Chapter 10
More than a few questions came to mind when Twilight saw Rarity drop to the floor of The Great Heart beside her, gasping for air through gritted teeth. The side of the unicorn's face was swelling from a minor burn, though judging from her smoking mane, she'd been lucky. A damp, make-shift bandage was wrapped tight around her left hind leg, mottled with dark red splotches both fresh and old. Her disheveled, dirty fur lent the unicorn an uncharacteristically ragged appearance, and her labored breathing told Twilight that her questions could wait.
Spike lay further into the cavern, near the center. He was a mere ghost of himself at this point, trembling as he tried to push himself to his feet. Physically, he seemed unhurt: a fact Twilight could only attribute to Rarity's presence.
The heart thief was struggling to rise as well, crouching near the wall opposite Twilight. He still wore her appearance, charred and burnt almost beyond recognition, sporting the green crystal of Spike's heart growing out behind a blackened, warped horn.
Magic surged to the front of her horn as she gritted her teeth in concentration, taking a second to make sure all of her prepared spells were in order. “Let's try this again.”
Her blazing horn brightened, unleashing a salvo of explosive bolts at the downed changeling. A green bubble sprung up around him before his surroundings were lost in smoke and fire, and a lightning bolt glanced off of Twilight's own shield a moment later.
The smoke around the changeling was instantly whipped away under his magical influence, revealing the thief back on his hooves, smiling behind his crackling energy barrier.
“I was wondering where you were! Thought you'd given up on the husk!”
A dozen magenta lights flared up all around the surface of the changeling's shield, whirring loudly for a moment before arcs of lightning erupted all over the inside of the force field.
“Sorry. I would have stopped you sooner.” Twilight stepped further into the chamber, distancing herself from Rarity. “I had a little trouble finding your hive.”
Even with electricity coursing through his body, the changeling chuckled. “No need to apologize!” The green bubble exploded into flames as he transformed, consuming almost the entire chamber in fire.
Twilight teleported herself to the center of the chamber, untouched by the flames, and teleported Spike and Rarity out of The Great Heart. The injured unicorn vanished in a bright flash, but Spike, lying right next to her, remained where he was, held in place by some outside influence. She tried again, but was met with the same result.
“You won't stop me.” Black claws several times the size of Twilight rose out of the flames and came crashing down on her force field, putting an end to her attempts at getting Spike to safety.
“In fact, I've been missing the love you have for that dragon of yours,” the thief continued, his head breaking out of the subsiding flames. The great green crystal sprouting from his head was now joined by six smaller, dark cerulean crystal spikes. Together, they formed a jagged crown growing straight out of his skull, between his oversized changeling horn and Spike's crystal heart. He had already feasted on two of the Heart's treasures, Twilight realized. “It's surprisingly strong” ‒ The large crystal on his head glowed for emphasis ‒ “Considering he gave his heart to another mare.”
Twilight fired an explosive bolt at the massive claws bearing down on her force field, using the shield to protect herself and Spike from the recoil of the explosion. With the claws gone, she turned to fire another bolt at the thief's head, only to have it hit the inside of a shield dome separating her from the beast coiled around her.
“You can be my queen,” the changeling offered with a smirk, ignoring the additional two bolts exploding against his shield. “After I've wiped out your little friends.”
“You're getting a little clingy,” Twilight responded through gritted teeth, taking a step back and feeding an extra large dose of magic into her horn. “I think there's something wrong with your diet.”
“Now, don't say that. You'll come to love me... one way or another. Given enough persuasion, I’m sure you'll gladly give up your heart.”
The enormous magenta blaze coiling around Twilight's horn collapsed into a crackling sphere of fire and lightning. It launched forwards with a roar, vanishing in a bright flash just before hitting the thief's shield. It reappeared on the other side of the barrier and carried on straight into the changeling's brow.
A bright white blaze instantly overtook the entire chamber and the thief, and the ground heaved violently beneath Twilight as the whole Heart shook from the blast. The heart thief's force field held only for a few seconds before shattering, collapsing in on Twilight's shield with almost overwhelming force.
When the dull rumble shaking the ground faded along with the bright glare of the explosion, however, her force field still stood. The changeling's massive body had shifted outwards from the center of the blast, hugging the walls a little more tightly than before. The wing that had covered most of the ceiling of the chamber was in tatters, slowly folding up as he groaned in pain. What looked like a dark yellow bruise was faintly visible on the his forehead, but he seemed unharmed beyond that.
