Dragon's Cry
When Pinkie had rushed off to the recovery area, she had left just Spike and Rainbow Dash from the group. Spike got up and cast a glare back at Starlight. She smirked.
Dash gave him a slap on the back. “Go get her!”
His scales stung a bit from the force of Dash’s hoof, but Spike smiled. “Right… little surprised to see you supportive.”
“Well, you’ve known Twilight the longest out of all of us and it sounds like you’ve duked it out with her quite a bit, so I want to see what you’re made of.”
“Then I’ll see you in the final round!” Spike spun around and marched off.
Dash beamed until Spike disappeared into the hallway and then glanced at her wings. She took a breath and slid back into her seat. She muttered, “Yeah, Twilight would want to do that, right?”
While Dash turned pensive, Starlight remained seated and turned her head toward Wallflower. Wallflower bolted upright and jittered out to the stairs.
If anypony noticed the curious timing, their attention shifted to Applejack when she returned to the stands before Wallflower could leave them. The two passed by each other, but Applejack just came back to her seat and sunk into it.
“Phew, that last bit really got me,” she said.
Dash blinked. “Oh, uh, right.”
~~~
Spike made his way through the halls to the ring. While the main hallway was wide to accommodate the large crowds, it had offshoots back up to the stands, bathrooms, janitorial areas, security corridors, and emergency exits. As he passed by one such offshoot, Wallflower bent forward with the tip of her horn angled at Spike’s back.
Wallflower Blush
Talent- Forget Me Not: Memories are a thing of the past if you get on Wallflower’s bad side. Her Talent has gifted her with niche control over memory spells. She can send out tendrils of magic to erase a few seconds to minutes of her target’s memory depending on the intensity of her spells. Direct contact with her horn allows her to rewrite memories to a certain degree. This Talent can even be used on bewitched objects to make them “forget” the spell enchanting them.
Wallflower was centimeters away from Spike with her horn. Then, a veil of magic wrapped around her head and pulled her into the shadows. Her hooves scuffed against the floor, causing Spike to turn, but he was met with an empty hallway. Refocusing on the fight ahead, he strode forward.
~~~
Starlight was somehow already waiting for Spike in the ring. She grinned. “Well, well, my first time fighting a dragon. I can’t wait to see how you fare. It will be quite educational.”
Spike let a bit of smoke trail out of his nose under a furrowed brow. “You need a lesson in respecting your opponents, plus a good kick in the butt.”
“Oh, got you a little riled up, eh?” Starlight’s grin sharpened. Good work, Wallflower, seems you kept enough intact for him to still be mad without knowing what’s in store.
“Begin!” Rockhoof declared.
Spike rushed at Starlight. Like with Derpy, she fired a shot straight at his head. As the magical bolt rocketed at Spike, Starlight mused to herself. Too easy. If something like Wallflower’s Talent can affect a dragon, I should be ju—
“Oh, my stars!” Lotus and Aloe shrieked at the same time.
“What the hay?” Applejack yelped.
Trixie paled and sank into her seat. “I knew this was a bad idea.”
Sunset had emerged out of the hallway, having slipped out when she had noticed Wallflower and Starlight’s interactions. Now, she hoisted Wallflower up with her magic high enough for Starlight to get a clear view of her. She sported a busted nose and a blackened eye. The singed bits of fur on her torso indicated some fiery blows had been unleashed there as well.
“Whoa!” Dash exclaimed. “What did she do to tick you off?”
“Nothing to do with me.” Sunset sneered down at Starlight. “I just want to see everyone go all out.”
At the same time that exchange had occurred, the world slowed around Starlight. Her eyes widened at the sight of Wallflower in Sunset’s grasp. They, they grew even bigger when her spell crashed against Spike’s head and scattered into fragments of light. Spike tore forward while pulling back his right arm.
“This is for Derpy!” Spike’s fist smashed into Starlight’s left cheek, sending her tumbling across the ring.
“We’re off to a blazing start!” Vinyl announced. “It looked like Starlight was gonna try a similar tactic to what she pulled in the first round, but Spike wasn’t having any of it.”
“There are many unknowns about dragons, but their physical and thaumic resistance is well established,” Sugar added.
