High Moon Ch. 17:

Trails of Ghost Heart

“Thanks for letting us stay here Zecora,” Quill started after they had made it to Zecora’s hut and explain their sudden appearance to her. At first, Quill was worried that the zebra would have a problem with Frost being a changeling, however she hasn’t said anything about it or even thought to question it. “Sorry for waking you up again.”

“Do not fret child,” Zecora started standing at the door wearing two pieces of cloth to cover her rather curvy body. “My annoyance is only mild. Now go to sleep, as a long day is ahead of you three.” Both the twins and Frost nodded their heads in understanding as a long day of getting back to High Moon and explaining everything to Wolf.

Spike blew out the lit candle next to his makeshift bed while Frost, who found a pair of Quill’s purple gym-shorts and green tank-top to wear for the night, wrapped Quill in her wings and the blanket she ‘borrowed’ from Twilight. “Night Spike,” Quill called out to her brother as she started to drift off to sleep with her marefriend.

Soon, the ever so familiar snoring from Quill told Spike that she was already fast asleep. Spike soon did the same thing as mending the broken hearts of the crusaders and Twilight was stressing on his body.

Since most of what Spike did back in Ponyville was sleep, he somehow learned to ‘control,’ or at least be fully conscious of his dreams for a good part of the night. However, instead of the normal relaxing world of green hills, blue skies, and flowing streams, an expansive sickly black lake with the same dead-wood trees like the one during the camping trip stretched across his mind.

Though Spike wasn’t given the luxury of taking any note of the change in scenery as he was falling from the pale-red sky and into the lake. He tried to wake up, like he always would when he had a nightmare, but something...something was keeping him there and he had no control over this dream.

He failed his arms out, trying to find anyway to stop his fall, and wishing he wasn’t a salamander dragon. Spike’s body was whirled about in the space above the infinite lake, catching one last glance of it before slamming into the water’s surface.

Somehow he didn’t feel any pain, mainly because it was a dream and not real life, but this felt...too real for it to be something then a mere dream. Spike didn’t waste anytime before he started to make for the water’s surface, something was wrong with this lake, and he didn’t want to find out what it was.

However, he desperate escape was halted by a black tendril wrapping around his ankle, and pulling him in deeper. Spike fought back against the slimy appendage by using his water-magic to form a small dagger. But instead, Spike got the same frozen scythe as during the camping trip. His eyes widened at the sight of the ghastly weapon as it was know to be the weapon of choice for the ferry-pony of the turdis; the bringer of death.

Another tentacle wrapping around his other foot broke him out of his thoughts about the omnibus weapon and back to his situation at hand. Spike raised the scythe above his head and took a quick slice through the black tentacles, freeing himself, and giving him an opportunity to escape.

Spike started to kick his feet and flapped his tail to swim up to the water’s surface. Several tencals shot up after him only to be fought back by Spike taking quick swings against them. One tentacle tried to pierce his chest, which Spike was able to met with the zigzag curved staff of the scythe, and whirled around to bring the blade through the top left side.

Another tentacle followed after that by wrapping itself around his wrist, catching him off-guard as it threw him deeper to the lake’s pitch black bottom, however Spike was able to recover from the sudden throw just as two tentacles moved to strike his back. Spike swung the scythe in an upwards slash, taking down the two tentacles.

He didn’t waste any more time musing over anything around him, he needed to find a way out of the dream, he need to get out of this lake. This time using his water-magic to jet his way past three tentacles. Spike’s body pushed through the thick murkiness from the black lake followed by several tentacles.

Spike continued to fight of each of the gaining tentacle, upping his speed each time so to stay ahead of the threatening appendages. Right as he reached the threshold of the deep, three tentacles circled around him, and ensnare his body in their black mass. Spike was forced to use the scythe to keep the tentacles from crushing down on him and used that time to think of a plan of escape.

As the large ball of black started to slowly drag Spike down to the deep, insuring his defeat, Spike was able to blow it apart by building the pressure of water up. Using the shockwave of the small explosion, Spike rocketed towards the surface with the tentacles in far pursuit.