His hind leg kicked out at Twilight's shield, hitting it like a freight train. The force field flickered for just a second this time, allowing one of the claws to slip inside. It came within a mere two feet of hitting Twilight before the shield materialized around it, trapping the entire foot.
Twilight grunted with exertion when the dragon-changeling's front paw smashed against her shield again. Combined with his foot trying to pull free of the force field, the alicorn could concentrate on little else than keeping herself and Spike protected.
Things weren't quite playing out the way she'd hoped they would. Her spell casting was severely limited by the close quarters of The Great Heart: Just about any spell powerful enough to damage her opponent would cause devastating collateral damage to both herself and Spike. Spike's presence was proving to be a problem as well. Bombarding The Great Heart from outside would have been a simple matter had the thief been alone. But as it stood, she was effectively as trapped within the chamber as Spike was: Leaving him alone with the changeling wasn't an option. Unless...
Twilight reached a hoof out to touch the giant black claw poking through her shield. She let her magic course through her foreleg and into the changeling, suffusing them both with her magical influence while the thief was busy attempting to destroy her shield. She shut her eyes tight, envisioning the outside of the mountain they were in.
She and the changeling both dematerialized in a flash of light. As soon as they did, however, Twilight felt a drag similar to whatever influence was keeping Spike trapped within the Heart. To her consternation, they rematerialized within the chamber containing The Great Heart instead of outside the mountain.
She was falling through the air before she knew what was going on, straight into the palm of the thief. His claws closed around her with almost crushing force, but only for the short moment it took her to teleport free.
She reappeared atop a pile of treasures near the cavern entrance, just in time to catch a blast of fire from the changeling, who now stood atop The Great Heart. Her shield kept the flames at bay, but when her footing began melting away, she was forced to teleport behind the thief.
In the moments it took him to find her, she had prepared a second powerful spell. The thief's tail came crashing down on her treasure pile just a second too late. Twilight teleported to the stone precipice jutting out from the opening of the cave, shutting her eyes for half a heartbeat as she finalized the spell. When she opened her eyes again, they were glowing white. She pointed her horn at the changeling's chest. Something cracked audibly as he was hammered backwards by a tremendous, yet invisible impact, sending him crashing into the wall opposite Twilight.
She didn't relent. Even as the changeling was sliding down piles of gold and silver, her horn pulsed, and a bright beam of energy shot out of her horn. The thief answered her challenge with stunning speed, meeting the beam with one of his own. Twilight felt an immediate, most severe drain in her energy just from maintaining the struggle, but the heart thief seemed unperturbed.
He winced slightly as he leaned back forwards from the blow Twilight had dealt him earlier. Even so, he gave her a self-assured smile. His body stretched forwards unnaturally as he dropped back down onto all fours, growing even larger than before, almost as big as the dragoness. His front claws landed on top of The Great Heart with a resounding thud, and the point of impact between the two beams of energy shifted forwards along with his head.
“You said you visited my hive?” The heart thief chuckled darkly. “A day ago? Even less? It must have been. Then you must have made the same mistake again.” His eyes pulsed green, and their shared point of impact shifted further toward Twilight.
The alicorn grunted with effort as she was pushed a step back. She poured everything she could into her spell. The glow in her eyes flickered out, but her beam crept forwards, slowly but surely eating away at the changeling's.
“You used up all your magic rushing to come catch me. Or are you still going easy on me?”
With a snarl, the seven crystals atop his head lit up in unison. The power of his spell tripled, snuffing out Twilight's in a second. She teleported once more, dodging the ensuing explosion and reappearing atop The Great Heart, between the changeling's front legs. The stone precipice she had stood upon, strong enough to carry a full grown dragon and big enough for one to fit, snapped in half as the changeling's beam struck it. With a mighty groan and a cacophony of clinks and clatters, it came crashing down into the scattered treasures below.
Twilight struck upwards at the changeling's chest with another tremendous telekinetic punch. She couldn't gather the same amount of power, but the point blank range allowed her to at least shift him back off The Great Heart.
