> Spike's odyssey > by therandomone95 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 0: A short prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- There was complete darkness, it was a huge amount of nothingness, until someone decided that they wanted to live there, that someone or something was giggling inside their house, and then, there was a knock at the door, the sudden noise made it jump in surprise. "Yes, come in." Said the strange being, and then, five more beings entered its territory, they seemed to be in a giggly mood too, but when the six beings formed a circle to talk about something, their chuckles and giggles stopped, the creature that had summoned them started to talk, breaking the silence: "So, are you thinking what I am thinking?" Said the leader. "Yes, I think everything is going according to the plan." Said the second one. "Do you think we are going too far with him?" Said the third one. "Nah, I bet the little one won't even notice what hit him." Said the fourth one. "Yes, and besides, we will stay hidden, he won't know who will be toying with him." Affirmed the fifth one. "Yes, but don't go too far with him, we are just having fun, remember?" Responded the sixth one. "Oh, a little fun doesn't hurt anyone, besides, the little guy will be too focused on getting back to notice that someone is behind all of this, and you are forgetting about The Crystal Empire's big ceremony tomorrow, while he is busy we'll discuss about our plans with him, and on his way back, he'll be thinking about coming clean with her, maybe we can do something with that too." Added the leader. The rest of the creatures began nodding and clapping while the leader was thinking about all the fun he would have tomorrow. > Chapter 1: The beginning. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: The beginning "SPIKE!!!!!!!!!" Shouted Twilight Sparkle at the top of her lungs. "Huh?! What?! Twilight! What was that for?!" Said Spike, complaining about it. "You're going to be late! I bet Cadance and Shining Armor are just as nervous as I am right now!" Responded Twilight. "I think that's pretty much impossible." Whispered Spike. "What did you say?!" Asked Twilight. "Nothing!" Replied Spike, looking everywhere. It was six o' clock in the morning, and Twilight was really nervous because Spike had to go alone to the Crystal Empire, there was going to be an important ceremony, supposedly, it was going to be a celebration of Shining Armor and Cadance's anniversary, and they organized a huge festival on the Crystal Empire to celebrate it! But they wanted Spike's presence because the crystal ponies would certainly be more entertained if their beloved hero was there. There was one small problem: Spike was finally going to tell Rarity how he truly felt, Spike had previously talked about this with Twilight, but he never had the courage to let it all out, and just when he had armed himself with bravery and courage, this happens, too much of a coincidence, right? Well, this had Spike really worried for some days, but then, he thought of something: he would go to the festival, he would return to Ponyville, he would go towards the Boutique, and then, he would confess. This could go perfect, or this could go very bad, or he could get rejected, or he could get scared at the worst moment, or he could... Okay, this is getting ridiculous, Spike stopped himself before he gave up on this opportunity before this was even started, he grabbed three sheets and a quill, he knew that he should be prepared for anything, he put the objects on his backpack, and he ran out of the castle, towards the train station. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three hours later, his train was on his view... 'Why did I listen to Twilight? I should have stayed in bed at least one more hour.' Spike thought. Spike's friends came to say goodbye at the train station, but Spike felt terribly nervous when Rarity was anywhere around him, it reminded him of how he wanted so badly to confess himself to her, but deep inside he knew that he should wait until the festival is over, if he told Rarity how he felt right now, he probably would have chickened out of there by now. Too late, the train was already there, Spike would have kept thinking about it if the train didn't arrive. Applejack hugged the little dragon and said goodbye afterwards, Rainbow Dash gave Spike a hoofbump, but when everypony was looking elsewhere, she gave Spike a hug too, Pinkie Pie almost killed the little drake by squeezing him to death, but she let him go after she nearly broke two of his ribs and said goodbye, Spike was shaking because Pinkie Pie promised to throw a party when he got back, he didn't even wanted to know how the welcoming would be, Fluttershy gave Spike a small but caring hug, and she begged the little dragon to take care of himself, Twilight already said her part while nopony else was at the train station, so, that left one pony... Spike got nervous when she became closer to his body, he wanted to run away, he wanted to scream out loud that he loved her, he wanted anything but being there, remaining silent. Suddenly, Rarity spoke: "Spikey, would you please take care of yourself? You know just how much we worry about you, and we wouldn't want to see our little Spikey-Wikey in a bad state, right?" Said Rarity with honesty, honestly, Spike didn't hear anything because he was focused in Rarity's beauty, and her great personality, Spike knew that this wasn't a silly crush, this was true love, he felt like he could do anything for just a kiss from the beautiful mare, little did he know, that was going to happen in the future... "Y-y-y-y-yes, Rarity, I-I-I-I'll take good care of myself, don't worry!" Replied Spike with a huge grin on his face. "Good, now, you should get going, I think your train is going to leave without you if you don't get in." Said Rarity while trying to make Spike aboard the train. "O-o-o-o-of course, I'll get inside" Said Spike, literally floating towards the train. When he was inside the wagon, Spike snapped out of his trance, and he saw through the window all of Ponyville, even if this is the window of a train, it had a great view of Ponyville, and behind, his friends were saying goodbye and wishing him good luck, boy, this was going to be a long day. The train departed from the station, it was slow at first, but it kept on gaining speed, and the sceneries Spike saw in the other side of the window were getting harder to look at, Spike knew that it was best if he just relaxed and go to sleep, and so he did, it was difficult because of all the noises the train had, and all the chattering of the other passengers, and the need of his head for a pillow, but he went to sleep without much effort. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Somewhere else, in a place where time and space have no meaning... "Hmmmmm, it seems that the little chum has departed already." Said a weird creature. "Yes, I think the ceremony will last until the late afternoon of the same day." Said another creature. "Do you guys really think this is a good idea?" Replied a third creature. "No, but we love it because of that!" Replied back the other two creatures. "Yes, it is a weird thing to do to the poor boy, but somehow I know I will love it!" Said the leader, emerging from another side. "Now, are we clear on what we'll be doing?" "YES!" Shouted the other creatures. "Very well, let's have some fun, then." Said the leader grinning. > Chapter 2: The festival > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2: The festival. Riding the train all the way to the Crystal Empire was boring, but Spike slept very well, mainly because Twilight had awoken him three hours before the train arrived to the station, anyway, Spike's train arrived at the Crystal Empire, and, wouldn't you know it, Spike was inmediately surrounded by his fans from the Crystal Empire, they practically took him to the castle while asking him to sign their foreheads and forelegs. When Spike arrived to the center of the Empire, he saw a HUGE festival, he remembered the day when Twilight and her friends threw a festival for the Crystal ponies, that festival paled in comparison to what Spike was seeing at that moment, there was noise and music everywhere, the crystal ponies were cheerful wherever they were, and the place was filled with little sceneries where talented ponies showed off their skills on what they were good at to entertain the crowd. And then, there he was, he was really excited and nervous when he finally was at the front doors of the crystal castle/palace, and when Shining Armor and Cadance emerged from those doors, it became worse. "Hi, Spike, we are so glad you could make it!" Exclamed Cadance. "Yeah, we owe you one, thank you for coming!" Said Shining Armor giving Spike a hoofbump. "Oh, it's nothing, I love to hang around here, besides, I think your subjects love a visit from their hero, am I right?" Said Spike, looking at the Royal guards in a funny way. "Bro, did Spike, the brave and glorious just..." Began one guard. "...Notice us?" Said the other guard. It looked like the royal guards were about to act like fangirls (or fanmares, heh, I know, I'm really bad at this.) And soon, they were squeaking between them. "Yeah, I think they would." Said Shining Armor, about to crack up. Cadance just rolled her eyes at this. "So, what do I have to do?" Asked Spike. "We have planned an interview with you this afternoon, in the meantime, you can stay in the castle and eat as many gems as you like!" Said Cadance, excited. "Oh, okay then." Replied Spike. The pair of ponies left the little dragon to explore the castle on his own, he remembered that the castle was smaller, he honestly felt like the castle was smaller when he was with Twilight or with somepony familiar to him, but now he was alone, and he had the castle to himself, but the place felt really empty without his friends. But when he entered the royal kitchen, he saw a bowl of gems just for him! He couldn't believe what he was seeing, his eyes must be playing some sort of trick on him, but when he got closer and touched a gem, he knew that this was real. Spike tried to fit as many gems as he could into his mouth, and he ate the diamonds and emeralds like this was the only bowl of gems he would see in his entire life. Spike seemed to be enjoying himself, maybe a bit too much, because when he finished his happy meal, he ordered another one, then another one, and another, and another... Let's just say he ate a LOT of gems that day. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was afternoon, time for Spike to be interviewed, and it would be much better if he wasn't sleeping on the couch with his mouth full of gems. "Spike?" He heard a femenine voive from his right side, but he didn't wake up. "Spike." The voice got louder. "SPIKE." The voice was getting even more loud and closer to his ear. "SPIKEEE!!!!" The voice yelled. "WHA?! HUH?! WHEN?! WHO?!" Yelled Spike, waking up suddenly. "Me, Cadance, that's who." Said the princess, who was at his right side, staring at him. "Oh, did I oversleep?" Asked Spike with concern. "Yes, it's time for your interview." Said Cadance, levitating him out of the couch and carrying him towards the balcony. Once they were there, Spike saw that all the crystal ponies were there, the view from there was amazing, everypony left the places they were in, the little sceneries were empty, the ponies who were showing off their skills were there, the ponies that were in front were litterally sitting on a chair because they didn't want to miss the moment. And everypony stayed silent until Spike revealed himself on the balcony, in that moment, everypony cheered for their hero. Spike saw that Shining Armor was on the balcony too, and he was levitating a microphone, when Shining Armor saw the dragon, he began talking on the microphone: "It looks like Spike, the brave and glorious is awake after all! Everypony, please give Spike a wonderful welcome!" When Shining Armor finished his sentence, everypony shouted, screamed and yelled Spike's name, the little dragon was practically on the maximum glory at the moment. "Spike, would you please say hi to your fans?" Said the stallion. Spike trembled for a moment, but he remembered the time when he saved the Equestria Games, and that gave him courage, enough courage to step forward and grab the microphone Shining Armor was levitating. "Hello." Okay, that came out lower than what I was expecting, but it's better than nothing, and it seemed to work because the ponies started cheering and stomping their hooves when the word came out of his mouth. Shining Armor took the microphone