Spike had seen many things through his life that made his heart race out of fear. He ran for his life through the swamp trying to escape a ravenous hydra. He watched as Discord flipped his entire home upside down while his friends turned on one another. He even came face to face with the tyrant Sombra back in the crystal empire just a few months earlier. All these things made him scared and afraid. None of these however came close to the fear he was feeling now.
Looking up into the sky, he stared up to the creature that Twilight had become. Her piercing blue eyes stared right back at him, almost gazing through his soul and body, sending waves of chills down his spine.
"This isn't happening..." He whispered out loud. "This can't be happening."
"Wh-what's going on?" Rainbow shuttered in fear. "Why does Twilight look like that now?"
Luna took several deep breaths before speaking. "It's the power that Crimson has inside of her. It's taken hold of her body and conformed to her."
Spike turned back to look at the princess. "What do mean? Why is she changing like this?"
"Crimsons body changed due to the alchemy mixture that he injected his own body with, changing his magical signature along with his body to handle the change. He however could not handle the final transformation. Twilight however can..." Luna breathed heavily as she stepped forward. "She is the key to his path to ultimate power."
Hovering in the sky, Twilight looked down at the three figures standing on top the stone ledge beneath her. She turned her head to look at the golden wings that had suddenly grown out. To her surprise it reminded her of the one she used to call teacher. A master. Now however, she just smiled because she felt like she wasn't a student any longer.
Now she was the master.
A cold smile spread across Twilight's face as she turned forward again. "I won't ever let you control me anymore. I won't let any of you try and kill me, because you don't have the power to anymore."
Spike clenched his claws and walked towards the ledge in front of him. "Twilight! What are you doing!? You know you can hear me!"
"I can hear you... But your words are useless to me now." Twilight's body lowered several feet through the air as she spoke. "I am now free of you and Celestia. Now I will show true strength to the world."
"Power? Why are you obsessed with power? You know this isn't you!"
"Twilight please! Why are you doing this!?" Rainbow yelled out. "We are your friends. We are trying to help you!"
"You don't care for me, Rainbow. Yet to me, I don't need your love."
Rainbow felt her heart tremble at the cold words she was told. "But... Twilight, why are you saying this? We always cared for you and we would do anything to-
"You cannot be the one to say what will happen to me." Twilight injected. "I was given this power, and I will finish what I started. This power I have, this volcano, and everything else is me. This is my destiny."
Luna's eyes shot open at the last sentence Twilight said. "No... It can't be."
Flaring his wings out, Spike slammed his foot down splitting the rock outward. "Snap out of this crap, Twilight! I don't know in what stupid world your living in where-
"That's not her...." Luna answered.
Spike turned around in confusion to the princess. "What? What do you mean it's not her?"
"That's not Twilight. I mean, it's her body and mind... But her consciousness isn't clear. Her thoughts are being manipulated and controlled." Luna's magic raised the sword of shadows in front of her face. "It's Crimson."
Luna shook her head in frustration. "I figured she was simply falling to the power itself and following his words, but she truly is being controlled."
"How do you know that?" Spike asked.
"That last thing she just said. 'This power I have, this volcano, and everything else is me. This is my destiny.' That is the very thing Crimson told my sister when they battled here. I heard it so many times in her nightmares I will never forget that statement."
"So... Twilight really isn't doing this." Spike said, feeling slightly relieved at hearing that. 'So she isn't just saying this. I knew it.' He turned around to the others, but gasped when he saw Rainbows state. "Oh no, Rainbow..."
Rainbows body was dripping with sweat as she took deep breaths, shutting her eyes as she stepped forward. I... I'm fine." She shook her body and sent out a mist of perspiration into the air, evaporating before it even touched the ground.
Luna frowned and moved over to the young Pegasi's side. "Your body's overheating. You can't handle this temperature much longer. You should leave this place."
Glaring up at her, Rainbow braced her legs and stood straight up. "No, I'm not leaving! I made it here for Twilight, and I'm not leaving without her."
"Hmm.... If you insist then." Charging her horn, Luna cast a sheet of magic and settled it along Rainbows body, forming across her fur and even her tail. After she finished, Luna stepped back once more. "That will help keep your body shielded, but you cannot move much with this, so you cannot fly."
Rainbow shifted her body inside the magic, feeling it actually cooling her down. "Thank you, princess."
