Time Stops For No Dragon

by FluttershyLover55

Chapter Twenty-Nine:Spike's Ultimate Destiny, Part Four:The Final Showdown

Time Stops For No Dragon
Chapter 29-Spike's Ultimate Destiny, Part Four:The Final Showdown

Spike approached Starswirl slowly, intending to end this, right here and now. It would be SO easy. All he would have to do is crush his skull with a stomp of his foot, then it would all be over. As he began to get closer, the downed unicorn began to rapidly fire spells at him in an attempt to keep him from getting closer. The dragon deflected every spell he threw at him with a wave of his hand, rendering his efforts null and void.

The unicorn was becoming more panicked the closer he drew to him and even though none of his spells were doing anything, he continued firing them until his horn began to put out smoke. If he kept this up, he would overheat and likely succumb to exhaustion. His horn catching on fire was also, a real concern if he continued. Eventually, he was forced to stop, just in time for Spike to reach him. He waited a moment, charging up the minimal amount of energy needed to teleport. The portal was still open, if he could just get to it before he was pulverized.

He was surprisingly successful in reaching his goal, only to realize that his opponent could teleport as well and had warped right behind him. Spike grabbed his tail with both hands, lifting him into the air and slinging him around a few times, then slamming him to the ground using what was probably excessive force. He cracked the roof upon impact, creating a small crater. After this, Spike warped over to him and began slashing him up with his claws in the same manner as a cat, almost like he was making some nice sashimi or sushi.

Next, he lifted him up by the collar of his cloak and grabbed his horn, pulling hard enough to snap the horn clean off of his forehead, leaving him unable to use magic. The old unicorn cried out in pain, as Spike tossed the horn off to the side, not sparing it a glance as it clattered to the end of the roof and rolled off. Next, he gave him a nice uppercut, sending him into the air, where he roundhouse kicked him for good measure. This shot him clear across the roof and to the edge, nearly denting his face in from the g-forces.

Spike wasn't far behind, teleporting to his location and standing in front of him with a smug expression on his face. It was clear that the unicorn was in no state to fight anymore and since he was so old, he probably wouldn't last much longer anyway.

"So, what was that about not having enough power to defeat you? Have you had enough yet?" Spike was smirking, triumphantly.

Starswirl laughed, to the dragon's surprise, coughing up a good amount of blood onto the roof. His wounds were bleeding freely, most of them being fairly deep and painful.

"I think that you might have gotten the wrong idea, young dragon. From the look on your face and your stance, it seems to me that you consider yourself the victor of our little fight. Go on believing that if you want, but it's nothing more than the preconceived notion of an immature brat! Honestly, Spike, your naivete amazes me." He sighed. "You still have much to learn, if you haven't noticed it, by now. I'll give you a hint, all right? Trust your sense of smell. Your nose isn't lying to you."

He was already right at the edge, so it wasn't hard for him to roll off of it, disappearing from view. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he was right. Spike hadn't been paying attention to it, but his nose was strong, so he could smell the scents of various creatures. Ponies had a distinct scent that he would recognize anywhere, but Starswirl didn't smell the same way that others did. He had the familiar scent, but it was as if it was tainted, mixed with another scent that Spike couldn't make out. It took him until now to recognize it for what it really was.

Just as he rushed over to the edge of the roof to look for any sign of him (it seemed odd that his opponent would commit suicide for no reason, especially after informing him that the fight wasn't over.) A shape flew towards him out of nowhere, almost scraping across his face, forcing him to back away. This figure had wings and it was floating high above him now. How had he not seen it, sooner? The figure that had appeared was a dragon, but it was something else at the same time.

As hard as it was for him to believe, the creature that had just presented itself to him, was a member of the 'Drakenshire' race. Starswirl's smell was unfamiliar to Spike, because it was the familiar smell of a pony and dragon combined into an almost unrecognizable scent. It was unique, unlike anything he had ever smelled before.

The dragon-pony hybrid dived towards the roof, slamming down onto it with all the force of a meteor, sending bits of debris scattering in all directions. Starswirl stood there proudly, appearing to be completely healed from his transformation. He had discarded his clothes, leaving his full body on display. Gray scales had grown over his fur in several places. Two furry, scaled wings of a lighter gray than the rest of his fur were folded at his sides and his eyes were more reptilian in nature, being vertical slits. His tail was closer to a dragon's and last but not least, his teeth were much sharper than before.