“Are you getting tired? I think you are.” The changeling's grinning maw opened wider, and a torrential green inferno washed over the top of The Great Heart.
Twilight's summoned shield parted the flames for an instant, but their ferocity shattered it almost immediately, knocking her clean off her hooves. She hit the cracked stone precipice hard, riding it down the slope of gold and diamonds before it came to a jarring halt, resting at an angle just in front of the entrance to The Great Heart.
Twilight rolled down the slanted stone a few feet before she managed to pick herself up, shaking her head with a groan. Her groan grew louder, transforming into a final, defiant roar. A vividly violet haze flowed from eyes that now shone a brilliant green, focused on the massive dragon-changeling looking down at her from above the Heart. Violet and black flames curled out of her horn, reaching out to touch the thief's invisible shield and setting the whole thing ablaze.
The changeling recoiled as a blast of magic hit his head, howling in pain. With his head receding out of view behind the Heart, Twilight turned her attention to his right wing, visible just left of the Heart. A scattered beam of energy left its membrane full of holes, and the thief roared in anger.
His claws wrapped around the Heart and his head resurfaced as he pulled himself up onto the cavern's centerpiece again. A smoking wound had scarred the side of his face, and now both his wings were in tatters.
Twilight fired another blast at him, but it succeeded only in shattering the shield the thief had just recast. He drew his hind legs up onto The Great Heart, lurching close enough to Twilight for his jaws to reach her should he extend his coiled neck.
Bracing for just that, Twilight drew more power into her horn, preparing the decisive blow.
The thief launched himself off the Heart with a mighty roar, but when Twilight unleashed a crackling bolt of lightning at his open maw, he vanished in a sea of green fire. He broke out of the flames a moment later and landed on the stone slab just a few inches in front of Twilight, appearing now in the smaller form he had had when they first met.
With her opponent now mere inches from her, Twilight realized far too late that she had failed to recast her personal shield after it had been destroyed by his dragon fire. She tried teleporting, but the thief was too fast. His claws closed around her horn just as the spell activated, causing a critical misfire which in turn triggered an excruciating lance of pain down her spine.
Her vision darkened for a second, and when it returned, she was back in the Heart, held aloft by the changeling's grip on her horn. Her knees buckled as soon as he let go. She barely felt the fall. Pain was cascading down her spine and throughout her body. A splitting headache was pounding at the inside of her skull, and her horn felt as though it were on fire.
The changeling stepped back from the alicorn, shaking his smoking hand with a slight wince. He faded once more into flame, reverting to his larger form. He coiled tightly around the circumference of the chamber, allowing the occupants only a few square feet of space within the confines of The Great Heart. Twilight felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned her head to see Spike standing beside her. It seemed he hadn't moved far from the center while Twilight had fought the thief outside.
“Aw, I went and broke you.” The dragon-changeling's breath fell hot upon the pair in the center of the Heart. “Another good fight, little princess.” His breath grew even hotter, and the insides of his throat lit up with a fiery green glow. “Now, please leave me with the husk. I want to see how well he burns.”
Twilight fixed the changeling with a defiant gaze, fighting herself back onto her hooves once more with a grunt. She collapsed again as soon as she tried calling upon her magic, however, exacerbating the pain in her horn.
A dull roar rose in volume ahead of her, and she looked up see the changeling's maw open up in front of her.
“C'mon...” Twilight winced, and her horn fizzled uselessly. No matter how hard she tried powering through the pain, her magic simply wasn't responding. There was no force field to call upon, no bolt of lightning to strike down her enemy. She neither could nor would teleport away. Not without Spike.
Fire was welling up in the back of the thief’s throat, spilling into his mouth. If he did indeed mean to spare her life, he seemed fully convinced Twilight would escape the Heart. Or perhaps he no longer cared, too drunk on his own power.
The thief was right. She had used up all her energy getting to The Great Heart in time. Without it, she was no match for him. Even if she had had her full strength... The green fire burning brightly between those massive, razor fangs inspired little hope. The only reason she had even considered fighting the beast standing before her had been Spike. If Chrysalis and her four hearts had defeated Celestia, what hope did she have against his seven?
Twilight turned her gaze from the fires that would soon wash over her, to the small dragon standing at her side. His complexion seemed to have improved, though it could of course just be the intense green light shining down on them both. Not that it mattered anymore. His eyes found hers, reflecting the fear she felt herself.
