A Father's Devotion
Fluttershy’s cottage was many things. Welcoming, for its earthy color scheme and scent of flora. Spacious for guests large and small. Clean, miraculously, despite all the animals skittering and flying within.
And before Discord, it was quiet. Not that the whiley spirit’s presence was a problem―far from it. His jokes, antics, tastes in culinary delights, and experiences shared through his eons of life, brought a different kind of life to that cottage, even the owner.
Especially the owner.
Days that often stretched into the night bustled with stories and pleasant laughter. Foods and teas Fluttershy had never tried―and was pretty sure never existed until Discord conjured them―were consumed. Talks about rare creatures, both thriving and long expired, rang through those wooden walls. It was life, pure and simple.
That day, however, Discord did something he often didn’t do. He stopped mid-sentence and dropped his tea.
Fluttershy’s eyes, once bright with intrigue, fell with worry. Even their guest, Tree Hugger, set her own tea away with lifted brows.
“Discord?” Fluttershy offered gently. “Are you okay?”
Discord didn’t answer. He sat in his seat, mouth agape, eye twitching, mismatched hands frozen in place. He glanced at the shattered plate and teacup and, unlike usual, didn’t instantly fix it.
Tree Hugger’s eyes soon matched her host’s.
“No,” Discord whispered. “Not now…”
Tree Hugger shifted in her cushioned chair. “Dude, your aura is all over the place. More than usual, “she said.
Discord’s hands fell to his sides, both limp on the couch, mouth still agape. His head spun around to the window behind him, and stared outside.
“I…I gotta go,” Discord muttered.
Fluttershy pushed herself off her seat and onto her hooves. “But―”
He vanished in a flash. Fluttershy remained still, head tilted, brows furrowed.
“Whoa…”
Fluttershy turned to Tree Hugger. “What?”
“Were we, like, in for some heavy stormin’ today?” Tree Hugger asked.
That’s when Fluttershy finally noticed the black clouds outside. Her brow furrowed harder.
“N-no. Not that I know of. In fact, Rainbow Dash guaranteed clear skies for a week.”
A monstrous lightning bolt struck the land. Fluttershy squealed and zipped behind her earth pony friend. Tree Hugger remained still, staring hard in the clouds. Then her eyes swelled.
“Oh.” She stumbled back. “Oh.” She began to shake. “Oh, man…”
“I-it’s okay, T-Tr-Tree Hugger, “ Fluttershy stuttered. “Just a little lightning.”
Tree Hugger fell to her haunches, her face now mirroring Discord’s before he left. “We are so being watched.”
Fluttershy stopped her own shaking, and was confused for the third time in the same five minutes.
Princess Celestia could hardly remember the last time she stared at the sky for so long. No. That was a lie. She used to stand on that same balcony, and stare upward all the time during the cold centuries after Princess Luna’s banishment.
But that’s not why she stared that day. That’s not why Luna herself stood right beside her and stared too. And certainly not why Discord had joined them only minutes before.
Finally, after nary a greeting or word between them during those minutes, Discord spoke, “So… I’m not the only one who noticed.”
Luna scrunched her nose. “Why here? Why now? This world is still so young. It teems with life, still grows." Her lips twisted into a scowl. “He has no business here.”
“And yet, he darkens our doorstep,” Celestia said, her face stoic and thoughtful. “But in exchange for his physical form, he agreed never to tamper with thriving worlds.”
Discord stroked his beard. “That agreement can only be broken if he were directly effected by one's actions. Or he just changed his mind, perhaps.” He frowned into the sky. “Or has something drawn him here.”
The three immortals stood silent again, watching bolts lash and whip about in the black clouds, some even striking their land.
“Does Princess Cadance know?” Luna asked quietly.
“I received her letter before you arrived today. She’s rallying the Crystal Guard,” Celestia replied.
Discord scoffed. “And why does she even bother?”
Both alicorns shot him a frown, then looked back to the blackening sky. “I don’t know…” Celestia admitted. “It’s best if pegasi steer clear from the skies.”
“We…we should do something,” Luna said. “Find a way to communicate, perhaps.”
Discord hummed. “Who’s to say he won’t try that himself?” He ignored the eyes turning to him again. “If he planned to devour this world, why hasn’t he done so already? He’s just…”
“Watching.” Celestia finished. She narrowed her eyes. “What do you want, Sky Eater?”
Stupid. Twilight Sparkle was unutterably stupid.