Finally, Spike burst through the water, and landed back on it’s surface with black water raining down on him. Unfortunately, Spike wasn’t given the pleasure of breathing before several of the tentacles shot out around him, and arched downwards towards him.

Spike lifted the scythe to slash at one of the tentacles then rolling away from another one. Once he recovered, Spike swung the scythe around in a series of cyclones as a defensive move before kicking off the water to dash at another of the slimy limbs.

However, he was severely outnumbered, and had little hope of winning in a direct fight like this. So Spike, again using his water-magic, started to surf away from the tentacles. He ducked and dived under each swing from the tentacles, making it past them, and readying himself for when they would follow.

Through they did not follow, only staying stationary at that one spot, and leaving Spike baffled. Though his answer in the form of a massive black mass shooting straight up in front of him.

Spike stopped his forward momentum and jumped back with the scythe’s blade held low to the water behind and the staff’s end held high up. The swirling black mass started to tower over Spike, dripping giant gobs of pitch into the lake, and looming over him like an ominous cloud.

“I don’t know where you came from, or why you’re trying to kill me.” Spike tried to remain unfazed when the black mass started take the form of a large dragon with glowing purple eyes. “Frankly I don’t care any more. ‘Cus I know you won’t beat me, ghost heart.” Suddenly the shadowy dragon opened its gaping maw to let out a furious screech before Spike charged straight at it, fully determined not to let the thing beat him, and not going to let it take his life.

No matter the cost.

Quill, Frost, and Spike had already set out bright and early to get back to High Moon as soon as they possibly could. While Quill and Frost had gotten the full eight hours of sleep that any living--sane--soul should get, Spike...did less so, and it showed on his sluggish walking.

“Is Spike always like this in the morning,” Frost asked Quill in a whisper so he could not hear them. Even Quill didn’t need a changeling’s ability to sense the emotions of others to tell that something was deeply up with her brother.

“No, in fact he normally is up long before me.” The two females studied the drake’s tried movements, trying to understand what happened during the night that caused him to act in such a way. “I’ve got nothing, he usually happy to be up so early, but this…” Spike blew out a sickly black cloud in a sigh as he mindlessly followed the path back to High Moon. “This can’t be good.”

“Well shouldn’t we do something about it?” Quill nodded her head however didn’t know what to do. But she did know one mare knew. Frost took the smirk on Quill’s face as a sign that she had a plan already set. Soon, the three made it to the wooden scaffolding that is used to hold the front part of the temple up.

Frost was impressed when Quill told her about the arcane doors and the ones who crafted them while Spike open them with his fire-stone in the center of his gloves. Once they reached Quill’s room, Frost and Quill went to drop off her stuff, and told Spike to keep heading down to let the others know that they are back.

The drake did as he was told with a slight sigh, he walked down the steps to the last temple doors, and used his fire-stone gloves to open them. Once through, he saw Blaze and Lily talking about something, but stopped when the saw the bags underneath his eyes.

“Spike, what happen to you,” Blaze questioned as she and Lily walked over to his side, neither one had not once seeing the drake like this before. “You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

Spike opened his mouth to answer but Quill and Frost walking through the arcane door stopped him. Blaze and Lily both raised an eyebrow towards the new face. Blaze had heard stories about changelings from Zecora after the invasion, and after becoming curious, started to do some research on them in the ruins. While Lily, being a flutterpony, was like a cousin to the changeling race.

“That’s what I was going to ask you Blaze,” Quill started, getting both adults to look her way while Frost remained quiet until spoken to; least she say something out of line. “Ever since we woke up this morning after staying the night at Zecora’s, Spike been...well this,” Quill explained, waving her hands over the ill-responsive drake.

Blaze knelt down and grabbed Spike’s cheeks to better examine his blank stare. “Uh-oh, I’ve seen this before,” she started in a grim tone only serving to make the others that more concern for Spike’s well-being. “Not good, not good at all. Lily, could you go in that chest over there, and being me the veil with a golden-red glow to it?” Lily nodded her head and went to do what Blaze had asked of her, walking over to the wooden chest on the side of the large room, and soon returning with the veil.

Blaze took it in her magic, also taking the top off, and placing it under Spike’s nose. “Okay Spikey, this is supposed to taste really bad, but I did the best I could.” Blaze pressed it against Spike’s lips and tip his head back, forcing him to drink much of the potion.