The roar of fire grew to a deafening crescendo, and the air turned too hot to breathe. Twilight reached out a hoof to embrace Spike, but he lifted a hand to grasp her hoof instead. A strange spark lit his eyes, and for the first time in days, he looked lucid.
His gaze turned right, toward the changeling, and his grip on Twilight's hoof tightened. She followed his gaze and was blinded by the wave of fire hurtling at her and Spike, burning so bright that the world went dark.
She barely felt it when her hoof dropped to the floor again. The flames hit the floor several feet in front of her and spilled forwards in a great, inescapable wave. The pain coursing through her body as a result of her magical misfire seemed to evaporate. As the flames closed in on her, it was replaced by a much purer form of agony.
A small figure moved in front of her, silhouetted against the oncoming inferno. Arms outstretched, Spike took the full brunt of the changeling's fire breath. His diminutive form did little to shield Twilight, but as the flames enveloped her, she was shocked to feel an uncanny, but welcome, coolness washing over her. From one instant to the next, it was as if the heat had been sucked from the flames.
She raised a hoof to marvel at how the fire passed harmlessly across her fur, as if it were nothing but colored smoke. Once her eyes had adjusted to the brightness of the sea of flames rushing past her, her gaze found Spike, still standing protectively in front of her, as unharmed as she was.
The rush of fire was sustained for another few moments before finally abating, leaving the world in darkness once more. A grunt of annoyance, or perhaps surprise, was the first thing Twilight heard in the vacancy of roaring flames, and a strong, green glow was the first thing that caught her eye as her vision slowly adjusted.
“I don't know how you... What the ‒?”
Light flooded back into Twilight's vision, and she realized the green glow in front of her was Spike. His crystal heart protruding from the changeling's head mirrored the glow.
The light filling Twilight's vision didn't come from just Spike, she realized, but the walls of The Great Heart. Every single crystal had taken on a vivid shine, surrounding the Heart's three occupants with lights brighter than the sun.
The changeling grunted and winced, making it clear to Twilight that the glow of his stolen heart was none of his doing. She stepped up next to Spike, whose eyes found hers immediately, filling her chest with a warm sensation.
“That dragon fire was stolen,” Twilight said, looking deep into Spike's eyes, but speaking to the changeling. “You can't use it against its true owner. And its true owner wouldn't let you use it against me.” She turned to face the heart thief, scowling down at her. “I ‒” Her gaze swept past the myriad of hearts shining all around her “‒ We will ask you one last time. Give back Spike's heart.”
The thief's eyes narrowed. His horn lit up, but the light was immediately choked out by a single jet of azure fire from a nearby heart. The changeling snarled, only to be struck in the side of the face by a spray of pink light from another crystal. His claws found the offending heart, but as soon as they closed around it, the thief cried out in pain, withdrawing a smoking paw.
“These aren't just hearts,” Twilight told him, not entirely sure where she was drawing her knowledge from. “They're the hearts of those who gave away everything in the name of love. They were betrayed by your kind, but the love shining from them now is no less true. They aren't on your side. They're on ours.”
Smoke was rising from all sides of the chamber, where the changeling's oversized body was pressed up against hundreds of hearts. His roars of pain drowned out Twilight's words, but she continued nonetheless.
“In this place, our love is stronger than your greed!” Another blast of dragon fire washed over Twilight and Spike in the thief's last attempt to stop them, but it passed by them with no effect. “You're just as power-hungry as Chrysalis, and you'll meet the exact same fate!”
Massive claws lifted up over the pair, ablaze with fires of all the colors of the rainbow. Twilight turned to Spike and knelt down as the claws came down upon them. She touched her horn to the front spine on Spike's head, and the whole world went white.
Spike groaned and gave a mighty yawn. He felt as though he'd been asleep for days, yet he was oddly exhausted too. A bright light kept him from opening his eyes, and when he stretched his arms, he ended up hitting something soft behind him.
Spike flinched, only now noticing the rhythmic breathing of whomever he was lying up against and the sound of their heartbeat. He sat up with a grunt and rubbed at his eyes until his vision adjusted to the light. As he had half suspected, it was Twilight lying beside him, snoring softly on the stone floor.