"It's alright. You have to be careful and- gah!" Luna gasped out in pain and dropped to the ground.
"Princess, what's wrong?" Rainbow asked as she ran over to Luna's side.
Panting hard, Luna's eyes clenched at the pulsing energy she felt racing through her body. 'This sword is starting to really piss me off...' Luna snapped at herself. 'Just a little longer, we can make this work.'
Luna stood back up and took one more deep inhale. "I'm fine. We have to move fast if this is going to work."
"What do you plan on doing?" Spike asked her.
"If I am able to get inside of her mind, perhaps I can sever the control he has on her. The only way I can do that though is to physically touch her with my horn."
"Okay, so is that it then?"
"Not exactly. I tried it once already at the castle, but now she is even stronger. The only way this can work is if I can gain access into her heart this time and work into freeing that first."
"The heart?" Rainbow asked in confusion. "I thought you said her mind was where he was controlling?"
"A mind can be tricked and deceived, but the heart is one thing to which cannot be controlled..." Luna sighed to herself as she spoke. "Even when I lost my way in shadow, my heart never truly gave into the darkness. I gave into greed and jealousy, but deep inside, I... I truly did feel a sense of regret to what I did. If I can bring that out inside of Twilight too, that may be just what we need to make her realize what's happening."
Spike cracked his knuckles and glared up towards Twilight. "So if I can hold her down and you use your magic, we can save her?"
"I can only hope so, but it will have to be fast and-
Luna couldn't finish her sentence as Spike burst off the ground and flew up into the air. "Spike, wait!" She yelled up at him as she took off herself. "You stupid drake!"
Gritting his teeth, Spike sped through the sky straight towards Twilight as fast as he could. Seeing him come, Twilight grinned and flapped her wings harder. "You think you can kill me? You have no idea what I have in my control now."
Whipping her head forward, Twilight unleashed a massive fireball right at him. Quickly diving under it, Spike rushed and reached his claws forward, but before he came close a thick wall of lava burst upward separating him from Twilight. Flapping his wings back, Spike stared in awe at the sheer mass of the forty foot burning wall. Suddenly through the center, a thick column burst out towards him at breakneck speed, only missing his head by a few inches. "Geez that was close!"
"Spike, look out!" Rainbow yelled from below.
Before Spike could react, a beam of magic struck his back and launched him through the sky, leaving Rainbow staring helpless up at him. "Spike!"
Grunting, Spike steadied himself and turned back around to see Twilight flying straight at him. Baring his teeth, he pumped his wings and flew at her as well. Twilight charged her power and shot a bright stream of fire forward, but Spike quickly ducked under it and slammed into her body. Not letting her move an inch, Spike wrapped his arms around her chest and squeezed tight.
"Come on Twilight, snap out of this shit!" Spike yelled at her, "I don't want to hurt you, just listen to me!"
"Let go of me!" Twilight angrily shouted back. "You are trying to take me back to her! I won't let her control me!"
"Crimson is the one controlling you! He's poisoning your mind!"
Twilight's horn began leaking streams of fire as she glared back at him. "LIAR! He set me free!"
Thrashing forward, Twilight managed to slip out a few inches of his grip allowing her to move around. Her head turned and unleashed a blinding ball of light above her, causing Spike to yell out in pain and release his grip to cover his eyes. As soon as she was able to move, Twilight flew forward and turned to face the blinded dragon. Her eyes pierced through the darkened sky on her target, intent on removing her obstacle. Her body began emitting pulses of red energy, preparing her power for the next attack. As she was ready to use it however, a blue form rushed at her from the side forcing her to turn.
Luna came barreling through the sky with the sword of shadows in her grip. Sneering in frustration, Twilight turned her attention to the incoming princess now. "You don't know what I can do now. This is my way of freedom!" She yelled out as she used her power and grabbed a thick glob of dripping lava beneath her and threw it at Luna.
Spinning in a forward roll, Luna cut the incoming attack in half to pass through the center. She sped towards Twilight and shot a blast of magic at her, only to have a ball of fire strike her attack and explode in a bright flash. As the smoke cleared, Luna saw Twilight was gone, her eyes now scanning back and forth across the plain of view. From below, her eyes widened as a column of lava burst upward at her, Twilight on top of it as her horn burned intensely.
