The New Bearers

by PioneerofImagination

The Return of King Sombra

With the defeat of Chrysalis and her army with the exception of Thorax things had started to settle down once again. Though things weren't quite back to normal as a result of the Element of Harmony I could change into a bigger, stronger, and if I do say so myself handsomer version of myself. While it came in handy I had trouble controlling it at the point in time in which I'm writing this, mostly because I was more focused on making sure Twilight was all right. I hardly took my eyes off of her as I wanted to make absolute sure she would make a full recovery. Twilight took care of me since the day I was hacked from a little purple and green egg, helping her like this was the least I could do.

My relationship with Twilight became rather harder to understand as I got older even as I'm writing this down now. She's my best friend but also like my big sister and mother all wrapped into one. I wasn't alone in her recovery all of Twilight's friends even other ponies in town like the Cakes came to help who brought over a get well cake, no surprise there.

"Thank you so much for bringing me this Mr. and Mrs. Cake," Twilight said as I brought the cake over to her. "It looks delicious."

"Well when we heard what happened to you we wanted to give you something that will help ease things a little," Mr. Cake said. "We hope you get better real soon."

"Well with everypony coming over to help I'm sure I will. Especially Spike," Twilight said which rather warmed my heart.

"Yes we heard from Pinkie that he's hardly left the castle so he could take care of you," Mr. Cake said. "I think it's rather noble that you're looking after Twilight so well Spike," he added which again warmed my heart.

"Yes, though the security check when he let us through that electric fence was a bit much," Mrs. Cake said.

"Now dear he's just protecting his precious princess." Little after that the Cakes made their way out of the castle but that wasn't the end of of Twilight's visits.

"Oh darling that neck brace simply does not go with your mane," Rarity said as she came to see how Twilight was doing.

"Well it's not suppose to go with my mane Rarity," Twilight replied. "It's supposed to make sure my neck heals."

"Yes of course darling but I don't see why they can't make them a bit more glamorous." As Twilight and Rarity continued to talk I came by with some tea for the both of them.

"It's so nice of you to be watching over Twilight Spike," Rarity said. "Though it might be a bit much for just one little adorable dragon to handle perhaps I can stay at the castle and help him until you recover."

"Oh Rarity," Twilight said. "That's-

"That's a great idea!" I said as I hugged Rarity's left foreleg. "It would be wonderful for you to stay here wouldn't it Twilight?"

"I'm sure you'd enjoy that Spike but you're more than capable of handling everything," Twilight told me.

"Oh but Twilight I'm not saying he can't, I simply saying I can lift a bit of the burden."

"Which I think is a great idea," I said. "She can even stay in my room." Before long Twilight agreed to let Rarity stay but she stayed in a different room, which may have been for the best if I stayed that close to Rarity for that long I might not be able to control myself. Oh Rarity you're like a precious treasure that

Oh for crying out loud I did it again something else I need to edit out later, why am I even writing this part down? Maybe I should skip ahead to when we went to the Crystal Empire.

When Twilight's neck fully healed Shining Armor invited her to the Crystal Empire as sort of a vacation for her to take her mind off of the stress of what she'd been through. I decided to come along as well as being a hero of the Crystal Empire I take every opportunity I can to come by there and be appreciated for my heroic deeds. Though this time my main reason was that I wanted to make sure that Twilight was going to be okay. "Twilight don't!" I yelled at her while we were on the train to the Crystal Empire.

"What?" Twilight asked as I ran over to her.

"Don't stretch your neck you just got your neck brace off!" I answered as I placed my claws on her neck trying to make it hold still.

"My neck is fine Spike," Twilight answered as she used her magic to make me let go of her neck. "I keep telling you I'm all right."

"I'm sorry Twilight it's just ever since you almost, almost,-"

"Died." Twilight answered stoically.

"Yeah, I haven't been able to get that out of my mind, I know I've been crazy with the electric fence and patting down Mrs. Cake. It's just I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I understand Spike, wait you patted down Mrs. Cake?"

"It was a security precaution," I answered which made Twilight sigh then she picked me up with her magic and made me sit down right next to her before wrapping me in a hug.

"As I was saying I understand how scary that whole ordeal was but you can't let fear control what you do. There's nothing wrong with being afraid Spike, just as long as you don't let it change who you are." Not too long after that I feel asleep as Twilight was still holding me and dreamt of the time Twilight brought me with her to the Castle of the 2 Sisters and it was not a pleasant field trip, for me at least Twilight was having the time of her life. Just about everything in the castle scared me and Twilight didn't seem to care which rather upset me until.

"Twilight can we please leave I don't like this place," I said to her as she was sitting by the table.

"There's nothing to worry about," Twilight said to me.

"Nothing to worry about?" I said as I started to freak out even more I felt like I might have a heart attack. "There's trapdoors, that scary music, and who knows what else for all we know some monster is waiting to pop out and attack us." Suddenly Twilight got off the table and she walked over to me with a peaceful smile on her then she pulled me into a hug using both of her forelegs and even her wings.

"Spike," Twilight said in a gentle tone. "There's absolutely nothing to be afraid of you're perfectly safe, I wouldn't bring you here if it was dangerous."

"Really?"

"Of course Spike and if there was, I won't let anything happen to you." Hearing that made me feel a lot better as I returned the hug as all the fear I had just moments ago melt away. Before long I woke up and saw we arrived at the Crystal Empire, Twilight was just outside hugging her brother Shining Armor who was waiting right at the train station with Princess Cadence to greet her. I got up from my seat and saw a bag that Twilight must have left on the train as she wanted to see her brother and sister in-law, so I picked it up and brought it off the train.

"It's so great to see you again Twily."

"It's great to see you too BBBFF," Twilight said as I brought the bag out which got Shining Armor's attention.

