, Discord snapped his fingers and a glass of chocolate milk appeared in his claw.
“Fight me like a dragon, you flipping fish!” He roared as he launched the milk into the water. The milk exploded in a tremendous ball of fire. Discord quickly grabbed Polaris and aimed him at the flying fish. The Windigo happily froze all the aquatic life it could see.
“Woo! Would you look at that? We’re eating fish tonight!” Discord laughed as Polaris decided to freeze the rest of the lake, while all the swimming ponies quickly fled the water before they froze.
An hour later Nightmare, Gilda, Rainbow, Sunset, Trixie, Big Macintosh, and Chrysalis had arrived at the top of the mountain. A little further, and they reached the mouth of a cave where the smoke was coming from. Filthy Rich had been asked to stay behind, as he had little combat experience.
“Okay listen up everyone,” Nightmare said. “Blindly charging in isn’t going to save the kidnapped ponies or stop the dragon from spreading smoke all over Everfree.” She gave Gilda, Rainbow, and Big Macintosh a look. “We need to try and solve this situation diplomatically and talk to the dragon.”
“Aw come on! Just let me Sonic Rainboom him in the face and that dragon will fall down in less than a second,” Rainbow boasted.
“And what about the ponies trapped inside the cave?” Sunset asked her. Rainbow sighed and sat back down on the ground.
“Gilda, you use your wings to clear the smoke,” Nightmare ordered. Gilda saluted her and did just that.
“Trixie, Sunset, you two be ready to create a diversion if the dragon goes on the offensive.”
Sunset grinned and levitated over two purple crystals for herself and Trixie. They stomped on the crystals and absorbed the magic within them.
Nightmare looked at Chrysalis next. “You’re the shape shifter here, so you disguise yourself as something and scope out the situation. Chrysalis nodded and cautiously flew into the cave, a green fire signaling that she had found an appropriate disguise.
Chrysalis had changed her coat to match the cave walls as closely as possible, hoping that the old chameleon trick would work. She slowly flew deeper into the cave. She stopped once she saw that she had reached the main room of the dragon’s lair. The cave was flooded with treasure, from coins and gems to even more valuable trinkets.
She saw Diamond Tiara, Apple Bloom, and Silver Spoon all lying next to each other. It looked like all the excitement the fillies had been through had tired them all out. They were all sleeping, but they didn’t look comfortable. It looked like they were having a little difficulty breathing with all the smoke in the cave, even if there was an adequate supply of air too
But the biggest thing she noticed was the beast in front of her. The mighty dragon with arms so huge, one of them was squishing the fillies together. The only way the three girls could escape was if the dragon moved. He had a scaly purple body, bulging with muscles. He had a green underbelly and green spines that ran along his head to his tail. His claws were the sharpest things she had ever seen and his purple wings were more magnificent than Nightmare Moon’s. His huge fangs looked like they could slice through her chitinous shell easily.
The dragon’s snoring stopped. His nostrils flared as he breathed in the scent of the room around him. His huge fangs arranged into a grin as his green draconic eyes opened and stared at Chrysalis. He spoke with a deep, booming voice,
“Well…a thief has entered my lair. And now she plans to steal from me.”
The dragon brought his head close to her.
“Your little trick does not fool me. I smell you. I hear your breath. Come little thief, don’t be shy. Let me see you.”
Chrysalis wisely decided to flee the cave as fast as her wings could carry her. She didn’t stop until she had reached her friends. “Well?” Nightmare asked.
She took a few deep breaths to calm herself before speaking, “Good news is I saw Diamond, Apple Bloom, and Silver in there. They’re all alive. Bad news is, Mister Spike could probably eat Eternal Twilight.”
Gilda winced. “That scary, huh?” The mountain shook around them as the dragon yawned and stretched.
“Okay, I’m going in.” Nightmare said.
“And Dragon Slayer Trixie will accompany you!” Trixie declared as she struck a heroic pose.