He smiled, showing off his fangs. "You found that cave too, didn't you? I knew you did, the moment that I saw the gauntlet on your wrist. When I was younger, I went searching for that ancient artifact myself, but alas, I was never able to find it, even after searching that place from top to bottom."

"Really? I saw a wall that was cracked almost immediately, and that's how I found it. It was a piece of cake, if you ask me." Spike shrugged.

Although he had allowed the darkness to take him over, his personality was still intact for the most part.

"Yes, you ponies sure do love your little cakes and putting them into cups and whatnot. It still burns me up, when I think of how Albert ate mine, that one time." Starswirl frowned, bitterly.

"Wait a minute. So, that part of the story was true?"

"Of course, it was! I don't know how Pinkie Pie did it, but her story was pretty much accurate, other than one major detail. The reason I was killed might have been partly due to my invention, but the main reason for it was because they knew that I was half dragon. They saw me as something to be feared, a monster, a freak that shouldn't be allowed to exist." Starswirl spat.

"But, ponies are different now, Starswirl. The times have changed and since you've been gone, they've learned to accept other creatures. I mean, they accept ME living among them and I'm a dragon!" Spike pointed out, trying to make him see reason.

"That may be so, but a dragon is all that you are. You're not a dragon masquerading as a pony! I was born of a union that should have never been formed in their eyes! I couldn't help being this way and yet they showed me no mercy, for committing the crime of being different!" Starswirl sighed, taking a breath in an effort to calm himself down.

He had thought that he was over it after all this time, but the pain was still there. He shook his head, trying to push those depressing memories out of his mind. "Now then, I believe we were in the middle of something. Where were we?"

Spike smirked. "I'm pretty sure that we were at the part where I kick your butt into the next century!"

He assumed that this would be easy based on his previous battle experience, but he had no idea just how powerful a being infused with both pony and draconian magic could be.

"That's right, but I seem to recall it being the other way around!" Starswirl replied, charging towards Spike.

The young dragon was expecting him to charge him head-on, so he was unprepared when he teleported at the last second, appearing above Spike and slamming him into the ground like he was spiking a volleyball. The force was so great, that it cracked the surface of the roof and it shattered, sending him through to the fourth floor. Starswirl followed him down, just in time for Spike to warp above him and copy the attack to an extreme degree.

With the darkness aiding him, his growth was accelerated, allowing him to grow wings much faster than he would have gotten them with age. The shadows consumed them as well, covering them completely. He flew up above the roof and dove, descending in a spiral that formed a cone of darkness around his body, as he stretched out his foot to kick his opponent. His attack was successful, slamming into Starswirl and following him down, as they smashed through the remaining floors.

Spike was unharmed, but Starswirl didn't have shadowy armor to protect him, so his body was covered in wounds. His intention was to end the fight before it started and his plan seemed to be going smoothly, until the Drakenshirian got back up. He flew through the holes they had made up to the roof and Spike moved to follow him.

However, there was something he needed to get out first, something that he had a feeling he was going to be forced to use. The dragon had stored it away a while back, hiding it in his magical chest compartment. He took a deep breath and let loose a constant stream of bright emerald fire. He reached a hand inside the fire like it was some kind of portal and slowly withdrew a familiar weapon in the same manner that one would free a sword from its sheath. Fitting, considering the fact that the weapon WAS a sword.

It was the legendary Dragon's Bane and he was certain that it would also be effective against half dragons. This time, he had a trick up his sleeve. Before stopping the stream, he quickly pulled out a small crystal, then finally stopped to breathe. He had an idea and that was to use his draconian magic to merge the two together, applying the properties of the crystal to the blade of the sword. This way, it would be able to reflect attacks.

The surface of the blade turned transparent, the bone becoming encased in a thin layer of crystal. The sword was now a crystalline dragon bone sword with a dragon scale hilt. It should be able to handle any attacks that the old wizard came up with. It was probably, also the main thing that could seriously harm him. With sword in hand, he flapped his shadow-enhanced wings and took off in pursuit of his foe. He found Starswirl several minutes later, floating in place, seeming to have been waiting on him.

He didn't even bat an eye at the sword, wasting no time in firing several beams of light at Spike and then rushing him with fiery hooves. He had lit his hooves on fire with elemental magic and he began assaulting him with lightning fast punches, which was accurate, considering that the next element he attacked him with was lightning. He cycled through the rest of the elements and Spike let him, knowing that nothing he did could hurt him. What he didn't realize, was that although he had deflected most of the beams with his sword, one of the beams of light had hit him and it caused some of the shadow on his arm to recede, exposing part of his skin.