Jump off of the rising magma, Twilight launched it up at Luna, the princess barely blocking herself with the sword in time before it crashed into her. Even with the blade cutting through the incoming attack, Luna felt herself being pushed back several feet every few seconds.
"She's... She is a lot stronger than before... I have to end this now..." Luna grunted at herself.
Twilight continued to launch her never ending lava stream at her target, hoping it would simply scorch the princess to embers. Suddenly her body was knocked to the side by Spikes mass, shoving her through the sky. Yelling out in anger, Twilight kicked back against him and pointed her horn straight at him.
"Burn and stay out of my way!"
A burst of fire over ten feet across burst out from Twilight's horn and engulfed Spikes entire form. Rainbow Dash screamed out in terror as she watched him disappear in the bright fire. "Spike!"
Forming her fire into a solid ball around him, Twilight sat back and smirked at her work. "You always were a burden at times Spike. Now you are nothing more than-
Spike Burst out of the fire with his left fist balled up tight. "RAAHHH!"
The loud crack of Spikes fist against Twilight's face rang across the darkened sky, leaving almost an eerie silence except for the sound of her body splashing into the lava below. Rainbow Dash sat in surprise at what happened as Spike slowly lowered himself down to the rock plateau she was on. She held her breath in shock when she saw there wasn't a mark on him.
"Spike... How did you..."
"Fire doesn't hurt dragons." He answered bluntly, his eyes still looking at Twilight crawling out of the lava. "I don't know how much longer this can go on though, this place is getting more-
The ground was suddenly rocked by a large explosion, shaking the entire volcanos structure. A giant column of lava burst dozens of feet into the sky and came raining down towards where the two of them were. Spike turned to move out of the way, but saw that Rainbow was staring up in fear. "Rainbow, look out!"
Seeing her stuck in her spot, Spike jumped over and wrapped his body and wings around her and pulled her close. His back was showered his scorching chunks of magma, fortunately which didn't hurt him in the least. His concern however was for the pony shaking against his chest. "You alright?"
"Ye-yeah... I just froze. Thank you Spike" Rainbow said as she hugged his barrel.
Spike gave her a comforting pat on her back before putting her down. He looked back towards the magma ocean, seeing multiple bursts from the surface. "The volcano is getting more active..." He said to himself. "It's only going to get worse unless we stop this soon. Stay here."
Leaving her again, Spike leaped into the air and flew at her. Twilight shook her head clear and glared at the incoming dragon. Her hoof scooped into the lava beneath her and shoved a wave of lava growing up over sixty feet into the air. Spike stopped himself in flight in awestruck shock, turning around and flying away as the wave just missed from crashing on top of him.
"Don't think you can get away that easily, Spike." Twilight yelled as she flew after him.
Growling at himself, Spike dived down towards the small rock jutting up beneath him and hooked his claws at the top. Spinning from his momentum, he launched back through the sky towards Twilight. "Don't make me do this, Twilight!"
Spike swiped his claws in an attempt to catch hold of Twilight's wings, but her speed was too much for him. Easily ducking underneath his strike, Twilight pointed her horn straight at his chest and smiled.
"Nice try Spike, but not good enough."
Rainbow Dash's eyes widened in horror as she watched Spike become enveloped in a massive explosion in the sky high above her. "SPIKE! NO!"
Shooting through the sky, Spikes body crashed into the side of a large rock plateau and fell beneath the collapsing rubble. Twilight chuckled to herself and floated down onto a nearby rock outing. "So now you can see why there's no chance for you to stop me, Spike you should have just-
A bolt of blue lightning striking her square in the back cut Twilight's words off, now replaced by a pain filled scream. Pulses of blue static danced around her body. Forcing her head up, Twilight looked up to see Luna landing in front of her. She grimaced at her self actually forgetting the princess in the last few minutes.
Luna rushed forward across the ground, her horn glowing bright and pulsing with energy. Her stun spell would only work for a few seconds, and she was going to make sure it counted. Without giving Twilight a moment to break free, she used her aura and grabbed her target and threw her back onto a large boulder behind her, conjuring several chains and wrapping them onto Twilight's body. Twilight wasn't going to go down easy however, her body releasing a powerful wave of heat so strong it began melting the few chains on her form.
