//------------------------------// // Showdown at Sweet Apple Acres // Story: The Dragon that Would be Pony // by The Dragon Warlock //------------------------------// The sky had a reddish color to it as Princess Celestia's sun set on Sweet Apple Acres. The sky's color was a perfect way to describe what Spike was seeing as he looked upon Jordan. He finally found the stallion that attacked and nearly killed Rainbow and now captured the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He could feel hatred and anger coursed through his mind, but a small part of it was confused by the black stallion's words. "What do you mean a score to settle!?" Spike demanded. "I don't know you at all!" Jordan smirked and said, "You're wrong Sparky. I've got something to settle with my Lord." "Your Lord?" Spike asked with mixture of confusion and anger on his face. "Why yes Sparky, my Lord has taken quite an interest in you. He would be more than happy to see you display your power in front of him. Since you seem to have such anger against me, I am willing to be a good gentlecolt and make you a deal." "I'm not interested!" Spike barked. "Tsk tsk Sparky, the least you can do is hear my offer to you." Jordan said waving a hoof. The black stallion went over to the tree holding Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo in the net. The three filles were shaking violently and had terrified looks on them. "If you come with me without a fight, I'll let these fillies go without a scratch on them. That is if you even care about them." Spike looked at Jordan and then at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He thought that if he tried anything, Jordan would most likely kill the three fillies. He looked at the sturdy apple tree to see a brown rope holding the net. An idea sparked inside the purple pegasus' head and looked back at Jordan. "All right Jordan, you win." "WHAT!?" The Cutie Mark Crusaders shouted in disbelief. "Ya can't do this Sparky!" Applebloom said. "Don'cha worry about us, fight that varmint!" "SHUT UP!" Jordan barked, causing the three fillies to close their mouths and quiver in fear. The black stallion looked at "Sparky" and said, "Oh, I'm glad we could resolve this without violence." Spike walked over to Jordan and saw he had his hoof extended out. Spike raised his hoof and quickly threw a punch at the black unicorn's face. Jordan grunted in pain, but before he could react another punch hit him in the right side and he fell to the ground. Spike took this chance to gallop pass Jordan and headed for the rope. He started pulling it with his teeth as hard as he could. He looked to his side to see Jordan slowly getting up and approaching him with a glare on his face. The purple pegasus panicked and pulled on the rope more. His efforts paid off with a loud snap just as Jordan was near him. "You're going to wish you never OOF!" Jordan felt something drop on his back and collapsed to the ground. He looked up to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders were free. "Why you little UGH!" Spike had kicked Jordan in the face to make sure he didn't do anything to them. "Run for it!" Spike shouted at the three foals. "Go to Rainbow's place and get Twilight and the others here now!" "B-but what about you Sparky?" Sweetie Belle asked looking worried. "Don't worry about me. Go get help, I'll hold him off!" The crusaders sprinted off from the fight and towards Rainbow's house. Applebloom looked over her shoulder as she ran off until she couldn't see both Jordan and "Sparky" at all. The yellow Earth filly screeched to a halt and turned back. Scootaloo noticed this and stopped Sweetie with her hoof. "Applebloom, what are you doing!?" The orange filly asked. "We've got to get help!" Applebloom looked back at her friends. "Y'all git goin'! Ah'm gonna git mah brother to help Sparky!" "But Applebloom..." Sweetie tried to say. "Just go already!" The yellow filly pointed a hoof. "You all git Miss Twilight and the others down here! Ah'm gonna warn mah family 'bout this!" Scootaloo looked at her friend for a few seconds before giving a nod. "Alright, but come see us after you do that! Got it!?" The yellow filly gave a nod and ushered her friends to go. She waited until they were no longer in sight and turned back. "Ah ain't gonna let Sparky fight Jordon alone. He's a good pony and he needs somepony to help and there ain't no time t'git Big Macintosh out here. Ah've got t'help him no matter what." She charged back down the path towards the clubhouse and hid in the apple orchards. Spike heard a groan and looked to see Jordon getting up. The black stallion narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "You'll pay for that!" He threatened. "If you won't come quietly, then I'll have to break a few of your bones." Jordan's horn glowed a dark yellow aura. A white glow went out around him and Spike. Spike looked so see what Jordan did, but couldn't see anything. He turned back to see Jordan had charged at him and had his right front hoof up. The black stallion punched Spike on the right side of his face and headbutted him. Spike cried out in pain and fell to the ground. He looked up to see Jordan with a devilish grin and felt his hoof pressed against his head. "You're out of your league Sparky." The black stallion said in a low menacing voice. "I'm a top soldier who's skilled in both magic and strength." Spike looked to see his mouth was near Jordan's right front leg. The purple pegasus used all his strength to lift his head. He reached over and bit the black unicorn on the knee. Jordan yelled in anguish and lost his grip on his captive. Spike took this chance to run off and get help. Spike galloped up the path until he felt something hit him right in his face that sent him back. The purple pegasus rubbed his face and looked to see nothing was in front of him. He slowly raised a hoof and felt some glass, but there was nothing there. He heard a cold laugh echoed behind Spike. He turned to see Jordan standing not too far behind him with a smug smile. "Oh, that's right I forgot to tell you." Jordan said in a mocking voice. "I put up a barrier dome around this area to keep you from escaping. What a pity, you were so close to getting away from me. There is no escape from you Sparky and I will ensure you don't." Jordan's horn shot a lightning bolt towards his opponent. Spike jumped out of the way in time and looked to see Jordan charging at him. The purple pegasus glared at the black stallion and charged at him as well. The two stallions were ready to head butt each other. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo ran out of the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres like they were running a marathon. The two fillies bolted down the path leading towards Rainbow's house. Scootaloo turned her head to find Applebloom, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Where the hay is she!?" She shouted. "It shouldn't take too long for her to get her family to help Sparky!" "I don't know! Let's just get to Rainbow's house!" Sweetie yelled. As they turned a bend towards Rainbow's house, they ran past a black hooded pony carrying a saddlebag on his back. The stallion heard what the filly said and stopped when he heard the name of the pony. He looked to see the path the fillies came from led to the apple farm. He saw a flash of a light amongst the apple trees. The pony looked back to see the crusaders were gone and then galloped down the path towards Sweet Apple Acres. Spike felt a punch hit him in the face and stumbled back a little. He quickly looked up to see Jordan raising his hoof again again and jumped to the left. The purple pegasus attempted to punch his opponent back, but he dodged all his moves. "Excaecant mico!" Jordan shouted. He closed his eyes as his horn glowed a bright white light. Spike covered his eyes and wandered around aimlessly. He cried out in anguish as he felt several punches hit him all over hit body. He waved a hoof around wildly until by a stroke of luck he felt it impact against something and heard Jordan grunted in pain. Spike's sight slowly returned to him in time to see another punch about to hit him. He dodged it and galloped away from Jordan. The purple pegasus felt something whizzed past him and looked back to see Jordan shooting bolts of lightning at him. The black stallion laughed mockingly as he chased "Sparky" around. "Is this honestly the best you've got Sparky!?" Jordan asked as he shot another bolt of lightning. "I thought that somepony who nearly bested me yesterday would've put up more of a fight! You're not even trying!" 'He has a point.' Spike thought to himself as he continued to run. 'I can't go near him without him throwing more spells at me. This is insane!' Spike continued to run, but the bruises and cuts he had all over his body started to take its toll on him. Jordan saw this and used his magic to levitate the purple pegasus towards him. "Here I was thinking this was going to be a challenge. It's quite a shame really." He's horn glowed in preparation to teleport himself and Spike. Spike flailed about as he struggled to free himself. He noticed in the confusion his front right hoof was in front of Jordan's forehead. He threw a punch at the black unicorn's head and felt it hit its target. Jordan yelled in pain and lost his focus on holding his captive. Spike fell to the ground and looked to see Jordan was dazed from the punch. He got up and punched the black unicorn in the face and then turned around and raised his hind legs to send him flying. Jordan was sent flying and crashed into a tree. He cried out in pain and cringed form the sudden impact. The black stallion raised his head and saw Spike was charging at him. His horn glowed a dark orange and a fireball shot out of his horn. Spike noticed this and narrowly dodged the spell. The fireball exploded behind him and set a nearby set of trees on fire. Jordan slowly got up and retaliated by conjuring another bolt of lightning from his horn. Spike saw the bolt and quickly turned around to avoid his spells. The purple pegasus looked back to see another fireball coming at him and instinctively took off flying. Spike heard the laughter of Jordan as more bolts of lightning flew passed him. "You really are pathetic and stupid aren't you!?" The black stallion asked smugly. "You can fly all around you want, but you can't fly out of this dome!" At the mention of the word fly, Spike looked around the sealed off area and saw there was a small patch of trees he could hide in. An idea suddenly went off in his mind and he smirked. He turned back to Jordan. "Alright then Jordan." Spike said sounding confident. "Since I can't touch you, you're going to have to catch me." The purple pegasus took off into the patch of apple trees. Jordan glared and tried to fire another spell, but he felt disoriented all of a sudden. 'Ah, horseapples.' He thought to himself. 'All these spells have really started to drain me. I need to save some power to teleport him and myself back to the castle. It doesn't matter though, he can't leave this area.' Jordan took off into the direction "Sparky" flew off in. Jordan looked around the small group of apple trees for Sparky. He could see was the thick trunks of the trees and no movement from the trees leaves or branches at the top. "Come on out you coward!" The black unicorn barked. "You can't stay hidden from me that easily! If you won't come out, then I'll burn these trees to flush you out! Now come on out!" "You asked for it." Spike warned. Jordan looked around to see "Sparky" diving from the air. The purple pegasus punched him in the cheek and sent him falling to the ground. Spike landed and saw Jordan getting up, but didn't give him the chance to do so and galloped over to kick him. The black unicorn quickly blasted a bolt of lightning at "Sparky" as he got up. Spike dodged it and delivered one last kick that made Jordan let out an anguished scream. He was sent tumbling back further until he laid on his back completely motionless. The crackle of the fire died down as did the dust from the fight. Spike panted heavily as he looked upon the body of Jordan. He decided to get closer to see if he could tie him up or hold him down until Twilight and the others came to help. The purple pegasus trotted over to his fallen opponent and checked to see if he was moving at all. Jordan's eyes shot open and swiftly threw a punch at Spike. He yelped in pain as he stumbled back from the black unicorn. "Excaecant mico!" He shouted as he shut his eyes. Spike shielded himself this time, but he felt several punches hit him across his face. He felt Jordan give a powerful headbutt that caused him to fall to the ground. Spike felt himself be levitated off the ground and thrown against a tree. The purple pegasus screamed in agony as he felt his bones nearly crack. Spike He felt himself be lifted in the air and be thrown down against the ground several times. By the time Jordan stopped his torture, Spike felt like he couldn't move at all. His entire body seemed to be paralyzed with pain and couldn't feel anything. He tried to move his mouth to call for help, but his jaw wasn't moving. His body was kicked to his backside where Spike was greeted by an insane looking Jordan. "You see Sparky, you never had any chance." The black stallion said in a mocking tone. "I'm gonna give you credit for at least being able to survive this long. Just be glad you weren't facing my mentor, Captain Sanderson, he would've taken you out before you even moved a muscle." Spike wanted to say something, but his body was in so much pain