Dark Terrors

by Dragon Angel Knight

Spike: Dragon's Greed

Fair warning, there is some slight gore in this chapter. But, remember, this is all happening in nightmares, so some really dark stuff is bound to come up.

Chapter 6

Greed

One of the few things Luna never quite understood was the noble caste's constant need to try and get more of what they didn't need. It boggled her to no end and was incredibly irritating, to boot. They always tried to get those things with lies and underhanded trickery, both of which Luna perfected in her first hundred years or so of life. Which made all of that posturing and scraping and begging absolutely embarrassing for both Luna herself and the nobles. More so for the nobles, because Luna often sent them running away with a flock of magically conjured bats after bellowing out exactly why she wouldn't grant their requests in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

Tonight was no different. But it was a rather short night, so Luna closed court early and began her sojourn into the realm of dreams.
`~`~`~`~`~

The dreamscape was in general turmoil tonight. It seemed that just about everypony was having a nightmare of a varying degree. Most were harmless, but there was one that stood out to Luna so much that her attention was completely caught by it. She steered herself to it and entered, her consciousness merging flawlessly with the dreamer's.

As she entered the nightmare, Luna was a little surprised that she wasn't in or near Ponyville, where the nightmare was taking place. Looking around, she saw that she was in a cave filled to the brim with all sorts of treasures from gold coins to gemstones the size of small houses. Luna even thought she saw suits of armor from ages past. Hearing a tremendous roar, Luna turned and watched the dream unfold.

Six ponies, either brave or foolish Luna couldn't tell, entered the cave, a familiar purple alicorn leading them. The looked around, definitely looking for something in particular when the roar trumpeted once more, reverberating off the walls, startling the ponies, who Luna now realized were the Element Bearers.

Looking up, Rarity saw a large shadow detach itself from the far wall and approached hesitantly, asking, "Spike? Is that you darling?"

The shadow moved forward into the waning light entering the cave mouth and placed it's head at eye level with the alabaster unicorn, whose friends had gathered behind her. The purple and green dragon roared angrily and raised itself up on its hind legs. The Bearers, too frightened to move, were helpless to stop the torrent of flame that came from the dragon's maw.

After a few moments, the torrent stopped, leaving six burnt, barely breathing masses at the feet of the dragon. The dragon itself seemed to shrink in size after the revelation of the nearly dead ponies, until he was no longer a greed grown brute, but simply Spike, Twilight's dragon assistant. Rubbing his eyes wearily, Spike took in his surroundings, and gasped when he saw Rarity's body, a few clumps of her once luxurious mane still smouldering.

He ran to her charred body, weeping, and held her in his stocky arms. She took a shaky breath and smiled, painfully.

"Spike..." Rarity said softly, raising a hoof to his cheek, "I knew you were in there..."

"Rarity, everypony, I'm sorry!" Spike sobbed helplessly, "I-I tried to stop myself, b-but..."

Spike was shushed when a charred hoof weakly found its way over his muzzle and Rarity said softly, "We know, Spike. And no matter what... what happens to us, we forgive you..."

"B-but you... you're all..." Spike protested.

"Spike..." Rarity said, her voice becoming little more than a whisper, "I... I love..."

Rarity took in one last shuddering breath, then fell silent. Luna, watching on silently, felt her heart break as surely as a pane of glass dropped on the ground. Finally, the limitations of her magic let her rush forward and scoop Spike into a comforting hug as the princess of the night began to weep along with the young dragon.

"I can feel it," Spike said after a time, wiping his eyes with his arms, "The greed, it's always there. Trying to break free..."

"I know how such a darkness can affect someone," Luna said softly, "Nopony is immune to the darkness' call. Not even somepony as bright as Celestia. As a matter of fact, because she is so bright, her darkness is deeper than any other well of darkness I've ever encountered."

"Then what hope do I have to keep that thing from hurting Rarity?!" Spike asked hopelessly, "If even Celestia could fall, than what hope do I have, Luna?!"

