//------------------------------// // The brood is stirring // Story: Where Spike came from // by Billy G Gruff //------------------------------// Tirek's kingdom was on fire. Armored dragons flooded the sky like drops of rain, peppering the palace with balls of flame that exploded on impact. Gargoyles commanded by Scorpan flooded the sky to meet their adversary firing off bolts of magic against the massive brood that was converging on them. On the ground level The larger dragons were demolishing homes and military structures alike. The attack had come suddenly and in the middle of the night, and it seemed to be aware of every single exploitable weakness the structures had. In the center of all that din, Tirek and Spike were in the heat of combat. A century of planning had gone into this night. Gone was his lithe and nimble form of decades earlier to be replaced by the barrel chested giant whose cloak violently blew back and forth at the explosions going on around him. Tirek was both infuriated and impressed with the betrayal. Never before had his kingdom been so thoroughly trounced as it had been that night. "SPIKE!" He roared out, charging full speed towards the one whom betrayed him wielding an ornate spear. The massive dragon vanished in smoke. With reflexes unexpected of a such a large centaur he swung his metal spear about his body, blocking a quick succession of blows from a blade with several hooked edges that seemed to come from all sides from the rapidly teleporting drake. The whole time he worked his arms blocking the onslaught of slashes and stabs he charged his raw magic between his horn. He roared out, letting out a blast that attacked everything within its radius. Several dozen dragons and Gargoyles alike Fell from high in the sky to the ground with sickening thuds from that attack and several structures had been completely leveled in the blast, yet he could not find his traitor among them. He pivoted the spear behind his arm and back, holding it at the ready for any strike that might come as the war continued to rage over head. He charged his horns again, glaring up at the sky at the swarm of dragons and intended on blasting the lot of them out of the sky. Tirek's eyes shot wide in pain and looked behind him. A Black sword stuck out of his horseback, he had been stabbed from below between his legs and it had pierced his hide all the way through to the other side. Spike was below in a firey portal he had made, grinning devilishly at his former master before twisting the blade. It hurt like nothing Tirek had ever felt, and that enraged him. He leaped into the air, dragging the dragon and the hooked blade and dragon out of his portal as his powerful jump catapulted them over the din of the war. He flipped violently and cringed as the hooked blade pulled out of him, and it took everything he had to seal the pervasive wounds shut with his magic, the pain was that hard to focus through. He barely managed to react with a horizontal block with his spear as the Dragon slammed his blade into it, sending the Centaur flying clear across the sky from the force of it. This was the first fight in his entire life where he was actually on the defensive. His body arced down finally as gravity started to overcome his velocity, slamming and tumbling into a dune with an explosion of sand in the moonlight. His burning Palace and kingdom was a speck in the distance now. The explosions of fire and ethereal cries of magic were mere pops and and rumbles that rolled across the air as fast as sound could carry them. Tirek tried to get his footing in the desert sand, only to find it starting to give and swirl beneath him. Much to his surprise it seemed to become alive and runes of flame began to pop up on them. He cursed, barely able to leap out of the way as the sand suddenly grew hot and spiked out in all sides, instantly becoming glass before his eyes from the emerald heat. He had to fire his magic from his horns to direct his course from another spire of glass shards that had coiled out of the ground and threatened to impale him. The entire desert was a threat to him. Spike revealed himself from the depths of the sand, firing up into the air and breathing in deep. The thin line of fire that poured out of his mouth hit the sand and spread out, controlling a massive chunk of land in that instant and causing it to churn like the sea and light up the night like an earth bound sun. The next thing Tirek knew he was impaled on all sides by thick spines of glass covered in runic magic. Truly Spike had surpassed him when it had came to magic. He had suspicions, but held suspended by nearly unbreakable mountain of glass with it burrowing into his flesh from all sides, he was utterly trapped and cut off from his magic. Spike appeared in a flash of green flame and added insult to injury by stabbing