Spike was nervous, curious, and annoyed all at once. It had only been two days since everyone had returned from the summit meeting, and the previous day had been spent hunting down Daring Do to hire her for the dig beneath the Crystal Empire. Then as he slumbered, Luna woke him at three in the morning and told him to meet her in the courtyard five minutes later.
Now they were flying, and had been for hours.
Spike had no idea where they were going, or for what purpose. Selene had even stayed behind, meaning it was likely something serious. Luna was an amazing flier as Spike was finding out, needing air magic just to keep up with her.
They had already crossed the sea to another continent, though it was essentially just a large island. Spike had learned of it in home-school, but he had no idea why they were here. It was said that nothing lived here, and the many races that had tried to claim the unaligned territory had failed, or even perished from the attempts.
Once they were over the island itself Spike felt a familiar disturbing sensation. It was the feeling of a slow drain on stamina a person experienced in a blank zone. The entire island a hundred miles across in each direction was nothing but a massive blank zone. It was likely the greatest such aberration of natural magics on Earth.
Spike began to feel his stamina wane, but he released the seal on his size in the hopes his full form would be less effected.
It seemed to help a little, but it might just have been a result of not having to keep himself in check any longer.
Luna didn't seem fazed in the least, her tolerance for nearly unlivable conditions being extremely high.
Though he felt rather weak afterward, Spike and Luna reached the center of the island. It was unlike anything Spike had ever seen, and it was in complete defiance of all the laws of physics.
A giant black slab as dark as Sombra's shadows. While the edges were rough, one side was perfectly smooth and shined to perfection. It was like someone had sliced an ebony crystal the size of a castle tower clean in half.
That itself wasn't too shocking. It was more the fact that it floated over a giant perfectly circular pit with dully gleaming walls of obsidian. It was so deep there was no seeing the bottom, and it was easily the size of a very large lake. There was an impossibly thin walkway at the edge of the pit leading to the flat side of the dark mirror-like gem, and it connected to a chunk of earth clinging to the bottom of the stone.
A jagged bottom of the great dark stone hung down through the dirt, pointing into the seemingly bottomless abyss.
Spike and Luna landed a few yards away from the impossible walkway, which even close up seemed little more than a long and straight path no thicker than a pane of window glass. It was ashy soil, just like the entire island. Spike couldn't feel magic coming from the stone or the pathway, but he felt something.
Something dark, but not evil, or good for that matter.
It just was, whatever it actually was being beyond Spike's ken.
Luna seemed to know, and she seemed quite sad about it. It was at this point that Spike had had enough mystery, it was already nearly night and he had gotten quite tired between the blank zone and the flight. Things needed to move along fast, otherwise it was questionable as to whether or not Spike would be strong enough to make the flight home.
"Okay, spill. Where the hell are we, why are we here, and the hell is that thing?" Spike asked, pointing at the castle-sized gem of dubious origin.
Luna smiled a sad little smile and sat down in front of Spike.
"This is where everything began for my sister and I. Long ago, this was a prosperous kingdom full of ponies that broke from the mainland in olden times when the original homeland snowed over because of the windigoes. They saw reason and formed a colony of all three races of pony before before the other ponies had even set hoof in Equestria. It was known as Avalon, and the capital was in this general area, and it was known as Fiddler's Green. A lush paradise built atop the ruins of a much older civilization we now know to have been a dragon city." Luna began, shedding a single tear for her homeland.
Spike had never actually considered the fact that Celestia and Luna were older than the records in Equestria went back. This meant no one knew precisely where they had come from, but most assumed it was the old country of ponies long lost to ice and snow.
It seemed they rumors had some credence, but only Luna could say how much.
"We were the first ponies born into the colony. We were born an earth pony and a unicorn born to different parents. But despite our age differences and different families we always knew we were connected. Our blood is bound by some kind of cosmic magic, though we didn't understand it at the time. Then, we both got our cutie marks and ascended." Luna continued, shoving a nearby rock into the abyss.
