Blood Ties

by bestponydash

The Villain of the Story

The moon climbed its way up the night sky, struggling to overcome the high cliffs that blocked its light from reaching the courtyard of the outpost in which the mane six stood ready for battle. Eventually, a sliver of silver slipped passed the peak and shone on Twilight and Lennox. Spike pushed his way to the middle of the two ponies, "Wait," he begged.

"Spike, it is no use. She refuses to see things our way; you must let her go."

Spike pleaded with the ancient pony, "You didn't show her what you showed me."

Twilight's expression weakened, "What do you mean?"

"Twilight, I saw my parents' house; I remember what happened." Her mouth gaped slightly. "Twilight...maybe Lennox is right."

"Spike..." Twilight's eyes shifted down and she shook her head, "...Tell me."

"My parents were attacked by a pony; she came in, shot them, took me, and teleported away before anyone could do something about it."

Twilight took a step forward, "'A pony?' Did you actually see that it was Celestia?"

Spike hesitated, "Well, no...But Who else could it have been; she was the one that hid me away in her room."

She knelt down and put her hooves on Spike's shoulders, "What if it wasn't her that attacked your parents?"

"This is madness," Lennox said in a huff. "You said yourself it was Celestia that took Spike's egg."

She stood up, "Yes, Celestia took Spike; but I know she would have done so without violence. To openly attack someone else...it's out of her character, and she never mentioned doing so in her journal. Can't you see something is out of place?"

Corona had become fed up, "Are we simply going to stand here and debate Celestia's morals, or are we going to finish this once and for all?" The mane six readied themselves.

Lennox looked to Spike, "I am truly sorry, but he is right; the time has come."

"No, wait," Spike tried.

"No more words, my friend. Ready yourself." Twilight grabbed the young drake and tossed him behind the ponies. Corona advanced slowly, lighting his horn. "You have the first move," Lennox told him.

Corona smiled and from his horn came a stream of thick mist that covered the area. Twilight squinted around as her vision began to disappear and only the mist was left. She could feel the vapor rest on her coat and wet her mane. Twilight called to her friends, "Remember what the princesses said; it's only an illusion." Suddenly a lightning quick blast of magic zoomed for her head. Twilight leaped out of danger and looked around to find the shooter; her eyes struggled, but the fog was too heavy.

"Yeah, but knowing that doesn't exactly help much, does it?" Dash irritatedly said from some indiscernible location. Three more blasts came for Twilight's head; she dodged left and right. The last beam she failed to evade, and Twilight felt a strong burning in her chest as she was pushed back with a shout. The other ponies tried to help but could not find her.

"What is this? What do you think you're doing?!" Everypony suddenly heard Corona yelling in the distance. The mist suddenly became more transparent and Twilight could make out her two enemies. Lennox's head was glowing, and Corona took a few steps back.

"I will handle these ponies, you have the more important job."

"What? Don't you dare!" Lennox pointed his horn and with a large blast, teleported Corona away with a hateful scream.

The mist disappeared and the mane six regained their barings. "We will fight this war on two fronts." He faced the ponies and ran to attack.

---

"No!" Corona reappeared in Canterlot castle. He looked around at the two thrones in front of him, "If he has ruined my chance for revenge, I will-"

"Luna!" Corona quickly turned to see Celestia standing behind him, quickly joined by her younger sister.

He growled in anger, "Very well, I guess it's time I finally address the problem head on; no more puppets, no more games." He walked toward the sisters, "Have you any idea the shame you two have caused me? After you banished me with nothing more than the clothes on my back, I couldn't find work or even a place to stay for that matter. Every one of my loved ones had heard the monstrous rumors you had spread, and I was shunned; completely alone. But after everything, I couldn't just give up. I managed to continue my search through many long and painful experiments; I had to use myself as a test subject more times than I care to remember. Eventually I did finally succeed, but even then, I found that the effects couldn't be duplicated to give any other ponies this gift. You had robbed me of what would have been one of the greatest public services Equestria would have ever known; not to mention the opportunity to clear my name in the public eye and have my picture in the history books...And now, after almost a millennium and a half, I finally get to see you two get what you deserve."

The sisters stepped forward to confront him. Luna began, "You may pretend your motives were just, but the truth is you wanted nothing more than to save yourself from death. You wanted to be more than anypony around you, to have more power than them. If you truly cared for you fellow pony, you would have taken your banishment as a lesson and worked to better our kind in a peaceful way. Instead you waited fifteen hundred years for a chance at revenge."

"You say these things to me given your past," Corona let out a laugh.

"I have been forgiven for my past. Look at where you are compared to me."

"Do you mock me?" he lit his horn, "I will show you just how wrong you are about my...situation." His head glowed brighter, creating a blinding light.

"Luna!" Celestia called, "Don't look!" The dark princess quickly closed her eyes.

