Shadow
The wolf padded down the corridor, lantern in jaw and dragon mounted. The chain around its left forepaw clinked and the lantern handle creaked as the wolf continued forward at what Spike judged to be a fast walk.
Spike didn't know where they were, only that they were underground and on the other side of the gates from somewhere he never really wanted to go again. He hoped the wolf was taking him in the direction of Rarity, but that was all he could do. Hope, and pray to Celestia.
Beneath him, the wolf stopped. Spike readied himself, but the wolf did not appear to be aggressive, so it was probably nothing.
He was surprised when the light went out with a huff of air from the wolf.
"What was that for?!" he protested to the dark. The wolf didn't respond, just began walking again.
"Great," Spike grumbled to himself. "I don't know where we are or where we're going, I'm riding a wolf that growled at me, and now the only light we have is- oh."
Up ahead, the soft orange of flickering torchlight could be seen, lit from around the corner. Peeking around, Spike saw that the light was spilling from a large cavern, though he couldn't make anything in particular out.
The wolf stepped cautiously into the glow, ears pricked and body tense as it rounded the corner. Taking ques from his mount, Spike held the sword at the ready and the shield close, ready for anything. Or so he thought.
The first thing Spike saw was a Diamond Dog. The grey Doberman was hunched protectively and stared at them with wide eyes, clearly not expecting anything to appear where Spike and the wolf had come from.
The second thing he saw was the pup.
Sitting between the female doberman's legs was a young diamond dog, not even as old as Spike if his size was any indication. He squirmed, irritation plain upon his face as his mother clutched him tightly to her breast, eying the upraised sword that Spike held fearfully.
Spike swallowed, his mouth dry, and lowered the sword so that it was no longer ready to strike the diamond dog or her pup. Then he looked around.
All around the dragon and his mount were dogs. All were female or young, and not a single one had yellow glowing eyes, like they had seen earlier with the guard dogs. All stared at the wolf and the young dragon like they had two heads.
A hiss snapped all attention to one of the entrances. Three Quarray eels, eyes glowing yellow like the guard dogs, appeared from one entrance and headed towards the intruders. Another two appeared from other entrances to the cavern, hissing as their long red bodies undulated inexplicably through the air. The diamond dogs scattered before the eels, but it was quite clear that the eels had eyes only for the intruders.
Beneath Spike, the wolf growled savagely, its hackles rising.
Spike tightened his grip on sword and shield, determination in his slit eyes. He know he should be scared, but after everything he had been through today, with the wolf helping, quarray eels didn't faze him.
The dogs had scattered to the edges of the well-lit cavern, eyes watching as the newcomers challenged their enemies/protectors.
Without warning, the wolf sprang to the left, towards the single quarray approaching from that side. Spike felt the shoulderblades of the wolf pumping beneath him as the wolf charged down the quarray at a speed that bordered on reckless; Spike rose the sword, preparing for an attack of his own.
The eel hissed back and coiled in on itself, like a snake preparing to strike. The moment they came within range, the great head and jaws lunged forward in a lightning quick strike.
The wolf sprang to the left, allowing the eels' head to go harmlessly past... Though still well within striking distance. Then Spike brought the sword down in a chop, right on the back of the eels' neck. The scales of a quarray eel are tough, unlike their maritime counterparts; they have to be in order to protect the eel from loose rock or stone that may strike them in their homes in the cliffs. Even so, Spike's blade hit hard, and the edge was sharp. The eel yelped and coiled back in on itself, a small red line at the base of the head.
Spike knew the wolf now, after fighting with it through the dark tunnels. It wouldn't be content to let its opponent slink away and lick its wounds, it would press the advantage. Sure enough, the wolf darted forward even as Spike raised his sword for another blow.
The eel swiped its tail at them, hissing, but the wolf leaped over the appendage with a snarl. It hit the eel in the side of the head with all its weight, to which Spike added another vicious chop with his sword across the bridge of the eels snout. The double blow seemed to daze the creature, but the wolf could not keep the position- the shifting coils threatened to compress around them, trapping them within. The wolf darted out as the eel came out of the daze.
Its eyes were no longer glowing yellow.
It looked around and hissed, as though confused, before it spotted Spike and the wolf. It recoiled with a sibilant hiss, before turning and quickly undulating out of the cavern.
Spike smiled and puffed up his chest in pride. Another creature defeated by Sir Spike, sworn guardian of Ponyville!
