• Published 27th Apr 2016
  • 12,148 Views, 425 Comments

A Growing Fire In My Heart - Rated Ponystar



A series of short chapters that show the growth of Ember and Spike's feelings as time goes on

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Chapter 19

The benefit of Spike having already left Ponyville was that the destruction he was causing in his path was mostly just to forests and small hills. There would be no ponies hurt in his rampage, but he was heading straight for the direction of Canterlot. While they were lucky to have Spike not kill anypony so far they didn’t want to risk this luck streak and were determined to bring him to a halt.

“What’s the plan?” Blitz asked, flying beside his Dragon Lord.

“The Scepter should be able to stop him, I hope, but I’ll need him to stop in place before I can do anything,” Ember answered, gripping her weapon.

“Then we stop Spike in his place. Force can be granted, but nothing to seriously hurt him,” Twilight said, but there was hesitation in her voice. Ember didn’t blame her, she hated the idea that she was about to go toe to toe with her friend.

“I think that’s gonna be harder than you think, Princess,” one of the Scale Guards said as he pointed to the nearby towering beast that lay before them.

“Look at the size of him!”

One of the guards echoed the same statement that everyone was thinking as they managed to arrive at where Spike was rampaging. Everyone just levitated there with open jaws. Even the dragons, despite seeing bigger beings then Spike, were shocked by how such a small drake was now this monster of a sized beast. Ember in particular couldn’t help but find him both intimidating... and a bit handsome.

Spike had turned as big as an adult dragon, yet seemed to be more muscle bounded rather than fat and beefy like most tended to be these days. His tail was long enough to wipe out half a dozen houses in one blow while his fangs were sharp enough to cut mountains. Eyes of red rage filled his sockets as he roared a burst of flames that turned the nearby plant life into cinders without mercy. The only good thing about his appearance was that his wings didn’t develop from their past size, which was a blessing in disguise. If Spike also had the ability to fly then it would be a lot harder.

Still, if this is what he’s going to look like in a few hundred years...Damn, stop thinking about the future Spike and save current Spike’s butt! Ember thought to herself.

“Okay, I should have a spell that I can use to hold him down. Ember, get your guards to distract him!” Twilight ordered as she flew up into the air.

“You heard the pony! Move your scaled hides!” Ember shouted.

The Scale Guards roared in acknowledgement and dived forward. Spike, sensing their arrival, roared back and tried swiping at them with his claws and tail, but the scale guards were faster due to their size. Some of them began hitting him with their weapons or breathing fire attacks, but they did little to damage him.

Ember, getting into the fray, ducked from under his tail before flying onto his back and landing on it. She grabbed one of his spikes to hold on while her guards continued to distract the larger dragon. Trying to analyze a way to get Spike to stay put, her eyes focused on the tiny wings Spike had. Either the potion didn’t fully work or some part of Spike was resisting. Either way, it was a chance to slow him down as a thought came to Ember. She quickly flew towards them, grabbing them with her claws.

“Spike, I’m really sorry about this,” Ember whispered before she put her claws in the proper position around one of the wings. Remembering her father’s lesson on bone placement, she jerked her arms which was followed by a resounding snap. The wings might not have been as big as the rest of Spike, but that didn’t mean the nerves were any less important.

Spike howled as the broken wing lay limp in Ember’s claws. She managed to jump off and flew away just in time as Spike rolled on his back in an effort to numb the pain. Seconds later, a set of chains, just as big as Spike, wrapped around him while in a purple aura of magic.

Looking upward, Ember saw a sweating Princess Twilight struggling to keep the bigger dragon down. “I... I don’t know... how long.. I can... I can... hold him! Hurry!”

Ember flew to Spike’s face where he stopped his struggling to look at her. Taking a deep breath, she raised her Blood Scepter and shouted, “I command you to stop and freeze!”

Spike’s growls only got louder.

“I said to st-”

She barley was able to dodge his jaws as he attempted to swallow her whole. Firing flames towards the air, a stream of them nearly hit Twilight, but managed to nick her wing, causing her to lose her concentration. Spike got up and, before anyone could act, swept his tail around while spinning in a full 360 degree range. Neither Ember nor her guards were able to avoid the blow and found themselves knocked out of the air and into the cold dirt.