Panting in desperation, Luna charged her magic even more and pushed it into the chains and rebinding the connections. Roaring out, Twilight charged her own horn and shot off several fireballs towards the princess, only to have them cut by the sword Luna carried. Feeling the heat beginning to wear on herself, Luna knew she had to end this fast. With a last hard pull, she hoisted Twilight into the air in front of her and spread her forelegs out, exposing her chest for what may be only a fraction of time. That was all she needed to reach the heart, and was going to use that chance now.
...
Before she could move however, her blood ran cold.
"No..." She stuttered in fear.
Luna's body froze in place, a sinister chill wrapping around her form. Cold shivers ran across her skin as the dark aura of the sword began to leak out faster than ever, slowly crawling over her magic and onto her body. "Wh-what is this? It's different than before." She stuttered out between breaths. Her eyes stared in terror at the black sword in her grasp, realizing just how dark this blade was.
Luna's Breathing became more difficult as her lungs felt constricted, the dark aura spreading further across her body. She tried to simply drop the sword and get away from it, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't find the strength to let go of it.
Crawling up from the rubble, Spike shook himself free of the gravel and looked up in shock to the dark energy swirling around Luna. "What is that?"
Sweat rolled down Luna's forehead as she struggled to release her hold on the sword, but it was set strong and wouldn't let go. In fact, it was getting stronger every second longer. "The sword... The longer it's out of its sheath the greater its power has been growing." She whispered to herself.
"Shakagrietha."
Luna's fur stood on end to the cold, chilling voice that spoke out. Her eyes drifted down to the sword in her magic, feeling her heart beginning to beat faster when she saw the jewel on the hilt glowing. It was then she realized the sword itself was the one speaking.
"Haashakrarã. Sukuroto makaath."
The sinister language was something Luna had never heard before, it's dark tone sending a tremor up her spine. "Wh-what is this evil?" She whispered.
"Sakkatana decrear mortorga."
The cold voice began to grow louder as the sword started to suddenly shake in her grasp.
"Kaarshatoo wreathraack tashkall. Shugolfga stalifga!"
The next instant, a burst of black smoke rushed out from the blade and surrounded Luna, blocking her body out of sight From the others. The chains holding Twilight down dissolved away as the Phoenix pony dropped back to the ground. Looking up, Twilight stared in wonder at the spectacle before her.
"That power... What is that thing?" She asked Crimson.
The smoke spiraled around the locked princess, spinning before shooting up as a thick column into the sky and disappearing into the clouds. Looking through her eyes, Crimson didn't respond as he gazed upon the odd turn of events unfolding before him. Even he had no answer to the swords power. It was something even in his years of life never saw in the castle. He didn't recognize this from anything he had heard before, and from what he could sense, it was unlike anything he had ever seen before.
---
Seven hundred miles east of Mount Volvack, far across the Great Plains of Montara sat the edge of the country. The air was much clearer here than in most of the rest of Montara due to the lack of volcanoes in this part. The only thing that was found were were several small mountains before coming upon the ocean, the ending location of land before over two thousand miles of open water.
Sitting on one of the ledges to the final mountain sat an average sized dragon. Deep blue scales covered his twenty five foot tall frame before shifting to light turquoise on his short neck. Leaning against the stone behind him, he scratched his stomach several times before letting his arm flop back to his side.
"Geez I'm hungry..." He moaned to himself.
He opened his mouth and released a deep yawn as he stared out to the wide open sea, admiring the bright reflection given off by the sunrise. The sound of scraping suddenly caught his attention, turning to the right to look at the open cave. "Decided to finally get up, I see?" He chuckled to the newcomer.
Coming up from her cavern was a tall drake at nearly ninety feet tall. Long and powerful arms pulled her strong yet slender body up into the open air, the sun shimmering across her silver scales. On the end of her long neck sat her slim head and a line of sleek spines rising from the back of her head. While she seemed majestic and powerful, what contradicted that was the condition her appearance sat in.
Deep scars ran along her chest and stomach, spreading out on her arms and even her back. Her wrists had deep indentions from past confinement and shackles. The scarring ran up her neck and ended on her face, where her left eye had been replaced with a black patch of metal melded into her open socket.
She leaned forward and arched her back to pop her stiff joints, spreading out her long and wide wings. Once relaxed enough, she stood back up and sighed.
"Yes I'm up now, scold me..." She said with a grin, "I never get to do this at home, Kalrock."