The wolf turned around. Spike's smile fell as he realized there were four more to defeat.
The resulting brawl was a blur in his mind. The wolf moved fast, somehow managing to keep one paw ahead of the eels, even if only just. Dodge, run, jump- at one point, Spike found himself riding a wolf that was somehow riding two quarray eels, much to everyone's confusion, including the wolf and the eels. The eels struck quickly, but their own numbers turned against them, often comically preventing them from properly attacking Spike and the wolf- two managed to tie themselves into a knot at one point, and another two managed to bang heads together hard enough to knock each other out.
One by one, the wolf and the dragon eliminated their foes as threats. The eels, when hit hard enough, would go into a daze, and when they came out, would no longer have the yellow glowing eyes like the guard dogs did. Once that happened, they would usually take one look at the wolf and its sword-wielding, fire-breathing mount, and quit the field.
In the end, Spike and the wolf stood victorious in the center of the well lit cavern, watching as the last eel squirmed through a crack in the ceiling of the well-lit cavern and disappeared. Spike grinned to himself.
"Thank you," came the scratchy voice of a diamond dog from their left. Spike, startled, attempted to whirl around, but the wolf was not cooperative and so he only managed to turn his head to face the dog.
A smaller terrier, this female dog had a small pup with her, a few years younger than Spike by the looks of it. The wolf turned slowly, allowing Spike time to take a few deep breaths and relax.
"You're welcome," he said. "Have you seen a white unicorn around? She's white as snow, with perfectly curled hair and dreamy eyes, blue like sparkling sapphires..."
The diamond dog looked on uncertainly as the young dragon trailed off, eyes lidded low with a dreamy expression on his face. She could almost swear she saw little pink hearts floating above his head.
The wolf noticed the dog's expression and turned his head to view its mount. A low rumble came out as the wolf shook his head. Without warning he shook, jarring the dragon out of his stupor.
"Ah-hem.... Heh heh heh... Uhhh, so have you seen her anywhere? Her name is Rarity."
The dog had to think for a moment on that. "Rar-it-ty? White pony who whines?"
Spike nodded quickly. The dog thought for a moment.
"Can't tell for sure. But if pony here, she is in heavy cell. Take this corridor, turn left, second right, and you find it. Rex!"
The young dog had curiously reached out towards the wolf, sniffing at the unfamiliar canine boldly. The wolf appeared, while not extremely interested, not outright hostile or dismissive, sniffing the young pup's scent before loosing interest. The pup, deciding the dog in front of him was a friend, had promptly pounced, only to be caught by his mother.
"Mom!" He squealed out.
The wolf turned and headed for the indicated doorway. If one was looking, one could almost see a smile on the muzzle.
---
Inside of a small, dank, muddy and dark cell, cut off from the world of ponies by bars of iron, was a single pony.
A white pony, though the dust and underground atmosphere had taken their toll and dulled the normal sheen of her coat. With purple hair, curled in a tasteful manner, yet dulled and showing split ends.
Rarity ran her hooves through her hair, attempting to clean and make it properly fabulous. It was a vain effort, it would take nothing less than a trip to the spa and perhaps several gallons of her special shampoo and conditioner to get her mane and coat back into proper lady-like beauty, but for once, Rarity was quiet. She was not bemoaning the horrible dirt, or the state of her pony-pedi, or crying for her lost beauty.
She was silent as she attempted in vain to get her hair back to its normal fabulous state. Distracted. Thinking.
When she had been capture before, the dogs had been smelly, dirty, and uncaring of her high standard of beauty when they attempted to put her to work. Uncivilized. But they had not made death threats to get her to cooperate. They had not ponynapped an entire town to put them to work slaving for gems. At some point, they had gone from merely uncivilized to positively barbaric.
She was scared, and she was not too proud to admit it, unlike stubborn Applejack or brash Rainbow. She was not as skilled with magic as Twilight was- she had never attended a unicorn specific school, all her magical learning had come from her parents. She was quite talented at finding gemstones, and her telekinesis had impressed Twilight with the way she was able to handle a multitude of small objects simultaneously, but beyond those skills she was a rather ordinary unicorn.
She did not know how to conjure anything more complicated than a comb, could not shoot balls of energy from her horn, was incapable of transfiguring an apple into an orange. Her magical skills were limited, and her power was about average. This, combined with her large guard dog, Fido, and the other guard dogs around, meant that she was incapable of escaping through magic alone.