“We did see that in the last round.” Vinyl slammed a hoof down and leaned forward. “But now we’ll get to see what Starlight can do when push comes to shove!”
“It did seem a bit like she was distracted by something.” Sugar glanced at the participant area, but Sunset had already flung Wallflower into an empty seat by Trixie. It had almost looked like she aimed to hit Trixie, causing her to jump out of her own seat.
“Let that be a lesson,” Sunset remarked before strolling to her own seat. With a snort, she focused on the ring. “In a match, it’s just you and your opponent, nothing else.”
Back in the ring, Starlight wobbled up to her hooves. She coughed and a bit of blood flecked onto the tiles. She glared at Spike with enough intensity to give him pause. “Okay, you want me to experiment a bit? That’s fine too.”
While Starlight’s horn lit up, Spike charged. “You think I’ll let you get off another spell?”
He bounded across the ring and swung at Starlight, but his fist passed right through her. He would have gone into a tumble, but he rolled with the momentum and managed to spin back onto his feet. Starlight had vanished from the ring.
Taking a breath, Spike closed his eyes. The faint scent of iron drifted into his nose. “There!”
He rushed forward and struck at what appeared to be thin air. His fist connected with something solid and he drove it further. He blinked just as a sound akin to glass shattering rang in his ears.
In a blink, Rarity was in front of him with his fist buried in her cracked side. Tears of jewels spilled down her cheeks. “S-spike, wh-why?”
Spike staggered backwards. “Rarity?! What are you doing here? Why are yo—”
Rarity lurched toward him. The damage he had dealt to her side spiderwebbed out. When it reached her eyes, they glazed over like frosted windows. “Why, Spike? How could you do this? You… you monster!”
“Rarity!” Spike cried as she began to crumble. Seconds before she was reduced to dust, a blast of magic rammed into his gut. It shot him off his feet and sprawled him out on the ring.
“Wh-wha—”
Before he could catch the breath knocked out of him, something kicked Spike. He was left gasping for air and holding his side.
“Well,” Starlight’s voice echoed. “You blocked an instant takeover, but if I go for the more obvious connections, you’re no better than a pony.”
Gulping down air, Spike shot out a whip of flame. It lashed out against air in one second and in another it was tearing through multiple crystalized Raritys. Spike immediately cut off the flames. Another spell slammed into him. He moved to get up, but his right claw sunk into the ground. He suddenly found himself on the edge of the ring.
“Oops, better watch yourself,” Starlight snickered.
More Raritys appeared and wailed.
“Spike, why?”
“Why, Spike?”
“Stop it, Spike!”
“Spike, stop!”
“Shut up!” Spike pushed his claws against his ears. “You’re not real!”
“Aren’t they?” asked Starlight.
Spike shook his head, but the wails still invaded his ears. He had felt crystal against his claws. He could smell gemstones. Then, in a flash, something came to him. His claws shot away from his head. His right claw grasped the index digit of his left claw.
Starlight’s eyes widened just before Spike gave the digit a hard jerk. The crick was only loud enough for her to hear, but those in the front rows were able to spot the odd angle Spike’s index digit was now bent at.
The illusions faded away and Spike glared at Starlight while he let out ragged breaths. Starlight wrinkled her nose at him. “So, the pain threshold was lower than I thought. I’ll need to work on that.”
“Whoa,” said Tree Hugger. “So, like, that’s what all those books were talking about.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “I might regret this, but mind explaining a bit more?”
“Um, I’m not, like, totally sure, but…” Tree drew a line with her hoof from Starlight to Spike. “She sent a bunch of bad vibes into our little dragon dude.”
“That why he was swinging at the air and shooting fire at nothing?”
“Uh-huh,” said Tree. “But then, like, he followed all the advice my books say about breaking your body to free your mind… I totally thought that was a metaphor for meditation leading to spiritual enlightenment. My guru seriously owes me for not explaining that better.”
Applejack’s eyes were about to spin in their sockets. “I’d like it explained better!”
Sunset crossed her legs over her chest. “He used the most basic method a non-unicorn can to overcome a mental hex.”
Applejack blinked. “Still not following.”
“Well, you did fall particularly easy to her,” Sunset sighed while Applejack bristled. “Okay, really simple this time: that dweeb was under a spell and the easiest way to break it was inflicting a certain level of pain on himself.”