“…Sure. Why not?” Nightmare cautiously went into the cave with Trixie following her. Within moments they saw the kidnapped ponies, the dragon’s hoard, and the dragon that could easily swallow them whole. “Oh…you’re awake.”
“Indeed I am. Did you think I could not hear you outside? Did you think I could not smell your little friends? I know why you are here, thieves. And I will not part with a single piece of my hoard.”
Nightmare swallowed as she got a good look at the dragon. Honestly, he did look like he could eat Eternal Twilight. “We do not wish to steal from you, oh mighty and merciful Spykoranuvellitar.”
“You may call me Spike.”
“We are honoured great Dragon Spike.” Trixie dramatically bowed to the dragon.
Spike raised his body off the treasure bed. Gems and pieces of gold fell off his body as he rose. All the noise woke up Diamond, Apple Bloom, and Silver. The three fillies smiled as they saw Nightmare and Trixie.
“Princess Nightmare! You’ve come to save us!” Diamond cheered.
“Silence.”
The fillies instantly shut their mouths. Spike lowered his head to look at Nightmare and Trixie.
“You seem to be familiar with me, but I don’t remember hearing about ponies such as yourselves. Who are you, and where do you come from, if I may ask?”
“I am Nightmare Moon, librarian of Peaceville, personal student of King Sombra, and Element of Redemption,” Nightmare nervously said.
“And I am the Great and Powerful Trixie. Element of Redemption and greatest magician in all of Everfree,” Trixie said, for once saying her stage name rather quietly.
“Impressive titles.”
“Thank you. But even the Great and Powerful Trixie looks small compared to you, oh Spike the Stupendously Scary.” Trixie nervously smiled.
“Do you think flattery will keep you two alive?”
“…Yes?” Trixie whispered.
"How cute."
Nightmare leapt into her prepared speech before Spike grew angry. “Great Dragon Spike we didn’t come here to steal from you. It’s just that while you’re sleeping here, the smoke coming from your nose is clouding our sky. We respectfully request that you take your nap in another location where the smoke won’t bother anyone, and you won’t be bothered by us. You can take your treasure with you. We’d even help you move it and we won't take any of it from you,” she offered. Spike shrugged.
“I am comfortable here.”
“…We’ll give you more treasure?” Trixie offered.
“Heh. Very well. I see no problem with moving my hoard to another cave, if you can find one for me.”
The ponies sighed in relief. “We thank you,” Trixie said. “Now, if you’ll allow us to take these fillies back home we’ll…” She stopped as Spike growled.
“I said I would not part with a single piece of my hoard! The little ones are part of my hoard, and my dragon honour demands that I protect my hoard at all costs!”
Nightmare tried to regain control of the situation. “But-”
“The little ones do not leave unless I say so!”
“You don’t own us!” Silver shouted.
“Well, show’s over!” Trixie declared as Spike growled. “Nightmare, plan T!” Nightmare’s and Trixie’s horns both glowed and then flashed. All the ponies that were inside the cave teleported outside to meet the rest of the group. Apple Bloom ran to Big Macintosh, while Diamond ran to Sunset.
“Sunset, you came to save me!” Diamond hugged her friend happily. She broke off the hug and looked around. “Is daddy here with you?”
Before Sunset could answer her, Gilda caught their attention. “Uh, guys. Hate to break up the reunion but…” Gilda pointed to the mouth of the cave, where the great and incredibly furious Spike emerged, the mountain shaking under his stomping feet.
Chrysalis instantly fell to the ground and changed her coat to match the mountain rocks. Rainbow and Gilda debated on whether to fly like the wind or fight like maniacs and pray for a miracle. The rest of the group backed away.
Smog, thinking he could reason with a fellow dragon, spoke up. “Please Spike, greatest of the Everfree legends, the rest of the treasure is all yours. We just-”
“SILENCE!”
Spike roared and blasted fire into the air. He glared at Nightmare.
“You wish to challenge me? My claws can make earthquakes!”
