“What are you talking about?” Princess Celestia is taken aback.
The skeletal dragon before her lets out a low hiss as his bones rattle. Glowing emerald eyes flash with excitement as his tail raises before slamming against the ground again. Spike looks more like a dangerous creature than the cunning colt he previously took.
“You should just drop the façade,” he speaks, his voice a low wheeze. “I learned the truth about your history, your highness.”
He holds his hands up, as if holding something aloft.
“The power to raise the sun. Such magic elevated you, to become an alicorn, to rule over the kingdom you saved from Discord. A thousand years you reigned, and never once did a subject question as to how you obtained the ability.”
He lowers his hands, and his tail slams harder into the floor, causing the tile to crack and splinter. Shards of the ceramic cling to the spines.
“You stole it,” he growls. “The power to move the celestial bodies never belonged to you ponies. It belonged to us dragons.”
Darkness seems to ooze out of the gaps in his bones, spilling out like thick oil. Splashing across the ground, it spreads through the room. Celestia fans her wings, taking flight just before it reaches her. The black starts to crawl up the walls. Looking in every direction, the room becomes filled with strange black substance. Her horn glows a shining yellow as it tries to attack the sprawling darkness. The beam only swallows it whole.
“What sort of magic is this?” she demands.
“Dragon,” he hisses. “And there is nothing you can do to stop it.”
Shadows surround them, swallowing the room whole. It contorts and twists, like rigid blobs pulsating in the everlasting black. And then, the walls crack, white light peeks through in bright shining bliss. Rock shatters the darkness, as the castle disappears for a mountainous landscape. Celestia feels her hooves touch a reaching spire that rockets up underneath her.
Mountains tower toward the heavens, each hollowed out into a network of caves. In the valley of stone there is a beautiful blue river. The depths are crystal clear showing the colorful collection of fish swimming against the stream.
Shadows looms about the two of them, contorting and taking shape. Then, they start to fall away, as light breaks through the threshold of darkness. Spires of rock being to appear, breaking up through the castle grounds. Celestia feels her hooves hit the rock as another forms beneath her. And then, all at once, the skies are a deep ocean blue with only a few clouds in the sky. Toward the mouth of the river is a peak that stands higher than all the rest. Dragons have gathered around the mouth of the giant cave, finding rocks to perch themselves.
At the entrance of the cave there is one of the great beasts that is several times the size of its scaly kin. He has a body of deep violet, nearly black in shade. A pair of wings stretch out, nearly blocking out the mountain at his back. One is patterned with a sun formation. The other is black and starry, emblazoned with the moon.
Folding his arms before him, the great dragon lowers his head. Jade eyes fall upon a pair of familiar-looking ponies approaching him and the others. Celestia watches from afar as she sees the younger version of herself and her sister standing there with brave faces. In the distant memories, neither has their wings, nothing more than unicorns.
“Great Dragon Lord Eclipse,” Celestia speaks loudly. “We have journeyed a long way. We thank you for speaking with us.”
“I am curious to see ponies coming to the Land of Dragons. I was under the impression that your kind feared us.”
“Many do,” Luna speaks. “But we require your aid. Equestria is in a dire state. The Chaos Lord, Discord, has taken control.”
“I was under the assumption that Equestria was protected by the Tree of Harmony,” Eclipse speaks. “Is it unable to expel this creature?”
“It is, but we do not have the power to tap into the power the Tree of Harmony possesses,” Celestia explains. “It requires tremendous magic that neither of us possesses.”
“That is why we came to you,” Luna chimes in. “We heard that your magic allows you to move the celestial bodies.”
“Yes,” he speaks. “It has been my duty to raise and lower the sun and moon every day. The power has been in my bloodline for generations.”
“That kind of magical power is what we need to awaken the Elements of Harmony inside the tree,” Celestia say.
“So you require my magic to save Equestria?”
“Yes,” the sisters speak in unison.
“I understand your plight, but I cannot leave these lands,” he speaks. “Without my rule, the dragons become…unruly.”
“Then grant us your magic at least,” Celestia speaks. “Us ponies know a way to transfer magic between species. With your magic, we can unleash the elements.”
The Dragon Lord looks amongst this dragons, who seem to be conversing with themselves, until he returns to the ponies, “I will grant you the use of this magic, but only on one condition.”
“Yes, your lordship?”
The long, serpentine tail slithers forth before the two unicorns. Coiled carefully in his scaly tail is a small egg, no bigger than hoof of either pony.
“This is my unborn sun,” he explains. “I have reached the age where I will pass my magic down to him. When you have resolved the dilemma with Discord, please return the magic to him.”
“Yes, your highness,” Luna bows.
From afar, the alicorn Celestia watches the scene unfold. She watches as her sister takes the egg, setting it at her hooves. It is only when Celestia hears the rattling of bone does she take her eyes off the imagery. Spike stands at her side, his emerald eyes burning like a haunting fire. He slams his tail against the ground, the spines piercing the rock. When the princess attempts to look back to the ancient event, she has returned to her bed chambers.
“And out of the kindness, the great dragon lord gave you his magic,” Spike rasps, a low growl in his voice. “You unlocked the Elements of Harmony and freed Equestria. But when it came time to return your magic, you decided to keep it for yourselves. After all, the ponies saw you and your sister as goddesses with that power.”
He slams his tail down harder, causing cracks to form on the tiled floor.
“The Land of Dragons, my home, fell into ruin without the eclipse-dragon bloodline. They became unruly, choosing to turn to their primal instincts. Nothing more than idiotic beasts.”
The air around him ripples.
“You stole my birthright, destroyed my homeland, and kept me trapped in that shelled prison. If not for Twilight Sparkle, I probably would have never seen the light of day.”
“That’s right,” Celestia says sternly. “It was Twilight that set you free. She is your friend and your companion. How can you seek her destruction?”
“Freedom does not equate forgiveness,” he roars, green flames spewing from his body, spanning outwards in a circle. “And it does not forgive the sins of you ponies.”
“As I said before,” Celestia rises off the ground, her horn aghast in light, “I will not allow any harm to come to those under my care. You may have been Twilight’s friend, but I will strike you down.”
He hisses, “Silence me now that I am the last to know the truth of you sisters…”
Suddenly, a beam as a black as the night tears the tips of the princess’ wings, and strikes the skeletal dragon in his underbelly. He is tossed back against the wall, his bones rattling as he lets out a pained gasp. The sound of hooves approach, as the mare of the night joins her sister.
“What is that foul creature,” Luna asks.
Celestia looks at Spike, and then turns away, “That is nothing more than a fiendish dragon that is attempting to steal our magic. Join me, sister, so that we may end its pathetic life.”
“You intend to silence me,” Spike growls, getting slowly up off the ground. “Just as I expected of you, Celestia. Behind your regal appearance, you are nothing more than a greedy, selfish pony. And as a dragon, I for one know the meaning of greed.”
The two sisters watch as the dragon starts to grow at an alarming rate. He breaks the boned helmet on his head, revealing nothing but a skull underneath, bound together with the same purple vines that holds the rest of him.
“Dragons grow stronger by greed and want,” he roars, his voice deepening to match his colossal size. “And I have been keeping it in check for all these years, but now I finally can let myself go. I can finally desire what I want.”
The ceiling breaks as it cannot contain the size of the titanic skeletal dragon that is in the midst of the two sisters. Horns pierce the dome of the castle tower, as he wretches it free from his skull. Emerald eyes glow brightly under the full moon. Looking up at the stars, the undead dragon spews a green flame that pierces the night sky.