Blaze instructed everyone to back away from the drake while the potion was taking effect. Suddenly, Spike’s face lit up in a bright red, and forced him to spit out green flames. Quill was quickly reminded of when this happened to him during the camping trip and remembered what Dusk told them was the cause. She prayed that it wasn’t what she thought it was, Quill couldn’t lose her brother to something like it.

When the green inferno ended, Spike started to hold his throat, barely able to beg for water. Which was given by Frost as she used her ice-magic to create a small snowball and threw it at Spike’s opened mouth. “So, all better cola-head,” Quill asked, somehow managing to laugh at the comic sight of Spike panicking. It may have been grim to learn that her brother could fall to something as dark as ghost heart, but the worst they could do was let it further down his mood.

So Quill was going to do anything she could to make him smile and laugh. “Yes,” Spike answered with a relaxed sigh, now fully awake, and with enough energy to last him the rest of the day. “So what was that stuff?”

Blaze picked up the veil, which was knocked out of her magical grip during Spike’s failing, and noted how much was left. “Just a mix of honey due, tree sap, and chilly peppers. But that’s besides the point, Spike,” Blaze paused to walk in front of Spike and knelt down. “You shouldn’t doubt yourself.”

Lily and Frost cocked their heads at what Blaze was saying but Spike quickly understood what she was talking about. “Heh, you know huh? About ghost heart?” Blaze nodded her head while the other’s eyes widened at the first sound of that name. Lily and Blaze had read about the effects of ghost heart on dragon--and in rare cases--other magical creatures, while Frost had seen it first hand. “Why is it coming after me? I’ve done nothing train and-”

“That’s just it,” Blaze interrupted, standing up, and nodding towards Lily. Sighing, the flutterpony walked back over to the chest. “Spike we’re going to put supressances on your magic for a little while and see if that would help allow your body to grow. Okay,” she asked with a concerned tone in her voice, having a feeling that this would one day happen, but wished it wouldn’t.

Lily walked back with two braces in her hands. Spike eyed the sliver and black wrist braces and the pure white gems engraved in them. “Hold out your hands Spike.” Spike did as Lily instructed, and after she found the right notch for them to lock in, Spike soon found the braces secured around his wrists.

Blaze lit her horn to active the magic inside of the gems. Once the short white flash from them had ended, Spike’s arms fell low to the ground, but he managed to stay standing. “What the heck, these things feel like they weigh a ton...each!”

“Then they’re still working,” Blaze said with a nod of her head only getting a wide-eyed expression from Spike that begged for answers. “See Spike, I had to use that myself when I was being instructed in my fire-magic, and Wolf used it a few years ago to train himself.” She was surprised that the gems still worked and that the magic seemed to not have been affected by Spike’s dragon-magic.

“Those gems on your wrists are called terminus amet or magic limit.” Spike forced his body to stand up straight as Blaze continued to explain what the braces where for. “Not only your magic is being suppressed, at the most you’ll only be able to use that healing water Lily taught you, but also your body is now being weigh down by them. You’re going to have to learn to live with them for a while, at least until they turn a blood red.”

“What happens then,” Spike asked as he started to get used to the added weight on his body and already starting to feel his magic being limited by them.

Blaze smiled, remembering how strong she gotten when she had finally finished the trying training. “You’ll become much stronger.” Suddenly, the stone-slab to the city ruins started to open up to Wolf and the phoenixes walking--or flying--through, and Blaze skipped over to Wolf in joy. “Welcome back Wolf.” The two shared a quick kiss in front of the others before Wolf noticed the new face. “Quill and Spike just got back from their camping trip, they also brought a ‘friend’ back with them.”

“I see that,” Wolf started setting aside some tools that he would use to fix what he could of the city ruins and walked over to Frost. She may not look the exact same as any other changeling that he seen before but she still had that distinct scent that for some reason only diamond dogs were known to pick up on. “Well, well, well a changeling. Never thought I would see one again.”