Kalrock laughed out loud and rubbed his back on the rock to get an itch. "Yeah, your dad would probably be making you attend another clan meeting again."
Her grin turned into a frown at hearing that. "Well what would you expect? I'm the second oldest creature on this planet, it would seem odd I wasn't at an elder meeting."
Realizing what he said, Kalrock leaned up and sighed. "I didn't mean it like that, Glemora. Just because you're older, you don't act that way though.Every other dragon over a thousand years old just becomes a bore except for you. I've known you for a hundred years and I can swear you don't act all old and grouchy."
Glemora couldn't help but smile at the compliment. While she was near two thousand years old, she never was one to follow the style of having to be a controlling mentor. She always figured the other dragons should choose their way of life. "So you mean I'm immature and not wanting to take the throne? Of course!"
"Oh boy... If lord Volvack heard you say that, I don't know if I want to be around to see that." Kalrock chuckled out loud.
"I can deal with what my father would do, thank you very much..." Glemora answered back, "right now, I'm enjoying my vacation here."
"Hehe, true to that. Hey, how about I go get some breakfast in a bit? I'm kinda over gems right now, so how does-
Kalrock was cut off my the sudden loud burst overhead. He quickly sat up straight to see a dark column of smoke shooting across the sky coming from the mainland behind them. "What the..." He mumbled as his eyes followed it over himself and towards the sea, racing in the air far into the distance until the end disappeared on the horizon.
"What is that thing? And why is it coming from Montara" he asked out loud. After a few moments of silence, he lifted his eyebrows in curiosity. "Glemora, do you know what that is?"
Once again he heard nothing. Grunting, he stood up and turned towards his friend. "Glemora, didn't you hear me? I asked you... I asked..." His words slipped off his tongue when he saw something he didn't expect. "Glemora?"
The dragon princess was staring up at the continuing column of smoke above her, releasing a torrent of images in her mind long buried. Her body shuddered like that of a young filly confronting their worst fear in the world, breaths coming in shallow gasps. Her one green eye was unblinking and unmoving from the sight above her. "No... I-it can't be..." She stuttered in pure horror.
"Glemora, what's wrong?" Kalrock dropped down to her level and walked towards her. "What is that thing?"
Not responding, her trembling claws reached up and felt the dozens of scars that liked her body. Horrible memories she hoped to never remember began to bubble back up, haunting her soul and sending a chilling crawl up her body. She rubbed on the deep scars on her wrists, tracing up her arm to her disfigured chest and neck, until she fearfully felt the metal patch over her eye.
"This can't be... It was supposed to never be used again..." She quietly mumbled.
"What? What wasn't supposed to be used?" Kalrock questioned her, completely confused at what was happening. He reached forward and felt her quivering arm. "What's happening? What are you afraid of?"
Instead of answering, Glemora pulled away from him and launched up into the sky.
"Glemora wait!" Kalrock yelled out, but she ignored his words and flew back towards the interior of Montara, leaving him alone and confused.
Glemora pumped her wings as fast as she could, pushing her body back to her home. Her heart pulsed uncontrollably inside her chest, blood rushing adrenaline through every vein. She felt like she was an infant running away from a dark shadow in the corner of the room, trying to find refuge with her parents. Most of the time one would refuse to do this in reason of pride or something to prove.
At this moment though, she didn't care. For she knew exactly what that dark smoke came from, and she knew exactly to where it was going as well. Of all the things to be afraid of, there were some much more sinister than most, some shadows even dark than most others. And there was one shadow to which there was no hiding from. No place of refuge or safety to be found.
Only death and despair to not only Montara, but every single life on the planet.
"Please don't let this happen again... Please don't let them free..."
---
Inside the swirling cloud, Luna's predicament grew greater every second. The dark magic was unlike anything she had ever felt before, as if it wasn't natural. Even Discords magic of chaos felt like a scripted spell to the feeling she was experiencing now. Even when she fell to the dark path of Nightmare Moon did she feel this level of evil. The Not only was she no longer controlling what was happening, she had no idea entirely to what was happening.
Never once had Starswirl ever told her about what this blade was fully capable of, but to have ever thought that this is what could have happened never even mentioned her thoughts. This was as if it wasn't even a sword. The aura flowing out from it felt as if it was moving on its own, forcing itself into her very soul.
It felt like the sword was alive.