Raising an eyebrow in confusion, Spike ran a hand along the smooth stone, feeling the warmth of the green and magenta lights moving across its surface. It felt almost like a pulse, as if the rock surrounding him was alive. Wherever he was, it certainly wasn't Ponyville.
A soft murmur escaped Twilight's lips just as Spike rose to his feet, and her eyes fluttered open. Her gaze found Spike, and she gave a sleepy smile.
“Twilight, where are we?”
The alicorn's smile widened a bit, and she gave a quiet chuckle. “A long way from home.”
It wasn't quite the answer Spike had wanted, but he realized Twilight looked just as tired as he felt. Maybe even more so. A thin, glowing trail of magenta ran in a spiral up her horn, surrounded by black scorch marks, and there was a distinct red tinge beneath the fur on her chest, forelegs, and face, as if she'd been badly sunburned.
More and more questions welled up in Spike's mind, but he watched silently as Twilight slowly rose to her hooves, not wanting to disturb her. As soon as she was sitting, however, Spike felt as though a magnet were suddenly pulling him toward her. He flew through the air separating them in an instant, landing firmly in Twilight's tight embrace.
“I'm glad you're back, Spike.”
“Where... where was I?” Spike managed to respond, coughing as the air was squeezed from his lungs.
“It's a long story.”
“Am I in trouble?”
The grip around him loosened, and he looked up at Twilight. She wore a confused look as she hesitated, before giving him a crooked smile. “For running away?”
Spike nodded hesitantly, murmuring, “I'm sorry.”
Twilight sighed. “You have no idea how you ended up here, do you?” A slight hint of disappointment colored her smile when Spike shook his head. “Well, I guess we can talk about it on the way home.”
Twilight stood up and turned toward a large crevice in the surrounding walls that Spike hadn't seen. When she started walking, he followed after without much hesitation. For the moment, Twilight seemed content to walk with him in silence, and despite his many questions, Spike felt the same way.
He used the opportunity to take in the details of the enormous chamber, now that his eyes had adjusted to its brightness. The light seemed to come from hundreds of crystals set into the surrounding walls, each shining a different hue. Beyond the protruding crystals, the walls were alive with the magenta and green lights he'd seen before, moving slowly in a pattern too intricate for him to comprehend.
“Oh!”
Spike tore his eyes from the glimmering walls and followed Twilight's gaze toward the chamber exit not far ahead of them. Four hearts of crystal, about the size of The Crystal Empire's Crystal Heart, rose from the floor as Twilight grabbed them with her magic.
Her horn made a strange sputtering noise, and Twilight winced when a few sparks escaped the crack in her horn, but her grip on the crystals remained. Each heart was slightly different in shape and size from the other, and they each bore their own distinct color. Rose quartz, fire ruby, cloudy sapphire, and pure diamond.
Spike's stomach growled, and Twilight laughed, bunching the crystals together in the air before continuing toward the exit. “Don't even think about it.”
“What are those?” Spike's eyes followed the hearts as Twilight moved them around herself, out of view.
“What do they look like?”
Spike gave a little frown. Twilight was being unusually stingy with her answers. “Crystal hearts?”
“Yep.”
“Like the Crystal Heart? In The Crystal Empire?”
“I'm not sure,” Twilight muttered, bringing the sapphire heart around to float in front of her. “I think so.”
Spike's eyes widened, and he took in the surrounding gem-studded walls again. “Where exactly are we, Twilight? And who is that?” He pointed ahead as they both exited the glowing chamber, entering into a huge cavern. A massive stone slab lay ahead of them at a crooked angle, and in the middle of it lay what looked like a changeling, groaning softly as it slept.
“He seems familiar,” Spike added, scratching his head in confusion.
“Uh, that's a long story too.” She looked up toward the top of the cavern and then back at Spike standing behind her. “I need to take care of a few things outside before we go. It shouldn't take too long.”
Twilight's horn brightened very briefly before releasing a few sparks. She touched at her horn gingerly, wincing while it made odd buzzing noises. The crystal hearts dropped out of her magical grasp, clattering loudly against the stone floor. She shook her head, then lit up her horn again, successfully winking out with a bright flash. The unconscious changeling went with her.