Quill wrapped a wing around Frost and pulled her close to her body. “Yeah and she want to say here.” Wolf raised an eyebrow towards this, never hearing of a changeling choosing to leave home, and extradite themselves from their hive. “So can she?”

“Depends...what you got?” Frost smirked as she had already readied herself for this and was fully prepared to do anything Wolf would ask her.

“Well that depends,” she started, breaking free of Quill’s protective grasp, and walking right in front of Wolf. “What you need?”

Wolf stared down the changeling mare, it was already obvious that Quill had some kind of relationship with her, and that it was in fact on Quill’s terms. However, that’s not what he paid much attention to as he started to chuckle. “Quill, you sure do know how to pick’em,” Wolf chuckled, see a small bit of Quill’s headstrong personality in Frost’s icy-blue eyes. “Alright, can you shape-shift?” Frost raised a hand and snapped her fingers together, assuming the form of a dragoness of Quill’s age, and changing back. “What about magic?”

“Please, that’s too easy,” she said in a cocky manner, again raising a hand, this time creating a frozen short halberd, and swinging it around with ease. Spike stared at Frost as she wielded the weapon as if it wasn’t anything at all. That’s when he got to thinking that maybe there’s something much more to his magic that he isn’t seeing. “Well, what you think? I also can get you through any tunnel in Everfree, which by the way, leads throughout all of Equestria.”

Blaze blinked a few times, to have such a drastic change come to High Moon from one changeling was almost too good to pass up while Wolf, who was thrilled about it, remained slightly stone-faced. “Um…all that’s good and all,” he started walking around Frost and eye every inch on her. “The magic, shape-shifting, wings, and a free ticket to any place in Equestria.” Frost continued to smirk to keep up the assertive theatricals. “So, got a name?”

“Frost, just Frost will do.” Wolf blankly nodded his head as he walked back towards Blaze.

Slowly, Wolf turned around to face Frost in the eyes again. “Well, Frost, here in High Moon I have few rules. One, you help out in anyway that you best see yourself doing so. Two, anytime either I or Blaze here,” Wolf paused, waving at his marefriend, and returning back to his rules. “needs you to do something, just try. No sense of killing yourself doing something you can’t right?”

“Sounds reasonable enough,” Frost started with another smirk. “So anything that you need me to do?”

Wolf scratched his chin in thought, changelings were known to have a higher knowledge of constriction than any other race, but he done most of what he had plan today. “Well, not really. At least not today, so you three are free to do whatever you want to,” Wolf finally answered with a shrug of his shoulders and started to take a seat when Blaze stopped him by the tail.

“Actually Wolf,” She started, pulling on Wolf’s tail. “Lily and I were thinking that you should hang out with Spike some more.” Both Spike and Wolf raised an eyebrow towards the mare, sure they were the best of buds, but they didn’t think they were that distant from each other. Right? “Come on it could be fun, a little male bonding, and stuff. It’ll give us girls some time to ourselves as well.”

Wolf and Spike looked towards each other then back to Blaze, who wore a bright smile. “Okay...come on Spike, there is something that I need to ask you anyways.” Wolf started out of the temple with the confused drake in tow. But right before they left out, both males stopped at the opened doors to look back to Blaze.

“Go on,” she said, shooing them out of the temple. Wolf shrugged his shoulders, not knowing about the weight gems on Spike’s wrists, or about the ghost heart he had to fight last night in his dreams.

The two walked up the steps to the outside door, neither one speaking a word towards each other, but the silence soon ended after they made it to the outside. “So...um, Spike,” Wolf started, still unable to tell why Blaze was acting so weird as she would usually try keeping him around before he had to head back out. “Quill told me that you knew of a nearby diamond quarry.”

“Yeah, she and I would help out Rarity digging up gems,” Spike answered as that would be one of the main times their hard work was paid off by getting a gem or two from Rarity. “Why? Do we need some for the temple or the ruins?”

Wolf shook his head and motioned for Spike to take the lead. Spike started walking down the path, clearly remembering it from the many trips he would take with Rarity, and knowing that it was fairly close to Ponyville as well. “Not for High Moon, but for Blaze and my cub.” Spike looked back towards Wolf with a curious look as he had smaller knowledge about diamond dog culture than Quill. “See Spike, an alpha dog only gives birth to an alpha cub. Be male or female it doesn’t matter.” The two started to ascend a hill leading upwards as Wolf continued to tell Spike about his culture. “A dog’s collar; a sign of leadership, ingenuity, and honor. It’s a pretty big job of being an alpha, you have to look after not only the land you claim, but also the ones in your pack.”