"Oh," he said rather disappointed. "You brought him too, was that necessary?" After that Cadence responded by whacking the loudmouth in the gut rather hard with her wing.

"Shining," Cadence said in a rather demanding tone. "Be nice to Spike."

"(sigh) Hello Spike it's nice to see you," Shining Armor said with a dull tone causing causing Cadence to smack his gut once again.

"Now I know you can be nicer than that, especially to the dragon that saved us from the changelings."

"Hey I helped too," Shining Armor said rather defensively.

"Oh you did?" I asked. "I don't think I noticed," I added. After that we made our way to the castle but stopped when a group of crystal ponies asked for my autograph which I was more than happy to give them.

"Twilight seriously why did you bring them?" Shining Armor asked thinking that I didn't hear him.

"Shining what did I tell you?"

"I didn't mean it like that Cadence, when I invited Twilight over the invitation was just for her."

"I know," Twilight said as she, Cadence, and Shining Armor were still waiting for me to finish signing autographs. "But I don't think it would have been a good idea to leave Spike alone right now."

"No kidding when he saw what happened to you, I've been having trouble getting that out of my mind I can't imagine how hard it's been for him. Maybe if he stays here for a little while it can clear his mind, maybe I can take him to the spa that always helps me relax," Cadence said with a smile that I couldn't help but appreciate. I may have issues with Shining Armor but I always liked her, as well as see why Twilight admired her so much.

"Can I get a picture with you too," one of the crystal ponies. "Please oh please oh great and honorable Spike the brave and glorious."

"All right one photo," I said because after all how could I disappoint such a loyal fan. After he and the other crystal ponies got together for a group photo with me I meet up with the others and we got back to walking to the castle.

"So I see you still can't get my element or rather my former element off of you Shining Armor," Twilight said.

"No, but not for a lack of trying mind you," Shining replied. "This thing just won't come off, I don't suppose you read anything that might be able to help us."

"No luck there BBBFF," Twilight answered. "This whole thing is new to me, I asked Princess Celestia and Luna but they don't know either."

"Well maybe when we get back to the castle we can look into some ancient history of the empire, that might be able to help me get this darn thing off." When he got to the castle I was surprised to see Soarin as well as some of the other Wonderbolts practicing there, Shining Armor explained that the Wonderbolts were invited to do a special show for the crystal ponies.

"Yo Spike," Soarin called out to me as he finished a routine the Wonderbolts will be doing for the show and was told by captain Spitfire he could take five.

"Soarin it's nice to see you again," I said to him when he flew down to greet me.

"Same here Spike same here," he told me as he rubbed my scales a bit. I'm going to get a snack you want to come?"

"Okay." Soarin then put his stomach to the floor so I could get on his back and then he flew up allowing my to get a bird's eye view of the Crystal Empire. "Wow this place really is beautiful," I said in awe.

"Yeah it really is," Soarin agreed. After that Soarin found just the kind of shop he was looking for and bought a big apple pie, he really loves pie. He also treated me to a few sweats as well.

"So that Element of Loyalty is still stuck on you," I pointed out.

"Yeah but it's not so bad I kind of like it, looks good on me."

"Yeah it kind of does," I couldn't help but out. After we finished he gave me another lift and I couldn't help but notice that he suddenly looked out towards the empire.

"Uh Spike I think we may have some sort of problem," he said as I started to look out to where he was and saw a large black storm cloud.

"Uh Soarin, I think you may be right," I said back when suddenly the storm cloud made it's way into the Crystal Empire and as it did black crystal pillars started to rise out of the ground. Then a shadow appeared by then and formed into a dark unicorn. "Sombra," I whispered. "Soarin get me down there right now."

"Huh?"

"No time to explain," I told him. "Get me down there right now," I said and afterwards Soarin did as I asked. When he got to the ground I jumped right of ready to fight if I had to. I probably would. "Soarin get back to the castle and get backup."

"All right kid," Soarin said as he flew up.

"Look it's Spike! The brave and glorious!" One of the crystal ponies said happy to see me.

"He's come to save us yet again!" Another one added.

"Brave and glorious huh?" King Sombra asked as he faced me. "I remember you, you're that dragon that brought down the Crystal Heart and took away my victory."

"Get out of here Sombra, or you'll have to face me," I told him trying to act tough but he just laughed.

"I'm not afraid of you," he said as he continued to laugh but his smile quickly disappeared as I changed into my new form.

"Let me see if I can do something about that." Sombra fired a spell at me but I dodged then charged at him giving him the strongest punch I could, he didn't take it very well. Sombra summoned more pillars but after one punch from me they shattered into pieces.

"Why you little!" Sombra said as he tried to blast me away with a spell, it hit me dead on but I was more than able to endure it.

"I'm not so little anymore," I told him as I used my fire breath to push him causing him to revert to his shadow form. Around this time Soarin came back with Shining Armor, Twilight, and quite a couple royal guards there to give me some probably not needed back up. When I saw them coming this way it distracted me and Sombra took advantage of it, he literally flew right through me, can't even begin to tell you how strange that felt, and made his way deeper into the empire.

"Was that Sombra!?" Shining Armor asked.

"It was," Twilight answered.

"Why would he go further into the empire if he's trying to retreat?" Soarin asked.

"He's not," Shining Armor said figuring out Sombra's plan.

"He's heading for the Crystal Heart," I said also figuring out what he was planning and flew straight to the castle while Twilight Shining Armor teleported his group back to the castle to cut him off.

"The heart will be mine," Sombra said as he charged right at it. But Shining Armor put a barrier around the heart to stop him from getting it. "And that isn't going to stop me," Sombra also said confidence he could break through the barrier, but he wouldn't get the chance as I cut him off by punching him again and forcing him to the ground.