Spike was left in the dark cave alone, standing next to the abandoned collection of crystal hearts Twilight had dropped. Of course, the cave wasn't as dark as he would have expected a place of the same size to be. The outside of the chamber he'd just left glowed softly red all over, and the vein-like protrusions covering every surface around him glowed in all the colors of the rainbow. But the inside of the chamber that lay behind him was as bright as day, making it hard to appreciate the softer lights surrounding him now.
He spent a minute or two wandering around near the four hearts, inspecting what he quickly realized was a dragon's quite massive hoard. Too many metals for his liking, but he did find a nice-looking emerald that nobody would miss. Probably.
He had just finished chewing when something flashed behind him, and he once again felt an irresistible magnet-pull wrest him off his feet. This time, it was Rarity who grabbed hold of him, hugging him just as tight as Twilight had.
“Oh, thank goodness you're okay, Spike!”
They’d been in some kind of fight, Spike realized, seeing the burn on Rarity’s face and recalling Twilight’s injured horn. Curious as he was, he knew better than to comment on it.
Taken aback by the unicorn’s forwardness, he hesitated for a moment before he hugged her back, blushing.
“I'm sorry,” he wheezed, causing Rarity's grip to loosen.
The unicorn gave him a puzzled look. “Why, whatever for?”
“For tricking you...” He wanted to say 'yesterday', but truth be told, he had no idea how long he'd been sleeping. “On my birthday.”
“Ah.” A hoof reached up to stroke the back of his head, ruffling his spines. “Well, I may have... overreacted.” Rarity gave a little chuckle that turned into a sigh. “Don't be sorry, Spike. Even if nothing went as either of us had planned, I certainly can appreciate the gesture.”
Rarity's gaze rested on the egg-shaped chamber in the center of the cavern when Spike turned his head to look at her, her ears twitching rhythmically.
“The truth is,” she muttered wistfully, “I'm the one who should be sorry. I appreciate everything you've done for me, Spike.” She gave a small smile. “And I've known why you've done it for a long while too.” She looked back down at Spike, who averted his own gaze, feeling his blush growing brighter.
The words sounded somehow familiar, Spike noted. Like a dream. Distant, not unlike his memory of the changeling Twilight had taken with her. He was growing more and more certain that he didn't like where Rarity was going.
“That look in your eyes was always... different.” she continued. She touched a hoof against Spike's chin, tilting his head up to face her. “It's nice to see it again.” She gave a sad smile. “Flattering, but intimidating. Something there... It runs so much deeper than what I've ever seen in anypony else's eyes. I've wondered if it was something for me alone, or if it's just your nature. Whichever it is, I know now that what you have to give is more than I can return. And I realize that I've known it for some time. A year, perhaps? So I'm sorry, Spike. For not telling you long ago. For causing all this.”
“So... you don't love me?” Spike felt his voice faltering, but for some reason, his eyes remained dry. He felt he had heard all this before. Again, he wondered how much of his dreams had been reality. Whatever was happening, it did seem to lessen the impact of Rarity's confession.
“Of course I love you, Spike.” The hug tightened. “Just... not enough? Or the right way? I'm afraid I'm not sure. But I'm not what you need, Spike. In a way, I wish I were, but I see the one that truly loves you. You deserve each other.”
“Who?” Spike was having difficulty following Rarity. Either he was still too tired, or Rarity had been through a whole lot while he had been gone. Judging by her injuries and her disheveled appearance, he would have to guess the latter. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, I'm sure you'll find out.” Rarity finally let go of Spike, just as Twilight called down to them from somewhere above.
“Ready to go?”
Bracing herself for the spike of pain, Twilight teleported the pony and dragon up alongside her by the opening between the two caverns. Whatever had happened to her in the Heart, it had helped her horn. Getting her friends and the changeling back to Equestria would still be quite a challenge, but weak as it was, her magic was at least responding.
Spike's eyes widened almost as soon as he materialized, and his jaw dropped open. “Whoah.”
The dragoness had parked herself at the main entrance of the cavern, eclipsing the night sky outside. She was a dark leviathan where she stood, framed by the argent glow of moonlight against polished scales. They cast glimmers of light down the length of the cavern as the dragoness took her breaths in mighty heaves, exhausted after her victory against the changeling assault.
Without another word, Spike walked toward her, leaving behind Twilight and Rarity.