"It is too late," Corona said, his voice full of smug.

Luna suddenly felt a rush of cold surround her as all light disappeared. She slowly peaked open her eyes to find she was standing in an open vacuum of black; her only sensation was the feeling of a rough breeze. "Sister?" she called, but there was no answer. Luna looked around and shivered, "Hello?" This time she was answered by a low giggle somewhere out of sight. "Who's there?" The laughter got closer and the princess turned around to a figure of white smoke. "What is..." the smoke giggled again and suddenly took the form of Luna's younger self; smiling and curious.

"Who are you?" the young blue filly asked innocently.

Luna's eyes widened in wonderment "I-I am you."

The young 'Woona' turned her head, looking her older self up and down, "No you're not; you don't look anything like me."

"Yes I d-" Luna glanced downward to find her coat had turned black to match her surroundings; she was wearing light blue armor and her voice seemed deeper than normal.

She looked back to the 'other' Luna who had changed into a young mare; she was sitting down, crying. "I can't keep doing this again and again. Every night alone, every night facing monsters and ridicule."

Luna took a step back, "No..."

Her younger self suddenly looked to her, "You are the only one that understands."

"No," she looked up speaking to somepony out of view, "I will not be subjected to this willingly." Luna lit her horn and sent a beam of magic out in all directions. Her power lit the dark vacuum, fighting off the spell that had taken hold of her.

"Stronger...than I thought you would be," Corona sounded as though he was struggling.

Luna's horn became brighter, "You will not win; I am far too experienced in destroying ponies' inner demons."

"Argh! We will see!" The princess's eyes began to glow to match her magic and with a large final effort, she sent a bright wave of light outward, eliminating her dark prison. "No! Impossible!" Corona was pushed back and his hold on Luna had vanished as she opened her eyes, back in the land of reality. She turned to find Celestia on the ground, eyes shut and contorting herself in horror and rage. A string of magic connected her head to that of Corona, who had recovered from his shock. "Very good, princess. But your sister is not faring as well as you. Do you plan to fight me alone?"

Luna squinted, "No, I do not." She lit her horn again and from her head zoomed her own magical string; she linked herself with her older sister as she had done with the many ponies of Equestria every night. Luna sent a surge of power into Celestia's mind and she suddenly disappeared from sight. She reappeared inside the sun princess's thoughts; surely the two could work together to free themselves and take Corona down. But what Luna saw was a situation more desperate than she had anticipated. Celestia was chained to a wall in a cell of Tartarus; her head hung low and her body looked weak. "Sister!" she called.

Celestia glanced up, "Luna, wait." Evil laughter erupted from all around as more chains sprung up from underhoof, taking hold of Luna and pinning her up beside her sibling.

Corona entered the mountainous, blue and black realm in a puff of fire. He smiled at the sight of his captives, "You are both far too easy to manipulate," he laughed, "I almost feel sorry that little dragon had to put up with you for this long." The sisters struggled but it was futile, they had both been led into a trap. "Don't worry, though. With you two out of the way, I will be sure to finish raising him the right way. He will believe we rule as two halves, but ponies and dragons will all answer to me; Spike listening and doing exactly what I say to secure the loyalty of his kind. I will show everypony that I am a far more suitable ruler than you all when I make Equestria the greatest empire in the world, with ponies being the dominant race."

"You're forgetting about Twilight and her friends, not to mention Lennox. Do you think they will allow you to carry out this plan?" Celestia seemed sure in her words.

"Lennox thought he had defeated me by forcing me to fight you two alone; I myself was nervous but he is a fool. He will no doubt take down the other princess and her lackies, and when he comes here expecting to find me locked up, I will deal with him as I have dealt with you. All that will be left is me and Spike."

"Spike will never listen to you," Luna shouted.

Corona smiled and chuckled, "I know...but he will listen to you two."

He lit his horn and Celestia's brow creased; her head began to sweat as she resisted the magic. But eventually she gasped, "I admit it, I attacked you parents, Spike. I stole your egg using any means I deemed necessary. The lives of a few dragons mattered little when it came to the prophecy of the elements of harmony."

The sisters both gaped their mouths, "It was you; you were the one to cast a spell on my sister. You kept her from being able to speak about that day, not the elements....You were the one that attacked Spike's parents."

Corona laughed again, "Imagine my surprise at how easy it was to set up your guilt," he spoke to Celestia, "All I had to do was take the egg, leave it in the middle of nowhere for you to find, fabricate visions of the prophecy in your dreams, and poof, you did the rest. You even went through a war because you thought everything was justified. Ha!"

"I tried to give the egg back once I found out it belonged to a family."

"But I couldn't allow that. And Lennox! I didn't even have to manipulate him into hating you; I sat back and watched as he did half my work for me. Years spent planning and everything now seems to have worked out perfectly."