Spike had gotten too overconfident believing himself to be invincible, but every attack led to more parts of him being exposed. Spike had been holding back, but he decided to unleash his full power on Starswirl. He moved so fast that he left afterimages in his wake, slicing large gashes along the length of his opponent's body. He honestly, didn't care if he ended up killing him at this point, since the unicorn was trying to do the same with him. The large wounds started gushing blood, and since they were right under his wings, the pain was too much for him to remain in the air. Starswirl was forced to make a crash landing onto the roof.

Spike followed him once more, landing right in front of his ultimate enemy. He walked forward, wanting to finish the job while he couldn't fly away, but it was not meant to be. Starswirl had set a trap for him much earlier in their battle, expecting this to be the outcome. A piece of debris tripped him, sending him airborne, as a sharp, crystalline spike grew up from the roof, stabbing him through the heart. This wouldn't have been possible if his armor had still been covering his whole body, but thanks to the unicorn's attacks, the skin in that area was exposed.

Starswirl chuckled, happy to see that his evil plan had worked. Being a Drakenshirian meant he was gifted with extraordinary healing abilities and as such, his wounds were already regenerating. "Checkmate, Spike. You put up quite the fight, but it looks like I've won the game. Not that you care, since you'll be dead very soon, if you aren't already." With a wave of his hoof, the spike that had impaled, well, Spike, receded into the surface of the roof, leaving the dragon laying facedown. "Now, if there are no more interruptions, then I really must be going. I've got a portal to the outside world waiting for me and a kingdom to take over."

Suddenly, the black goop still partially covering Spike's body surged forward, a long liquid tentacle reaching out and wrapping around Starswirl's leg, halting his movement.

"What the?" He cried out, as the tentacle gained a more solid form, morphing into the shape of a black hand.

"Sorry, but there's one more interruption for you to deal with!" A familiar voice announced.

Starswirl thought he had heard it coming from Spike, but he was currently lying facedown in a pool of his own blood, so he highly doubted that it was possible. Despite that, the sound seemed to be coming from his direction. More and more of the goop peeled off of the dragon it had been previously attached to, until there was nothing left on him. It seemed to have a mind of its own, coalescing into a form that almost resembled a body, made entirely of shadowy essence.

It was Thorn, not that the unicorn would have any way of knowing who that was. Since Spike was dying, he had convinced it to abandon ship and merge with him instead, plucking him directly from Spike's mind and depositing him back into the physical plane. Since Starswirl couldn't easily be defeated, Thorn had a plan to hold him off, while Spike escaped. If only he could somehow stop his younger self from dying, but he wasn't sure what to do. Spike's mind was deteriorating faster than ever, thanks to the stress that using so much magic, absorbing his future self, and taking on a demonic entity had put on his body. Oh, and the fact that he had just been stabbed through the heart, certainly didn't help matters.

Using his knowledge of magic, he was able to utilize the powers of the entity inside of him and cast an advanced spell to help Spike. It wouldn't heal him, per say, but it would act as a sort of barrier that would protect him from feeling the full effects of his injuries for at least, long enough to get him to safety. It was a temporary solution, so he would need to get to the hospital as soon as possible, before it wore off. After casting it, Spike was able to stand to his feet, waking up from his near-death trance.

"What? Thorn, is that you? What have you done?!" Spike exclaimed in surprise and horror.

Thorn smiled, forcing Starswirl to the floor and holding him there with shadowy tentacles. The unicorn would have been surprised by Spike's recovery, but he was focused on his captor at the moment. "Unhand me you…you monster!"

"I can't do that, unfortunately. You're going to stay right here, where you won't cause any more trouble. Accept your defeat with dignity." He turned to Spike. "I'm only doing, what I think is best. The spell that I cast on you will only last for a short time, so you need to get out of here, while I seal this dimension off. Don't bother trying to stop me, either. We both know that this is the best choice to make and besides, I'll just fade away anyway, once everything is fixed."

Spike wanted to try to stop him, but in his heart, he knew that he was right. "All right, if you're sure. Thanks for everything, Thorn." He sighed. "Oh, but before you do that, can you give me time to get Pinkie Pie out of here and Fluttershy…"

"Sure, Spike. But, you know that she's…"

"Yes, but I need to take her back with me so I can give her a proper funeral and bury her." Spike said, sadly.