that he didn't dare try to move. Jordan looked at the sky to see the sun had set and Princess Luna's moon shone upon the apple orchards. He gripped "Sparky" with his hooves and his horn glowed a yellow aura. "It's time to go Sparky. My Lord is not one to be patient and he's eager to meet you." "NO!" A voice cried out. Jordan looked to the side and felt somepony embrace tightly around his face. The black unicorn mumbled loudly as he thrashed to get whoever it was off his face. Spike feebly raised his head and his eyes grew as wide as dinner plates from the pony in front of him. It was Applebloom holding onto Jordan's face for dear life and pounding his head with a few punches. "Y'all ain't gonna hurt mah friend!" The yellow Earth filly shouted. "Yer gonna pay fer usin' yer magic t'hurt Sparky!" She opened her mouth and bit Jordan's horn. The black unicorn thrashed wildly until Applebloom was flung off his face. He cried out in pain and grasped his horn. HE stumbled away and laid on the ground. Applebloom ran over to "Sparky" to help him. "Sparky, ya gotta hang on! Mah friends are gittin' Miss Twilight and her friends here!" "A...Applebloom...you have to get out of here." Spike warned in a small voice. "You need to find someplace to hide away from him now. If you don't, he'll probably kill you." "Ah ain't gonna do that Sparky!" She shouted in defiance. "After all ya did fer me and mah friends, Ah ain't gonna let ya die." "Then you can die with him!" A voice barked. Applebloom turned around, but before she could react a lightning bolt hit her square in the chest. The filly screamed out in anguish and fell to the ground. Spike's eyes widened as he looked at Applebloom falling to the ground and could hear her scream echo in his head. He heard her body collapse onto the ground and the cold laughter of Jordan. He looked back at him to see he had an icy glare at the Earth filly and kicked her aside. "APPLEBLOOM!" Spike shouted in a mixture of sorrow and anger. "Serves the brat right for getting in the way." The black unicorn said. "She'll be dealt with soon enough, but enough of that. I've got more important manners to attend to." Jordan trotted over to "Sparky" who was shaking violently and had his head buried in his hooves. "Don't worry Sparky, your friend there isn't dead. I've merely knocked her out. If she's lucky, maybe I'll convince my Lord to let her live and be a slave to us." Jordan heard no response from his captive and scoffed. "If you're done groveling and weeping, then it's time to leave this place. You've wasted enough of my time with this fight." He was about to grab "Sparky", but felt his hoof hold grip his front left leg. "Hey! Let go of me right now you insignificant little!...What the?" Spike looked at Jordan with a contorted look of pure rage and hatred at him. He felt something snap as his body coursed with uncontrollable hatred. His body radiated with a black aura and his eyes became pitch black. Spike threw a quick punch across Jordan's face and sent him flying to the ground. The black unicorn groaned a little and saw "Sparky" was approaching him with his teeth bared and his eyes narrowed. His hoofsteps left behind tiny little black flames that died out after a few seconds. "I...I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!" Spike shouted in a booming demonic voice. "YOU WILL NOT HURT MY FRIENDS! YOU WILL NOT HURT ANY OF THEM!" Jordan as shaking in intimidation. 'What the buck is with this pegasus?' He thought to himself. 'H-he's suddenly like a completely different pony. Is this part of his power?' The black unicorn got up and shot a lightning bolt out of his horn. The bolt hit Spike squarely in the chest, but he was unfazed by it. Jordan's eyes widened in shock and scrambled to shoot out a fireball. The purple pegasus moved his head to the side and dodged it. Jordan began to panic and desperately blasted an ice bolt at "Sparky". The blue energy blast hit Spike and encased him in a glacier. Jordan trotted to "Sparky" with a victorious look on him. As the black stallion made his way to the glacier, it started to rumble violently and then exploded. Jordan ducked and shielded himself from the icicle shrapnel. He heard a deafening demonic roar echo throughout the orchards. He saw "Sparky" still coming towards him and crawled away in fear. He turned back to "Sparky" and saw he was merely inches from his face. "Excaecant mi- ACK!" He tried to shout, but Spike grabbed him by the neck and pulled him forward. "NO...MORE...MAGIC." The purple pegasus boomed. He grabbed Jordan's horn. "W-what are you doing!?" He cried out in terror. "Stop! Let go of my horn! Please wait!" CRACK! Jordan screamed in a mixture of horror and agony as he clutched where his horn once was. Spike opened his hoof to drop the black unicorn horn and stomped on it until it was nothing but rubble. He threw Jordan across the field and slammed hard into a tree on his back. Jordan yelled in agony and struggled to get up and limp away. He heard a whooshing sound and was picked up into the air. The black unicorn looked to see "Sparky" raising a hoof and punching him hard enough to send him flying into one of the trees. Jordan felt leaves and branches scrap by him and cut him up until he crashed into the base of the tree. He felt something penetrate his lower right leg and saw to his horror a tree branched had gone through his leg. Before he could scream in pain, "Sparky" rushed in and punched Jordan. He was sent flying out of the tree with the branch still in his leg and crashed into the ground. Spike approached Jordan who was whimpering and crying in pain. He kicked him onto his back and glared daggers at the black unicorn. "P...please, I'm sorry." Jordan said feebly in between sobs. "The magic...magic dome around is...is gone now that you broke my horn. You...you can save your friend. Please...don't kill me. Show some mercy." "MERCY!? YOU WANT MERCY!?" Spike boomed as his black aura surrounded his body more. "AFTER ALL YOU'VE DONE TO ME AND MY FRIENDS!? THERE IS ONLY ONE PUNISHMENT FOR SOMEPONY LIKE YOU!" "No! Please don't!" Jordan tried to use his hooves to shield himself, but he couldn't move his body. 'So this is how you are using your power? To kill somepony?' A voice rang out in Spike's head. Spike looked around to see who had spoken, but there was nopony in sight. He searched the area to see only Applebloom's unmoving body and the shallow breathing of Jordan. "WHO'S THERE!?" The purple pegasus demanded. "SHOW YOURSELF!" 'I am friend and you must listen to me.' The voice said smoothly. 'You need to calm yourself and let go of the rage coursing through you. You can't kill this unicorn.' "NO! I WON'T LET HIM GET AWAY WITH HURTING MY FRIENDS!" 