“Ow, ow, ow!” Pinkie called out from right beside Sunset. Sunset snarled and shot out a jet of flame but Pinkie hopped over Sunset’s head and back into her seat. “Oops, sorry, Shim-Shim.”
“Call me that again and I’ll snap your neck.” A vein pulsed on Sunset’s head.
“Right-right.” Pinkie gave Sunset a salute and then turned her attention to the ring. “That’s a pretty crazy move for Spike to pull off though.”
“Yes,” said Maud, having appeared just as suddenly as Pinkie. She had enough foresight to at least stay away from Sunset and remain by the stairs. “To prepare for school, I read about dealing with mental hexes. It must be beneficial to have digits like that. I read ponies usually resort to breaking a rib.”
Pinkie, Applejack, and Dash shuddered.
Dash squinted at Spike. “So do dragons know about that or what?”
Starlight pondered the same thing. She furrowed her brow at Spike but then grinned. “Ah, this is quite a learning experience. Now, where in Equestria did you learn that little trick?”
Spike answered by sending out a blaze in Starlight’s direction. Yet, he thought, I’d like to know too!
Starlight appeared to Spike’s right. “Trying to cover it up with base thoughts like that?”
“Get out of my head!” Spike yelled. He swung at Starlight, but when he thought he hit her, she appeared just a few inches to the left of the spot he had struck.
“Oh, but there’s so much more I want to know!” Starlight cackled. “You’ve spent so much time with Twilight Sparkle after all and her Talent has caught my attention.”
“Get out!” Spike swung and missed again.
“Or maybe you could tell me what you’re doing with Princess Celestia so much? Is that where you learned all your tricks?”
“Stop!” Spike roared and unleashed a barrage of fireballs.
A hoof slammed into the back of his head. He snarled and got up while Starlight stood over him. “Oh, that’s cute. You think you can be a hero?”
Spike snorted with smoke billowing out of his nose. He tore out a chunk of the ring, crushed it and flung it around the air. A few bits of scattershot managed to nail Starlight, making her stagger back. Yet, she wore a grin.
“When really, you’re just like every other dragon: a slave to greed.”
Spike smelled it before he saw it. He shut his eyes as hard as he could but caught a glimpse of it glisten. He shattered the bones of another digit, but the crick was drowned out by the sound of soft clinks of metal against more metal and stone. He fell to his knees and felt himself sink where the ground had been solid before. Something pressed against him and he recognized the touch, but he shook his head and tried to clear it away. “N-no.”
“Invoke…” Starlight chanted, “Primal Desire.”
~~~
The talons Twilight had managed to construct seized up around the cup. Tea and bits of porcelain spilled down. They evaporated into the air before they hit the ground.
“Well, that’s certainly a big step in one direction,” said Luna. She paused upon seeing Twilight's grimace. “I’m pretty sure I made it so that even if broken, the cup couldn’t cut. What’s wrong?”
Twilight swiveled her head around and then glanced down. A new cup had appeared in front of her. “I… I’m not sure. I just suddenly felt incredibly worried about Spike.”
“Hmm.” Luna placed a hoof to her chin. “Sister is there, as are many skilled pro heroes.”
“You’re right.” Twilight did not lift her eyes. “I’ve just never felt anything like that before.”
“Well, there is not much you can do now, so I would not let it get to you. Rest assured, Spike and the others are in good hooves.” At the same time, Luna thought, It couldn’t be. If that feeling was the same as sister’s, then…
~~~
To Spike, the world around him glistened. The ring, the crowds, and the majority of the colosseum were now engulfed in gold, jewels, and countless other treasures. Something stirred in Spike’s chest and he writhed on the ground, scattering coins and gems that only made the throbbing within him intensify. It drummed in his ears and resonated deep into his bones.
“S-stop,” he cried.
In reality, Starlight stood a few feet away from Spike and grinned. Despite all the tempting noises she made sure Spike heard, her voice rang through the illusion. “Well, I didn’t expect a primal desire to also be a primal fear, but this proved quite interesting. I’ll have to remember this in the future. Now, yield.”
“W-w…” Spike whimpered.