Once the two finally made it over the large hill, they slid down its side, and continued to walk. “An alpha must insure the safety of all in his pack. For whatever species they claim, they’re still family.” Spike continued to remain silent as they started to reach the quarry. “The collar for Blaze is a sign of my absolute devotion to her and everything she believes in.” Wolf and Spike hopped down the rocky cliff-side separating the quarry and the rest of Everfree. “The collar for the cub, is a sign of my belief of it being able to handle the trials of being an alpha.”

Wolf stop once he saw the large rock and diamond quarry ahead of him, it would be any's guess where a gem he thinks in worthy enough for Blaze and his cub, but he wasn’t going to let some pebbles get in the way of his goal. “No matter how trying the trial may be.”

Spike looked over towards Wolf, for a moment, a flash of the kind of dragon he always wanted to be flashed before him. Strong, kind, devoted to others, and unwilling to ever give up. All these traits Spike had strived for all his life, only to met Wolf. “Come on, you know any good spots?”

“Yeah, they’re right over here.” Spike again started to lead Wolf into the quarry. He knew that Wolf wouldn’t stop at nothing to make sure that everything safe, even going as far as fighting timberwolves, and now Spike was going to do the same to get over this ghost heart.

First he needed to get out of the braces.

While the two males were out ‘bounding,’ Quill was busy catching up on some reading she missed during the camping trip, but had trouble focusing on the worlds in the ancient text. Blaze and Lily had went back to whatever they were doing before Quill’s, Spike’s, and Frost’s arrival to the temple.

The two older mares sat at Blaze’s work table, most likely discussing something to do with Spike’s condition and new training to combat the ghost heart. Frost and Quill sat at the dinner table, which was greatly improved to have more a rectangle shape.

As Quill stared at the same line, reading it over again and again, but still unable to force the thoughts about ghost heart out of her head, she started to question her own growth versus Spike’s.

Sure, both had active lives. With their individual training, roles within the pack, and studying any information the archives held. So why was it Spike being targeted by the ghost heart and not her? Quill trained as much as Spike, if not, more than. However, she not once had suffered the costly effects of the black mass growing inside of her. Did it really had to do with him using his elemental-magic more than his actual strength? If so, why would Blaze only want to suppress it instead of sealing it off for a period of time? The mare is more than capable of doing so, having more knowledge about dragons than any.

So why suppress when sealing was a better option? Maybe this way was better. If what Spike said, and the braces around his wrists did feel like they weigh a ton each, then he could push his body more while he was to learn to adapt to not having the same amount of magic as normal.

If Blaze had done it when she was younger than them, and from the way she is now, it could prove to be of added benefit towards Spike’s control of his water-magic. Then if that was the case, why wasn’t the braces apart of both of their normal training? Do they have something else to them than just suppressing magic and weighing the wearer down?

They easily could prove to further Quill’s strength, improve her flying, and increase whatever control--if barely could call it such--she has over her magic. However, she soon started to rethink that. Focus wasn’t her thing, she already was a fast flyer and the braces would only irritate her, and also--not bragging--she believed that she was already quite strong enough.

Still no match for Wolf alpha diamond dog strength or power, and nowhere near a match for Dusk’s added dragon heritage along with being an alpha dog. So, she had no rightful reason to be jealous of Spike’s new training, instead she should be thinking of ways to help him.

However, to do that, she need more knowledge about the ghost heart eating away at Spike. From what Dusk had told them during the trip, Spike will only get worse from here, and soon will start lasing out to everything around him. But the question still remained, why was Spike being constantly attacked by the ghost heart, and why did it feel it didn’t just have something to do with him using too much magic?