Neither of them heard it fall, even after a few minutes.
Luna eventually continued when it became apparent it wasn't going to hit the bottom.
"When it became clear we were meant for greater things than ruling over a small population of ponies we packed up Avalon and sailed to Equestria. All of us. We integrated into society, and were quickly made leaders when we relieved the unicorns of their duties moving the heavens by ourselves. You know the rest, or most of it. Celestia and I are the only ones that know what happened here. And about the mirror." Luna droned on sadly.
Spike looked to the stone, realizing the flat surface was particularly polished. Almost definitely a perfect mirrored surface. Though the size of it was so ridiculous it would likely serve as a full-body mirror to all but the largest of dragons.
"So... What? The mirror was here before Avalon right? Did your ponies just ignore a floating creepy rock?" Spike had to know.
"The temple of Larimet, god of darkness was on this island in days long passed. This island was where Dootha lived while he was mortal. This mirror was where those seeking enlightenment would go if they called Larimet their patron god. I often played in the ruins when I was young, and I would come here to think even after becoming a princess of Equestria. It was also here I first merged with Selene, harnessing the mirror's power to make us stronger.
"The mirror was feared and avoided by most, but Celestia knew I used it when I was upset. I often thought it whispered to me, telling me the darkness inside wasn't evil. Using that as an excuse, Celestia fired Solar Flare one after another in a vain attempt to destroy it and make herself feel even a little better. All it accomplished was destroying our homeland utterly, and creating the pit beneath the mirror. She hates her power because she used it to erase the place all our fondest childhood memories took place. She couldn't find peace for doing it, and still cannot forgive herself." Luna finished.
Spike had difficulty imagining the desolate wasteland before him as a thriving life-sustaining civilization. Though he had an even more difficult time believing Celestia could cause such permanent damage to the world. Blank zones supposedly shrank over time, but this island had obviously had over a thousand years to repair itself.
Every inch of the place seemed to be afflicted, the magic of the earth unable to heal it.
Spike had doubts as to whether or not this island would ever heal, even in his very long lifetime. Knowing what he knew now he couldn't help but wonder how much hurt Celestia had bottled up over time. The more he heard about the past, the less Spike wanted to think about how long eternity was and how relationships change over time.
Fortunately, Luna didn't plan on giving him time to mope.
"Right then. Enough being sad for today. You're here for a crash course in darkness magic. Walk the fragile path and stare deeply into the mirror. Into yourself, and into everything you keep locked away in the recesses of your soul. You are going to war with yourself. Literally. I've tried everything else to get you to open the vault you've locked the dark powers inside, this is plan Z. You've no choice in the matter. Honestly, you're so bottled up that I can't believe you haven't gone insane already. You need this, in every sense of the world." Luna ordered.
Spike's heart sunk a bit, but he knew Luna was absolutely right.
Try as he might he couldn't open the metaphorical vault that kept his baser instincts and self-perceived flaws at bay. He had fought them for too long. Now he would need to fight them one last time.
Carefully, Spike walked the fragile-looking path, but found it just as sturdy as solid ground. Still it was a bit unnerving, being above a bottomless pit. Even for someone with wings.
The walk seemed to take forever, even though Spike walked at a normal pace.
Once he was at the base of the mirror he couldn't help but look up at the monolithic relic. It was awe-inspiring and terrible. It felt like it was pulling at Spike's soul, as if it were trying to reach inside him with invisible arms. It wanted him to look into it. Spike knew it somehow.
Taking a deep breath, Spike hardened his resolve and stared at his darkened reflection in the black mirror.
At first, it seemed like Spike's reflection. But the more he stared at it the more it changed. Not in appearance, but it wasn't a reflection any longer. It was real, another purple dragon trapped beyond the dark crystal's surface. It wasn't until Spike saw it blink that he was sure.
Spike moved his hand to try and touch his dark double, but the double beat him to the punch.