"I wouldn't speak so soon." Corona widened his eyes at the familiar voice and he disappeared from his illusionary prison and came back into the reality of Canterlot castle. He saw Lennox standing before him with a creased brow, breathing heavily.

Corona suddenly realized his villainous ranting had cost him, "It's too late, you can't stop me. And when you fall, Spike will be mine."

"No!" Corona turned to yet another familiar voice. From behind the thrones came Twilight and her friends, including the young dragon, "Spike will never belong to you."

The villain unicorn's gaze switched between Lennox and the mane six, "What? What is this? You were supposed to destroy them."

"And I almost did."

---

Lennox shot blast after blast of magic at the mane six; each of the ponies dodged and ran for their opponent. Twilight collided with the unicorn, two lasers of powerful light pushing against one another. Each of their horns burned as they stood in a stalemate, neither gaining the advantage in this magical duel. Suddenly Rainbow and AJ came from behind Twilight and leaped to tackle Lennox. But the unicorn jumped up, ending his link with the princess, and shot two orbs from his head. Dash and AJ were hit and the magic exploded into a glue-like slime that pinned them to the ground, out of the fight. Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy stood at Twilight's sides as she lit her horn. Lennox stood as Rarity appeared above him, bucking his head before being teleported away again. Pinkie popped up behind him, grabbing his hind legs and forcing him to the ground. He tried to get up and deal with her, but she had been teleported away as well. Next, Fluttershy came from his right side and punched him in the face while he was down. Lennox swung back at her, but only hit air. With one magical poof of smoke after another, Twilight sent her friends into and out of battle, taking potshots at the unicorn until he was worn down.

"Enough of this." He rose to all fours and teleported away.

Twilight looked all around but could not find him. Suddenly Rarity let out a scream and Twilight turned to find her friend pinned to the ground much like Dash and Applejack. Twilight kept looking but she did not see where the shot came from. "There!" Pinkie informed, pointing to the battlements atop the far gate. Lennox stood and shot two more restricting orbs outward. Pinkie and Fluttershy had not the time to react and they too fell prey to the traps. Twilight creased her brow as she saw all of her friends subdued, struggling to get free.

Lennox poofed away from his vantage point and appeared behind Twilight. "It is just you and me now." She turned to face him. "You would have made a grand ally in the times to come, but you simply refused to listen."

"I was listening, and now I admit that you were right about a few things."

Lennox readied his horn, "I am afraid it is too late to talk your way out of this."

"You were right about the elements." Lennox's mouth gaped and the magic on his horn dimmed. "You said that the elements of harmony exist to do what their name suggests, spread harmony throughout Equestria and the lands beyond. You said that my theory that the elements had forced Celestia to steal Spike had holes in its logic because of this fact. I now see you were right. The elements would never do something so horrible as force a kidnapping. So, I began to look for another theory."

Lennox's horn grew dormant, "Very well, I will bite. What have you come up with this time?"

"Corona Blaze shows up just after you escape from Tartarus, knows where to find Spike, how to free you from the element's stone, and is willing to help you take down Celestia and Luna immediately; you can't think that's all just coincidence."

"He has told me his story."

"Did he tell you he learned the secret of immortality; his experiments in the matter are what caused his banishment. He's older than you. In fact, at the time Spike was being taken and the war was beginning, he was still banished from Equestria, wanting to get revenge on the princesses."

He raised a brow in curiosity, "...What are you saying?"

"If the elements of harmony didn't make Celestia take Spike, then somepony else must have. And since Celestia wouldn't have attacked Spike's parents, somepony else must have done that too."

"You are saying Corona orchestrated everything?"

"It is the only thing that makes sense. He took Spike from his parents, somehow Celestia got him and held him through the years."

"You are forgetting the war."

"Once Celestia knew Spike belonged to a family that wanted him back, she would have tried to return him. Is it so farfetched to think that Corona could have used magic to stop her from doing it? He obviously had a strong hold over her already. And if that was the case, war couldn't be avoided."

---

Lennox looked to Twilight, "I cannot believe you were right."

Twilight saw her two fellow princesses trapped within their own minds, "We can talk about that after we finish with him."

"You let this little girl get inside your head. All you had to do was finish the plan. Now you've ruined everything!"

Lennox exploded with pure rage, having finally learned the whole truth, "You started all of this. The war was your doing; everyone I lost, everything I suffered through...It was because of you that I was trapped in a cage for twelve hundred years."

"And it was I who let you out of that cage! Do you honestly think you escaped on your own? You owe your freedom to me. Now stop this childish whining and do what you promised. Help me defeat the Princesses and we can rule this world; would we not be better for all ponykind? Don't you think you could advance Equestria further than the Princesses? Think of all the good we could accomplish."