“On the way home, I hope you'll tell me how exactly you ended up out here,” Twilight told the unicorn, her gaze lingering on Spike a moment before turning to Rarity. “I... I don't know how long you stood up to him in there, Rarity, but I can't ever thank you enough. If you hadn't been with him...”
“I couldn't just leave him,” Rarity responded, giving her an appreciative smile. Her hoof reached up to fidget at her burnt mane, and her gaze turned to Spike again. The dragoness had lowered her head to his without a word, touching the tip of her snout against his forehead in an unexpected show of affection. “He is a special one.”
Twilight nodded. They were both silent for a moment, watching the strangely intimate greeting between dragons unfold. The dragoness had closed her eyes, taking in Spike's scent in deep breaths.
“Does he know how you feel?” Rarity asked Twilight quietly. “For The Great Heart to have reacted the way it did...”
“He saved me,” Twilight answered, smiling fondly at the dragon before turning her attention back toward the chamber of The Great Heart. “It was just like my brother’s wedding, when Cadance finally got to him. But I think Spike was acting instinctively.” The alicorn concentrated her magic for a moment, and the four crystal hearts she had left at the bottom of the chamber popped into existence beside her. “Spur of the moment thing. I doubt he remembers it.”
“It doesn't seem so.”
“Memories don't quite bind without emotions, I think. He might remember what happened in time, but until then, they'll probably be floating around his subconscious somewhere. He'll want to know what happened, but perhaps we should leave out the heavier stuff. I don't want to overwhelm him. Besides, I'd hate to tell him how he feels about me. If what I saw was even real.”
“Oh, it was real,” Rarity told her, nodding her understanding at Twilight's suggestion.
Rarity had been with Rainbow Dash near the main entrance of the cavern when the heart thief had been defeated. The two ponies had been nearly blinded by the piercing light emitted by The Great Heart. Whatever had caused such a reaction in the Heart was most definitely real.
The dragoness lifted her head, stepping past Spike. “Would they be better served remaining with their brethren?” the dragoness wondered out loud as she approached the two ponies, her golden eyes falling on the four crystal hearts Twilight had brought up from the main cavern.
“The hearts he took from your Heart have been returned,” Twilight replied, bringing the hearts a little closer to herself. “These belonged to ponies originally.”
“So did most of the hearts behind you.” It was clear the dragoness was merely testing her at this point. If Twilight wasn't mistaken, the corners of the dragon's mouth were curling up slightly in a hint of a smile.
“Even so,” the alicorn insisted, a smile of her own playing across her features. She started toward the mouth of the cavern. “I'd better take it up with the other princesses.”
“Very well.” The dragon lowered her head, preparing to duck into the rear cavern. She hesitated where she stood, looking the two ponies over. “I misjudged you,” she admitted. “Princess Celestia's faith in you is well placed, Twilight. And you, Rarity, have a most beautiful heart. Without either of you, The Great Heart ‒ and The Dragon Territories ‒ would surely have fallen. All dragons of this land owe you a debt of gratitude. And for all that you have done to protect Spike... you have my deepest thanks. You will always be welcome within my mountain.”
“And you're welcome to stop by Ponyville,” Twilight returned, her smile broadening.
The dragoness released a puff of smoke as she chuckled, stepping into the chamber of The Great Heart and leaving behind the ponies. “I should hope so. I expect an invitation to your pony ceremony.”
Rarity couldn't help but guffaw at the dragon's bluntness as she followed after Twilight. The alicorn had more restraint, disguising it as a sudden cough. She shot a glance back at the receding form of the dragoness, then gave Rarity a nervous look. “She's joking, right?”
“What ceremony?” Spike asked them when they caught up to him, looking as confused as ever.
“Nothing,” Twilight brushed him off, levitating him onto her back.
It didn't seem she'd fought the changeling thief all that long ago, yet outside the caverns, night had fallen quite suddenly. Being so far above the clouds and the lights of civilization, more than a thousand stars shone brightly down upon the three. The full moon in the center of the sky shone brighter still, revealing Rainbow Dash standing in the center of the garden, tying up the unconscious changeling.
“Applejack and the others are probably still wandering around the changeling marshes,” Twilight said, changing the subject. “We should arrange for somepony to pick them up.”