Luna answered calmly and with the confidence that only those who understood the problem could, saying, "Celestia has not fallen because she accepted her darkness as a part of her. The darkness may tempt her to do evil things, but she is in control of it, not the other way around."

Luna got up and walked over to where the corpses of Spike's loved ones lay and turned to face him, spreading her wings. Moonlight began filtering into the cave from the outside, making Spike's shadow stretch across the floor of the cave. Spike looked up at Luna as she folded her wings back up. Behind her, the Elements of Harmony stood in stark relief, making Spike gasp in surprise and sheer joy. Spike ran up to Rarity and gave her a hug. He began to cry again, tears of joy this time. Rarity planted a kiss on the young dragons forehead and smiled happily as Luna spoke.

"My advice for you, young dragon," Luna began, "is that you embrace the darkness inside of you. Make it your own. Do not let it, or your fear of it, control you, Spike, son of Twilight Sparkle. Embrace your other half and show the world what you are capable of!"

Luna raised a hoof and pointed behind Spike to the mountain of treasure, where the greed dragon now rested, its eyes glaring down at Spike with all the malice of a demon. Spike hesitantly let go of Rarity, who gave him a slight nod of encouragement, and turned to face his inner demons. He walked forward, again hesitantly at first, but with growing confidence.

The greed dragon roared in anger and let loose a dark emerald fireball from its maw. Spike brought his arms up to block it and it dissipated harmlessly against his amethyst scales. He strode forward, gaining in confidence with each step and with each step, his dark counterpart grew smaller until they stood at eye level with one another.

Spike hesitated once more, for only a second, unsure of how to continue. Then, he reached forward and gave the dark dragon a hug.

"You are as much a part of me as I am a part of you," Spike said, "I know that now. I accept it. You don't scare me anymore."

The greed dragon and Spike erupted into a pillar of bright emerald flame. It was so powerful that Luna had to actually shield herself both in the dream world and the waking one. The flames eventually died down and Luna dropped her barriers. One thing can be said for being an immortal is that after a while, some things cease to amaze. Luna was quite glad that this wasn't one of them.

From the smouldering embers of the blaze walked an incredible specimen of draconian might and grace. Spike had emerged from his ordeal changed, for the better. He now stood on all fours, about as tall as Luna. His body had the lithe, powerful muscles dragons were known for, as well as an impressive pair of wings.

Spike looked over his shoulder at the wings and said with a smirk, "Rainbow Dash is going to have a field day with this. Twilight too, I think."

He strode forward and embraced Rarity in his forelegs and said, "I love you, Rarity. No other gem could ever compare to your beauty."

Spike looked at Luna and said with a laugh, "Now I've gotta say that to her in person."

"Indeed, my friend," Luna said with a smile, "I wish you the best of luck in that endeavor, Spike."

Luna then left the dreamscape without another word, leaving Spike to his fantasies. Once more, as with all the other times, Luna saw a shadow flee from Spike's dream. Once more she gave chase, only to lose it just outside of Canterlot.

Luna swore to herself loudly, thankful that nopony could hear her vulgarity in the real world. Heaving a sigh, she returned to her body and went to go change the Celestial bodies with her sister, vowing that she would find that shadow and destroy it.

Author's Note:

K, so I'd originally planned a chapter for each of the elements of harmony and a couple of side characters, but Pinkie Pie threw a wrench in that plan... So, in lieu of the ponyville's premiere party pony, I decided a chapter dedicated to spike and his swagtastic dragon nature was in order! Lemme know what you guys thought.

Comments

[ThyPrincessOfTheNight]

I never thought about spike being afraid of killing his friends. Excellently done! More story please ^^,

[Dragon Angel Knight]

3010429
It ties in to how I think he feels about what happened when he let his greed overcome his common sense. In away, I think everyone has a bit of that in them, though definitely not in the way Spike does.