“Give in,” Starlight ordered. “Just give in and this ends.”
Spike stopped shivering. In a flat tone, he said, “No.”
The grin vanished from Starlight’s face. “‘No?’ Fine, you’ve been like an open book for the past few minutes, so I’ll ju—”
“Mine,” Spike growled.
Starlight tilted her head, unsure what to make of the statement. In that moment, Spike shot off the ground and leered at Starlight. His pupils were piercing vertical lines now and a third eyelid blinked from the side of his eyes. Starlight shuddered and the glow around her horn diminished. “D-don’t think you ca—”
“Mine!” Spike roared with enough ferocity to echo across the colosseum.
Smolder blanched. “Shit.”
She flew out of her seat and rushed down to where the guards were. One of them ordered, “Hey, back to your seat while the fight’s going on!”
“You need to call off this match now!” Smolder demanded. “That stupid pony messed with something she shouldn’t have!”
Back in the ring, Spike thrust out a claw at Starlight. She jumped back, but Spike’s arm lengthened and thickened, allowing him to seize her by the neck. He bellowed, “Mine!”
Starlight gasped for air, but none could get past Spike’s grip.
“Give!” He throttled her into the ground and raised her back up. “Mine!”
He slammed into the ground again. At the same time, his legs grew upwards followed by the rest of his body.
“Ouch!” said Vinyl. “It appeared Starlight had Spike at her mercy, but Spike has pulled out what looks like a trump card and is now dealing Starlight some serious damage!”
“I… I think we had better call this soon,” said Sugar. She recalled the stories Luna had told her of her fights with dragons. Some had been clever, but most had been like wild beasts and had not stopped until their target was ash or Luna had neutralized them.
Back in the ring, Starlight’s horn glimmered every couple of seconds, keeping her from passing out each time Spike slammed her into the ground. In the brief intervals where he whipped her through the air, she blasted him with spells, but they ran into a mental wall of pure instinct and greed. Worse, Spike’s attacks grew in ferocity with each swing, as did his mass. He now stood over a meter taller than an average pony and showed no sign of stopping.
Applejack bent over to Pinkie. “Remind me not to ever tick Spike off.”
Pinkie shivered. “I don’t like this.”
“Brutal,” Dash muttered.
Sunset felt goosebumps run up her leg. She shook her head. No, it can’t be…
“Glimmy!” Firelight cried out. “Oh, somepony stop that brute!”
“Are all dragons like that?”
“I can’t believe they’d let something like that into the School.”
“How awful.”
Similar mutters could be heard all around the colosseum.
In her box, Celestia charged up her horn. “I had hoped not to interfere, but at least now I’ve had time to prepare.”
“Hmm…” Cheerilee swished her tail around. “So, it doesn’t work on dragons. Rockhoof, you’d better get on it.”
“Ay, this ain’t much fun anymore.” Rockhoof pulled out his shovel. “That lass has put up a good fight, so it’d be a shame for her to suffer permanent dama—”
“Spike!” a voice called out just as he was about to throw Starlight out the ring. Rarity pressed her bandaged hooves against the railing and yelled, “Spike, stop! That’s not what a hero… that’s not what you would do!”
Spike froze. Starlight dangled in his grasp. The damage had finally taken its toll and she hung limp. His claw loosened and went to his head. It was joined by the other claw and he raked them against his scales. He convulsed and stomped around the ring with enough force to crack the tiles. Falling to his knees, he craned upwards, let out a roar that chilled the audience to the bone, and then slammed his head into the tiles.
A blast of light shot out of his body. Only Vinyl managed to observe Spike shrinking back down to his usual size. When the light cleared, he was back to normal again. He now bore a similar wound to what Maud had suffered in her fight with Applejack. A silence fell over the colosseum and only Spike’s gasps could be heard. Everypony drew in their breath when he wobbled to his feet. He looked over in his friend’s direction and mouthed, “Thank you.”
Smolder stopped struggling against the guards that had moved to restrain her when she had not complied with their orders. Just yards from the ring, she could see that Spike’s eyes were clear and his pupils once again rounded. “No way.”
“Great job, Spike!” Pinkie’s cheer echoed through the colosseum.
“Bit rough, but you did it!” yelled Applejack
Taking a cue from Applejack and Pinkie, Vinyl declared, “Winner: Spike!”