'Listen to me, I know the extent of that power you're using. Believe me when I say that you don't want to go down this path. Now put your hoof down and release him at once. He's in no condition to fight you.' "BUT...BUT HE...!" 'I know the pain you feel, but you can't let your raw hatred control yourself. Look at him and tell me. Does he look like he could hurt any other pony?' Spike looked at Jordan and could see through his blinding rage and darkness surrounding his eyes the seemingly lifeless body of Jordan. He could feel regret swirling in his head from the unicorn who was barely breathing and sobbing in pain. "WHAT...WHAT HAVE I DONE!?" He asked with a mixture of anger and sorrow in his voice. 'Now that you seen what you've done, you need to let go of your power.' Spike struggled to get some words out as he heard some voices telling him to finish Jordan. "HOW...DO I DO IT?" He asked with his voice mixed with the demonic one and his normal voice. 'Concentrate on somepony who made you happy.' The voice told him. 'Think of the one pony who made your life happier than anything else in Equestria.' Spike tried to think of somepony who made him happy, but the voices in his head seemed to grow louder. He struggled to think of anypony and wished his friends were here to help. Friends that was it. Spike recalled all the happy times he spent with each of his friends. His first time meeting Rarity and the others and the party the had. His adventures and time he shared with Twilight. All the memories flooded through his head and he heard the voices shouting in protest as they slowly died away. Spike could feel the black aura around him disappear and his sigh became clearer as the darkness around him faded away. The purple pegasus eventually felt the voices die out completely. He opened his eyes to see his body was no longer covered in a black aura. He heard raspy breathing and saw Jordan right in front of him. The purple pegasus' eyes shot wide open in shock and backed up slowly. Suddenly, an energy blast was shot at Spike and hit him, sending him falling to the ground. He groaned in pain and saw in front of him a pony wearing a black hood approach the body of Jordan. Spike could barely see what the pony looked like, but saw in the moonlight he had a unicorn horn. "Who...who are you?" Spike asked in a small voice. The hooded unicorn ignored him and looked over Jordan's body. Spike wanted to ask him something, but the wounds and bruises he suffered from the fight finally took their toll on him. His head fell to the ground and gave one last groan before passing out. The hooded pony heard a groaning noise and saw Jordan staring at him. The pony too off his hood to reveal it was Captain Sanderson with a cold expression on his face. "P...please help me captain." The black unicorn said in a tiny voice. "I...I can't get up. I need your help please. We can capture that pegasus at last." Before the brown unicorn got a word out, an energy blast whizzed past his face. He looked around to see if anypony was there, but couldn't see anything in the darkness. He felt Jordan tap his leg and looked down. "Captain...I need to be healed. Let's...let's go back to the castle so I can be treated." Captain Sanderson smirked and said, "Relax private, you don't have to worry about being healed at all. Lord Sandro will take care of you." Jordan's eyes shot wide open and his insides twist up. "Captain Sanderson, please show some mercy. You didn't see what he did to me. He...he's not your average pegasus." "I won't take any excuses to failures such as you." He said coldly. "But...but sir, I...I've been training under you and served as a faithful servant to you." "Yes you have served me well, but now you're completely useless to me if you couldn't even defeat Sparky." "Sir, wait I can explain!" "Save it for Lord Sandro." He grabbed Jordan's hoof and his horn glowed a light brown aura. In a flash, both he and Jordan teleported out of Sweet Apple Acres. Another black hooded pony stuck came out from behind the trees and approached "Sparky". The pony examined the body and saw he was breathing. His horn suddenly glowed a white aura and placed it near some of "Sparky's" wounds and cuts. The small wounds slowly disappeared and some of the bruises were healed. The pony moved his head away from "Sparky" and looked at him. "I don't know if you can hear me or not Sparky." The pony said in a stallion's voice. "I just wish I got here sooner to stop you from becoming 'that' creature. I didn't think they would move this fast to capture you or your friends. You do deserve an explanation though for all that is happening. Let me get you back to..." The hooded pony heard the galloping of many hooves coming towards the area. "It seems your friends have finally come for you and that filly. I'll let you rest from what happened for a while. I'll contact you later." The pony's horn glowed and in a flash teleported away. Spike could barely hear anything, but he heard some of the pony's words. The last thing he heard before falling into a deep sleep were ponies shouting his name and screaming. Spike opened his eyes to see everything was in a fog. He looked around to see that he was standing on a white round marble floor with large round white pillars and a gold lining going through them surrounding the circle. There were torches lit with a green flame on each marble pillar. Spike saw above him the pillars were holding a large domed glass ceiling that showed a stained glass of him as a dragon with Twilight and the others around him. The bottom floor had a mosaic painting of two large black dragons like the one Spike saw when he ran away from home each shooting a black flame and were crossing each other. Spike looked passed the pillars to see that outside was a dark sky with millions of stars, but Princess Luna's moon wasn't there. Suddenly, something passed in front of him and looked to see various pictures in golden elegant frames such as when Spike first met Rarity and Fluttershy. There was a picture of him amongst the other ponies at Pinkie Pie's birthday party all floating in the sky. Spike looked on in wonder at the sights before him, oblivious to his other surroundings. A dark realization hit Spike. "Am...am I dead?" "No, you're unconscious right now from what happened between you and that unicorn." A voice called out. Spike jumped and turned to see a white hooded pony and his face completely shadowed. "Who...who are you?" "Who I am is of no importance at the moment." The pony said in a gentle stallion's voice. "What's important right now is what happened to you." Spike listened to the voice and something clicked in his mind. "Wait...you're the voice I heard before aren't you?" He asked. "Correct young pegasus, or should I say young dragon?" Spike looked at his body and realized he was back to his dragon form again from head to toe. "What is this place?" "This