She thought that to herself as she galloped toward her castle, a wheezing, coughing pegasus draped over her back like a rolled carpet, and equally limp.
“Hold on, Dash,” Twilight said between exerting breaths.”Just hold on!”
“Twilight, slow down!” came a voice not far behind.
Yes, Twilight was aware she wasn’t alone, aware that her very best friends had seen Rainbow Dash nosedive from the sky. And yes, Twilight was even aware that she was running when she long-should’ve teleported.
Rainbow Dash groaned in agony. Twilight ran faster than she could even remember herself capable.
“I’ll fix this, Rainbow,” Twilight muttered again, ignoring the tears sprinkling from her own eyes.
Finally she arrived at the castle doors and barged them open. The resounding crash made her teeth clench, but she didn’t care. She galloped down the carpeted corridor, banked left, and stumbled into one of the many, many spare bedrooms the castle offered. She gently set Rainbow Dash on a soft bed.
“I’m so sorry,” Twilight whispered, her horn pointing and glowing at Rainbow’s withered and charred wing. “I should’ve flown up there with you.”
Hoofsteps clapped toward the room, and in came Applejack and the others.
“Landsakes, Twilight!” Applejack shouted. “What the hay just happened?!”
Twilight’s horn glowed brighter, and white smoke rose from Rainbow’s wound. Everypony flooded toward the two, crowding them, assaulting the alicorn with question after question. But Twilight could barely hear them, her memory replaying what Rainbow had stuttered right before she passed out.
Scales. Teeth. Everywhere.
When the memory sank in, Twilight knew she couldn’t do this alone
“Spike!” Her shout silenced everypony in the room. “Spike, I need you!”
It was only when Rarity’s hoof fell on her shoulder did Twilight realize how much she was shaking.
“Darling, please calm down,” Rarity implored.
If Twilight weren’t so focused on healing Rainbow’s wound, she may’ve brushed the unicorn off, maybe even yelled at her. She didn’t.
“It’s my fault,” Twilight said. “She was struck down and I let it happen.”
Applejack stepped beside Rarity. “Sugar, what happened? First we heard of it, Dash gathered the weather team to investigate the storm outside. But then…”
Twilight frowned, her horn glowing brighter. “I authorized it. I knew it was a bad call. I knew it wasn’t safe, but I let her do it.” The others waited for her to continue. “She just… flew up there, all of them vanished behind those clouds. Seconds later, they all flew back down, screaming. All of them except her. She was the last to come down, but when she did, she was… like this.”
Twilight wiped a stray tear from her face and refocused on soothing Rainbow’s wound.
Fluttershy’s averted her eyes, then stepped forward. “Earlier today Discord seemed very upset when he saw those clouds. Even Tree Hugger wasn’t quite herself. What…what did Rainbow see, Twilight?”
Scales. Teeth. Everywhere.
“SPIKE!” Twilight shouted again, startling her friends. “Where are you?!”
Rarity prodded her ear with a grimace, then smiled at the distressed princess. “There, there, darling. I will find our little dragon. You remain here and tend to Rainbow Dash.”
With that, Rarity trotted off, calling for Twilight’s number one assistant.
Applejack approached the alicorn and sat beside her. “Is there something we should know, Twi?” the farmer asked.
Twilight’s frown suddenly seem more tired than focused. And perhaps even a little scared. “We need to send a letter to Princess Celestia. Soon.”
Fluttershy’s ears wilted and she gulped. “W-why?”
Twilight finally sat down, her horn still focused on Rainbow’s steadily-healing wound.
“If this is what I think it is, then we’re in a lot of trouble.”
“Spike? Twilight summons you, darling. Oh, Spiiiiike.~”
In all honesty, Rarity was growing a tad impatient. She searched hall after hall, room after room, and still couldn’t find him. Worse, the caste carried sound remarkably well, so it wasn’t like he couldn’t hear somepony call.
Maybe he was ignoring her…
Rarity scoffed at the notion. “Nonsense.”
Still, it was odd. He wasn’t in the room he shared with Twilight. He wasn’t in the kitchen cooking. He wasn’t in the Hall of Friendship―as so enthusiastically named by Pinkie Pie. He was simply gone.
There was nothing to worry about, obviously. It certainly wasn’t like Spike would leave the castle knowing there was a pony-frying lightning storm blowing outside. And an emergency siren blaring through Ponyville. And winds billowing so hard they started to shake the castle walls.