"You meddlesome dragon!" Sombra said as he picked himself up no longer in his shadow form. He charged at me but like last time I was ready. He gave me quite a few powerful spells and hits, but I endured and gave the shadow pony a brutal beating.

"Had enough?" I asked Sombra as he was on the ground taking long deep breathes.

"I have not yet begun to fight, I underestimated you as well as overestimated myself. My full power hasn't returned just yet but it will, and when it does I will rob this empire of it's most precious treasure." And with that Sombra disappeared, like a phantom in the night. After that I went back to my normal form and took a knee.

"Spike, are you all right?" Twilight asked as she helped me get up.

"Yeah, I'm all right," I answered. "I guess he hit me harder than I thought." Twilight then lowered herself like how Soarin did earlier and I got on her back. She was about to take me inside the castle when suddenly Twilight was surrounded by a group of crystal ponies.

"Spike stopped Sombra!" One of the crystal ponies said.

"He saved us for the 3rd time!" Another one said.

"He truly is brave and glorious!" The crystal ponies then took me off Twilight's back then they all started tossing me up repeatedly.

"SPIKE SPIKE SPIKE SPIKE SPIKE!" They continued to chant until Twilight teleported me back on her back.

"Hey we weren't done smothering him with love and admiration."

"I'm sure they'll be time for that later," Twilight said to the group. "But for now our little hero needs to come with me." Twilight and her brother went into the castle to tell Princess Cadence everything.

"King Sombra, are you sure?"

"Trust me you don't forgot a face like his especially with those flaming red eyes and that voice of his when," Twilight answered.

"We should send word of this to Luna and Celestia," Cadence said.

"In the meantime though maybe we could try to strengthen the empire's defenses," Shining Armor suggested. "Just give me a minute and I'll have my spell around the entire Crystal Empire."

"No," Cadence answered. "If you do he'll just ware you out until you're exhausted like he did with me, on top of that he'll still find a way to attack, again like he did with me."

"So what do you suggest?"

"I'm not sure Shining Armor," Cadence answered.

"Well then I guess I'll have to think of something," Shining Armor said.

"Don't hurt yourself," I said as I jumped off Twilight's back and almost fell over from lack of energy.

"Spike don't overdo it," Twilight said. "Maybe you need rest."

"I'll rest when we take care of Sombra."

"Well as long as we have the Crystal Heart he won't be able to stop us," Shining Armor said. "I'll be keeping on eye on it to make sure he doesn't go anywhere near it."

"Well something tells me you might need some help," I said.

"You want to help me guard the heart?"

"Well not exactly," I answered and just as I did Soarin came in or rather flew in and even did a flip right before he landed on the floor.

"Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, I know the Wonderbolts are just known for flying routines and the occasional derby. But if we can help in anyway we're all for it."

"Perfect timing Soarin I was just about to come get you," I told him.

"You were?"

"Yeah and there is a way you can help."

"There is?"

"Yeah," I told Soarin. "Can you fly all the way to Ponyville and back? I think this whole King Sombra thing calls for getting out little group back together."

"I can be there and back here in a flash," Soarin said as he clued in right away to I had planning. Not long after that Soarin headed for Ponyville to get Big Mac, Cheerilee, and Zecora while several other Wonderbolts would look around for Cheese Sandwich to help us. Though I'm quite sure I could have handle the whole thing all on my own, I had no idea how wrong I was.

"Special delivery," Soarin said as he arrived back at the castle with Cheerilee, Zecora, and Big Mac all of whom were standing on a small cloud that Soarin was pushing. They were able to stay on the cloud because Twilight who knew a spell that could allow non-pegasus to do that cast it in a bottle for Soarin to use on them when he found them, yeah I didn't know unicorns could do that either, maybe because she's an alicorn.

"Wow this place is beautiful isn't it Big Mac?"

"Eeyup," Big Mac answered as they got off the cloud.

"This empire is quite the sight to see, that is quite the compliment coming from somepony like me." Not too long after Soarin returned the other Wonderbolts returned as well with the unfortunate news that they weren't able to find Cheese Sandwich.

"You couldn't find him anywhere?" Shining asked and the Wonderbolts whose names escaped me shook their heads. "Can we just use the 5 we already have?"

"It doesn't work that way BBBFF, you need all six of them together or it doesn't work, trust me I tried with only five."

"You did?" Shining Armor asked.

"Yeah she did," I added. "Don't ask."

"Well what are we going to do?" Shining Armor asked.

"Well don't worry just yet, Sombra hasn't made his attack we have time to make a plan maybe we can find some kind of locater spell or maybe we could send out more Wonderbolts-"

"Hi Spike."

"Hi Cheese Sandwich, as I was saying there's all sorts of ways that, Cheese Sandwich."

"Hello!" He said with a wave.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I got a powerful dozy from my cheesy sense that this here empire is gonna be in powerful need of a party, and I'm just the pony that can give it. I even got a brand new party cannon just for this dozy."

"Well, in any case now we have all six elements here." I then started explaining everything to Cheese Sandwich as well as the others.

"Oh my I don't know about this Spike," Cheerilee said. "I mean don't get me wrong I know ponies like Sombra can't have their way but I'm a lover not a fighter."

"You don't have to fight Cheerilee," I said. "You just need to use your element if you have to." We talked a little more but the stuff we mentioned wasn't all that interesting so I'm skipping that, later we got ready to look after the Crystal Heart Shining Armor, Big Mac, and I stayed right where the heart was with Soaring up above keeping a higher lookout for Sombra with the other Wonderbolts. Cheerilee and Zecora stayed inside with Twilight and Princess Cadence to figure out what else we can do, and Cheese, Cheese just kind of did his own thing.