Spike slammed his fists down on Nightmare and her friends. Before the attack could hit them, Nightmare, Sunset, Trixie, and Chrysalis all combined their magic into a protective shield surrounding their group. It barely withstood the force of his blow.
Nightmare created a small hole in the shield for Gilda and Rainbow to fly out of. Rainbow soared away to prepare a Sonic Rainboom, while Gilda charged at Spike and snapped her beak on his tail to distract him. The furious Spike whipped his tail back, sending Gilda crashing into a wall.
“My tail is a whip that strikes like lightning!”
Rainbow came zooming towards Spike and unleashed a Sonic Rainboom right into his chest. The magic shield saved the other ponies from the rainbow explosion. But it only knocked Spike back.
“My scales can withstand any attack!”
Spike roared and tried to snap at Rainbow with his jaws, but she dodged out of the way.
“My wings can create storms!”
Spike gave his wings a mighty flap, which created a strong enough wind to blow Rainbow away from him. It gave Rainbow a little more room to maneuver and she took advantage of it to help Gilda off the mountain wall and back into the air.
Nightmare briefly lowered the shield and fired blasts of magic at Spike. Sunset, Trixie, and Chrysalis fired hexes of their own while Big Macintosh grabbed a couple of rocks and kicked them towards Spike. Their attacks bounced off him too.
“And my very breath, will spell your DOOM!”
Spike blew a heavy stream of fire at them. Luckily, the magic users brought up the shield again, while the flyers dodged out of the way.
They were at an impasse. Spike was too powerful to be hurt but their numbers and abilities kept him from hurting them. Sensing that neither side was going to win anytime soon, Spike stopped his attack and glared at Nightmare.
“You wish for me to leave your pathetic town of Peaceville? Very well, Nightmare Moon, student of the Crystal King. If he sends little ones to do his work for him, I say it is time I paid dear Sombra a visit.”
With a heavy flap of his wings that almost knocked the ponies off their hooves, Spike flew towards the Crystal Empire with astonishing speed. The group didn’t say anything for a bit as they all struggled to get their heartbeats under control.
“…What have we done?” A horrified Chrysalis said out loud.
“I can fix this!” Nightmare exclaimed. “Gilda, you and Dash are the fastest fliers. Gilda, you tell King Sombra that a dragon is about to attack the Crystal Empire. Dash, fire as many Sonic Rainbooms as it takes to slow Spike down.”
Rainbow gulped. “You saw what happened. I don’t think that’ll work!”
“Come on Dash, we can’t give up!” Gilda argued. “We’re not gonna lose to that overgrown lizard, are we?”
Rainbow frowned in renewed determination. “No way! I don't quit that easy!” Gilda and Rainbow took off to battle the dragon.
“W-well…what do we do now?” Diamond asked.
“Now, we get you three home safe an’ sound,” Big Macintosh said as he hugged Apple Bloom.
“Yeah, I…I think I’m going to go home and lie down for a while,” Chrysalis whispered.
Big Macintosh brought Apple Bloom onto his back, while Diamond was brought onto Sunset’s back and Silver was carried on Trixie’s back. They walked back to Peaceville, with Trixie occasionally boasting that they could have beaten Spike if he hadn’t fled.
“Do you think King Sombra and Princess Sparkle will be okay?” Diamond asked.
“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Nightmare assured her. “Princess Twilight Sparkle and King Sombra have faced worse things than an angry dragon.”
“Bah, Trixie was just about to launch an awesome spell that would have vanquished that mighty beast before it fled like a chicken!”
As Trixie continued to boast, Silver turned her head to look at Diamond. “I’m sorry for calling you cutie cursed. And being mean to you.”
Diamond stared at her cousin. “You mean it?”
Silver sighed, “Diamond, we were kidnapped by a dragon, and then we almost got crushed by a bigger dragon. After all that, insulting you just isn't fun anymore.”
Apple Bloom gave a weak chuckle. “Ah reckon, there are things in life you can’t share without liking each other.” She smiled and tried to look at Diamond’s flank. “Maybe getting nabbed by a dragon got you two to lose yer marks?”