him straight through the gut and releasing the hooked blade from his grasp. Tirek growled through the pain he was in and glared into Spikes eyes. The traitor crouched there on a parallel pillar off glass seemingly made for the dragon to rest on. "You are defeated, your army has surrendered, and The dragons are free from your rule..." Tirek struggled in his bonds, exacerbating the wounds he already had. "You had better kill me Spike..." "I am The Dragon Lord, when you address me as such, I will do you the honor of ending your life... not a moment sooner." Tirek scoffed and tried to spit in his face, only to have it evaporate in a fleck of emerald flame that snapped out of the dragon's claws. "I will never call you that...leave my lands..." He could feel the shame of defeat filling his body. Spike knew he would eventually get out of these bonds and heal himself. He knew that Tirek was utterly trounced for the entire world to see. He would have to become an indomitable force before he ever attempted to reclaim the dragons again. He would have to absorb as much magic as he possibly could before trying to fight his former soldier and student once again. The dragon lord brought his face close to Tirek's and grinned, starring him right in the eyes. "We intend to, I already have the place of my kingdom all planned out. I simply wanted you to know how utterly futile chasing after us would be." "YOU ARE NOT STRONG ENOUGH! YOU THINK YOU KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO LEAD A NATION BUT YOU DO NOT! MARK MY WORDS SPIKE, SOMEONE WILL TOPPLE YOU AS SURELY AS YOU HAVE DONE TO ME." He pivoted on the pillar of glass and looked over his shoulder. "When the shame is too much for you to bear, feel free to seek me out and call me by my proper name, I will be happy to end your life when that day comes." With that The Dragon Lord had vanished in smoke. The war had lasted only a few hours, and it had left the Kingdom of Tirek's in shambles. The exodus of the dragons was about to begin. ------- Twilight was quiet on the train ride towards the place that had been revealed on the map. Her brain was working overtime trying to fit the pieces of her memory together and see if she could of seen the true nature of the Tree and the elements sooner. Her thoughts kept trailing back to her foray into the human world after she had had her element stolen by Sunset Shimmer. There was something there that spoke to the nefarious nature of the Tree, she knew this in her heart. She exchanged letters with Sunset now through the books. They were friends, and the personality she has now was entirely different to the one she first met. She wanted to write it off as a change of heart, but she felt like there was something else there that wasn't clicking. Her redemption had been too quick. She thought that even when she had returned to that world a second time, tentative to even take her hand. Sunset was a good pony though, she had a great sense of humor and she enjoyed the little exchanges she had with her in writing. It was such a stark contrast to the unrepentant cruel thing she had been initially. "At last...more power than I could ever imagine..." Twilight sat up as she recalled that moment. The moment Sunset shimmer placed Twilight's element upon her head. How did she not see this? The moment she had placed it on her head, what happened next had made her flinch and give off an expression of fear. The Element had emitted dark magic and violently pulled her into the sky in a pillar of darkness. She was crying, her eyes streaming with tears before they had been evaporated right off her face and her eyes had snapped open in a horrified and pained expression -- seeming to glow from the inside with magic. Twilight had assumed that was her plan, but knowing her now it just didn't make sense. She couldn't help but feel like that demonic form she had in the human world was disturbingly similar in personality to something else she had fought. Nightmare Moon. The element had turned her into that monster, and if what she had surmised was correct, it may of even influenced her into walking into the human world after rebelling against Celestia...after going against the order the Tree provided her. "...The crown may be upon your head Sunset Shimmer, but you cannot wield it, because you do not have the most powerful magic of all. The magic of friendship." She spoke of friendship, and yet it was always used as a weapon against her enemies. Sunset had been engulfed in a rainbow beam, swirling around her as she was violently taken down. The next words Twilight had spoken to Sunset shimmer had made her really question how much control she really had. "Here and in Equestria, it is the only magic that can truly unite us all..." "That isn't a lie per say... The Tree of Harmony's goal is to bring unity to the world..." It