Her body began trembling every few seconds, her muscles losing strength as the sword continued seeping into her power. Even trying to stand anymore was too much, forcing her down onto her knees as she clenched her eyes shut in fear.
"No... This isn't what I wanted. I didn't want this to happen." Luna whimpered out in fear, tears of terror dripping out of her eyes. "Celestia... Help me."
"This wasn't the deal!"
Luna's eyes shot open at the sudden powerful voice echoing in the air. "He-hello!?" She gasped out in exhaustion. She turned her head to look for whoever called, but only saw swirling smoke.
"This was not the deal, Starswirl!" The deep voice yelled again. "You promised equal share of the power!"
"Starswirl?" Luna stuttered in confusion, unsure where the words were coming from. Suddenly, another voice rang out through the smoke.
"Don't even try and say you have the authority to make a deal with me, I do what I seem fit for my race."
'That's Starswirls voice!' Luna yelled at herself in confusion. She knew he was dead, but now his voice was speaking. Before she could comprehend it more, the smoke began spinning faster around her.
"I won't allow my failure to spread itself more than it is." Starswirls voice said.
"No! Please don't! I'll do what you want, just let her go! Please!" Another voice yelled.
"Now you will watch your mistake and see the consequences." Starswirls voice said in the mist.
"This world will fall to its knees before I let any single one of you take it from me."
"Now you can watch from your cage as I show you what you could have had if you simply did what you were made to do."
Luna's head was spinning in pain and confusion to everything happening. The voices didn't make sense in all the mess and she just wanted them to stop. She looked down to the sword in her grip as it shook harder and harder every moment, continuing to spill out the dark smoke from its steel. She didn't know what was going on, but one thing for certain was she wanted no part in it any more. She realized she couldn't move the sword in any way, but the sheath on her back was free to move.
Using all the strength she had, Luna focused some of her magic and lifted the sheath and pulled it to the end of the sword. Her strain made the sheath shake uncontrollably and difficult to put straight. She didn't care how hard it was though, and she pushed down with all of her might as the sheath slipped back down onto the sword.
As soon as the sword was covered, the ball of smoke around her diminished instantly, breaking apart into nothing as if it were never there. All the smoke that was in the sky vanished as well, leaving Luna standing there alone. Her body was drenched in sweat and shaking profusely, unable to stand up straight before collapsing over.
"princess Luna!" Rainbow yelled in fear of what happened. She prepared to take off over to her, but as she moved she felt the magic on her body shifting. She knew that if she flew it would not stay on her. But she didn't care.
"Screw this!"
Tired of just sitting there, Rainbow Dash jumped off the ground and flew towards Luna. Every flap she took ate away at her magical shield, the cover slowly dripping off before falling away completely. Gasping at the intense heat crashing over her, she pushed through it and landed by the princesses side. "Princess, are you okay? What happened?"
Luna couldn't answer though, her lungs gasping too fast to even gather a full breath. Her eyes were unfocused as she stared out blankly, not able to look at anything clearly. Every muscle she had felt locked like she had been clenched for hours on end. She tried to move her body, but gasped out as her leg moved barely a few inches.
"Princess... What did that thing do to you?" Rainbow asked in concern. A movement caught her attention to the left, making her look over and felt her heart nearly drop. "Twilight..."
The burning hybrid slowly trotted towards the two terrified ponies, her flickering mane dancing like a mad wildfire. "I don't know what kind of power that was, but it looks like you can't even control it yourself. Now I am ending this pathetic attempt of you to stop me from-
Spike slammed into the ground between Twilight and the others blocking her path, his claws extended out. "I'm not gonna let you hurt them Twilight! If you won't snap out of this, I'll make you snap out of it!"
He rushed forward at her trying to grab her, but Twilight easily dodged under his arms and grabbed a large rock with her magic and launched it into his stomach. Spike yelled out in pain as he fell onto his back. Before he could get back up, Twilight's magic crawled up his back and wrapped itself around his throat.
Taking a deep Inhale, Twilight used her aura and lifted Spike up into the air above her, shifting the magic into a tight collar just beneath his chin and squeezed. Spikes eyes shot open in panic as his windpipe suddenly constricted and halted his breathing. He thrashed about in the air, reaching at his neck in an attempt to free himself, but his arms became chained by magic as well, pinning them to his side leaving him helpless.