Diamond and Silver both turned around to see if they still had their cutie marks. “Well that’s depressing,” Diamond sighed. “If we can’t lose our marks like that, how can we?”
Apple Bloom grinned. “Why don’t ya found out? Ah mean, if y'all are friends now, what if ya formed yer own secret society? Y'all could create a club to help you lose yer marks!”
Silver blinked. “Well, if you think that would be a good idea Apple Bloom,” she smiled. “I think it sounds good too.”
Diamond grinned. “That sounds like a great idea! And why limit the club to just ourselves? We could expand it! Offer membership to any filly or colt that’s still cutie cursed! We could be heroes!”
Silver frowned. “Any filly? And colts too? Are you sure?”
“Come on Silver,” Diamond’s grin grew wider. “We’ll be heroes to every kid in town! We’ll be the most popular fillies in school!”
Apple Bloom smiled. “Hey, and as someone who lost her mark already, Ah'd be happy to help y’all find what else yer good at.”
Silver smiled as she began to warm up to the idea. “Okay. But our club needs a name. How about…the Army of Cutie Mark Destroyers!”
Apple Bloom gulped. “Um…the name could use some work. How ‘bout something that sounds a bit less…evil?”
“Yes! All cutie marks will fall at the hooves of our Army! Kneel before Diamond’s Destroyers!” Diamond cheered.
Meanwhile within the Crystal Castle, the capital of the Empire, Princess Twilight Sparkle was sitting in the library.
A shadow floated into the library before turning into King Sombra. “This really should have been the first place I looked for you.”
Princess Twilight smiled. “It really should have.” She closed her book and faced him. “Is there something I can help you with?”
King Sombra smiled. “No, just curious as to what my old friend and co-ruler is up to. What’s that one on?” He pointed to the book.
“Dragon Biology, An Expert's Guide,” she said as she levitated a book. “I was impressed with the aging magic you used on Garble.”
“Oh, I only made him a tiny bit younger. It only took a little magic. He was already young to begin with, for a dragon.” King Sombra looked out the window in thought. “Speaking of Garble, when he returned he spoke of Nightmare Moon getting into some sort of trouble with an adult dragon. It was probably one of his pranks though. As loyal as Garble is, he is one of the most mischievous creatures I know.”
“But not the most?” Princess Twilight asked.
“No, that honour belongs to another. Do you remember-” King Sombra stopped talking as his horn glowed with magic.
Princess Twilight noticed. “What is it?”
“The magic Crystal Spires outside the Empire. They just went off,” he frowned. “Something very big is moving towards our city very fast.”
Princess Twilight’s eyes widened and in a burst of speed, she flapped her wings and soared out the window.
She flew past the city walls and saw a huge purple and green dragon flying towards her. She charged her horn and fired off a spell at the dragon’s soft underbelly. It had the desired effect and the dragon stopped flying towards them and simply hovered in midair. The wind from his wings was strong, the smoke spilling from his snout was scary, and his eyes glared dangerously at her. But Princess Twilight remained hovering in the sky.
“Who dares?”
“I dare," she announced. "Dragon, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of the Crystal Empire. I wish for you to cease your attack on my kingdom and to cooperate with me. I don’t want to fight you but I will if you continue to threaten my home.” Her horn glowed with magic.
The dragon hovered and stared at her. Slowly, he descended to the ground and lowered his wings. Honestly, she had expected him to cook her, eat her, or just swat her away like a fly. But this was turning out better than she had hoped. She descended so that she was hovering at his eye level.
“You are very brave to face one such as I alone. I could destroy you with any method I choose. The only reason you still draw breath is because your appearance is similar to a unicorn I once knew. I know that voice. And I know that smell better than I know my own tail. But to be certain I ask: Who are you?”
She blinked. “I…I am Twilight Sparkle. But I was once known as just Sparkle. The alicorn and dragon stared at each other. She stared at his purple skin and green spines. She looked into his familiar green eyes that were just starting to water. “…Spike?”