disturbed her that while she was wielding the elements she had said something that virtually mimicked Princess Celestia's own words. It made her question if The tree was just using her as a vehicle to dole out punishment against the girl who dared to question its harmony. Was that whole event just a ruse to break her and make her... Was she wielding the elements...or were the elements wielding her? The tree had forcibly broke and converted Sunset. It had violated her mind simply to teach her how futile working outside out of the tree's influence really was. Now Luna and Sunset were examples of what happened to those who turned against its tenets that are in prominent positions.... the very same position Twilight found herself in. "Sugarcube are y'all alright?" Applejack had sat down next to Twilight on the train without her realizing it. Twilight looked up at the farm mare and tried to give a convincing smile and nod. Applejack leaned in closer and tried to look her in the eye, something that the princess couldn't help but try to avoid. What could she do against this? She loved her friends. The tree had brought them together and they were all so close, and yet she knew deep in her heart that this was twisted and wrong. It shouldn't be like this. "If y'all want to talk y'all know a'hm here right? Ah ain't gonna bite..." Twilight wiped her face with her hoof, she couldn't let her emotions get to her right now. This was not the time or the place to curl in a ball in the corner and ball her eyes out. Spike was imprisoned, everything she knew was a lie, and she had no idea who to trust anymore. Even her friends. If her suspicions were correct, and the Tree did warp ponies minds who actively go against its order, then it was only a matter of time until such a thing starts to happen to her. She didn't want to drag her friends down that path with her, as much as trying to take this on alone hurt. "Thank you Applejack..." That image of Sunset shimmer crawling out of a crater, sobbing profusely as she said she didn't know there was another way... was that going to be her fate? ---------- Celestia had no idea why she walked down into Tartarus. What kind of answers did she expect out of Tirek? Especially so soon after his defeat, he was not going to want to give anything up. Maybe it was because he had managed to ruin everything even in his defeat. Her sister still hadn't left Spikes mind, Her former student fled from her upon learning the truth, and Spike was in a cage deep within the dungeons of Canterlot. She wanted to blame it all on him. She wanted him to answer for what he did, explain why even after a thousand years he still sought indomitable power and total dominance over the world. "Well...This is a surprise." Tirek remarked in his gravely voice trying to struggle to his hooves. Ever since all the magic of Equestria had left him he could feel his aged bones even more than he did before he had started his one centaur takeover. He had almost won, but he had been lost in the high of the stolen magic to go through with the plan he had devised for a thousand years. He hated that of all things, euphoria was the thing that had been his undoing. Standing before him was none other than the Alicorn Princess herself, Celestia. She never visited him down in Tartarus the entire time he had been down there, and yet here she was glaring at him -- silently judging him. He couldn't help but feel like she was giving him a present with that glower. Nothing made him happier than making this high and mighty pony enraged. "Come here to gloat wench?" Tirek growled out. He hated how unblemished her face was. Time seemed entirely removed from her body, and he knew exactly why that was too. Celestia said nothing, she just stared at him. He tested his chains, chains that were fresh and new, made out of the same metal that took damn near a thousand years to bust through the last time. He didn't know if he had another thousand in him, which meant he'd likely die in this hole. "I saw what you did to Spike..." The centaur said with a laugh "...How did you do it? I thought you had killed the bastard! That was the whole reason I came to this accursed land in the first place! How did you break that Dragon's mind like that huh? Was it those vaunted elements of yours? Are you considering trying to break my mind as well?" Celestia shook her head silently and turned. She wouldn't get the answers she wanted out of him. "HEY! I have something to tell you...." Tirek called out with a malicious grin. Celestia stopped and turned to look at him over her shoulder. "Your magic is tainted..." He looked at his shaky hands and then back to her. "...I had intended destroying that Tree of yours...That accursed thing that lets you have the entire world under your hooves...I thought all I needed to do was gather up all the magic