Ember found herself crashing a few times before landing in a ditch with her scales covered in dirt and mud. Hacking, she coughed out a tooth or two before turning on her side. She was sure one of her tailbones was broken and her wings felt out of place. Gasping for air, she struggled to get up just as Twilight arrived by her side. “Ember! Are you okay?!”

“Just peachy...” Ember grumbled as she tried to get a better view of Spike. “Ugh, he’s lucky I like him. That blow could have killed me.”

“I take it the scepter didn’t work?” Twilight asked, biting her lip.

“No, he didn’t even hesitate. He must be too far in his rage to even be affected by it,” Ember said, clenching her fist. “We need that cure. Where the heck is that cross eyed pony!”

Her question was answered when something big and grey hit her in the face, nearly knocking her back even further. Ember’s vision was covered with grey fur and a bubble cutie mark that was followed by a voice shouting, “Sorry! Messed up the landing!”

Ember growled and pushed the grey butted pegasus off her face before shaking her head. “Never mind that, you got the potion?!”

“Right here!” Derpy said, showing a glowing blue liquid in a potion bottle. “But Zecora says its got to enter Spike’s mouth to take any effect.”

“That can’t be too hard, I mean, look at the size of that jaw,” Aquafire said, landing nearby while holding a bruised Blitz.

“Can the guards cause another distraction?” Twilight asked.

“I think they’re a bit knocked out,” Blitz muttered, groaning as he held his side. “I’m nearly out of wind too. Remind me to never piss off Spike when he gets that big for real.”

“Then we’re going to have to-Ember where are you going!”

Ember had a better idea then just to wait around and figure something out. She had to end this soon if she was to get her best friend back. Ignoring the pain in her wings, Ember grit her teeth and flew as fast as she could until she was underneath Spike as he smashed his way towards Canterlot’s mountain. Gripping her scepter, Ember decided to do something that, in all honesty, would have been seen as unorthodox if the other dragons were around. While the scepter was mostly used for control and authority, it was also very, very sharp. However, it had never been considered to be used as a weapon... until today.

She took it in her claw and threw it down as hard as she could towards the back of Spike’s giant right ankle. Just as she hope, it dug deep into Spike’s scales and caused the giant dragon to roar in pain. Ember managed to fly upwards until she was in front of Spike’s face. “Taste this!” she shouted before throwing the potion bottle into his mouth. With Spike’s mouth fully open, the potion was easily able to enter.

However, just as Ember threw the potion, Spike raised his claw in an attempt to smack her again. Exhausted from all her flying, especially with her injured body, she was unable to dodge and found herself dragged to the ground. Ember had been hit hard before, but this blow managed to tear through her entire armor, nearly shattering it as he was dragged downward. Her impact left a crater as she felt a few more bones break and the claws cutting into her scales which started to bleed out.

If it wasn’t for her armor, she was sure that she would have been killed in an instant. Gasping for air, she struggled to keep her eyes open as Spike, still large and angry, looked down upon her with a vicious growl. Opening his jaws to finish her, Ember whispered, “Spike... please...”

His breath was hot and his saliva dripping over her wounds. Ember lifted her head and tried one more time. “Spike... stop...”

Just as he was about to put his teeth on her, Ember finally shouted, “Spike, you idiot! You kill me and I’ll kick your butt as a ghost!”

Ember closed her eyes as she felt a sharp tooth about to stab her chest when it stopped. Just short of piercing the scales. Slowly opening her eyes, Ember felt her heart nearly collapse upon seeing no longer the red eyes of an angry giant... but the shocked, wide eyes of her beloved friend. Slowly removing his teeth from her presence, the giant dragon stepped back in horror as he muttered a word that echoed across the valley. “Em...ber?”

Suddenly, he began to clutch his head, moaning in pain before roaring so loud that some of the mountain began to shake. While doing this, a blue glow began to spread around him as she slowly began to shrink and change shape. Ember tried to keep her eyes open, but before she could see the final flash of light, she passed out with a smile on her face.

Her friend... her crush... was back.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait. One more chapter to go. And yes, there will be a sequel to this story later this year.