Spike's double reached out through the mirror and pulled him into the dark. For a minute, it was just like the dimension of darkness Sombra had taken him through. Full of nothing but blackness with no senses working. But after the moment had passed, Spike found himself somewhere new.
It was gray, but not the gray of the ashen soil of the blank zone.
It was a lush tropical paradise, but the ground, the sky, and everything were all gray. The only things of color were the mirror itself, and the Spikes. The one with a shocked expression, and the one with fire in it's eyes.
"Whoa... Okay. This is trippy." Spike had to say.
The other Spike laughed a terribly cold laugh, and Spike felt sick that he had heard it from himself.
His double stretched and popped his knuckles, as if he was very stiff. Now that Spike took a closer look, he could see that his double wasn't quite as healthy as he was. A bit skinnier, and with less defined muscle. There were hauntingly dark bags under his eyes, and his scales seemed dull in comparison.
The duplicate seemed to notice as well, and his laughter turned to a low growl.
"Of course you're fit and healthy. You enjoy life while you keep me locked away! I've been barred off from the rest of you for fifteen years! I can barely get you to hoard, and you hoard stupid memories of weak little meat-creatures instead of proper wealth! And when was the last time you really ate your fill? I mean when you got really full? I know you don't remember. You've only given yourself to greed and hunger once, then you slapped me in chains! Do you hate me, an integral part of yourself that much?!"
Spike didn't know how to answer at first, so disoriented by the situation.
But once he got his head in the game he was able to reply.
"I don't hate myself. I hate what I could be, what you could turn me into. Thousands of other dragons have become what you want me to be, and they all live alone in caves and sleep and eat. That's it. Greed for greed's sake, and it doesn't matter at all. Dragons can be better than that, like they used to. If you were really me, you would know that. Also, we both know how many movies and comic books we've seen. The whole 'inner demon double concept' is old hat. I know you understand everything about me, and why I love my adopted family. You're just some kind of magic thought-construct designed to rattle me. So Let's just skip this bit. Come at me bro." Spike spat back defiantly.
The double could only roar in reply, and with it came raging fires.
Spike rolled out of the way, but his tail caught flame. Spike had never gotten hit with another dragon's fire, so he hadn't known to what degree he could get hurt. Unfortunately it seemed the answer was a lot.
Spike howled in pain as his tail burned, but he quickly extinguished it.
But the double would not let up it's assault. It had no need to hold back like Spike, no need for mercy, and not a tear would be shed if it killed him. Even if that meant it would simply disappear.
Spike wasn't unfamiliar with fighting wild animals, but seeing himself as one was something different. It scared him.
Moreover, Spike was scared he would become like the double if he accepted it's darkness into himself.
Spike landed a hit to the double's gut when it lunged at him, forcing it's strength to leave it for a moment. Spike grabbed it, throwing the duplicate across the clearing they seemed to be in. Though the beastly Spike seemed to have known the throw was coming, and opened his wings to slow himself.
He was back on the attack as soon as his claws hit the ground. Spike charged ahead to, but he hadn't the time to stop when he saw the electricity arc across the double's body. When they met, Spike bowled the other over but was shocked in the process.
The bit of magic served it's purpose, and the weaker but crueler Spike recovered faster.
With intent to kill, the doppelganger shot a great blast of fire over Spike. Spike had barely recovered, and was only able to do the only thing he could think of. He sacrificed his left hand to punch through the flames, landing a blow that pained him more than the double.
His left arm was blackened, scales cracked and falling off. The flesh beneath was blistered and red where it wasn't black. The worst of it, and the minor consolation were that he couldn't feel it. But he couldn't move it either.
He couldn't dwell on it.
Spike had to roll out of the way as spikes of earth shot up and tried to impale him. The double was reveling in using each and every one of Spike's magics to their more brutal effects. Such as water, Spike's least effective element. While controlling water was difficult for them, it seemed to know his favorite trick.
With another deep breath, the entire clearing was filled with warm billowing fog.