once again: "Spike, a lot of fans have sent us letters for this interview, because they want to know more about you, in this little period of time, we will be answering them." Spike only nodded. "Spike, the first question is as follows: 'How does it feel to be a dragon among ponies?' " Spike took a moment to take in the question, and he certainly didn't know what to say, he became nervous once more, but deep inside, there was a feeling that made him thought if he should answer the question with honesty. Maybe he should just answer these questions with his heart. Spike grabbed the mic, and with complete honesty, he said: "Well, I don't know, I feel normal, I don't know how being a dragon should make me feel different, I lived with Twilight Sparkle my entire life, and I went through all of Equestria, and everypony always accepted me, but yes, there were always bullies that insulted me and called me horrid things like 'lizard' or 'freak', for example." This made the crystal ponies cringe and frown. "But, with Twilight's help, and with my friends by my side, I learned to ignore them, I learned to follow my own way and let them be, I like to think that I am equal to everypony, because what truly matters is what's on the inside, if you have a beautiful heart, believe me, nopony will even remember that you are a dragon." That last sentence made the crystal ponies cheer again, some mares were practically crying from this, and some other ponies were cheering because they knew it was right, their hero was a dragon, and nopony had treated him like one, they were always happy to have him near, and it was awesome. "Okay, Spike, the next question says: 'Have you fallen in love? If you have, is it with a dragon or a pony? Could you tell us their name? what made you fall in love with them? Love, your biggest fan." Said Shining Armor, unsure if Spike wanted to answer the question or not. Spike blushed, remembering the mare of his dreams, was he really going to announce his crush on Rarity? He pondered the question for a moment, then, an idea came to his mind. Spike grabbed the mic once again: "Yes, I have fallen in love with somepony, but I can't tell you who, because that is pretty much private." Spike heard several moans and complains. "But I can tell you why I fell in love with her, you see, when Twilight and I moved to Ponyville, I saw her, and I saw the most beautiful pony that ever lived, but I knew that it was just makeup, but when we started hanging out, I got to know her, and she is beautiful on the inside and on the outside, she is very graceful, she knows exactly what to wear, she has a very attractive personality and she is the most generous pony that ever lived." Spike was practically floating at this point. "I would do anything to earn just a kiss from her." The crowd cheered, although they were unsure why, probably because Spike proved the devotion and determination he had. Spike snapped out of his dream, and he looked at Shining Armor, who was looking at Spike with curiosity, how could a dragon fly? Anyways, Shining Armor levitated the mic out of Spike's claw and continued: "O-kay, Spike, we have a lot of questions left and not much time, we better get going with the next ones." 'Oh, boy, this is going to be a long time' Spike thought to himself. And Spike spent the next three hours answering questions, and everypony wanted more, but Shining Armor convinced them to leave, after all, it was night time when they decided to finish, and Spike had to leave in the morning. "Thank you for coming!" Said Cadence. "Shining was right, we owe you one." "Oh, think nothing about it" Said Spike, with fake modesty. "We prepared your departure for tomorrow, for now, you must go to sleep." Said Shining Armor. "I will." Replied Spike. And so he did, the little dragon went to the bedroom they had prepared for him and wrapped himself in the blankets. Tomorrow is another day. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was morning, Spike slept very good, nopony yelled at him, and he was happy about it. Spike yawned and scratched himself in his back. Then, he remembered he had to leave early to arrive early. Spike ran through the castle, searching for Cadence and/or Shining armor, but nopony was there, Spike just left the castle, after all, he needed to get back quickly if he wanted to canfess himself to Rarity. Spike ran through the streets of the Crystal Empire, and he saw that nopony was there, probably because it was really early yet, Spike arrived at the train Station and he saw that Shining Armor and Cadance were waiting for him. "Oh, Spike, sorry for not waking you up, you looked so peaceful." Said Cadance, with a bit of guilt on her face. "It was fine, for once, I didn't wake up with somepony in my face!" Said Spike, that made them laugh for a bit. "Well, it seems that your train is going to get here any minute now, so, goodbye champ! we'll see you later!" Said Shining Armor with a smile on his face. "Goodbye, guys! I'll try to come back again soon!" Said Spike. The moment arrived with the train, Spike boarded the train, waving from the window, Spike enjoyed the Crystal Empire, and leaving it made him feel a little bit sad, he wanted to be treated like this at Ponyville, but all good and bad things have an end, the train started to go, Spike just focused on the castle and the light that came out of it, it was really beautiful, but it was sad for Spike seeing it go away. Spike just sat on one of the seats and prepared himself mentally for the big moment, he would confess to Rarity, nothing can go wrong, right? Maybe just a few things, like, losing her friendship, getting rejected harshly, or he could chicken out in the end, but, aside from that, nothing could go wrong, right? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In another place... A weird creature was sleeping, but its friends came, and when they saw it sleeping, they slapped it. "WOW! WHA?!" Said the creature, before he saw the others there. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" "You idiot! Now it's time! the little boy is returning to Ponyville! And you were sleeping!" Said the leader. "Yes, but we won't let that happen, right?" Said other creature. "No, the little chum won't return to Ponyville so easily, we will make sure of that." Said the leader. All of the creatures laughed maniatically, this isn't good. Little knows Spike what he is getting into... > Chapter 3: The "accident" > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4: The "accident" Spike was having a weird dream, but in a good way, because he was dreaming about Rarity, it was mid-afternoon in Ponyville, and he was inside the Boutique, he saw himself confessing to her, and it was weird, Rarity said "yes", Spike sincerely didn't saw it coming. Suddely, his world was filled with happiness, all of his problems seemed to disappear and his joy took over his visions. For Spike, this was heaven, Rarity was kissing him in the muzzle, and the world around them seemed to fade away to leave the scene alone, Spike clearly was starting to believe this was real, but then, he heard a weird sound, it became louder, louder, at one point, Spike thought that it was a monster, he got out of the Boutique with his beloved mare, and he saw a weird figure lurk above Ponyville, it was bipedal, it had fingers, and it was HUGE, Spike didn't waste time, he grabbed Rarity by her hoof, and tried to move her out of the way, but it was already too late, the monster saw them. "Come on, Rarity! We have to move!" Shouted Spike at the top of his lungs. He started to feel water in front of his eyes, but he didn't care, he was too focused on saving Rarity that it didn't matter to him. But, for some reason, Rarity stood still, she didn't move from the place she was in, she just stared at the monster in an odd way, Spike's begging didn't do any effects on the mare, she just stayed there, with her stare lost in the sky. The monster was practically above them by now. Three seconds passed before "it" did something, suddenly, "it" waved a hand / claw / foreleg in the air, Spike was lookig at it terrified, then, the creature let his limb fall on them. Spike was too terrified to realize what was going on, he tried to move, but his feet were stuck on the dirt, he tried to run, beg, fight, but nothing worked, the creature's limb was just above him now. There was a shriek from Rarity for a moment, and then... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike opened his eyes, he was back in the train, but Spike thought that he had awoken from a nightmare just to be trapped in another one, all of the ponies were in terror, the sound that he heard in his dream was the train's alarm sound, and some ponies were watching something at the other side of the window. When Spike approached the wndow, he saw something that scared him like nothing else in his life could: There was a giant Tornado next to the train, the biggest tornado he has ever seen, and the worst part was that the passengers couldn't escape it, even if the train stopped, they could be trapped by it in no time. The torado did its thing, it started to attract the train, the train driver tried to escape it by driving faster, but it wasn't long before the whole train started flying towards the tornado, the wagons separated and spread through the whole tornado, the passengers were floating inside the wagons, some were praying to Celestia, some others were hugging each other, but Spike didn't know what to do, he was floating too at this point. Spike tried to float towards a door at the other side of the wagon, but the air sent him towards the edge of a seat where he hit his head hard, there was screaming for a moment before he closed his eyes... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was dark, you could tell that Spike had been sleeping for quite a while, speaking of him, Spike felt bad, he wanted to die, but instead, he woke up with a worried expression on his face, 'what happened? where was he? where is everypony? where did that tornado come from?' everything was so confusing. When he woke up, he was in the middle of what it seemed like a forest, it wasn't the Everfree forest, mainly because there weren't any deadly creatures nearby, but instead, there were pieces of the wagon he was in, and the ponies from the wagon? They are in somewhere nicer by now. Spike didn't know where was he, so, he started walking towards what it seemed like a building, with every step he took, more thoughts ran through his mind, he wondered how was he going to get back to Ponyville, there was something else that bugged his mind: He remembered that there was supposed to be an important ceremony in Ponyville, and important ponies from Manehattan were going to arrive, Spike knew Rarity's tradition of falling for the first pony from Manehattan to make her googly eyes, and that could be a problem if he wanted to confess. By the time he thought about this, he already made his way to the building, he thought that he was in Manehatten, but his thought changed when he saw that there wasn't smoke in the sky, Spike also noticed that there weren't many ponies outside at this hour. Also, there wasn't anything beyond the city, just pure darkness. Spike approached a stallion on the street: "Hi, mister, I'm kinda lost, could you tell me where am I?" "AAAAAHHH, A DRAGON!" Yelled the stallion with fear. "SIR! I'M FRIENDLY! I PROMISE!" Said Spike, trying to calm down the stallion. "I'm sorry, I have somewhere else to go! You're in S.L.City, sorry, but I've got to go! Bye!" And with that, the stallion ran away, leaving Spike confused. "Did he just say S.L.City? Great, I'm at the other side of Equestria! What am I going to do?" Said Spike to himself. "No, I can't be thinking like that! I've got to get back! For me, for Rarity, for us!" Said Spike in a hopeful tone. "I promise you, Rarity, I will be there." Spike started his walk towards the sea to clear his thoughts. Then, without realizing it, he began singing: In the light that falls at moonrise, In the rhytm of the rain, In the miracle of ordinary days, In the hush of night, I will be in the whispers of lovers, everywhere, you will find me there. In the rustle of the curtain, In the bustle of the world, In a thousand little unexpected ways, when you lift your gaze, I will be like the shimmer of one small star, out there, shining everywhere. I will be there, beside you, through the lonely nights that fall, so close your eyes, remember my embrace I will be there, like mercy, I will find you through it all, This do I swear: I will be there. Spike imagined Rarity waiting for him in Ponyville, he wanted Rarity to wait for