"I'm sorry, Spike. I wish that hadn't happened to you. Losing my version of her was bad enough and I was trying to prevent that from happening for you. This is my way of making up for it." Thorn sighed sadly, as his hand lit up and a bright white light began to cover the area. "This will fix everything back to the way it was. Goodbye, Spike."

Spike barely had time to reply, before everything was consumed in the blinding light. "Goodbye, Thorn."

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When Spike next awoke, he was on the floor of Fluttershy's cottage. He got to his feet, feeling nothing more than a dull ache in his chest. According to Thorn, he was putting everything back to the way it was, so that meant that neither him nor Starswirl would be around anymore. Pinkie Pie wasn't around, which meant that she could be anywhere, whether it was her house or somewhere random. He just hoped that she didn't remember any of what had just happened.

It should have been a momentous occasion, so why did he feel so empty? Right now, he was in Fluttershy's cottage, but the mare herself was…She was lying on the floor next to him! She looked so peaceful, like she was just sleeping, and he was hoping that he was wrong about her. Unfortunately, as he got closer, the bloodstains in her fur were clearly visible, and when he felt for her pulse, there wasn't one. He sighed, knowing that since the adventure was over, it would be all right for him to let his emotions out.

He began to cry, feeling lost for the first time in a while. What was he supposed to do? He was usually so good at making decisions, but he had no idea where to go from here. "Oh, Fluttershy…I'm so sorry! The only reason I went on this STUPID quest in the first place, was so that I could save you, and look at what happened! I'm a failure, and yet I was delusional enough to consider myself to be some kind of knight, the one who would protect you!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a message popped up in his mind. It was from Thorn, so he must have left it there before he left. Wondering what it was, he thought about listening to it and it began to play.

"Spike, I left this message so that I could tell you something important. Consider this my farewell gift to you. I hope that it helps you with your situation. I didn't realize it until now, but there's more to the Drakenshire legend than you know. This may seem like a weird time to be bringing it up, but I only gained this knowledge when I absorbed Discord's soul and gained his memories. He's lived a long life, and knew many things.

It's really just a myth, but supposedly, there's another way to become a Drakenshirian than being born that way. Legends say that if a dragon feeds on a pony in a manner similar to a vampire, then the pony will then transform into a member of the Drakenshire race. Basically, they are ponies with dragon blood running through their veins, so if you were to inject your blood into a pony, that is what would happen. The only reason I'm bringing this up, is because of their INSANE regenerative abilities. My theory is that even a pony that is pretty much dead, could possibly be brought back to life, using this method. I'm sure you can guess who I'm talking about trying this out on. Think about it, okay?"

Spike wasn't sure what to make of this development, and as he gazed at Fluttershy, he realized something. He had thought that choosing between Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy when they were falling, was the most difficult decision he had ever been forced to make. However, he had been wrong, and the truth of the matter was that the decision he had to make now, was surely the most difficult decision of his life.

Should he attempt to bring her back or not? If his plan worked, then she would be alive, but she would become the very same monster that Starswirl was. She might even hate him for doing that to her. On the other hand, if he left her dead, she would stay the same, but he would never get to see her again. He agonized over the decision for close to thirty minutes, weighing the pros and cons against each other.

In the end, though, there was only one decision that he was capable of making, and his only hope was that Fluttershy would forgive him for being so selfish. He had no desire to live without her, so even if it turned her into a monster and she hated him for it, he had to try it. That was of course, assuming that it even worked in the first place.

Along with the message left to him by his future self, came the knowledge of what he must do to complete the ritual. Spike bent down and bit hard into her neck, using his fangs. He sucked some of the blood out of her pale form and bit into his own flesh, mixing her blood with his own, by taking a chunk out of his arm. Then, he took some of his blood into his mouth and transferred it to the wound he had made on her neck, gently licking the bite mark. Two small, identical holes were on her neck, looking exactly like the mark left by a vampire.

Nothing happened, but it could have just been that it took time for the changes to take effect.

Whatever the reason, Spike suddenly felt weak, and thinking fast, he used the last of his strength to teleport them to the hospital in Canterlot. They landed right in the lobby, as Spike collapsed with Fluttershy's body in his arms. The seal had been broken, thanks to it being a temporary spell, and the weight of his injuries hit him all at once.

He passed out, having no idea if his plan had worked or not, and unsure if he would even survive long enough to find out.

The world had been saved, but at what cost?