“Should I, uh, write a letter to Princess Celestia?” Spike offered from atop her back.
Twilight smiled. “I'd love that, Spike.”
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Final chapter! I actually managed to finish a story. I haven't done that in nearly four years.
A special thanks to Arasam for prereading this chapter and putting to rest some of my misgivings regarding the ending.
Obviously, not everything has been wrapped up completely at this point. My biggest regret regarding the story has been my inability to develop Spike's side of his relationships with Twilight and Rarity, due to him being a zombie 95% of the story. Questions about Spike, The Changeling Kingdom's fate, and the crystal hearts have been left unanswered, too complex to explore this late into the story. For now, they're up to each reader's imagination, but I may pick them up again if I decide on a sequel.
That said, I hope everyone has enjoyed the story. I certainly enjoyed writing it.
img05.deviantart.net/fc3e/i/2015/248/d/c/fin_by_hillbe-d98jwoz.jpg
Great story move right along
pre05.deviantart.net/956a/th/pre/f/2015/245/2/6/first_born_by_hillbe-d986vyb.jpg
The moma dragon was referring to a what! ceremony
Time for a chant.
sequel..sequel...sequel...Sequel...SEquel...SEQuel....SEQUel..,..SEQUEl...SEQUEL SEQUEL SEQUEL.
Please
6414416 I hope they don't have a kid yet, if that is what you are saying. Spike is way too young to take care of a child.
6414902 well it's not like being an assistant to a princess or shelving books or what ever....
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Hmm.
Decent chapter, but I also noticed the Completed tag.
No Epilogue? Seems to have ended a bit abruptly to me.
Still, not bad. Not bad.
--Spade
6415085 What? XD
6415444 Yeah, but anything I'd wanna write in an epilogue would be more of a process than a single event. Too much to fit into a single chapter.
Twilight may have realized her feelings for Spike, and he may subconsciously feel the same, but it's still gonna take a while for them to adjust to that development. In the same way, whatever's gonna happen to the changelings without a leader isn't an issue that can be immediately resolved. And there's simply too much potential in four crystal hearts to wrap up that plotline without introducing some new conflict.
Besides, I don't imagine much going on after the events of this chapter. They go home, the heart thief is imprisoned, and everyone will pretty much go back to their daily routine, albeit with some awkwardness on Twilight's part. I conveyed it partly with the closing lines about Spike offering to write a letter, and I don't think it needs much more exploration than that.
Still, the ending strikes me as pretty abrupt as well. I did consider a short little scene with Applejack and co. and Chrysalis, mostly for comedic purposes, but it would have ended the story on a weird, unrelated note.
If I figure out what a potential sequel would be about, I'll definitely consider adding some sort of epilogue to this that sets up that story.
I greatly enjoyed this story. Even though I was rooting for Rarity to be with Spike, I can see how Twilight would be the better choice here.
I do agreed with Spade, the ending did feel a bit abrupt, although it was not disappointing.
I hope you entertain the idea of a sequel. As you said, there's a lot of loose-ends that can be the foundation for their next adventure.
An interesting and enjoyable read. Thank you the time and effort you have taken to write it.
6415564 You did great. I agree, we don't really need an explicit description of what happens after this.
aaaaannnnd with this chapter you have bumped up your story from my favorites list to my TOP favorites list
6438074 I've had a busy day today, but thanks to this comment, I could start it out with a private little fist pump.
6440737 daww your going to make me blush
I hope we get more of a follow up instead of a conclusion. I would like to see the wedding on the clearing outside the heart chamber and have Chrysalis show up to give her blessing.
Also I would like to say that I enjoyed the idea that Spike's heart was so full of love that it could be used as such a powerful weapon.
6473123 img00.deviantart.net/6fb4/i/2015/248/8/1/dun_by_hillbe-d98jwoj.jpg
What?
Well, this was certainly a pleasant surprise. A really solid fic you got here, and one that even managed to sell me on TwiSpike.
6414110
You should definitely consider a sequel. Especially since you felt the premise held back the character development you were hoping to detail. Might I just say this story and characters were so naturally written that in many ways it felt like an episode of the show, though obviously the writers wouldn't touch on those themes.
Looking forward to more of your work. :>
It would be great to see a sequel to this. This story has always been one of my favorites and it would be interesting to see what happens