is your mind Spike, the pictures you're seeing before you are memories of your adventures with your friends." "How do you know my name?" The dragon asked in amazement. "I've been watching you for some time now Spike." The pony said. "Ever since your power was sparked, I've been watching you closely to make sure you weren't corrupted by it." "What power? What's going on here? I don't know what anypony is talking about." "The story is a long one and I'm afraid my connection to you is very weak right now. All I can tell you is to be careful of who you trust. There are someponies who aren't who they seem to be." The pony started to fade away. "Farewell Spike, until we meet again." "Wait, don't go!" Spike shouted, but it was too late. The hooded pony disappeared and was nowhere in sight. Spike suddenly heard hoofsteps and turned to see a black hooded pony standing there. "Hello again there Sparky, or in this case Spike." The pony said in a stallion's voice. "I've been waiting for you for quite some time now." The dragon stepped back a little as he remembered another pony who attacked him wearing that same outfit. "You don't need to worry Spike." The pony said. "I'm not like that other pony who attacked you. In fact, I drove him off with my own magic." Spike looked at the pony and could see he was giving a gentle smile. "Who are you anyway?" The dragon asked. "I'm afraid my identity must be kept a secret for now. They may be listening in on us." "They?" "I'll tell you in a minute. What I can tell you about myself is that I'm a friend and ally to you. I'm communicating to you using an old spell that not even your friend Twilight Sparkle knows about. It's been long since banned because it was accused of being used to spy on other ponies and since then nopony knows about it." "How do you know it though?" "That's another history lesson for another time. What you need to know though is who's been chasing you and your friends." "Who is it?" "You and your friends have been targeted by a long forgotten group known only as the Disciples of Nightmare Moon." Spike's eyes shot open and his jaw dropped. "The...the Disciples of Nightmare Moon?" He asked in disbelief. "But...there's no way Nightmare Moon is around. Twilight and the others destroyed her forever." "Destroyed her? Yes. Forever though? No they haven't." The stallion said. "Your friends only destroyed the spirit that possessed Princess Luna. When she was freed from her hold on the wicked mare, her spirit was weakened to the point where it was only a vague whisper." "Who are these disciples though?" "These disciples seek to overthrow and kill Princess Celestia." The stallion explained. "They follow the dictatorship ways of the dark mare and follow her ideals of darkness. They believe that Nightmare Moon was the true leader of Equestria and that Princess Celestia's time was over." "So what do they want with me and my friends anyway?" "Spike, I'm sure you've noticed by now that you have a power inside you." "I've been told that, but I have no idea what anypony is talking about. I've never been this confused since Twilight tried to teach me something about physics." "I know this going to be quite a shocker to you, but the truth is that you're..." A loud rumbling noise suddenly shook the alter. "Ah horseapples, I was hoping this wouldn't happen so soon." "W-what's going on?" Spike asked nervously. "You're waking up from your unconscious state." The hooded stallion said. "I've only mastered how to speak to other ponies in their minds when they're either unconscious or asleep. I'm afraid we'll need to end this conversation for another time." "What!? But I need to know what's going on!" Spike shouted. "Listen to me, I want you to meet me at..." The pony faded away and Spike couldn't hear his last words. "Wait, come back!" The dragon shouted in fear. "I need to know what's going to happen to..." CRACK! The floor underneath Spike suddenly gave way. He tried to gallop away form the falling floor, but each piece of the floor gave way as soon as he stepped on it. Spike tried to grasp onto a pillar, but it crumbled and sent him falling through the floor. He tried to fly, but he remembered that he wasn't a pegasus and had no wings. The dragon yelled in terror as he fell down the bottomless dark pit below him. Spike woke up with a cold sweat and looked at his body to see he was a pegasus again. He looked around to see that he was in a yellow colored room. There was a window on his right side with the blinds drawn shut, making the window only have a few cracks of light shine through. He looked to the other side and saw a window letting in Princess Luna's moonlight. He was resting in a bed with a green comforter covering him. There were wires on his body that were connected to machines that were beeping. His sight shifted towards something that caught his eyes. Rarity was lying near his chest and Twilight was resting her head near Spike's head. The purple pegasus looked around the room to see Fluttershy lying next to Pinkie on the floor with her head next to the pink mare's head. Applejack had been resting on the floor as well with her hat covering her face. He looked to the side to see something that made him jolt a little. It was Rainbow resting in a chair and snoring a little loudly. The jolt Spike caused a yawn to echo in the room. He looked to see Rarity slowly opening her eyes slowly and gave a warm smile at him. Rarity looked to her friends and said, "Darlings, wake up. Sparky's awake." The others woke up giving out groans or yawning. They all looked very worn out, but they all gave smiles at Spike. The purple pegasus heard voices of relief for him waking up and each pony patted him. Pinkie Pie squeezed Spike hard, making him gasp for air. "Oh I'm so happy you're fine Sparky." The pink mare said joyfully. "I mean you really had us scared and it would make not only me super duper sad, but..." "Um...Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked. "Could you please let go of him? He needs to breath." Pinkie looked at "Sparky" who was struggling for air and looked back at Fluttershy. "Oki doki loki!" She said with a goofy smile and released him. Twilight managed to break up her friends to let Spike have some breathing room. "Easy now girls." She said sounding a bit stern. "He just woke up and the last thing we need to do is make him fall unconscious again." The other ponies rubbed their heads in embarrassment. "How are you feeling right now Sparky?" Spike rubbed his head a little feeling sore and said, "Ugh...like a train ran over me. Where am I anyway?" "You're in the Ponyville Hospital Sparky." Twilight responded with a small smile. "We brought you here after that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo warned us about what was going on." Her voice trailed off and looked down. "We also found Applebloom knocked unconscious." Spike felt his stomach twist up in knots. "Where is she? Is she okay? How badly is she hurt?" Applejack placed a hoof to Spike's mouth to silence him and said, "Simmer down there Sparky. Applebloom is doin' fine right now. The doctor said she was just stunned from the blast that hit her and she's resting up. They say she'll be okay, but they want to keep her here for the night to keep an eye on her." Spike felt some relief wash over him. "What about the others crusaders?" "They're with mah family and mah hired hoof, Caramel, in her room. They all decided to stay in her room and make sure nopony was gonna git her again. She nearly gave Granny Smith a heart attack and mah brother...well let's just say Ah ain't ever seen him look so furious b'fore. When he heard Applebloom was hurt, he looked like he was ready to blow up and take the entire orchard with him." The purple pegasus laid his head back in content. He smiled knowing that the crusaders were safe and that Applebloom was going to be okay. "So how long have I been in here?" He asked. Rarity looked at a nearby clock to see it was two in the morning. "You've been out for at least five hours Sparky." The white unicorn said. "The doctor told us that even though you only sustained some bruises and scratches, you were otherwise fine, but they weren't sure when you would wake up." Spike let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this. "Pardon me Sparky, but could you tell us what happened?" Twilight asked. Spike looked to see the other ponies had looks of concern and worry on them and slowly nodded. He told about who Jordan was and said that he was after Twilight and the others. He went into detail about the stallion that knocked him out, but couldn't get a good look at him. Spike left out what happened with him torturing Jordan, since the ponies looked scared enough and didn't want to make them faint. When he finished, Spike saw that his friends' eyes were wide with fear. Fluttershy curled into a ball and was shaking violently while Pinkie held onto her to calm her down. Rainbow tried to maintain a straight face, but was fidgeting with fear. None of the ponies said anything, with the only sound was the clock ticking slowly, and muffled voices coming from the hospital hallway. Twilight broke the silence and said, "I-I see." She turned to the others. "I need to talk to Sparky...alone please." "I'll...I'll go check on the girls in the lobby." Fluttershy said sounding fearful. Pinkie Pie bounced near her and had a small smile on her face. "I'll go with you Fluttershy." She said sounding optimistic. "I'll get us some cupcakes to turn our frowns upside down. That always helps me when I'm feeling blue." Fluttershy smiled a little and nodded at this as the two walked out of the room. "Don't ya take too long now Twi." Applejack said. "Ah want to speak to Sparky as well." "As do I." Rarity stated. Rainbow Dash said nothing, but gave a quick glance at him. The three mares went out and left "Sparky" and Twilight alone. Twilight looked at Spike with a look of relief on her face and said, "Spike, I was talking to the doctor earlier and he said that he'll check on you in the morning before being released. I know you're probably still shook up about what happened to you, but I think I now know who is really behind this." Twilight's horn glowed and pulled out from her side a green camouflage saddlebag. She pulled out a small round badge with black flames crackling at the bottom, a dark blue color at the top, and a black crescent moon in the middle of the top. "Spike, I found this when I investigated the area. I recognized the symbol from a few books I read. It's the mark of the Disciples of Nightmare Moon." 'So she already knows about them as well huh?' Spike thought to himself. 'I wonder how much she knows about them.' "There's no time to explain them Spike. If the disciples are not only after us, but you as well we're in trouble. I need you to write a letter and send it to Princess Celestia at once." "Uh...Twilight, I can't remember?" Spike pointed to his body. "I'm not a dragon anymore." Twilight groaned and facehooved. "This is not good, not good at all. I can't just send Rainbow to send the message, or else it could raise suspicions about where you are. So far I've been able to tell the girls that you are away on royal business, but if I tell Rainbow to send it, it could expose you." "Twilight wait." Spike interjected. "Don't you have some sort of spell to send messages? I think one of your books had one." Twilight paused and thought it over before giving a hopeful smile. "I did read a potion that you can throw into the fire and it'll act as a message sender. I'll have to get to work on it right away." Twilight packed up the saddlebag and gave Spike a brief hug. "Don't worry Spike, everything will be okay. Thanks for all you did today, I'm so proud of you." Spike returned the hug and nuzzled against her for a few seconds. Twilight went over to the door and gave a wave to Spike before walking out the door. As soon as Twilight left, Applejack passed by the lilac unicorn and into Spike's room. The orange mare gave a warm smile to her friend and said, "Spike...Ah want t'say thank ya kindly fer what ya did today. It took some guts to stand up to that varmint Jordan, and mah family is mighty appreciative of what ya did." Spike looked down and said remorsefully. "I'm sorry Applejack." "Sorry fer what?" "I couldn't help Applebloom. I just laid on the ground and she got hurt because of me. I didn't want her to fight Jordan." Applejack placed a hoof on Spike's chin and brought it up to her. "This ain't yer fault at all sugarcube." She said in a gentle tone. "Applebloom told us 'bout the whoopin' y'all were gittin' and she wanted t'help ya. She's gonna be mighty happy that yer okay now." Spike couldn't help but blush and smile. "Thanks Applejack." "Yer welcome sugarcube." The orange mare said. "So tell me, did ya like spendin' time with the crusaders?" The purple pegasus gave and nod and went on to explain his day with the fillies. Spike told her about the day he spent with them. He was shown the sight they saw over Ponyville Lake and told her about the mud fight they had with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. The purple pegasus found himself chuckling a little when he told Applejack the expressions he and Scootaloo made at the movie theater. "Sounds like y'all had a heap of fun there." Applejack said. "Ah know those girls can be quite rowdy, but they just want t'have some fun is all." Spike nodded at this, knowing about the fillies' attempt to have fun with them as well. He suddenly felt like a hoof hit him in the head and remembered what happened before he fought Jordan. "Applejack, did