Still, she held out hope. Rainbow Dash had nearly reached her when the brute of a dog had dragged her off, but had been just a hair too slow- and if Rainbow Dash was too slow, then it simply was not meant to be. But if Rainbow was here, that meant the others could not be too far behind.
They would get her out. Somehow. Some way. Her friends would never abandon her.
Still, it couldn't hurt to try to escape on her own. Perhaps it would help her friends. With this in mind, she trotted over to the bars, gave a flick of her hair, and addressed one of the guards to her cell.
"Hem hem... Excuse me, gentledog, could I perhaps go to the lavatory? I-"
"Go in cell!" the glowing eyed guard dog cut off, not even looking at her.
Rarity recoiled in revulsion. "In my cell? Why, that is simply unhygienic! I must prot-"
Rarity scrambled backwards as the dog struck his spear against the iron gate.
"Pony no complain! Pony does as told!" the dog growled at her.
Or pony is useless. Useless ponies are... meat.
Rarity gulped and backed away. The threat made by the big alpha dog was not idle; she did not doubt that she would pay dearly if she pushed these dogs too far.
All she could do was wait, and hope and pray to Celestia that somepony rescued her.
"Let her go, you dogs!"
Oh... Oh...
Make that somedragon. Rarity rushed back to the bars to catch a glimpse of her savior.
"No get whiny pony. We stop you!"
Outside her cell, a wolf- THE wolf, the one that had ruined Fluttershy's dress!- paced, growling viciously at the guard dogs circling around. In the center, and her heart leapt to her throat at the sight, was Spike.
Young Spike, a sword in one claw and a shield nearly as large as him in the other, stood alone in the center of a ring of guard dogs, facing down Fido, the brute that was her captor. The dog had a a long spear in one hand as he stood between Spike and her cell.
"Don't worry, Rarity! I'll save you!" The young gentledrake called out.
Rarity felt light headed. A dashing young swordsdragon, come to save her from the vicious brutes that had captured her! Oh, it was almost like a storybook...!
The clash of metal on metal brought her to her senses. What she saw brought her hooves to her mouth in a gasp.
Spike, sword glinting, was dueling the big diamond dog. The spear, aimed for the young dragon's belly, deflected off his raised shield, sending him staggering back a step. Even so, he swung his sword at the big dog's legs, which the dog jumped back to avoid.
Rarity pinched herself. Surely this was a dream, and she would wake up in her bed and find that the day was beginning and that none of this had happened. But no, she felt the pinch...
Her little Spikey-Wikey was fighting for her honor! Truly, he was more of a gentlestallion than Blueblood...!
Movement caught her eye. One of the dogs was attempting to move in and help Fido fighting Spike. That... That coward! Interrupting a duel to strike her champion in the back...!
Incensed, she lit her horn- but was beaten to the punch by the wolf. Rarity watched, surprised, as the four-legged canine slammed into his more evolved counterpart. The diamond dog yelped in surprise and batted at the wolf, managing to get out from under his attacker and retreat with his tail tucked between his legs. Rarity let glow in her horn die as she revised her opinion of the wolf.
The clash of metal once again tore her away from her thoughts and focused her attention on the duel. Spike let out a bit of dragon-flame as the large dog struck, using the proximity of the dogs' attack to unleash his own. The big dog yelped and jumped back, his tail singed.
Good job, my little Spikey-Wikey! Teach him what happens to those who do not respect a proper Lady!
The dog went in for another attack, spearing towards her little champion. He fearlessly knocked the attack aside with his shield before retailiating with a low swipe at Fido's legs with his sword. The dog jumped, but landed awkwardly and fell to its belly. The large dog barely had time to look up before Spike slammed his shield into Fido's head.
Fido did not get up, his large tongue lolling from his mouth and his eyes spinning crazily.
Rarity clapped her hooves giddily before catching herself. A lady is elegant and poised when she is rescued! The thought reminded her of her general condition, and she frowned the barest frown, before ignoring it altogether. A lady is elegant and poised when she is rescued, no matter her condition!
She watched as Spike rifled through the pockets of the large dog, barely aware of the pitched battle that was happening around him as the wolf subdued the rest of the guards. She had eyes only on the gentledrake who had defeated her captor and saved her from this dark and dirty prison! The young drake unlocked the door with one hand while holding both sword and shield in the other. He swung the hinged bars out of her way and bowed, claw outstretched towards her freedom.
"Milady," he said, head bowed.
Rarity nearly giggled with glee- such a true gentlestallion!
"Thank you, Spykoranuvellitar," she said softly. She took a few graceful steps out of her prison, before turning to her savior with a smile. Lowering her head, she closed her eyes and kissed him soundly on his scaly little cheek.
Rarity raised a hoof to stifle a giggle as the young drake stiffened, then fell over backwards in a clatter, stars in his eyes and hearts flying around his head.
She knew quite well that the young drake had a crush on her. It wasn't exactly hard to discern, what with his besotted little figure attempting to help her at every opportunity. It had been quite the subject of conversation in those early days when he and Twilight had just moved to Ponyville; why, every spa visit with Fluttershy had ended up conversing about the young drake, what with Fluttershy's interest in the baby dragon and her own amusement with his crush. And Rarity did indeed love the young drake, and enjoyed spending time with him on those occasions when Twilight would bring him along, or when he would help her by himself. Still, with his age and his species, not to mention her own romantic endeavors and dreams at the time, she had firmly lumped him into the same category as Sweetie Belle: sibling. A young and impressionable mind to be nurtured, taught, disciplined, and molded into what could eventually become a fine and productive member of society.
Now, though...
Blueblood had thoroughly crushed her dreams of high society, and had left her adrift in the world of romantic relationships. No stallion had yet to fill that void, and she was still too off-put by that vile princes' performance to actively seek out a romance. She had resigned herself to looking again in a few years, a little older and a little wiser, for a stallion of good, agreeable character to settle down with, his money and looks be damned.
And then, right here, right under her nose, Spike had come in and become a dashing knight... Fought for her hoof, and her honor... all to save her. The baby dragon had become a gentledrake when she wasn't looking. It set her heart aflutter in a way that only the cheesy romance novels she and Fluttershy shared ever had.
He was still too young, she decided as she watched the young drake struggle back to his feet. Far too young to properly court. He was, after all, just reaching the cusp of puberty, only a few years older than Sweetie Belle. But.... the young drake had caught her eye. She solemnly swore to herself that, when he was a more appropriate age, she would take another look at him. For now, he was still the younger sibling; but if today had proven anything to Rarity, it was that the young dragon showed all the signs of being the the gentledrake of her dreams.
Still, now was not the time to be reflecting on such things. They needed to leave this horrible place get away from these filthy, smelly diamond dogs where she could properly clean herself up.
"Thank you, Spike. Do you know the way out of these dreadful caves?" she asked.
"Uhhh... errr...." Spike turned around, looking around the cavern at all the entrances. He scratched a headspine with his claw, wondering what was missing...
"Where's the wolf?"
---
The wolf padded towards the room where the Fused Shadow lay. When the large dog had fallen, it had not taken him long to dispatch the other enemies while the dragon was occupied. With that, the wolf had promptly sniffed out the location of the key (it was not well hidden, under a pile of dirt not far from where they had fought), and had left.
He had kept his end of the bargain- the white pony, Rarity, had been found. The dragon had kept his end of the bargain, getting them there in the first place, bypassing the one-way gates by going through an unguarded area. Their partnership, while very useful to both, was done. The wolf would not risk taking another in to face the final enemy. His experiences so far had taught him that the enemy controlled by the Shadow was not something to be taken lightly. The wolf would not put him in unnecessary danger.
The wolf stopped in front of a large, solid metal gate. A great lock made of gold, held by chains of gold, stood in the middle.
Putting his forepaws on the gate and standing on his hind legs, the wolf carefully managed to get the ornate key from his mouth and into the lock.
The key turned itself as he stepped back. The lock came undone, allowing the chains to hang loose as the lock itself dropped to the floor. The door slid into the ceiling, allowing the wolf to see the great pile of gems inside... but they would not be alone.
The wolf stepped fearlessly into the throne room. Behind the wolf, the door slammed shut, and the chains and lock magically reset themselves.
---
Twilight lay on the ground, eyes closed and horn aglow, meditating. Studying. She had to get through a door. To do that she had to unravel and understand the spell or spells that held the gate before her in check. What she had learned so far was astounding. Potentially world-changing, if she was interpreting things correctly.
It was another kind of magic. Just as there was emotion-based magic versus inherent pony magic, this appeared to be another separate kind. She was tempted to call it Shadow magic, though further research would be necessary. It appeared as an almost oily haze to her senses when she sought out the magical signature, a dark and fluid substance that reacted to her magical touch almost like water did to her hoof. It was absolutely fascinating to watch as it simply absorbed her magical attempts to change it, like water backflowing into a trench she had dug.
Her childish enthusiasm at having discovered, and having the privilege of first examining, a brand new field of magic was heavily damped by the fact that it was holding one of her best friends against her will. And the fact of this situation was that she was looking at a brand new field of magic, of which she was blindly stumbling around, attempting to discern the rules while simultaneously trying to unravel the spell.
The result was that the whole experience was as fascinating as it was frustrating. Every failure made Twilight want to simultaneously squeal in glee and grind her teeth in frustration. She settled for a grimace on her muzzle. Still, she was making progress, however immeasurable it may be.
Pity she didn't have the time. One of Twilight's eyes slid open as voices came into focus around her.
"Try again!" Rainbow Dash insisted desperately.
The diamond dog, Spot, shook his head furiously.
"Tried already! Will be same! Can't dig under gate, Alpha magic stops me!"
"Well, what about around?! Over?!" the rainbow mare asked desperately.
"Sides rock, not dirt! Break claws on rocks, no dig around fast! Same over!" Spot insisted. For at least the third time.
Twilight sighed and opened her eyes. She had been at this for what felt like hours now, and her hooves were asleep. She struggled to them as her friends gathered around their friend.
"Did ya figure it out, Twi?" came Applejack's country accent from behind her.
Twilight shook her head as she stretched her stiff legs.
"It's absolutely fascinating, but I haven't found anything I can use to help unravel the spells on it. I could spend years just studying this gate-"
"We don't have years, Twilight!" Rainbow interjected desperately.
"Don't interrupt, Rainbow," Twilight told the mare. "Believe me, I haven't forgotten that Rarity is on the other side. My point is that we need to look for alternatives. We might be able to get some Equestrian mining crews down here and blast a way around, or maybe a team of unicorns could overpower the enchantments on this gate and blast their way in, but unless someone opens the gate from the other side-"
"HIIIIII-YAH!"
Necks snapped around so fast Twilight thought it was a miracle nopony hurt themselves, herself included. But they had to see. Because there was only one possible source for that battle-cry...
Rarity Belle, looking more than a little worse for wear, used a forehoof to throw one gate guard off balance before viciously bucking him in the chest. The glowing-eyed dog sailed through the air and out of sight.
The clang of metal on metal turned Twilight's attention to the other guard, and what she saw made her heart stop beating. For there, dueling with the gate guard, was none other than Spike.
The young dragon sidestepped a thrust of a spear and slashed at the dog's legs. The dog was too slow in dodging, and fell to the floor in a clatter as the sword slammed into his shin armor. Before the dog could so much as move, Twilight watched as Spike slammed the shield he was holding into the dogs head, knocking it out. Spike smiled triumphantly at nopony in particular.
"Girls! Am I ever so glad to see you!" came Rarity's voice. Twilight forced her attention back to the fashionista, who was idly flicking her hair to get a dull purple curl out of the way.
Her poise and her grace were as flawless as ever, but Twilight found herself wondering just why the dramatic fashionista was not bawling her eyes out; she looked, while not an absolute mess, at least dirty, grimy and out of sorts.
"Rarity!" Rainbow cried in relief. "Could you get the gate open? We're stuck out here!"
"Of course, just a moment... no... no... Ah-ha!"
The sound a lever being pulled was followed by the creaking groan of the portcullis rising into the ceiling. The moment the gate was high enough to get under, all the ponies rushed to embrace their friend in a crushing group hug, chattering their relief. Tears came unbidden to eyes, from Fluttershy at the very least, though there seemed too many to be attributed to just the pegasus, but nopony commented. Nopony cared. They had their friend back, and that was all that mattered.
Twilight broke out of the hug and the excited babble going on there. It wasn't that she wasnt excited to see Rarity again. But there was something else on her mind. Looking around, she found her target, and with a pinkish glow of her horn, picked the little dragon and all his new accessories out of the group hug, and set him down a short distance away.
Spike stared up at her, his expression defiant.
"Spike," she started softly.
"I'm not a baby anymore, Twilight!" he cut her off.
"You're still MY charge, given to me by the Princess herself! What do you think she'd say to me if you got hurt? Do you know what it would do to me if you got hurt?!" she demanded. "I told you to stay in the library because I knew this was going to be dangerous, and it was no place of you to be, and now I find you here with a sword and watch you go after diamond dogs and hurt them and they're trying to skewer you with a spear and I don't want to ever see my Number One Assistant with a spear sticking out of his scales because that means I've been a terrible pony by not protecting you!"
The young dragon had the sense to look abashed. Twilight closed her eyes and breathed deeply, as Cadence had taught her, coming out of her hyperventilation and letting go of her feelings. When she opened her eyes again, she was calmer.
"Spike, you're my Number One Assistant. I didn't leave you in the library because I thought you needed punishing, or because I thought you couldn't help, but because I knew this was going to be dangerous and I don't ever want to see you get hurt. Do you understand?"
Spike nodded guiltily.
"Now now, Twilight, don't be too hard on him," Rarity's voice came from behind her.
"After all, he did manage to fight his way all the way to my prison cell and save me from those brutes," Rarity told them. She nuzzled Spike affectionately, and Twilight watched as the young dragon went rigid. The sight did bring a slight smile to her face, Spike was such a cute little dragon sometimes.
"Still," she cleared her throat, squashing the smile. She needed to be the mature one here, and that meant punishment. "Spike, you deliberately disobeyed me-"
"It wasn't my fault! The wolf ponynapped me!" Spike protested.
That brought all conversation to a screeching halt.
"I saw the wolf when Spike was rescuing me," Rarity said quietly. "It was helping him by keeping the dogs off his back. But I don't know where it went."
Before anypony could properly respond to this new and very confusing set of information.
"Please!" came the grating sound of the diamond dog that was with them. "Need to save mothers and pups from eels! No time for talk!"
"Oh, we already did that," Spike dismissed. More goggling.
"Spike. Explain," Twilight ordered.
"So the wolf ponynapped me a little while after you guys left and took me to the quarry. It gave me this sword and shield and let me ride it around rescuing ponies. Then we went through this weird gate that needed torches lit to be opened, where we fought off undead ponies and really evil looking stuff before we got to another gate and went through that. Then me and the wolf were in the cave where all the diamond dog females and pups are, and we fought off a bunch of eels and drove them off. Then one of the dogs told us where Rarity was, so me and the wolf went there and fought one of those leader diamond dogs from last time and freed Rarity, but the wolf left us so me and Rarity decided to head out of the caves and here we are!"
It took a few moments for everybody to digest that one. But when they did, the questions flew thick and fast.
"Where did the wolf go?"
"Pups and mothers safe?"
"Oh, that's terrible. Why would a wolf ponynap you?"
"You fought undead ponies? That sounds awesome!"
"Ooohhh, now I need to make a separate party for..."
"QUUIIIIEEEETTTT!!" Twilight screamed. Everypony stared at her. She pointed a hoof at Spike.
"You and I are going to have a long talk when this is over. But, for now, we need a plan. You said you drove the eels off?"
Spike nodded. "The wolf and I managed to stop their eyes from glowing and then they all ran away."
"Spot," she said, shifting her hoof to him. "You can lead us to the chambers the Alpha is using, right?"
The dog nodded. "But don't forget deal, pony. You save mothers and-"
"Rarity freed herself. So the deal is changing," Twilight cut off. "You show us where alpha is, and we get your pups and females out. Deal?"
The dog had to think about that for a few seconds.
"Deal," he said, shaking her hoof. "Come, mothers this way-"
"No, alpha first," Twilight said.
"Need to make sure pups are safe!" Spot protested.
"The eels are all gone. Spike and the wolf drove them off. So the best way to keep them safe is to defeat the alpha. So, alpha first, then pups and females."
Spot did not look happy, but the dog headed off in a different direction.
Twilight ducked her head, and in one smooth motion, slid Spike onto her back. He was heavier with his sword and shield, she noted. Another thing to talk about later, she thought, her mood dour. She caught herself. These last few minutes had left her temper rather short- she was going to have to apologize later.
Later, later, there was time for everything later. Right now, they needed to defeat this alpha dog.
---
The gigantic dog gave a snarl and charged forward, attempting to trap the wolf.
The wolf dodged nimbly to the side and ran out of the way. Behind him, the gigantic dog stopped before he hit the wall- he had already done that one too many times, and would not fall for that trick again.
The gemstone vest the dog wore was tattered but still intact, and fluttered as the dog stood to two legs, towering over most everything else in the room. The gigantic dog seized a piece of the ceiling and pulled. The rock groaned and screeched, but with a deafening CRACK, relented.
Twilit Tyranus, or Alpha Dog, hefted the multi-ton fragment over his head, searching for his target. He would crush that wolf, and his power would be safe, his territory secured, and-
The wolf sunk his ivory fangs into the gigantic dog's heel.
"YYYEEOUCHH!"
The Alpha grimaced in pain and reached down to swat the wolf away, but the wolf had already released his hold. The next second, the huge boulder the dog had been holding came crashing down on the Alpha's head before falling to the ground.
The Alpha staggered once, twice, almost regained his footing... then fell to the dirt floor of the cavern, momentarily stunned.
The wolf was upon him in a second. It jumped upon the great dog's back and continued what it had started; ripping the gemstone-studded leather vest to shreds. Claws scored marks across the vest; canines ripped through sections; tearing and biting and clawing, the wolf ripped the vest to shreds-
With a burst of strength, the Alpha stood, throwing the wolf to the floor.
The Alpha growled and held his head as he began staggering around the area, trying in vain to get away from his foe. His eyes covered, not watching where he was going, the Alpha rammed into the throne he had created from his own magic, shattering it.
It was the last straw. Dazed, confused, the Alpha sat back onto the ground as its huge body turned jet-black. On the leather jacket, a single gem, larger than the rest, shaped like a diamond dog skull, burst, sending a small heart-shaped glowing gem rocketing away.
The dark figure exploded, little black squares going everywhere, leaving behind the small figure of a diamond dog, no larger than a typical pony, clutching his head and moaning.
The dark squares danced, then drew in upon the center of the chamber, coalescing into a dark shape. A piece of a crown, made from dark-grey stone, intricately decorated with carvings, hovered above the ground.
The wolf, having taken the small heart-shaped jewel, ignored the moaning diamond dog and walked up to the stone crown. He waited for a moment, as though expecting something to happen.
A soft voice came from beneath the wolf, saying a few words. The wolf looked towards the entrance to the chamber- sure enough, he had an audience, consisting of six ponies of multiple colors (most of whom he recognized from his time clearing out the shadow insects, and one was the 'Rarity' the dragon had been so desperate to rescue), the young dragon he had recruited (still brandishing the sword and shield the wolf had loaned him), and a very concerned diamond dog that did not have yellow-glowing eyes.
The wolf rolled his eyes. But he did take the stone crown into his mouth, before stepping into a circle of turquoise light that hadn't been there a few seconds before....
And disappeared.
---
Twilight stared, open mouthed. Most of the other girls did too. They had seen the last part of the battle, and all were speechless.
The first to move after the wolf disappeared- in a similar manner to the shadow beasts!- was Spot. The dog rushed over to the other dog, the one that seemed to have been possessed and was still holding his head and moaning loudly. The second to do anything was Rarity.
"I do believe that that wolf is something good," the fashionista declared. "He may be a bit uncouth, but I do believe that wolf is here to help. Mostly."
---
The wolf appeared at the edge of the calm waters of the spring. It promptly dropped the stone crown, which did not drop but instead floated in a gentle light. His shadow jumped, and turned into the small imp-like creature.
A drop of golden light splashed in the center of the spring. From it, a golden ball rose into the air, which the Guardian caught just as it reached full height. It looked at the pair before it, and at the floating piece of crown before it.
A piece of Fused Shadow. A tool with potential for evil unlimited, as had been proven before those who were more powerful had taken it away. It was what the Guardian had sworn to protect, all those long years ago. To seal away from mortal grasp, so that its powers could never again be used to twist the minds of sentient creatures.
An oath it had failed. As it had always known it would fail.
"Another piece of Fused Shadow is within your possession, Hero," the Guardian said. "You have already seen what it is capable of; do not let it corrupt your senses or your mind, or all is lost."
The imp creature giggled and said some words in her language as she seized the crown piece in an orange limb that came from her head. The Guardian tilted his head.
"I have guarded that piece of Shadow for many years. It is indeed powerful, and I have no doubt it can aid you against your enemy, but it was locked away for a reason; I ask that you remember that."
The Guardian sighed, insomuch as a ethereal creature can sigh.
"But I digress. You have come far, and accomplished much. But your journey is not yet at an end. Go to where you entered. Help the other spirits, and you shall find what you seek."
The Guardian vanished back into the spring, leaving the water crystal clear once more.
The wolf turned his head towards the imp-creature. She said something to him before retracting the orange glowing appendage, the crown vanishing in the creatures' grasp.