Okay... Other me is me... I'd probably go for the weak side with my bum arm. Spike thought to himself.
"Wrong!"
Spike flew backwards as a powerful force slammed into his good shoulder. The force of the impact dispersed the fog, revealing the double carrying a large boulder with wind swirling about it.
"Oh yeah! Never thought about using the easy-breezy magic we use to fly better to make things lighter did you? I know you didn't! I'm instinct, dumb-ass! You can't just apply logic to me! But I know what you're about to do." The double taunted.
Spike slashed at the ground with his good arm to create a blinding spray of dust, but even so the double was ready.
He effortlessly countered by throwing the boulder through the distraction. It hit Spike squarely in the chest, but he didn't take much damage. A boulder on it's own didn't pack too big a punch. But as he had already demonstrated, the double had no intentions of letting Spike catch a breath.
The doppelganger rushed him once more and bit into his functional arm's shoulder. Spike snapped at him in response, but the double punched him in the snout and let go of his powerful jaw-hold. Spike had forced a small jet of flames out at him, but the breath had been too meager to be a threat.
The double laughed as he dodged the meager attempt, blowing wind at Spike with a flap of his wings.
Spike quickly realized just how much he was holding himself back without even realizing it. His double was playing with him, picking him apart with ease. If their capabilities were really even then Spike knew what needed to be done to win.
Spike summoned up his newly acquired rings of light, and then he gathered every bit of mana he had. The double seemed to mirror this act, though he was in much better shape. And, apparently somehow being the incarnation of Spike's inner darkness didn't stop it from using light magic all the same.
Fortunately, that's what Spike had been counting on. The dragons both built up a considerable fire in their bellies, but Spike could tell the double would be victorious. He just had to hope he was right in his assumptions.
They both let loose all at once, and the world of grey became a world of white.
At first, the white fire blasts seemed evenly matched, but Spike gave up on his assault and rushed forward through the fire, parting it like a curtain with the magic of his good hand. He dove at the double and bit into the base of the imposter's throat, shattering the bottom ring of light and into his neck bones. He could taste the double's blood and even the bone, and it sickened him.
He pushed the now critically wounded double to the ground, wiping the crimson icor from his lips.
To his surprise, the other Spike began to laugh. Even though it should have been unable to from the lack of a working voice-box. Spike was only mildly surprised, as they were still inside the mirror. Possibility and impossibility were questionable at best.
"You did that on instinct. You turned off your brain and went for the kill, because you realized I knew your thoughts. So you baited me, and then just stopped thinking. We are clever sometimes, aren't we?"
Spike grimaced, sitting down beside the dying version of himself.
"I guess we are. But we've also been lying to ourselves for a long time, huh? You're always just beneath the surface, no matter how hard I've tried to get rid of you. Even though... sometimes you're right. I really can't remember the last time I wasn't holding back my hunger so I wouldn't look like a monster. It's probably been at least a decade." Spike admitted.
To his amazement, the double's body turned a shade darker than it had been just a moment ago and he could feel the pain in his arm return. He winced at the awful sting, but the double seemed to be rejoicing.
"We're getting closer. You're spilling your guts, and I'm gonna disappear into you. You can't leave here until we're one again either. The mirror won't let us half-ass this." The double chuckled, his voice sounding somewhat hollow.
Spike looked around, seeing the whole of the vegetation inside the gray realm was beginning to wither. The ground around the crystal mirror was even beginning to crack. There was no doubting it now.
"We're inside the mirror. I'm inside the mirror. None off this is actually happening." Spike realized.
The double seemed to disagree, blowing a raspberry at the comment like a petulant child.
"Pfft. It's happening. But only in our mind. If I you hadn't have used me, I would have straight-up killed you. You would have died out there too. While I'm you, in here I'm the mirror too. Gods don't fuck around when they make magic artifacts. Ol' Larry-whatever wasn't as bad as Dootha, but he wasn't exactly Fluttershy either." The double corrected him.