of Equestria and then take it straight to the Tree to wipe it out once and for all." He shook his head and laughed before his thin legs collapsed under him. Celestia was listening intently now. She hadn't expected him to outright lead off with this. "I had even gotten into the Trees's little Forest...I was so close..." He sounded frustrated as he gripped his horns. "I was so agonizingly close...but now that my mind is clear I saw that it was playing me for a fool. I had no idea before its to late that it had addled my brain with the magic I stole. All my plans flew right out of my mind and I was just a marauding mindless beast until It had got your Twilight Sparkle to finish me off. It wasn't until Spike clocked me in the jaw that I was even partially snapped out of it. " He looked up at her and grinned maniacally. "You never told me you already had a tyrant. I may die in this place Princess, But at least my mind is my own. Which is more than I can say of you ponies..." He laughed louder at that, and it grew louder and echoed throughout tartarus as Celestia slowly walked her way out of it. "Give my regards to Spike! I pray when he finally breaks whatever curse you have on his mind that he will give your kind exactly what they deserve. We may of been mortal enemies, but I would of at least honored him with death instead of turning him into a feral lap dog. Honestly I thought I was supposed to be the villain here!" ---------- "I don't like it, I don't like it one bit!" Pinkie said as they peered over the edge of a boulder at an odd little village. There were two rows of symmetrical houses that had absolutely no flourishes or differentiation on them what so ever. The ponies walking around had these disturbing smiles plastered on their faces and their coat's colors were all extremely unsaturated. What was more creepy... They all had the same equal sign cutie mark. "This is just an ordinary village filled with ordinary ponyfolk." Applejack had commented. Twilight wasn't so sure. Now that her eyes had been open to the manipulative nature of cutie marks, she had a feeling they had something to do with them all behaving the way they were. Why would the Tree be interested in such a place though? What about this warranted sending the elements of harmony after it? They were all saying their pieces, but Twilight began walking towards the village. "Whoa, Twilight where are you going!" Rainbow Dash called after her before the rest of the gang joined in behind her. A string of "welcome's" started filling the air as each of the strange ponies greeted her and her friends. They were all behaving exactly the same, they all had the same mane styles save for gender differentiation, and their cutie mark was unvaried throughout the group of them. She remembered when her friends had their cutie marks switched around and how their behavior and memory had changed because of it...what would happen if they had all been given the same cutie mark? Would they all think and act relatively the same with some personality quirks? She could tell given her recent disillusionment that whatever had caused these marks was controlling these ponies behavior, or at least giving them a template of behaviors to go by. "Welcome! This may come off as a bit forward but are you an alicorn?" This pony who walked into their path creeped her out. Applejack was about to say something before Twilight spoke. "Yes I'm an alicorn, Who gave you these cutie marks?" Twilight said in a blunt flat tone. The stallion blinked and looked over at his grinning friend, a blue stallion, before turning back to the group. "Why...Starlight Glimmer of course... Would you like to meet her?" "Yes." Twilight said curtly. With that the two ponies turned and walked at exactly the same speed towards the house at the far end of the street. "Twi, what's gotten into you, how'd y'all know somepony gave em these cutie marks?" Applejack asked incredulously as the followed. "Yes darling, I would like to know how you deduced such a thing myself. I never even heard of somepony GIVING cutie marks..." "And what are with these smiles! They aren't right at all!" Added Pinkie as she glowered at all of the equal ponies staring at their group. Twilight's brow was furrowed in anger as she whispered to the others. "This is why we are here...These equal sign marks aren't connected to the Tree of Harmony, and the Tree wants these ponies connected to their original cutie marks once again...." "What do you mean 'connected to the tree of harmony'? " Rainbow Dash asked with a confused expression. Somepony had figured out the exploitative nature of cutie marks, and that pony had used that knowledge to make her own twisted version of utopia...just like the Tree itself. Except this one was even worse because even individuality was stripped away. There wasn't even an illusion of