him, because he really loved her, and he wanted her to love him back just like he does. In his head, Rarity is watching outside her window, waiting for her dragon to arrive at home... In a language never spoken, live the promises that we made, in the endless low that owns my heart and soul, in the certainty I will always be true and as near as my next prayer you will find me there. In the echo of the ocean, In the haunting of the wind, In mysterious extraordinary ways, through the darkest sky, I will be like the shimmer of one small star out there, shining everywhere. I will be there, beside you, through the lonely nights that fall, so close your eyes, remember my embrace, I will be there, like freedom, I will find you through it all, This do I swear, I will be there. Suddenly, Spike entered the Boutique with roses in his claws, and began singing along with Rarity: In the harbour quarter, In the stoe and mortar, In the star that we both share... In the sound of laughter, Now and ever after, Look for me, I will be there... I will be there! Beside you, through the lonely nights that fall, so close your eyes, remember my embrace, (Remember my embrace) I will be there (Will be there) Like justice, I will find you through it all, This do I swear, (This do I swear) I will be there... This do I swear, I will be there... This do I swear, I will be there... Spike snapped out of whatever trance he was in, and he saw that he arrived at the beach, he sit dow on the sand, thinking about Rarity and how was he going to confess, a tear rolled down his cheek, and he faded away into his slumber. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Somewhere else... One of the six creatures was watching a screen that showed Spike resting on the sand, when suddenly, his leader etered the room... "You IDIOT!!!!!" Said the leader while slapping the other one very hard. "W-w-what did I do?" Said the minion, confused. "I said: 'go and give him a plot twist!' Not an actual twister, you moron! That could've killed him! You killed dozens of ponies with your little "act"! We need him ALIVE to play with him!" Said the leader, obviously furious. "Well, I am truly sorry, can you forgive me?" Said the minion cowardly. "Yes, but next time, be more careful, will you?" "Yes, thank you, boss!" "We are going to present him the portal hallway once he gets there, and when he arrives there, DON'T SCREW IT UP!!!" Shouted the leader at the top of its voice. There are still a lot of things Spike needs to prepare for... > Chapter 4: The weird hallway > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4: The mysterious hallway "Hey! Lizard boy! Wake up already! Said a rude voice. Spike woke up in the morning, he was at the beach, and somepoy had awoken him, mainly because that somepony was glaring directly at him with a little bit of anger in his eyes. "W-what? What happened?" Said Spike, not remembering anything. "I don't know, but you should get out of here, a lot of ponies like to visit this beach because it has a beautiful view of the sea, but they can't enjoy it if freaks like you are just hanging around here!" Said the stallion. "I'm very sorry, I'm just trying to find my way back to Ponyville." Said Spike with sad eyes. "Huh? You live in Ponyville? Then you must be Spike, the dragon." Replied the stallion with curiosity. "How do you know who I am?" Asked Spike with surprise. "The crystal ponies come here very often, they must really like the heat of the beach, but when they come, their only topic is you, they always talk about the dragon that supposedly saved them all from King Sombra, and again in the Equestria Games, but, sincerely, I expected you to be taller, or at least, more intimidating." Said the stallion. 'Why does nopony take me seriously?' Spike thought. "Anyway, can you help me get back to Ponyville so I can leave your beach, sir?" Asked Spike. "Fine, I'll give you some spare bits I have, here, take 'em kid." The stallion gave Spike 5 bits. "Oh, and if I were you I would go in boat across Equestria, kid, in the frontier there is a giant wall, they built it to protect S.L. city from strangers and dangerous creatures, like you." "Ugh, fine, where is the boat?" "Over there, be thankful that I'm giving you a boat with engine incorporated, that way you won't have to get tired." "Okay, thank you, sir" Said Spike, going towards his boat. "Don't mention it, just get out" Said the stallion. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike was happy and confused at the same time, he was now riding a boat towards the end of Equestria, he grabbed some food and drinks from a stand that was near his boat, and he grabbed enough for a year, the boat was practically full of food, nutricious and junk food. Spike was starting to think that maybe he was going to be out of Ponyville for a long time, so, he thought that writing a letter to Twilight was the best option for now. Dear Twilight... I'm Spike, but I think that I'll be gone longer than expected, some weird stuff happened while I was in the train towards Ponyville, currently I'm on a boat I borrowed from a stallion in S.L. city, all of this because of the frontier problems... Anyway, all I have to say is that I'll be out longer than expected, and that I don't know exactly when I'm going to arrive, but I promise you that I will be there. With love, Spike. Spike sent the letter, he watched as the note flew away from his boat and towards Ponyville, he wished that he could just go in the same direction, but he remembered the frontier, he sighed and kept on sailing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Okay, is he in position?" "By the looks of it, he is." "Great, give him a spectacle, and this time DON'T PUT HIM IN ACTUAL DANGER!!!