Spike smiled, with no trace of greed or arrogance for the first time in years. “By my hoard…I have missed you Sparky.”
Spike reached out and gently held Princess Sparkle in his claw. Suddenly, he didn't seem so scary anymore. It might have been her imagination, but he looked slightly smaller too. He kissed her on the head and brought her to his cheek, gently hugging her as if she was the most precious gem in the world.
The next day, a letter was sent to Princess Twilight.
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle
I am very happy to hear that you stopped that dragon before anyone else was hurt. During my studies in friendship I have learned the importance of teamwork and how facing our fears isn’t a problem when you have friends that will look out for you.
I will try to write to you more often.
Your friend, Nightmare Moon.
Not long after that, another letter was sent to Peaceville.
Dear Nightmare Moon
I am more than willing to forget any tardiness on your part for the good things you have done for me. You saved me from my own nightmare and returned me to the world. And now, you have saved Peaceville from living in a dark haze, and returned three young fillies to their families. On top of that, the dragon you and your friends confronted is in fact a long lost friend of mine named Spike. The last time I saw him was before I turned into Eternal Twilight over a hundred years ago, when he was still a baby dragon. The years have passed and he has changed in my absence. Sadly, he succumbed to a dragon’s instinctual greedy nature and has become very arrogant.
But I have faith that with the power of forgiveness, I can teach him to be the generous and kind friend that I know he can be again. He has already agreed to move his hoard to a room close to my bedroom in the Crystal Empire and he promised he won’t kidnap anyone else. And thank you for informing me of Garble’s roll in these events. Don’t worry, King Sombra and I will both sort out our dragons.
Once again, thank you for giving me back some happiness I thought had been long lost.
Your friend, Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Smog put the letter down. “So Spike is going to be hanging around the Crystal Empire, huh?”
“Looks like,” Nightmare muttered.
“Bah, that dragon got off easy. Dragon Slayer Trixie was just about to-”
“Let it go Trixie,” Sunset said with a shake of her head.
“Seriously, though. Did you guys see how freaking huge Spike was?” Gilda grinned. “Man, what are you going to do when Smog grows that big, Nightmare?”
Trixie chuckled. “She will most likely have to transform her tree library into a building large enough to house him. Perhaps a mansion. Or a castle!”
“A tree turning into a castle?” Smog snorted. “That’s silly.”
“I don’t know,” Nightmare trailed off. “Doesn't sound that silly. I kinda miss living in a castle…”
“Nightie?”
“Princess Nightmare…Queen Nightmare…” Nightmare stared at the ceiling in thought.
“Nightie, don’t go down that road,” Smog warned her. “You know what lies down that road.”
“Okay, here she is,” Chrysalis said came back upstairs, as she levitated Silver Tiara out of the hive’s basement.
“Finally! You bugs are in a lot of trouble for what you did to me! Do you hear me?” Silver Tiara whined. She spotted her daughter sitting next to Diamond. “Silver Spoon! Come! We are leaving this disgusting changeling hive!”
“Bye Diamond. See you tomorrow.” Silver Spoon said as she left with her mom.
"Bye Silver Spoon," Diamond waved back to her. She looked back at the paper she was doodling names on. "Hmm, Diamond and Silver's Army of Friends? No, that's not it..."
Nightmare leaned toward Chrysalis and whispered, “We’ll be keeping an eye on her, right?”
Chrysalis smirked. “Don’t worry. Compared to Spike, Silver Tiara is no challenge. We’ll make sure she doesn’t stir up trouble.”
A flash of light filled the changeling hive. Discord and his Windigo appeared with arms full of frozen fish. “GUESS WHO? We’re back! And we have brought back a frozen fish feast worthy of our friends! So, did we miss anything?” Discord asked the room full of irritated glares.
“Get him!”
And so Discord fled the hive with a carefree grin on his face as his friends chased him.