freedom here. "I'll explain later, we have a mission to complete first...and some questions to get answered...." "Twi ahm not liking the sound of yer voice right now, you sound a mite bit peeved about something, even Pinkie isn't looking as mad as y'all right now." "These smiles are all wrong I tell you!" Pinkie growled. They walked into the house and the white one called out. "Starlight, we have some new visitors who would like to meet you." A pony came out to greet them, a light pink pony with a purple mane and a light blue streak on it. Her coat was saturated with color unlike all of her followers, her mane was in a different style, and that equal sign mark on her flank was not fooling Twilight's demystified eyes. This mare also had a smug looking face. "Welcome! I'm so glad to meet you all h..." Her voice was cut off by a powerful punch from Twilight's forehoof that sent her toppling into the wall. Her friends all gasped at Twilight's sudden assault on a complete stranger but Twilight did not care one Iota. "WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO TAKE AWAY THE FREEDOM OF THESE PONIES!" Twilight shrieked at the downed mare. "HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO THEM! DO YOU THINK THIS IS WHAT HARMONY IS? WHAT FRIENDSHIP IS? MANIPULATING THEM FROM YOUR PEDESTAL LIKE YOU KNOW WHAT'S BEST FOR THEM!? WHAT KIND OF TWISTED FREAK ARE YOU!?" "Twilight! What the hay girl!?" Applejack and Rainbow Dash had tried to pull her away but the one called Starlight had removed all pretense of friendliness and tried to blast them right then and there with magic. Twilight summoned up a purple shield before gripping the other mare in a telekinetic hold and smacking her body hard into the wall, causing Starlight's beam of magic to rip through her house instead and leave a gash on the roof. The princess was so furious magic was randomly sparking off of her horn. Starlight wasn't just someone who had made this twisted village, she was practically a representation of the Tree of Harmony that she desperately wanted to give a beating to. It would be cathartic as Tartarus right about now. Starlight tried to get to her hooves but she was tackled by the Alicorn, a foreleg jammed right into her throat. "WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT?!" Twilight roared into her face. Starlight was afraid of her in that moment. Twilight's eyes had begun to glow, and her mouth was curled in a ferocious snarl. "Twilight please stop!" Fluttershy wailed, "She didn't do anything! She was just trying to say hi! Let her go!" "That's it!" Rainbow tried to charge her. All five of them began to glow in an twilight's magical aura and were held in place as she turned around. "SILENCE!' She didn't care that black smoke was churning around her body right now. She didn't care that her brain was starting to get foggy as her wrath towards the injustice of the Tree of Harmony and this Starlight Glimmer reached a fever pitch. All she knew was that she wanted answers. The entire house glowed and was promptly ripped from its foundations, revealing the whole scene to the village at large before crumpling the wooden building and all its contents in the forceful glow of Twilights magic. "You're insane!" Starlight yelled out with her pupils shrunk to pin pricks, too terrified to use her magic. Twilight laughed. She laughed some more. The nightmare alicorn couldn't stop laughing in an ever growing staccato as her manic state began to hurt. Her body was growing taller and thinner and her wing feathers began to turn pitch black. Her friends were shocked. They didn't know what to make of this at all. "WHAT DID YOU TELL THEM HMMM? WHAT WAS THE STORY YOU FED THESE PONIES FOR THEM TO GIVE UP THEIR FREEDOM FOR YOU!?" Twilight felt her teeth growing sharper in her mouth. She didn't care. "Please...I just wanted to give them harmony..." Starlight whimpered in fright, the mare before her growing more nightmarish by the second. "HARMONY! YES THAT IS THE WORD OF THE DAY ISN'T IT..." Twilight's larger wings didn't even need to flap anymore as she floated above the equal village, presenting their leader to them. "TELL ME VILLAGE, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THIS..." Twilight got rid of the fake mark on Starlight's flank, revealing the true mark underneath. They were shocked at the sight, but also terrified of what Twilight had become. She had walked in an alicorn princess, but before them was a nightmarish entity. "WHERE IS THEIR CUTIE MARKS?!" "In a cave, please don't hurt me!" Starlight had lost any sense of decorum in that moment shivering under the power of Twilight's nightmare form. A sharp menacing grin spread across Twilight's demented face as she rounded the mare to have them eye to eye with one another. "GOOD, NOW QUESTION NUMBER TWO! AND THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ONE! ITS