“Spike?” Rarity called a little louder. “Spike, darling, where are you?” Before she knew, her trot graduated to a canter.
Then she checked the library, and released a breath she didn’t know she held, or for how long she held it. Worse, she felt sweat drip down her limbs. There he was, standing at the library’s end, his back to Rarity.
“Oh, Precious Scales, don’t do that. You had me worried sick.”
Spike said nothing. There was no clue if he’d even heard Rarity. He just stood there before a particular mirror, a mirror decorated with gadgets and gizmos courtesy of Twilight Sparkle. Spike ran a claw softly over its smooth surface.
Rarity smiled.
“Oh, dear, dear Spike,” she said, slowly approaching. “I’m sure you miss your friends on the other side. Here, I have a proposition for you; come with me, and we can talk Twilight into opening it for you, huh? Would you like that?”
Spike’s claw fell from the mirror, and Rarity stopped mid-stride, only a few feet away from him, and shivered. Her ears wilted, her limbs locked up, her hair stood on end, her blood ran cold, and suddenly it seemed like boulders were tied to her neck.
“S-Spike? Spike aren’t you c-c-cold in here? M-my word...”
Spike tilted his head a bit, his breathing slow, calculated. He turned to Rarity, and the unicorn gasped at the piercing yellow eyes that replaced the young dragon’s. No longer were they kind, innocent and young. Now they were cold, wise.
Ancient.
“This one… serves as my voice,” Spike said, his tone as cold and deep as the eyes that so clearly weren’t his.
Rarity’s breaths became short and heaving, sweat now cascading down her face.
“S-Spike, what...what’s happened to you?”
Spike smiled. “You mentioned Twilight Sparkle, this one’s caretaker,” he said. “Perhaps you’d do me the honor, Generosity, of bringing her to me.”
Rarity stumbled back, her legs shaking uncontrollably. “I...I don’t―”
Spike’s smile dropped. “It is not you to whom I wish to speak. Bring me this one’s caretaker.”
Rarity managed her strongest frown, which really only made her look like she swallowed a snail.
“S-Spike, if this is a joke, I find very little humor in it.”
Spike’s face remained blank, a quiet breath leaving his nostrils. “Well then… I will just have to summon her myself.”
He lifted his claw, and Rarity seized up, her pupils shrinking. Spike turned his palm up and curled a finger. Rarity began walking forward.
“Ack! What is this?! Spike, how are you…?!”
She fought it. With grunts, squeals, and a stumbling pace, Rarity tried to fight the unseen binds pulling her forward, reigning her in. Before she knew, she was mere inches before Spike. He balled a fist.
“Wait!”
Spike swiftly swung his arm down, and Rarity’s chin somehow crashed into the crystal floor. Purple claws gently found her muzzle, and slid to her now-teary cheeks. Those claws forced her to look up at their owner.
“Who...who are you?”
His eyes glowed an even more piercing yellow. His claws curled and burrowed slowly into Rarity’s face, and he grinned so wide he showed fangs.
“Now you’re catching on.”
Rarity’s scream echoed through the castle.
Twilight whipped her head toward guest room’s exit.
“Rarity?!”
Applejack frowned and tipped her hat up. “Yup, that’s her, alright! Come on,Twi!”
Twilight’s eyes darted from Rainbow Dash to the door and back again. “But…but―”
Fluttershy’s gentle hoof found her cheek. “Twilight just go. I’ll handle things from here.”
Twilight’s horn lost its glow altogether. “Are you sure?”
Fluttershy smiled. “If you only knew how many times Dashie’s actually herself hurt, and how many times I’ve had to nurse her back to health… Well, she’d probably be mad at me for telling you that much.” Her smile wavered a bit.
Twilight gave a short laugh and a hug. “You’re a lifesaver!” She pulled away and faced Pinkie Pie. “Can you watch over them?”
Pinkie saluted. “Yes sir, ma’am, sir!”
“Twilight, we gotta skedaddle!” Applejack shouted, turning toward the door.
Without another word they darted off for Rarity. It didn’t take very long to find her. They needed only to follow the uncontrollable sobbing. Twilight and Applejack skidded to a stop at the library’s entrance.
What they saw dropped both of their ears.
“Rarity!” Applejack yelped. “You okay?”
Surely the tears and blood streaks on the unicorn’s face should said enough. But Spike was there. Perhaps he was helping her up. By pinning her down to her side. With claws pointed at her jugular.