"Check me out guys," Cheese Sandwich as he was balancing on a large ball.

"Cheese this isn't the time for that," Shining Armor said.

"What, I'm keeping an eye out, Pinkie even let me borrow her night vision goggles," Cheese replied as he put on the said goggles. "O-o night visiony, Cheese said but bumped into a part of castle, oh it least he would have but he stopped himself and backed up. But as a result he tripped over the ball he was on moments ago and fell on his back.

"Moron," Shining Armor said resulting in Big Mac smacking him in the back of the head, rather hard too, I could tell.

"When did Pinkie give you those goggles?" I asked.

"It was when we brought everypony back to Ponyville," Cheese answered. "That might not have been the most fun experience, but at least the way back was kind of fun."

"Fun?" Shining Armor asked. "You got to be kidding me."

"Oh come on, you got to admit it was fun on the wagon trip back to Ponyville the songs and all that, don't you remember?"

"Well I remember the wagon breaking," Shining Armor said. "Then us having to make it into a raft, would have worked better if we had a boat, bout the only thing that didn't get packed." After saying that Big Mac got right in Shining Armor's face and it looked like I was going to have to play peacemaker. But suddenly Cheese Sandwich got between them and did this strange dance with a rubber chicken that had the number 2 on it, It didn't really make anypony laugh but I guess it stopped them from going at each other so there's that. After that we all continued to keep an eye out when suddenly we heard a scream that came from inside the castle.

"The castle!?" I asked. "But how?" I didn't have time to ask more questions as Big Mac picked me up and put me on his back before running into the castle with Cheese Sandwich and Shining Armor not too far behind. Soarin stayed behind in case the heart needed protection, when the rest of us entered the castle we saw more of the dark crystals that I saw when I fought Sombra.

"How could he have gotten into the castle?" Shining Armor asked. "Did you see anything that might have remotely looked like King Sombra?"

"Nope."

"Oh wait, you never saw King Sombra before have you?"

"Nope." As we made our way further into the castle we meet with the others.

"Oh, Big Mac thank Celestia you're okay," Cheerilee said as hugged Big Macintosh rather affectionately I couldn't help but notice, you know because I was still on his back.

"What happened?" I asked.

"The shadow king had returned and attacked all around, but thankfully I believe that we are all sound."

"Wait where's Twilight?" I asked as I jumped off Big Mac to look around for her.

"It's okay Spike I'm here," Twilight said as she came around the corner but I was shocked to see that she was limping. I tried to run over to check on her but Shining Armor beat me to it knocking me down in the process I might add.

"Twily are you all right!?"

"Yeah I'm fine Shining Armor Sombra managed to sneak through here the castle I tried to stop him but he fired a spell at me before I could. Luckily it just grazed me but it forced me to the floor and when I got back up he was gone. But I saw him head for the throne room."

"Then that's where we're going," he said as I got back up mad at him for knocking me down. I wanted to go over to him and give him a piece of my mind but Big Mac placed a hoof on my shoulder and shook his head, his way of telling me that now wasn't the time for that. We made our way to the throne room which didn't really look all that bad aside from more of the dark crystal pillars.

"Wow you think he would have made more of a mess when he got in here." Cheese Sandwich said which nearly made me jump back on Big Mac's back, seriously how did he just appear like that is he a ninja or something?

"As far as I can tell he didn't take anything," Shining Armor said as he was looking around. But despite him saying that I had a bad feeling that I couldn't shake at all. As I walked around a bit I came across something that confirmed the feeling I couldn't shake.

"Are you sure he didn't anything?" Twilight asked as she was still limping.

"I've been in this throne room long enough to know if there was something missing," Shining Armor answered.

"There is something missing," I said which got the attention of everypony in the room.

"Are you sure Spike?" Twilight asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"What did he take?" Shining Armor asked.

"Your most precious treasure," I answered as I lifted up what I found, that being the metal shoe of a certain alicorn. Shining Armor's eyes nearly grew to the size of plates and his jaw nearly hit the floor as he stood by Twilight who had a similar face.

"No," Shining Armor said before running out of the throne room to look all over the castle for Cadence. But she was nowhere to be found and soon news of that spread throughout the entire Crystal Empire. When morning came and the crystal ponies learned that their princess was gone, honestly they handled it much than I thought they were going to.

"THE PRINCESS IS GONE!" One of them yelled out.

"What are we going to do!?" Another said.

"I don't want Sombra to enslave us again," a third said as he actually started to run around in circles. Twilight wanted us to get together to make a plan to find Cadence and stop Sombra but when I saw that guy I had to do something to help him.

"Hey now don't panic," I said to him when I made my way over to him. "He hasn't taken control yet."

"You're right and he won't," that crystal pony said as he stopped running showing a big hopeful smile. "Not with you here, I was so scared I forget you were here."

"That's right," one of the other crystal ponies from before said as she and several others came together around me. "With the great and honorable Spike the brave and glorious we have nothing to be afraid of."

"What's your plan how are you going to stop Sombra again?" Before I knew it the crystal ponies got around me yet again. There was so many Twilight had to use her magic to float me out of there and placed me on her back.

"Sorry everypony, Mr. brave and glorious over here has to help me and the others make a plan to stop Sombra."

"But don't worry with me around, Sombra won't stand a chance," I said with a rather cocky smile. Granted at times I got a little big for my breeches but it gave the crystal ponies hope. Twilight then brought me back with the others once again to make a plan on stopping Sombra and rescuing Cadence, however I had trouble following her plan because Twilight has a habit of really overcomplicating things. In fact none of us were able to follow what she planned out, but it wouldn't matter as Sombra who somehow gotten much stronger in such a short amount of time already put yet another attack plan into action, one that would prove to be much more effective than the previous one.