WORTH A LOT OF POINTS ON THIS EXAM!" Her eyes narrowed menacingly as their glow intensified. "Tell me how to remove cutie marks...." She would rid the world of these marks, and the control the tree had over them. Even if it meant being a nightmare entity to do it. The Tree knew she had turned on it now and had doled out its punishment upon her. Her mane flowed with the inundation of dark magic and her black wings stretched out wide, her horn now jaged and contorted like Queen Chrysalis's. Midnight Sparkle, Nightmare of Magic has risen, may her foes know fear this day. --------- Far from Appaloosa, a historic meeting was taking place. A collection of high ranking Buffalo led by chief Thunderhooves were meeting with a collection of large elder dragons. The oldest dragon among them, a massive red being with broad shoulders and opaque eyes, gingerly walked his aching limbs out into the forefront opposite of the Chief Buffalo. There was silence between the brood and the herd. The red dragon raised his head from the ground, slithering his tongue out to feel out all in the air to see if all was accounted for and if anyone was listening in on their secret rendezvous. "A few days ago..." he wheezed out, a smile creaking on his aged face. "...Something I thought I never again would feel in my lifetime made itself known to me. As you all know, the dreaded tyrant Tirek had risen from Tartarus and was reeking havoc throughout this land. His target were ponies, but he would of surely set his sights on the rest of the world if he had been given the opportunity." He had to take a shuddering breath before he continued. "...and then a miracle happened..." His blind face looked up in the sky, gazing into his memories of time long since past. "... I felt the power of the Dragon Lord make itself known on the land once again. Out of everyone here, I am the only living being left who had known The Dragon Lord as a friend. He had saved my life as I had foolishly sneaked into Tirek's Palace believing him to be a traitor to our kind. I was to learn that he in fact would be the one to save us all. None were as great as The Dragon lord, and he has returned to us after all these centuries as strong as ever." Each elated word sounded like it hurt for him to say, like he was straining to work out each syllable from his aged throat. Still, his excitement for his old fiend returning could be felt through his fragile voice. It was a wonder that the ancient dragon was even still alive with how decrepit he was. The crowd around him was starting to mumble excitedly. The Dragon Lord was a legend among both the Buffalo and Dragon alike. He was the reason their alliance was honored to this day, because to betray the other was to go against the wishes of greatest ruler they had ever known. "We have met him as well, though at the time we knew not who he truly was." Chief Thunderhooves spoke. "He's scales and name were much the same as the legends our forefathers had told, but his mind was that of a child and he lived among ponies." The aged dragon nodded. A smaller dragon with a similar scale color as the ancient one came out from behind him, He was a teenager whom had the expression of being caught with his claw in a cookie jar. "My name is Garble...I saw the fight between Tirek and The Dragon Lord...I watched his green fire melt an entire mountain... The ponies have him with them and his mind isn't like the one we've heard in the legends. My friends and I thought he was just a little wingless hatchling... we had no idea that he was really THAT Spike." "Which...brings us to the purpose of this meeting..." The ancient dragons face hardened and hints of his former glory was shown in him expanding his arthritic wings. "The Ponies struck down the Dragon Lord one thousand years ago. We did not have the power to rectify this at the time. We had to learn about our enemy, even if it meant waiting for centuries for the right moment. The Dragon Lord had subjected himself to being a servant to Tirek just to wait for the right moment to strike. In his patience he had gained absolute victory. We have followed his example." He let out a growl from his throat, "We have reason to believe that the dragon lord is being held beneath the castle of Canterlot by the princesses. Their kingdom has never been more complacent as they are now, and the Elements have been relocated to another castle entirely." "It is understood then." Chief Thunderhooves spoke as the elder caught his breath, "The buffalo will charge in and deal with the ground forces and eliminate the anti dragon flora, and the dragons will take the castle from above." The elder Dragon nodded. "I am Moussaieff, Elder of the dragon brood..." "I am Thunderhoof, Chief of the buffalo...." Together they roared out in unison "AND WE DECLARE WAR ON CANTERLOT!"