Rainbow Dash brought a hoof to her mouth in horror as she watched Spike struggle. "No, Twilight stop it! You're hurting him!"
Ignoring her, Twilight lifted him higher, watching him continue to thrash and cough in pain. "I am done with you getting in my way. It's about time you just gave up and accepted your fate."
"Please, don't do this! Please!" Rainbow screamed out, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
Luna looked up in despair at the captured drake, attempting to stand up on her shaky legs, but she gasped and collapsed back down in strain. Her body was too exhausted to move at all anymore from the dark power of the sword, making her helpless to do anything.
"Twilight, st-stop, please..." Luna struggled to say, "you don't want to do this. You know you don't."
Twilight looked over to the princess and her former friend to her side, then back up to the dragon she had in her grasp. Suddenly, her vision shifted to the small dragon she had grown up with when she was younger, a large smile on his face looking back at her. She saw how happy he was, and deep inside her own chest... She felt... Happy as well.
"Sp-spike..." Her voice cracked out.
'TWILIGHT!'
Crimsons yell inside Twilight's head snapped her out of her thoughts, bringing back the larger Spike to her sight. 'Twilight, don't let his lies get into your head. You are a god to these creatures now. None of them are worthy of being in your presence any longer.'
Twilight's eyes furrowed in anger as the words soaked into her mind. "Yes... I am greater than them."
Gasping for air, Spike looked down with pleading eyes to the pony he once saw as a loving sister, and still did. "T-Twilight... You don't want this. I can get you home and- gah!"
His words were cut short as the magical collar tightened at his throat. Rainbow brought a hoof to her mouth to hold back her gasps.
"Spike! Twilight stop!"
The words went ignored as Twilight simply stared up at Spikes eyes begin to gloss over, losing focus as his consciousness slipped. "Goodbye Spike. Now I will never be used by you or Celestia again."
Those last words rang inside Spikes ears, echoing through is mind and rattling his thoughts. His eyes shot open in anger and rage, clenching his arms and pulling as hard as he could against the chains. Twilight gave a smirk at seeing him attempt to fight her magic... Only to watch in shock as he began stretching the magical restraints outward. Her eyes spread open as the magic pulled before finally snapping in half.
"What!?" She gasped out in disbelief.
His claws freed, Spike reached up and physically grabbed the collar around his neck and pulled outward, Shattering the magic as if it were cardboard. Before Twilight could even react anymore, Spike rushed her with his fists balled tight and landed a powerful right hook directly into her face and sent her bouncing back across the rock and down splashing onto the lava below.
Both Luna and Rainbow Dash stared open mouth in utter shock at what just happened right in front of them.
"What... How did he... What!?" Rainbow stuttered in confusion. "He broke through her magic."
"How can he do that? A dragon simply... can't grab magic like that." Luna answered between pants. "It's like he has power of his own."
"But Spike is a dragon, he doesn't have magic. Or... He shouldn't have magic, right?"
"I know... It's like..." Luna's mind began to go back to something she suddenly remembered from the past. "Rainbow.... Didn't Twilight hatch Spike?"
"Huh?" Rainbow looked back at her in confusion. "Y-yeah she did."
The princess turned forward and took a deep breath. Using all the willpower she possibly could muster, she struggled up and lifted herself onto her elbows and looked up at the drake before her. "Celestia said when Spike was hatched... Twilight... Had a magical miss fire, including shooting Spike as well. The only thing I can..." She paused to take another inhale, "I can think of is somehow... Spike was infused with magic at birth... To why he was stunted at growth until it was broken. That's... That's why he's bigger now."
"What? You mean he has magic in him so that's why he suddenly grew?" Rainbow asked out, also remembering the burst of aura around his body when he changed.
Luna nodded. "It seems he for some miracle he... He has her power infused in his blood. He can counter her powers... And break through it. Since he is... Immune to fire and her magic... He is probably... The one who can actually stop her.
Crawling up from the lava, Twilight shook her head and looked up in complete and utter disbelief as this dragon grabbed her own aura and broke through it, something that should be impossible. She could only look up at the furious drake staring down at her, his piercing eyes focused on her as he popped the bones in his knuckles.
"Twilight, I love you and I want to help you, but you better start trying to get free. If you don't try and help yourself, I'll break every bone in your body and drag you back to Canterlot so we can rip that monster out of you!"