you know about uh...some well...?" "Pictures of ya drawn by Applebloom and the other crusaders?" The farmer pony asked. Spike looked at her with shock in his eyes. "Ah ain't gonna lie t'ya Spike. I did know about them pictures and how badly the crusaders missed ya. It kind of broke mah heart t'see mah lil' sis sulk 'round like that." Spike still felt guilty about how he treated the fillies and said, "Applejack, why didn't you just tell me about those pictures? I would've apolo...apolo...uh say sorry to them." "No offense t'ya Spike, but yer almost as stubborn as me when it comes to listenin' to others. Ah wanted t'find a way t'git ya with them and make amends with the lil' fillies. As much as it pains me t'say it, that accident Rainbow kind of helped me out with that problem." "I guess in a way it did help me get to know about what they were trying to do." Spike said. He then had an idea. "Applejack, can you give a message to the crusaders?" "Ah sure can sugarcube." "Tell them that Spike will come back and he'll want to play with them as soon as he can." The purple pegasus said with a small smile. Applejack patted Spike on the head and hugged him a little. "Ah'll git to it Spi...erm...Sparky. Now y'all git some rest now. Ah'm gonna go see Caramel and mah family." The two ponies waved farewell and Applejack left through the door. The purple pegasus was about to fall asleep from exhaustion when the door opened again and in came of all ponies, Rainbow Dash. The sky blue pegasus stuck her head out the door to make sure nopony saw her before shutting the door, and sat next to "Sparky". Spike and Rainbow didn't anything for what seemed like hours, unsure of what to talk about. Spike noticed Rainbow was just looking away, trying to look calm and cool. "How long have you been awake?" Spike asked breaking the silence. Rainbow broke out of her thoughts and looked at the purple pegasus. "Huh? Oh, since one this afternoon. Those doctors took a long time just to get me to write all that paperwork and do some physical tests before I was allowed to go. I don't know why though it took so long. I was feeling just fine and that lightning bolt just left a scratch on me." "Well not from what I saw yesterday." Rainbow had a solemn look on her face and said, "I know Sparky. I know I was in some big trouble. I just can't believe I was caught off guard like that. I mean I can do some of the craziest stunts, the wildest tricks, and get the sky clear in ten seconds flat, but to be hit with a bolt of lightning like that? Ugh, it's just a real kick in the flank for me." Rainbow facehooved herself and looked away from "Sparky." "Well uh...at least you're alright." Spike said in a reassuring voice. "Besides, nopony could've seen that bolt coming right?" "I guess you've got a point there." Rainbow said. "You know Sparky, I saw how you saved me." Spike's eyes widened upon hearing this, but Rainbow seemed to ignore it and went on. "Before I was knocked out, I saw that you were flying towards me at an incredible speed. I hate to admit it, but...I've never seen anypony aside from me go that fast before. I couldn't even fly that fast on my first day of flight training." Spike's jaw dropped upon hearing this, and his eyes bulged out. Rainbow was actually admitting that he was a better flyer than her. "Sparky, I'm just going to flat out tell you now. I don't think there's really anything to learn from me anymore. You've pretty much got the hang of everything. You're the first and only pegasus I've seen who could do basic training and be able to fly that fast in one day." Rainbow paused to see Spike looked a little crestfallen upon hearing this. "I was just uh...wondering if you'd still like to practice some tricks with me tomorrow." Spike looked to see that in the moonlight, Rainbow Dash was blushing and tried to hide it. The purple pegasus gave a nod and said, "Sure Rainbow...I'd like that." "Aw hay yeah!" Rainbow shouted and pumped her hoof in happiness. She realized how embarrassing she acted and cleared her throat. "Uh...I mean that's cool Sparky. I want you to come by my house tomorrow morning at eleven, got it? Oh, don't tell anypony about this talk we had okay?" Spike nodded and the two waved farewell to each other. Rainbow opened the door slowly, looked out to make sure nopony saw her, and quickly left. Spike was about to fall asleep once again, but then the door opened and felt a little annoyed. His annoyance turned to a warm feeling in his heart as he looked upon his visitor, Rarity. The moonlight seemed to radiate her beauty and her warm gentle smile made his heart beat faster. Rarity came close him and sat down next to him, making Spike blush and prayed that the white unicorn wouldn't see it. "Darling, are you feeling alright?" The white unicorn asked sounding a little concerned. "Your face is bright red." Spike panicked and tried to think of an excuse. "Um...well...I just feel warm is all heh heh." Rarity nodded and said, "Oh I know darling, this place really needs to fix the air conditioning here. I saw Rainbow Dash coming out of your room. She must've wanted to show her gratitude for you saving her." Spike gulped a little. Rarity chuckled and said, "Oh, don't worry about me saying a word Sparky. I can't blame the dear for being a little flustered with you after saving her life. She won't even admit it even if she isn't that great at hiding it." "Well it's nothing like that." Spike said nervously. "I-I just want to be friends with her." "You don't need to worry about that. I've heard her saying another stallion's name while sleeping and talking about him a lot. Forgive me, but I don't really remember his name at the moment. I'm not here to gossip like some mudslinger though. I personally wanted to thank you for saving my sister and the other crusaders. You've been through so much Sparky for the last few days. You saved Rainbow Dash and fought that stallion to save my sister and her friends." Spike blushed and said, "It was nothing really. I was just helping my friends out." Rarity smiled warmly and said, "Darling, as a good lady I must reward you for all you've done for me and my friends. How about you and I go have dinner tomorrow night at seven?" Spike heard those words echo inside him and felt like an explosion of happiness and joy burst inside him. He wanted to say those words to Rarity for so long, but he'd never thought Rarity would say those words to him. He felt all his troubles melt away instantly and everything that happened a few hours ago felt like a distant memory to him. Trying to maintain his composure, Spike nodded fast. Rarity smiled and hugged him. "Thank you darling. It's the least I can do for you after all you've been through." The white unicorn said. "Now then, Twilight and the others are quite busy at the