"Before the sun sets on this day the empire will be mine," Sombra said to himself as he summoned tall dark crystal pillars like before. Some of the guards tried to get to him but he used a spell that would put them under his control and force them to do his bidding. Sombra with his forcibly acquired backup quickly made his way to the castle even making more dark crystals to make him take a high trail to it. The new bearers got together but before they could the elements Sombra took out a beam that hit Big Mac's element and spread to the others making their colors change before the colors faded out.

"What the? What did he do?" Soarin asked.

"I think he shut off the elements," Cheerilee said and when they tried to use them on him nothing happened showing she was right.

"When the heck do he learn to do that?" Cheese asked.

"No time for questions, we have a tyrant to stop," Shining Armor said ready for a fight when suddenly he created a labyrinth not only outside the castle but in it as well separating everypony.

"Well," I said to myself. "I guess once again it's up to Spike the brave and glorious to save the day." I then once again transformed ready to take on Sombra.

"Spike no!" Shining Armor said just as I was about to fly over to Sombra.

"Huh?" I asked in confusion.

"Get everypony out of his maze and away from danger," Shining Armor ordered. "I'll deal with Sombra." Before I could say anything Shining Armor made his way over to the shadow pony so I decided it was best not to argue and do what he said.

"It's about time for this king to really get crowned," Shining Armor said that I overheard. He should really leave the one liners to me.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Sombra asked with a smug tone and a face to match.

"I am Shining Armor prince and captain of the guard of the Crystal Empire. Last time you tried to take this empire I could barely do anything to stop you but this time I'm going to make sure I stop you myself."

"Last time?" Sombra asked as he tried to remember. "Ah yes that was you, that simple unicorn stallion whose magic I managed to block by cursing his horn." He then started to laugh. "You're the prince and captain of the guard, what a joke, I might actually be doing the Crystal Empire a favor by taking it over."

"Oh yeah!" Shining Armor said as he teleported over to Sombra and punched him right in his smug face forcing him back a little. Shining Armor actually did a good job of holding his ground against Sombra. They exchanged blows both physical and magical Sombra wasn't able to curse his horn this time around but Sombra was strong enough to resist his barrier spell stopping him from being rejected out of the empire he wanted so badly to conquer. By the time I emptied out the labyrinth Shining Armor and Sombra where by the Crystal Heart their horns rubbing against each other. While they were doing that the other element wielders were trying to get to Shining Armor but were cut off by the possessed ponies.

"You want some more?" Soarin asked and he forced several of the said poor possessed ponies into a pile of hey while Big Mac forced several others into the labyrinth wall.

"Remember try not to hurt them," Cheerilee said. "It's not they're fault, they're being forced to fight and act against their will."

"It seems we are evenly matched," I overheard Sombra say to Shining Armor as I was getting the last few of the ponies out of the labyrinth before meeting up with the others.

"Yeah we are," Shining Armor replied. "I hate to say it but you are a capable fighter."

"Fighting you is just going to make it all the more sweeter when I take that Crystal Heart."

"Over my dead body!" Shining Armor said ready to keep fighting before Sombra back away getting some space.

"I had a different deal in mind," Sombra replied as he made a sphere appear above him that contained a certain somepony.

"CADENCE!"

"A trade. Her life, in exchange for the Crystal Heart."

"What?" Shining Armor said suddenly the rest of us that saw what was going on tried to make our way over to Shining Armor to help, but were cut off by more black crystal and possessed ponies stopping us from getting to him in time. As Shining Armor tried to think of a plan the sphere holding Cadence started to slowly shrink causing her to scream out of the fear of being crushed.

"SHINING PLEASE DO SOMETHING!"

"CADENCE! NO SOMBRA DON'T! I'LL DO IT!"

"What?" He asked as he made the sphere stop. Around that time all of us managed to get to the three of them but none of us dared to make a move afraid of what might happen to Cadence.

"You win it's a deal, I'll give you the Crystal Heart. Just please don't hurt Cadence."

"No Shining Armor!" Cadence called out. "Don't do it I'm not worth it!"

"Yes you are," Shining replied as he looked up at her before grabbing the heart and offering it to Sombra who gladly took it.

"With the Crystal Heart now is my possession, there is nothing to stop me from ruling the Crystal Empire."

"All right now it's your turn," Shining Armor said which seemed to have confused Sombra.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I gave you the heart now let Cadence go."

"Oh I'm sorry, I don't think you understood. I said the heart in exchange for her life, not her freedom." Sombra then laughed wickedly as he, Cadence, and the Crystal Heart vanished in a puff of shadows. Shining Armor jumped to try and grab Sombra but he just went threw the shadow just before it vanished. Sombra then took Cadence and the Heart to the throne room then proceeded to sit on the throne. "Ah, love live the king."

"Wow that's gotta suck," Cheese Sandwich back where we were. "And I think it's about to suck even more," he said as he pointed out numerous possessed ponies that had surrounded us. Shining Armor and I got ready to fight but I suddenly shrunk back to my normal size and his horn could barely make a spark because we had used up nearly all of our energy already.

"Yeah definitely gonna suck even more," Soarin said.

"While as much as I know we wish to help and stay, it might be best for now if we run away."

"Zecora might be right," Cheerilee said. "But I don't see any openings."

"This is bad," Shining Armor said. "We're low on stamina and highly outnumbered."

"And we can't hurt them, well we can but we'd feel real guilty about it because these guys are just as much the victims as we are," Soarin said.

"Eeyup."

"We need a miracle," I said as we started to panic when suddenly the seven of us as well as the other Wonderbolts were teleported not only away from the castle but all the way to the train station.

"Huh?" We all said at the same time.