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This was really getting old, Spike has been sailing for three hours and he didn't see a single bit of land. Maybe there weren't any islands near his position, whatever, Spike thought about his home, and, most importantly, of his mare, the one that haunts his dreams in a good way. Spike really feared the ponies from Manehatten and Canterlot, he knew that Rarity couldn't resist their elegancy, and this made him nervous, he could be rejected, she could've found her special somepony in one of the stallions from Manehatten, or worse, the ponies from outside Ponyville could return her feelings, that thought sent shivers down his spine. Soon, he realised that the shivers he was feeling didn't stop, they kept on going, his thoughts were interrupted when he saw the water around him float, when he saw what was in front of him, he froze: it was another tornado, this one was slightly bigger than the one from the train, Spike didn't know what to do, so he tried to row for his life, but it didn't work, the tornado absorbed him and his boat, he didn't know what to do, he was floating in the insides of the tornado, until he became too dizzy to even stay awake... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Aw, man, I have to stop this thing about blacking out at the worst times." Said Spike to himself, he found himself in the middle of what it seemed like a hallway, but there was something peculiar about the place he was in: The entire hallway didn't seem like it had an end, and the walls were filled with portals, like if they were doors to other worlds, or even dimensions. Spike didn't know what the things were, and they scared him, he didn't know if he should scream or if he should run away, but again, there wasn't a clear end to the hallway, so, maybe reflecting about the events of the last two days should be a good idea. But when he remembered everything that happened to him... Spike got angry: "Okay, let's see, I got knocked out by a tornado that sent me towards the edge of Equestria, I had to borrow a boat to spin around the world because of the frontiers, and now I'm on some weird place because of another tornado?!" Spike stomped the ground, this was really something else. Spike looked towards a wall, it was full of the weird things, but there was a scroll attached to the wall, Spike approached tha scroll, and read it afterwards: The portal hallway. This is the portal hallway, it's as ancient as Equestria itself, and nopony knows who built it, but I know some things about the portals: 1- You can only access one of them at a time. 2- You need to enter with the enter key, this one is below this document, if you don't, it doesn't work. 3- If you get yourself stuck in the other side, you must find the exit key in the place you are in. 4-Afterwards, you must find the exit portal to the world you are in. 5- Whatever you do, DON'T break the exiit key of ANY world, otherwise, you'll attract them. Whoever reads this, if something went wrong with the instructions, find me: HEROIC WRENCH. "Heh heh, 'Heroic wrench'" Laughed Spike, he looked down to see a peculiar object protected by a transparent box: It seemed like a torch, but it was lit off, Spike broke the box with one swift punch and grabbed the object. "Hmm, this must be the enter key, and those things must be the portals, hmmm, there are a lot of them." Spike thought. "Okay, let's see if the luck is with me, all of these doors seem different, so, maybe one of them should take me home, right?" Said Spike, in reality, he didn't even know if he was ever going to come home, but he can't give up, not until he takes his last breath, for himself, for his family, for his friends... And for the mare he loves. Spike had a look of determination on his face, with bravery, he approached a portal, the portal was surrounded by a lot of mechanical parts, so, it must mean that it must lead to Manehattan, right?. Spike didn't waste time, he ran directly towards the portal, and he weent through it: 'For you, Rarity..." He said in a low tone before rushing inside the weird passage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What? he is already inside a portal? that was quick." "Yes, but which world is that?" " It's Equestria #4626836, you know, where 'you know who' is currently winning." "Do you think we should help him?" "Not unless it's neccesary, we are just watching him, remember?" "Yes." "Just stick to the plan." "Okay, if you say so." > Chapter 5: A world of pain > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 5: Once upon a world of suffering... There was a bright light for a couple of seconds, and suddenly, there he was, Spike found himself in a world that seemed familiar to him somehow, he was surrounded by bushes, and he was sure that nopony was near him. Or so he thought. He heard familiar voices coming from the other side of the bushes: "This is too big to handle on our own" He heard. "Ya think?" Said a voice that sounded similar to his own voice. "We must go to Ponyville and find our friends." Said another voice that sounded strangely a lot like Twilight's voice. Spike took a peek from behind the bushes, he saw himself and Twilight standing next to something that seemed like the cutie map, but it was red colored and the thrones were missing the cutie marks of their owners. The other Spike and Twilight started to walk away, Spike wanted to come to Twilight, but something just didn't feel right. Spike instead, walked over to the map, and he noticed that the Crystal Empire was taking half of Equestria. Spike was honestly shocked, it was like he went back to that awful future where King Sombra was taking over Equestria. "Talk about a deja vu." Said Spike to himself, trying to ease the shock state in which he was. He thought about what to do next, and then, he realised that the best thing to do was follow Twilight and the other Spike, maybe that way he could return home... Wait, when he remembered how he got there, he was even more shocked than the first time, he had to go back using a portal and finding an exit key, he panicked shortly because he didn't know if he would ever find those two things in a whole different universe, after a few minutes, he calmed down, he needed to return home and be safe while doing it. After debating it with himself, he started following Twilight. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was really amusing how similar looked Ponyville to the first time he was there, the houses were still crumbled, they still had locks and wood planks locking them, some buildings were practically destroyed, and a feeling of danger surrounded the area. Spike tried not to notice this, however, when he turned to one of the buildings, he saw somepony covering themselves and turn back into their home, he couldn't take it, he needed to know what was going on. With carefulness, he approached the building they were in, and knocked on the door, when he did, all the area around him seemed to get more tense for a bit. Spike regretted knocking on the door, he was about to run away as fast as he could, but when he turned around, a rope catched him, and he couldn't move his arms, after a second, another rope catched his legs, and suddenly, a big group of ponies came out of the buildings around and carried Spike on their backs. He didn't know what was going on, but he was about to find out, because the ponies took him to what once was called "Sugarcube corner", the pony on front of the group knocked on the door in a very specific way, to which somepony inside responded with a number, the stallion from outside gave other number as a response, and in seconds, the door opened and the group of ponies entered the building with Spike on their backs. Once they were inside, the unicorns levitated Spike to the center of the room, which had a large table, and the group surrounded Spike around the table. "What?! A dragon?! Those things are dangerous! Why did you brought him here?!" Said a stallion from behind him. "Because I thought you would know what to do with him!" Responded a female voice from behind him. "And why would you think so?!" "Because you are my superior, sir!" "Hey! can somepony tell me what's going on in here?" Said Spike, once and for all. "Ugh, fine, I'll tell him everything he has to know, if he is useful to us, we'll keep him around, if not, then we give him to King Sombra as a dessert" Said the stallion, not paying attention to Spike. " Sorry for ignoring you, but we were discussing much more important things before your arrival" Said the stallion, making his point. "What? look, I just got here through a mysterious portal and I don't know about anything about this place! I just want answers to go home!" Said Spike. "What? You came through a portal? Then, you know nothing about the cause?" Replied the stallion. "The cause?" Asked Spike, he DID know what was 'the cause', but he knew he had to play along for now, just in case these ponies know where his exit is. "Well, the war against King Sombra and the Crystal Empire, of course." Replied the mare, who was now standing in front of him, even though it was dark, Spike could make out some details about her, she had a grey mane with a darker color of coat, she had glasses, and her accent was a little bit weird, but, it couldn't be her, it didn't make any sense, last time he was here, she wasn't even there, or was she? Spike decided to act oblivious for a little bit: "Uh-huh, and now you're going to tell me that Princess Celestia is leading the charge, right?" For some reason, when those last words escaped Spike's mouth, the stallion got mad with him. "H-h-how DARE YOU?!?!" Yelled the stallion, he was about to pounce on Spike, but his partners stopped him and calmed him down before he could even start jumping, but they didn't exactly look happy with Spike, either. "I'm sorry, I lost my temper there, but I should understand that you haven't been in touch with this world, because if you did, you should know that Princess Celestia is no more..." Spike was speechless, how did this happen? did Sombra get stronger? No, they must be joking, she can't be... "WHAT?! B-b-but I thought Celestia was invincible!" Said Spike, innocently. "No, King Sombra developed a new weapon, first, he fires a laser from his horn at you, then, if he hits you, you won't be damaged, but you'll be forced to see your worst fear in an eternal loop until he decides to break the spell, and finally, if he catches you off guard, you'll be so vulnerable that anypony from his side will be able to... Yeah, that's pretty much what happened with the princess, but we aren't sad about her, in fact, her last speech filled us with determination to strike Sombra down." Said the stallion in a calmed voice. Then, he lit his horn, pointing directly at a TV nearby, when the TV was turned on, it showed Celestia in front of her army of guards and Wonderbolts. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Everypony calm down, I know that most of you are afraid, but you MUST do this, if you don't do it for yourself, then do it for everypony you care about! For your friends, for your family, and for all of Equestria! In a world of suffering and pain In a world that plagues the grass we march upon, Thy will be done, With a cause that's noble to the core, We ask for the ponies of this world to stand tall, prepared to fall. But in this new age we will hold our ground, we ready ourselves with a drum roll sound! Now fight, for the flag you wave and fight, for the badge you wear, Equestria needs your devoted pride. Now wave your honour high, the empire has broken tides The demand has come to ask for your leading minds United we stand! In a land that plagues our anarchy with an army powered by brutality our destiny awaits as we fall one by one. Pray to discord we have a plan praying for the ones who take a stand It's not a question but a demand. No matter the distance we march on the ground, We show no more mercy to the drum roll sound! Now fight, for the flag you wave and fight, for the badge you wear, Equestria needs your devoted pride. Now wave your honour high, the empire has broken tides, the demand has come to ask for your leading minds. United we stand! The war has begun! King Sombra strikes! Unleash your force! (We could live or die tonight) We give our lives! Reach to the skies! Your holy freedom cries! (Take it to the grave tonight) For a moment, the captain Spitfire seemed to remember her days on the battlefield... I can still hear the corruption on the battlefield, the fallen ones lay stiller than the cold weapons and armory around me, we've lost many, our families weep for our losses, Will we be done without a cause? Or show no mercy to the darkness? But, in that moment, King Sombra banged through a wall from the opposite side of the room they were in, Celestia and Sombra glared at each other with cold looks on their faces, until Celestia shouted at the top of her lungs: Now fight! For the flag you wave, and Fight! For the badge you wear, Equestria needs your devoted pride. Now wave your honour high! The Empire has broken tides! The demand has come to ask for your leading minds! United we stand! The ponies started to fight King Sombra and his slaves, some of them started singing along with Celestia: The war has begun! King Sombra's here! Unleash our force! (We could live or die tonight!) We give our lives! Reach to the skies! Our holy freedom cries! (Take it to the grave tonight!) King Sombra and Celestia started to fight, but... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...Their fight was cut off because Celestia shot a beam that destroyed the camera that was recording, and I think I don't need to explain to you what happened after that..." Finished the stallion before turning off the TV. "Aw man, what have I gotten myself into this time?" Said Spike. > Chapter 6: The 'two' elements of harmony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 6: Visiting the tree of Harmony. Spike thought that he was dreaming, or having a nightmare, because this was just too bad, Celestia was no more and King Sombra seemed unstoppable now, and he was in a different dimension with ponies that would possibly leave him to King Sombra. But this seemed bad, the ponies who took him weren't wearing the same suits as the wonderbolts and the guards, so, who were they? "Sorry for being so straight-forwarded, but, who are you? Judging by your outfits, you aren't recruits for the wonderbolts or royal guards, so, what exactly is this?" Said Spike, the stallion just glared at him, but he decided to trust in Spike, after all, he was just a little dragon that probably wasn't important at all, right? "Oh, you're right, we are not wonderbolts, nor royal guards, we are something kind of like a resistance, we believe that there are certain artifacts called the 'elements of harmony' that have the power to stop Sombra, but the forces of Celestia are just too proud on themselves to listen, so, we are currently working on a way to find them." Said the stallion, pulling a book called 'predictions and profecies', the stallion opened the book on an image that showed six gemstones, each one had a different color. "Wait, I know where they are! but, you have to let me go to show you!" Said Spike. "Ha! And what makes you think that we would let you go? you are just a random dragon that showed up without any warning." Said the stallion, still being stubborn. "Look, I know you don't trust me, but you have to! exactly how much time have you spent searching for the elements?" The stallion just sighed and rolled his eyes. "Besides, King Sombra is the darkness itself, and I don't want that darkness to spread through all of Equestria, like Celestia said, we will stand if we are united, so, what do you say?" Said Spike. The stallion called his right hoof mare, and they went to another room to talk, they stayed there for minutes, until they came out again: "Okay, you win, show us where the elements are, but, if you even think of betraying us, we will leave you to King Sombra's pity." Said the stallion coldly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It has been half an hour since they came out of Sugarcube Corner, in the light of day, Spike could observe the stallion in a better light, he had a turquese mane and a coat that was a combiation of orange and brown, he was a unicorn and he had a snail by cutie mark, if this was really him, the war certainly changed him. They had approached the place where the tree was supposed to be, and, wouldn't you know it, the elements of harmony were still in the tree, which confused Spike, because in his universe, the princesses took the elements from the tree to defeat discord, and in this universe, they were still there, like nopony knew they existed at all. But there was a small problem, only two of the elements were in the tree, the rest of the elements didn't even exist, was the book wrong? did they go somewhere else? Maybe this universe just had two elements of harmony, but that doesn't explain why the book showed six elements and not just two. "Hmmm, at least we found them, I guess you were right." Said the stallion. " By the way, what is that?" Spike turned to the right of the tree of harmony and saw what it looked like a door, but it looked like the door in the portal hallway that brought him here, that must be his exit portal, but there was no key to open the door and cross through the portal, besides, the fate of this world depended on the elements, so, the portal thing should come later. "That is my way out of here, but that's not important now, just levitate the elements here and then we'll plan something to defeat King Sombra." Said Spike. The stallion nodded and levitated down the elements, the first one looked like a spoon, and the other one looked like a snail. This was oddly specific, but they rolled with it, when they had the elements on their hooves, the stallion and the mare started glowing, all the other ponies, (except Spike, because he was a reptile and he could put on his cover for his eyes), covered their eyes, after a few seconds, the light turned off, and the ponies had some sort of necklaces around their necks, both were surprised by this, but they remained calm. "What are those?" Spoke a pony from behind Spike. "Those are the elements of harmony, but I'm not sure why are just two instead of six." Replied Spike. "Whatever, just tell us how to use them and we'll stop King Sombra forever" Said the stallion. "Well, it's not going to be easy, first, you have to be close to Sombra, but I don't know what's next." "WHAT?! You said you knew everything about the elements!" Replied the stallion, furious with the little dragon. "Technically, I said that I knew where they were, I haven't actually used them myself, you have to be an element to use them, and by the looks of it, you are the elements of this world!" Said Spike, sheepishly. "See? I told you he couldn't be trusted! What would we do if we face King Sombra and suddenly we freeze up? Or if he casts that new spell he learned before we can even use them? And if we are the elements of harmony from this world, why don't we know how to use them? Fellas! Tie him up again!" Shouted the stallion. The ponies tied Spike up again. "B-b-b-b-b-but I told you the location of the elements! You can't do this!" Said Spike, trying to save his life. "I changed my mind, maybe some time alone with King Sombra will change you, just like war changed us all!" Replied the stallion, laughing after that. "Seriously, this day just keeps on getting weirder and weirder." Spike thought.