moment, but I'll be right beside you the whole night darling." Rarity laid her head near Sparky's chest, making the purple pegasus grin widely. He didn't care if he was just a pony or a dragon. Rarity was with him for the first time in his life. Spike laid his head back into the pillow on his bed and fell asleep instantly. His mind was full of joy and excitement. A violent lightning storm rumbled and the wind was blowing through the trees of the Everfree Forest. Amongst the thick trees was a tall, ominous castle that seemed to cast a dark shadow among the twisted forest. Inside the castle's throne room, Lord Sandro sat down and looked at the doors in front of him. The tall wooden doors opened up and in marched two columns of stallions with midnight blue armor that bared a resemblance to the ones the Royal Pony Guards wore. The columns went into two separate directions and formed a large circle that stretched from the throne to the doors. The doors opened once more to Captain Sanderson using his magic to hold Jordan's lifeless body. "Release him." Lord Sandro ordered in a cold menacing voice. The dark brown unicorn bowed, and released his grip on his captive and let him fall to the ground. He let out a cry of pain that echoed throughout the throne room. Slowly the black unicorn lifted his head up and had a look of fear on him. "Welcome back Jordan." The hooded unicorn said with a tinge of smugness in his voice. "I see you couldn't hold up your end of the bargain." "Wait please Lord Sandro!" Jordan shouted desperately. "You...t-that pegasus! H-he isn't normal! He almost killed me and I-I barely escaped with my life." "You mean I saved you from his wrath you idiot." Captain Sanderson spat. "If it wasn't for me seeing the energy blasts from that farm, you would've been dead." "Captain Sanderson enough!" Lord Sandro barked in a booming voice. The brown stallion bowed in apology and went over to stand by the hooded pony's side. He gave a smirk to Jordan. Lord Sandro looked back at Jordan. "As I was saying, it seems that you weren't able to capture Sparky at all. Not only that though, but you also left took all of your stuff with you including your badge. Now those ponies most likely have it and know who we are. You've exposed us, you've failed me, and this I won't tolerate." "Lord Sandro, I would never betray you or our Queen!" Jordan shouted desperately. "I-I just needed some items to capture him and..." "ENOUGH!" Lord Sandro shouted. His horn glowed a black light and an aura glowed around Jordan. The black unicorn was lifted off the ground. "I don't allow traitors Jordan and neither does our queen. You've done more than enough." "No please Lord Sandro, not The Decapitator!" Jordan begged as he felt his head starting to strain from his neck. "I-I just need another chance and that pegasus. He...he..." "NO MORE EXCUSES!" Lord Sandro tightened his grip on Jordan's neck. Jordan felt his neck muscles being pulled and split in two. He felt helpless as Lord Sandro continued to torture him and screamed for mercy. The black stallion felt his neck skin starting to break and his muscles were tearing apart that only made him yell more. Jordan felt blood coming out of his mouth and was losing sight. The screams started to die down and then lost conscious. A loud ripping noise echoed everywhere in the throne room. Lord Sandro levitated the disembodied head of Jordan, who's eyes were wide open with fear in them. His mouth and neck were still bleeding. The black unicorn's body landed on the floor with a loud thud. Blood spurted out from his neck and poured all over the floor. "Let this serve as a reminder of what happens to those who disobey me!" Lord Sandro shouted in a booming commanding voice. The armored stallion guards stepped back a little and flinched. After a few minutes of silence, Lord Sandro spoke out again. "Captain Sanderson, I want to speak with you privately. The rest of you return to your posts." The guards bowed and marched out of the throne room. After the loud slamming of the wooden doors, Captain Sanderson and Lord Sandro were alone. "Captain, I don't think I need to tell you how much this messes up our plans." "Of course not my lord." The dark brown stallion said. "Now that Jordan has exposed us, we may have to abandon our plans." "No we won't." Lord Sandro said in a calm voice. "Jordan actually proved to us one thing, this Sparky is the one." "Forgive me my lord." Captain Sanderson said with a confused look on him. "I'm not following you on this. How could such failure lead to success as well?" The hooded stallion chuckled coldly and said, "Because from what you told me earlier about what happened to Jordan, he is the one." "If it is true then what do you want me to do then?" The dark brown stallion asked. "The time to hide our presence has come to an end. I need you to send out some scouts tomorrow to infiltrate the town. We'll figure out a way to capture them all one by one and bring them here." "Lord Sandro, even if we bring in Sparky, our archeologists still haven't broken through that chamber that is rumored to hold the seventh one." "Tell them to double their efforts then." Lord Sandro said coolly. "Otherwise I'll find other ways to 'motivate' them. In the meantime, I'll be preparing to take the Elements of Harmony." Captain Sanderson's eyes widened upon hearing this. "But...but my Lord, Princess Celestia has got those under tight security." "Don't worry about it captain. I've already got some of our spies infiltrated inside the castle. I know of a way to get them without the Princess knowing about it, until it's too late." "A wise move my lord." "One more thing captain." Lord Sandro said. "Send one of the guards to clean up that bloody mess and dispose of Jordan's body." The dark brown stallion bowed. Lord Sandro's horn glowed and with a flash teleported out of the castle. Captain Sanderson turned and used his magic to levitate Jordan's body and looked at it scornfully. "That damn pegasus may have beaten one of us, but soon he'll feel our wrath." The dark brown unicorn said. "Just you wait Sparky, then you'll know true suffering." Captain Sanderson levitated Jordan's head and body out a window and released both parts. The brown stallion watched as the body and head disappeared into the thick fog below until it was out of sight. He walked out of the throne room and saw two guards standing to the side of the throne room's doors. "You there." Captain Sanderson pointed to the guard on the right. "Go in there and clean up that blood. You on the other hoof, bring me a squad of soldiers for tomorrow's assignment." The guards saluted and went off to do their deeds. Captain Sanderson smiled to himself as he began to plan on how to capture not only Sparky, but the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony.