Pony Stories: Season 5

by lunabrony

5.10 - Ancient Evil - Adventure; SPOILERS

Author's Note:

There WILL be episode spoilers below beginning almost immediately, so go watch the episode, come back, and continue.
Or read on anyway. Your choice.

Personal note: There is only ONE of these notices in my author's note section, but when I check the actual display on the final page, there's two of them? Am I the only one seeing it repeat itself?

After the ceremonies had ended and most of the guests had gone back home, Spike and Twilight retired to the private chambers that was situated at the top of a long spiral staircase. Twilight had a brief, passing thought that Sombra would have loved this particular set of stairs, but they were all probably better off that he wasn't around to see it.

"So," Twilight said carefully, once they were alone again. "Are we gonna talk about that little stunt you pulled back there?"

Spike sighed. "Aw come on, Twilight, I said I was sorry. Everypony makes mistakes."

"That's true," Twilight said. "But you're in a very unique position. Most mistakes don't accidentally cause international incidents. I have to say, I'm disappointed, Spike. I am glad you learned your lesson, but I expected more from you after all these years."

"To be fair, it's not ENTIRELY my fault," the dragon countered. "I mean, this part of Equestria is clearly inhabited by all sorts of species, and Dragonsneeze trees are an exotic import from Haywaii. Who's bright idea was it to plant Dragonsneeze trees in a civilized country?!

"That's not the point and you know it."

They would have argued further, but the main doors to her private chambers burst open, and one of the guards from down below stood framed in the doorway, panting for breath upon having just run across the castle and up an incoveniently large amount of stairs. Twilight reminded herself, not for the first time, to get a lock put on that door. It had a habit of being burst into, it seemed.

"Twilight! Twilight!" The guard panted, chest heaving, looking as if he was going to keel over. "Golem! In the... courtyard...thought you'd want to know..."

He stared at them, breathing heavily, and Twilight stared back. "...What?" The guard finally gasped.

"Nothing," Twilight said. "Thought you were going to dramatically faint or something for a moment there."

"Never," the guard said, looking insulted as he got his wind back. "That would be unprofessional."

Twilight and Spike darted past him to the balcony, to look down the stairs over the railing into the courtyard. There was indeed a ridiculously large golem rampaging through the open space, its body entirely composed of chunks of large rock of varying sizes. It was a terrifying monstrosity, and one which certainly did not belong there.

"I thought golems were extinct!" Twilight exclaimed.

"It's believe that it was hibernating underground when the water main ruptured," the guard said. "It must have awakened it with all the commotion, perhaps there's even a subterranean lair of some kind that was flooded. Cadance is looking into that."

Down below, the golem roared angrily, and swung its mighty fist straight through the side of one of the picnic pavilions. The few remaining individuals who had lingered behind after the ceremonies, most of them locals, were now running for their lives.

"Well, you wanted to make up for what you did," Twilight said. "Here's your answer. Go get him, Spike!"

Spike looked as if she'd just turned into a lamp before his very eyes. "Surely you can't be serious."

"Oh, but I am. I'll be right behind you, helping out, of course. We're away from home and on our own for this one, Spike. Come on, let's get it!" With that, Twilight leaped off the balcony, wings spreading, and divebombed straight for the angry, rampaging rock monster. She fired spell after spell at it, ducking and rolling and dodging in the air, but every spell bounced off and almost seemed to make it angrier.

Spike looked over the balcony, and it was a dizzying drop. Looked like he was taking the stairs. He ran down the spiral staircase, two at a time, pleading his little legs to run faster. He was worried about Twilight, as he always was, and didn't think that she'd be big enough to handle that ugly creature out there. Hey, wait, that's it!

At the bottom of the stairs, Spike made a detour, and ran towards one of the large buildings.

"Spike! Where are you going?!" Twilight called.

"Just distract it, Twilight! I got this!"

Twilight, having no other choice, did just that.

Inside the building, Spike ran down the elaborately decorated hallway, and stopped at the pedestal which contained the large statue he'd almost destroyed and almost eaten. It was composed of dozens of large, precious gems, all of which could be replaced, admittedly, and his stomach rumbled loudly at the close proximity. Even just standing here, looking up at it, he felt the early urges of avarice surging through his body.

"Celestia forgive me," Spike whispered, and reached out for the statue.

Outside, the rock monster was becoming increasingly aggressive, as if it hadn't been to start with, and swung its awful hand at her. Twilight spread her wings to dodge, and dove to the side while performing a barrel roll, but wasn't quite fast enough. The golem clipped her, and she she smashed into the ground with a surprised, pained grunt. The golem charged for her, small earthquakes thundering under every step, and Twilight teleported behind it only moments before she would have been crushed. If she hadn't had magic...

There was another loud crashing sound, and Spike, now appearing much more like an adult Godzilla than the small juveline he'd been prior to his greed episode, rampaged right through the side of the building, debris flying everywhere. Great, now someone was going to have to clean THAT up. One step forward, two steps back...

The now much enlarged dragon charged the golem, tackling it with his full force but only sending it backwards about six inches. The golem retaliated with its own strength, pushing back with equal if not superior force. Spike roared white hot flame at the golem, trying to hurt it, but the flame didn't seem to do anything other than make the rock glow with red fury. He reached out and wrapped his claws around the monster's neck, trying to throttle it, but that didn't do any good either.

The golem emitted a deep and rumbling laugh of triumph, and suddenly let its body crumble into dust as it slipped out of the claws trying to hold it, a great, mountainous heap of sand rolling and thrashing along the ground as it swept around Spike like a desert in a wind tunnel, preparing to reform, regroup, retaliate.

Spike grinned at this, remembering for once one of many of the science lessons which Twilight had gone on about, one of many that he had only half listened to, never thinking he would actually care about, let alone need. He opened his bear-trap jaws again and spewed molten fire from his throat, the sand freezing and crackling where it stood, turning to glass under the sheer force and magnitude of the heat. From there, it was only a matter of picking up the newly formed glass sculpture, and smashing it to fragments against the ground.

Spike looked over at Twilight for approval that he had done good, but the alicorn just looked angry, and pointed behind him. Spike looked, and saw that the ceremonial building now not only had a giant hole through the wall, but was also entirely on fire.

He sighed.

Comments

[Thought Prism]

Spike just can't catch a break, can he?

[Neko Majin C]

"Golem! In the... courtyard...thought you'd want to know..."

Yeah, because why inform the actual Princesses of Canterlot? They are probably too busy not protecting their city. Useless figureheads. They. Did. NOTHING! during the Bug-Bear attack.

"Surely you can't be serious."

"Oh, but I am. I'll be right behind you, helping out, of course.

Really? It looks like I am going to have to do this myself. But I must say, I am disappointed the joke was not there.

The golem clipped her, and she she smashed into the ground with a surprised, pained grunt.

One of these should be deleted, though I am not sure which one.

Spike, now appearing much more like an adult Godzilla than the small juveline he'd been prior to his greed episode

Extra space. Also:
"Up from the depths,
Thirty stories high,
Breathing fire,
His head in the sky,
Godzilla! Godzilla! Godzilla!
And Godzuki!"

Save for the lack of a specific joke, this was pretty funny. Poor Spike. He always tries to please everypony, but ends up pleasing nopony.

~KBO.

[lunabrony]

6115647 You laugh but I literally did put that joke in the first draft, that was the whole reason I had that line in there. But when I reviewed it before publication it wasn't funny at all, it felt... forced and out of place. So I took it out.