Thunder claps, sending a howling boom that causes the castle in Equestria to quake. In the dark halls of the keep, a single stallion guards the halls, a lantern clutched tightly in his teeth. A sudden claw of lightning streaks across the sky, startling the earth pony. The lantern falls, snuffing out the candle and blanketing him in darkness. Droplets of sweat trickle down his neck as he frantically looks around in the shadows. Nothing seems to leap out at him as rain strikes the windows repeatedly, keeping the silence away.
“Calm down,” he says in a gruff voice. “It’s just a little storm.”
Breathing deeply, he presses onwards. Another flash of lightning sends white light sprawling across his body. Draped across the floor is a shadow that does not belong to the stallion. Looking upwards, he sees a shadowy figure hanging from the rafters. Booming thunder drowns out his cry as the robed intruder pounces. A skeletal tail slinks out of the back of the cloak, its spine-appendages wrap around the guard’s neck before he squeezes tightly. The stallion grunts, trying to break the hold. Underneath the hood, two emerald eyes glow, and a hungry hiss slips out.
“No,” the voice is icy and unforgiving. “I do not have time for you…”
He slams the guard against the wall, and the body slumps to the floor. Leaving the unconscious colt, the hooded figure slinks back to the shadows. Carefully and quietly he makes his way to the end of the hallway, to the bedchambers belonging to the princesses. Standing outside, the doors are guarded two additional stallions standing sentry. The cloaked figure slides his arms, unveiling boned talons. He waits for thunder to deafen the ears of the guard before digging his claws into the stone walls. Slowly, he crawls up above the door.
The guards are completely unawares as he hangs over them. His long, snake-like tail slips down between them. The tip has a crescent shape to it, each point appears sharp as a dagger. He slashes at the first guard, the colt cringes as he falls to the ground stiff as a board. Before the other has a chance to warn the princess, the tail wraps around his neck and squeezes the life out of him. Dropping down to the ground, the hooded figure quietly opens the door and slinks inside.
Curtains are drawn shut in the bedchambers, bathing the room in complete blackness. Only the faintest of light from the hallway allows the intruder to see the bed at the opposite wall. Blankets steadily rise and fall over the slumbering princess. He moves closer, reaching the foot of the bed in complete silence. Poking his head over the frame, he slides his tail out from underneath his cloak. Stretching over the body, he stabs into the blankets.
“I thought I sensed a foulness in my castle,” he hears Celestia speak.
Light floods the room, momentarily blinding the intruder. As his eyes adjust, he sees the shadowy shape of an alicorn stretching across the bed. He lunges out of the way of a magical beam that scorches the ground where he once stood. Landing across the room, the cloak slides from his body. Princess Celestia uses her wing to muffle a gasp.
The form standing in her chambers is a teenage-size dragon whose body is heavily decayed. Bone is stripped of scales, only hugged together with a strange violet vines. The rib cage seems to be filled with a blackish smog that seems to be held within the bond of bones. What scales are still on the body are a deep purple. The face of the dragon is concealed by the skull of another of his kind, transformed into a makeshift helmet. Its fangs are filed into slits like visors. Inside the blackness of the skull mask are two emerald orbs that give off a haunting light.
“Spike?” the princess looks horrified, “Is that you?”
“It’s quite the sight, isn’t it?” he hisses through the fangs of his mask. “The spell rebounded, and tore my body to shreds. I was left alone, to die in a cave.”
“How is it that you are still alive?”
A deep, wheezing breath slithers out of his throat. “It seemed that the cave was not empty. As I lied there, on the brink of death, a dragon came along, looking for something to eat.”
The tip of his skeletal tail rises and slams against the ground. His breathing grows louder, and more haggard.
“I was not ready to die,” he rasps. “Revenge not yet fulfilled. I had only one choice…”
A sadistic laugh rips through the air, causing the princess to shiver in disgust.
“That is right, your highness, I devoured that dragon, became a cannibal,” he wheezes, chuckling under his breath. “Just a small price to pay to see your precious pupil buried in the dirt.”
“I will not allow that to happen,” Celestia rises into the air, carried by her wings. “I will show no mercy to those who threaten those under my protection.”
From the tip of her horn she fires another beam, but the dragon sprints quickly away, and bounds toward her. He thrusts his tail at her, but a dome of light erupts from her body, blocking the attack. It expands outwards and smashes him against the floor. A crater is left where it cruses him. Celestia looks down, seeing that the light in his eyes have been snuffed out.
“You cannot defeat me,” she calls. “You are nothing, but a shell now.”
“You’re wrong…”
Spike rises to his feet, the entirety of his right arm laying on the ground. Picking it up, he forces the bones back into the joints where the vines cling to them. The eyes are ignited again, burning brighter than ever before.
“Before, I was weak,” he says, his breathing staggers. “I relied on the strength of those villains. But now, I learned the truth. So I came here to take back what’s mine.”
“And what is that?”
“The magic that you and your sister stole from me!”