Frost, who quietly sat close to her lover, carefully listened to every pressing emotion flaring up in Quill’s head, and wrapped a wing around her to pull her out of the thoughts. “Quill,” she started in a low whisper as not to disrupt the elder two females’ conversation, rubbing the side of her cheek against the top of Quill’s head. “You know that you can talk to me about anything right?” Sighing, Quill nodded her head. “Then why am I sensing worry from you?”

Quill started to chuckle, she should have guessed that Frost was sensing in on her emotions, but she knew that the mare didn’t need the changeling adaption to tell that she was worried for her brother. “It’s Spike and this ghost heart thing. I just can’t figure out why it’s coming after him. Everyone keep saying that it is because of him using too much magic. So why does it feel like that’s not the case?”

“I figured that was the problem,” Frost started, sitting up in her wooden seat, and pulling Quill closer. “Well you’re right, ghost heart don’t just attack those who overuse their magic, it also attack those that doubt and fear their own power.” Frost felt Quill twitch slightly as well as a wave of confusion coming from her, which she promptly answered. “Think of it like a virus,” she again started, having seen it happen to several other scorpios suffer under something similar. “It starts from a seed, doubt and fear in this case, and finds a catalyst to grow upon.”

Quill’s eyes flashed for a moment when she figured out what the catalyst was. “His magic,” she whispered as though she was afraid of saying it. That’s when everything started to fall into place, his consent fears back in Ponyville, his unwillingness to do anything new, and his self-conscious thoughts when it came to Rarity. Which were only furthered fueled by her fighting with him about it.

For much--no--all of their lives, Spike had one thing or another he would worry about, and that list only grow when they moved to Ponyville. Now, after years of self-doubt, and his sudden climb in magic, severed as the perfect breeding ground for ghost heart. It was a wondrous miracle that Spike hadn’t already fallen victim to ghost heart.

“Yes, his magic.” Quill faintly listened to Frost’s words, only confirming her guess and fears. “Spike not only needs to allow his body to grow some more but also get over everything that’s bothering him.”

Quill took in a deep breath, this was her fault. The ghost heart could have been prevented if she would had followed Spike back to Ponyville after the camping trip. But if she did, she would have never met Frost in the first place, and there was no way she was going to regret any time she had spent with the changeling mare. However, she needs to think of something to help Spike out, lest he met an end as a wyvern.

“Frost, we’ve got to do something.” Frost pulled Quill closer to help stop her shaking as rage, fear, and worry started to come from every trembling part of her. She was angry at herself for not realizing what was slowly eating away at her brother. Fear for not knowing what will become of him if nothing changes. Worry for it being far too late for anything to change.

“Don’t worry love, we will.”

“Gah, no luck,” Wolf groaned after searching throughout the large quarry for a diamond for Blaze but Cerberus seemed to have other plans for him as they turned up next to nothing. His eyes strained over the quarry one last time before looking down to Spike who was sitting on the ground resting.

During their search, Wolf had finally came to ask Spike about the braces on his wrists as he recognized the glowing white gems. Spike told Wolf about the ‘dream’ he had fighting off the ghost heart and what Blaze told him it’ll do for his body and magic. Wolf showed his sympathy for Spike but couldn’t offer any more than just helping out with his physical condition.

However, that’s all the drake could ask for, and the search around the quarry seemed to be a good start as the gems started to change from a pure white into a pale yellow. “Come on, Spike we can try again tomorrow.”

Spike started to get up from the ground, upset that they couldn’t even find a single gem for Blaze, and mad at himself for failing Wolf. However, he was going to use that as a source of drive for the next time.

“Okay, maybe there’s a-” Spike was cut off by a massive explosion coming from Ponyville, followed by a massive discharge of purple electricity. The two stared up towards the arching threads of lighting ripping across the skies in a violent display and Spike quickly recognized the direction they were coming from.

“That came from Ponyville. NO!” Without explanations, Spike started for Ponyville, and was passed by Wolf as he was running on all fours. Spike soon copied Wolf’s running and quickly caught up with him as they dashed over to the town, hoping that he wasn’t too late to save his old home.

Author's Notes:

Things seem to be getting tougher for Spike. Can he pull through the doubt that has been building over his life? Will the others be able to help save him? Or will he become the world's darkness next victim? Only time will answer all of these questions, and many more.

-Till next time.