"Shining Armor did you do that?" Soarin asked.

"No I don't have the energy right now, maybe it was Twily."

"Not quite," a voice answered, one that was all too familiar to me. Well maybe not all too familiar I just thought that sounded cool. We all looked up to see the voice came from to see that it was indeed Discord.

"Discord, what are you doing here!" Shining Armor said as he got in an attack stance, not that I blame him that last time these two talked it wasn't exactly pleasant.

"Well that's certainly an interesting way of saying thank you for helping us all get out of there," Discord answered.

"Thank you so much for helping us Discord," Cheerilee said. "You really pulled our rumps out of the fire."

"No kidding," Soarin said. "For a moment it looked like our apple pie was cooked."

"Yeah it did, I owe you a party after all this," Cheese Sandwich added.

"Sombra's terror has spread for all of the Crystal Empire to see, but thanks to you we can still help it once again be free."

"Eeyup."

"That's better," Discord said.

"But that still doesn't answer what exactly you're doing here," I asked.

"I sensed a magical imbalance and what an imbalance it was Sombra is back and he's making quite the mess isn't he?"

"Mess is the nice way of putting it," Cheese Sandwich said.

"And those poor crystal ponies," Cheerilee said. "If it's this bad for us I can only imagine how horrible it is for them, they're the real victims in all this."

"Eeyup."

"And what's worse, when Sombra is done with the empire what's stopping him from moving on to Equestria?" Soarin asked.

"He's right," Shining Armor added. "We have to stop him and we have to stop him now."

"But how are we going to stop Sombra he has an army?" Soarin asked. "Zecora, do you know something that can free all those possessed ponies?"

"It may take me about a day but I know a potion to make, but by the time it's ready I may be too late."

"No kidding by then Sombra could take control of Equestria!" Soarin said starting to panic.

"This is bad," Cheese Sandwich said also starting to panic. "If everypony else is brainwashed who will I throw parties for?"

"That's the least of our worries," I said as the panic started to spread to our whole group as well as a few arguments like why didn't they use the elements sooner when suddenly chocolate milk was poured on all of us. "What the? Are you kidding me?"

"Thought that might help you all calm down," Discord said.

"Of course Discord," Cheerilee said. "You can help us. Not even Sombra would stand a chance against your chaos magic. You could probably stop him all by yourself."

"But that doesn't mean we can't help right?" Cheese Sandwich asked.

"Eeyup, Zecora if the Wonderbolts and I help can you make your potion faster?"

"As sure as I can finish this sentence with a rhyme, with your support I can finish it in much less time," Zecora answered.

"And in the meantime we can send in the spirit of chaos to do some real damage," Soarin said.

"Or he could teleport over to Canterlot and get the princesses for backup," I said.

"Oh please Spike," Discord said. "You know my magic is greater than theirs."

"All the same maybe you should go after them so they can send an army of guards or something."

"My chaos is all the army you lot will need."

"Well maybe you can use it to but a barrier around the empire or something to stop Sombra's forces from getting away, or something."

"What are you talking about Spike how are going to stop Sombra without my help?"

"WELL MAYBE THAT'S A BETTER RISK THAN TRUSTING YOU, WE TRUSTED YOU WITH STOPPING TIREK AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED THERE!" I yelled out surprising everypony, most of all me.

"Oh," Discord said breaking the awkward silence. "So that's what this is about."

"Discord, I didn't mean to-"

"No no, "Discord interrupted with his paw and claw up in the air. "I get it, I was a jerk. I put all of Equestria in danger and I let everypony down. I don't blame you for not trusting me, but honestly I still feel really guilty about that and have been looking for a way to make for what I did."

"Spike can I talk to you in private for a second?" Shining Armor asked me and I agreed. He then used his magic to make a bubble of silence around just the 2 of us. "Look I know you and I have never, and will probably never be friends, but we both care about Twily, and we both know we have to stop Sombra. Discord might be our best chance to do that, sometimes fighting great evils mean having to take risks that could really bite you on the rump."

"Your right," I said as I didn't want to argue anymore and waste what little time we had. Shining Armor then popped the bubble and I walked over to Discord offering him my claw showing him that I trusted him. He shook my claw with his and we got to work making a plan to stop Sombra. "We're coming Twilight."

***

Morning came and Sombra had gotten nearly all of the ponies of the Crystal Empire together as he lead them outside the said empire. "Come my loyal ponies, now that I have taken the Crystal Empire I shall do the same to Canterlot and then all of Equestria," he said with a wicked laugh.

"Not on our watch pal," Soarin said as he flew down but still much higher than Sombra. "Oh and by the way I'm using the term pal very loosely."

"And what do you think you're doing here?"

"I came to thank you for gathering your army together like this."

"What? Why?"

"Because it'll be easier to do this!" Soarin then flew above the army towards a large cloud he and the other Wonderbolts made that Zecora's potion was poured in. They then made it rain and the said rain mixed with the potion fell on the army freeing them from Sombra.

"NO!" Sombra called out then tried to blast Soarin out of the sky but being a Wonderbolt he made his way out of there. Despite gathering an army quite a few other where still in the empire standing guard in case of an attack. Sombra retreated back to gather those ponies but while he did that Cheerilee and Big Mac helped Zecora give out more of her potion to possessed ponies still in the empire while Discord teleported Shining Armor and myself inside the castle. When we got there we found Cadence trapped in a cage with possessed Twilight watching over her.

"Care for a surprise rescue?" Discord asked. Twilight was about to attack us but Discord made her horn disappear and in the confusion I sprayed Zecora's potion on her and she came to her senses, while I did that Shining Armor freed Cadence from her cell.

"Huh? What's going on?" Twilight asked as she put her foreleg to her forehead. When I saw that she was okay I hugged her right on the spot.