The wolf turned, but the imp creature adopted a reclining position and called out in its strange language.
The wolf turned back to the creature, annoyance in its blue eyes.
The imp-creature nonchalantly made a sword sheath appear out of thin air. Just the sheath, no sword. The wolf's eyes widened.
The imp-creature said a few sing song words before jumping at the wolf's feet, becoming nothing more than a wolf shadow once more.
The wolf hung its head as it headed back towards the town
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Nice and refreshing as usual, good sir. I applaud you.
Great chapter! I love how far this has come!
Aaaaand another GREAT chapter. I plause you, sir, for having brought to me one of the most intelligent-handled crossover ever.
Make midna get poison with light again
Spotted a typo:
This should be "goggling".
Now he has to go get the sword from Spike. I hope Spike remembers that the sword isn't his and gives it up freely. Or maybe you'll go down the route of Spike being a chosen of the Tri-force. Although, having 2 good chosen in the same story would kinda be annoying.
I bet Spike was living his dream at that moment! :D
PS, Aren't you forgetting something Wolf Link?
lol he forgot the sword
3688557
Pony Google?
SKYRIM!. （≧∇≦）
3688557 They are googling Spike's information, duh!
Thank you. That is my biggest issue when reading stories that have Sparity ships. He's always to young and yet they never seem to acknowledge that. Once he reaches 18 at least (Or the dragon equivalent I guess, though since he's raised by ponies he might mature about as fast as a pony would instead of as slow as a dragon) then I'm fine with it since he's not a kid anymore (Technically at least), after all, my sister is in her late 20's and is married to a guy in his mid-to-late 40's, so as long as your both adults I couldn't care less about how old the 2 are (Excluding one's that it's obvious one is a gold-digger, like a late-20 year old girl and a mid-80's year old wealthy man)
I was gonna my overall impressions once I had finished all the way up to the latest chapter sense I started reading today. But this chapter... You did a thing I absolutly adore. Namely this.
I fricking love that you had this line in. Rarity has great controll over her magic with her Telekinesis and if she learned other spells. Maybe them aswell.
Regardless loving this so far. Though honestly I'm curious about what Midna is saying. Then again maybe I'll find out later. Well time to get back to reading!
Well I was going to ask if you knew were Spykoranuvellitar came from originally, since I've seen it around the site a couple of times and I really like it as a full name for him, but it seems you've prepared ahead of time for that question.
I was wondering when Link was going to realize he left his stuff behind.
Did anyone read this in Mufasa's voice?
5491996 me
To be honest, i think i maybe had liked Sparity in this fanfiction, and i usually don´t like it for exact this reason.
ohhhh you still are
Okay i hope Link meet them in person soon, not that they just see each other
Wow. The Mane Six sure are useless.
Hmm....that's a major problem. He needs the Ordon Sword, considering he most likely hasn't gotten the Master Sword and the ability to change at will yet.
Praying to someone who uses spells. *BLAM!* HERESY! If she were a goddess then she would not need to use magic at all. She is merely a powerful spellcaster.
5578670
Considering all of their enemies throughout the entire series have basically defeated themselves by shooting themselves in the foot or through arrogant action and/or stupidity... they've always been useless. Lucky, but useless.
Not that it isn't any less entertaining, of course.
Link probably already felt guilty about getting you, a child, involved in this in the first place.
Gah! Real life in My Little Pony!? My eyes! They burn!
Why hasn't he turned back into his Hylian form yet?
Truly, he was more of a gentlestallion than Blueblood...!
No you were acting gold digger and blue put your ass in check.
So far, so good... storywise. Grammatically, there are quite a few issues. One of the most prevalent is that you seem to be conflating plurals and possessives. Most of the errors I've spotted were of that caliber.
One dog was attacking. Move the apostrophe.
That semicolon should be a comma.
Move the apostrophe.
Missing word: and
Missing apostrophe: dog's head.
Missing apostrophe.
That comma should be a period or a semicolon.
That period and paragraph break after "information" should be deleted; the period should be replaced by a comma.
Move the apostrophe.
It's not often I see a crossover that blends its two elements together so well and so seamlessly. We have the full dungeon experience, complete with keys, dungeon gimmicks, item and theme, plus boss and even mini-boss! And I hardly noticed!
It's easy to forget that Rarity apparently knows
kung fu, woah!martial arts of some kind.NEVER leave your weapons behind Link. Any good warrior knows that! It’s an NJPable offense!