“Spike! What in Equestria do you think you’re doing?!” Twilight demanded.
Spike looked up, yellow eyes narrow. “You…” he muttered. “So you finally show yourself, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight took one look at those yellow eyes and her wings flung open.
“You’re...you’re not Spike,” she growled, horn sparking to life.
Spike allowed a tiny smirk. “Hm. Caught on quicker than she did.” His claw jabbed at Rarity’s neck, and the white mare squealed.
“Let her go!” Applejack ordered.
“No. There is something you must do for me,” Spike said.
Twilight’s glare hardened, but her horn lost its glow. “What do you want?”
Spike turned his head to the left. “That portal behind me. You will open it.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “How did you…?”
Spike allowed another smirk. “This one holds all the knowledge I needed from the get go. I know that this portal was created by Starswirl the Bearded. I know it opens once every thirty moons. Or, at least, it did before you came along, princess.”
Twilight glared again, listening.
“I know that there is another world locked away behind this mirror. I know that my children were left to die there.” Spike’s dropped his smirk. “And I know you played a hoof in their fate, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight’s glare crumbled. “Children?”
Spike grit his teeth. “Their voices―their heritage―gone, because of you, and the humans they’ve grown to love.”
Twilight’s jaw dropped. “C-children?”
“Open the portal.” Spike’s claws jabbed harder at Rarity’s neck.
Applejack stepped forward with a feral growl, but Twilight’s arm barred her back.
“Who are you?” Twilight asked, perhaps more gently than she’d meant to. “What’s your name?”
Spike stared hard at Twilight. Then his eyes glowed that piercing yellow. “I have many names, truth be told, labels created by long-dead worlds to give voice to their destruction. Storm Rider, Tide Bringer, Sky Eater. Call me what you will.”
Scales. Teeth. Everywhere.
Applejack looked hopelessly lost, but Twilight looked as though she stepped into a burning library. “You… But I… I thought―”
“Open the portal.” His demand came harsher, more punctuated.
Applejack’s eyes darted to her friend. “Twilight, do somethin’” she whispered.
Still, Twilight gawked, her wings deflating but a little. However, another cry from Rarity brought her back, and those strong purple eyes hardened again.
“Let her go,” she commanded.
Spike’s eyes narrowed. “What was that?”
Twilight stepped forward, her chest held out. “If you are who you say, than threatening her is useless.”
Those eyes lost their piercing yellow glow.
“That was the deal, wasn’t it? To keep your physical body, you leave thriving worlds alone? That means us. That means my friends, our families, all of Equestria is off limits to you.”
Spike’s claws drifted away from a sniveling Rarity.
“Let. Her. Go,” Twilight repeated. Spike’s face twisted into a scowl. “Now!”
The dragon stood straight, his arms limp and harmless to his sides. Rarity scrambled to her hooves and galloped to her friends. Applejack stepped in front of her shivering friend.
“Now leave Spike’s body and never come back,” Twilight growled through clenched teeth.
Of all the reactions she could’ve seen, Twilight didn’t expect a smile.
“You think you have control, don’t you? You believe just because you know so little of me that this is over. It’s not over. You will help me guarantee that.”
“I’ll never help you,” Twilight said.
“Your compliance is irrelevant,” Spike countered. “You will open the portal. There is absolutely no way you’re leaving this room without doing it.”
Applejack stomped her hoof. “I don’t think you can hear all that well. Get! Go on back to where ya came from, and leave us be!”
Twilight’s wings became fully erect, her horn glowing once again. “You have no say here, Sky Eater. And nothing over me.”
Spike laughed. Loudly. “Either you’re incredibly blind…” He flexed his fingers and extended his claws. “Or you truly don’t care about this one.”
He lifted those claws to his own neck. Twilight’s posture completely shattered.
“What… Stop! What are you doing?!” the alicorn shouted.
“I will kill this host,” he said.
Twilight’s horn glowed again out of sheer reflex. “You can’t! All life on this world in out of your reach! Let him go!”
Those claws pressed into his soft scales, digging beneath them. “Hm. If you knew so much about my agreement, you’d know the circumvention.”
Twilight showed her confusion for merely an instant. “There is no circumvention!”
Spike smiled widely. “The living―worlds that thrive, that teem with life―I cannot touch. But if they act against me, if my sanctity is violated―”
“We’ve done nothing to you!” Twilight roared.
“OH, BUT YOU HAVE!”