Spike digested that, glad he had made the right decision. Dying inside his own mind wasn't the way he wanted to go. There was a distinct lack of a heroic blaze of glory to be found in it.
Spike experimentally tried healing himself or his double by force of will, but it seemed fruitless.
"You aren't dreaming, and your consciousness is in two pieces here. You can only do what you could do in the real world, and tell the truth so we can be a better Spike together. So get on with it. I'm actually in a crazy amount of pain." The double spat impatiently.
Spike sighed and silently hoped he wouldn't be such a jerk once he had come to terms with his inner demons.
Then he tried to think of what to say next.
"Uh... Alright. I... I admit it. I don't like myself very much most of the time. Usually it's nothing, but... I hate killing. I hate killing animals and monsters myself, even though they're delicious. I know I need meat to live, but I hate ending lives... Because it's easy. It's just... so damned easy.
"It makes me scared of myself. It's the main reason I only hunt once a month... So I don't have to feel that way every day. But truth be told, I never kill enough to really chow down. Especially now that we're growing." Spike said, letting a weight off himself.
The counterfeit Spike grew another shade of black deeper, as if he was veiled by a great shadow.
At the same time, the pain in Spike's tail started to lessen.
"That was a big one. Everyone's got darkness inside them, given our relationship status I'd think you would have figured that out sooner. But how many of them can say they've been inside the darkness? Multiple times, just about every other day." The duplicate joked crudely.
"Shut up. Leave Sombra out of this. He's doesn't mind our crazy possessive side, and he's got his own. That's the bottom of the list even. He's everything we want, and everything we need. You're greed. You know it, so shut up." Spike huffed as he snorted smoke.
The duplicate rolled his eyes, not bothering to argue. His injuries didn't seem to heal.
Spike saw the cracked sections of the ground all about the mirror crumble, the illusion breaking bit by bit.
Spike sighed once more, finding the task of bearing his soul to a crass copy of himself harder than fighting it. He had to sit and take his time, trying to decide what to say and how to say it.
"Okay... speaking of Sombra... We love Sombra, but a tiny little spark of doubt waaaay in the back of my mind can't let go of the possibility we only wanted him at first because he can't die. No matter what, we won't be alone in the end. I don't believe that's true, but every now and then it creeps back up on us when we're feeling guilty." Spike admitted.
To Spike's disappointment, nothing happened.
"Right you are, but you've actually already told Sombra about it. You're off the hook there. Try again." The double informed him condescendingly.
Spike groaned and laid back beside the dark double. He poked the apparition with his good hand experimentally, but quickly pulled his claw back when it passed through without much of an effort. The double's consistency had become something like jam or gelatin, and it was ice cold.
The gray realm seemed to be flaking away incredibly slowly, as if it were merely a painted-on backdrop from an old play.
Spike felt there was only one other thing hanging over his head that he had been ignoring.
"This last one, it's something I don't even know how to put into words. Sombra is smart, really smart. Like, Mom levels of smart. He thinks really big-picture. He wants to get to know the whole family, but he also wants us to have our own family. Turns out, Sombra's pretty great with Sugar and Frost. He wants kids, and I don't even know how to begin to process that.
"We could adopt, but it's not like they have immortal kids at an agency. No way I'd be able to outlive my kids. I just couldn't handle it, and I doubt Sombra could either. Besides, I doubt I can handle being a dad. I never had one, and I'm afraid I'd get so caught up in trying to rebuild dragon society that I wouldn't be able to give them the time they would deserve. I'd either be a terrible ruler, a terrible father, or both."
Spike didn't notice he was crying, but he wasn't in a state to care. Nor did he bother too look and see if the double had further changed or deteriorated. He couldn't even notice the injuries he had sustained fade away.
"I'm afraid of failing to defeat Dootha, but even more than that I'm afraid of failing Sombra. Everything is up to us, and I pretend the pressure isn't getting to me most of the time. I try and be the hero, but deep down... I just don't wanna be a failure even more than I want to succeed. We're going to have to sacrifice so much, but is it so wrong to want to know when our happy ending will be?" Spike finished.