"Every word that comes out of your mouth is a lie." His horn glowed with a bright, vengeful light, "And I will better Equestria, right now, by deleting you from it."

Corona took in his situation: on one side stood Lennox, a powerful and battle-tested unicorn, on the other, a younger, brighter alicorn princess and five of her famously determined friends. Defeating the sisters was child's play compared to what he would have to do to beat these odds. The red unicorn grew nervous as he saw few options that ended in his favor. "You think you've won already," he eventually growled, "But this is far from over." Corona prepared to teleport to safety when he was brutally interrupted by a powerful blast of Lennox's magic. Corona screamed in pain as his shoulder smoked and he fell to the ground. The line of magic keeping the sisters in torment faded and the two twitched and blinked open their eyes. They slowly rose to their hooves and hobbled over. Corona was surrounded by his enemies.

"It is over," Lennox said, "You will not cause any more havoc."

"Wait," Twilight interrupted, "Don't kill him."

Lennox winced in anger, "Why not? After everything he has done to us." He lifted Corona into the air with his magic, "You ruined my life. You killed my friends and family. You manipulated everyone."

"We don't kill our enemies," Twilight again pleaded, "We're better than that."

"If we put him in jail, he will simply break out and do more damage."

Luna put a hoof on Lennox's shoulder and the unicorn turned to face her. "Don't do it," she asked.

Lennox grinded his teeth, his body screaming to take revenge. But his magic disappeared and Corona fell to the ground. "Throw him in the darkest place that exists, somewhere he will never see another soul, never taste food or water again, never feel warmth."

Corona gazed around and growled, "No!" His horn burst with a blinding light that burned everypony's eyes. They all lifted their hooves as shields from the rays. When the light disappeared, they all looked to find their prisoner had gone with it.

"He escaped," Celestia stated.

Lennox felt as though his chance for closure had been taken from him; the end of his tiring journey of life would not come soon it seemed. "I told you we should have ended him. I told you he would get away." The unicorn quickly turned, making his way to the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Twilight.

"I will not let him recover from this loss; I am going to find him before he comes up with another plan," he stopped and looked back, "And then I will finish this." He was about to walk out the door when Lennox suddenly remembered. He glanced at Spike, standing next to Twilight. "Come with me, Spike."

Twilight instinctively put a hoof in front of the dragon. "No, he will have no part in this."

Lennox did not address the princess, "We know the truth now. We both were manipulated into fighting the wrong pony. Aren't you angry for all the pain, all the conflict he caused you. All of this was his doing. Help me put an end to him."

Twilight knelt down, "Spike, taking revenge doesn't solve anything; it just makes things worse. I know you know that after everything we've been through."

"Do what you think is right. Do what you think is just."

Through this entire scene, Spike had remained silent. Do what is right? What was right anymore? What was just? In one moment, all the doubts and worries, all the tears and anger, all the...challenging of his life was blown away by Corona admitting his deeds. This seemed anticlimactic somehow. Should the dragon feel happy at knowing his friends were innocent. Celestia only took his egg when she thought it was abandoned and tried to give him back after she found out otherwise. Or should he follow what Lennox was saying and seek revenge. Corona had caused the deaths of his mother and father, the past few days have been full of internal torment. All the while the culprit was right next to him, lying to his face and laughing about it. Twilight had raised him to be a forgiving creature, full of love and friendship. But Spike had now seen a much darker side of life, he has seen manipulation and evil far worse than any of the other, blunter, villains the mane six had faced. This series of events had changed him, his mindset was not the same as before, and he did feel anger inside. Anger so pure, so full, he could feel it course through his body. Revenge to satisfy his rage, to avenge his kin. Forgiveness to follow Twilight's teachings and show the world the capability of a dragon to spread harmony. Follow or stay, revenge or forgiveness. Which ties were stronger, those of experience or those of blood.

Author's Note:

Opinions in the comments

Comments

[DragonPony]

This is a interesting place for sure. I real turning point for Spike. I think honestly really REALLY. Spike wouldn't go with him. Spike doesn't want his life to be centered around revenge. He doesn't want to go off hunting some pony and spend who knows how long looking for someone just to hurt them. THAT being said he wont forgive, he can't forgive all the pain he has caused. One can move forward with their life and not forgive someone. They can remember how someone hurt them but not let that become the core of their being and that is what I think Spike will do. I think he will also use this as a chance to GET those changes he want in his life. I think the biggest thing to him or that will matter the most is to change up his life is. He doesn't want it to keep going how it has. He want more and this is a chance for him to get more. Even if he doesn't go with him but he still want to go see and learn more about the dragons or even just improve his home life. Spike NEEDS to stop following and take the lead in his own life more than anything.

[Speculore]

I say a pony that diabolical has no roght to live. Corona needs to suffer at the hands of the elements and the princesses as well as Spike himself.

[spike2000]

Stay with Twilight