Twilight flinched.
“You trifled with the natural order! The sirens were never meant to squander eons in darkness, never meant to wither away with no voice!”
Twilight suddenly couldn’t find her words.
“You come into my affairs! You destroy my plans! You have my children―my children―bow down to YOU?!”
“Th-they would’ve never stopped! They’d have enslaved every human being if they weren’t stopped!”
“That wasn’t your decision to make! It was their nature, their purpose! You took that from them!”
A purple hoof stomped the crystal floor with a loud crack, and Rarity recoiled behind Applejack. "Then your quarrel's with me, not him!"
"Hah! I can see beyond this one's flesh. His memories, his thoughts. If not for him, you never would've been able to disgrace my daughters."
Twilight squared her jaw, biting back her tears. “We only did what had to be done.”
“Then surely you can understand, Twilight Sparkle.” Spike’s scales cracked apart and fell, and blood finally dribbled down his arm. “As a father, so will I.”
“STOP!”
With a blinding burst of magenta light, Spike did just that. He was held in the air, a powerful blanket of magic binding him.
“You’ll never take him! I won’t let you!”
Again, of all the reactions she expected, smiling wasn’t one of them. And neither was laughter. “I told you. I told you were going to do it, Twilight. Nothing can stop me now.”
“What are you―”
A stabbing pain ripped through her horn and forehead. She yelped and she crumbled to one knee.
“Twilight!” Applejack yelled. Her furious eyes shot up at the cackling dragon. “You! What are ya doin’ to her?!”
Swirls of magic―Twilight’s magic―spun and converged onto Spike’s hands, until the blanket that bound him withered away. He landed on the floor and faced the mirror with a toothy grin.
“No!”
Spike fired Twilight’s magic at the portal, and the library illuminated with flashing lights, grinding clicks, and turning gears.
“To be perfectly honest,” Spike began, sauntering toward the churning machine, “Finding them alone would’ve proven an insurmountable task. May’ve even taken me centuries.” The bright light shot from the book crowning it all and shot into the mirror. “But now, thanks to you, princess, I can be reunited with my family.”
The portal was finally opened.
“And I know of some filthy, disgusting humans who are just dying to meet me.” His eyes glowed. “Follow me, if you dare.”
With a skull-splitting shriek, a thick white fog spewed from Spike’s mouth and eyes. As the young dragon fell unconscious to the floor, that fog went right through the portal.
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Never mess with dad when he wants to find his kids. Haven't you ever seen Taken?
Holy shit. Sky Eater is terrifying.
6170228
Problem is, He is too OP considering his opponents... unless the conflict turns out more "convincing Daddy not to end the World as We Know It..." rather than "Fighting Cthulhu".
Welp, either Sky Eater is only going to kill the human mane six and possibly the whole school, or he's dead. If someone like him is a match for the entirety of humanity, a species that's much better at war than Equestrians or whatever dying worlds he's destroyed, then I won't be able to take this seriously.
Whelp.............they're fucked. Seems like this guy may be on par with Galactus.
6170260
So... if something is stronger than humans then you can't take them seriously? That sounds just patently ridiculous.
6170302
If you think this guy is stronger than humanity, then you don't know much about humanity, or tactics.
6170309 6170302 *GLARES*
6170318
Heh. Whoops.
To be fair though, it is a pretty important part of your story.
6170359 I'm well aware of that. I'm also aware of your concerns and why this may seem a tad ridiculous. But aren't you forgetting something, Lust? He traveled to the human world. Through the portal. What do you suppose will happen next?
I'm grinning so hard right now, you've no idea.
6170390
Oh yeah...
Hue.
Might want to spoiler that, by the way.
Oh crap, oh my freaking God they're fighting Galactus(pretty much)
RELEASE MORE KRAKEN NOW!!!!
Loving this story - I've always been a fan of characters facing something like this Sky Eater fellow; an unknowable, eldritch creature which dwells in places that would be impossible within our own geometrics.
There's little to criticise; the pacing, punctuation, and spelling are perfect as far as I can tell. I also like how you don't just immediately have some character do a page worth of exposition on Sky Eater; it's always more fun when it's spread out in bits and pieces.
A good example would be Dark Souls and how there's bits of lore in some item descriptions.
I'm hearing this big baddie's voice being that of Zeus from God of War III, for some reason...
This story is REALLY tense and invigorating so far. Love it!
Good gravy! That was awesome!