"It worked, oh I'm so happy you're back to normal." Twilight then returned my hug and I explained everything to her.

"Well nice work," Twilight said to all of us after being caught up.

"Yeah nice work," Cadence said. "But we aren't done just yet," she added making it clear she didn't want to waste anytime and made her way over to the Crystal Heart. "We need to put the heart back right away and stop Sombra, hopefully once and for all."

"But Cadence," Twilight said but that was about all she had time to say as when Cadence flew up to the heart and grabbed it a seal below it forced her to the ground and was surrounded by dark crystals.

"I was going to say-"

"Sombra probably booby trapped the heart," Cadence finished for Twilight. "Yeah I should have figured that out, this is so embarrassing."

"Yeah I know how you feel don't worry I'll help you out, why isn't my magic working?" Twilight then tried to feel her horn but was shocked to learn it was gone. "What happened to my horn?!"

"Oops sorry, forgot to put that back," Discord said but before he could put it back Sombra had appeared, having sensed Cadence trying to take the Crystal Heart he made his way to the castle. Sombra then fired at us but Discord snapped his fingers and turned his magic into flowers. Sombra tried time and time again but none of them worked and while Discord had Sombra distracted Cadence teleported the heart over to me and I knew right away what she wanted me to do. I changed into my bigger form and flew out the window with the heart in one claw and Twilight in the other, I wanted to bring the others but Cadence was still stuck and Shining Armor refused to leave her.

"Do you think Cadence and Shining Armor will be all right?"

"Don't worry Twilight, Discord should keep Sombra busy long enough for me to save the Crystal Empire yet again." I planned to glide right down and put the heart back but when I got down there numerous ponies still under Sombra's control. I thought of forcing my way through there, sure it might hurt them a bit but wouldn't it have been worth it if it meant Sombra would have been stopped? However before I could figure that out I saw Discord get blasted out of the castle and forced through a building, he was out like a light. Sombra then appeared in his shadow form and charged at me, I needed to think of something and fast.

"Spike!" Soarin said as he called out to me while waving his forelegs back and forth. "I'm open I'm open!"

"Go long!" I said as I threw the Crystal Heart as hard as I could figuring that would give Soarin all the time he needed to grab it. Sombra then went after Soarin which allowed me to put Twilight in down. "Go see if Discord is okay."

"Right," Twilight said before running off. While that was going on Soarin had caught the Crystal Heart and made a U-turn to bring it back to the castle.

"Give me that heart!" Sombra ordered.

"You'll have to catch me first," Soarin replied. "And by the way nopony catches the Wonderbolts." Sombra then made copies of himself and they all tried to circle around him but Soarin continued to fly faster. "You. Won't. Catch. Me!" Soarin said as he pushed himself to go even faster then to the surprise of everypony made a sonic rainboom, when he did that it forced Sombra and all of his copies away from Soarin.

"Did he just do a sonic rainboom?" Cheerilee asked.

"Eeyup."

"Did I just do a sonic rainboom?" Soarin asked himself. "I DID A SONIC RAINBOOM!" He said filled with pride, honestly I couldn't blame him but he was so proud of himself he didn't realize he was getting too close to the castle until it was too late. He saw he was about to crash into it and while he moved he clipped his wing forcing him to go down. "AH, NOT AGAIN!"

"SOARIN!" I called out to him.

"Spike catch," Soarin said as he tossed the Crystal Heart back to me. My reflects kicked in and I managed to catch it but I wanted to do the same for Soarin, luckily Big Mac jumped over to where Soarin was going to land and cushioned his fall. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"All right time to stop Sombra and become an even bigger hero of the Crystal Empire," I said as I was just about to put the heart back when Sombra appeared between me and where the heart belongs.

"I won't give up the Crystal Empire that easy."

"You think what we had to do was easy? Anyway if you want to fight bring it on!"

"As you wish," Sombra answered with a sinister smile. Sombra then teleported a few feet away but not before breaking the part of the castle the Crystal Heart goes so that he wasn't below the castle then made his horn glow. I was confused at first when suddenly just about every single dark crystal he summoned flew towards him and despite the vast number of them they all surrounded him in mere seconds forming a giant dark crystal version of himself.

"Well that is definitely something you don't see everyday," Cheese Sandwich said. Without even thinking I flew up and gave the crystal Sombra the mother of all uppercuts after putting the heart down, I figured if I attacked him he'd fight me and wouldn't go after the others and they could somehow use the heart to beat him, okay so I guess I was thinking a little. Sombra then raised a foreleg to punch me to the ground but I caught it and tried using my fire but it wasn't very affective on the crystals.

"I guess I'll have to try something else," I said to myself as I punched his hoof causing it to brake but it just pulled itself back together. Sombra then summoned several super tall dark crystals probably to force me to back up but instead it gave me an idea, I flew to the bottom of one and punched it breaking it off then grabbed it and swung it at Sombra as hard as I could. The crystal broke on impact as did half of Sombra's face right before he was forced to the ground but I flew around him and punched him so hard he fell where he wouldn't on anything but the crystal ground.

"Annoying, meddlesome, dragon!" Sombra then got back up ready for more which was fine with me, I broke off another tall crystal and put it in a swinging position.

"Batter up!" I said. While that was going on the others were watching me slap Sombra silly, huh say that 5 times fast.

"Come on, we have to help Spike somehow," Cheerilee said refusing to let me do all the work.

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed as Cheese Sandwich smiled.

"Hey everypony," Cheese said getting their attention. "I have an Eye-dea, I'll explain when we find Shining Armor." Basically his plan was getting out this giant rubber band he had then firing Shining Armor right at Sombra's head who'd blast it from the inside while I kept him busy. Long story short Cheese's plan worked, sort of. While the others were able to fire Shining Armor right in crystal Sombra's eye and knock him to the ground, again I made sure nopony got hurt he just started to put his head back on.