Spike opened his eyes some time later, finding his duplicate gone.
Along with everything else, including the harm that had come to him.
The strange afterimage of Avalon had gone, in it's place was a tremendous white nothingness. It's only inhabitants were Spike and the tremendous mirror. But Spike couldn't shake the feeling he wasn't alone.
Wanting a good life for your family... You really are a soft dragon. No... You're not a bad person. You're a remarkably good person. A little too nice for my liking even. But whatever. You made it.
Spike's ears pinned the source of the voice down to the mirror itself. It was saccharine and deep, not unlike Sombra's voice. But it was definitely not anyone Spike knew. It was masculine and strong, but it sounded like it had only mock confidence.
"Who are you?" Spike asked the black mirror, adjusting to the situation quickly thanks to the strangeness of his life.
An echo. A residue of the magic that created the mirror. Like the tree you've seen already. I am all that remains of Larimet. I know you. I know your blood. Your heart is pure, and you are trustworthy. You've passed the trial, and now I would ask a favor of you. Though it wounds my pride to ask you after all the pain my actions caused.
Spike had to admit, the mirror gave off a similarly unusual (if opposite) power to the energy of the Tree of Harmony. Though the multiple deities in one container made the voice within it hard to understand. The singular presence of Larimet instead came in quite clearly.
"Okay? I mean, I'll hear you out I guess. You did kinda screw everyone over though, what with Dootha and all. I can't say I trust you all that much, but I'm not going anywhere till you let me." Spike offered unenthusiastically.
Larimet chuckled darkly, but it didn't sound sinister in spite of it. He merely seemed amused that Spike understood he held all the cards. It was disturbing how cold Larimet was while Sombra had the same type of voice and speech patterns but sounded so different in comparison.
Smart. This mirror sits here and does nothing for thousands of years at a time. The tree of harmony gets to act, if only a little. I can condense the mirror into a single shard. I want you to take it back to the tree. I can rejoin the pantheon, broken as it is. Adding me to the mix would make the tree wholly balanced, having each natural element. Those gems can be recreated faster and stronger than before, and I don't have to be alone.
"How much faster?" Spike asked with obvious skepticism.
Larimet paused for a moment, presumably thinking.
A hundred years? Two hundred tops. I can't say for certain. I'm not all that powerful. Most of what goes on in here is generated by you. I'm essentially a glorified recording. Things aren't like they once were... Though I suppose I'm at fault.
Spike looked around skeptically, not having anything particular to focus on.
"Okay, say I do this for you. I was under the impression you hated your family? Wasn't that what started this whole mess? How can I trust you?"
...
You're not wrong, Spike... But I'd rather spend eternity with them than alone. It's agony being so alone, so bored. I'm less than a ghost. I join with them, and I won't be this any longer. We'll be one whole. In return... I could... I don't know? I could try and get them to lighten up. Make the tree a little more willing to act?
Spike thought about just heading to the mirror to try and leave, but something told him he should reunite Larimet's echo with the echoes of his lost family. Having a more complete tree of harmony seemed like a good thing. A powerful force for balance that possessed all the elemental powers and ancient wisdom of the gods was sounding like something Spike could use a favor from in the future.
Spike kept his demeanor calm and collected and walked across the nothingness, (trying not to think about it) and stopped in front of the mirror.
"Okay... Despite being able to imagine a thousand ways this could go wrong, I'll help. But not just because you'd owe me one, but because as bad as all this bullshit I've been through, and have still to go through is, if it had never happened I wouldn't have met Sombra. But if you screw us over, I'm gonna have no trouble figuring out how to end you again."
Spike promptly turned around, jabbing his claws into the surface of the mirror. Ripping himself an opening, Spike stepped out.
Everything went black for a time, and Spike found himself pulling himself up off the ground. Specifically the impossible land bridge in front of the mirror. Luna was standing in front of him, apparently worried.