While medical staff rushed to scoop Starlight up, Sugar sank into her chair and sighed, “That was quite harrowing near the end. I’m glad Rarity managed to stop Spike… that’s not against the rules is it?”
“Looked like Starlight was already unconscious, so it’s likely not a violation.”
“Either way, Spike’s future opponents will need to be on guard.”
Back in the ring, medical staff approached Spike, but kept a safe distance. Sucking in his breath, he took a step forward. The pain in his digits focused his eyes. He gave his head a shake and started limping off in the direction of the recovery room. Nopony said anything while he did—the excitement had not been this drained since Pinkie and Maud’s fight.
As he walked, he felt an itch at his side and scratched it. His thoughts were a jumble, so he did not turn to look at the raised and discolored scale that irritated him.
End of Round 2
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THIS IS WHAT I WANTED!!!! This was a great match and it showed that Spike is so so SO much more than we thought. I so can't wait for the next few matches. But this as great because of what is lead to. Spike showed more magic immunity than we thought, and even more power in his physical state that we could have figured. AJ seeing this will want to go for a quick in for sure. She will try to use her mass and what she would assume is a power advantage in this fight. And while she is strong and level headed the problem is..... .SO is Spike. While she might have a advantage in power, Spike is the ONLY one close to her pure physical power. But unlike her he has more range and versatility in his abilities for sure. He can till teleport with his fight, and even with how tough she is she is STILL flesh, so claws, fire, and teeth are super effective on her while the amount of blunt force trama she would have to inflict to get past his scales and natural immunity to magic, which would dampen the power of her increased blows, would give him enough to squeeze out a win. And honesty.... a Spike x Sunset fight would be amazing. I think it would be alot closer than the canon counterpart. It would also be great for Sunset development for her to get past her fear of Dragons and for her to come to really respect Spike for getting past his greed state and fight her as equals. As much as I would want Spike to win, and I do think he can, I don't know if he could win while he is in control at this point. So I think he would pull back his punches on her. Wanting to figure more about what is going on with him. And on live tv he fought back a beserker rage and came in second, while limiting himself. That would catch some dragon's attention for sure. Overall I am super happy with this one and REALLY hope to see a great final fight. Tho with what we know with AJ..... she might pull out of her next match to rush home as well.
PREACH!!
NOOOOO!! SPIKE!
This chapter gave me giggles
https://derpibooru.org/225007?q=spike
Looks like Starlight should have left well enough alone.
And it was at this moment she realized: she fucked up.
I can't tell you how happy I was to see this in my subscription box! SO HAPPY. I need this in my life. It gives me life.
Ooh wow! This was really unexpected. I was fully expecting Spike to be tampered with!
Can't tell you how ecstatic I am that Sunset was the one who took care of Wallflower. XD Super exciting!
Starlight's fighting so dirty, but it's nice to see her having more abilities than Shinso! Hoping Spike can pull off the win!
The explanation by Tree Hugger was absolutely top notch! I clapped! You really nail the personalities!
Holy crap Spike's really giving it his all!
I legit teared up at this. All that emotional intensity!
A discolored scale that irritated him huh? His Spike about to go through the molting or w/e? :)
This was a grand chapter! I can't wait for the next. It's always SO exciting!
Interesting...
The hell?
Try explaining, Sunny.
She's not interested in having Wallflower futz the results.
An illusion?
No, hallucinations.
So Starlight is Emerald Sustrai? Cause I remember her pulling similar shit.
I don't like you.
Oh dear
Yeah. There's a reason you don't fuck with dragon greed.
Oh, thank you Rarity.
Hm, interesting...
Love how Sunset beat up Wallflower. Fitting poetic justice after what happened in Forgotten Friendship
9804694
I had this planned out in advance but visually, I can now only think of it looking like what Mysterio pulled on Spidy
9804860
That works.
An excellent chapter. The climax was badass
Looks like someone's gonna go through a molting phase...
9804834 Same
9804834
Yeah. When I got to that part of the chapter I was thinking "Hell Yeah! That's what you get for fucking around with people's memories, bitch!"
It's official, Starlight is worse than friggin Monoma. Why is she in this hero school again?