"No it didn't work!" Cheerilee said but just then I flew up to where they were with Shining Armor, while Cheese's idea didn't work it gave me one that would work. Shining Armor would uses his barrier spell on me to coat me like a suit of armor, then I'd get fired right into Sombra's chest where the real Sombra was, thereby finally stopping his giant crystal doppelganger.

"Are you this is gonna work Spike?" Shining Armor asked as he used his magic to make the magic coat extra thick while standing beside me though I few feet away to not get in the rubber band's way.

"It has to I don't know why much longer I can stay in this form," I answered as I was pulling back the rubber band with Big Mac's help on the other side. Cheerilee and Cheese Sandwich were holding both ends on a large castle window while Zecora, Discord, and Soarin where keeping a few possessed ponies back that made their way into the castle.

"Don't push yourself Discord," Cadence said to quite injured but still fighting chaos spirit as she was flying above Big Mac while Twilight was flying right atop the window.

"3 degrees west," Twilight said and Big Mac moved 3 degrees west, we needed to make sure we got Sombra otherwise I doubt we'd get another shot. Especially when he got back up and charged right for the castle when he saw us. "READY, AIM, FIRE!" Big Mac then let go and I was flung right to Sombra.

"What the?" Sombra said just before I pierced him and made my way right to the real Sombra. "What are you doing?"

"I think things are finally heating up for you Sombra," I answered as I let out a fire breath so large it spread across the entire crystal Sombra. After that the entire crystal Sombra fell to pieces and I'm pretty sure I blacked out because the next thing I remembered was waking up in my normal body with barely enough energy to stand close to where I left the Crystal Heart. Discord then teleported to where I was with Twilight.

"Spike! Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I answered while fighting the urge to vomit out blood. "Never better."

"He did it," one of the crystal ponies said if fact it was the one that was running around in circles earlier. When Zecora's potion freed ponies quite a few of them wanted to fight back with the others helping them. They had made their way to the castle around the time I beat Sombra. "Spike the brave and glorious has saved us one again." But just as he said that to our horror Sombra forced his way out of the dark crystals with a blood chilling scream that made the crystal ponies scream in terror.

"No," I whispered as Sombra made his way down to me. "WHY DON'T YOU JUST GIVE UP!" I said to him as I tried to hit him with fire again but I barely sent out enough to cook marshmallows.

"Why don't you?" Sombra replied as he punched my in my cheek forcing me to the ground.

"SPIKE!" Twilight said as she wanted to run over to me but Sombra hit her with a stun spell then blasted Discord away. The crystal ponies wanted to help but just seeing Sombra filled them with fear that froze them in place.

"This really is too bad, I actually feel sorry for you," Sombra said. "You tried so hard but you still lose." Sombra then spread out the dark crystal pile around the castle making it look like a dark crystal itself. "That should keep the rest of your allies from helping you. So it's just you left to deal with, but perhaps I should deal with her first just in case."

"Leave her alone!" I said as I stood up and got between him and Twilight sticking my arms out. I tried to change into by bigger form but I barely even had to energy to stand. Sombra then punched me in the stomach with a spell that brought me to my knees.

"Yes kneel before Sombra."

"No!" I told him as I got back up to his surprise.

"Run Spike," Twilight said still stunned. "Go get help."

"No, I won't leave you."

"No? Aren't you afraid?"

"Yes, probably more than I've ever been. But I refuse to let my fear tell me what to do."

"Spike," Twilight said as I could tell she was scared of what might happen to me.

"Don't worry," I said as I looked to her with a smile. "I won't let anything happen to you." Sombra then charged his horn ready to attack me again and I stood my ground ready to defend Twilight. I thought I was a goner when suddenly Sombra was bombarded by the crystal ponies that saw everything.

"What the get off me! I command you!" Sombra tried to fight them off but he was hopelessly outnumbered not to mention exhausted and before any of us knew it he was overwhelmed. Seeing that made me so happy that I didn't even mind falling down.

"Looks like they aren't afraid of you anymore," I said right before blacking out again, I woke up in the castle where Twilight still without her horn for some reason explained what happened. I may not have beaten Sombra but I tired him out enough for all crystal ponies to overpower him. The Crystal Heart was finally put back in place after Discord repair said place undoing everything Sombra did to the empire. Discord also imprisoned Sombra who would soon be taken to a special prison.

"So what are you in here for?" Chrysalis asked.

"I tried to take over Equestria," Sombra answered.

"Yeah been there done that." Back at the empire I taken outside on Twilight's back to see the others who were glad to see I was okay, even Shining Armor.

"Take goodness, we were really worried about you," Cheerilee said.

"Eeyup."

"It's nice to know we made it out okay again," Cheese Sandwich said.

"One thing I don't get is why Sombra got beaten so easily by the crystal ponies?" Soarin asked who had a cast around his wing. "Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining I just don't understand."

"It's because they weren't afraid," I answered as everypony looked at me. "I figured it out just before I blacked out, that was why he took Cadence he wanted to make the crystal ponies afraid, like he somehow feeds off it. So when they stood up to him their bravery cut off his power supply or something like that."

"Yes it's true," one of many crystal ponies said as they did what they did best, swarm around me. "Thank you so much great and honorable Spike. You truly truly truly are brave and glorious."

"So brave it inspired us to be brave."

"You're the greatest hero this empire will ever know."

"Uh we helped out too," Shining Armor said as the crystal ponies picked me up and started to walk off. "Seriously he didn't do this all by himself we had his back I even had to convince to trust Discord who also, ah forget it."