"What did you do?! You've cracked the mirror!" She shouted angrily.
Spike blinked, turning back to the gigantic black gemstone.
It was indeed cracked. Though that might have been an understatement. Every inch of it's monolithic surface was covered in hairline cracks. It looked like it would fall to dust if you looked at it too hard. Luna's outrage seemed warranted, at least from her perspective.
"Oh... That. Yeah... So, I sort of talked to Larimet after I beat my inner demons or whatever. He wanted to try and mend some fences with the echoes of his family in the tree. I'm supposed to take a shard to it when we go home." Spike explained.
Luna stopped mid-scolding, looking torn between her want to reprimand Spike and her desire to ask what happened.
She merely stood there and massaged her temples with her hooves.
"So you succeeded then? Try and make dark mana then. Just think of Sombra. Make mana that feels like him." Luna instructed after a tense silence.
Spike opened up his palm, closing his eyes and diving his consciousness into his mana pool. He was relieved to find the dream-fight hadn't actually expended his mana. More than that, he felt odd when he tried to call upon his magic. Not bad, but odd. In a good way.
He felt like there was a new piece of a puzzle he had been missing a piece to. Like he understood the bigger picture a little better.
Using his immense familiarity with the sensation of pure darkness, Spike summoned up as much of it as he could.
It was apparently not very much, as it so happened. In Spike's palm was a tiny wisp of blackness that seemed equivalent to the fire of a candle. Yet it was there. Sombra would have been proud.
"Well... I expected a little something more substantial from ripping open the floodgates, but it's a start. We're going to work under the assumption your innate potential for darkness isn't very high. Meaning your training won't be nearly as easy as Celestia's light lessons." Luna sighed in a tired way.
Spike let the wisp of shadow fade, feeling much less achieved all the sudden.
Luna bit her lip, feeling she had made things a bit worse. She was quite tired, and after being away from Selene so much as of late she had gotten a bit snippy. That, and she had forgotten how difficult it was for others to perform magic in a blank zone.
"But, good job, Spike. I can tell by looking at you that you've grown as a person. Not everyone can stare themselves in the face and tell the truth. I'm sorry I'm not in the best of moods. This place fills me with mixed emotions, and I often forget how big a strain this environment puts on most people. Are you well enough to fly home? I think we both need to see our wives." Luna apologized.
Spike chuckled, forgiving Luna.
"Yeah. I should be able to make it. But don't let Sombra catch you calling him my wife. He'd probably get a little mad." Spike corrected.
"Doubtful. Selene has taken to calling him the 'Queen of Darkness' when his voice slips back into a villainous tone. He seems pretty fond of the double-entendre. So, let's get the shard and go see him. Selene has probably driven him insane by now." Luna countered.
Spike filed that tidbit away for future appraisal and turned to the mirror.
Unsure of what to do, he reached out and touched it. He felt a surge of energy, and quickly withdrew his hand. With a chorus of sounds like breaking glass and rocks grinding against one another the segments of cracked crystal began to fold in on themselves.
Within a minute, the skyscraper of obsidian had reduced to a stretched octagonal gemstone about the size of a large book. It floated there until Spike reached out and took it. To his relative surprise, it only weighed about as much as a watermelon. Nothing to Spike's bulking muscle.
"Whoa. Okay. Travel sized. Guess that's settled then. Let's get moving then. I wanna see if I can scoop up some fish on the flight home. I'm starving." Spike chuckled as he spread his wings.
Luna smiled as they began their ascent, glad Spike had come out of the experience for the better. She couldn't help but be proud of her students. Sombra had been an unbelievable prodigy, but Spike was willing to put himself through hell to succeed. She had been so worried before, having never been a teacher before.
But now she saw that helping others grow was more rewarding than she had ever dreamed, and all Spike and Sombra had needed was a few pushes in the right direction.
Despite everything, Spike and Luna soared through the night with smiles on their faces.